Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2005)
feöruary 18.2005 ’ just out 33 Arthouse ★ Foreign ★ Cult Classics ★ Gay & Lesbian Documentaries ★ Asian Cult ★ The Latest Chart Busters POP IN! An androgynous angel (Tilda Swinton) denies a renegade exorcist (Keanu Reeves) the salvation he fervently pursues in Constantine Boogeyman Inside Deep Throat The scariest thing about this film is a tossup between the absurdly awful lack of anything resembling logic and the jittery cameramans seizure-inducing cinematography. Ostensibly a story about a boy who grows up to face his childhood fear—the monster in the closet is real— Boogeyman is not scary, is not gory and makes less and less sense the longer it unspools. Lead Barry Watson’s g<xxl looks are wasted underneath overly blue lighting, but he suggests that one count to five and monsters will go away. One, two, three, four, five. Damn, the memory of Boogeyman is still here! D- —Andy Mangels Constantine Keanu Reeves plays John Constantine, a chain-smoking exorcist who is trying to buy his way back into heaven by conquering the demons and half-breeds that walk among the unaware populace. Adapted from a popular comic b<.x)k series, Constantine is a visually rich movie that features strong acting (even from Keanu, whoa!) and fantas tic bit characters. But despite some epic con frontations, the pacing can be a bit lugubrious, the plot is too convoluted, and the dialogue is ixJdly muffled. Mostly, you’ll want to sit back and enjoy the view (including Tilda Swinton as an androgynous angel) and not think too hard about the story. B —AM 5x2 Queer auteur François Ozon’s 5x2 is an epistxlic dip into a failed marriage. The story begins at the end, with Marion and Gilles getting a divorce, and samples their lives together back to that first, hopeful meeting. The film lingers on the “lies and secrets” that make up much of a marriage, and there are some great dishy lines—Gilles’ gay brother, commenting on some dyke friends having a kid, says, “Sperm in a spoon is better than a hetero husband.” How true! Excellently acted but also portentous and draggy, 5x2 lacks the freshness and energy of Ozon’s less conventional works like 8 Women or the brilliant Fassbinder adaptation Water Drops (tn Burning Rocks. Screens 9 p.m. Feb. 18 at Broadway Metroplex and 2:45 p.m. Feb. 20 at Guild Theatre as part of the Portland International Film Festival. Visit www.nwfilm.org for details. C —Gary Morris Forget Titanic. Forget Gone with the Wind. 1972’s Deep Throat, prcxluced for a mere $25,000, is the most successful film ever in tenns of profit on investment: a staggering $600 million. Not bad for a porn flick about a woman whose clitoris is in her throat. But Deep Throat, as this fabulous new d<x> umentary shows, was a lot more important than its medical gimmick, bad acting and lame humor. This was the film that brought couples into porn theaters, legitimized the hardcore skin flick and even challenged the vaginal orgasm. It was also at the vanguard of the sexual revolution (you know, the one that fizzled out a few years later) and endured end less lawsuits from opportunistic politicians and sexually repressed district attorneys. The whole story is told in detail here, from the tacky production circumstances (much of it was shot at the mansion of a phony Miami Beach “count”) to the creepy Mafia connec tions (they controlled all the profits) to the problems faced by its stars, horse-hung Harry Reems, who became a drunk and druggie, and, of course, Linda Lovelace, who died in a car wreck in 2002. In some ways, Lovelace is the most pathetic figure here—a likable, not particularly smart woman seemingly used and abused equally by the pomsters and the anti-porn feminists. Gay directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Party Monster) include plenty of period footage and witty contextualizing commentary from the likes of Camille Paglia, John Waters, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal and other coun terculture luminaries. And, oh yeah, Inside Deep Throat daringly features hardcore fwtage from the film in lurid close-up, so prudes best beware. A —GM ALL RENTALS-5 DAYS 2310 N Lombard 1136 NW Lovejoy 503-289-8408 503-796-2825 1990 SE Ladd 7522 N Lombard 503-231-1181 I 503-247-3433 2640 NE Alberta 503-288-4067 Rory O’Shea Was Here The pnxlucers of Billy Elliot tried to come up with another heartwarmer, but they failed miserably. Rory O’Shea is a rebellious young man in a wheelchair who inspires Michael, a friend with cerebral palsy, to live life to the fullest. It might seem insensitive to tear apart a movie that tries so hard to give dignity to the disabled, but here goes: The Hitched attempts at screwball comedy make Three’s Company kx>k ingenious. And the only thing sad about the tear-jerking scenes is the thought that anyone could be moved by such hixiey. Did I mention that it will probably be a huge hit? D+ —Stephen Blair jM Cascade AIDS Project 503-223-5907 Cascade AIDS Project Oregon AIDS Hotline 800-777-2437 Multnomah County Health Dept. HIV Testing 503-988-3775 Online information: www.man2manpdx.us
