lesbian movies

Sugar Rush - Series 1 (2005)

2007-03-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

Sugar Rush - Series 1 (2005) ON LESBIAN DVD

Starring: Olivia Hallinan | Lenora Crichlow | Sara Stewart | Richard Lumsden
Director: Harry Bradbeer
Studio: CHANNEL 4 DVD
Run time: 271 mins
Genres: Drama | Gay/Lesbian | Television
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Released: August 15, 2005

Channel 4 and the makers of 'As If' bring Julie Burchill's novel Sugar Rush to the screen, starring Olivia Hallinan and Lenora Crichlow. Each episode is a different journey inside Kim's world as her wry observations take us into the mind of a screwed up, loved up, lustful adolescent experiencing the bright lights of Brighton and the rush of forbidden love for the first time. Being a teenage girl is tough. Being an un-cool, 15-year-old lesbian who's completely infatuated with the most outrageous and popular girl in school is downright unfair... Sugar Rush explores the world of Kim and her earth-shattering lust for the gorgeous and sassy Maria Sweet, otherwise known as Sugar.

Do I Love You? (DVD)

2007-03-02T06:18:00.000-08:00

Do I Love You? (ON LESBIAN DVD)

Starring: Lisa Gornick | Sarah Patterson | Raquel Cassidy
Director: Lisa Gornick
Studio: MILLIVRES MULTIMEDIA
Run time: 73 mins
Genres: Drama | Gay/Lesbian
Languages: English
Released: October 04, 2004

The highs and lows experienced by a lesbian couple as they come to know the best and worst of loving someone.

Cynara, Poetry in Motion

2007-03-02T05:49:00.000-08:00

Cynara, Poetry in Motion on lesbian DVD

REVIEW
Sexy period romance set in the Pacific Northwest in 1883. Girl meets girl on the beautiful shoreline and their instant attraction leads them to the bedroom. Lesbian romance meets erotica in this nicely crafted short film. Certainly a far better film than the director's previous outing, Claire of the Moon.

I Wish You Would (DVD)

2007-02-27T01:33:00.000-08:00

I Wish You Would DVD

Director Kelly Howard
Starring Lauren Tate

Description
Five very different women--flight attendant Jennifer, security guard Judy, realtor Daisy, bartender Shelby, and car mechanic Myra--become connected in a very intimate fashion when a private remark travels from one lover to another in a series of sexy flashbacks. This steamy lesbian erotica is available in both edited and unedited versions.

Between Two Women (dvd)

2007-02-27T01:27:00.000-08:00

Between Two Women dvd

Film Description

Against the backdrop of a bleak Northern England town in the 1950s, an unlikely love story unfolds. This is an intelligent, moving story of a tough working-class heroine, who cannot rid herself of her feelings of desire when she meets her son's lively teacher, and she is plagued by guilt at her emotional transgression. Nuanced and complex performances add to the power of this hidden gem of a film from writer-director Woodcock.

Film Information
Director Steven Woodcock
Starring Barbara Marten, Andrina Carroll

Genre Contemporary Film

Country UK Language English Year 2000

In Her Line of Fire (DVD)

2007-02-27T01:06:00.000-08:00

In Her Line of Fire DVD

Director Brian Trenchard-Smith
Starring Mariel Hemingway, David Keith, Jesse Hutch, David Millbern, Rene Naufahu
Composer David Reynolds
Director of Photography Neil Cervin
Producer Brian Trenchard-Smith
Screenwriter Paula Goldberg

Description
Mariel Hemingway stars as a tough lesbian secret service agent protecting an equally tough vice president (David Keith) in this action thriller. Their plane crashes in the Pacific, where they make it to a remote tropical island inhabited by guerillas under the thumb of a brutal American mercenary (David Millbern). It soon transpires that the survivors are being hunted by Millbern and his cronies. As the action plays out, the plane's passengers enter into a battle of wits with their adversaries, while matters are further complicated for the vice president by the presence of a cute press secretary (Jill Bennett). The plane-wrecked passengers rely on their wits and heavy firepower to stay free in the jungle, but the friction between Hemingway's secret service agent and Bennett's press secretary causes further complications. But soon something magical starts to bloom between them. The film makes interestingly subversive use of its action-film trappings, presenting an alternate reality where alternative fuel sources, global warming prevention, and economic sanctions against Third World dictators are all part of U.S. policy. There's also the small matter of a vice president who can shoot, talk tough, and smile warmly as his female bodyguard falls in love with another woman. In its slyly unassuming way this may be the first time same-sex romance is treated as a non-issue in an action genre film. Director Brian Trenchard-Smith unravels a gripping story, Bennett infuses her character with plenty of charm, and Millbern has a field day as the scenery-chewing bad guy. IN HER LINE OF FIRE was originally filmed for the HERE! channel.

Showgirls ( DVD )

2007-02-27T00:56:00.000-08:00

Showgirls DVD

Director Paul Verhoeven
Starring Elizabeth Berkley, Gina Gershon, Kyle MacLachlan, Robert Davi, Glenn Plummer, Alan Rachins, Gina Ravera
Composer David A. Stewart
Director of Photography Jost Vacano
Producer Alan Marshall
Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas

Description
High-strung, statuesque Nomi Mallone (Elizabeth Berkely) is determined to be a dancer in Las Vegas, whatever it takes--but she starts out as a stripper. Through her seamstress roommate (Gina Ravera), Nomi catches the attention of the voracious bisexual Cristal (Gina Gershon), star of an extravagant pagan sex show called "Goddess" which plays nightly at the swanky Stardust Casino. Through Cristal's influence, Nomi gets a chance to audition for "Goddess" and is soon involved in all sorts of sordid backstage goings-on, including bitchy dueling with Cristal over Stardust head honcho Zack (Kyle McLachlan). Maligned by many critics upon its original release, SHOWGIRLS has since become a true camp classic, revived for midnight showings and beloved for its decadence, high nudity yield, and outrageously catty dialogue (courtesy of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas). Its director is Paul Verhoeven (ROBOCOP, TOTAL RECALL), so one can safely assume SHOWGIRLS' over-the-top hostility and sexuality is meant to be a satire of American culture. One of the first big-budget Hollywood movies to be released with an NC-17 rating, its lack of box office success meant few others would have the guts to follow.

The first big-budget studio film that was given a rating of NC-17 by the MPAA. The film's budget has been estimated at $40-45 million. The film also was the first one rated NC-17 that was widely released (on 1,388 screens). But despite all the hoopla and publicity surrounding the film's release, it only grossed $20.1 million in the U.S. Color by Technicolor; in Clairmont widescreen. In DTS/SDDS Sound. A Chargeurs production. Additional credits: Jamie Marshall, Amy Lauritsen (assistant directors).

Reform School Girls (DVD)

2007-02-27T00:47:00.000-08:00

Reform School Girls DVD

Director Tom De Simone
Starring Sybil Danning, Pat Ast, Linda Carol, Wendy O. Williams

Description
Pridemore Juvenile Facility is the setting for this over-the-top women's prison flick, where sweet, young (and straight) Jenny must contend with the predatory and sadistic tactics of the lesbian prisoners, security guards, and wardens!

A young first-time offender learns hard and fast that the rules of the outside world don't apply at the reform school when she runs into the iron-fisted warden.

If These Walls Could Talk 2 (ON DVD)

2007-02-24T20:13:00.000-08:00

If These Walls Could Talk 2 ON DVD

From Kathy Belge,

The Bottom Line
If These Walls Could Talk 2 was originally an HBO Special, showing the lives of different generations of lesbians that all lived in the same house over generations. Produced by Ellen DeGeneres and directed by Anne Heche, ITWCT2 is one of the best representations of the lives of lesbians on film.

Description

* If These Walls Could Talk 2, 2000.
* Executive Producer: Ellen Degeneres. Directors: Jane Anderson, Martha Anderson, Anne Heche.
* 96 minutes, filmed in the United States.
* Cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Chloe Sevigny, Michelle Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Stone

Guide Review - If These Walls Could Talk 2
If These Walls Could Talk 2 portrays the lives of three different generations of lesbians. In 1961 Vanessa Redgrave plays the 'widow' of her partner of 50 years. In one of the most heart-breaking stories ever, Redgrave helplessly watches as a distant relative of her partner comes and take possession of their belongings. No story could more poignantly argue for the rights of same-sex marriage.

In 1972, college girl Michelle Williams meets soft butch Chloe Sevigny at a lesbian bar. Although her friends disaprove of Chloe's dress, Michelle can't keep away from the sauve soft-butch on a Harley. Sexy and hot!

Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone star in 2000 as a lesbian couple who wants nothing more than to have a baby. The love scenes between DeGeneres and Stone are worth the price of this video alone!

If These Walls Could Talk 2 is one of the best looks at the real lives of lesbians. It's funny, sexy, well-acted and directed. My only real complaint is that all of the main characters are white.

