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.

Reverend's Reviews: Iranian Girls Gone Wild

The Islamic fundamentalist president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, definitely wouldn't approve of the award-winning, pro-LGBT drama Circumstance (opening today in Los Angeles and New York). Maryam Keshavarz's sensual look at two girls from opposite sides of the tracks who fall in love shines a more revealing light than ever before on Iranian culture and politics. Not surprisingly, GLBT people bear the brunt of the current regime's repressive tactics, and can even be put to death.

In Circumstance, Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri), who comes from a wealthy family, meets lower class, orphaned Shireen (Sarah Kazmy) at an underground dance party in Tehran (the film was shot in Lebanon). Despite the constant threats of surveillance and raids by Iran's Morality Police, the girls and their teen/young adult friends can't resist the time-honored temptations to dance, drink, try drugs and have sex. The biggest surprise to Shireen and Atafeh is their unexpected, mutual attraction to each other.

Naturally, they know to keep their relationship a secret. It becomes more difficult to do so once Atafeh's brother (Reza Sixo Safai) returns home from prison. Having embraced extremist religious and political views while incarcerated, he increasingly forces his conservative expectations on his family and threatens to uncover the forbidden love between Shireen and his sister.

Circumstance has swept the major awards at many of this year's film festivals, including Sundance, New Directors/New Films (a.k.a. Newfest) and Outfest, and Boosheri was honored with Outfest's Best Actress award for her film debut as the conflicted Atafeh. While I didn't find much new in the film's girl-girl romantic dynamics, it's setting and social-political commentary are certainly above the norm. Writer-director Keshavarz, who is Iranian herself, structures and frames her story beautifully, with scenes gradually moving from open and airy settings to tighter, more oppressive settings and camera shots. The performances from the mix of experienced and neophyte actors are uniformly excellent.

In an online chat with critics, Keshavarz related the many risks that she, her cast and crew members took in making the film. "I had serious discussions with the actors that we likely couldn't go back to Iran after making the film," she wrote. "Even shooting in a liberal country, like Lebanon, was still difficult; it is still illegal to be gay there." Keshavarz has been thrilled, however, with the "amazing," positive response Circumstance has received from GLBT audiences in the US as well as from younger Middle Eastern immigrants who have seen it.

While homosexuality remains a criminal offense in many Middle Eastern countries and other parts of the world, there is hope to be found in Circumstance. As history has shown — and can currently be seen in Libya and other former dictatorships — the more repressive/oppressive the environment, the more emboldened the oppressed become. This is true of both political and religious structures. Shireen and Atafeh are our latest cinematic heroines in the GLBT community's growing call for acceptance and justice.

Reverend's Rating: B+

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

Reverend's Report: D23 2011

Upon my arrival at the Anaheim Convention Center on the first morning of the D23 Expo, I could tell it was going to have a much larger turnout than the first such event in 2009. I ended up having to park on the top floor of the parking structure, and negotiated large crowds of Disney fanatics once inside the center. The second day of the expo sold out the afternoon before, a significant testament to the increased attention being paid to it.

My first stop was the traditional Disney Legends ceremony. A dozen people who have helped build the Disney empire since its founding in 1923 were honored, including five women who have voiced princesses in the more contemporary Disney animated features The Little Mermaid (Jodi Benson), Beauty and the Beast (Paige O'Hara), Aladdin (Lea Salonga, Princess Jasmine's singing voice, and Linda Larkin, Jasmine's speaking voice), Mulan (Salonga again) and The Princess and the Frog (Anika Noni Rose). Host Tom Bergeron, who was nicely casual and provided very funny commentary throughout, noted that Noni Rose is the youngest honoree to be named a Disney Legend.

All five actresses performed to montages of scenes from their respective films, with Benson bringing down the nearly full, 4,000 seat arena both through her audience-participation version of "Part of Your World" and her utterly heartfelt, unapologetic faith sharing. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," she said upon reaching the podium, quoting a traditional Christian hymn. "This is my ministry," Benson remarked of her continuing voice performance as Ariel in video games, television and the new ride inspired by The Little Mermaid at Disney's California Adventure park.

The ceremony climaxed with the induction of late Muppets creator, Jim Henson. While Henson didn't work for Disney while he was alive, his company was bought by Disney after his death and the Muppets have been a welcome, appropriate addition to the studio's holdings. Henson's children, Lisa and Brian, were on hand and reminisced about their father, moving audience members to both tears and laughter. But it was a masterstroke on the part of the event planners to bring Kermit the Frog and Rowlf the Dog out at the end to sing "The Rainbow Connection." Attendees were utterly mesmerized.

Kermit was on hand again Saturday morning at the Walt Disney Studios' presentation of upcoming movies. The amphibian was joined by Miss Piggy (who arrived in a motorcycle sidecar) as well as actor Jason Segel, their co-star in November's big-screen reunion, The Muppets. New studio head Rich Ross and animation executive John Lasseter were fairly giddy as they hyped next spring's John Carter; next summer's Brave; the direct-to-DVD Planes, an airborne knockoff of Cars; The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which does indeed look odd; and their more recently-acquired Marvel epic, The Avengers.

