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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1998)
17 Paulina Porizkova (left) and Tilda Swinton in Female Perversions M a «' n ftfC A M Mfl/c p i l t * : Ntw í A aí tAe S Love! Valour! Compassion! eellultid eltfti A m Terrence McNally’s tragicomedy about friendship and sex among eight gay friends is funny, touching, maudlin, sad and U e o H c a eellultid alternately uplifting. It is also unapologetically gay. The film played in many suburban multiplexes, tAMp^ituud, tAcre Are where straights became witness to men kissing men, full frontal nudity and frank discussions plenty t( (¡I m * ft of gay life in the time of AIDS. S Kiss Me, Guido consider (ft tut tv h P aramount Pictures, hoping to cash in on the “gay craze,” picked up this independent AVAtde *Atw film and released it both theatrically and on by R aymond M urray O his was a mixed year for gay men and lesbians in ed that even he doesn’t suspect himself; Joan Cusack, as his frantically frustrated fiancée; and Tom Selleck, as a gay television news reporter. The famous leg-lifting kiss between Kline and Selleck was a surprise for gay and straight audiences alike. Written by the gay Paul Rudnick, the film does not attempt to be political or evtn-handed, just plain fun. S Lilies Canada’s John Greyson has created an impressively complex and beautifully crafted gay drama. Set in a prison and utilizing the atrical artifice and flashbacks, the story’s tale of jealousy, love, revenge and redemption among young students (and later when they are older men) builds to a powerful conclusion. video. A broad comedy, it’s filled with familiar gay and straight stereotypes and follows a naive Italian beauty from the Bronx who ven tures down to Greenwich Village— only to be thrown into a world of homosexuality, gay bons mots and Julie Andrews films! And the winner is... ® Beautiful Thing film. Hollywood offered a few notable productions (In and Out, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), and there was a certifiable deluge o f minor gay characters in many straight'themed film s , but the studios virtually dropped lesbian characters, lesbian chic apparently forgotten. (Accordingly, there is no category this year for Best M ainstream Lesbian Film — there weren’t any.) Independent cinema picked up the slack, however, offering audiences a vast array o f stories and characters. So, in homage to the huge event that is the Academy Awards, I present below my nominations (and winners) for the second annual Q ueer O scars. S Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of the acclaimed novel is simplified and heterofied, but the film retains its gay core. Kevin Spacey is appealing as the flashy Southern closet case accused of murdering his sexy but excitable boy-toy (Jude Law). The Lady Chablis (who plays herself) is equally transfixing as a hard- as-nails transvestite who gets caught up in the intrigue. S Bent This British-made adaptation of Martin Sherman’s harrowing play on the life of gays in Hitler’s concentration camps is a tough sell to any audience, let alone a mainstream one. But it stylishly opens up the action, features fine performances from Clive Owen and Lothaire Bluteau, and is a hard-learned but important lesson in queer history. And the winner is... ® In and Out A box office smash and critical success, this rollicking fairy tale about one man’s discovery of his true sexual orientation is a gem. Great acting by Kevin Kline, as a gay man so closet- S Flipping A Tarantinian gangster flick that features what is surely is the oddest gay couple of the film season: David Amos is a tall, handsome and violently ambitious thug who is secret lovers with David Proval, a Ratso Rizzo-like undercover cop. This gay angle in an other wise straight and bloody hoodlum yam makes for a real curiosity. Debbie Reynolds, Joan Cusack and Kevin Kline in In and Out lindependent fib *: S Johns Lukas Haas and David Arquette star as two gay hustlers in this lyrical-if-sobering tale of self-respect and friendship amid L.A .’s seedy underworld of male prostitution. Haas is espe cially touching as the doe-eyed gay teen quiet ly in love with Arquette. S Latin Boys Go to Hell Definitely the best title of the year and the film featur ing the most unabashed images of hunky male nudes. Director Ela Troyano infuses her improba ble soap opera with torrid Latino pas sions, sexual confu Ela Troyano sion, violence and much bronzed flesh It makes for cheerfully cheesy fun. The innocence, tentativeness and joy of first love is celebrated in this delightful British-made romantic comedy. Two teens— stuck in a London housing project and mired in tumultuous family situations— find happi ness in each other’s arms. A fairy tale tonic for the jaded. Interestingly, like Loan Boys, the film was directed by a woman, Hettie Macdonald. Independent teelitn Pitt*: S All Over Me The Sichej sisters’ debut film (Alex direct ed and Sylvia wrote the screenplay) is a painfully tender and knowing story of a girl’s emerging lesbian sexuality. We watch as a gan gly teen (Alison Folland) learns of same-sex love— first in an unrequited longing for her best friend and later in a fulfilling affair with a fellow student. Tough, tender and romantic. S Chasing Amy The most contentious film of 1997. Was this droll romantic comedy an insightful look into the fluidity of sexuality and sexual orien tation, or was it a straight white male’s wet dream, in which a New Jersey yahoo, “blessed” Continued on page 19