The IHOP Papers (BOOK)

2007-02-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

The IHOP Papers (BOOK)

SYNOPSIS
Francesca, a disgruntled nineteen-year-old lesbian, tries desperately to pull together the pieces of her scattered life. This hilarioius, heartfelt novel opens with Francesca newly arrived in San Francisco. She has fled her hometown, where she rented her childhood room from the new family who moved in when her parents moved out. The new tenants happened to be her childhood babysitter and her alcoholic husband. But Francesca’s move to San Francisco is no mere coincidence. A lonely virgin searching for her sexual identity and obsessed with her philosophy teacher, Francesca has followed her professor, Irene, to California, where Irene has relocated to live with her young male lover and former student.

Once in San Francisco, Francesca is forced to work at the local pancake house. Much to her dismay, she has to wear a ridiculous Heidi of the Alps uniform — which is almost as humiliating as serving the array of speed freaks and other graveyard shift misfits. Suicidal and euphoric, Francesca seeks solace in anything and anyone who might distract her from her unrequited love for Irene. More than a coming of age story, The IHOP Papers is a comic portrait of survival and self-discovery on the IHOP late shift.

Best Lesbian Love Stories 2005 (BOOK)

2007-02-24T20:07:00.000-08:00

Best Lesbian Love Stories 2005 (BOOK)

SYNOPSIS
New original romantic fiction by Katherine V. Forrest (Curious Wine), Karin Kallmaker (One Degree of Separation), Claire McNab (The Wombat Strategy), Jane Summer (The Silk Road), Carol Guess (Gaslight), Ann Wadsworth (Light, Coming Back), Lesléa Newman (She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not), and Diana Cage (Box Lunch).

First-Timers: True Stories of Lesbian Awakening (BOOK)

2007-02-24T20:03:00.000-08:00

First-Timers: True Stories of Lesbian Awakening (BOOK)

SYNOPSIS
Lusty, passionate, exciting stories about all kinds of sexual firsts between women. First-time strap-ons, spankings, role-playing, outdoor sex, first love to first affair, these stories are 100-percent real and 110-percent hot!

The Quiet (DVD)

2007-02-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

The Quiet ON DVD

SYNOPSIS
When an orphaned and deaf teenage girl is sent to live with her godparents and their daughter, her arrival sends the family into a tailspin, as dark, disturbing secrets that have been buried for years slowly become unearthed.

Directed by lesbian filmmaker Jamie Babbit (But I'm A Cheerleader), this movie oozes girl-on-girl sensuality without actually going all the way.

Women In Love (DVD)

2007-02-24T05:23:00.000-08:00

Women In Love (DVD)

SYNOPSIS
Award winning filmmaker Karen Everett (Framing Lesbian Fashion, My Femme Divine), gives us a no-holds-barred look at her sexually charged love life by revealing every juicy detail.

While examining the human ability to redefine ourselves and reshape what we think "love" means, Everett masterfully weaves images of lesbians making their way through present-day sex clubs and attending masturbation seminars. Drawing on her own experience and that of her circle of lesbian, bisexual and polyamorous friends and lovers, Everett blends her own personal trials with intimate, raw and emotional moments of sexual pleasure and heart-wrenching loneliness.

Karen Everett's phenonemal fifth film is her finest – a work of amazing depth and sincerity which is sure to captivate and entertain all curious audiences.
REVIEW
Filmmaker Karen Everett turns the camera on herself as she intelligently explores love, friendship and sex with the sexually charged, politically active and artistically influenced lesbian community. Although Women in Love focuses on Everett and her close network of revolutionary sexual dykes in San Francisco, this film identifies with queer polyamorous subcultures everywhere. As Karen approaches her 40th birthday and her seemingly long-term relationship took a new direction, she wondered if love was really supposed to last. Taking this thought even further, how did her non-monogamous desires play into these relationships? Skillfully weaving imagery of the ‘80s to the new generation of lesbians romping through underground sex clubs to masturbation seminars, Everett blends her personal ebbs and flows with intimate, raw and emotional moments of sexual pleasure and tender loneliness. Included in this five year journey of self-discovery that we all somehow identify with are the leaders of lesbian porn Shar Rednour and Jackie Strano (Hard Love and How to Fuck in High Heels) and acclaimed photographer of lesbian erotica, Phyllis Christopher, who is also Karen’s ex, friend and roommate. This riveting and fearless documentary depicts one woman as she strives for love and happiness, but identifies with many women who put no borders on their freedom to love.
-- Kelly Burkhardt

Sister My Sister

2007-02-24T00:45:00.000-08:00

Sister My Sister on DVD

by Caryn James

PLOT DESCRIPTION
In this stark drama based on actual events in a small French town in the early '30s, a pair of repressed sisters slowly lose their grip on reality, leading to horrific consequences at the home where they're employed as maids. Christine (Joely Richardson), a domestic servant in the home of haughty widow Madame Danzard (Julie Walters), takes pride in her efficiency and deference. Raised by nuns, Christine bitterly resents her penniless mother, but remains devoted to her younger, similarly convent-reared sister, Lea (Jodhi May). When Lea, too, comes to work for Madame Danzard, Christine trains her dutifully while also driving a wedge between the girl and their mother. The sisters' emotional bond eventually becomes a sexual one, too, and as they turn inward their work suffers, leading to increasing disapproval from their employer. Meanwhile, Christine is driven mad with jealousy at what she perceives as a flirtation between Lea and Madame Danzard's sullen daughter, Isabelle (Sophie Thursfield). Tensions reach a boiling point when the widow and her daughter return home one evening to find burned garments, uncompleted housework, and the sisters holed up in their room together, smelling of sex. Adapted by Wendy Kesselman from her Pulitzer Prize-winning play, My Sister in This House, Sister My Sister was based on the true story of Christine and Lea Papin, whose grisly 1933 murders have also inspired several other works. In addition to Jean Genet's 1948 play The Maids, the incident was the basis for Jean-Pierre Denis' feature Les Blessures Assassines and the documentary En Quete Des Soeurs Papin, both released in 2000. The real-life Christine Papin died after four years in prison, but Lea was released after ten years of hard labor and lived for several more decades in another small French town. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Frog-g-g (2004)

2007-02-24T00:39:00.000-08:00

Frog-g-g (2004) DVD

Cast & Crew:
Kristi Russell, directed by Cody Jarrett more »

Synopsis:
The peaceful tranquility of a sleepy suburban town is destroyed as its water supply is infected with chemical waste, leading to the creation of a terrifying mutant entity named...FROG-G-G. Hellbent on indulging in a little interspecies intercourse, Frog-g-g goes on a sex-crazed rampage in an attempt to bed a human partner. more »

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 80 minutes

Genre: Horror/Suspense, Horror, Mutants, Science-Fiction, Sex

The Killing of Sister George

2007-02-24T00:34:00.000-08:00

The Killing of Sister George ON DVD

Dykes in distress in Aldrich’s late ‘60s masterpiece

BY GARY MORRIS

Robert Aldrich ranks with Samuel Fuller and Nicholas Ray as one of the "golden boys" of postwar commercial cinema whose formal chops and aggressive social critique made that period so exciting. By the late '60s and early '70s, when culture gave way to counterculture, conventional wisdom has it that all three were washed up. That opinion can be supported for Ray, who made no films at that time. Fuller’s star had fallen with the butchered Shark (1967) and the enjoyable but minor Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1972). But Aldrich was arguably at the peak of his powers, with a string of brilliant, demanding and not always commercially successful films that, taken as a unit, outstrip such earlier classics of his as The Big Knife, Kiss Me Deadly, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? This rich period included megahits (The Dirty Dozen, 1967), scorching attacks on Hollywood (The Legend of Lylah Clare, 1968) and American ideals (The Grissom Gang, 1971), and the key "lesbian picture" of that era, The Killing of Sister George (1968).

Sister George, now available in an excellent widescreen transfer on DVD (no extras), was one of Aldrich’s personal favorites, but also one of his most problematic in its production and reception. The huge success of The Dirty Dozen gave him the money to start his own studio in August 1968. "The Associates and Aldrich," as the company was called, would allow him the freedom to tackle more personal projects, and first up was Frank Marcus’s hit play The Killing of Sister George. This controversial property was a good fit for Aldrich, who was always drawn to outsiders and the ways they manage (or fail) to survive in a crass culture that won’t tolerate truths that aren’t sugar-coated.

The "killing" in the title is a metaphorical death — that of "Sister George," a smarmy apple-cheeked do-gooder who stars in a sentimental BBC series about village life. "George" is played in the series by June Buckridge (Beryl Reid), a brassy, bitchy, hard-drinking bull dyke who’s the antithesis of the sickeningly sweet character she plays. In spite of the enormous popularity of George, her "death" is inevitable due to the constant embarrassments to the BBC of the woman who plays her. Her indecencies are quite public; they include enraged walkouts from the set, drunken binges, and most egregiously, an assault — which Aldrich treats as high comedy — on two novitiate nuns in a taxi.

