Queer Beacon

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - LightShed 7

I wish we lived in a wold where, if they couldn't come up with a movie like Benjamin Button, they just wouldn't make a movie at all; we would have the guarantee of being completely swept away to another world for the price of a movie ticket. Seriously, movie-making doesn't get any better than this; and, if you ask me, I don't think this movie was nominated for enough Oscars (but for one or two scenes here and there -- which we could have done away with -- the movie is perfect).

In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Brad Pitt is a guy who is born old and grows younger with age. That superb circumstance allows the movie to portray the impossible and heartbreaking love story between our aging-challenged Brad Pitt and a person aging as we all do (played by Cate Blanchett). I started crying at the scene when a 7-year old Cate sees the old-looking Brad for the first time.

The acting is superb across the board (Cate easily deserved a nomination for her role here).

We had a tiny bit of gay content. In one scene, Cate Blanchett tells Brad that there are a few lesbians in her dance company and that one of them proposed sleeping with her, she seemed proud of that, she was very non-judgmental -- and so was Brad's character. Nice. Later on, when we see some of the people within her dance company, you could see some guys who could have been gay (ok, I'll say it: they looked pretty gay) -- but we don't really know that, so I'm leaving that out.

 

You absolutely must see this movie.

The Nanny Diaries (2007) - LightShed 7

What a pleasant surprise I had with The Nanny Diaries.  Initially, this would have been too much of a chick flick even for me, but I am glad a good friend dragged me into this one -- well, it was also nice to sit in the cool air of the theater, it has been hot here in NYC.

In Nanny Diaries, Scarlett Johansson is a college graduate trying to find out who she is; in an effort to take some time off to figure out her life, she nannies Laura Linney's little brat and falls for 'out-of-her-league' Chris Evans, who plays a rich Harvard graduate who lives in the same building where Scarlett nannies.  Laura is the Upper East Side's upper crust and makes Scarlett's life miserable.

Few bits of gay content.  First, when Scarlett is considering what she should do with her life she pictures herself as many women; she pictures those women walking around the streets of NY, the camera freezes the frame with the particular woman under consideration, and we see a little explanatory card...one of such cards lets us know that one of the women is a Park Slope lesbian attorney.  Cute.  Then, Laura Linney (the devil) says she went to Smith but that that does mean she is a lesbian. 

Finally, Scarlett's pal from college, played by Alicia Keys, shares an apartment with a gay guy (played by Nathan Corddry) -- Scarlett even teases her for being too happy, as though she were in a Will & Grace episode.

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.

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.

The Queen (2006) - LightShed 7

What an excellent movie!  I mentioned here earlier that Penelope Cruz should get the Oscar for her performance in Volver, but I will not be mad if Helen Mirren takes it home.

In The Queen, Helen Mirren is Her Majesty, and we get to watch her reaction and behavior in connection with Princess Diana's death.  Yummers!

She actually kinda looks like the real thing.

I remember the day of Diana's death well.  I bet a lot of people do to.  I was awaken in my law school dorm in D.C. by crazy students hitting on my door and yelling "Diana is dead! Diana is dead!"  I couldn't believe the hysteria.  And this was Washington, D.C.  Can you imagine what it was like in the U.K.?  If you can't imagine, you have got to see The Queen.  It's all there.

We had bits of gay content.  We see that Diana went to Gianni Versace's funeral and we see that she was close to Elton John.  Both big flaming gay homosexuals.  Also, at one point, Prince Philip is all mad about the media giving the royal family a hard time for not showing sorrow for Diana's death, and he complains that the list of guests for Diana's funeral was full of 'homosexuals.'  Philip is shown in a very bad light in The Queen, perhaps the worst light in the movie, so, his homophobic remark fits him well.

Run to the theaters!  You should not miss this one.

Art School Confidential (2006) - LightShed 7

Good movie.  I expected much more, but it was good.

In Art School Confidential, Max Minghella is a young artist who wants to make it big in the art world, he goes to a prestigious art school in New York and learns that the art world is way tougher than he thought.  Having talent is the least of his concerns -- he really has to learn how to "suck cock and lick ass" as a fellow artist, played by Jim Broadbent, explains. 

To make things crazier, there's a serial killer on the loose.

The great cast also included hottie Matt Keeslar (who played a gay character in Urbania), John Malkovich, and Angelica Huston.

