Punish Me (Verfolgt)

Who doesn't love a nice story about statutory rape and sadomasochism.  The story of Punish Me is very much like that of Mary Kay Letourneau except that the instead of our protagonist Elsa being her abused minor's teacher, she is his probation officer.  But unlike Mary Kay, Elsa knows when to call an end to the misguided affair.  In the end though, Elsa still loses everything.

As happens to many people, something was missing from Elsa's life.  She did not even realize until Jan came into her charge, yet another troubled teen needing guidance and support.  But Elsa never expected Jan to be so aggressive in his pursuit of her or that she would give in so easily to the temptation of the experience he was offering her.

Both Elsa and Jan were getting from each other something they felt they were missing from their lives.  Unfortunately, Jan's youth prevented him from seeing the truth that the relationship could not be sustained.  It is unfortunate that two lives were destroyed in the pursuit of finding a human connection in this crazy world.  Makes me worry if there is any hope for any of us.

Atonement

Atonement is the story of a young girl, Briony, who reports incorrectly to the police and her parents about something she sees but does not understand.  The central theme of this film reminds me of The Children's Hour, a 1961 film starring Shirley MacLaine (Ouiser from Steel Magnolias) Audrey Hepburn (Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's), as two teachers at a prestigious girl's boarding school who may or may not be lesbian.  Both children making the accusations are thinking they are doing the right thing, but neither understands the magnitude of their words at the time.

Briony spends the rest of her life attempting to make amends for what she now realizes is a false identification.  She admits that in her final novel in which she tells the story that she created sequences.  She claims it is out of kindness to those she has wronged, but isn't it more likely it is her way to ease her guilty conscience.  No matter the true motivation for her manipulating the truth (again) the lives she destroyed were never repaired.

This film is a shocking reminder of times in the past (and present) where accusation becomes fact.  A world in which credibility is never questioned when the answer matches the desire of the accusers.  A scary world to to live in, indeed, at any time.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd marks the 6th collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp (see Edwad Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Based on a Stephen Sondheim musical, Burton's version is dark and brooding.  The songs amplify this mood and make the bloody imagery even more unsettling.

Sweeney Todd's quest for revenge against those who wronged him and his family is understandable and the final irony (you need to watch this Romeo & Julietesque moment for yourself) leaves you speechless.  This serves as a ying to the yang of the love story between Anthony and Johanna.  This formula creates a film that leaves you cheering for both the lovers and the murderer.

In this modern age of vigilante justice, Sweeney Todd can serve as a warning to others, that while perceived justice may be served, but karma is a bitch.

The Einstein of Sex (Der Einstein des Sex)

Before there was Alfred Kinsey, there was Magnus Hirshfeld.  Magnus Hirshfeld (1868 - 1935) was the founder of the Institute for Sexual Research, a facility dedicated to medical assistance and education on all matters related to human sexuality.  The Institute was subject to much criticism and eventually was destroyed by the Nazi war machine.

The Einstein of Sex (Der Einstein des Sex) tells the tale of Hirshfeld from his childhood, early medical career, founding of the Institute, and his eventual exile in Paris in hiding from the Nazi concentration camps.  Much like his successor Kinsey, Hirshfeld is portrayed as a man obsessed with his work and extremely socially awkward.  One wonders if it is the men or the work that causes this poor combination of personality traits.

Like most biopics, this film is only a brief insight into the man and his work.  His contribution to the study of sexuality is inconceivable.  His personal life a complicated one.  This film portrays a man as human as you or I who just happened to have a permanent place in history.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth installment in the series, and Daniel Radcliffe's first appearance as the boy wizard post-Equus, is a much darker film than its predecessors.  While Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ended in the death of Cedric Diggory, this film suffered under a cloud the abuse of power.

The not so subtle subtext behind Hogwart's curriculum being manipulated by conservative zealots at the Ministry of Magic is clearly an indictment of post-9-11 legislation enacted to "protect" civil liberties by taking away those same basic rights from those labeled as terrorists.  