George (I’ll refer to her as "George" throughout this review, as the film does) has a much younger lover, Alice aka "Childie" (Susannah York), who collects dolls and is generally dim; a good friend in the dominatrix next door Betty Thaxter (Patricia Medina); and a nemesis at the BBC, the powerful Mercy Croft (Coral Browne), a more respectable dyke who secretly covets Childie and is the constant bringer of ill tidings for poor Sister George.

Much of the film is taken up with the strange domestic relations between George and Childie. George is insanely jealous of Childie and verbally, sometimes physically, violent with her. When Childie causes her some anxiety (which was mostly generated by George), June forces her to recite a little contrition speech and eat the butt of a cigar while on her knees. During a visit with Mercy Croft, George becomes hysterical over some mindless chitchat between Mercy and Childie about scones, and she screams at Childie to shut up, then pelts her with the scones. Even the comic sequences have a thrillingly nasty edge, as when the duo are dressed as Laurel and Hardy for a visit to the local gay bar and their horseplay becomes ever rowdier.

A mere plot synopsis might suggest the film is an exercise in grimness and that George is an unsympathetic, even monstrous, character, but Aldrich in fact treats much of the action as exceptionally black comedy and makes George the most sympathetic person in the drama, for the simple reason that she’s the only "real" person in a sea of fakes.

This idea of reality vs. fakery is one of Aldrich’s great themes, and nowhere is it more fully fleshed out than in Sister George. George, in spite of being in a career that calls for constant pretense, is disgusted by the lies by which everyone around her lives. She puts all kinds of spirit into her performance as the jolly Sister George, but can’t pretend that the values that character, and the series, espouse have anything to do with reality. Thus when Mercy Croft tells her how reassuring it is to see her character riding "cheerfully" through the village on her "little motorbike," Sister George cackles, "You’d look cheerful too with 50 centimeters throbbin’ away between your legs!" George’s unrepentant lesbianism — and unbridled sense of humor — make her ultimately the most attractive character in the film. Reid’s performance is complex and riveting, and in some moments heartbreaking, as during her famous three screams of "Moo" at the end (in reference to her presumed fate to move from Sister George to playing the part of Clarabell, "a flawed, credible cow.") The film also occasionally softens her hard edge in scenes with her dour prostitute friend Betty Thaxter, and in witty sequences that show her music hall talent as she mimics Oliver Hardy and Sydney Greenstreet.

Aldrich always had a keen eye for publicity, and his decision to include a lengthy sequence in a real lesbian bar, the Gateways Club in London, nicely dovetails that impulse with his insistence on authenticity. (In this regard there’s a strong link to Sister George, who also insists on living authentically at any cost.) This was a novelty for audiences of the time, seeing lesbians dancing, flirting, and generally carrying on in a safe environment without any obvious disapproval from the film, and it generated considerable notice. But, unlike much of what passes for queer cinema at the time, the scene plays with drama and humor, but without sensationalism.

The look of the film also shows Aldrich’s powers as a formalist undiminished. In the opening sequence, we see George storming through the streets of London on her way home to, it’s hinted, exact revenge against some transgression by Childie. The camera seems to be oppressing, even crushing her, as she moves through cramped lanes, with walls visible on either side. Joseph Biroc’s photography constantly reinforces this feeling of oppression with an almost Sirkian sense of palpable doom through heavy shadows in the interiors. George and Childie’s flat is crowded with so much clutter the effect is suffocating. This sense of suffocation is something that George constantly fights against; she’s frequently seen pushing or throwing things, trying to gain space for her expansive personality. Nowhere is this more evident than in the final sequence, where she demolishes the empty soundstage on which she worked, knocking over heavy lights and thrusting a casket — the one intended for her character — through a window. This occasions one of her most evocative lines as she lifts the featherlight casket and screams: "Even the bloody coffin’s a fake!"

Sister George encountered numerous difficulties during and after the production. Susannah York bristled at the film’s most notorious sequence, an extended scene of lesbian lovemaking between Childie and Mercy Croft that was so raw it caused the film to be banned in several locales. Aldrich said that "Susannah was a bitch to her [Browne]" because she (York) simply didn’t want to do the scene, which involved blatant nipple-gnawing, sizzling kisses, and other upfront touches. Cameraman Joseph Biroc recalled how tense the director was during the shooting, which took much longer than anticipated. The scene even ended (for a few years) Aldrich’s work with longtime collaborator Frank DeVol, who quit the film in disgust. Still, there’s an undeniable erotic power there that made York’s discomfort a small price to pay. Unfortunately, between the time the film started and ended production, the movie industry had instituted a new ratings system: P, PG, R, and X. Largely on the basis of the lesbian love scene, Sister George received an X rating, which limited its exposure in theatres and thus its commercial potential. Aldrich’s lawsuit (he spent $75,000 battling the X rating) was ultimately dismissed, and the film died at the box office.

Sister George remains an important work in Aldrich’s canon and a major contribution to early queer cinema, though some commentators have seen it as homophobic in portraying George as a monstrous version of a lesbian and Childie as a goofy, unevolved babydyke. But it’s ultimately less a comment on lesbianism (though it is that) than an exegesis of the human condition. Aldrich was right when he said "Sister George’s loud behavior and individuality . . . are encompassed in her personality, they’re not a product of her lesbianism. . . . She didn’t give a shit about the BBC or the public’s acceptance of her relationships. That’s why they couldn’t afford her." Like Aldrich himself, "she didn’t fit into the machine."

Frameline

2007-02-23T22:34:00.000-08:00

Frameline DVD

The San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival is the oldest film festival devoted to Lesbian and Gay programming currently in existence.[1]

The festival's founding has been described in the San Francisco Chronicle as "begun as a storefront event in 1976",[1] whilst the official website for the Festival's organisers, Frameline, describes the festival as "Founded in 1977".[2]

In 2004 the festival changed its name to the shorter Frameline28,[3] the festival being the 28th annual event. Subsequent festivals have followed this naming pattern, with Frameline31 currently scheduled to take place over June 14 – 24, 2007.[4]

The festival has encountered difficulties through its lifetime, most notably the suicide of director Mark Finch in 1995.[1] Finch jumped to his death from the Golden Gate Bridge, an event which inspired former co-director Jenni Olson's film The Joy of Life.[5] Finch has been cited as instrumental as helping the festival achieve international stature, Tess Martin, then executive director of festival sponsor Frameline Films stating "It really is international, and Mark Finch made that happen because he was involved in the international film world. He was an expert, he had a vision about it."

Frameline, the most famous LGBT film festival in the world, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this June in San Francisco. Known as the "gay Sundance," the festival's premiered some of the best LGBT films ever over the course of its 30-year history -- think "Notorious C.H.O.," "Trick" and "High Art." (Come back next week for a full look at this year's lineup.)

But the films at Frameline aren't the only thing that create buzz. One of the highlights each year is the festival's official trailer, which runs before each film. Often, the festival trailer is so creative that it receives cheers from the crowd. Other trailers, well -- they get hissed.

If you haven't had the pleasure of attending Frameline and seeing the infamous festival trailers, take a look now and vote for your favorite.

Desert Hearts

2007-02-23T22:28:00.000-08:00

Desert Hearts DVD

by Sarah Warn

Made for only $350,000 in 1985 when no one wanted to fund or star in a movie about lesbians, Desert Hearts is widely considered the first full-length lesbian love story, and its success paved the way for the proliferation of lesbian films we enjoy today.

Directed by Donna Deitch and set in 1950's Reno, Nevada, Desert Hearts tells the story of a 35-year-old uptight female professor Vivian (Helen Shaver) who comes to town to file for divorce and ends up falling in love with a free-spirited 25-year-old casino worker Cay (Patricia Charbonneau).

Although Vivian left her husband because she had "drowned in still waters," she is not quite prepared for the tidal wave-effect Cay has on her life. As Vivian herself admits, her life is all about "order," and her image of herself as a scholar and a professional, upstanding woman does not include a relationship with a woman. Cay, meanwhile, is living at home with her stepmother, Frances (Audra Lindley) while she waits to meet someone who "counts"--and she almost immediately recognizes that Vivian is that someone.

Both women struggle with conflicting desires and a sense of obligation to others, and are ultimately drawn together not just because of their attraction to each other, but because each woman offers the other something she has been unable to find on her own.

Shaver is excellent as the tense, repressed Vivian trying to come to terms with her attraction to Cay and all that it implies, and Charbonneau's Cay is magnetic, fairly leaping off the screen in places (especially impressive considering this was Charbonneau's first role). The chemistry between Cay and Vivian builds slowly but powerfully, and the ending is satisfying without being unrealistic.

Lindley as Cay's stepmother is also superb as a lonely woman caught between wanting her step-daughter to be happy, and being afraid to lose her.

The film moves at a slow but steady pace and its frequent reliance on silence to communicate more than words is a welcome contrast to the tendency of most movies today to rush to fill every moment with sound of some sort. Desert Hearts does include music from classic singers like Patsy Cline that wonderfully reinforce the feel of the film, but it uses them judiciously, as enhancement instead of filler.

