Queer Beacon

The Aristocrats (2005) - LightShed 8

This movie is very entertaining, and I bet it is unlike any other documentary or comedy you have ever seen.  You should definately rent it.  The movie is all about one joke.  The joke is called "The Aristocrats" and is told by tons of different comedians, each with a completely different take but with the same ending.  Wikipedia has the format of the joke, but you should see the movie really.

The joke is also told by a few gay comedians including Mario Cantone, Judy Gold, and Taylor Negron, who says he is gay, in the very movie.  Yay!  They are all pretty funny, and I did not think that hearing the same joke a 100 times was tiring.  You should try it.  I thought it was very nice that the gays were included in what is usually a male dominated field.  Go gays!

The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004) - LightShed 6

A movie with Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Don Cheadle flying so under the radar?  Why is that?  The performances are great.  Here, Sean Penn is a slow ('I am Sam' slow) business man fed up with his invisibility and lack of success.  Don Cheadle is his black friend (the 'black' part was an issue in the '70s, the time of the movie) and Naomi Watts is divorcing him.  Sean Penn gets pretty crazy (beat Madonna crazy).  But something was missing in the movie.  Oh, yes, the plot.  The plot could have been (much) better, but still it was an ok rental.

The LightShed score is granted due to one single use of the word queer, but that goes a long way!  The score is not better because the gay content was almost not there (really, they just use the word 'queer').  At one point, Sean Penn is trying to get Naomi Watts to go with him to this function so that he can pretend he is still married (his divorce is in the closet), and she says something like: "Why should your boss care if you are married, divorced or queer?"  Yay!  Go Naomi!  You tell them!

I guess you can rent the movie (or beam it).  The acting really is good.