Queer Beacon

Shelter (2008) - Lightshed 10

Shelter is excellent.  The acting is solid across the board. Jonah Markowitz's experience with larger projects shows throughout -- bitch really kept everybody together. You should absolutely believe the hype. If the movie is playing at a theater near you (check out the venues at here!), you must see it.

In Shelter, Trevor Wright is an artist who flips burgers at a local joint -- he is clearly unhappy; he wants to go to art school but has decided to settle for the I-think-I-should-be-happy-but-I'm-not state of mind brought by the fulfillment of family responsibilities, in his case, that means taking care of his cute little nephew, a kid neglected by his mother (played by Tina Holmes, she delivers a nice performance). 

You can tell through Trevor's sad look that something big is missing (I must say that a few of his more pensive moments, like this one at a cliff by the ocean, were a little tacky -- you can almost hear the "hello...is it me you're looking for?" kinda deal).  Trevor's best friend, played by Ross Thomas, has an out gay brother.  This is the gay brother:

That's Brad Rowe. I've had my eye on Brad Rowe since Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss. I always thought he had the potential to become a true Hollywood lead and never understood why he didn't.  He is drop-dead-gorgeous and can act.  Not surprisingly, Trevor's character falls for him.  Or is he just confused?

While sorting out his issues, Trevor's character shows us how nice being gay can be after all.  Shelter is all about the normal guys, some of whom are gay.  The soundtrack is great too.  I can't wait for Markowitz and here!films' next release. Watch the trailer (but read my caveat first) after the jump.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) - No Gay Content

What a perfect, somber, vehicle for Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.  They both rock in Sweeney Todd.

In the movie, Johnny is unjustly imprisoned by this nasty judge -- when he's out of the joint all he wants is revenge.  Helena helps him out. 

Again, the acting is superb, but I didn't really like the songs.  The movie is good but could have been much better.  I think the plot should have us see more of Johnny's perfect little life before his imprisonment so that we could better taste his revenge.  As it is, the movie feels almost gratuitously gory -- revenge for revenge sake.  Just my two cents...you should still see the movie.

Superbad (2007) - Shipwreck 4

Superbad lives up to its hype.  I think Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (the three main characters) do a terrific job -- that is especially the case for Mintz-Plasse, who plays the instant classic McLovin. 

In Superbad, Jonah Hill is on a quest to lose his virginity in his last days of high school, he drags his best friend Michael Cera and not so best friend Mintz-Plasse along for the ride.  The three are social outcasts.

Jonah's plan involves getting lots of alcohol for all people in this party he was (almost miraculously) invited to.  He thinks that if he is able to get this girl drunk he'll have a good shot at lovemaking.  The entire movie revolves around this one day in his life.

Unfortunately, Superbad is not so good for the gays.  There are a couple of "faggot" slurs used by bullies teasing Jonah Hill.  That is not so bad fo us, though: they are bullies who learn a lesson at some point.  But later in the movie, Jonah Hill calls Mintz-Plasse "faggol" (sounding like a mix of "fag" and Fogel, the name of Minz-Plasse's character).  Nothing really major, but we would be better off without that..."Gay" is also used a couple of times to refer to something bad or tacky. 

A potentially redeeming factor would come from the exchange of "I love you's" between Jonah and Michael (we see that scene in one of the trailers).  I thought they were going to make out or something, but we get nothing.  After the I love you's they sleep next to each other and Jonah Hill wakes up with an awkward attitude, as if he is embarassed by something that might have happened at night.

Also, Bill Hader's character briefly mentions an arrest of a man-she; the reference is kinda neutral to bad (it seems to me, trannies are always being arrested in comedies).

The Simpsons Movie (2007) - LightShed 7

I am not the biggest fan of the TV show, but for some reason I was really waiting for The Simpsons Movie and was expecting a lot from it; unfortunately, the movie does not deliver as many laughs as I had expected.  You will get quite a few laughs, for sure, but you should probably lower your expectations.