"Sparing" is perhaps the word that best describes the film overall, because when the characters speak, we listen. The dialogue is clunky and corny in some places--exemplified by the line "she just reached in and put a string of lights around my heart"--but in other places it resonates strongly, such as when Cay explains her brief fling with her (male) boss at the Casino with the comment, "I allowed myself to get attracted to his attraction to me."

Even the occasional insults are brilliantly understated, as in this exchange between Vivian and another guest at the ranch:

LUCILLE: Did you know that [Cay] was kicked out of college for "unnatural acts," as they say?
VIVIAN: Shall I raise my eyebrows and gasp?
LUCILLE: Well, I'm definitely out to lunch when it comes to queers. Aren't you?
VIVIAN: I don't think either of us will be sorely missed, Lucille.
LUCILLE: Well, nobody said it didn't take all kinds, Vivian.
VIVIAN: And you're certainly making a unique contribution.

The film is also a little too slow in a few places--some of the scenes of Vivian alone in her room thinking seem to drag on especially long. Deitch appears to be trying to emphasize Vivian's emotional turmoil with these scenes, and while the film in general is very good at conveying this, it could have achieved the same result with a little more editing here.

But overall, Desert Hearts is just as interesting and compelling as it was almost twenty years earlier when it won a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1986, and serves as an example of the heights you can achieve without a big budget if you have strong actors, the right story, and a director who knows how to pull it all together.

BIKINI CHAIN GANG (2005)

2007-02-23T22:14:00.000-08:00

BIKINI CHAIN GANG (2005) DVD

Starring Beverly Lynne, Nicole Sheridan, Evan Stone

BIKINI AIRWAYS (2003)
Starring Regina Russell, Loni Lynn, Jay Richardson

Both directed by Nicholas Medina (Fred Olen Ray)

or aspiring sleaze beasts, a dependable rule of thumb is that if the word “bikini” appears in the title of a movie, there’s a good chance that the picture is worth your time. The presence of the word essentially guarantees that more than one female cast member will appear in a bikini, which can never be construed as a Bad Thing. And the directness of approach implied by using the word in the title clearly indicates that the filmmaker’s intention is to show as many bikinis as possible, and more than likely, display his performers post-bikini, if you get my drift. And if said filmmaker happens to be Fred Olen Ray, then one may exponentially increase the film’s viewability tenfold. The reason why: Fred’s been making pictures with “bikini” in their titles for longer than many of you have been alive, and he loves making them. Loves exploitation like a flower loves rain, like a pig loves mud, like a baby loves candy. And he knows as much about them as any out there (he once hired Ed Wood to write a script for him), so his pictures are directly influenced by the Old School of Sexploitation – the black and white nudie cuties made by pioneers like David Friedman, Bob Cresse, Harry Novak, and the whole unholy crew that ran amuck in Los Angeles during the ‘60s and ‘70s. Fred’s movies reproduce that classic sexploitation vibe perfectly, with plenty of moldy jokes, surreal premises, and most importantly, lots and lots of naked girls fondling each other. In terms of “quality” moviemaking, Fred’s pictures may be lacking, but when it comes to good old fashioned exploitation, you can just call him The Mailman, ’cause he never fails to deliver the goods.

Case in point: Bikini Chain Gang, his latest in a long list of recent softcore comedies featuring the B word (see also Bikini Cavegirl, Bikini Car Wash, Genie in a String Bikini, and so on.) Like his exploitation ancestors, Fred takes a tried-and-true Hollywood genre and puts a sexed-up spin on it to cater to all those prurient fantasies that were never fully played out by the mainstream product. Here we’ve got FOR regular Beverly Lynne as Jessie Owens, a hapless bar waitress whose chance encounter with the “Living Dead Bandit” (who sports a skull-faced lucha libre mask) earns her a stretch in the local women’s prison. Once inside, she encounters the usual parade of prison movie stereotypes, lovingly essayed as broadly as possible by Fred’s repertory company: the Sadistic Female Screw (XXX queen Nicole Sheridan, whose surgically-revised face is looking sharper than ever), the Well-Intentioned Warden (Fred’s longest-running player, Jay Richardson), the Crazy Inmate (Belinda Gavin), the Hopelessly Horny Cons (B-list porn newcomers Jassie and Brooke Haven), and of course, the Daring Escape, which happens while Sheridan is banging one of her fellow guards (her real-life husband and on-screen partner Alexandre Boisvert, a.k.a. Voodoo), and while all of the escapees are tricked out in state-issued swimsuits (naturally – the movie’s called Bikini Chain Gang, you know).

Yeah, you say, that’s all swell, but how about the sex? Well, BCG doesn’t shirk from its duty of showing attractive pro porn stars and softcore actresses engaging in lengthy bouts of hard-R fucking – in fact, the credits aren’t barely over before we see Haven and Jassie rubbing each other down in a locker room, which is immediately followed by Sheridan shoving her bethonged crotch in Jassie’s mug. Lynne gets a desktop bumper ride courtesy boyfriend Evan Stone, Gavin gets it on with a Jassie and a beefy guard, and Haven and Jassie tagteam Trevor Zen in the back of his pickup truck. There’s a final fuck-off at the conclusion, but I won’t tell you who’s involved, cause, well, it’s kind of a surprise. Not an incredible surprise, but it’s something. As always, the sex, while not graphic, is well handled by professionals who clearly know what they’re doing when it comes to fucking on film, and more than a few scenes will be a very pleasant aid in whiling away a quiet weekend. If you know what I mean. You do, right?

Anyway, so, once again, more smutty greatness from Fred Olen Ray, but hang on, cause as the TV pitchmen used to say, that’s not all. Flip over your Bikini Chain Gang disc, and you get twice the smut with a second feature – it’s Fred’s 2003 comedy Bikini Airlines, which stars Regina Russell as the new inheritor of a failing airline who decides to boost sales by getting sexy girls to serve as stewardesses. Brilliant idea, of course, but at the risk of sounding like a complete nincompoop (which may be too late), Airlines is a solid B picture in comparison to Fred’s recent efforts. The cast doesn’t have the same go-for-broke energy as his current ensemble (save Jay Richardson, who really is the Hardest Working Man in the Low-Budget Biz), the girls (which include Belinda Gavin, here billed as Kylie Biscayne – whatta name! – and hardcore starlet Wendy Devine) aren’t real lookers, and the film itself just lacks the kitchen-sink nuttiness of FOR’s recent stuff. It’s probably best enjoyed as a palate cleanser, a short, forgettable burst of smut before the real deal on the flipside. A trailer for Airlines and a brief making-of featurette (which treats us to the site of Fred asking a crew member to stabilize his wife and co-producer Kimberly A. Ray’s prodigious chest with gaffer’s tape) round out the extras. On the whole it’s solid sleaze from start to finish.

Pink Velvet

2007-02-23T21:59:00.000-08:00

Pink Velvet DVD

Pink Velvet tells the story of Jo, a young girl from Budapest, who needs somewhere to live during the winter. She finds a woman who rents out rooms in her country house and when the movie begins, Jo is waiting for the train which will take her there.

Once inside the train, she's joined by another girl who sits down and starts to read a book. Jo is unsure about her sexual preference and when she falls asleep, she starts dreaming about the other girl. In her dream, the other girl approaches her while she's asleep. She puts her hand on her leg, which awakens Jo. They then kiss each other very lovingly until Jo suddenly wakes up, this time for real. With a little smile on her face, she looks out through the window and the journey continues.

Claire Of The Moon

2007-02-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

Claire Of The Moon DVD

“An earnest, slow-burning romance.” -The New York Times

This controversial lesbian drama was the biggest lesbian feature since Desert Hearts when it was first released. Against the backdrop of a writer’s retreat for women, Claire (Trisha Todd) suppresses her desire for Noel (Karen Trumbo) until she finally manages to come out as a lesbian – both to herself and the women around her.

Blond, brash and beautiful, Claire Jabrowski attracts men easily, and takes her own heterosexuality for granted. But at a writer's conference, she shares a cabin with Dr. Noel Benedict, a lesbian who questions Claire's promiscuous lifestyle. Challenged and disturbed by Noel, Claire can't accept her ideas, but finds, to her great surprise, that she feels an attraction to her.

As the two debate back and forth, Noel also falls under Claire's charms, but she is wary, having recently suffered a disastrous breakup. As each faces her fears, an intricate - and sensual - "dance" takes place between them, as they move apart, then come closer and closer . . .

Set in the lush Pacific Northwest, Claire of the Moon tells a timeless story of a woman's struggle as she awakens to new possibilities for love and intimacy.

"Intelligent and beautifully atmospheric . . . the very definition of love and intimacy." - Los Angeles Reader

"Sensual and provocative" - LA Times

Goldfish Memory

2007-02-23T21:51:00.000-08:00

Goldfish Memory DVD

When it come to love, there's a first time for everything!

