Queer Beacon

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.

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]

Sherrybaby (2006) - LightShed 5

Very good movie, excellent performances by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Brad William Henke (he is the actor who played a lovely gay teacher in Must Love Dogs).

In Sherrybaby, Maggie plays a drug addict fresh out of prison who wants to reconnect with her daughter.  While she was in prison, the daughter stayed with Maggie's brother, played by Brad Henke, and his wife, played by Bridget Barkan.

Our gay content comes in a scene in which the sister-in-law asks whether Maggie did it with a girl in prison, to which Maggie replies: no.  The conversation and the tone of the response were pretty neutral, non-judgmental.

Sherrybaby is just out on DVD and you should see it, Maggie's performance got her a nomination for a Golden Globe (she lost to Helen Mirren, though).

Summer Storm (Sommersturm 2004) - LightShed 10

Guys, Summer Storm is so cute.  It's such a good movie.

In the movie, Robert Stadlober plays a teenager who is the star of his small town rowing team.  He falls for his best friend Achim, played by Kostja Ullman. 

They go to a summer camp.  There, a girl gets in the way of their friendship, and a gay rowing team called Queerstrokes helps them all grow up.

Solid acting, great production value.  You should definitely see Summer Storm (you can get it on DVD). 

The light for us gays is extremely positive, even with the few homophobic slurs and one or two stereotypes.  I will talk about those after the jump.  My discussion will reveal a bit too much though.

Watch the trailer for Summer Storm here:

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.

Snakes on a Plane (2006) - LightShed 5

Snakes on a Plane is every bit as retarded as you think it would be.  And you'll like it.  It's a solid B-movie if there ever was one.

In Snakes on a Plane, Nathan Phillips is vacationing in Hawaii; he witnesses the execution of an L.A. prosecutor, and next thing you know FBI agent Sam Jackson is trying to take the hottie to L.A. to testify.  The mob people that will be incriminated by Nathan's testimony put tons of snakes in his plane.  It's that simple.

Our gay content is brought to us by Bruce James:

My discussion of his gaiety will ruin a bit of the plot, so read on, or go watch this delicious piece of crap.

[SPOILER AHEAD]

Shadowboxer (2006) - LightShed 5

Good movie. 

In Shadowboxer, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren are a couple and contract killers, oh, and stepmother and stepson.  They are hired to kill a pregnant Vanessa Ferlito, who plays the wife of a nasty mob kingpin (Stephen Dorff).  As Helen is about to shoot Vanessa, she starts to have her baby and Helen decides to protect mother and baby.

The movie is somber but somehow not as gross as you'd think (considering the edgy stepmother/stepson sex scenes -- they almost make you not pay attention to all the screen time Cuba's butt gets, almost).

Helen and Cuba were dressed by Vivienne Westwood:

The Westwood wardrobe was not the only gay content in Shadowboxer.  We had a bit more for our gay movie review.  In the first scene with gay content, Macy Gray (who plays Vanessa's best friend) is in a bar, and we see a transvestite/tranny sitting there, just chilling.  Macy Gray buys her a drink.  Cute, right?

But then, later, one of Cuba's hits turns out to be a dad who likes to get it from behind from transvestites.  Cuba shows up in drag and as the dad bends over, Cuba shoots him but sees a card written by the guy's son.  That was a bit of negative light (I think it is fair to assume the guy was cheating on his wife, but that is not certain though).

There were quite a few homo-erotic moments.  In the first homo moment, in the beginning of the movie, before Stephen Dorff is about to kill a guy, he kind of caresses the guy's hair a few times.  Gently and sexually almost.  Later, in an after work-out scene, Cuba is in the locker room and a guy passes behind him, very close.  Cuba acknowledges that but is not bothered.

Everybody was hot in the movie.  Stephen Dorff and Cuba were hot beyond belief.  And Stephen goes full frontal.  You can really see the whole thing, right in the middle of a sex scene. 

Stephen is giving it to a lady, and there's quite a bit of agitation outside his room, so he gets out and you see all.  His sizable tool was protected only by a condom.  And it was soft, flaccid, not semi-erect.   

The movie was so sexual that I almost put it in the I Can't Believe It's Not Porn category, but the lack of a hard penis kept the movie out of that club.  An erect penis is where I draw the line.

So, we had two diverse, uncommon couples, Cuba and Helen, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Mo'nique.  I almost wanted a gay couple included, but was glad there was none. 

The couples, as nicely diverse as they were, turned out to be disturbingly dysfunctional.  Helen and Cuba were stepmother/stepson, and Joseph and Mo'nique were pretty screwed up, she a crack whore and Joseph a mob physician.  So, I was glad us gays were not equated.

Watch the trailer after the jump.

Scoop (2006) - No Gay Content

Very good movie.

In Scoop, Scarlett Johansson is a journalism student vacationing in London.  The ghost of a recently deceased journalist gives her the scoop on a huge crime story while she is inside this magician's trick closet.  The magician is played by Woody Allen, who helps Scarlett investigate the story.  Hugh Jackman is an aristocrat who gets sucked into the plot.

