Toon Talk: The Dance at the Gym

A time-honored rite of passage for every high schooler, the annual event known as “prom night” has also frequently figured prominently in the cinematic genre known as the “high school movie.” From the celebratory (High School Musical 3: Senior Year) to the disastrous (Carrie), proms make ideal backdrops for such typical high school movie tropes as first loves, youthful heartbreak and plenty of teenaged angst. All that and more is on display in the new Disney high school nonmusical titled Prom, now available on Disney Blu-ray and DVD.

Despite initial appearances, Prom is a touch more realistic (and a whole lot less obnoxious) than your average Disney Channel movie. That is, if you can overlook the fact that, a la Grease, half the cast looks well past their high school years. And, hewing closely to its Disney pedigree, such real world teen hijinks as smoking, drinking, cursing and “getting to third base” are nowhere in sight. Which, let’s face it, is hardly true to life but hardly unexpected in a wholesome family friendly enterprise such as what we have here. Furthermore, one is not likely to expect Prom to remake the high school movie wheel, and it is more then safe to say that it doesn’t...

Click here to continue reading my Toon Talk review of Prom at LaughingPlace.com.

Reverend's Reviews: Fall Into New Releases

Summer is over and young people are back to school. A flurry of new GLBT-interest movies on home video this month, though, offers tantalizing viewing options for the fall. First out of the gate on September 1st is Finding Mr. Wright, from Nandar Entertainment. It stars the always amusing Rebekah Kochan (best known for the Eating Out series) as well as one of our favorite out actors, Matthew Montgomery, in a contemporary screwball comedy involving Hollywood politics and gay romance. Montgomery reveals an endearing, previously unseen funny side, and comedian Jason Stuart is thrown in for good measure.

On September 13th, the 2010 festival hit Leading Ladies will make its DVD debut courtesy of Wolfe Video. While it primarily puts a lesbian spin on the 1992 Australian film Strictly Ballroom, the plot also features an overtly gay character played by cute Benji Schwimmer, season 2 winner of TV's So You Think You Can Dance. Schwimmer isn't the only connection between that series and this movie; the show's choreographer, Melanie LaPatin, staged the dances in Leading Ladies and stars as the overbearing mother of two sisters groomed for ballroom competition stardom. When one of her daughters becomes pregnant and the other falls in love with another female dancer, Mom is less than pleased.

Leading Ladies suffers initially from some forced performances and dialogue but both improve as the film moves along. There are some great dance numbers, notably one between Schwimmer and a hunky suitor and another set amongst the aisles of a grocery store, and fine photography by Peter Biagi throughout. The moral of the story -- "Let love lead" -- becomes clear early on and serves as important guidance through the difficult choices the main characters have to make.

A more unusual, less polished but very effective glimpse into love and its challenges is provided by Open. The first American film ever to win the Berlin Film Festival's prestigious "Teddy" Jury Prize, it is set for a September 20th release on DVD and streaming video by Ariztical Entertainment. A striking feature film debut (despite some amateurish performances) by writer-director Jake Yuzna, Open focuses on the travails of two atypical couples. One pair is comprised of hermaphroditic individuals given to frequent cosmetic surgery in their effort to be as similar in appearance as possible. As one observer notes of them, "They truly feel they are one entity, and they want their bodies to reflect that." When one has to travel, an androgynous acquaintance threatens to come between them.

The other couple features a young man who falls in love with a female-to-male transgender person. As they work to define their relationship and sexual interactions, the trans partner's troubled past provides challenges. When the trans character unexpectedly becomes pregnant, a whole new set of questions emerges. Open is a unique and engrossing exploration of the ever-increasing diversity in human relationships.

Finally, IFC Midnight is unveiling the provocative Autoerotic in September via Video on Demand (VOD). While there isn't much GLBT content in this anthology of four stories that expose some of the more secretive aspects of sexuality, the best segment is about a very pregnant married woman who accepts another woman's offer to help her achieve orgasm, something her loving husband hasn't been able to provide in the latter months of her pregnancy. It is simultaneously funny and erotic, mainly because it is told with considerable honesty. Both lesbian and straight women should thoroughly enjoy it.

