tehmary 18, MOI
DIVERSIONS
Twist my arm
S
pike and M ike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation has
returned to Portland. Their track record speaks for itself:
These are the guys who helped popularize Beavis and
Butt'head, South Park and Rugrats.
Am ong their latest feature-length collection of bizarre, shocking
and disturbingly grotesque shorts is one of the favorites from last year’s
queer film festival, “Rick and Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All
the World.” Director Allan Brocka used stop-motion photography to
create this hilarious gem, except his medium is not clay but Legos.
Other highlights include “Angry Kid,” the latest from Aardman
Animation (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run), and “Rejected” by
cult animator Don Hertzfeldt (“Billy’s Balloon,” “A h L’Amour").
Remember, these films are described as rude, crude and
totally lewd, so the politically correct can stay home and
watch Providence. You’ve been warned.
T he festival runs daily through Feb. 25 and
weekends only through March 24 at C in e
ma showtimes.
21, 616 N.W. 21st Ave. C all
503-223-4515
for
—Jim
Radosta
Punchin’ Judy
Run around, get paid
| udy Davis comes out swinging with both
! o experience necessary. Northwest Women’s
Lacrosse is looking for a few good umpires. If
| arms in a tour de force performance during
the A B C miniseries Me and M y Shadows:
I you enjoy the great outdoors, running
around and whistling into the wind, then this is
Life with Judy Garland, which airs 9 p.m. Feb. 25
for you. Here’s a chance to run off those extra
and 26. Both Davis and Tammy Blanchard,
winter pounds and get paid in the process.
who portrays Garland from ages 13 to 22, attack
the role like bantam boxers: dodging, weaving,
Umpires will officiate high school, club and col
lege games. The first clinic for new and used
jabbing and eventually delivering a knockout
umpires will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
blow that leaves you wondering how the bat
tered belter ever lasted so many rounds.
Feb. 24. You will get to learn the ins and outs of
The number o f gay men who identify with
women’s lacrosse presented by nationally rated
G arlands one-two punch o f tragic vulnerability
umpire Dorothy Hirsch. The clinic fee is $15 pre
followed by soaring triumph dwindles with each
registered or $25 at the door. All are welcome,
and although this isn’t specifically a lesbian
passing year, and for that reason alone this film
group, it is very dyke-friendly, if you get the drift.
needed to be made and deserves to be seen.
For more information including directions to the
Based on the memoir by her daughter Lom a
clinic, how to get your hands on a rule book,
Luft, the film attempts to paint a complete por
other fees and fashion tips, call 503-256-6206 or
trait o f the woman as well as the performer. T he
e-mail moca@teleport.com.
— Lynn Thomas
almost unbearably painful dramatic scenes of
nervous breakdowns, drug addiction and bank
ruptcies are balanced with painstakingly re-cre
ated musical sequences that are surprisingly
effective in capturing G arlan ds theatrical magic.
The film touches on the bisexuality o f her
father and two o f her husbands, but with the ex
he trailer hadn’t looked
ception o f one shot o f a queer applauding wildly
overly promising, so as I set
in the front row, Me and My Shadows doesn’t
tled in for the screening of
Saving Silverman, I wasn’t
explore the intense devotion she inspired in
expecting much. After all, a
several generations o f gay men. According to
movie about two idiots
a recent article in Atlantic Monthly, Judy
(chubby Jack Black and
Worship is something o f an embarrassment
weasely Steve Zahn) trying
for liberated gays today, and Garland is an
to stop their best friend
icon many would like to put behind us
(Jason Biggs) from marrying
like Liberace or Truman Capote. But her
an iiberbitch (Am anda
persona as the misunderstood outsider strug
Peet) so they can keep
gling for acceptance still resonates with
their N eil Diamond trib
queers who understand that, despite the ad
ute band going.. .well,
vances our people have made, we still aren’t
Ja c k B lack
let’s
just
say it lived up to my
over the rainbow yet.
— Marc Acito
saves Silverm an
Save this for
the cheap seats
T
expectations.
But then,
about halfway
through, the film
takes a turn toward
our side of the fence
when Black comes
to grips with being
gay! Throughout
the rest of the
movie, he blithely
proclaims his homosexuality to
anyone who will listen. Mostly,
the revelation doesn’t lead to
much consternation among the
hetero characters, except for the real
N eil Diamond, who has been receiving nude
pictures o f Black for years.
How refreshing to find a dunderheaded,
slacker, dopey movie that isn’t using hom o
sexuality as something to be frightened by
or shunned. A nd just when you think the
developm ent o f the gay character isn’t
going to pffcgress further, a fourth-quarter
surprise results in a man-to-man wedding
ceremony and foll-on kiss. It isn’t great cine
ma, but it might make a fun cheap-movie-
night excursion.
— Andy Mangels
Now straight
is Straight?