Hugh was perfect for the role, he oozes the old money and charm the role required, but I didn't buy Scarlett in her role -- she was sort of a young female version of Woody Allen in the movie.  Being Woody Allen in a movie works well sometimes (recently, think Will Ferrell in Melinda, and Jason Biggs in Anything Else), but not always (think Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity). 

Unlike Match Point, a true masterpiece -- hard for someone not to like, Scoop is a regular Woody Allen movie, but a very good one, with his usual neurosis, fears, misanthropy  -- you are sure to like it if you like his stuff.  I do.

No gay content, though...

...except perhaps for the very brief mention of Hugh Jackman possibly being a closeted cross-dresser.  Woody Allen is the one talking about the issue, as something Hugh would hide from Scarlett.  It's all part of one of his crazy neurotic outbursts...

A Scanner Darkly (2006) - LightShed 6

Good movie.   

If you have seen the trailer, you know the movie was animated.  The technique used is called rotoscoping.  Richard Linklater actually shot the whole movie with the real cast and then a software converted the images into the animation we see.  It takes about 500 hours to produce only 1 minute of animated movie, can you believe it?  So, after the movie had been shot it took an additional 18 months to finalize the animation.  The result is stunning and has a perfect fit with the plot.

In A Scanner Darkly, Keanu Reeves plays an undercover cop who is trying to score a big drug bust, for that reason he befriends this small bunch of druggies.  Winona provides the drug (it's called Substance D), and Keanu, Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson pop it like crazy.  They are stoned most of the time and the lysergic animation gives you an idea of how the characters see and feel things.  That's my take, anyway.

I always liked Winona, Woody and even Keanu (there, I admit it), but you should see this movie for Robert Downey Jr.'s performance.  He plays the perfect junkie blabbermouth -- he is lost, shallow, unreliable.

Now to our gay movie review.  In on scene, Keanu Reeves is in the bedroom with Lisa Marie Newmyer, and she asks about his housemates Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr., who were both out playing in the front-yard.  Lisa asks Keanu if they live there, Keanu  says they do, and she asks whether Keanu is gay.  He answers something like: "I try not to be, that's why I've arranged this transaction with you."  So, he's not gay but it's not a big deal to have been asked.  He wasn't offended.  Both question and answer carried a pretty neutral tone...Keanu and Lisa have sex and we can see a very fast dick shot.  Animated dick shot. 

In real life, we are still not sure about Keanu's sexuality.  It appears he denied being gay, but refuses to answer if he is bisexual or heterosexual.  Anyway, his butt shots are after the jump.

Superman Returns (2006) - No Gay Content

Excellent movie.  You will leave the theater craving for more, even after sitting there for more than two hours and a half. 

I just came back from an advance screening here in Seattle.  The theater was packed with teenagers.  All screaming their lungs out.  And they had every reason to do so.

Watch the trailer here, if you still need more incentives to go see this outstanding movie.

As you should know by now, in Superman Returns, Brandon Routh plays the Man of Steel.  He had disappeared for 5 years because he was searching for whatever he could find from his old world.  He comes back.   Kate Bosworth plays Louis Lane, Superman's love interest, who moves on the minute Superman goes away without saying goodbye.  Can you blame her, though?  She "moves on" with James Marsden, who is Kate's fiance in the movie.

On the evil side, we have Kevin Spacey, playing Lex Luthor, who pulls an Anna Nicole on a rich old lady.  He finds a pretty creative way to make a killing at the real estate market (seriously).  Parker Posey plays Luthor's, uh, girlfriend.

The cast could not have been better picked.  Brandon was absolutely flawless as Superman/Clark Kent.  Christopher Reeve would have been proud, I bet.  Kevin was the perfect Lex Luthor.  He was just delicious.  Everybody else was very good.  Sam Huntington played a very funny Jimmy Olsen -- he worked in the Daily Planet and gave Clark Kent much of the updates on what happened while he was away.

We had quite a slate of mega blockbusters this summer: X-Men 3, The Da Vinci Code, Mission Impossible III, etc. 

Although Superman certainly received a lot of attention (especially from us gays), I don't think it got as much exposure as the other blockbusters mentioned here.  And, even though I very much enjoyed all the blockbusters so far, I think Superman was the only one to live up to the hype. 

I believe much of the credit should go to director Bryan Singer, who is a super talented gay (that's him in the pic below).

I love pretty much everything he has done so far.

I like that Bryan gets Ian McKellen all the time (X-Men, X-Men 2, and Apt Pupil), but it was nice of him to pick another gay actor to play the villain.  This time our villain is played by Kevin Spacey (who will not discuss his sexuality...whatever). 

Ian has been the correct choice for villains if you believe box office revenue is any indicator (click on the chart above on the left for a bigger picture).  Anyway, I like them both and Bryan should really alternate between his gays.  And more important, include actual gay content in his movies.  So, sadly, after all the fanfare, I have to say there was nothing gay in Superman Returns. 

You can take a look at the various actors who played Superman over the years, after the jump.