Reverend's Ratings:
Finding Mr. Wright: B-
Leading Ladies: B
Open: B+
Autoerotic: C+

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reel Thoughts: Red Hot Cookie

Melissa Leo wasn’t always a tough older woman with years of experience showing on her face, like her roles in The Fighter and Frozen River. Back in the mid-eighties, Leo was a fresh-faced redhead whose first starring role was as innocent teen hooker Cookie in the Roger Corman exploitation film Streetwalkin’, available on DVD today. The film’s director, Joan Freeman, intended the film as a serious examination of prostitutes in New York’s Times Square, which was a hotbed of sex clubs and adult movie houses in 1985. As she explains in the commentary, however, she understood that she was making a Roger Corman film, which meant that every ten minutes or so, there needed to be nudity, violence or both.

Like an R-rated version of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield” video, Streetwalkin’ tells the story of a girl who’s been kicked out by her alcoholic mother and flees to New York City with her little brother. She’s at the Port Authority Bus Terminal for all of five minutes before handsome but unhinged Duke (hunky Dale Midkiff in full Elvis impersonator mode) picks Cookie up, compliments her and turns her into a streetwalker. Her fellow working girls include the statuesque “Queen Bee”, played by the luminous Julie Newmar with an unidentifiable accent, Heather (Deborah Offner), Phoebe (Annie Golden) and Star (Khandi Alexander). When Duke beats roommate Heather savagely, Cookie realizes that he is a certified psycho, so she looks for help from another pimp named Jason (Leon). Duke’s “lesson” doesn’t go as planned, and soon Cookie, Queen Bee and Star are fighting for their lives on the mean streets of New York.

Streetwalkin’ also stars Antonio Fargas, a.k.a. Huggy Bear from Starsky & Hutch. The film is a fascinating time capsule of pre-Disney Times Square and Leo does show the depth and complexity she’d later exhibit in Frozen River and her Oscar-winning work in The Fighter. She also shows a bit of skin, although it’s doubtful that many lesbians will enjoy it due to its violence and abuse towards women.

Since Streetwalkin’ is a Roger Corman production, it does have a bit of grindhouse and camp appeal, but you’ll be surprised at how real its seedy setting feels. The commentary by Freeman and producer Robert Alden (who were married when the film was made) gives an intriguing look behind the scenes of a low budget movie.

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend's Reviews: Sexually-Charged New Releases on DVD

Just when summer couldn't get much hotter, both men and women have provocative movies guaranteed to raise their temperatures out on DVD this month. For the ladies (and for men interested in good international cinema), Argentina's celebrated The Fish Child (El Niño Pez) is now available from Wolfe Video. The film, named after a traditional Guarani folk tale that figures in the plot, was an official selection at 2010's Outfest, Frameline, Berlin and Tribeca film festivals.

The romance between Lala (Inés Efron) and Guayi (Mariela Vitale Emme) has been forbidden by Lala's father, not only because Guayi is the family's maid and thus from a lower class but because both of them are women. Having essentially spent their adolescence together, Lala and Guayi are only feeling their love become more intense. Matters aren't helped when Lala is jailed for a crime in which she played part several years before. Guayi launches a risky plan to rescue Lala and take down a drug kingpin who has his eye set on Lala. Things come to a head in a violent, climactic showdown.

The Fish Child is very well acted and beautifully shot, especially during some dreamy underwater scenes. The film was made by Lucia Puenzo, who previously did the striking XXY about the plight of an intersex teenager. Her style is very observational and some may find it slow-moving, not unlike a Terrence Malick movie (The Thin Red Line, the current The Tree of Life). Also, Guayi comes across as unhealthily obsessive at times but it's all in the name of love and devotion.

Meanwhile, Blackmail Boys spins a cinematic web of young gay love, prostitution, religious hypocrisy and, yes, blackmail. The DVD will be released August 30 by TLA Releasing. It is written and directed by Bernard and Richard Shumanski, talented brothers who also made the similarly edgy, gay-themed 2009 movie Wrecked.

Sam (played by Nathan Adloff) and Aaron (Taylor Reed) have been boyfriends since they met during college four years prior. Sam has more recently moved to Chicago to attend art school but the men's relationship has continued long-distance. Art school, however, is expensive and Sam's parents have cut him off due to his homosexuality. Unable to find a job that will pay him enough for housing and tuition, Sam has turned to prostitution as what turns out to be a lucrative option.

