Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1999)
20 Beating the dreary winter with a VCR and a queer vision by S uzanne S igmund • photos by L inda K liewer It’s O K to get caught looking in the queer section— it’s evidence of your good taste S omething about the Northwests dreary, rainy winters brings out the bear in even the smoothest of us, sparking a primal need to hibernate— or, at least, cocoon. Unlike bears, though, people can’t sleep all winter, thus we need a little stimulus. There’s always the stay-cozy-at-home cine ma experience: plenty of variety, fast forward or pause while you grab some popcorn or reach for a hug from your main squeeze, all while reclin ing on the sofa. So, what’s available on the queer video scene around Portland ? Just Out made an infor mal walk-and-gawk tour to find some video vendors that feature decent selections of queer flicks. (It should be noted that while some queer-owned shops in Portland— like Gai-Pied and It’s My Pleasure— rent queer videos, this article examines stores that present themselves as exclusively video-rental establishments.) Starting in the heart of downtown, your best bet for a plethora of queer video treats is Soho Video at 1000 S.W. Jefferson St. Owner Judith Roberts, a trained librarian who inte grates an academic zest and art aficionado’s love of culture, offers an impressively varied selection of queer videos. “We pay a lot of attention to 'hat part of our collection,” Roberts says proudly. “We get a lot of information from Facets, a major art house distributor in Chicago. They specialize in gay and lesbian, independent and foreign films.” Besides the information Facets sends out twice a month, Roberts stays tuned-in to cui- tomer requests and occasionally gleans sugges tions from Tom Ranieri, operator of Cinema 21 — home of Sensory Perceptions, Portland’s queer film festival. Roberts says Soho especially likes to feature the “arty, erotic” videos like Bruce La Bruce’s Hustler White. How about her hottest picks for current queer films? Roberts suggests: “There’s (director and for mer Portlander David DeCoteau’s) Leather Jack - et Love Story ; and for lesbians, [director Lisa Cholodenko’s) High Art. That just came out on video with Ally Sheedy, (and) this wonderful young actress [Radha Mitchell). It’s a beautiful piece of work set in the art world of New York. Also, When Night is Falling [from director Patri- cia Rozema]. T hat’s one of the ones I love to recommend to people. It’s a lesbian love story." For seasonally agoraphobic gay and lesbian cincphiles, Roberts also recommends the book Images in the Dark: An Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Film and Video, published by St. Mar tin’s Press. Cruising over to Northwest Portland, at 2484 N.W. Thurman St. there’s Trilogy. (Just Trilogy. They’ve eschewed “video” in their name for a slightly enigmatic touch). Manager Marc Mohan says they do indeed carry a selec tion of queer films, yet nixes the concept of a separate section for them. “Essentially we don’t want the [gay and les bian] stuff to end up getting ghettoized,” he explains. Trilogy’s queer videos are intermin-