Queer Beacon

Four Christmases (2008) - Shipwreck 4

This was pretty bad, I went to see it with a couple of friends from Brazil (a straight couple-- they liked it and laughed quite a bit).

In Four Christmases, Vince Vaughan and Reese Witherspoon play a couple terrified of spending Christmas with their families -- they don' want to confront their ghosts. Their attempt spend Christmas away from their families in Fiji fails when all flights are grounded due to bad weather and they end up on TV (this after having lied to their families -- they had said they were going to Burma to save children or sth like that). Seeing them on TV, their families talk them into spending time with them.

We have a bit of gay content.  While visiting Reese's mom family, we learn that the husband of Reese's sister (played by Kristen Chenoweth) "has experienced with men" -- Kristen reveals the news as a way to tell Reese how much she knows about her husband (and, to a lesser extent, how forgiving she is); Reese, meanwhile, knows nothing about her boyfriend Vince. Kristen might have talked about the gay experience in a somewhat positive light, but I think it came off as being just for laughs, at our expense.

Later in the same visit, Reese`s mom shows Vince pictures of Reese's lesbian phase (she basically had a very butch friend growing up; but soon after we learn Reese didn't actually know her friend was a lesbian). Vince shows what appears to be his support and understanding of the "lesbian phase" and I did want to see the scene in a good light, but at the end, again, I think it was all really just for laughs, at our expense ("at us, not with us" king of thing).

I must say, though, that if this is the way that homophobia is going to be portrayed, we are probably on a good track as at least there seems to have been an effort to not just go all purely derogatory on us; as I pointed out, the light can even arguably be seen as neutral to positive.

Independently of the gay content, the movie is pretty bad -- a waste of Reese's (and ours) time.

Burn After Reading (2008) - Shipwreck 4

Burn After Reading is better than mediocre, but not quite good. In the movie, Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand are world class losers who come across top secret info that John Malkovich lost (he plays an former CIA employee).  The two retards go on a quest to try to get money in exchange for the information they found -- they go to the CIA and the Russians trying to sell the info. Bad idea.

Brad Pitt was pretty bad in his portrayal of a stupid personal trainer and so was Frances in her protrayal of a shallow gym employee craving love and plastic surgery. Tilda was the only one doing some acting in the movie (she plays John Malkovich's wife, a cold and bitter bitch).

We have a tiny bit of bad gay content. In one scene, John Malkovich is talking to a colleague when the colleague realizes a guy is staring at John Malkovich, at which point the colleague asks John whether "he turned poof on me"...the tone was pretty derogatory.

Gone Baby Gone (2007) - Shipwreck 4

I am quite impressed with Ben Affleck's directorial debut.  I think he put together a great movie: dialogs are meaningful, regional accents are done right, the plot is full of twists and turns, and, more important, the acting is first rate.  Pretty much everybody does very well -- Amy Ryan, who was unknown to me, kicked ass as a trailer-park trash mom whose little daughter goes missing.  Casey Affleck (I always liked him) is also very good as a private dick out to help the search for the missing girl.  Ed Harris, who can be excellent, was a little off -- I'm blaming Affleck; but, still, great job.

As expected from trailer-park crack-whores, the mother homo-curses a few times (mostly 'faggot').  She is pretty much alone though; so, the light for the gays is not that bad.

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).

Factory Girl (2006) - Shipwreck 4

What a depressing movie.  It's good, but depressing...and bad for the gays.  The movie is not out to get the gays, I don't think, but whoever watches it can't help but feel that the gays either helped destroy a poor rich little girl or sat and watched and did nothing while the girl destroyed herself.

In Factory Girl, Sienna Miller plays, very well, the role of Edie Sedgwick, a precursor to Paris Hilton who came from big money and wanted to be famous in NY. 

Edie suffers quite a bit throughout her childhood, from being committed to a mental institution to being abused by her father; Edie then goes on to suffer some more in the hands of a manipulative Andy Warhol, played, also very well, by Guy Pierce.

The movie is not all bad for the gays.  First the good stuff: There's a very sweet scene in which Edie is recounting the story of a very close friend who was gay and was rejected by his family.  The gay's family put the little gay in an institution and some time after that the gay commits suicide -- that marks Edie for life because she loved that gay very much.  That was very sweet, sweet enough to almost move the movie's rating into a LightShed zone.  Also good: the monster of a father Edie has, says to Andy Warhol's face that he is a faggot, and this is over a fancy dinner with lots of people around -- the slur was good here because the movie has us strongly against Edie's father; so, his being a homophobe is no surprise and fits his evil character well.  It goes to show that only nasty idiots say that word.  Another bad guy who doesn't do much to save poor little Edie is played by Hayden Christensen, who plays a musician (apparently based on Bob Dylan) whom Edie falls for; he tries (but not too hard) to protect Edie from Andy Warhol and utters one or two homophobic remarks at Andy...not nice. 