While Sam has told Aaron about his temporary vocation, Aaron doesn't realize how uncomfortable he feels about it until he visits Sam one weekend. The situation is initially made more difficult when Aaron spies on Sam with one of his high-paying clients and recognizes the john as a fundamentalist Christian, rabidly anti-gay author/radio talk show host. When Aaron informs Sam of this, the boys hit upon the idea of blackmailing the homophobe as a means of financing Sam's education. Things don't quite go according to plan.

Blackmail Boys is obviously low-budget and the filmmaking technique is crude in spots. Adloff and Reed aren't the most professional actors but there is a nice, natural look to them and their relationship. They also display abundant nudity and sex in this relatively brief (67 minutes) movie. Most surprising, though is the participation of indie actor-director Joe Swanberg (Hannah Takes the Stairs, the upcoming Autoerotic). He gives a great, fully-committed performance as Sam's hypocritical (not to mention married) Christian client. Not only does Swanberg nail the inner conflict and self-loathing that many such men experience, but he is depicted in graphically sexual scenes with Sam that couldn't have been faked, as well as masturbating on camera.

There are several twists as well as some humor and social commentary in the script, and I appreciated it's unexpected ending. If you're in the mood for a sexy if imperfect morality tale that might make you question your assumptions, buy or rent Blackmail Boys today.

Reverend's Ratings:
The Fish Child: B
Blackmail Boys: B-

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Modern Gay Classics on DVD

Longtime fans of independent queer cinema will probably find it hard to believe that it's been 20 years since Todd Haynes' Poison hit the screen. The controversial anthology of three mini-movies exploring the darker side of the gay experience debuted at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival and won its Grand Jury Prize. It also won the prestigious Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Poison is being re-released today by Zeitgeist Films as a special, remastered 20th anniversary edition DVD. Packed with rare extras and a 16-page booklet, it provides an excellent opportunity to re-discover the film or see it for the first time. The success of Poison enabled Haynes to write and direct such popular queer titles as Velvet Goldmine, Far from Heaven and the recent HBO miniseries adaptation of Mildred Pierce.

The filmmaker's classic opens with the foreboding words, "The whole world is dying of panicky fright." Haynes then intersperses scenes from the stylistically-diverse "Hero," "Horror" and "Homo" over the next 85 minutes. The first is a mock TV news report of a boy who kills his sexually abusive father and then, inexplicably, flies away. "Horror" serves simultaneously as a black & white homage to 1950's B-movies and as a metaphorical account of the AIDS epidemic, focusing on a well-intentioned scientist who isolates the human sex drive with devastating results. "Homo," inspired by the work of gay writer Jean Genet, is a dream-like but disturbing romance between two prison inmates. All three stories are beautifully photographed by Maryse Alberti and Barry Ellsworth.

Upon its release, Poison was denounced by conservative commentators such as Ralph Reed and the American Family Association's Donald Wildmon. They objected to both Haynes' subversive, pro-gay commentary and the graphic nudity and sex depicted in the "Homo' segment, especially since the film had received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Of course, many more critics — including J. Hoberman (whose original essay from The Village Voice is included in the DVD's booklet), David Ansen and Richard Corliss — lauded the movie.

Poison also launched the careers of producers Christine Vachon and James Schamus, who have supervised many of the most significant independent films of the last 20 years. Schamus eventually became president of Focus Features, which released Far from Heaven, Brokeback Mountain, Milk and the current Beginners. He and Vachon as well as Haynes are featured in a special 20th anniversary Q&A about their achievements. As made clear by the new, remastered DVD, the impact of Poison has been far-reaching.

1981's German production Taxi zum Klo (in English, Taxi to the Toilet) has left a similar mark on queer film history and was also recently made available on DVD in a 30th anniversary Director's Cut by QC Cinema. It was written and directed by Frank Ripploh, who also stars as a respected schoolteacher with a secret gay life. Set in West Berlin, it has been hailed as "the first masterpiece about the mainstream of male gay life." While dated in some respects and perhaps not the most positive portrait of our community by today's standards, Taxi zum Klo is nonetheless an enduring testament to the gay experience, then and now.

Reverend's Ratings:
Poison: A-
Taxi zum Klo: B-

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.