John Carter in particular, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" series, looks really cool. The crowd went predictably wild when cast members from the last came out, including Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johanssen and Jeremy Renner. Other big stars on hand to plug their respective Disney projects were Billy Crystal (the Monsters, Inc. prequel Monsters University), Willem Dafoe (John Carter), Jennifer Garner (Odd Life...) and Jon Cryer (Planes).

A special showroom exhibit entitled "Carousel of Projects" and a Friday afternoon presentation revealed a plethora of developments regarding Disney theme parks around the world. In the Carousel of Projects, visitors could check out a detailed model of the massive Fantasyland expansion currently underway in the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World in Florida. When completed in the fall of 2012, it will nearly double Fantasyland's current size and will feature a "Seven Dwarfs Mine Train" roller coaster (which looks like a milder, kid-friendly version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but with individually swinging cars) as well as an east coast version of The Little Mermaid ride, among other new attractions. I can't wait to visit and check it out once finished.

Details were also shared at the Theme Parks presentation about Disney's new park in Shanghai, China; the company's beautiful new Hawaiian resort, Aulani, which opens next week; the "Cars Land" addition and overall makeover of California Adventure; and magnificent new ships under construction for Disney Cruise Line. A pending expansion of California's Fantasyland was also announced, which will take over the current Carnation Gardens concert area at the end of Disneyland's Main Street USA. The expo also hosted a 45th-anniversary celebration of "It's a Small World" with special souvenirs and a panel of artists, including songwriter Richard Sherman, who helped create the mostly beloved but sometimes hated attraction.

The presentations and pavilions throughout this year's D23 Expo were very satisfying all in all, despite the larger crowds and long lines for everything, including food and restrooms. The only truly disappointing aspect of this year's D23 Expo was the "Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives" exhibition. Most of the noteworthy artifacts featured were repeats from the first expo's display, and the new additions from less well-regarded Disney films such as Hocus Pocus, Father of the Bride and The Rocketeer were decidedly underwhelming. One newly-included treasure well worth checking out was Walt Disney's personal limousine, but it was on display in the main showroom.

It will be interesting to see what Disney does next with the D23 Expo, now that it is well on its way to becoming a Comic Con-esque success. Will they offer it annually? Will it be moved beyond Anaheim as it increasingly outgrows the convention center there? All it will take is a little time... and some continued pixie dust.

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

Reverend's Reviews: Babs vs. Active Child

In one corner, we have a legendary, Grammy/Oscar/Emmy-winning superstar, Barbra Streisand. Opposite her is young, falsetto-singing upstart Active Child, a.k.a. former choirboy Patrick Grossi. Both are duking it out via new CDs being released today, and darn it if the young upstart doesn't come out on top... artistically speaking.

Don't get me wrong: I've loved Babs ever since her back-to-back triumphs while I was in high school of the movie Yentl and her Broadway Album. Of course, her career began nearly 20 years earlier in New York City, initially as a cabaret sensation and then as the triumphant headliner of Funny Girl, both on stage and screen. Streisand's vocal dynamics, clarity and showmanship have been unmatched. Now, though, she is approaching 70 and — as her new release makes clear — her voice isn't what it used to be.

What Matters Most satisfies Streisand's stated, long-desired effort to record an album of songs exclusively written by her longtime collaborators, Alan and Marilyn Bergman. The Bergmans won Academy Awards for their score of Yentl (with composer Michel Legrand) as well as for the title tune from the Streisand-starring hit, The Way We Were (which they co-wrote with Marvin Hamlisch). What Matters Most opens with Streisand singing another Bergman-penned Oscar winner, "The Windmills of Your Mind." Her diction is as impeccable as ever in this somewhat slowed-down cover, and the orchestrations throughout the new CD are lovely.

Sadly, it begins to become evident on the album's second track, "Something New in My Life," that Streisand should probably stop recording. She's been singing in a lower octave for a while now, which is to be expected as a singer ages and which was put to good use on her last, loungy CD, 2009's Love is the Answer. But here, Streisand's voice sounds harsh whenever she strains to reach a higher note at louder volume. This is confirmed by at least two other songs, "Alone in the World" and "The Same Hello, The Same Goodbye."

Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Streisand concludes What Matters Most with the elegiac song of the same name. In it, she sings that "what matters most is that we loved at all." This is presumably directed to the Bergmans but could also serve as a fitting farewell to her longtime fans. While I hate the prospect of never hearing Streisand sing something new after this, a true artist usually recognizes when their best work is behind them but will naturally endure.

As one recording artist enters their twilight, another is emerging. You Are All I See is Active Child's second CD — following last year's Curtis Lane — but the first that I've heard. It represents an amazing amalgamation of Grossi's angelic voice, ethereal music comprised of harp and strings, and 1980's synthesizer-manufactured sound. Active Child can perhaps best be considered the musical offspring of the Thompson Twins and Sarah Brightman, with a little Jimmy Somerville DNA thrown in for good measure.