While the film is based on a British novel, the power of film's ability to be open to multiple interpretations, comes through.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

National Treasure: Book of Secrets is a very well balanced, if not predictable, sequel in what appears to be a developing franchise.  The story picks up where the first ended and a new adventure is unfolding, again involving the Gates family role in history, this time involving Thomas Gates role in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Along the way new secrets are being revealed and the infamous President's Book of Secrets is found.  A book that supposedly is handed down from president to president with the secrets of the Kennedy assassination and Area 51, among others, with page 47 of the book providing a lead in to another sequel.

In the end the Gates family name is cleared, the world is saved from certain treasure falling into the hands of the bad guys and the treasure is given to a museum for cataloging and preservation.  If only everything is life were wrapped up so cleanly in the end.

Evan Almighty

For those who thought Dogma was blasphemous, Hollywood gave you Bruce Almighty.  For those who thought Bruce Almighty was sacrilegious, there is Evan Almighty.  In this sequel to Bruce Almighty, the story follows Evan Baxter, Bruce Nolan's nemesis, rise Junior United States Congressman to modern-day Noah.

The inspiration for building the ark is not salvation from God's wrath, but his benevolence to save the lives of a new upper middle class community.  Evan suffers for his work building the ark and in many ways becomes both Noah and Christ by sacrificing himself for the greater good.

This film serves as an excellent example of a stand-alone sequel.  The fact that Evan is from the first movie in the series in no way impacts the viewer's understanding of the current story.  This formula provides immense opportunities for future franchise potential through characterizing different Bible characters.  Only time will tell if Hollywood will agree with me on this point.

A River Made to Drown In

A River Made to Drown In was the first film released after Richard Chamberlain came out of the closet.  The story is of an older gay man Thaddeus (Chamberlain) with a penchant for young gay hustlers who returns to spend his last days with one of his favorite boys.  

Allen (Michael Imperioli) has no idea that the return of Thaddeus, and his favor to find the young Jaime (James Duval), will force him to not only deal with his past life, but with his current feelings for Thaddeus.

Allen and Jamie serve as book ends to Thaddeus's very tortured life.  By returning to die with Allen and committing suicide with Jamie at his side, Thaddeus hopes to leave the two great loves of his life to take care of each other after he is gone.  Neither are ready for the responsibility and the film leaves you wondering what will become of them together and individually.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I do not remember the how or why I became fascinated super hero stories.  I know it is common for all kids to like it, but as you get older, you either out grow it, or become a geek and still love it until the day you die.  I am the latter I think, but like I said, have no idea when or how that happened.

My earliest memory of the Fantastic Four was of a board game - The Amazing Spiderman and the Fantastic Four.  I think there were variations with the Incredible Hulk and others as well, but the Spiderman version was the one I remember best.  I saw the first Fantastic Four on DVD with a friend.  Since it was so much better than I had expected it to be, I had decided that I was going to see Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in theater this time.  Unfortunately, that did not happen.

I found this sequel to be the epitome of what a sequel in this genre should be.  It was simply a further adventure with the existing cast.  There was no attempt to complete a cyclical story, no attempt to lead into a further sequel, two traps often found in this genre.  Instead, this movie was a firm, stand-alone piece that did not demand that the viewer know anything about the prior film or really anything about the lore of the Fantastic Four.  

To me, this is what makes a sequel in this genre great.  it really is too bad more are not made on this very simple premise.   Could be a lot more big screen comic book features if they did.

Spiderman 3

I have seen childhood photos of me from one of my 2nd or 3rd birthday holding a crap load o Spiderman paraphernalia, including a doll, van, and gun.  So it is not surprising that I of course was tickled once Sam Raimi started releasing new versions of the classic icon from my childhood.  I actually own the first two, but missed Spiderman 3 when it was in theaters this summer and just found time to watch it on DVD.  

I have to say, I thought this movie was a lot longer than the earlier ones or at least it was seeming that way this evening.  I can only describe this movie as a classic Id, Ego, Super Ego allegory.  Venom of course is the Id, Peter the Ego and Spiderman the Super Ego.  The only other comment I can make about this movie is that it very neatly wrapped up nearly every single loose end that was trailing from the first two movies.  

