Queer Beacon

Small Sins Rules!

I was very happy the other day when Smalls Sins posted an ad here on the QB. I knew their music already and like it a lot.  They are now touring with Scissors Sisters, another favorite.

You should really check out their music.  Here's a video of their performance here in Seattle in June 2006:

You can check out a few other songs here and other videos here. 

"People who review our record often liken us to The Postal Service, Granddaddy or Death Cab for Cutie. However, those who have seen us live (a much different experience) sometimes compare us to The Talking Heads, Devo and many others."

I got their self-titled debut CD on iTunes:

Shortbus (2006) - LightShed 10

I was expecting way more from Shortbus.  The movie was okay, it wasn't bad, but I was expecting something of the caliber of Hedwig, and Shortbus is amateurish in comparison with John Cameron Mitchell's debut.

In Shortbus, we follow a bunch of people who are experimenting with their sexuality in an attempt to find happiness and let people penetrate them, emotionally.  In New York.  Cute, right?

The main characters in Shortbus include Sook-Yin Lee, playing a sex therapist who never had an orgasm, and Paul Dawson and PJ DeBoy, playing a gay couple entertaining an open relationship. 

I knew about all the genitalia in the movie, erections everywhere, orgies and all, and I went into the movie thinking it was really just going to be an excellent mainstream porn movie.  But it is not at all like that, you should really believe when you read the movie is about sexuality, not porn.  Although the countless sex scenes are very candid, you don't really see porn anywhere.  Most of those scenes carry a quite heavy emotional content. 

I guess for that reason alone the movie deserves to be seen.

You see all sorts of sexual orientations in Shortbus, and although some of the scenes may be a tad shocking (nothing too bad though I don't think), the positive message of acceptance was everywhere.

The soundtrack was superb.  I can't wait for it to come out on November 7.  I saw the movie in the Vancouver International Film Festival, but you can check if it's playing in a theater near you, here.

Unfortunately, most of the reviews I read were harsh.  The trailer is here.

The Last Kiss (2006) - LightShed 8

Have you guys heard the opening theme for Weeds?  The song is called Little Boxes, by Malvina Reynolds, I love it, it's about how people are so squared and lacking in diversity nowadays.  People grow up, get a higher education, family, and all end up looking just the same.  In The Last Kiss, Zach Braff's character is faced with the prospect of becoming one more example of what Reynolds sings about, of not having any more surprises in his life.  Sameness scares him, he might become just like any other guy and live a dull life. 

You may think that Zach's character is not at all actually concerned with looking and living like every other guy, that he is just concerned that he'll have to finally grow up and won't get to have (immature) fun anymore.

But I bought his desperation at the prospect of "no more surprises," his fear that everything will be super planned from now on. 

His life has been perfect.  He has a good career as an architect.  The girlfriend is pretty, smart, and nice, with loving parents (played well by Tom Wilkinson and Blythe Danner), and she is pregnant.

Zach meets this cute little girl in a wedding party, he is about to turn 30 -- he starts to wonder whether that is it for him, whether his life is over and from then on all he would have is dullness.  Should he give in to temptation and fool around?  Will that take him anywhere?

A date movie cannot get better than this.  I disagree with the few lukewarm reviews it got. 

The Last Kiss is a little on the somber side in that it is highly doubtful of happiness and the potential success of relationships.  Most of Zach's friends are also in bad shape one way or another, and the little development their characters get are meant, I guess, to show that Zach is not alone in his doubts and disenchantment with his future. 

The acting was very solid across the board, and the two main girls in the movie stole the show, they were awesome.  One was Zach's girlfriend, played by Jacinda Barrett, and the other one was Zach's girl-toy, played by The O.C.'s Rachel Bilson.  They both rocked.

And we had gay content.  In the first scene with gay content, we have two hot lesbians going at it, for the amusement of guys though...not ideal, to say the least, but I'll take it, it was positive.

Then, Casey Affleck sees Michael Weston's former girlfriend dancing with a guy (Casey and Michael are two of Zach's best friends).  Michael gets all jealous and Casey tries to calm him by saying that the guy the girl is dancing with is gay.  That he looks too good to be straight. 

And there's a little more.  We see that Zach Braff's neighbors are gay.  Yay.  Their being gay is not really spelled out, but they kinda behaved like a couple, a regular, common couple hanging out on their front porch a few times, and one of the gays even sort of helps Zach with a certain issue.  Go us!

The soundtrack?  Yummie.

What can I say, I love the stuff Zach is involved with, Garden State was one of the best movies of 2004 (certainly the most overlooked movie of that year), and Scrubs is still pretty funny.  Oh, and remember one of his breakthrough roles was in The Broken Hearts Club, where he played a gay guy (that movie was pretty bad though). 

Kudos for Paul Haggins, the writer (yeah, the guy was behind Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Casino Royale...)

Go see The Last Kiss in theaters.

VW Rabbit - Ad Song

Just in case you were wondering, the song in the new Rabbit ad is called "The Birds and the Bees," by Patrick & Eugene.  I just got it off iTunes.  Get it here:

You can see the ad here.

Miami Vice (2006) - LightShed 5

Miami Vice is mediocre.  The movie had quite a few great action scenes but you will not be so interested in actually watching them.  Strangely for a gay man, I was especially less interested when Colin Farrell was in the scene.  I think he is super hot, and he was hot in Miami Vice, but he was so bad -- he messed up every single line he had in the movie.

