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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1996)
j u s t ou« ▼ ju n o 7 , 1 9 0 6 ▼ 3 3 Continued from page 31 for witchcraft. Although sometimes visually resembling a shampoo commercial, the film smartly parallels the medieval story of persecution and heroism with the modem predicament of the nontradi- tional family and points out that while much has changed, all too much has not. (U.S., 1995, dir. Megan Siler) W h o K i l l e d T e d d y B e a r ? • 7 p m J u n e 26; 3 pm J u n e 29 This movie is so gravely nutty that it seems to have hairs from Ed Wood’s angora sweater all over it. It’s a twisted rock ’n’ roll psychodrama where every single character is clinically men tally ill. The queer content is all subconscious, and the real story is repressed. Juliet Prowse (watch her hedonistic dancing), Sal Mineo (see him pump iron) and Elaine Stritch (thrill to her in a fur coat with nothing underneath) do the best they can with what drek they’ re given. Jan Murray is stunning— in the bad sense—in his role as a cop. His performance enables the viewer to imag ine the part as it might have been played by a psychotic cardboard box. The camp value of the film’s first half couldn’t be higher, and a documentary montage of New York City ’s ’60s-era pom wares is instmctive, but feminists of all genders will regret that the plot kinks work themselves out through the same old terrorization of women—leading to rape and mur der. It is not in this that the film dates itself. (U.S., 1965, dir. Joseph Cates) T h i n I c e • 7 p m J u n e 27 Plenty of viewers will enjoy this British les bian ice skating picture, complete with footage shot at the 1994 Gay Games and the Stonewall 25 celebrations (the actors even get to carry a hem of the mile-long Rainbow Flag). The movie is ear nest and very, very perky. But be forewarned: It’s a variation on a seemingly endless theme of the sultry, aggressor dyke (here played by Sabra Williams) who initiates the doe-eyed, slightly confused-looking innocent (Charlotte Avery) into the life, and yes, they have to get drunk first. In this case, there’s not much chemistry or motiva tion apparent—in fact, the innocent has been lied to and manipulated but still comes back for more. The two are amateur skaters who represent England at Gay Games IV (most of the plot centers around the pitfalls to their getting there). Sir Ian McKellen does some of his best acting ever in a bit part: He watches the duo compete at the big event and looks like he’s having a good time. (U.K., 1994, dir. Fiona Cunningham Reid) M a d a g a s c a r S k i n • 9:15 p m J u n e 28 For my money, this film is the best of what I viewed of this year’s festival. Anyone who loved Newby’s 1993 work, The Anchoress, will find the same informing elements here: a hero who breaks with the world to find his own soul; a sparse, contemplative but sensuous and comical filmic landscape. Anyone who thrives on images that surprise with both their depth and inventiveness will find a treasure in Madagascar Skin. Being one who doesn’t like knowing too much about a movie in advance, especially if I think I ’ m going to like it, I’d prefer to say nothing more about this film than “don’t miss it.” But if you need some thread to tug at your curiosity, the questing loner (John Hannah), a young Scots gay man with half of his face kissed by a scarlet stain, abandons the world to live in a beached car cloaked in seaweed, and eat tins of soup and what booty the tide tosses up. One day he discovers a head (Bernard Hill, Drowning by Numbers) be neath an overturned toy bucket, and his life is changed irrevocably... Therein lies the tale. (U.K., 1995, dir. Chris Newby) M e n m a n ia c s • 11:15 p m J u n e 29; 9 p m J u n e 30 It goes without saying that leather enthusiasts will be in attendance at this documentary cover ing the two primary leather contests, International Mr. Leather and International Mr. Drummer. But anyone who has wanted an introduction to the leather community—painlessly, so to speak— can pick up a brief history, learn the pressing issues, and meet a few of its members. One of the latter complains that the conventions have grown too long and that attendance is suffering for it. For vanilla audiences, the same might be said of the contest portions of the film. Really, the leather jock strap seems to have relatively few variations. The film is at its best when letting leathermen speak for themselves about what their passion is all about. Mr. Portland Leather 1994, Paul Smith, is interviewed at length, and Portland artist Bill Schmeling, a k a The Hun, speaks briefly and shows a bit of his graphic art. The comments of one leatherwoman are included. The statements of a couple of men on the meaning of HIV infection in their lives, and the mention by another man of his perception of a death wish among some in the community touch on the most disturbing aspects of this film. More than one man seems to say that becoming positive