H
« 3 7
37th Ave. Tickets are $18 at the door or $15 in
advance from Gai-Pied, In Other Words or
Fastixx. Fire your questions off to 503-203-3305.
Get a jump on this
C
alling all dance mavens: White Bird presents
one of the world’s greatest modem dance
companies, Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theater, performing two different programs
Feb. 27 and 28 at the Schnitz.
It’s been sue years since the
company came to town,
so don’t miss this
group of 30 amazing
dancers. Perform
ances begin
7:30 p.m. at
1037 S.W. Broad
way. Tickets are
$17.50-$65 from
503-224-8499, Fastixx or
www.whitebird.org.
Jump start yourself
t’s alm ost spring, it’s tim e to wake up
your libido! O n M arch 1 and 2, It’s
M y Pleasure is bringing in nationally
know n sex educator Merryl S lo a n to pre
sent a w orkshop called “G reat S e x , Secret
Desires: S ix S tep s to the G reatest S e x
You Ever Im agined.” S h e instructs the
adventurous and the curious in a lot of
things you alw ays w anted to know but
were afraid to ask. C la ss starts 7 p.m . at
3 1 0 6 N .E . 6 4 th A ve. T uition is $25.
C a ll 503-280-8080 to preregister.
Let’s get classical
T
hose versatile guys o f the Portland Gay
Men’s Chorus reformat themselves into
the subgroups Cascade and eXpress! for
the third annual Classical Matinee at the Old
0 Church, 1422 S.W. 11th Ave. If the music of
Grieg, Cherubini, Britten and other serious
composers rings your chimes, then be there at
2 p.m. Feb. 25 for an intimate afternoon of music.
The concert also will feature flutist Mary M cCar
ty. Tickets are $15 from chorus members, Fastixx
or 503-224-8499. Join them afterward at a recep
tion and enjoy wine and cheese.
Eat up these words
owie Baggadonutz
continues to bring
ttention voracious readers— and eaters: In
provocative gay shows
O ther Words, Portland’s only nonprofit
to Portland, and his pre
feminist bookstore, is celebrating its eighth
anniversary with a fund-raiser Feb. 22, A Liter
sentation Feb. 24 at the
ary Feast: W omen o f the Americas. Show up at
Echo Theatre is no exception. Seattle’s David
Norse Hall, and you’ll be treated to a three-
Schmader comes to town with his solo comedy
course meal with Latin Am erican flavor as well
Straight. He went undercover at “ex-gay" groups to
as readings o f w om en’s writing. T h e cuisine will
inform the writing of this piece.
be provided by Flaming Carrot Catering. Tick
But concurrently, he casts a criti
ets arc $50, and you must R SV P by Feb. 18 to
cal eye on the gay community,
503-232-6003. T h e festivities begin 6:30 p.m.
whose limitations he also exposes.
hat a nice surprise to check in on one o f the m ost literate talk shows on the tube, Candice Bergen’s Exhale on
With wit and iasight, Schmader
at 111 N .E. 11th Ave.
the O xygen network, and h e » her introduce “my new favorite band, Pink M artini.” T his was a real coup, as
faces the tough questions as he
they were, I believe, the first m usical group to perform on the program, now in its second season. Bergen gets
gets to the bottom of what it
Compiled by
to make use o f her Ivy League education and inquisitive mind with guests you’ll rarely see on other shows (except
means
to
be
straight.
Or
not.
The
ORIANA
perhaps Charlie Rose). Sh e’s not afraid o f the “F word (fem inist) and clearly has not wasted her post-Murpfry Brown
show starts 8 p.m. at 1515 S.E.
G reen
years in idle pursuits; die exhibits a keen mind overflowing with the wisdom o f a
mature woman. Her fondness for Portland’s own most urbane band undoubtedly
stem s in part from the French connection. A s die widow o f director Louis
M alle and the mother o f a daughter who is half-French, the esprit o f the tide
cut from Pink M artini’s C D Sympathique clearly hit home. Bergen chatted up
maestro Thom as Lauderdale and revealed she— or her produc
hat is Unofficial Queer Night, Alex? On
er—had done her homework when d ie asked him if he hadn’t
a recent edition of Celebrity Jeopardy,
once »p ire d to put fas Ivy League education to use as mayor o f
Jodie Foster trounced Nathan Lane and
Portland. Lauderdale replied, ”1 1 1 » was my plan.” W hen
Harry Connick Jr. to win $21,600 for the Hol
Bergen suggested it wasn’t too late, d ie band erupted in laughter as
lywood Literacy Project. Lane, who fought a
Lauderdale explained, “1 think I’ve had too many scandalous incidents in my
good fight, won $10,000 for Broadway
p u t to really effectively be mayor o f Portland.” T he band then played Bergen’s fave song
Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
with a flourish, and d ie thanked them afterward by displaying her fluent French.
A
fondness
j[7J
Hollywood tidbits
for $1,000
Í
W