From the opening title track on You Are All I See, I was hooked. "Playing House," featuring R&B singer How to Dress Well, is a standout, as is "See Thru Eyes." As a matter of fact, every song on Active Child's latest is a winner. Trust me: If you haven't heard of him, check him out. I think you'll be glad you did.

Reverend's Ratings:
What Matters Most: C
You Are All I See: A

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

Men on Film: Two Critics, One Day

Reverend's Reviews: One (Not Very Fine) Day:

July 15th is revered in Anglican Church circles as the feast of Saint Swithin (sometimes spelled Swithun), a 9th-century bishop of Winchester known for — in the words of his Wikipedia entry — "posthumous miracle-working." Swithin is referenced several times in the new movie One Day, opening nationwide today. If only the good saint's miracles extended to cinematic adaptations of bestselling novels; One Day could use one.

An uneasy mix of romantic longing and thwarted fairy tale, the plot follows two British friends and occasional lovers over a 20-year period beginning with their initial encounter on July 15, 1988. A middle-class, ambitious wannabe-writer, Emma (played by American actress Anne Hathaway), meets the wealthy, uninhibited Dex (Jim Sturgess of the Beatles-inspired musical Across the Universe) following their college graduation. The film subsequently revisits the pair each July 15th thereafter, and we watch the ebb and flow of their careers and angst-ridden relationship via vignettes accompanied by period-appropriate pop songs.

This "annual checkup" conceit ultimately proves precious and plodding, despite the occasionally clever ways each date is worked into the scene visually. I haven't read the novel by David Nicholls upon which the film is based (Nicholls also wrote the screenplay). A co-worker who has read the book informs me that the years and events aren't presented chronologically/sequentially on the page as they are on screen. I therefore suspect that events in the novel are presented in a more nuanced and layered way than they are in this heavy-handed movie version.

At least viewers are privy to some lovely scenery in Great Britain and France (shot by Benoit Delhomme) while we watch the lead characters struggle, work, love, grieve and skinny dip. By film's end, one of them learns "Whatever happens tomorrow, we've had today" as the result of a tragic twist so heavily foreshadowed in the moments before that it should surprise no one.

The cast can't be faulted for One Day's shortcomings. Hathaway and Sturgess are fine in their roles and have good chemistry. I am already weary, however, of Hathaway playing tortured romantic victims following this and last year's Love & Other Drugs. Here's hoping she gets to bust loose and kick some ass as Catwoman in next summer's The Dark Knight Rises. Patricia Clarkson (Far from Heaven, Easy A) is good as always in her brief turn as Dex's doting, terminally ill mother.

Directed by Lone Scherfig, One Day serves as a disappointing follow-up to her more subtle, Oscar-nominated film of 2009, An Education. It also represents a rare misstep for the usually reliable Focus Features, maker of such gay-interest successes as Brokeback Mountain, Milk and Beginners. Some fellow critics and audience members may find One Day miraculous somehow. By it's final 20 minutes, though, I was praying to Saint Swithin for deliverance.

Reverend's Rating: C-

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

On the other hand...

Reel Thoughts: A Blue Valentine (That People Will Actually Want to Watch):

From Same Time, Next Year to (500) Days of Summer to last year’s brutal Blue Valentine, films that unfold on timelines are fascinating, because you get to see the characters change, sometimes radically, from date to date. One Day is like Same Time, Next Year in that we follow Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess on the same date over twenty-three years, starting with a night of passion on the graduation day in 1988 all the way to 2011. At first, the date skipping from year to year seemed too quick and too facile, but as the film progressed, you grow to love Emma and Dex, flaws and all. July 15th, or St. Swithin’s Day as Dex informs Emma after their not-completed tryst, grows dramatically in significance as the pair grow older.

David Nicholls has adapted his best-selling novel masterfully, showing Dex’s rise as a smarmy television host and Emma’s escape from a dead-end restaurant job to become the teacher and then novelist she always wanted to be. Of course, Dex’s superficial fame leads to a drug-addicted, sex-drenched superficial life that is bound to burn out, and it does. Through everything, Emma’s and Dex’s friendship and love survives, and this is what makes One Day so powerful and moving.

Everyone has regrets and wonders how there life might have been different if they had engaged with that one elusive person. Writer Nicholls and Danish director Lone Scherfig (An Education) frankly show the highs and lows that fate gives us, and never stoop to easy laughs or unearned payoffs. Hathaway and Sturgess each give incredibly nuanced performances, aided by the luminous Patricia Clarkson as Dex’s mother and a cast of fine British actors. Emma and Dex’s relationship is presented in a real, mature fashion, full of the fights and reconciliations that every couple faces.

Anyone who has ever experienced the highs of love and the devastating lows of loss will want to experience this One Day. Its hopeful ending will comfort you with the promise that life can rebound, even when you think it cannot. With Sarah’s Key, The Help and now One Day, the best movies of the year are finally arriving.

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

Reverend's Reviews: Darwin or Bust

While most of us long to live in a place that truly accepts us just as we are with no questions asked, few of us would like that place to be anywhere in the vicinity of Death Valley. Long considered one of the most inhospitable places on earth, Death Valley has nonetheless been called "home" for 150 years by the varied residents of tiny Darwin, California.