GOLDFISH MEMORY is a light-hearted look at the dangers and delights of dating in contemporary Dublin. When Clara sees her boyfriend kissing Isolde, it sets off a chain reaction of romances and heartbreaks until the entire cycle has turned full-circle, with each character trying to solve the pressing question of what is the perfect relationship! Some favor marriage, others a week-at-a-time arrangement.
The only thing they can all agree on is that love is the one thing we cannot live without. Falling in love, out of love and making the same mistakes all over again-all os us say we learn from heart break, but how many of us really change? And do we really want to? Exploring the comical and romantic nature of love, straight, gay and in-between, GOLDFISH MEMORY brings to life the saying..what goes around...comes around...and around...

Winner - Audience Award: OUTstanding Narrative Feature - Outfest 2003 (Los Angeles)

Director: Liz Gill
Starring: Jean Butler, Sean Campion, Fiona Glascott, Lise Hearns, Peter Gaynor, Fiona O'Shaughnessy
Languages: English
Run Time: 89 (min) - Year Produced: 2003 - Rating: NR

Bar Girls

2007-02-23T20:50:00.000-08:00

Bar Girls DVD

Bar Girls is a lesbian-themed romantic comedy film written by Lauran Hoffman, adapted by Hoffman from her stage play of the same name for the screen in 1994. Starring Nancy Allison Wolfe, Liza D'Agostino, Camila Griggs and Michael Harris and directed by Marita Giovanni, the play and film follow the lives of several women who socialize at a local lesbian bar. Bar Girls was part of a wave of LGBT-themed films that were released in the early 1990s.

Directed by Marita Giovanni
Produced by Marita Giovanni
Lauran Hoffman
Written by Lauran Hoffman
Starring Nancy Allison Wolfe
Liza D'Agostino
Camila Griggs
Michael Harris
Music by Lenny Meyers
Cinematography Michael Ferris
Editing by Carter DeHaven IV
Distributed by Orion Classics
Release date(s) September 15, 1994 (Toronto Film Festival)
Running time 95 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget $500,000 (estimated

This is a very likeable movie about some lesbians looking for love, especially the main character, who thinks she might have finally found someone long lasting -- if she doesn't mess it up somehow. I would have liked it better if the acting and writing wasn't so amateurish at times; the likeability of the characters and (for some) the subject matter does make it worth watching. Besides, sometimes the unpolished and well tad bit bad quality of the film is unintentionally amusing. One question: why is the most sexy scene not one when one of the lesbians who actually like each other are together? If you like this, I suggest "The Incredibly True Story of Two Girls in Love," and "Desert Hearts."

Online Single Dating - Advice for Gays and Lesbians

2007-02-23T20:43:00.000-08:00

Online Single Dating - Advice for Gays and Lesbians by Elaine Olden

It is quite interesting listening to the Blogs and reading the online single dating forums about gay and lesbian communities push for marriage.
Unfortunately for the gay movement, the media always interviews the most outlandish and bizarre folks in these groups, which probably puts out the wrong image to the voters and actually hurts the online single dating gay and lesbian homosexual image in the country.

Relationship

Why do people think that a homosexual relationship is all about sex. What happens if the relationship breaks down. For those couples who have agreed to be monogamous, a partner's affair with another man can create a whirlwind of chaos and pain and sometimes, the destruction of the relationship itself.

Nothing destroys the foundation of trust and security in a relationship quite like infidelity does. And with those couples who have been together for a long time, it's even easier to settle into comfortable routines and patterns (as if on auto-pilot) at the expense of attending to and nurturing our relationship with our partners.

Partner

Your partner made a mistake and is trying to make amends now. If you're the partner of a jealous lover, your frustration at having to "walk on eggshells" and constantly reassure your guy of your commitment to him can be maddening. Or you might experience it if you have an "open relationship" and you know your partner is out "tricking.

The experience of breaking up with a boyfriend or partner can be likened to a death, with layer upon layer of losses resulting.

Dating

There are numerous free online single dating gay sites available on the Internet. But as a single guy on a quest for a life partner, rejection is an inescapable given in the dating world as you search for a compatible counterpart. Don't be flustered if you are unable to find someone interesting the first time; playing the dating game via personals is like playing a slot machine.

Finding a compatible, quality guy to settle down with is one of the most important decisions you'll make, so it's important to assess how your dating experiences and choices are matching with your needs and goals, particularly if you've been dealing with a series of dating mishaps and dissatisfactions.

Online dating can help sort the "wheat" from the "chaff". You can select a profile online and place your s for view as well. You can select the ideal partner with personal preferences you are looking from their height, color of hair, ethnic background to even the location, interests, and many other details. Some of the sites for gay and lesbian actually offer more in terms of a way of life. They are quite involved looking after their community from insurance, matrimonial advice, housing lifestyle advice and much more. So by selecting the right Online Single Dating site you can be safe in the knowledge that you could not only find your ideal partner but that you are joining a community that looks after you.

Girl on Girl - Why Lesbians Are Coming Out Of The Closet!

2007-02-23T20:41:00.000-08:00

Girl on Girl - Why Lesbians Are Coming Out Of The Closet! by Sarah Harris

Lesbian love is nothing new; Sappho was an Ancient Greek poetess who was born on the island of Lesbos. Many of her love poems were addressed to other women and the female narrators in many of her works speak of infatuations and love for various women. The word "lesbian" derives from the island on which she lived and her name is the origin of the word "sapphic". However, until recently, the idea of one woman loving another, let alone sleeping with another female has been perceived as something either very unusual and rare, or just downright strange. Over the last few years, there's been a gradual sea-change in regard to the general perception of what being 'lesbian' really means. The traditional image of the cropped haired, rather aggressive looking, butch dyke might still apply to some gay women, but now we're coming out of the closet in our millions and the world can see that actually, in most cases, we look just like the girl next door.

This mass 'coming out' is partly due to the proliferation of lesbian-centric resources on the internet; type in the word 'lesbian' into any of the search engines and you'll see a plethora of heavily populated chat rooms, directories, forums and dating sites like PlanetSappho.com which are the exclusive territory of sapphic women. It is this availability of male-free communities that has coaxed so many gay, bisexual and even bi-curious ladies out of their closets and into the open. Also, we now see major cultural icons like Madonna kissing Britney Spears kissing each other full on the lips in front of a television audience of millions which is exactly the right heterosexual seal of 'cool' that we lesbians have waited such a long time to see. Over the years, there have been a great many famous lesbians in both film and music but, unfortunately, they were just too frightened to come out and publicly admit it. Now we have Ellen DeGeneres and KD Lang - both of whom have an army of straight, non-judgmental fans.

The outcome of all this is that there is no longer a social stigma attached to the concept of women dating women or straight women experimenting with their sexuality by taking a same sex partner. Gay guys have been doing it for years but now there's no reason for any woman to feel repressed or uncertain about dating or sleeping with someone of their own sex. Being who we are or want to be is no longer just a possibility, it's a right and it's also something that's now accepted by our straight counterparts.

Whilst the word 'lesbian' is an all encompassing description for a gay woman, it doesn't do justice to the many different types of female who embrace the lifestyle. There are the traditional dykes as well as femmes/lipstsick lesbians whose ultra-feminine appearance would give no clue as to their sexual inclinations and bi-sexual and bi-curious women who occasionally indulge the lesbian side of their sexual and emotional psyches. Just because you don't have the shaved head and the tattoos doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself sexually with another woman if that's what you want to do. So sisters...there's never been a better time to be a lesbian and now is the time to come out of the closet and be loud and proud about joys of lesbian loving!

Girl On Girl Sex - Hot Tips For First Time Lesbian Lovers

2007-02-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

Girl On Girl Sex - Hot Tips For First Time Lesbian Lovers by Sarah Harris

OK...you can't fight it any more; you've always know that you had lesbian tendencies or were, at the very least bi-curious, and now you've decided to explore, explore, EXPLORE...

First off, you've got meet Miss Right (or even Miss Right Now!) and a niche dating site like PlanetSappho is a great place to start. You arrange a date - she's just what you were hoping for...and tonight's really IS the night..so hold on tight...

1) Making out. While making out Lesbian Move #1 can be used, namely you putting one of your legs between hers and grinding it up so that every once in a while it hits the clitoris through her pants. If done by a master of the technique (which I am not, but was done to me) climax can be acheived whilst the bottom is STILL wearing pants.

2) Clothing still on, but hands roaming around in the shirt, touching bare skin.

3) Bra removal (while shirt is still on!) **Important Note** - To mask killing the mood whilst fumbling at the catches, suck on her neck a bit so that she's not thinking about how clumsy you are.

4) LOTS of licking/ear sucking.

5) Shirt/total bra removal.

6) Kissing/licking/sucking upper chest and collarbone area. Optional: If you're a bit buff, reach behind her and like, hug her to you whilst doing this, tightish embraces at this point work fabulously.

7) NO BREASTS YET! Torso Teaser: Take your tongue and run it all the way down (roughly in a straight line between her breasts) until you get to the waistline of her pants, then kiss/lick/suck her stomach and work your way up.