We had tons of gay content, peppered throughout the entire movie.  Not all was positive though.

Here are some highlights from the gay content in the movie:

Early in the movie we see a butch girl with a backpack that carried an equal sign from the Human Rights Campaign, that was nice, even if she wasn't a lesbian.

Max Minghella has a roommate, played by Nick Swardson, who was obviously conflicted with his sexuality (you kinda get that from the trailer).  He is quite effeminate and he goes out of his way to say he misses his girlfriend right off the bat.

Two street punks call Max and his classmate, played by Joel Moore, faggots.  The punks say they make a cute couple in an offensive way, but Joel just shrugs and actually puts his arms around Max, not minding at all if he looks gay or not.  Excellent.

When Max tells his parents about a girlfriend (played by Sophia Myles) the parents hug each other in relief and happiness.  This was supposed to be funny but it's just offensive. Max's sister even spells out to Max that the reason why their parents are hugging is because they are happy to know Max is "not a homo."  I know that is probably the truth today and most parents would still be all happy and relieved to learn their kid is not gay, but that is sad.  Dianne Keaton in The Family Stone and Jack Thompson in The Sum of Us are just two great examples of how parents should behave with their gay kids.

Later on, we learn that Max's girlfriend (Sophia) had a lesbian affair with an artist.  The artist run into the new couple and she is all angry and crazy, but that's not a big deal.  Max acts naturally and don't even mention the fact (that his girlfriend had a lesbian affair).  So, that was nice. 

But when Sophia is alone, the artist tells her that she can crawl back to her when she is done with men, and kisses her on the lips.  Sophia dismisses her former lesbian lover by rolling her eyes and we can see Sophia was sort of embarrassed by her, so that was not so hot.

  Jim Broadbent plays a failed artist whose first advice to Max is to learn how to be good at cock sucking and ass licking.  Initially you think that Jim is actually making a pass on Max, but that's not the case.  Still, it was kind of a bad use of "cock sucking" and "ass licking" I thought.

I got major gay vibes from John Malkovich's character, but I'm not going there...

Oh, and there's a scene in which a male model poses for an art class.  The model is fugly but he is quite an exhibitionist -- and we see his sizable tool clearly and for quite a long screen time.

I will discuss two other incidents, one positive and one negative but they will spoil a bit of the movie.  Read on or go see Art School Confidential. [SPOILER AHEAD]

Ads - Axe Click - Ben Affleck Okay With Gay - LightShed 7

Man, what a lesson for Dodge.  Here we have a macho ad for a macho deodorant  -- Axe Click, and it carries positive gay content, with Ben Affleck!  Watch it now:

Read on for a few pics and the Nick Lachey version of the ad!

Grizzly Man (2005) - LightShed 7

Excellent movie.  What a crazy guy. Literally certifiable.  The documentary brought me a bit of the eerie feeling of The Blair Witch Project, it felt like something really screwed up was always about to happen.

In the documentary, Timothy Treadwell is an actor turned environmentalist who tries to bring attention to the endangered grizzly bears in Alaska.  He spends 13 summers with the bears in the wild, just hanging out.  Seriously wicked. 

Now to our gay movie review.  When Timothy is rambling to the camera about his troubled relationship with women, he mentions it would be much nicer if he was gay.  He does say the reason for that is that gay men can hook up easily, in restaurants, truck stops etc.  Well, I'll take it.  I don't see a problem in that stereotype actually.  Gay men, in general, do have it easier in the dating scene, so what's the problem with that?  To me, it's clearly the men part that's doing it's thing, not exactly the gay part.  You put two eager gay guys together and nothing can stop them.  Straighties can envy me as much as they want, and I'll like it.  Of course, not all gay men hook up that easily, and Timothy actually acknowledges it.  Super cute in his own lunatic way.

Go Herzog (the director and narrator)!  Go Timothy! Go Bears!

Friends With Money (2006) - LightShed 7

Excellent movie.

Here, J.Anis is a maid.  Catherine Keener is a screenplay writer and so is her husband Jason Isaacs.  They are having troubles.  Joan Cusack seems to be ok with her hubby Greg Germann.  Frances McDormand is having issues with life.  She is married to an effeminate "metrosexual," played by Simon McBurney.  In summary, we have three married women and their unmarried friend (J.Anis).  They are all rich, J is poor.

