MOVIE REVIEW
Tell Tale (2009)
Eric Lee/Tribeca Film Festival
The world premiere screening of Michael Cuesta’s “Tell Tale,” held Friday night as part of the Tribeca Film Festival, was interrupted with calls for EMS as a man slumped over in his seat, possibly fainting or suffering a seizure. Without making light of the occurrence or improbably speculating about it, it’s not inconceivable that Mr. Cuesta’s film could have such an intensely visceral effect on an audience member.
VIDEO
Festival de Cine Internacional de Ourense
It is such a pleasure to hear the Irish language spoken fluently as it is throughout “Fairytale of Kathmandu.” Cathal Ó Searcaigh (pronounced Ca-HULL O’Sharkey) is a well-known Irish-language poet. I have one of his books acquired in the mistaken belief it was a bilingual edition, and on the flyleaf a review by Maire Mhac an tSaoi is quoted: “Ó Searcaigh is Mozartian, following the Gaelic classical convention of the dramatic first person, which disinfects the ‘I,’ moving easily from traditional metres to free verse and back, distilling the intense emotions of same-sex love into a lyric form that has not, I think, been equaled since the days of the Greek anthology.”
MOVIE REVIEW
Love the Beast (2009)
Michael Klein/Tribeca Film Festival
Many people chase stardom, but the vast majority don’t make it far beyond auditioning by day and waiting tables by night. Ironically, the relative few who do make it often have other unrealized aspirations. Some actors prefer playing in a rock band, while others would rather be making shoes. Eric Bana wishes he could be a racecar driver. He dedicates his directorial debut, the documentary “Love the Beast,” to his lifelong obsession with a 1974 Ford XB Falcon Coupe. It’s his first car, one that he and his mates have spent endless hours fixing up while hanging out in his parents’ garage. But it’s also because of his unexpected brush with fame, that Mr. Bana has managed to perfect his ride and enter the Targa Tasmania, an imposing five-day rally and race in Australia.
MOVIE REVIEW
Steam (2009)
Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
"Steam’s" inclusion in the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is a bit tenuous, as only one of the three interweaving story lines has a gay theme. But any film with Ruby Dee, Ally Sheedy and Lane Davies is an embarrassment of riches. What a pity writer-director Kyle Schickner didn’t know what to do with the talent he had to work with.
MOVIE REVIEW
The Soloist (2009)
Francois Duhamel/Paramount Pictures
“The Soloist” is an impressive technical achievement, a unique visual portrait of Los Angeles and a creative evocation of the orgiastic power of Beethoven and Bach. Still, although the film features many elements conducive to a compelling human drama, it never quite gets there. With a premise that relies heavily on dynamic characters whose dynamism is never tangibly felt, irreparable discordance develops between the high caliber craft and a narrative that’s frankly less affecting than it should be.
Continue reading “Homeless Schizophrenic Easier to Save Than L.A. Times” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Fighting (2009)
Phillip V. Caruso/Rogue Pictures
"Fighting," a frenetic and exuberant new film by Dito Montiel ("A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints") follows a young Alabama native trying to survive the streets of New York City. He earns his money by going to the outer boroughs, meeting the local people of color and beating them to a bloody pulp. While most of the film gets by on genuine emotions and humor, on the heels of movies like "Observe and Report" it's beginning to feel like the Year of the Angry White Male.
Continue reading “Squandering Resistance for a Pocketful of Mumbles” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Patrik, Age 1.5 (2008)
Per-Anders Jörgensen/Regent Releasing
Sometimes movies should show new things that hadn’t been seen or considered before. Sometimes they delve into human emotions in fresh ways. Sometimes it’s pretty people blowing things up, or just the oldest sins in the newest ways. "Patrik, Age 1.5" tells us an old story, but one that’s still the best: that even though life is messy and complicated and imperfect, it’s still possible to be happy. It’s been a long time since a movie has so perfectly achieved this uplifting affect. And if you’d told me a gay Swedish adoption comedy with a country-music soundtrack would have achieved this, I would have laughed in disbelief.
Dime Western Productions
One could almost bet the farm that “Lady Trojans” director Elizabeth Hesik was the little sister of the focus her film, Annameekee Hesik. Known as Anna, she played basketball throughout her high school career in early 1990s' Tucson, Ariz., and the team and its players were the means through which she discovered her sexuality. A quick Google reveals, to my surprise, the director is actually the older sister, who appears to have been away at college during the events depicted. (Good thing I don’t have a farm.) This closeness to, yet distance from, the events depicted in “Lady Trojans” gave her the means to make this film, perhaps it didn’t also give her a sufficient remove to be objective about the story she is telling.
Providence Productions
When a young, white gay man, Matthew Shepard, was beaten up and tied to a fence to die in Wyoming in 1998, there was international outrage, huge coverage in the mainstream American media, anti-hate crime legislation drafted in his name and even a movie as a result. But Sakia Gunn’s equally homophobic murder five years later was largely ignored – because she was black? A girl? Someone whose sexual identity was a little harder to describe? For whatever reason, Charles Bennett Brack decided to make "Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project" in an attempt to redress the balance.
Continue reading “Dual Identity Makes an Outcast in Two Communities” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Every Little Step (2008)
Paul Kolnik/Sony Pictures Classics
Generations of dreamers have flocked to New York City, lured by promises of fame and fortune and the chance to make it big. “A Chorus Line” translated its celebration of a group of Broadway aspirants into multiple Tony Awards and a record breaking run. Similarly “Every Little Step,” a documentary that chronicles the casting of the show’s recent revival, candidly reveals the hopes and fears experienced by the men and women facing the imposing odds of auditioning for a Broadway show.
Sorry. No data so far.