by Lyska Mondor
VOICES | In The Pink
The Completely Subjective Top 5
Lyska Mondor pens In The Pink for Just Out. She is a published poet
and aspiring sci-fi author. Reach her at Lyska@JustOut.com
2012 Best films
I had a hard time choosing only five films out of the many
released in 2012. Sometimes reviewers will expand their
list in order to incorporate more titles they admired. To
me, that always sounds like a copout. Choosing should be
difficult, as it forces the reviewer to be all in. I’m an all in
kind of girl. So, here you are. What follows is a list saturat-
ed with personal bias, organized in some particular order.
5. Beyond The Black Rainbow (released 2010 – 2012)
The title makes this movie sound like a remake of The Wizard of Oz, but with zombies. Better
yet, a Return to OZ remake titled Mombie’s Zombies. Apologies.
Beyond The Black Rainbow
Beyond The Black Rainbow, directed by Panos Cosmatos, is set in, and feels like, 1983 dystopia
madness. The main character, Dr. Barry Nyle, has a laboratory that was intended to be a center
for the evolution of the human psyche, but has become something else. It’s an incubator for one
test subject. A girl, Elena, is a captive, suffering from his complete obsession and ruthless as-
saults on her conscious mind.
Many reviewers did not like this movie. It has more of an atmosphere than a plot. The analog
synthesizer score is perfect as you watch color palettes assemble geometrically, and then melt
like liquid crayons into a pool from which one girl must escape a mad scientist.
4. The Hunger Games
Beast of the Southern Wild
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So, The Hunger Games was a blockbuster greatly anticipated by all who read the book of the
same name by Suzanne Collins. Not everyone approved, but I did. There’s something special
about a movie that can instantly penetrate, yeah penetrate, pop culture. For example, Chad Mi-
chaels, a famous queen on Rupaul’s Drag Race, was quoted many times this season saying, “May
the odds be ever in your favor.” I think the last time I heard this much homo rumble-speak was
in Beyond the Thunderdome. Two LGBTQIA enter, one LGBTQIA leaves.
January 2013