In Miami Vice Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx bring back to life the characters once played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas in the 80s.  Colin and Jamie are out to uncover a big drug operation, but they also take their time with the ladies.  They get it on with co-workers and criminals.

Gong Li, who played one of the criminals, is the only one doing some acting in Miami Vice; Jamie, who is one of my favorites, does not live up to any expectations, he is dull in Miami Vice.

We had almost no gay content.  The one tiny bit of queerness comes from a question Jamie Foxx makes to a drug dealer.  Jamie and Colin are undercover, and the drug dealer is evaluating Jamie and Colin for a potential partnership; he says he doesn't like the way Colin looks.  Jamie just asks whether he wants to work with Colin or whether he wants to fuck Colin.  No bad reactions or anything.  So that's good, I guess.

The Brown Bunny (2004) - No Gay Content

Very boring.  This could have been an outstanding short movie, but as a full length flick it was barely watchable. 

In The Brown Bunny, we see that Vincent Gallo's character is a troubled motorcycle racer.  He is trying to get over a girl and we follow him in his journey from New Hampshire (he had a race there) back home to California.  He makes a few stops along the way, makes small talk with a few girls, but during most of the movie we only see him driving, and pensive. 

It was all very artsy, and you may like it actually, the scenes were mostly beautiful, introspective, and either quiet or with a nice soundtrack.  But none of that worked for me -- not much happens most of the time.  I do know this is the whole point of this type of 'artsy' movie, I guess you are supposed to just see how the character is dealing with his issues, in a quiet manner, but again, not for me  -- I prefer to see a little more action.

I say The Brown Bunny could have been a truly excellent short film because the little that does happen in the movie, the little actual acting involved, the little lines delivered, were all superb.  Every cameo was perfect.  Chloë Sevigny's small amount of screen time, unforgettable.  But again, the movie is very boring in between the real action scenes.

The controversial and much talked about scene is really explicit.  In the scene, a sex scene of course, Chloe gives Vincent a blow job -- and she really does blow Vincent Gallo.  Totally "I can't believe it's not porn" material.  You can get a glimpse of that scene, including Vincent Gallo's erect shaft, here (certainly not safe for work!). 

No gay content.

C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) - LightShed 10

Excellent movie.  You should believe the hype behind C.R.A.Z.Y.  Watch the trailer here. 

I saw this flick at the Seattle International Film Festival and the lines were huge, more so than for other movies in the festival.

In this French-Canadian dramedy, Quebecois Marc-Andre Grondin is a teenager going through self-discovery.  That was for me the most important aspect in the movie, but there were quite a few other family issues addressed (father-son relationship, father-wife relationship, growing up in the 60s, etc.).  You are guaranteed to laugh out loud, and cry. 

I have to admit I had some problem giving C.R.A.Z.Y. the much coveted (as if...) LightShed 10 score, but I think the light was overwhelmingly positive after all.  The gay coming of age we see in the movie shows the pain and complexity you would see in real life.  I could relate to several parts of the movie and I believe you will too.

Our gay Marc-Andre does not want to be gay.  "I'd rather die than be gay."  Our main character tells his shrink, in an appointment arranged by his father, who wants his son to be straight.  To "cure" him.  All very painful to watch.

In Brokeback we are told by Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger's character) that boys learn to hate gays at an early age and that you should hate yourself if you are gay (that is the case 'till this day in many many parts of the world).  In C.R.A.Z.Y., we actually see the self-hate process at play.  How it all starts.  You see the first time a boy is called a faggot, how harsh that is, and what that does to him.

It took director Jean-Marc Valle (pic on the right) 10 years to come up with C.R.A.Z.Y., and I can't wait for his next flicks.  Look what he said about the movie:

“I wanted to show my sons [Émile and Alex] that everyone has something to offer. I wanted to show them that acceptance of people who are different is the way to go.”

Awesome.  We need more straighties like that!

The soundtrack is excellent, great Pink Floyd and David Bowie songs (like Major Tom, etc.).  The movie also had lots of Charles Aznavour and Patsy Cline songs -- I don't really like those, but they made lots of sense in the movie.

I will discuss one more incident in the movie, but the discussion will reveal a bit too much.  Read on or go get this movie as soon as you can.  As of now, the movie is not available on Netflix, but you can get it on Amazon.

[SORT OF SPOILER AHEAD]

Elizabethtown (2005) - No Gay Content

Very good movie. 

Here, Orlando Bloom bombs at a huge shoe project from the company he works for.  He makes the company lose hundreds of millions of dollars, he gets fired, gets dumped by his girlfriend, and his father dies. 

Suicidal, he goes back to his town in Kentucky, Elizabethtown, to deal with it all.  On the way, he finds Kirsten Dunst.

The reviews said the movie was mediocre at best, and I sort of understand where they come from.  There were a few hard to believe, or just tacky, scenes, like the one where Orlando is flying in an empty airplane.  However, I liked the movie a lot.  It was very entertaining.  Orlando and Kirsten were able to keep it together, I thought, and Susan Sarandon (who played Orlando's mom), Alec Baldwin (who plays his boss), Judy Greer (the sister) and the soundtrack provided excellent support.

I was a little sad to see a nice chick flick without any gay content :-( 

Maybe it had something to to do with Tom Cruise being one of the producers).

Jody Watley - The Makeover

You can get Borderline here:

I like that song a lot.  I heard it at her concert during the Seattle Pride Weekend.

A few more pics of La Watley after the jump.

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.