is the result of living one’s life fully, and Smith goes so far as to say that if he could undo the past he wouldn’t change any behaviors to stay nega tive. For outsiders, some of what is depicted will be difficult to understand, but it is these attitudes that will be hardest to accept. (Germany, 1995, in English with some subtitles, dir. Jochen Hick) R a i s i n g H e r o e s • 7 p m J u n e 30 Tilde 5wuuon.in Female E civcimqjis Bernard Hill (left) and John Hannah in Madagascar Skin The first gay action heroes are here. Van Damme and Amie they’re not, and the holes in this script begin before the shooting starts. But the result is tension-packed and bloody enough for the staunchest thrill-seeker, and for your tender side, the heroes are also involved in a custody battle for their young son. The film’s director will appear at the screen ing. (U.S., 1995, dir. Douglas Langway) Festival Fare That Went , Ala-s, Unscreened young African American man escaping from a prison and hides him from the police. The director will appear at the screening. (U.S., 1995, dir. John G. Young) T h e H u n g e r • 9 p m J u n e 25 Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon, David Bowie, lesbian vampires— what more needs to be said? Savor again the scene (as she relates in The Celluloid Closet) for which Sarandon demanded the right to be seduced sober by The Luscious One. (U.S., 1983, dir. Tony Scott) N e u r o s i a : 5 0 Y e a r s o f P e r v e r s i t y • 9 I S h o t A n d y W a r h o l • 9:30 p m J u n e 21 pm Lili Taylor (Household Saints) stars as Valerie Solanas, author of the SCUM Manifesto, in this sure-fire sensation. Check out the review by Holly Woodlawn, a product of Warhol’s Factory, in the May 28 issue of The Advocate. (U.S., 1995, dir. Mary Harron) Von Praunheim (A Virus Knows No Morals) plays himself in a campy, satirical murder mys tery where he is the victim. (Germany, 1995, in English, dir. Rosa von Praunheim) F e m a l e P e r v e r s i o n s • 7 p m J u n e 22 A hit on the festival circuit, this film is de scribed as a “beautifully designed meditation on feminine and feminist obsession and the patriar chal repression that produces it.” It stars Tilda Swinton (Orlando) and Amy Madigan. (U.S., 1995, dir. Susan Streitfeld) R e d R i b b o n B l u e s • 9:30 p m J u n e 22 RuPaul and John “Lypsinka” Epperson (both out of drag!) star with Debi Mazar and Paul Mercurio as members of an HIV support group whose drugstore theft of the miracle AIDS drug "D-64” escalates into a cause célèbre. (U.S., 1995, dir. Charles Winkler) C r u i s i n g • 11:30 p m J u n e 22 Picketed by queers when it was released, this graphically violent shocker pits an undercover cop (A1 Pacino) against a serial killer preying on members of New Y ork City ’ s leather scene. If you can take it, here’s a chance to see what all the fuss was about. (U.S., 1980, dir. William Friedkin) J u n e 27 E v e r y t h i n g R e l a t i v e • 7 p m J u n e 28 Old friends gather for a Jewish lesbian couple’s bris for their baby. Critically hailed as the lesbian Return o f the Secaucus Seven (OK, they said The Big Chill). The director will be on hand for the show. (U.S., 1995, dir. Sharon Pollack) S h o w g i r l s «11 p m J u n e 28 Elizabeth Berkley and Kyle MacLachlan mouth Joe Ezsterhas’ words and now you— h la Rocky Horror—can do so too! (U.S., 1995, dir. Paul Verhoeven) P a r t i n g G l a n c e s • 5 p m J u n e 29 I saw this on video about a year ago and was glad to find that it holds up quite well. Steve Buscemi still shines as the winsome and wise cracking Nick, the silver screen’s first character with AIDS. (U.S., 1986, dir. Bill Sherwood) C o s t a B r a v a • 7 p m J u n e 29 A sophisticated romantic lesbian comedy set in Barcelona. (Spain, 1994, in English, dir. Marta Balletbo-Coll) F l i r t • 3 p m J u n e 30 B o y s i n t h e B a n d • 2:30 p m J u n e 23; 9 pm J u n e 24 View or review this period piece based on the 1968 play by Mart Crowley just in time for the play’s revival at the WPA Theatre in New York. Crowley has said that he intends to modify the script for the shorter attention span of today’s audiences, so lap up the entire helping of bitter barbs here first.(U.S., 1970, dir. William Friedkin) Set in Germany, the United States and Japan, three parallel stories of seduction form variations on a universal theme. With Bill Sage, Martin Donovan and Parker Posey. (U.S., 1995, dir. Hal Hartley) B u t t e r f l y K i s s • 5 p m J u n e 30 What if Jean Claude van Damme and Arnold Amanda Plummer and Saskia Reeves star in a Schwartzenegger starred together in an action pic gritty lesbian tale of obsession and redemption. and after dusting off a slew of scum-suckers gave (U.K., 1995, dir. Michael Winterbottom) each other a big kiss? Perchance you have played P a r a l l e l S o n s • 7 p m J u n e 23 out such a scenario in your mind's eye. Now those V W . n m ip ¿JW l W Q IWS ? .1. W T^angf, sq U tfreattr. at U3-4&15. jmage&canJlickerTKfosary&uonahiggets^Eeen:«. . ,