8) NOW you can start in on breasts, but nipple work is last. Swirling your tongue has some fabulous facets to it, as does sucking. BDSM Option - Okay, NOT TOO HARD but just lightly enough to make it shocking, throw in a bit of a slow LIGHT bite, these are nipples here, don't be getting too hardcore with them!

9) Now we're ready for the big guns (since pretty much all of lesbian sex is foreplay, also, if she makes moves to remove bits of your clothing LET HER! Lesbian sex is all about playing switch and taking turns getting one another off. Multiple orgasms in combination with alternating tops make it last a LONG time.

10) Work your way back up and start making out again, if at any time during steps 2-8 you want to break and make out some more, feel free to do so, these are guidelines, not play by play scenarios, sex is a freestyle sport. Also, taking a breast (or two) in hand and kneading it (kinda like dough) is rather helpful every now and again.

11) Work on neck/ear kiss/suck/lick-ing, whilst doing so, work on the buttons of her pants, and the fly. At this point depending on HOW naked the two of you are getting, you can either go for pant/underwear removal, or just work a hand down there. **Foreplay Bonus** - BEFORE you put your hand into her pants, spend some time kneading her inner thighs (through clothes) with some open handed squeezing.

12a) Second Party Masturbation: Okay, the key here is, just think about the things you like doing to yourself during masturbation, that, and FINDING the clitoris on another person, which may take awhile. Also, don't neglect the sides of the clitoris, and for Gods' sakes don't forget to relube every once in awhile. This can be taken care of rather hotly, take your middle finger and dip down, all nerves in the vaginal canal exist in the first 1/3rd of it after the opening anyway, so unless you're hunting down the G-spot or using a strap-on depth really doesn't matter all that much. Single finger penetration at this point, HOT! After you've gotten more lubrication, go back up and continue clitoral stimulation. Your hand is probably going to get excruciatingly tired, BUT KEEP GOING! Because you're probably going to have to speed up the tempo once your partner starts nearing climax, and that hurts like a bitch, but the payoff is worth it.

12b) Going Downtown: This requires total pant removal, to remove the awkwardness from the situation (ie, her pants/underwear are PROBABLY going to get stuck at some point) spend time, when something goes awry, kissing any available skin to make your partner feel sexy and not ridiculous because her pants are stuck. Okay, at this point, Pants/Underwear Are Now Off: There it is, in all of it's furred glory. Note: To make it easier on your partner you should really trim your bush down to a rather manageable size, because the last thing ANYONE wants to do is floss with your pubic hair, and yes, this DOES HAPPEN so be forewarned. Right, now we're working on foreplay-ish things, because that's what the majority of lesbian sex is (when considered by the hetero-realm), foreplay. So kiss/suck/lick her inner thighs, because they're highly sensitive, and if you're absolutely totally lost down there and can't even figure out WHERE the vaginal opening is (much less the clitoris) take ONE finger (depending on how totally gay your partner is, you may only be able to use one finger at ALL during all of this, some women are tighter than others) and do slow penetration again, and then drag it up her inner labial lips until you hit the clit, then you've found your treasure map X. Take your tongue and do the exact same thing you did with your finger, only you don't have to pull off penetration, just the slow upward stroke TO BE CONTINUED!

12c) G-spot: COMING SOON!

12d) Strap-ons: COMING SOON!

13) When ALL of this is over, you better not forget to cuddle! Lest you be likened to *gasp* some crude insensitive straight man. And who wants that?

Good Luck and Good Nights. This public service announcement brought to you to help young inexperienced lesbians everywhere!

Adult DVD Stores.com - Adult DVDs and Sex Toys

2007-02-23T20:38:00.000-08:00

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She Likes Girls:

2007-02-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

She Likes Girls: Six Sexy and Romantic Lesbian Short Films DVD

SYNOPSIS
Today's top lesbian filmmakers bring you: Six Sexy and Romantic Lesbian Short Films

Loving Annabelle

2007-02-23T07:07:00.000-08:00

Loving Annabelle DVD

SYNOPSIS
Rebellious Catholic schoolgirls, hidden secrets and a controversial romance all unfold in the newest addition to the lesbian cult classic canon, joining films like The Children’s Hour and Mไdchen in Uniform.
REVIEW
Annabelle (Erin Kelly), the defiant daughter of a senator, arrives at a prestigious Catholic boarding school after being expelled from many others. It’s up to the school’s poetry teacher Simone (Diane Gaidry) to ensure the rebellious teen does not stir up trouble. Brazen and beautiful, the new student quickly turns heads with her striking beauty and clever charm. Fellow student and bad girl, Cat (the fierce Laura Breckenridge, TV’s “Related”), pounces, but her advances are quickly denied because Annabelle’s eyes are focused on a bigger prize -- Simone. She aggressively makes her move in class, dissecting e.e. cummings’ poetry of sexual innuendos and sending Simone’s heart fluttering. The teacher desperately tries to conceal her lust not only because she is an educator, but also because she is suppressing her lesbian past! On a holiday weekend, the student and teacher are the only two remaining on campus. This time they cannot stop their wildest desires. In one moment their sweltering, uninhibited passion illuminates the screen, and in the next, a flurry of guilt unmasks the reality of responsibility. Kelly and Gaidry’s chemistry is mesmerizing, expressing their characters' deepening attraction with stolen glances and the subsequent revelations of their relationship's emotional consequences. Talented writer/director Katherine Brooks brilliantly captures the conflicting emotions of erotic, romantic attraction and the apprehension due to the sexual and spiritual risks involved.
-- Kelly Burkhardt

L-Word - The Complete Second Season

2007-02-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

L-Word - The Complete Second Season DVD

Cast and Crew Information

Starring Jennifer Beals, Erin Daniels, Leisha Hailey, Laurel Holloman, Mia Kirshner, Katherine Moennig

Description
This Showtime drama follows an ensemble cast of characters who represent multiple facets of the lesbian lifestyle, but enact very human dramas that anyone can relate to. At the center is Jenny (Mia Kirshner, EXOTICA), who has recently moved to a hip L.A. neighborhood to be with her boyfriend, a swim coach named Tim (Eric Mabius). Immediately swept up in the lesbian community, Jenny begins to question the heterosexuality she has always taken for granted, while the lives and loves of those around her play themselves out in sometimes humorous, sometimes painful, ways. In the second season, Jenny tries to advance her writing career while exploring her newly discovered sexuality, and a relationship begins to grow between her and Carmen (Sarah Shahi). Meanwhile, Bette (Jennifer Beals, FLASHDANCE) and Tina (Laurel Holloman, CHERRY) navigate a rocky breakup, and sisters Bette and Kit (Pam Grier, JACKIE BROWN) deal with the last days of their father, Melvin.

ALL OVER ME

2007-02-23T00:46:00.000-08:00

ALL OVER ME DVD

An intense, naturalistic portrait of a changing friendship between two teenage girls, set in New York's gritty Hell's Kitchen. The symbiotic, loving relationship between riot-grrrl teens Ellen and Claude degrades after Ellen begins dating a rough-hewn, mean-spirited older boy, and Claude tries on a lesbian identity with the help of a new gay male friend. Suffused with alternative music-scene bit parts and cameos, including Leisha Hailey (of the Murmurs) and Mary Timony (of Helium).

Cast Alison Folland, Tara Subkoff, Cole Hauser, Pat Briggs, Leisha Hailey, Wilson Cruz (more)

Director(s) Alex Sichel

Writer(s) Sylvia Sichel

Genre(s) Drama

Release Year 1997

DVD Release Date June 14, 2005

Running Time 90 minutes

MPAA Rating R - Sexuality and Drug Use Involving Young Girls, Language

RENT

2007-02-23T00:36:00.000-08:00

RENT (2005)

STARRING: Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jesse Martin, Tracie Thoms, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Daniel London
DIRECTOR: Chris Columbus
STUDIO: Columbia Pictures
RATING: PG-13
GENRE: Musical / Comedy / Drama
RELEASE DATE: November 23, 2005

SYNOPSIS
Based on Puccini's classic opera La Boheme, Jonathan Larson's revolutionary rock opera "Rent" tells the story of a group of Bohemians struggling to live and pay their rent in the gritty background of New York's East Village. "Measuring their lives in love," these starving artists strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, ilness and the AIDS epidemic.

One of the longest running shows on Broadway, "Rent" was the winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drame, the Obie Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, four Tony Awards and three Drama Desk awards.