Nick Brandestini's illuminating new expose of the locale — appropriately titled Darwin — is now playing as part of the 15th annual DocuWeeks in New York and Los Angeles (showtimes and more information may be found at the film's official website). The town is currently inhabited by 35 generally eccentric men and women, a mere 1% of Darwin's population of 3,500 at its peak in 1877. They proudly boast in the film of having no government, no church, no children and no jobs, save one. "I got the best job," says local postmaster Susan, "because it's the only job." Virtually everyone else lives on Social Security or disability benefits alone, and everyone has a past.

Darwin's other residents include Monty, an originally very handsome man with artistic longings who moved there in the 1950's to work as a lead miner, and his wife; Hank and Connie, who have embraced paganism after abandoning their formerly conservative Christian lives; and Hank and Connie's transgender son Ryal, who was born a girl but found in Darwin a tolerant community that supported his transition to male. Ryal and his partner, Penny, have since moved away from Darwin, hoping to find similar acceptance in the world beyond Death Valley.

As if Darwin's position on the map wasn't enough to discourage habitation, it is also located near a Naval Weapons Station established in 1943. The residents' only apparent, enduring fear aside from their water supply potentially being cut off is of one day having a nuclear bomb "accidentally" dropped on their community. Interestingly, the town's most prominent, longtime inhabitant is Michael Laemmle, grandson of the great Carl Laemmle, who founded Universal Pictures and supervised many westerns and other movies shot in the vicinity of Darwin during the 1930's-50's.

As someone is quoted during the film, "There sure is a lot of wasted talent in Darwin." The real-life characters depicted, though, more often than not credit their isolated home with bringing true peace and fulfillment to their previously troubled lives. They clearly have no regrets. Darwin is not only revealing but also quite funny due to things the residents say. To its credit, the documentary never leads viewers to laugh at the subjects' expense.

The Swiss-born Brandestini (who last made an acclaimed film about artist H.R. Giger) writes in the film's press notes of how he became fascinated with America's "living ghost towns" such as Darwin. He not only directed and produced the result of his interest, but personally shot the doc in vivid, hi-def style that captures the landscape's natural drama and edited it as well. While I haven't personally visited Darwin, I won't soon forget it thanks to Brandestini's haunting travelogue.

Reverend's Rating: A-

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

Reverend's Preview: Disney's D23 Expo Returns to Anaheim

D23 serves as the official club for die-hard fans of all things Disney. While a bit pricey to join, D23 certainly isn’t as exclusive as Disneyland’s fabled Club 33, which reportedly has a decade-long waiting list to get in. For those unaware, the “D” in D23 stands for Disney, naturally, and “23” is a shortened form of 1923, the year Walt Disney Studios was founded in Hollywood.

The bi-annual D23 Expo, which will take place August 19-21 at the Anaheim Convention Center, will once again provide a unique opportunity for non-members to savor the history and magic behind Disney’s greatest creations. Billed as “the ultimate Disney fan experience,” the first D23 Expo was held in September of 2009. The event was well attended if on a slightly smaller scale than some expected, and featured live appearances from the likes of Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage.

I personally enjoyed several of the behind-the-scenes workshops offered and the fabulous “Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives” exhibit. Showcasing 80+ years of Disney history, it featured amazing props such as the Nautilus submarine model from the Disney classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as costumes worn in Mary Poppins, Babes in Toyland, Tron, The Rocketeer and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. This year’s exhibit space will be twice as large as 2009 and includes Walt Disney’s personal limousine, among other new items.

Walt Disney Studios has experienced both hits and misses during the past two years. While their live-action, Tim Burton-directed version of Alice in Wonderland was a colossal global hit, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and the expensive Tron: Legacy foundered. Toy Story 3 and Tangled delighted both critics and moviegoers, but The Princess and the Frog and Cars 2 weren’t as successful. Still, the Disney legacy endures among both GLBT and mainstream devotees.

A highlight of each D23 Expo is the Disney Legends ceremony, which will be held the morning of August 19. This year’s honorees will be the late Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets; Regis Philbin; Guy Williams, who stirred many a young gay man’s heart in the 1950’s-60’s as Zorro as well as star of the non-Disney TV series Lost in Space; and “Disney Princess” voice actresses Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid), Paige O’Hara (Beauty and the Beast), Lea Salonga (Aladdin and Mulan) and Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and the Frog). Past recipients include Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Annette Funicello, Robin Williams and Angela Lansbury, as well as out composers Elton John (The Lion King) and the late Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast).

Special sneak peeks will be provided of upcoming Disney productions such as this November’s The Muppets, the beloved characters’ first big-screen outing since 1996, and next summer’s animated adventure Brave. There will also be a special screening of 1994’s The Lion King in 3D for the first time prior to its release on Blu-ray this fall.

Each D23 Expo is partly devoted to celebrations of Disney films celebrating significant anniversaries. This year’s roster includes Dumbo (70 years old), the animated Alice in Wonderland (60 years), 101 Dalmatians (50 years) and Beauty and the Beast (20 years). Attendees are encouraged to dress in costume as their favorite Disney characters throughout the weekend.

