march 2 1 .2 0 0 3
FILM
............▼............
They like us!
They really, really like us!
J u s t Oufc’s guide to the queerest awards show ever
by
J im R adosta
o wonder the
gays love the
Oscars: Once a
I 11 year, the awards
supply an addictive
combination of ego
(remember Julia
Roberts’ embarrassing
upstaging of Denzel
Washington last year?),
fashion (two words:
Halle Berry) and fame
(what will Michael
Rob M arshall (left) and Pedro Almodovar are two of the three gay men
Mtxire tell 1 billion
competing for Best D irector during the 75th annual Academy Awards,
people if Bowling/or
airing live at 5 :3 0 p.m. M arch 23 on ABC
Columbine wins Best
Documentary Feature?)
Now more than ever, we really have some
behind Chicago won’t be spotted on the red carpet.
thing to get excited about. This year’s nom i
The late Bob Fosse wrote the 1975 musical that
nees include several openly gay filmmakers and
inspired this film, which succeeded at the remark
queer characters galore.
able task of transferring a vaudevillian stage show
to the silver screen—and revived a genre that has
Let’s take a look at the five nominees for
Best Picture and figure out which one deserves
not received Best Picture accolades since 1972
, (Fosse’s Cabaret). It’s got my vote.
our endorsement:
• The Pianist: N ot much queer content in
this Holocaust drama— unless you consider
; o what about the other 23 categories? Aim
statutory-rapist director Roman Polanski to he
: your gaydar in this direction:
a “sexual minority." Regardless, his comeback
• Best Director: Believe it or not, gay
film is easily the most respectable of the hunch,
men are the sexual majority in this category,
hut viewers should remember that this category
with Daldry and Marshall facing Pedro Almod
honors cinematic achievement, not compe
ovar (Talk to Her). I’m pulling for Polanski,
tence. In other words, size matters.
mainly because I want to see whether the fugi
• Qangs of N ew York: Was America really
tive risks arrest by showing up for the ceremony.
“horn in the streets”? O r was this opportunistic
• Best Original Screenplay: Let’s see,
marketing campaign orchestrated by Miramax
Almodovar? Perhaps V Tu Mamá También, a
honcho Harvey W einstein to cash in on post-
rare
honest portrayal of sexual flexibility
9/11 patriotism? Gangs seems to be the odd
between two young men? No contest: This
mxl, included just to appease M artin Scorsese
belongs to Portland’s own Todd Haynes for his
for continually getting the shaft from his peers.
absorbing melodrama Far from Heaven.
Sure, Gaxlfellas deserved the gold more than
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Condon, who
Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves, hut that
prevailed in this category four years ago for
doesn’t change the fact that a victory here
Gods and Monsters, stands a gtxxl chance of
would he nothing more than a Pity Oscar.
winning again for his immaculate adaptation of
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers:
Chicago. As a writer, though, 1 feel obliged to
Queer audiences appreciated gay fave Ian
support Charlie Kaufman for audaciously
McKellen’s triumphant resurrection as the wizard
inserting himself—and his fictitious twin
Gandalf as well as the unmistakable homoerotic
brother— as the lead characters in Adaptation.
subtext between FrcxJo (Elijah Wcxxl) and Sam
• Best Actress: Kidman is up against Salma
(Sean Astin). Unfortunately, part two of the trilo
Hayek s impressive performance as bisexual
gy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novels
painter Frida Kahlo in Frida, but without a doubt
stands little chance of taking home the trophy.
the winner should be Mcxjre, who played anoth
Check back next year, when the academy had
er depressed ’50s housewife in Far from Heaven.
better recognize the finale, The Return of the King.