A family affair

2007-02-23T00:27:00.000-08:00

A family affair

Helen Lesnick plays Rachel Rosen who flees New York City after another traumatic breakup with her capricious girlfriend Reggie Abravanel (Michele Greene) Rachel decides to make a fresh start cross country in San Diego. Rachel's parents, Leah and Sam Rosen (Arlene Golonka and Michael Moerman) had retired to San Diego previously and are adamant to see their wayward daughter settle down with a nice girl.�Determined to find "Ms. Rightowitz", Rachel goes on several blind dates that misfire badly (Sue Wakefield) & (Kelly Neill) She finally breaks down and lets her mother set her up with Christine Peterson (Erica Shaffer), by all appearances a typical California girl. Much to Rachel's chagrin, she realizes her mother is right about Christine and lo and behold, soon they are loading up the moving van! Rachel's and Christine's relationship continues to develop until a holiday dinner at Rachel's parents house where Rachel hears Christine call Leah "Mom"! Rachel panics. Meanwhile, Rachel's friends and family (Marc DeWhitt, David Radford, Lesnick, and Keith E. Wright) & (Suzanne Westenhoefer) wait for her to screw up the relationship. They know, even if she won't admit it, that she still carries a torch for her ex-girlfriend and they're not sure what would happen if Reggie reappeared to reclaim her. Will Rachel run from another commitment or stick around.

Okay

2007-02-20T06:50:00.000-08:00

Okay Reviewed By: Amber Wilkinson

How do you feel about your life? Okay? Certainly Agnethe (Paprika Steen) does. She's a down-to-earth job restart officer, with an average family. So what if she squabbles with her teenage daughter over her dental brace, finds her lecturer husband Kristian's (Troels Lyby) desire to be a writer exasperating and locks horns with her elderly father over the fact that he won't speak to her gay brother Martin? That's normal.

Normal, that is, until dad (Ole Ernst) is diagnosed with chronic myoblastic leukhaemia and given three weeks to live. He moves in and, when two month's later he seems to be making a recovery, things for the family aren't looking so rosy.

All of which makes this sound like a terribly depressing film, which it isn't. Okay is a rich, dark comedy which finds humour and truth in the reality of everyday relationships.

Less everyday, however, is a virtually pointless secondary story, in which Martin agrees to donate sperm to a couple of his lesbian friends, only to agonise over the role he should play if they become pregnant. It soon becomes evident that this is little more than a fairly crude plot device, which detracts from, rather than adds to, the strength of the film.

The main story is briskly paced and innovative enough to engage an audience. Ernst's performance, as the understated "grumpy old man" is terrific, finding humour in the spaces between the dialogue. Steen is also utterly convincing, as a headstrong working mum, trying to reconcile perceived problems, yet failing to spot her own marital difficulties.

The script is the biggest star, however, exploring the minutae of a family's interaction, probing for the humanity and humour within.

Definitely more than okay.

Siren

2007-02-20T06:46:00.000-08:00

Siren

Ella is captivated by Jodie, a writer of erotic fiction. Sent to her majestic country estate, Ella is titillated by what she sees there. "Siren" is an erotic lesbian fantasy drama made by women for women, featuring exquisite imagery combined with a powerful soundtrack.
Special Features: "I want you here, now. I want to touch you. Stop talking. Just listen to my thoughts" A music video styled erotic teaser. Director's cut. Unrated director's cut features 7 minutes of additional footage. Color
Director: Sarah Swords
Producer: Beverly Cook
Genre: Lesbian; Mature
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame
Region Code: 0
Rating: Unrated
Languages: English
Studio: Wolfe
Street Date: November 21, 2000

Secret Things

2007-02-20T06:42:00.000-08:00

Secret Things (2002)

There's a certain, distinctive sound -- at least there was in the days before six-channel digital mixes came into vogue, with their full dynamic range and dead-empty silences -- made by a woman's moans on a film's soundtrack. Especially if you're watching a worn print, the sound will be distorted. Every gasp surges up from near-silence, the speaker crackling with each breath drawn. It's a harsh sound, not much like the noises that real people make. But it's also a very distinctive sound. The dirtier the film print that you're watching, the more noise that ecstasy makes.

The print of Secret Things that was screened for critics in New York was pretty dirty, in more ways than one. The frequent heavy breathing had that familiar movie-sex sound, and there was also a strange thumping noise rising up in the silence between drawn breaths. (I was with Steve Erickson, and he remarked afterward that he almost mistook that sound for the lub-dub of a heartbeat in the film's audio mix.) Maybe that's why the first few reels of this film have the low-down, disreputable feel of old-school sexploitation. I thought of those nude-for-art's sake Euro-horror pictures from the likes of Jean Rollin.

In fact, the opening sequence of Secret Things is very similar to that of Rollin's Vampyros Lesbos, with a nude Nathalie (Coralie Revel) masturbating by candlelight. She gets up out of bed, struts a few steps, then sits in a chair and masturbates some more. She struts a few more steps, then drops to the floor, spreads her legs wide and finishes herself off. Tracking off to the right, the camera reveals that she is performing on a stage, the nightclub patrons who acknowledge her with polite applause mirroring the movie audience, sitting in the darkness outside the movie world and looking in.

Secret Things is a film, in part, about liking to be watched — and by the very nature of cinema, it's implicitly about liking to watch. That state of spectatorship is shared by the film’s director, who runs his actresses through a variety of softcore porn-film paces, by the human voyeurs who populate its narrative, and of course by the moviegoers who view it. But because Brisseau is willing to follow through intellectually on the titillating premise, it's also about different levels of exploitation, and how the exploited underclass (not just the poor, but the female poor) might seek to turn the tables.

Watching Nathalie from a distance in that opening sequence is the prim, pretty barmaid Sandrine (Sabrina Seyvecou), experiencing the first stirrings of what will become a scheming sexual relationship. The two women bond when the club’s owner tries to pimp Sandrine to a regular customer; Nathalie defends her, declaring that she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to do. The owner agrees, but displays a handful of money and declares that it's her choice — her dignity and autonomy versus the money to pay her back rent. That's a distillation of how exploitation really works in an allegedly free capitalist society – those who control the wealth can exert overpowering influence over those who have nothing, and yet the poor are expected to embrace some degree of illusory freedom. Nathalie wants to manipulate her social standing as well as her vulva, and instructs Sandrine clearly: carefully select your men according to the economic station they hold. Choose when to provide sex and when to withhold it. Never allow yourself the luxury of falling in love.

This may sound like a tongue-in-cheek variant on Dangerous Liaisons, and I suppose on one level it is. On another level, the early sections play like a series of episodes on the road to feminine self-actualization. There's one funny and sexy scene where Sandrine exposes herself in a subway station at Nathalie's urging, with most of the men around her oblivious; in another, Sandrine directs the younger woman to masturbate beneath a blanket and then, once she finds her rhythm, to pull the blanket away. Like the stage performance that opens the film, these scenes are not short – each constitutes a significant chunk of the narrative. They're unabashedly sensual, and the actresses are terrific in them. Revel is dark and handsome, with a face that reveals itself in new ways every time Brisseau's camera catches it from a different angle and a body to match; Seyvecou has a blue-eyed freshness yet ably transforms herself as the film progresses and the two women began to swap personality traits, Persona-style.

Nowhere is the weird balance Secret Things consistently strikes between the sublime and the ridiculous more apparent than in the scene where Sandrine's employer Delacroix (Roger Mirmont), a middle-aged businessman whom the women have identified as a suitable target for destruction, checks up on her on a sick day. He finds her front door unlocked and bedroom wide open. Of course she's in there, kneeling on the floor and finger-fucking Nathalie, when Delacroix arrives. Brisseau shoots the two women making love in the soft light with an unmoving camera, explicitly mimicking Delacroix's point of view — of course he just stands there, gaping and gobsmacked — and also highlighting the similarity of their bodies and the mechanical nature of their sex act. You can read the scene as inept and unintentionally funny, or you can find in it a very dry joke having to do with the notion that men are horny, hapless dogs easily manipulated by any beautiful woman sporting a fab body and ravenous sexual appetites who aspires to fucking with their heads. (It's similarly funny when Sandrine schemes to ingratiate herself to him by capitalizing on his status as a Mama's boy.) Brisseau never goes into tragic-romantic mode, a la Louis Malle's Damage, nor does he tip his hand by playing it as outright comedy. And the subtext remains intriguing – its easy to take a rooting interest in working girls as they go up against The Man. In fact, it's a little depressing when one of them turns out to be a sucker.

So what's silly about this is all the sex and nudity, which lends an aura of dorky fantasia to the entire exercise. And what's exciting about it is, right, all the sex and nudity. In some ways Secret Things is thrilling — partly because Revel and Seyvecou are fabulous babes, yes, but also because Brisseau is reclaiming a potent mode of storytelling that has been hijacked by lowbrow narratives for so long that audiences — at least American audiences — snap into ironic-distance mode the moment a naked boobie appears on the screen. (This is why audiences rejected Eyes Wide Shut, whose dreamlike approach to impersonal sexuality is seen and raised by Brisseau, and why certain segments of the U.S. population got so twisted up about Janet Jackson's right tit — there is no room for irony during as guileless an American spectacle as the Super Bowl.) The idea of being turned on by a film and simultaneously taking it seriously is so alien these days that when a picture like The Dreamers is actually released with an adults-only NC-17 rating, it's time to start writing headlines.