Tickets are required for admission to the D23 Expo, and may be purchased in advance by visiting the D23 website.

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

Reverend's Review: A Theological Tree Worth Scaling

Terrence Malick's long-awaited The Tree of Life had its world premiere at May's Cannes Film Festival and received a decidedly mixed reaction. Reportedly, as many attendees booed as applauded it but the film was ultimately awarded the Palme D'Or, the festival's top prize. It has similarly received as many pans as kudos from US critics since opening in limited release here, and has grossed a mere $9 million at the box office to date.

Malick is the much-revered but far from prolific auteur responsible for such thinking-person's epics as Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line. The Tree of Life is only his seventh film in over 40 years as a director. His movies are naturalistic, frequently wordless, lengthy (this one is 2 ½ hours) and slow moving, all of which translates as "dull" to many modern filmgoers. I do agree with most, though, that Malick's last venture — 2005's The New World, based on the story of Pocahontas — was a colossal bore.

The Tree of Life, however, is easily Malick's warmest movie and may well endure as his masterpiece... although the obnoxious heckler at the screening I attended would surely disagree. It is also a profoundly theological work. While different viewers may draw different conclusions, the movie struck me as being about nothing so much as God's relationship with what God has created. This creation, as depicted in The Tree of Life, includes planets, dinosaurs, and a Texas family struggling with the untimely death of one of its members.

Brad Pitt gives a terrific, multi-layered performance as the domineering head of the O'Brien family, which also includes his wife (the radiant Jessica Chastain) and their three precocious boys. Oldest son Jack (played by newcomer Hunter McCracken as a youngster and Oscar-winner Sean Penn as an adult) increasingly challenges his father's authority as he matures. This serves as a fairly obvious but effective metaphor for many people's relationship with God and/or the faith in which they were raised while transitioning from childhood to adulthood.

Mrs. O'Brien comments early on in The Tree of Life about the choice human beings must make between the order of Nature which, she says, "seeks its own good," or that of Grace, "which seeks the good of all." Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, among others, would appreciate this framing device. The eternal tension between Grace and Nature is subsequently illustrated via gorgeous, painterly sequences (by George Lucas's special effects house, Industrial Light & Magic) replicating the creation of the universe and Earth's primitive past, as well as through Jack's decades-long effort to reconcile the family's loss and his feelings toward his father.

Most of what constitutes dialogue in the movie is intimate voiceovers, wherein the characters question God and themselves about whatever meaning there might be behind everyday events great and small. That makes The Tree of Life a film that must be listened to carefully, which apparently is increasingly difficult for today's cineplex attendees. The excellent music score — much of it woven from seemingly disparate classical and contemporary sources — by Alexandre Desplat (The King's Speech) similarly helps to make this an aural as well as a visual experience. Luminous cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men) accentuates the latter dimension.

Being a Terrence Malick movie, much of The Tree of Life is deliberately paced and intentionally vague. Roger Ebert has compared it to 2001: A Space Odyssey in scope, but I didn't find Malick's work nearly as confounding as Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi/pseudo-religious classic. Adventurous moviegoers who don't require over-amplified sound and 3D glasses (although this is one movie that would be even more spectacular in 3D) will likely be enthralled as I was. The Tree of Life is one of the very best films of 2011 thus far, no matter what its more graceless detractors are saying.

Reverend's Rating: A-

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

Reverend's Reviews: Double Vision

History has proven that Saddam Hussein, the late long-ruling dictator of Iraq, was no Mr. Nice Guy. If The Devil's Double is to be believed, however, Hussein's son Uday — a.k.a. "The Black Prince" — was even more decadent and vicious. This fact-based, no-holds-barred exposé of political corruption and immorality opens today in New York and Los Angeles.

"We must have discipline," proclaims Uday, just prior to beating the unfortunate soldier coerced into serving as his body double. Former schoolmates and similar-looking enough to have been confused as brothers, Latif Yahia and Uday form an uneasy partnership, with the safety of Latif's parents and siblings serving as necessary collateral.

As Latif and Uday, Dominic Cooper's performance blew me away. Cooper is probably best known for his role as the fiancé of Meryl Streep's daughter in the movie version of Mamma Mia!, but can also be seen currently in Captain America: The First Avenger as Howard Stark. The Devil's Double marks Cooper's first lead in a feature film. It's a terrific double-turn, and he is particularly good as the unhinged Uday. It doesn't hurt that director Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day) doesn't refrain from showing off Cooper's impressive physical attributes as well.

Actually, the entire cast is excellent. French actress Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool) utilizes an effective mix of bravado and fear as one of Uday's prostitute mistresses who falls for Latif. Raad Rawi memorably portrays the Husseins' head of security as, in the words of Latif, "a good man in a bad job." As Saddam Hussein, Australian actor Philip Quast inspires no small degree of sympathy once the audience has gotten to know his spoiled, sociopath son (Quast also plays Saddam's double). Mimoun Oaissa has fun as Uday's gay assistant/dresser.