Normally this sort of trite convention irritates me, but since I am tired of movie franchises being worked into the ground, I was thrilled that this franchise had a sound, coherent conclusion, without leaving lingering questions tat just serve no other purpose than to lead into another installment.

boys life 6

I love shorts collections.  They offer you some of the best of the best shorts from the film festival circuit and in some cases can be a test for a film about to jump into the full length feature arena, e.g. Just One Time.  Boys Life 6 is the latest in a series of collections that enlightens, entertains, and often times  makes you uneasy at the images before you.

No film in this collection is more descriptive of this than the lead off shirt Bugcrush.  This short is a story of the gay semi-closeted geeky kid who has an unhealthy attraction for the bad boy.  The price paid for gaining the acceptance of the bad boy is physical and sexual abuse and temporary paralysis by an unknown caterpillar.  Losing one's dignity and sense of personal safety, a small price to pay for high school social climbing.

Doorman follows the traditional tale of the intermingling of the social classes and what happens when the masters start playing with the servants.  The rich college kid felt an itch that only is doorman can scratch.  But when the doorman tries to cross the line from fetishistic toy to boyfriend, he is dismissed.  The doorman does have the last word after giving into the rich college kid's ultimate desire, which has just less impact than the doorman;s final words, "You have a good day sir."

Davy and Stu is a classic tale of first love in which the lovers are polar opposites and heading in completely different direction, but fight to hold onto what they have just a bit longer.  One intellectual, one jock, one urban, one rural.  The story is quaint and cute and the ribbon on the package is when Davy (the intellectual) thanks Stu (the jock) for showering after school before coming to meet him.  A little gesture, that means so much, is the best way to seal the deal in young love.

Heartland is a sad story of a gay boy forced to return to his small town from New York to take care of a family and farm he never wanted to be part of in the first place.  While there he is outed by his best friend and makes out with the former high school football star who is also in the same situation.  A good use of parallel characters, but the story to me was not very engaging, simply due to its simplistic and formulaic nature.

Jailbait

There is no limit to the number of prison movies out that describe the tough life behind prison bars.  The majority of these movies will include prison scenes of fighting, showering and rape, as a way of illustrating the degradation of the inmates to animals.  However, Jailbait's approach is far more cerebral in its delivery and this makes a refreshing change.

The majority of the film takes place in a single cell and involves the two cell mates.  The older, in for murdering his wife, dominates the younger, a 3 strike felon, from the second he enters the cell.  Through initial friendly chatter to gain his trust and later a domestic violence abuser cycle, the two enter into a pattern of psychological rape on a daily basis.  The look on the younger inmates face is telling of how this treatment is more damaging than the physical and sexual abuse he has suffered already.

This film serves as yet another reminder to me why I never want to go to prison.

Twilight Dancers

In the tradition of Macho Dancer, Midnight Dancers, and Burlesk King, Twilight Dancers is a modern day story of a young man navigating the complex world of the Manila gay bar scene.  However, there is a secondary character that is bar itself which is suffering a slow death as the gay word is becoming more mainstream and less confined to the bars alone.

Dwight (Tyron Perez), our spotlight dancer, is a young man who was raised in an orphanage and entered the bar scene through the help of his friend Allen (Allen Dizon).  Both men are suffering the long terms effect of their work and long to be in living a more stable and traditional life away from the skin trade.

The film has a combination of sensuality and story.  The sensuality enhances the story and provided a much needed release of the pressure building up in the movie.  However, for the more sensitive viewers, the second to last scene goes far beyond it s predecessors.

This movie is a fine successor to its forefathers and worthy of the time watching it.

Charlie's Angels

The original TV movie pilot for the television series that went on to spawn two remakes is the 1976 pilot of Charlie's Angels.  The original angels, Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson), Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) and Kris Munroe (Farrah Fawcett), gave the first indication that woman had power of their own -- even if they were for an unseen man.

The original story of the first three Angels is of a wine vineyard baron who mysteriously disappears after his second wife comes onto the scene and his daughter from his first marriage is out of the picture.  The Angels are sent in to find out who did what to whom and why.  The end result, the Angels saved the day and Charlie gives us a first glimpse into how mysterious a figure he will be in the series.