Another great ensemble flick.  The ensemble thing has been done a lot lately.  Maybe people are all really hooked on what they like.  Tastes and interests are getting narrower every day.  So, maybe, if a movie does not have something specific for everybody (and an ensemble cast movie usually has something for everybody) it may not get enough people to go see it.  I don't know.  The ensemble cast approach worked great in Nine Lives, which was one of the best movies of 2005, and is said to be the cause for the Oscar that Crash got.

J.Anis gets busy with Scott Caan, the only hottie in the movie.  He is a personal trainer/con.

I liked the dialogs a lot.  Nicole Holofcener wrote and directed the movie.  She's is good.  She got a great performance out of J.Anis (she was very good in The Good Girl too -- I'm so happy that my girl can act).  Anyway, I'll check out Nicole Holofcener's other movies: Lovely & Amazing, and Walking & Talking.  Lovely & Amazing seems to go along with the whole idea for Friends with Money.

Now to our gay movie review.  In one scene, Catherine Keener tells her husband that Frances' husband is gay.  She says it like it's just ridiculous for the guy to be married to a woman and hide his sexual identity.  I thought this was pretty good.

In another scene, Joan Cusack is in bed with Greg Germann and she talks about their son not playing with balls.  She is worried with that, so she asks her husband how he would feel if their son was gay.  The husband just replies that he doesn't want his son to feel pain.  Joan says that everybody feels pain.  And he comes back with something like: "...but the gay pain, I don't want him to feel the gay pain."  This was not too nice but I'll take it.  I guess it is still acceptable for parents to worry about their gay child suffering in a homophobic society, but they should fight that, right? They should fight against homophobia in society, not their child's identity.  Anyway, from their conversation in bed, it seems they would be fine with a gay son.  Worried, but fine.  Everybody laughed in the theater with the "gay pain" thing though.

Oh, there were LOTS of lesbians in the theater.  Super nice.

The rest of the discussion will entail the possible homosexuality of Frances McDormand's husband.  So I'll spoil that part of the plot if you keep reading after the jump.  So, go see the movie, watch the trailer, or read on.

Basic Instinct 2 (2006) - LightShed 7

Mediocre movie.  This time it's London that gets whored up by Sharon Stone.  She is this crazy novelist sexy bitch.  A psychiatrist, played by David Morrissey, evaluates her for a trial.  She sucks him into her black hole of mind games -- I love mind games.  The movie is already taking a beating at the box office, but it's not so bad, you can definitely wait for it to come out on DVD though.

Reportedly, Sharon Stone was turning down male co-stars left and right, and being a total control freak and that's why the movie got delayed so much (the original was released in 1992).  And she ends up with David Morrissey?  For one he is a troll, and his acting sucked ass.  She was ok in it, but she can act, she could have done more.  Watch Broken Flowers and Casino if you doubt me.  She was brilliant in both.

Also, I loved that she was older for the role.  I heard a lot of complaints about her age, but that's a bit of a bad double standard there.  Dennis Quaid is constantly without his shirt.  Pierce Brosnan and Harrison Ford get young girls all the time, and they act all sexy in their movies.  Why can't Sharon do the same?  She was hot in the movie, I don't think like it looked like she was trying too hard (ok, maybe a little), and her sexual interests weren't even young.  You go Sharon!  Just be less of a bitch next time and don't delay movies for more than 10 years, ok?

Now to our gay movie review.  Not a lot of gay content here, not as much as I would expect after Sharon's character was labeled a bisexual killer everywhere since 1992, but what was there was pretty good. 

In the first gay reference, this detective tells David Morrissey that Sharon had a girl buddy.  The second time, Sharon says that this girl is good in bed.  Also, we briefly see an artwork on the wall of the apartment of someone who died and the artwork depicts two hot girls kissing.  All said and done naturally.  Nice. 

Apart from that, there is a lot of lesbian tension, especially with Charlotte Rampling (she is excellent), but not much actual lesbian content:

   

Even so, the small references were positive, non-judgmental, almost neutral (neutrality in most instances is actually pretty positive). 

The Washington Blade has a great article on the gay reaction to the original Basic Instinct.  Gays hated it, for good reason.  In 1992, there were few representations of the gays in movies (we had only the killers and fuck-ups, like the killer in Silence of the Lambs).  The world is different now, and I don't think Basic Instinct 2 throws a negative light on the gays.  Quite the opposite.