In The Simpsons Movie, Homer does something really stupid (surprise!) which causes the city to be trapped into this huge glass dome; after that, all sorts of madness and mayhem ensue. 

The citizens of Springfield find out it is all Homer's fault and seek revenge, while America's favorite family try to keep it together.

I was glad to see the bits of gay content in the movie, only one of which (the first one) was kinda bad.  Right in the beginning of the movie, people are in church and all of a sudden Flanders (the evangelical Republican 'do-gooder') stands up saying he has something to announce -- Homer immediately crosses his fingers and starts wishing "gay, gay gay"; that was pretty funny, and could be seen as offensive (more likely) or not.  Homer doesn't like Flanders and wishing Flanders would say he is gay would work as a punishment for Flanders, and that wouldn't be nice, to be gay is not a punishment.  If you read this blog with some frequency, you will know that, usually, I think it is good when an idiot does something negative for the gays; I usually think that people will be repulsed by an idiot's homophobia; but the same reasoning cannot be applied here: Homer is an adored idiot; he is not just a common idiot; so, I don't think audiences would feel repulsed by his bit of homophobia.  On the other hand, Flanders is an evangelical who has marched in the "Walk for the Cure to Homosexuality" and Homer could be wishing he was gay just so that Flanders would come to accept himself as a gay man and stop hating himself and the gays (I know, this interpretation is a stretch...but whatever).

Also on the kinda bad side, Homer almost kisses a (male) pig.  But in the end, I think those two little ambivalent scenes weren't that bad; additionally, we have a few other scenes which were more clearly neutral (or even positive).

Another scene with gay content involves Bart's shocking frontal nudity.  This is actually a weird scene -- I don't really understand why it is there (maybe it is meant to show Bart is growing up; I don't know...).  What happens is, Homer dares Bart to skate to a burger shop naked, and he, of course, accepts the challenge. 

On his naked way to the burger joint he passes in front of Ralph Wiggum, who, after seeing Bart naked says something like: "I like boys now".  So, maybe there's some information on this mysterious character.  Boys can like boys too.

Then, on another scene, Marge is trying to flee from the police, and, as she is walking into this motel room to hide, two male cops get near her -- at that point she is thinking the cops are going to arrest her or something, but they start making out and bulge into one of the motel's room -- making out.  Hot. Nice. Marge walks safely into her hideout.

I kept waiting for Smithers to make out with his gross boss Mr. Burns, but (actually, thankfully), that never happens.

There were a lot of kids in my theater and I think it's nice for them to get used to the idea that men can like men.  The movie opened yesterday and you should see it.

Sicko (2007) - LightShed 5

Michael Moore finally got it right this time, movie-making wise.  In terms of politics he has always, mostly, preached to the converted as far as this queer is concerned; but I always felt that his points were either weak or poorly argued (or both), and his movie-making abilities, lacking, at best.  But Sicko is excellent -- you absolutely must see it.

In Sicko, Michael Moore goes after the health care industry in the US and the picture ain't pretty: a lot of people are uninsured, and some of the people who are insured suffer too, with constant and abusive denials for health coverage.  We see how well France, Cuba, the UK and Canada do in the area of health for their population. 

I never loved the fact that I live in Canada more.

We get some brief gay content out of a scene from Paris, we see two guys strolling their kids together, and I am pretty sure they were gay, I mean, they could be just French, but by their demeanor to each other and how close together they were...I'm going with gay gay gay.

Seriously, go see this one whether you love or hate Michael Moore.  I hope he does a movie about the gays soon, now that he finally got a better hang of it all.

Spider-man 3 (2007) - No Gay Content

Good movie.  I guess my low expectation helped me enjoy the flick -- I was expecting a piece of crap.

In Spider-man 3, Tobey Maguire is a little more comfortable in his superhero skin; he thinks he can balance his hero life, MJ and taking pics for a living.  That is until Topher Grace, James Franco and Thomas Haden Church get in the way.  They are all villains (sort of emotionally complex) and they are all after Spidey's sweet behind for various reasons.