The pilot that spawned 5 years of prime time television and two motion pictures is no less in its significance than what has come after it.

Happy Hookers

Happy Hookers was my last selection for this year's Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.  This documentary explored the all too familiar queer cinema topic of male prostitution, but this time in India.  The story is much the same as it has been told before, but the subjects are somewhat more sympathetic in that they are trying to support families and not just themselves.

This documentary, like the others in this genre, showcased young men in need of making money to survive by moving from their small town to the big city.  However, many of the young men in this documentary are not gay, have a wife and kids at home, and have far more to lose than just their dignity in this work.  They live in a society in which homosexuality is a social taboo.

I have seen many documentaries and fictional accounts on this topic and none before have ever had such a lasting effect on me.  Is is that I am getting older and more sensitive the topic of exploitation of youth?  Or that I can now understand how one wrong turn can lead to a long series of events that are not only beyond your control, but make you feel like you will never make your life your own again.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

A modern adaptation of the 1891 Oscar Wilde's only published novel.  It tells the story of a young man obsessed with his youthful beauty and in exchange for eternal youth, sells his soul.  In the original and many of the earlier adaptations the picture was a painting that aged and became distorted due to Dorian's indulgent life.  However, in this 2006 adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray the portrait is a video installation and the actor playing Dorian is better known as the son of a minister on 7th Heaven.

David Gallagher plays the title role of Dorian Gray with a determination and force that is beyond his 22 years.  Gallagher portrays a character torn between reconciling the abuse he suffered as a child to the abusive man he has become.  Over the film's 20 year span, the video installation shows Dorian's inner soul becoming more and more ugly and less and less resembling the beautiful youth he is on the outside.  Eventually all things come to an end and Dorian's journey is no exception.

I left this movie thinking I need to see it many many more times in order to understand the multiple layers involved.  The film is so powerful that I would not recommend having anything major to do after seeing it.  You will need a day or two to recover.

Naked Boys Singing!

I had heard of this show years ago and missed it when it toured Portland, Oregon.  So when I saw it on the schedule for the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival I was so up for it.  Not only since I love naked men, but because I love innovative musical theater.

Naked Boys Singing! is a sort of musical revue, since there is no central story, but instead a loose collection of interrelated songs that do not shy away from the fact that the cast is at times full nude on stage.  In fact, in the song Gratuitous Nudity tackles the issue head on. 

However, at no point is the nudity gratuitous in my mind.  The nudity is integrated in such a way that it is part of the song and does not take away from the beautiful and lyrical ballads.  This is most evident in the song Window to Window in which two of the cast are singing to each other akin to the balcony seen in Romeo & Juliet.

This is one of those movies that just needs to be seen in order to understand why it deserves to be among your favorites of all time.

Erotic Films of Peter de Rome

My first selection of this year's Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival was the Erotic Films of Peter de Rome.  Peter de Rome was a filmmaker who made short and full length erotic films in the 1970's.  This screening was a retrospective on his short works.  For a midnight show I thought I would give it a shot.

The shorts were nudity filled and most did not have actual hardcore sexual action in them.  The shorts were a combination of erotic and artsy and very much a sign of the times.  It reminded me of what I would have watched in my college film classes had their been a queer cinema class.

What I really left from this screening was that there is a fine line between pornography and erotica.  A line that I always knew existed, but never realized was so blurred in the hands of an art house filmmaker.  Makes me wonder what Shortbus would be like if Peter de Rome had directed instead of John Cameron Mitchell...

The Masseur (Masahista)

I had been losing faith in Filipino cinema in recent years, mostly due to the work of Crisaldo Pablo.  He has given the cinematic world such gems as Doubt (Duda), Bathhouse and Circles (Bilog).  These films remind me of a Filipino versions of Richard Anthony Films projects Traveling to Olympia, Revenge in Olympia and Slice of Terror.  All of these films are pseudo soft-core porn/erotica with very weak stories and very uneven acting.  But The Masseur is different.

The story is of a young man who works in a massage parlor to earn money for his family who live in a suburb.  The day before his father dies, he has a client who crosses his professional boundaries and make him re-examine his entire life.

