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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2001)
18.2001 36 H I H C ........... ¥ ............. B edrooms & H allways Through a lens, dykely firm V O »: TOO X t, u t» ** <* GO «8M <J. frjr*r?k t, > C 4 ^ < t*m \ ‘WtTTlS" .I* :.»«iW l ki.:v ill ..- w i« tv |> Htv;- t I'tiix ; • First Run Features Bedrooms lesbian director Tha cf » rv*e-ï CWaiü K/rp helming a u:«^ 9 xi iW SUT i British gay sex farce? Count me in! T his twisty comedy begins at the end, then flashes back to fill in the gaps of the story, centered around the love lives o f two gay roommates in London. Unhappy Leo joins a New Age m ens therapy group, falling in love with a hot Scottish straight guy, while sassy and bitchy Darren gets involved with a closeted real estate agent who likes having sex in the houses he is hired to sell. T h e charming cast doesn’t contain any high-profile names (although H ugo W eaving was the star o f The Adventures o f Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ), but the actors are viva cious and fun, and the story is inventive and clever. New A ge therapy takes the most knocks, with the hilarious result of turning most o f its femme devotees into lesbians.. O nce the film is over, go back and watch the beginning to catch the fun twists you’ll know about by the denouement. The D V D features a bonus interview with director Rose Troche, but it’s a recycled piece from the G o Fish disc and doesn’t even mention this witty film. Four female-directed gay films are available on DVD vs S laves to the U nderground Image othing like a good m odem rock ’n’ roll movie to make one feel old. Even though it’s dated just a bit, Slaves to the Underground is still germane to the “riot grrrl” movement and should be wel comed by breast-baring dykes and young radi cal lesbians from pride party to pride party. Shelly, a pretty young musician in a four-girl rock band, is involved with butch, m an-hating (and slightly m enacing) lead singer Suzy. A ll seems to move on a forward course until— with a recording contract just around the com er— Shelly gets bisexual with her old boyfriend, a young male zine writer. N m by A n d y M a n g els T he resulting breakup might destroy the band and the two women’s lives, but I won’t even hint at the resolution. I will say that the bittersweet film is fall o f some raw, nerve-jan gling emotions, lots o f loud and raucous music (by A ni Difranco, Joan Jett, Red Five and oth ers) and a good ensemble o f fledgling actors. Directed by a woman, it also contains some pretty steamy sex acts and a few politically charged scenes that might give some viewers anarchistic ideas. Unlike the video, the D V D features the film in widescreen along with two trailers for other gay-themed flicks. A live & K icking Image T hird in this quar tet of female- directed gay films is this wonderful romantic dramedy, also set in London. Blond Tonio (Jason Flemyng) is a narcis sistic ballet dancer who rarely thinks anyone is good enough to talk to him, much less have sex with him. Short, bearded and burly Jack (Anthony Sher) is a therapist who cross es paths with Tonio. Their unexpected courtship is not without its pitfalls, however, especially concerning Tonio’s declining health and Jack’s alcoholism. If you ever had told me I’d see a film about a twink and a bear falling in love, I would have thought you were joking, but Alive & Kicking is not only that, it’s a damn good film. The actors are note-perfect, the dance performances are inspiring, and more than once, tears— of joy and sadness— welled in my eyes. There’s much to admire in the film (for the prurient, there’s even a surprisingly bold bottom ing scene by Sher), and it’s one you likely will want to watch more than once. But like Longtime Companion, you’ll want a few tissues alongside for the weepy parts. The DVD and video contain the same version of the film and a pair of trailers. B u t I’ m a C heerleader Universal O ur final fea ture of the female film foursome is this recent comedy, which I really wanted to like but just didn’t quite make it. Natasha Lyonne plays Megan, a teen-age cheerleader happy with her suburban life but whose recurring fantasies involve her pompom shaking sisters more than the football players. Her parents send her off to the True Direc tions camp for rehabilitation, where she meets a gaggle of other young gay boys and girls who are being taught to conform to the straight*and nar row. Unfortunately, the combination o f a camp counselor (singer RuPaul Charles, out of drag) and a sadistic camp chairwoman (Cathy Moriar- ty, channeling Kathleen Turner in Serial Mom) does little to turn the beat around, and the gay pride begins to bloom among the youthful cast. Full of candy colors and good ideas that aren’t fully realized, the film feels like a diluted John Waters flick, not quite naughty enough to offend or bold enough to excite. More biting fan should have been had at the ex-gay movement’s expense, and more care taken to ground the characters out side the sitcom reality in which they live. Still, this would be a good party video, if for no other reason than to inspire salacious stories about you and your friends’ real camp experi ences. T he D V D features the widescreen film plus a trailer. I n the F lesh Wolfe impulses. He meets 21-year-old O liver Beck (D ane Ritter), a call boy by night and a Tower Records employee by day. Slowly, the two men navigate the bound aries o f trust, all while trying to figure out who framed O liver for murder. A s pulpy as any crime drama gets, it’s nice to see a gay detec- tive/bad boy love story rather than the usual straight ones we’ve seen in the past. T h e mystery isn’t really fair— you don’t get the clues in any meaningful way— but the raw ness o f the characters’ psyches does show clear ly. T h e D V D features director commentary, a few deleted scenes, plus some theme songs and still photo galleries. R awless M GM T alk about walk ing into a per sonally loaded movie. I sometimes like writer/director/ superqueen Joel Schumacher, except when he’s directing the Batman films. I loathe Robert De N iro, who plays Walter, a hom opho bic ex-cop who suffers a stroke and loses some motor and speech capability. But I always like Philip Seymour Hoffman, the zaftig character actor who is beautifully quirky and staunchly, unapologetically fierce as Rusty, a flamboyant gay musician and costume designer. Like an episode o f The Odd Couple gone very wrong, W alter must get help from Rusty to learn to speak again. But there’s m enace in the air with murders, missing money and pissed-off gangsters. A strongly acted and nicely directed gay pulp crime movie, Flawless doesn’t quite live up to its title, and the anti-gay epithets are troubling (although Walter, of course, does come to love gay people). T he D V D is no-frills, with a trailer and multipage booklet giving some production notes. in To find these queer D V D s and others, ask at Portland’s G ai-Pied or M ovie M adness, or order them through gay-owned Wolfe Video at 800-G E T -W O L F E or T L A Video at 80 0 -3 3 3 -8 5 2 1 . C op Philip Kirsch (Ed Corbin) is put on an undercover stakeout at a gay hustler bar in A tlanta, but his superiors don’t know he secretly is dealing with his own gay ANDY M angels is a media hound who has co written the novel Star Trek: T he N ext G enera tion “Section 31: Rogue” in the midst of review ing D V D s, movies and live theater for Just O ut. Visit him at www.andymangels.com. msm&m • -i- - T NIGHTSPOTS Rose City Softball [Fundraiser Sunday May 27th to be held a t S ta rk y ’s 2 9 1 3 SE Stark S t during B ru n ch h o u rs 9 :3 0 t o 1:30 p m m PD X 25 I 2 “ N E ” Broadway Full lottery/ATM { $ 0 3 ) 287-4 . ~ Casual Dining ~ Lounge ~ Gam e Room ~ Live Music Open 4 :0 0 Daily 1 20 NW Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97209 • (503) 224-3285 Parking Validated Smart Park Davis & Front www hobo.citysearch com ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ — but d on't drink on an empty stomach See Eating (kit
