38 JUStlOUt
JULY 21.2006
film
Sarah Boss
■ y.— ■ I
Decompositions,
minimalist photography
. .................. ...................
Out on DVD
Recent releases include two clumsy duds,
two pleasant surprises
MARKI FINE ART & FRAMING
Slutty Summer
Unveiled
TLA Releasing
Wolfe Video
With a lascivious title like Slutty Summer, you
can’t blame a guy for getting his hopes up for lots
of hot and nasty action. The opening scene lives
up to this promise, showing two naked men 69ing
on an apartment floor. Nothing else in the movie
reaches this level of naughtiness, though there is
a certifiably skanky seduction scene in a men’s
restroom.
The film’s failure to
live up to its title would
be forgivable if the
script weren’t so ama
teurish and the jokes
were actually funny. As
screenwriter, director
and star, the wooden
Casper Andreas is not
so much a triple threat
as a triple dud. He stum
bles on many of his
lines, which is pretty
mind-boggling when
you consider that he
wrote them himself.
And by trying to make a
silly sex farce a platform
for serious discussions
about men and fidelity,
he succeeds only in giving the film a wildly uneven
tone.
Andreas plays Marcus, a New York City writer
who discovers that his long-term boyfriend has
cheated on him. At his new restaurant job he
meets up with several gay co-workers, including
promiscuous iiberfag Luke
and a hot model named
Tyler.
Tyler puts the moves
on Marcus, and Marcus is
most definitely tempted.
But is it too soon for him
to move on to a new
relationship? And is Tyler
even capable of mono
gamy? As Marcus grapples
with his summer romance
quandary, his nutty co
workers try their own luck
at love.
If you’re in the mood
for mindless entertainment
or you just want to look at
good-looking men for 80
minutes, you could do a lot
worse than Slutty Summer.
Just remember to keep your expectations very low.
The DVD boasts several features that are
better than the film itself. The pièce de résistance is
“Who’s a Slut?"—a hilarious short documentary in
which cast member Jesse Archer takes to the
streets and interviews random people about their
sexual proclivities.
—Stephen Blair
Male and female impersonators can be hilari
ous, as seen in the comedy classics Tootsie and
Victor/Victoria. Movies like Yentl and Boys Don’t
Cry prove that gender reversals have dramatic
potential, too.
Unveiled, a sensitive and well-acted German
film directed by Angelina Maccarone, is a worthy
addition to the second
category. After an extremely
limited theatrical release in
the United States, it
deserves to find a much
larger audience on video.
Lesbians will undoubtedly
love it for the strong female
characters and the passion
ate girl-on-girl action. But
the story is so gripping and
intelligent that it should
appeal to all discerning
viewers, regardless of their
sexuality.
Named by The Advocate
as one of the top 10 films of
2005, Unveiled has the
additional distinction of
being banned in Iran.
Watching the film in light of
Iran’s hyperconservative views on women’s rights
and homosexuality, it’s not hard to see why.
In a dynamic and convincingly androgynous
performance, Jasmin Tabatabai portrays an Iranian
woman named Fariba. Persecuted because of her
love affair with another woman, she flees to
Germany and gets clear
ance to stay by assuming
the identity of a dead
man.
She lives in a male
boarding house and gets
an illegal job at a 'sauer
kraut factory, rousing
some suspicion from her
male co-workers when
she refuses to shower after
work. Soon she befriends
Anne, a fellow factory
worker played
with
compassion by Anneke
Kim Samau. Anne is
suspicious of Fariba s true
identity, but in an erotic
bedrcxim scene she proves
that she’s ready, willing
and able to prove her love
when Fariba finally reveals that he’s a she.
A happy ending for Fariba and Anne is about
as likely as a post-road trip vacation to Club Med
for Thelma and Louise. The story is not without
hope, though. Without giving away any plot
specifics, Unveiled gives Fariba the last laugh. She
proves that, with enough chutzpah, women from
fundamentalist countries (or any country, for that
slutty
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