The screenplay by Michael Thomas is insightful, although scenes seem to become repetitive and the violence numbing as the film goes on. According to the press notes, Tamahori drew inspiration from Brian DePalma's 1983 version of Scarface, and it shows in the amounts of cocaine snorted and brutal bloodletting depicted. Like Scarface, The Devil's Double is definitely over the top at times, no less so than during a climactic birthday party Uday throws for himself where the guests are forced to disrobe. But then again, that's likely the way it was in Hussein-era, pre-Gulf War Iraq. Sam McCurdy employs gorgeous photography in desert shades of red, brown and gold of the story's setting, opulence and decadence (the movie was actually filmed in Malta).

"One day when God visits, we'll have justice," one character says. While Iraq is at present still taking slow steps toward democracy, at least the Husseins have been removed from power there once and for all. The Devil's Double makes it abundantly clear that this couldn't have happened a day too soon. See the movie if for no other reason than Dominic Cooper's revelatory performance, and watch a star being born.

Reverend's Rating: B

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

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 Report: When Film Festivals Collide

Most people think it's fun and semi-glamorous being a film critic, and it can be. A film critic's job, however, becomes about as challenging as a job can get when covering not just one film festival but two — while also serving as a programmer for a third festival — simultaneously. Such was my lot from late May through July 17, when I provided advance coverage for and attended the Los Angeles Film Festival and Outfest, the 29th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, while reviewing submissions for this September's Long Beach Q Film Festival. All in all, I've been subjected to over 300 mostly independent, primarily GLBT-interest shorts and features in 60 days, an average of 5 films per day. And this isn't even my full-time job!

Outfest 2011 came to a close with the LA premiere of The Perfect Family, starring Kathleen Turner as the conservative Catholic mother of a lesbian daughter. On the same day she is nominated for the "Catholic Woman of the Year" award, Mom learns that her daughter and daughter's partner are planning to get married. Out actor Richard Chamberlain plays the local monsignor, and Sharon Lawrence has a great turn as Turner's co-nominee/nemesis. While the film is chiefly a drama, it has its comedic moments and I couldn't help but picture Turner at times as her Serial Mom character and wish she'd make an obscene crank call or two to Lawrence, which only made the movie funnier for me. The Perfect Family doesn't get all the Catholic details right but still presents the church's rituals and parish politics more seriously than most movies. Rating: B

Religious themes were big this year, with several significant entries in both the LA Film Fest (including Vera Farmiga's haunting Higher Ground) and Outfest. The Wise Kids, featured at the latter, is a lovely, teen coming-of-age story that avoids most of the clichés we've come to expect of that genre. Writer-director Stephen Cone (who also plays a closeted, married church leader in the film) won the festival's Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Screenwriting, and the movie was awarded the Grand Jury prize for Outstanding US Dramatic Feature. Its no-name cast is excellent and I was also impressed by the ethereal music score by Mikhail Fiksel.  Rating: B+

Mangus!, by Ash Christian of Fat Girls fame, is a John Waters-type farce that even includes a cameo by Waters (as Jesus, no less). The title character is the latest in a line of family members who have performed the starring role in Jesus Christ Spectacular, a local stage tradition begun when the producers couldn't afford the rights to Jesus Christ Superstar. It's inconsequential, frequently trashy stuff but benefits from a great supporting cast that includes Leslie Jordan, Jennifer Coolidge and Heather Matarazzo. Rating: C

While the standout film for me at both the LA Film Festival and Outfest was the joyous urban ball-musical Leave It On the Floor (which has also been selected to screen at our Long Beach festival), there were a number of other movies shown during Outfest that particularly impressed and/or touched me. These include the documentaries Carol Channing: Larger Than Life and We Were Here. Carol Channing arguably ranks second only to Betty White in the category of 90-year old entertainment legends. The original Dolly Levi in the Broadway cast of Hello, Dolly! as well as an Oscar nominee for her loopy performance in the 1967 movie musical Thoroughly Modern Millie ("Raspberries!") continues to make talk show and fundraising appearances. Channing is also the subject and frequent narrator of this wonderfully informative documentary that explores her illustrious stage career, her upbringing in San Francisco, and the history behind her current marriage of 10 years to her Junior High sweetheart. It can be faulted somewhat for only viewing Channing through admiring, rose-colored glasses, but then I suppose anyone who disparages the endearingly cheery star does so at their own peril. Rating: A-

We Were Here, meanwhile, is a riveting reflection on the initial, devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic on San Francisco's gay community. Don't watch it without a box of tissues handy; my partner had to console me when I broke down at least twice while watching the movie, which I very rarely do. The film won the Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature at Outfest and is scheduled to be released theatrically this September. Rating: B+

Weekend, which won the Outfest Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Dramatic Feature, is getting a great reception among gay men wherever it shows. It will be released in US theatres starting this October. Written, directed and even edited by Andrew Haigh (Greek Pete), it follows two gay men over the course of 48 hours following their initial, Friday night meeting. Well-written and insightful, I don't think we've seen a gay-themed film this purely romantic and ultimately affecting since Brokeback Mountain. Lead actors Tom Cullen and Chris New have undeniable chemistry and give great, vulnerable performances. Unfortunately, I was put off by the characters' considerable drug use in the film. Getting high on marijuana and cocaine during the early stages of courting is hardly a healthy foundation for a long-lasting relationship. This is the only aspect in which Weekend felt false to me. Still, it's highly recommended. Rating: B+