We have those two bits of gay positive content, but in the end, the light for the gays is not good.  I left the movie with a feeling that the plot construed Andy as a bad, greedy guy -- there's nothing really wrong there, but (and this is bad) the movie also gives us the idea that the fact that Andy was gay had some effect on his evil deeds.

Factory Girl is a good movie, it's just out on DVD, but watch it at our own peril (did I mention it's depressing? and portrays the gays in a bad light?)

The History Boys (2006) - Shipwreck 4

The movie is good, even though the acting is a little too theatrical for me (well, the film is based on a play -- and has the same cast).

In The History Boys we follow a bunch of smart kids from a less than stellar grammar school in England preparing to try for Oxford and Cambridge.  Of the three teachers preparing them for the task, two are certainly gay, and the other could be a lesbian (like, seriously). 

Of the 8 students, one is gay and out, another is kinda bisexual.  It is the 80's but no one has a problem with their sexual orientation.

We have gay content from beginning to end, some of it very very good, but the balance, I think, is negative, and that's a pity: The History Boys would have otherwise been a highly recommendable movie.  The soundtrack, filled with sweet 80's tracks, is pretty good too.

I will talk about the gay content after the jump as it will ruin the plot quite a bit.  In any event, despite what I think of the light for the gays, I would be curious to know if you share my views.  Let me know if you see the movie.  You can queue it on Netflix or get it on DVD.

[SPOILER AHEAD]

Zodiac (2007) - Shipwreck 4

I didn't know the movie was two hours and forty minutes long until Kenneth posted about it.  I mean, for a thriller? Unnecessary, right?  I think the movie could have been shorter, certainly, but still, it was excellent. I loved it and I think you will too.

In Zodiac, we follow San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Jake Gyllenhaal in his effort to help homicide inspector Mark Ruffalo uncover the mysteries surrounding the crimes a serial killer that calls himself the Zodiac commits in the San Francisco area in the 1960s.  SF Chronicle crime reporter Robert Downey Jr. is in it too.  It is all very well put together.

We have content for our gay movie review.  The gay content is not that negative, but I didn't like it.  First, we see Robert Downey Jr.'s character typing an article about the Zodiac killer for his newspaper and in the article he says the killer is a "latent homosexual".  Not nice.  There is no evidence or discussion to that effect (that the killer would have been a homo), except that, apparently, the fact that the criminal targeted couples but it was the girls who seemed to get the worst of the violence is, thinly, offered as an evidence.  Later in the movie, Downey Jr.'s character gets a death threat from the killer and an SF Chronicle colleague says something like "that's what you get for calling him a 'latent homosexual'." Not nice either.

On the other hand, we see that a tranny goes to the police to provide tips about the killer, false tips; but they show all sorts of people, all giving false tips too, so that was kinda neutral.  At least it looks like the tranny is trying to help out.

Then, in another neutral gay reference, they briefly mention notoriously gay writer Armistead Maupin and his attack on the integrity of Mark Ruffalo's character (I will not provide details 'cause I don't want to give away too much). 

Nobody mentions Armistead is gay, but the people who are familiar with the name will surely know he is gay.

In the end, the gay content in Zodiac is on the negative side, but not so much, I think you can sit through this one and not be really offended.

In addition to the more explicitly gay content, Zodiac had lots of gay overtones (Shana thought so too).  I seriously think Jakey's character and Robert Downey Jr.'s character were gay (I bet the characters did each other in real life, but that's just me).  Anyway, there was a higher than usual number of gays in my theater -- go Jakey!

Watch the trailer for Zodiac or watch Jakey in his boxers after the jump.

Smokin' Aces (2007) - Shipwreck 4

In Smokin' Aces, FBI agents Ray Liota and Ryan Reynolds need to protect Jeremy Piven, a snitch who is about the tattle on the last of the big mafia bosses as a result of a deal with the feds.  The mafia boss offers one million dollars to whomever is able to kill le Piven and bring him his heart. 

Of course all sorts of perverted criminals line up for the hit, like the ones below.

We had a few homophobic scenes, starting with the lawyer representing Jeremy Piven calling the FBI agents he was negotiating with "cocksuckers."  We then see Alicia Keys character, who is part of a killing duo eying the million dollar prize, calling the three guys in an elevator (pic above) "faggotass red-necks;" then, we have a weird scene with a little karate-kid addressing Martin Henderson's character as a "fag," while stupidly threatening him with numchucks (pic below).

Other scenes of note, not necessarily homophobic, include one in which Jason Bateman, who plays a lawyer working for the firm representing Piven, asking Ben Affleck and his posse to transport Piven to a safer location (Piven is hiding in a hotel).  Bateman doesn't really care for the firm's client, so he says that Affleck's posse are "allowed" to rape Piven, or something.  We later see Bateman wearing panties and a bra.  Bateman's was a weird character, and the panties and bra were used to reassert that fact, not necessarily to get laughs our of cross-dressing, I think.  Anyway, I'm leaving those two scenes out of my rating.