  

This film was both sensual and engaging.  The physical intimacy between the characters was not gratuitous, but instead realistic.  It provided a framework of strangers in the night looking for a moment of human connection.  This connection is in sharp contrast the the distance that exists between the protagonist and his father.  A distance that is ironically shortened since death.

I want to thank director Brillante Mendoza for restoring my faith in modern Filipino queer cinema.  I am looking forward to his future projects to serve as a counter balance to the works of Crisaldo Pablo.

The Aviator

This film is the semi-autobiographical story of Howard Hughes, a precursor to Richard Branson.  Hughes was an aviation giant, movie mogul and one of the most successful people to suffer from OCD.  The film depicts how an early and seemingly innocuous childhood event triggered in Hughes a lifetime obsession with cleanliness.

Overall, The Aviator only covers a short span of the life of Howard Hughes in which the viewer is witness to a glimpse of the final breakdown that caused Hughes to barricade himself away on the top floor of a Las Vegas hotel for the last 1o years of his life. 

The main reason I have always been fascinated with Howard Hughes was that I could relate to a man tortured with so much passion and not enough power or control to execute it.  I often feel a similar powerlessness, minus the OCD issue of course.

However, since I have become a probate paralegal, the drama that surrounded Hughes estate after his death has become an intellectual curiosity for me.  A very good reason why you should keep your friends closer, your enemies closer, and your estate planning up to date.  Even if you have nothing to leave behind.

White Noise

I had avoided White Noise for ages since I was terrified to watch it alone. I finally grew a pair and watched it -- granted first thing in the morning. So the true test will come tonight if I can sleep or not...but that is a different entry for a different blog.

This movie dealt with electronic voice phenomenon (EVP)
which is a way those in the great beyond try to communicate with this world through the white noise of TV and radio. I frankly get freaked out easily on such things but this movie was not so much creepy and just using EVP as an smaller element of a serial killer mystery. This is refreshing since it makes the the movie more than another supernatural cheap trick.

For me this movie does raise the whole question over are people ghost magnets or are the places they live. It seemed Michael Keaton was a magnet of some sort since the malevolent spirits followed him from his own house, to his loft, to the warehouse. I can relate to this, since no matter where we live, Casey (my cat) finds crap to scream and yell at that I cannot see.

Anyway, overall, I give this movie a definite recommendation, since it is if nothing else a beautiful love story with a bit of crime drama thrown in.

Bastoni - The Stickhandlers

While Broadway Video the other night I was looking for a nice foreign movie to kill some time with. I was strolling the Japan section when I found Bastoni. It looked somewhat familiar so I could not remember if I had seen it before in the TLA catalog or actually watched it (and it turns out I had watched it at some far off point but do not remember when).

The basic premise is seeing how to adult film stars try to go from being the top of their game to preparing to have a baby. The movie is graphic-ish, but nothing close to true porn or Short Bus. The complicating factor is the male protagonists ex-girlfriend who for some weird stalker ass reason decide she wants to come between her ex-boyfriend and his new wife/mother of his child.

Well. all hell breaks loose toward the end of the movie and I was just left feeling a sense of sadness. Not for the male protagonist having his world turned up side down, but for the ex-girlfriend's bitchyness. She went out of her way to destroy her ex-boyfriend after they had not seen each other in eight years. And for what?

This is one of those stories that makes you take a step back and take stock of how you deal wit ha break up. I'd like to think I am above high school drama crap at my age. But then again who knows what one is capable of anymore.

Death at a Funeral

I watched this film at the very quaint Seven Gables Theater located in the University District of Seattle. This movie is directed by Frank Oz, the man who before he was directing such gems like In & Out, was a puppeteer giving us Yoda. If you have ever seriously watched a Frank Oz film you can see just how appropriate it is that he was Yoda, the wise, smart ass, crumegeon, who never gives a straight answer. Often times even in his more straight froward work, I find Oz to be the same way.

This film is about a family funeral in which all sorts of hell breaks loose in every way imaginable. I imagine my own funeral happening something like this and I am damn jealous I cannot watch it unfold myself. Almost makes the whole Tom Sawyer faking his own death thing sound perfect.

