19.2003
F ILM
.......... w ..........
h, the Internet. W e’ll never run out of
1 stories about experiences on the Internet.
There must be as many stories as there
are sites.
Which is exactly what writer/director Jed
Weintrob found when he became addicted to
live cam video sites (you know, where you get
to watch people live their lives in real time)
while nursing a heartbreak some time back.
His new movie, OnJUne, is about just such a
guy, John, a Manhattanite who joins his old col
lege buddy in an Internet pom venture after his
woman walks, leaving him an emotional wreck.
Their site, Intercon-X.com, hooks you up via
your live cam to “hosts” with cams of their own.
“She might live halfway across the coun
try— or just across the street. It dcx:sn’t really
matter, does it? The world is a lot smaller than
you think,” begins the monologue to this
smart, sexy film about the difference between
fantasy and reality— and how computers now
lend so widely to both.
Josh Hamilton (Matt in Urbaniii and
Marty in The House o f Yes) as John is the
perfect used-to-be-a-normal-guy Internet geek
with his own Web video diary and a voyeuris
tic addiction to an attractive woman on
Long on shorts
Portland welcomes
two short film festivals
hether you’re short on cash or attention
span, you’ve got a couple of fine oppor
tunities worth checking out. First is
Queer Films m Color!, a nice selection of shorts
presented by the American Friends Service
W
whiny, isolated student in
Ohio surrounded by frat
boys, sneaking moments
on his roommate’s comput
er. The ultimate question
between the twi>—should 1
actually find this person?—
by L isa B radshaw
is at the cnix of the movie’s
investigation. “Would you
really
want to meet her, or
AngelCam.com. (Yes, the Web sites in the
would that just nun every
film really exist, but you get the feeling they
thing?" John narrates.
were thrown up after it was released.)
This narration, in tan
John’s foil is his hyperactive roommate and
dem with several scenes
business partner, Moe (Mercutio in Romeo +
made up completely of
Juliet), a ladies man whose current conquest is
onscreen cam shots and a
the vulnerable Moira (Isabel Gillies), who has
snuxith set of loungy,
regular chats with lonely college student Ed
international-sounding
(former Oregonian Eric Millegan— see
Suave Manhattanite A1 has a thing or two to teach O hio college
rhythms (due in no small
Page 29) on the live cam suicide site
student Ed in On_Line
part to two new Pink Mar
FinalExit.com. Ed, in turn, regularly hcxiks up
tini tunes) create somewhat of a grainy dream-
through Intercon-X with an older New Yorker,
together in real life that all the trouble starts,
scape lovingly recorded on digital video.
A1 (John Fleck), for hot rounds of Master and
but it’s also their closing of this big cyber-circle
On_Line, which opens Sept. 26 at Holly-
that proves imperative when tragedy strikes.
Servant. A l’s best Net buddy is the bisexual
wtxxJ Theatre, has its ups and downs, but it’s
The most touching relationship of the film is
Jordan (Vanessa Ferlito), a pouty-lipped beauty
one of the better installments of films about
between Ed and Al, vastly different people from
who enjoys the film’s most satisfyingly sexual
Internet connections and their ability to open
completely separate worlds— yet finding a con
scene with John via live cam (of course).
up your entire world— or shut it down. JH
nection. Millegan is particularly convincing as a
It’s when John and Jordan decide to get
User available?
Log in to the
new indie flick On Line
Committee in recognition of films by and
about people of color in the queer community.
Highlights include trans slam poet Marcus
Rene Van’s “Junk Box Warrior,” about the
frustration of not fitting into the gender bina
ry; “Forever Bottom,” a frank look at the insa
tiable appetite of an Asian male bottom;
“Two Spirit People,” an overview of the
Native American concepts of gender and sex
uality; and the award-winning “A Different
Kind o f Black M an,” which documents the
QUEER BOYS IN PON
CAN KICK 'EM
TO TH E CURB.
feelings of successful black gay men around
masculinity and their roles in the African
American community.
Queer Films in Color! plays at 6 p.m.
Sept. 20 at Hollywood Theatre, 4122 N.E.
Sandy Blvd.
Your other option is the annual PISS Fest
(th at’s the Portland International Short
Short Film Festival), a diverse collection of
quick flicks from around the world. Having
shuffled through hundreds of crap entries so
you don’t have to, PISS Fest offers the best
of the best, which this year includes two
queer-themed entries: Portlander Andy
Blubaughs baleful but engaging “He Said"
and the baffling but beautiful Australian
entry “T h e Chase.”
PISS Fest plays Sept. 26 at Hollywood T h e
atre and Sept. 27 at Itisness, 3016 N.E.
Killingsworth St. Showtimes are 7 and 9 p.m.
Both festivals are short on admission, too,
asking $5 each. |H
J ust
w h e n
y o u
t h o u g h t
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