But we don't get to see Spidey being gang-banged, we only get to see him trying to be cool and look cool after this substance from outer space takes over his body and makes him go all vindictive.

I saw the movie for the first time at 12:01 am Friday and I could barely hear what was going on onscreen, so much was the noise from the audience (I think Scott had a similar problem).  The audience screamed all the time.  I was in a theater filled with macho teenagers and they mostly called Spidey a faggot whenever he cried (and he cried quite a bit).  Bad bad crowd.

And there wasn't even anything gay in the movie: I am not counting as gay James Franco's butler declaring his love for James and his father (played by Willem Dafoe, who died in Spidey 2), and the cutest little boy in the world being grossed out by the kiss a pretty girl (played by Bryce Dallas Howard, who had been previously saved by Spidey) lays on Spidey in front of a crowd.

Shooter (2007) - No Gay Content

In Shooter, Mark Wahlberg (who may or may not still be a real-life homophobe) is duped into helping the government uncover a plot to kill the President.  But, ta-dah!, the government ends up screwing him over -- welcome to the life of a regular gay Mr. Wahlberg. 

In trying to prove his innocence, he is helped by a rookie FBI agent and this redneck girl, played well by Kate Mara (she has something going for her, I'll keep my eye on this one).

As expected, the movie is testosterone filled, in a bad way, and that gets annoying.  Like, in one scene, Mark's dog picks up a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and hands it to him, and then Mark gives some beer to the dog.  I almost vomited.  We also have a lot of those tomcruise-ish-like scenes, where Mark can walk all tall like his shit doesn't stink, in slow-mo.

You will get to see some of Mark's chest and legs, but not much else.  Bitch still looks fine, fine, fine, I have to admit.

I noticed no gay content in the movie, other than the gay couple making out in front of me in the theater.  Go gays! You can see the trailer for Shooter after the jump.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006) - LightShed 7

I loved Stranger than Fiction.  In the movie, Will Ferrell is an IRS agent who starts hearing a voice in his head; the voice is from Emma Thompson, who is writing a novel that oddly has Will Ferrell as the main character...and Will might be killed off in the plot (you actually see all of that in the trailer -- which I included after the jump). 

Don't let that tacky premise or the "where am I?" face that Emma keeps doing throughout the movie (watch some of that on the trailer) keep you away from this great flick.  Stranger Than Fiction is very well put together, the acting is as solid as it has ever been for a comedy.  Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal deliver great performances (Maggie plays a baker who gets somehow involved in the story).

We have a nice bit of content for our gay movie review.  In one scene (you can also see part of that scene at the end of the trailer), Will is trying to contact the writer (Emma Thompson) and he goes to her publisher's building, and in trying to trick the receptionist into giving him Emma's address, Will Ferrell says he is the writer's brother-in-law, that he is married to the writer's brother, that they got married in the state where it's legal.  Will has no problem saying he is gay, and married.  Very nice.  Kudos for Zach Helm, the writer. 

By the way, is the director Marc Forster gay? 

I saw him on one of the featurettes of the DVD and he sounded pretty gay to me.  Anyway, he is excellent, and so is the soundtrack.  You should definitely see this one.

Shock to the System (2006) - LigthShed 10

In Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery, Chad Allen plays Strachey, the private dick who is a bit of a dick himself.  He parks his car on a handicap spot when the parking lot is wide open; he gives his assistant a hard time about everything; but, he is a smoking hot homo who has no problem flaunting it to the world.

This is the second movie adapting Richard Stevenson's Donald Strachey mystery novels into film -- the first one was Third Man Out (2005).  In Shock to the System, our gay dick goes undercover at an ex-gay institution in order to investigate the death of a client.  Chad hotly handles every situation in which another guy is involved (he is one of those close-talkers, well, at least when it comes to talking to the many studs being investigated).