My only criticism I would have of the movie it would be that for a British black comedy, the black comedy was somewhat sedate and subdued compared to what I was expecting. Granted I was not expecting Ab Fab, but it seemed somewhat slower paced than I would have expected out of Oz. But then again, this was a funeral movie, so maybe a roller coaster of laughing would be slightly inappropriate.

Night Scene

This film supposedly has a linear plot of a son finding out his dad is gay and his own exploration of dating a hustler, but it seems more like a Chinese versions of Wiktor Grodecki's Body Without Soul or Not Angels But Angels. The film views much like a series of interviews and documentary footage of the hustler's with the supposed narrative just being a brief interlude in the middle of the film.

I have to say I was a little disappointed in this movie not just because the synopsis did not seem to follow through, but the quality of the overall film in terms of entertainment or educational value was poor. The subtitle translations were practically non-existent and one could clearly see that they were not capturing the tone or meaning of the dialogue.

While I am a big supporter of new work, I would hope that even a new work has a minimum of production standards in place to ensure that it is of a quality worth a viewer's time. Night Scene has not lived up to that standard.

Halloween

I have been a fan of the Halloween series since I was a teenage. In fact I thought I saw Michael Myers in my kitchen once. But that was just a combination of too many of the series and some bad food making me have hallucinations.

When I heard that there was a remake coming, I was curious how it could be any better than the original. I have seen the wave of remakes in recent years, Psycho, Charlie's Angels, The Producers, to name a few, and I was not sure if it would be worth the cost of admission. But I have to admit, I was blown away.

This version added some valuable history and background into why Michael was the way he was and how Laurie wound up with the Strodes. It also gave Michael an eerie sadism in that his killing in the original series were violent mindless acts of aggression. In the 2007 version, Michael seemed to cherish the slow death of his victims. He seemed to be toying with them as they died. It gave the killings a more true ring to them based on what we have come to learn about how serial killers operate.

There was one additional element that I do not recall ever seeing in the original and that was how the super human strength that Michael exhibited may have be genetic. In this version Laurie takes on a lot more damage than in the 1978 version and keeps on ticking.

Makes one wonder if it is that super human strength that leads to insanity. Or if insanity simply creates a chemical imbalance to lead to god like strength.

Denied

I watched this last night and kept asking myself -- why. Why are people making such horrible movies in the name of queer cinema. The dialogue was weak and at times completely comical in serious moments, the scene transition showed a bad attempt at a directorial signature, and the actors seemed to lack any and all direction. Or if they had it, the director made them plod through the most boring, mundane, poorly written material I have ever seen.

But all hands to marketing, who provided cover art that makes people think they are going to see some very juicy sex between hottie boys. Well, there was the most brief nakedness (I think) and the sex was eh. Frankly, this movie was a flop in even the most basic reason to watch crap like this -- a quick way to get off.

Now maybe I am being a little harsh but I would hope that any further endeavors of this cast and crew were leaps and bounds above this and that they consider this one of those learning experiences they woudl rather forget.

Twisted

It seems that adapting classic works is the new rage. From Jane Austen to Shakespeare, the adaptations seem endless. But I will never understand why there is this fascination with adapting Charles Dickens Oliver Twist and changing the little boy thieves into little boy hustlers. Oh for the simpler days of Oliver!, a sweet and kind musical, where boys remained boys, and not play things for dirty old men. But I digress.

Twisted is a 1996 adaptation that takes place in New York City. This movie like all adaptations makes changes to the original text, including: Oliver is a 12 year old African American child, the artful Dodger is a bleach blonde twink, and Fagin is a lecherous old queen. But most importantly, the thieves are now prostitutes. In the case of Oliver aka Lee, bait for pedophiles.

I have to say, I have watched a lot of bad movies in the past and this one is no exception. It shares the same fatal flaw of a slow story development, overly artistic elements that simply bog down the production and an inability to retain the interest of the viewer. I have to say, if you really need to see a Oliver Twist adaptation with boys hustlers, check out 2003's Twist.