• Best Supporting Actor: Harris is the only
• The Hours: Gay uberproducer Scott
gay presence in this category. Sadly, the academy
Rudin is the power broker behind this adapta
overlooked Dennis Quaid’s powerful perform
tion of gay author Michael C unningham ’s novel
ance as a closeted gay man in Far from Heaven.
directed by identifies-as-gay-but-is-married-to-a-
• Best Animated Film: The queer here is
woman filmmaker Stephen Daldry. The ensem
Dean DeBlois (Lilo & Stitch), but because of an
ble cast, meanwhile, is a queer wonderland:
academy rule that allows only one name per
bisexual writer Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman),
nominee, co-director Chris Sanders is the listed
who killed herself in 1941; a depressed ’50s
filmmaker. Either way, the clear standout is
housewife (Julianne M m re) who plants one on
Hayao Miyazaki’s Sptnted Away.
the lips of her neighbor (Toni Collette); and a
• Best Foreign Film: Although the Dutch
mcxlem-day lesbian (Meryl Streep) who cares
gay-themed
comedy Zus & Zo is in the tun
deeply for a poet dying of AIDS (Ed Harris) but
ning, Oscar ignored 2002’s other big queer
feels detached from her lover (Allison Janney).
musical: gay director François Ozon’s 8 Women.
Does it get any gayer than this?
This snub couldn’t have anything to do with
• Chicago: In answer to that last question, yes
America’s newfound disgust of France, could it?
it does. This film was produced by Martin
• Best Original Song: Theater queens will
Richards with, among others, out executive pro
be rooting for "I Move O n ,’’ written especially
ducers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Director Rob
for Chicago by the legendary composing team of
Marshall and scribe Bill Grndon also y e gay, and
John Kander and Fred Ebb. However, as much
as for Richard Gere and Queen Latifah— well, let’s
as I hate to admit it, Eminem earned the glory
not go there. But the most important gay figure
for “Lose Yourself’ from 8 Mile. J H
M
S
m
i» ]
D i o i m
XvV
Apoll« o M e d i a
i
a
'■
/*«• •'•a.««-, »/rtf i ' a fu » V-&KNY4 <i. *
:W
ARTISAN
L N T t
H T A I
N M f
c ^ T '
STARTS FRIDAY, MARCH 21ST
* 5 0 f c .C l« t t S
C E fU R Y THEATRES
REGAL C R E W S
B2ND AVENUE
CENTURY E A S T P 0 R T 16
CITY CENTER
«JOrSSe-’ t a
333; 77MOCIO
REGAL C H E W S
CASCADE
” .l
16
¡KStKS-TEU.
* 3 * 1 CM YKS
12
REGA l C R E W S
EVERGREEN PARKWAY 13
«B5 6S-TEL
F A » .Y THEATRES
LLOYD M A LLS
«9555-701.
REGAL '.'A S M S
FtG A L C M Y K S
OAK G R O V E S
¡5C3i 653-9999-'
;5C3> 22S-S£53*46Z4
ACGH C M Y K S
REGAL C KtMAS
REGAL C M Y K S
REGAL C H EW S
REGAL C M Y K S
REGALC AEMAS
CINEMA 99
DIVISION STREET 13
HILLTOP 9
MOVIES ON TV
SHERW OOD 10
TIGARD CINEMAS
W m t-T R l
(ACGtGSS T E li
* » 5 5 5 T E ..
» 0 : 5 5 5 -tll
800 5=3 T E L .
«& S S 5 -T U
STARK STREET
JWijSS-TiU.
* IW N
.
"What would it be like to stop mourning
for nature? To live in the natural world, to
savor it and cherish it, even to use it as
all living beings must, without feeling
that everything w as terribly wrong?
"I wonder what would it be like to live in
my own body without shame; to live in my
own land, without the sen se that nature is
already lost. Don’t you wonder too?
"This is a book w elcom ing nature into
the midst of daily life. It’s here, I w ant to
say—nature is—and w e ’re it. Fresh
w ildness working in us and around us all
the tim e, playful, exuberant, surprising."
W
EVERY BOOK OF GAY BIOTICA
ALW AYS H STOCK!
PÀRÀDIS!
WI LD
“One of the first books of
gay male nature writing!”
D a v id O a t e s
reads from his new book
< @ > Pacific Kouros. Photo book of rugged,
bearded, tattooed, stogie-smoking men! $45.
( @ ) WThick Inches. I wonder what these sto
Paradise Wild: Reimagining
American Nature
ries are about? R o p e ? Knockwurst? $13.
<@> XXX playing cards. Read 'em and, well,
not weep exactly— tho fluid may be shed. . $10.
T h re e Frien d s C o ffe e H o u s e
2 0 1 SE 12th at Ash St.
DOWNTOWN @ 927 SW OAK - 226-8141
S a tu rd a y M a rc h 29th • 5:00
W IL S 0 N V U E 9