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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2007)
49 JUStpUt my S. AW American Scary “Our show was so cheap that I would buy inflat able dolls at the porno shop, and it was like an extra actor,” says Karen “Stella” Scioli in this unexpected ly touching homage to the bygone era of the late- night horror movie host. The documentary, composed entirely of interviews with former and current horror hosts interlaced with vintage clips, traces the phenomenon from its inception in the ’50s with Zacherley and Vampira, through the ’80s hey day of Stella, Joe Bob Briggs and Elvira, to its scrap py resurgence and survival in the age of cable access and the Internet. “Nobody stopped us, so we were the kids in the candy store," says Bob Billbrough, aka Hives the Butler. “We got away with murder.” Opens July 7 at Hollywood Theatre. A- —Tony LeTigre \\ estover H eights CLINIC Offering general internal medicine and excelling in sexual health care Serving the community for 22 yearo 2330 NW Flanders Suite 207 503-226-6678 Cycle (7 Works Recumbento Folding Rikeo ...and More! Open Tuesday-Sunday (503) 230-7723 2025 SE Hawthorne Auto, Home, L/fe, Hea/t/i & Business eph&b “Your Independent Insurance Agency" insurance Elliott, Powell, Baden Ic Baker, Inc. MARC BAKER Downtown Portland (503) 227-1771 • www.epbb.com < > Best of the Northwest The Northwest Film Center screens highlights from the 33rd Northwest Film &. Video Festival 7:30 p.m. July 12 and 9:15 p.m. July 14. One of the highlights is “Scaredycat," a 13-minute documentary by gay Portland director Andrew Blubaugh (“Hello, Thanks"). One night in September 2004, a gang of five men attacked Blubaugh as he crossed the Steel Bridge. Although impaired by fear, some racial prej udice and a lifelong bout with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he contacted his assailants in jail to try to make sense of the situation. Even with the expert input of a Portland lawyer and a Portland State University psychology professor, some of the findings are a little simplistic. Still, the skillful combination of interviews, dramatic re-enactments and animated sequences makes for compelling viewing. B + —Stephen Blair Boy Culture This woefully pedestrian film vacillates between heartwarming and funny to stereotypical, annoying and downright stupid with frightening speed. “X” is a hustler living in Seattle with a skanky twink and a newly out man entering his own phase of sluthood. Boy Culture quickly goes to the most predictable place possible: explor ing the limitations of X’s lifestyle and his desire to move into a more emotionally fulfilling relationship with his roommate. X’s existen tial crisis is brought to a head by a new john, whom he calls “the Geezer,” an elderly gentleman who only wants to talk. The film has moments of tenderness and humor, but these are promptly washed away by the banality of the script and the limitations of the cast. Observa tional humor about gay life has its laugh-out-loud moments. How ever, the characters, as interesting as they might be, are unlikely to be anyone you actually know— unless you know high-priced hustlers on Ducatis with enough cash to keep a house boy in tow. The only significant female character, a poor caricature of a lesbian, does little but exclaim in profanity. X’s roommate melodrama begins to wear thin after the first is more humor and more of a feel of returning to its comic book roots, F4: Rise is an enjoyable diversion for an evening. B —Andy Mangels half-hour. Geezer’s tale of his lifelong lover, teased out over the entirety of the film, is far more titillat ing and debauched than the uninspired, Real World-style retread of the old “I’m in love with my roommate” tale. Still, even X’s interactions with the Geezer seem tacked-on and prefabricated. The film has trouble making any move without telegraphing it an hour in advance. Opening July 13 at Cinema 21, Boy Culture celebrates the most childish aspects of the contem porary gay male. While the three roommates form a family, the depth of their relationship is short- circuited by dialogue culled from prime time soap operas. The standard-issue melodramatic conclu sion with all the factory settings attempts at redemption and personal growth, but it’s all too little, too late. The film is not without its merits, but if you need something to put on in the back ground while making out, stick with your Queer as Folk DVDs. C- —Nick Pell Anyone who grew up in a small family that struggled to stay alive and thrive in a tough world will find this beautiful and human film very affect ing. Brenda Blethyn, in a vulnerable and victorious performance, portrays a single mom with a diva complex who works days as a cook and piano teacher while moonlighting as a bawdy comedian on the lowered-expectations circuit. Her overween ing love has a crippling effect (literally, in one case) on the independence of her two sons. Dwights boldly spotlights and humanizes people who many urban snobs would dismiss, and its occasional trailer-park moments are more than made up for by its honest and awkward tenderness. A- —TL Evening Live Free or Die Hard Based on the novel by Susan Minot, adapted by Michael Cunningham (The Hours) and directed by Lajos Koltai (Being Julia), this timeless romantic drama is an extraordinary family affair about memories, secrets, love and life with a stellar cast of multigenerational actresses (Vanessa Redgrave and daughter Natasha Richardson, Meryl Streep and daughter Mamie Gummer). Deeply moving, great dialogue, beautiful cinematography. A + —Yvonne P. Behrens John McClane (Bruce Willis) is still alive and kicking! The fourth installment of the Die Hard series is as breathtaking as the first one in 1988. Len Wiseman (Underworld) directs this action- packed thriller about an Internet-based terrorist organization that’s trying to shut down all systems in the United States, and McClane is again in the wrong place at the wrong time. The movie keeps you on the edge of your seats, and the humor is just right. A Introducing the Dwights —YPB Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer A Mighty Heart Although I’m one of those who was mildly entertained by the first Fantastic Four film, this second outing is a definite improvement. Although it features more of the same—including hot Chris Evans shirtless again as Human Torch and vapid Jessica Alba in horrid makeup and bad contacts/wig as Invisible Girl—it’s really the Silver Surfer who steals the show. With pumped-up special effects, You never know what to expect from Michael Winterbottom, the British director who tackles everything from Thomas Hardy adaptations (Jude) to graphic sex films (9 Songs). His latest is a gritty— although awkwardly sentimental at times— docudrama about the kidnapping and beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in early 2002. Thankfully, Winterbottom
