SEPTEMBER 16. 2011
OREGON S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
screenplay sharp enough, and the actors
skilled enough to make this a minor quibble
about a very worthy film.
Like Harvest, this one features a mis
matched gay pair: Gabriel, the kind of sweet
kid who “girls tell their troubles to,” and
Markus, a more worldly bi-boy. They meet at
an English immersion school in Manchester
and share a kiss. On returning to Iceland, their
lives go back to their classic slacker routine, a
whirlwind of drunken parties, teenage angst,
hatefi.il parent-child relationships and bitter
sweet romances. A jolting scene of Markus
having sex with a girl at one of the parties
sends Gabriel scurrying inward, though he
still manages to comfort his
beleaguered friends and also
defend himself righteously
against the constant intru
sions of his shrewish mother.
Wisely, the film pays at
tention to an ensemble of
characters, lifting it out of
the ghetto o f “gay drama” by
focusing equally on G abri
el’s male and female friends
and their romantic and fam
ily travails. Director and
co-screenwriter
Baldvin
Zophoniasson
obviously
knows this scene and these
people, and one of Jitters’
joys is how intensely he por
trays the (nonstop) inter-
generational combat. There’s also enough
humor— as when Gabriel’s anguished
mother demands to know why he’s eating
Cocoa Puffs— to balance some of the film’s
disturbingly bleak moments.
Directed by Baldvin Z, Iceland (subtitled'),
97 min., Sat., Oct. 8, 5:30p.m.
— G ary M orris
Hollywood To Dollywood
In this irresistible road movie, gay twins
Gary and Larry Lane set off in an RV
dubbed “Jolene” to hand deliver a script to
gay icon Parton at her namesake theme park.
But the cross-country journey from Los
Angeles to Pigeon Forge,Tenn. is more than
just a professional pilgrimage, it’s a trip back
to their North Carolina roots, and through
the homophobia dotting their 1-40 route.
The actor/model Lane brothers, warm,
disarmingly genuine southern boys who’ve
spent the last four years penning Full Circle
with Parton in mind, know their share of
celebs: among them Dustin Lance Black,
Chad Allen (a producer on the documenta
ry) and Leslie Jordan—who advise the sib
lings to cut the script significantly. The
Lanes have even met their idol Dolly before.
But this time it’s different.
“Full Circle” isn’t just the name of a Par-
ton song, or the title of Gary and Larry’s
screenplay. It’s a metaphor, granted an obvi
ous one, for their return east, and the stories
o f those they meet at rest stops, hair salons
and bars along the way. It’s also a sometimes
painful reminder that said circle—be it the
lifelong pursuit of acceptance and love or a
career-making deal— can’t always happen, at
33
least not within a mere 2,200 mile trek, or
an 80 minute movie.
Directed by John Lavin, Hollywood to
Dollywood is as pleasant as it is gently pro
found. The Lane siblings, accompanied by
G ary’s amiable boyfriend, are so grounded,
so positive— even in the depths o f familial,
religious and cultural isolation— it’s hard
not to believe that everything will work out
in “The E nd.”
They’ll certainly have you wanting it to.
Directed by John Lavin, USA, 79 min.,
Sat., Oct. 1, 7 p.m., Gary and Larry Lane in
attendance.
— A manda S churr
Codependent Lesbian Space
Alien Seeks Same
Like any good Sapphic sci-fi rom-com
worth its salt, Codependent Lesbian Space
Alien Seeks Same wastes no time delving into
the complexities of modern relationships,
and its many pop culture trappings: person
als ads, role playing, psychoanalysis, greeting
cards, online dating and the ozone layer.
You see, when an inhabitant o f the Sat
urn-neighboring planet Zots feels too much,
the emotions transcend the body, floating
into the atmosphere and destroying the
ozone layer for these evolved beings. That’s
right, folks: In writer-director Madeleine
Olnek’s kitschy ‘50s B-movie throwback,
love really is dangerous.
Cue a few, well, cue ball-headed, cone-
collared creatures, banished to earth—
Brooklyn, to be specific—pending fickle
human-inflicted heartbreak. Only then can
they return home, numb, relieved o f their
pesky feelings and harmless to the ecosys
tem. Horny Zylar, virginal Zoinx and Zyler-
smitten Barr care, they just don’t want to.
I t’s silly, surprisingly astute fun— who’d a
thunk a diner’s revolving dessert tray could
be spun into a lesson on loss and regret?—
complete with undercover government
agents and alien-out-of-w ater absurdities.
Just wait until you hear our Zots heroines
discussing the effects of the ocean on sin
gles vs. couples. Don’t expect the world
here, you’re not gonna get it— at least not
this world.
Directed by Madeleine Olnek, USA, 70
min., Fri., Oct. 7, 7p.m.
— A manda S churr
Life on the Water
7:15 AM Saturday
Reflected light flows in through generous windows. Sip a cup of
Stumptown while you watch a blue heron 30 yards away at water’s
edge Out the door for quick run before you really start the day
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