Romeos is a standout among an unusually high number of transgender-interest submissions at all three film festivals I've been a part of this summer. While Tomboy (which had its US premiere at the LA Film Festival) is in my opinion the best among them (although some are arguing Tomboy is a lesbian-themed story rather than a trans-interest one), I also like this German production a lot. A male-appearing but secretly transgender young adult captures the eye and, eventually, the heart of a very hot gay boy. As false appearances and stereotypical expectations are gradually removed, the two forge a genuinely pioneering romance; well worth seeing. Rating: B+

Quite possibly the most ambitious production screening at Outfest was Woman's Picture. This evocation of/tribute to traditional women's genre films merely represents the first three segments of what is intended to be a 10-year film project masterminded by the highly intelligent and talented Brian Pera (The Way I See Things). Pera, looking Kevin Bacon-esque, co-stars alongside trans actress Calpernia Addams in the first part, "Ingrid." Singer Amy Lavere and the wonderful Anne Magnuson head up the other two, initial chapters. Woman's Picture, which Pera calls an homage to his grandmothers in the press notes, is a bit over-long and self-indulgent at times but it is also stylistically fascinating and beautifully shot by Ryan Parker. Given the film's presumably low budget, Pera deserves props for his economic technique, at least. Rating: B

Other award-winning movies screened during Outfest are Circumstance (Audience Award for Outstanding First US Dramatic Feature and Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actress, Nikohl Boosheri; it also won the Audience Award at January's Sundance Film Festival and will be released theatrically at the end of August); the ingenious Shakespeare update Private Romeo, which won the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actor for its entire, all-male cast; and Tom Tykwer's bisexual-themed 3, which garnered Outfest's 2011 Audience Award for Outstanding Dramatic Feature Film.

The last two months have provided me a wonderful cinematic workout, but I'm ready for a celluloid-free vacation... right after I see the final chapter in the Harry Potter saga and Captain America, that is...

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

Reverend's Reviews: Shrek Isn't Dreck

I notoriously (according to many who read my original review) referred to the 2001 animated movie Shrek oh-so-poetically as "dreck." While it became an enormous hit and spawned three sequels (Shrek 2 being, in my opinion, a vast improvement over the first), I found the original an obnoxious fairy tale farce that relied almost solely on potty humor and Disney-bashing for its raison d'etre.

Subsequently, I was far from enthused when I heard DreamWorks was turning its cash cow into a Broadway musical, hoping to follow in the footsteps of rival Disney's über-successful stage adaptations of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Then I saw the original cast perform Lord Farquaad's showstopper "What's Up, Duloc?" on the 2009 Tony Awards broadcast. I was impressed. Then I bought the original cast recording, which proved to be filled with witty, inventive songs by David Lindsay-Abaire (an unexpected follow-up to his very serious, Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Rabbit Hole) and the gifted Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change). I was even more impressed.

This past week, I was able to attend the Los Angeles opening of Shrek The Musical and see the complete work for the first time. Color me totally impressed! I highly recommend it — now playing through July 31 at the famed Pantages Theatre — to theatergoers young and old. There are still a few fart jokes and jabs at Disney, but the more-subtle musical benefits from a decidedly more lyrical, romantic approach. That and having human beings rather than computer-generated images fill the key roles give Shrek The Musical a massive advantage over its celluloid roots (although the film and musical are ostensibly based on stories written by the late William Steig).

Shrek, for the two people on the planet who haven't heard of the character, is a solitary, swamp-dwelling ogre who suddenly finds his muddy home overrun by fairy tale creatures including Pinocchio, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs and others evicted from the nearby kingdom of Duloc by the diminutive, perfection-obsessed despot, Farquaad (played, predominantly on his knees, by the hilarious David F.M. Vaughn). Shrek (beautifully portrayed and voiced by Eric Petersen) sets out for Duloc, with a talking Donkey (a great-in-small-doses Alan Mingo, Jr.) at his side. Confronting Farquaad, Shrek is promised the deed to his property if he first rescues the long-imprisoned Princess Fiona (the hilarious Haven Burton) and delivers her to Duloc so Farquaad can marry her and make himself a legitimate king.

Splendid stagecraft ensues, with one visual delight after another. In addition to the great costume designs (by Tim Hatley) that enable Farquaad to appear only a few feet tall, the show features a talking Gingerbread Man, a flying dragon, a horde of tap-dancing rats, and a cameo by the Shrek movies' Puss in Boots. The touring production is co-directed by the clever Jason Moore, who previously supervised the puppet-based Avenue Q, and Rob Ashford of the recent Broadway revival of Promises, Promises among other credits. Superb if fairly minimal choreography is provided by Josh Prince.

