JANUARY 20, 2006
The Real Dirt on Farmer John
John Peterson isn’t gay, though you’d never
know it from his effeminate manner and his pen­
chant for cross-dressing. Riding a tractor with a boa
wrapped around his neck, he looks more like a glam
rock icon than a organic farmer who plies his cus­
tomers with hell peppers and broccoli. This enjoy­
able, folksy documentary by Taggart Siegel follows
Peterson from his childhood on a Midwestern farm
to the present, with tales of family tragedies and
financial woes along the way. The most interesting
scenes take place in the late 1960s, when Peterson
turned the farm into an agricultural artist’s colony
of sorts. Opens Feb. 1 at Cinema 21. B +
—Stephen Blair
about to be married off to another man, in this
romantic drama that takes place as Ireland and
Britain are at war. Both characters are tom between
loyalty, friendship and love. Entertaining but some­
times violent, Tristan & Isolde is a nice attempt to
tell the classic Celtic love story in another way. B
—YPB
Underworld: Evolution
How exactly does one make a war between
vampires and werewolves boring...a second time?
In this sequel, Kate Beckinsale is a vampire
huntress who’s trying to protect her vampire­
werewolfhybrid boyfriend (Scott Speedman) from
other evil vampires. To call this film nonsensical
and convoluted is an
understatement, so all
you can do is park your
brain in the next state
and “enjoy” murkily
filmed action, barely
passable CGI, visuals
of a hlack-leather-clad
woman and rough
trade blood-covered
shirtless men, and lots
and lots of blue camera
filters. C-
—Andy Mangels
lUStiOUt 37
"The brooding, beautiful and ultimately redemptive
story of sex., more sex and - just maybe - love/'
Jessica Reaves, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"In every way, an astute, fresh and confident work."
Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGE LES TIMES
"(Pierre) Chatagny is adorable, and
he smartly portrays (his character's)
erotic and emotional awakening
in this poignant film."
Gary M. Kramer, OUT MAGAZI NE
—
"Raw, uncompromising &
surprisingly explicit."
Ken Fox, TV GUIDES MOVIE GUIDE
"Superb! Riveting!
/r
Fresh and profound!"
Jan Stuart, NY NEWSDAY
"Thrillingly raw!"
Brandon Voss, HX MAGAZI N E
)
JpL Jr
fa^Thjs/ SAGA
PRODUCTION
Ushpizin
A male-to-female transsexual (Felicity Huffman)
Graham Greene in Transamerica.
Transamerica
In this year’s Best Actress race at the Oscars,
Felicity Huffman of Desperate Housewives fame
deserves to beat the pants off Reese Witherspoon
and Judi Dench for her poignant portrayal of a pre­
operative male-to-female transsexual named Bree.
In a funny and subversive twist on the road movie
genre, she discovers she has a son (who happens to
be a gay hustler) and drives him cross-country with­
out telling him the truth about their relationship or
her gender identity. Huffman is the main attrac­
tion, but writer/director Duncan Tucker draws ter­
rific performances from the entire cast, especially
Fionnula Flanagan as Bree’s flamboyant and stifling
mother. A-
—SB
Shuli Rand wrote
and stars ' in this
wonderfully humorous
hits the road with
look inside the closed
world
of
ultra­
Orthodox Jews in modern-day Israel. Ushpizin fol­
lows the story of Moshe and Malli, a poor, childless
couple who get strange visitors during the celebra­
tion of Succoth and need to find out if this is a
blessing. The film is a unique opportunity for
Western viewers to learn about the customs and
rituals practiced in a part of the world that normal­
ly is only in the news for its conflicts. Opens
Jan. 20 at Hollywood Theatre. B +
—YPB
STARTS FRIDAY JAN 27!
watch the trailer: PictureThisEntertainment.com
PORTLAND
HOLLYWOOD THEATRE
4122 NE Sandy Blvd. (503)281 4215
The White Countess
This high-prestige film is the final collaboration
between the gay producing/directing team of Ismail
Merchant and James Ivory, a 44-year partnership
that ended with Merchant’s death last year. With a
screenplay by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains
of the Day, also adapted by Merchant-Ivory), it
Tristan & Isolde
boasts three Redgraves: Natasha Richardson, moth­
A noble knight (James Franco) falls for the
future queen of England (Sophia Myles), who’s er Vanessa Redgrave and aunt Lynn Redgrave.
Unfortunately, Ivory (a
University of Oregon
grad) takes a somnolent
approach to this story
set in Shanghai on the
eve of the Sino-Japanese
war. Rich in visual
detail and full of poten­
tial melodrama, the film
dwells on inconsequen­
tial backstory without
mining the most inter­
esting conflicts. It’s fas­
cinating but slow going.
Opens Jan. 27 B
From left, Ralph Fiennes, Oregon native James Ivory, Hiroyuki Sanada
—FS ©
and the late Ismail Merchant on the set of The White Countess.
an outrageously funny one-man
show by Guillermo Reyes
stoning the many faces of
...shedding a spectrum of light on the elusive gay
Latino identity, colored with embarrassing blind dates
from hell, machismo-challenging sexual encounters,
titillating tirades on same-sex weddings, and the painfully
hilarious struggle of living “out” in a straight world.
JB BBBL
525 SE Stark
F™
3-25
at Milagro Theatre
Reservations:
503.236.7253