Hotness abounds.  There is frontal nudity (from the extra you can see in the middle of the pic on the right) and many hot scenes: most of the men in the movie are smoking hot.  And they are mostly much taller than Chad Allen.  Usually, they use all sorts of tricks to even the heights of the main characters, specially when the main character plays a tough guy (did movie makers ever let you notice that Tom Cruise is only, like, 4 feet tall?)  So, that was nice, Chad probably doesn't need to compensate.  And that actually worked for me, it goes to show that you can have a gay, short, dick who can deliver.  Very much so.

A problem I had with the movie is that I didn't really buy the relationship between Chad Allen and Sebastian Spence, who plays his husband (Chad Allen says they are married but the husband refers to him at one point as his partner, but whatever).  Their kisses are kinda cold, fast, barely touching lips.  That was a bit awkward; both are hot guys but there was just no chemistry between them.

Even with the few problems the movie has, you should absolutely not miss this one.  A hot gay private dick?  I'm all for it.  The movie is out on DVD.  Third Man Out (2005), also out on DVD, will soon to be reviewed here.

Small Town Gay Bar (2006) - LightShed 10

By Guest Reviewer Pam's House Blend

At the last NC Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, I saw small town gay bar, a documentary by Malcolm Ingram (it was exec produced by Kevin Smith, yes, the director of Clerks). It was a wonderful look at what social life is like for gays in the rural South. I mean really rural -- the two Mississippi bars profiled were in Shannon (pop. 1,657) and Meridian (39,968). Durham, for comparison's sake has an estimated pop. of 204,845.

Watching this film is like going back in time if you live in a progressive area or large city; the closet is a necessity here, as you might imagine. Being out can be a death sentence for these people. The bar is their only refuge, their only time to let their hair down, be themselves and feel safe to be who they are, as gays, lesbians, trans, black, white -- all that matters is that you know you aren't alone. Drag queens had a home to perform out and proud at Rumors and Crossroads (now called Different Seasons).

The audience howled as Ingram interviewed the unhinged Rotting Cryptkeeper^TM Fred Phelps. Fred was his animated self, talking about "fanning the flames of fag lust" and it was clear he's energized and surprised by "all the fags that come out to protest him."

The Phelps Klan picketed the funeral of Scotty Joe Weaver, who was killed right next door in Alabama. The 18-year-old out gay teen, known to many at the Mississippi bars, was murdered by a trio of backwoods homobigots; he was tied to a chair in his trailer, beaten, stabbed, and partially decapitated. His body was dumped in the woods and then set on fire. No wonder these people remain closeted.

And since this is Mississippi, Ingram had to stop by the HQ and nexus of homohate, Don and Tim Wildmon's American Family Association, which is in Tupelo. Interviewees said that Tim Wildmon and the AFA had people scoping out a local bridge in a small town in Mississippi taking down the tag numbers of people who were going over the bridge to go to the gay bar.

The next day on his radio show, Don would read the tag numbers on the air. This, he said, "would keep people accountable." Evil does exist.

One of the queens in the film (who does drag at the bars by night and is a veterinary tech by day), and the sister of one of the bar owners, said that the Wildmons are a bunch of hypocrites because they have a homo sitting right there in the family circle.

And that's no surprise, is it?

You may ask, why on earth do these gay folks stay in these tiny towns? They are subjected to the possible loss of a job if someone outs you, shunning by family, or worse, you end up like Scotty Weaver. Kate and I talked about this for a while [QB note: Kate is Pam's wife], but it's pretty clear that for many gays in rural areas, their fear of living in a hostile world like this is actually less stressful than the thought of living in a large, urban environment. The "big city" for them may be a 2-3 hour drive away, and it seems an inhospitable, cold place in comparison to the world they know and make for themselves. back home, hidden in the shadows of bars tucked away, deep in the woods.

It's both easy and difficult to understand. But the overwhelming theme running through this film is that we are everywhere. No matter how tight the bible belt is pulled, your tiny town has LGBT citizens, and they are making their space. The battle for survival and to be out in small towns is the last frontier. It's coming, and people like Wildmon are desperate to lean on that closet door to keep it firmly shut with their hate tactics. In the end, these fundies are going to lose.