Tesori's and Lindsay-Abaire's more than serviceable score is comprised of several gems, most noticeably Shrek's delightfully cynical opening number "Big Bright Beautiful World"; Fiona's wistful "I Know It's Today" (performed by the character at three different ages) and energetic Act II opener, "Morning Person"; any of Lord Farquaad's songs; the dragon's R&B tuner "Forever" (which replaces her previous song "Donkey Pot Pie," heard on the Broadway cast recording); the toe-tapping, GLBT instant anthem "Freak Flag"; and the climactic, proscenium-crossing "This Is Our Story." And for fans of the original movie, an encore cover of the Monkees' "I'm a Believer" performed by the show's vocally gifted cast is included.

Shrek The Musical will be touring extensively over the next year. Wherever it plays, I encourage locals to check it out, whether or not you are fans of the movie. You'll have a good time either way. Tour information may be found at the musical's official site.

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

Reverend's Reviews: Natural Tendencies

"You cannot control what is wild." So reads graffiti left by a so-called "eco-terrorist" in the new documentary If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, which opens today in Los Angeles and will soon have a national rollout. Their warning, however, applies well to another fine doc, Project Nim, which is already playing in some cities and opens in LA today as well. As both films illustrate, tragedy has resulted historically whenever humanity messes with the environment and other species. Why didn't those of us old enough to remember heed those 1970's TV commercials for Parkay Margarine, in which viewers were cautioned: "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature"?

If A Tree Falls, directed by Marshall Curry (an Oscar nominee for Street Fight) and Sam Cullman (who also serves as cinematographer and previously shot What Would Jesus Buy?, among other documentaries), focuses on several members of a cell of the radical Earth Liberation Front, a.k.a. ELF. Since 1996, ELF members have engaged in acts of arson aimed at crippling such non-Earth friendly sites as timber companies, wild horse slaughterhouses, ski lodges (causing $12 million in damage at one such resort in Vail, Colorado) and SUV dealerships. ELF was subsequently labeled the "number one domestic terrorism threat" by the FBI... prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001, anyway.

In 2005, 14 people associated with ELF were arrested. We hear first-hand here the personal stories of how some of these initially-docile individuals became environmentalists willing to sacrifice their own freedom and survival to prevent what one of the accused (and ultimately convicted) terms "the reckless destruction of the planet." Stepping in where protests and letter-writing campaigns against offending businesses had failed, ELF drew media attention to the plight of the environment while causing acts of destruction that — to the perpetrators' credit — never injured or killed anyone.

"It's hideous to be called a terrorist," says ELF member Daniel McGowan. I prefer to think of the subjects of If A Tree Falls as tree huggers with attitude, especially since we've seen what true, life-threatening terrorists can do. Without endorsing their tactics, I admire ELF's tenacity and efforts at educating the public. The movie gets a bit bogged down in legal and procedural details during its final 30 minutes but it will, hopefully, open eyes and hearts.

Project Nim is even more potent as an indictment against those who would try to manipulate "the natural order." Directed by Academy Award-winner James Marsh (Man on Wire) and winner of the Best Directing Award for World Documentary at this year's Sundance Film Festival, it is a probing exploration — at times painfully so — of humankind's arrogance as well as of the moral superiority some other species unwittingly possess.

Created from a combination of vintage footage, recent interviews with some of the surviving players, and re-created moments featuring an actor in a monkey suit, Project Nim recounts an extraordinary experiment during the 1970's in which an infant chimpanzee was removed from its natural mother only days after its birth and given to a human mother with instructions to raise it exactly as she would a human child. The goal: to determine whether humankind's closest relative could learn to communicate as a human being.

Utilizing American Sign Language, Nim (as the chimp was rather impersonally named) was taught a number of English words as well as how to dress himself and use the toilet. However, enduringly primitive and even violent actions by Nim indicated, as one researcher says in the film, "You can't give human nurturing to an animal that can kill you." After five years, the experiment's end was suddenly declared and Nim was relocated first to a chimpanzee research center in Oklahoma, then made a subject of medical research and ultimately abandoned to a solitary cage in an animal refuge in Texas.

Nim's journey is undeniably harrowing at times, and Project Nim may be tough for some animal lovers to get through. Gratefully, and wisely on Marsh's part, the challenging moments are leavened by enough cute and/or comic episodes of Nim interacting with his supporters both as a youth and as an adult that the film leaves one feeling hopeful rather than depressed. The humans involved, while sometimes well-meaning, are also revealed to be irreversibly ignorant with perhaps two exceptions: Dr. James Mahoney, who ultimately facilitated the transfer of numerous chimps, including Nim, from the bio-medical lab he managed to more hospitable surroundings, and Bob Ingersoll, who visited and continued to communicate with Nim for over 10 years before Nim's death at the age of 26 in 2000.

I'm all for trying to talk to the animals (some of my family members and friends even call me "Doctor Dolittle" due to the affinity seemingly shared between me and many non-human creatures), but I believe we ought to meet them on their linguistic level rather than unrealistically expect them to meet us on ours. I think that's the way Mother Nature... not to mention God... intended.

Reverend's Ratings:
Project Nim: A-
If A Tree Falls: B

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