We also had lesbian content.  The duo formed by Alicia Keys and Taraji Henson seemed to be a couple. 

My hubby thought that they were not really a couple, only Taraji had feelings for Alicia.  Taraji was warm for her form, and was a lesbian for sure, but I am indeed not sure whether Alicia was a lesbo as well.  Anyway, of all the killers who were after Jeremy Piven, the duo was the most likable, we learn a little more about their feelings and struggles.  Taraji even has a feminist argument with a hotel clerk over that hotel clerk not doing something to prevent a group of passing-by prostitutes to take the image of women down to the garbage (like kicking them out of the hotel for dressing all trampy and serving as sexual objects for men).  But, no doubt, both Taraji and Alicia are bad apples: they curse, N word and all, but again, you are made to like them of all the criminals, so maybe having them as lesbians isn't so bad.

In any event, I actually expected even more homophobia in a movie showing mafia related activity, but the homophobic utterances actually started well into the movie, maybe one hour into the movie.  Until then, I was thinking "wow, this is going great! We really don't need to have homophobia in a mob-movie in order for it to be fun." But, as if in a weird dark pairing, the plot starts to go sour (taking the movie along with it), as the homophobic utterances start to show their faces.  The movie was still good, but just barely. Joe Carnahan, writer/director, could have done a better job, and shame on him for allowing the homophobic slurs into his movie.

I will discuss one disturbingly homoerotic scene in the movie involving the hottest guy in showbiz right now (who appeared in a cameo), but I didn't want to spoil the surprise here on my front page.

[CAMEO SPOILER AHEAD]

Notes on a Scandal (2006) - Shipwreck 4

Judi Dench rocked me.  In Notes on a Scandal Judi delivered one of the great performances in movie history.  You can actually see the classic status settling in with each line she delivers.

We'll have tough competition this year in the best actress category with the performances from Helen Mirren, Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Hudson and now Judi Dench.  Judi was born to play this bitter bitch.  The acting and the movie are superb; the light on the gays, not so much.

In Notes on a Scandal Cate Blanchett is a daddy's girls who goes into teaching after raising her two kids.  She befriends Judi Dench, who teaches at the same school, and before you can say Mary Kay Letourneau, Cate puts out big time for a student.  Judi learns about the secret and blackmails the shit out of Cate while delivering wry pieces of her mind to us viewers, she narrates most of her thoughts.  Awesome.

The writing is superb and Judi delivers like Domino's.  A lot of people complain that movie adaptations usually fail to capture the essence of a book, and that complaint usually makes sense; if anything because books can give you a gateway into a character's mind and thoughts, you read about what the character is feeling at every moment, feelings are spelled out; but when those feelings are all spelled out onscreen (if they are at all) what was beautiful in the book can become quite annoying.  Gladly, this is not the case here.  Seriously.  The adaptation fromt the book is great.  The movie is perfect, I would not change a thing. 

I will talk about the gay content in the movie but that will give away too much of the plot.  So, read on or go see Notes on a Scandal, now!  Despite the not so great light for the gays, I strongly recommend that you see this movie.  It is just that good.

[SPOILER AHEAD]

You, Me and Dupree (2006) - Shipwreck 4

Awful movie.

In You, Me and Dupree, Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson get married.  Owen Wilson is Matt's bum friend, and best-man.  Owen gets fired from his job, loses his apartment and has nowhere to go.  He crashes at Matt's place and drives the newlyweds crazy.

We had gay content.  Bad gay content.  In one scene, Kate Hudson is talking to Matt Dillon about Owen Wilson's poetry, and Matt says something like: "What a big homo!"  Matt was unaware that Owen wrote poetry.  Hudson comes back with a "That's real mature!" 

Kate's comeback kinda canceled Matt Dillon's homophobic line, but then, at another scene, Owen himself tells Matt that he never talked about his poetry because he was afraid Matt would think he was a big homo.  The movie makes us like and root for both Matt and Owen's characters, and they both think that being a homo is a bad thing.  Not nice. 

The NY Times believes the "homo" lines in the movie are actually meant to conceal the real love going on, the love between Matt and Owen.  Man-crush kind of deal: "Not surprisingly, as is often the case with comedies like this, the important love in the film — the one that dares not speak its name, but compels the guys to toss around the word “homo” so no one gets the wrong idea — isn't’t between a man and woman, but two male friends. Considering that Molly [Kate Hudson] comes off as such a killjoy, clucking and scolding and nagging like mom, you understand why Carl [Matt Dillon] and Dupree [Owen Wilson] might want to sneak off — so do we."

Matt is not even shirtless in the movie (as he is here).  So, we are stuck with Owen Wilson's bare butt and no laughs. 

Can you believe I left this beach to go see You, Me and Dupree?

At least we got to listen to some excellent tunes.