By the time the last reel spools through the projector, Secret Things has plunged so deep into melodrama, with an appropriately operatic soundtrack, that viewing it becomes a disorienting experience. What sort of heaviness is portended by that ominous Angel of Death who graces the opening sequence and reappears in later scenes (and, if reports are to believed, in other Brisseau films)? What’s up with Christophe (Fabrice Deville), the slick heir apparent to corporate fortune who makes out with his sister and seems to represent – occasionally hilariously, as when he starts setting fire to 500-pound notes over the dinner table – everything that’s wasteful, turgid and cruel in this world? Are we meant to be moved politically or ideologically by the arrival on the scene of a luxury car branded inconspicuously with the legend “American Limousines?”

And what, after all, about all that moaning? Maybe it’s real ecstasy, expressing the gratification of being watched, or of taking sensual pleasure into one's own hands, or maybe it’s just part of a performance piece, a whopping fake orgasm delivered by an ambitious phony. Maybe — is this too ridiculous? — it's the heavy breathing of the working class, oppressed by rich weirdos who control the world’s money and power, yearning and plotting to turn the tables. But however you decode its sexually charged images and sounds, Secret Things is a bracingly personal film; it's a world-class misanthrope’s erotic fantasy. B

Fox Fire

2007-02-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

Fox Fire

Directed by: Annette Haywood-Carter
Cast: Hedy Burress Angelina Jolie

MPAA Rating: R
Length: 100 minutes

Description: It took them 17 years to learn the rules and one week to break them all. A breakthrough film about female friendship and rebellion. FoxFire features the star-making performance of Angelina Jolie (Hackers) and the film debuts of Hedy Buress (Boston Common) and model Jenny Shimuzu. Based on the controversial novel by Joyce Carol Dates, FoxFire follows four suburban high school girls who are united when a mysterious stranger inspires them to take revenge on a sexually abusive teacher. But when the local jocks decide to teach the girls a lesson, their hard-won freedom becomes a violent trap. "Provocative and unpredictable."

Happy Endings

2007-02-20T06:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Endings

USA, 2005. Rated R. 128 minutes.

Cast: Lisa Kudrow, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Steve Coogan, Jesse Bradford, Tom Arnold, Jason Ritter, Bobby Cannavale, Laura Dern, David Sutcliffe, Sarah Clarke, Amanda Foreman
Writer: Don Roos
Cinematography: Clark Mathis
Producers: Holly Wiersma, Michael Paseornek
Director: Don Roos

Review by Carlo Cavagna

I s writer/director Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex) too self-referentially post-modern for his own good? That won't leave you very happy at the end of Happy Endings, if that's the prevailing question you take home with you from the theater. It probably will be, too, because although the three story lines touch on some of the most controversial issues of today (homosexuality, abortion), they won't induce you to shake your fist at the sky or wonder What It All Means. In brief, those story lines are:

* A young would-be documentarian, Nicky (Jesse Bradford), won't tell Mamie (Lisa Kudrow) where the son she gave up for adoption is, unless she agrees to let him film the reunion.
* Charley (Steve Coogan) decides that a lesbian couple (Laura Dern and Sarah Clarke) have used his boyfriend's sperm to father their child after claiming the donation didn't work, and becomes obsessed with exposing them.
* A gold-digger named Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal) falls for her mark (Tom Arnold) after seducing his homosexual son (Jason Ritter).

Some loose connective relationships between the three storylines and a common theme of parenthood—each of the three protagonists has somehow failed to be a parent or might fail to become one, leaving each of them feeling somewhat empty—compose the film's unifying elements. What makes Happy Endings a Roos film is its dark, frank humor, its unusual characters, and its distinctive voice. What will make or break the film in the eyes of its audience is Roos's voiceover technique.

Well, not voiceover exactly—captions with a distinct voice, running at regular intervals throughout the film. You'll often see a scene playing out on one side of the screen and verbiage on the other. Sometimes the commentary works, often making you laugh out loud and providing information you would never get from a straightforward depiction of the story. Sometimes it doesn't, particularly when it consists of observations redundant to what we can already see in the film.

For example, it's funny when Roos tells us not to worry if we don't like Mamie (she had a difficult time with her gambling-addicted ex-husband), because he's having a dig at Hollywood's sacred belief that mass-market audiences won't go for movies featuring characters they don't like. On the other hand, it's irritating when Roos observes that both Mamie, a counselor at an abortion clinic, and her idiot boyfriend Javier (Bobby Cannavale), a massage therapist, get paid to make people feel better. Individual viewers will no doubt react differently to this stylistic device, but it's safe to say Roos overuses it. He's not the most subtle guy with the foreshadowing either. Check out Jude (gee, that name isn't symbolic much) singing “honesty is such a lonely word” (from the Billy Joel song), and see if you can guess what's coming.

As he showed with Christina Ricci's Didi in The Opposite of Sex, Roos has a facility for creating distinctive female characters, casting them perfectly, and feeding them great lines. Despite playing far afield from her ditzy television characters, Kudrow seems born to recite Mamie's acerbic dialogue (as she did in The Opposite of Sex). Gyllenhaal's offbeat, gangly beauty is a perfect fit for the unconventional, free-spirited Jude. Steve Coogan of 24-Hour Party People, almost unrecognizable with short hair and slightly effeminate mannerisms, also has some great moments, like when he observes to his boyfriend Gil (David Sutcliffe), “You're not faggy at all. The gayest thing about you is me.”

Coogan's Charley is the exception among the men, though. In general Roos isn't nearly as good with male characters—check out Martin Donovan's drippy Bill Truitt in The Opposite of Sex and Ben Affleck's boring Buddy Amaral in Bounce. In Happy Endings the men range from dull (Tom Arnold basically plays himself on Prozac and Jason Ritter does his best Mr. Cellophane impression) to the downright aggravating (Cannavale irritates and Jesse Bradford is begging to have a table lamp smashed in his face).

Though why Kudrow tries to help Nicky and Jude falls for Frank are unexplained mysteries, they're not necessarily a story flaws, however. Roos's world is peopled by impulsive, compulsive, dysfunctional characters, and Roos has great affection for these seemingly unlikable people. “They're just human,” he seems to be saying. “We're all that way.” That's when the captions function best, when they help draw out and refine that perspective in humorous ways.

Happy Endings considers itself “a comedy…sort of,” and is also a decent film…sort of. It's worthwhile for the performances and one liners by the three leads (Kudrow, Gyllenhaal, and Coogan) and for Roos's unique perspectives as a storyteller, close captioned for cognitively impaired.

La caliente ni๑a Julieta

2007-02-17T20:45:00.000-08:00

La caliente ni๑a Julieta

Plot:

The two girls, although they're just friends, seem to love each other very much. They are so caring and gentle with each other, whether they're making love or simply having fun together. One day, they see a local girl who's dancing for the tourists. They both find her attractive, and they decide that they must try and seduce her.
Near the end of the movie, there's a scene with the two of them plus the local girl. I usually dislike three-way scenes, but here they've used the dynamics of it to show how much the two girls care for each other. At one point during the scene, one of them feels left out. She looks very sad as she watches her girlfriend and the local girl on the bed. The girlfriend notices this, and she says some comforting words to her, to let her know that she's still number one for her. Then she crawls over to her, and they begin to kiss each other in the most amazing way.

Be With Me

2007-02-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Be With Me

Plot: (from The Chicago Film Festival site)

A favorite at the Cannes Film Festival, Be With Me is director Eric Khoo’s first project since 1997’s 12 Storeys. Inspired by the autobiography of Theresa Chan, a 61-year-old deaf and blind woman from Singapore, Khoo’s visually stunning film looks at loneliness and love through three very different urban relationships. In the first, a lonely shopkeeper’s life changes when he happens upon an autobiography; the second, a security guard with a passion for food deals with unrequited love; finally, a bittersweet tale of teenage love takes unexpected turns.

Blow Dry (2001)

2007-02-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

Blow Dry (2001)

Director: Paddy Breathnach
Written By: Simon Beaufoy
Starring: Alan Rickman, Alan Rickman, Rachel Griffiths, Rachael Leigh Cook
Genre: Comedy, Independent
Rated: R, Runtime: 91 minutes

Review by Couper Samuelson

Blow Dry, the third in a disastrous string of quaint, hair-centered British films (after The Big Tease, and An Everlasting Piece) has all the filmic constants and variables of an affecting slapstick drama formula. So why is it such an ordinary movie? The equation is so carefully orchestrated that it feels like an icy, distant exercise, like a choreographed, predetermined game of computer chess. It’s got metaphorical vehicles and plot mechanics that are so well-oiled and fit together so snugly that we end up yearning for moments when we don’t hear the click of a dramatic device falling neatly into place.

Alan Rickman plays Phil, a weary, dry-witted barber in the quaint Northern England burg of Keighley who was once a champion coiffeur but fell off the competitive circuit ten years prior when his wife Shelly (Natasha Richardson) ran off with his hair model Sandra (Rachel Griffiths). Though the estranged husband and wife have adjacent hairdressing salons, the relationship is still strained. Their son Brian, played sympathetically by American Josh Hartnett with an utterly convincing Brit brogue, inexplicably lives with and works for his father. Matters are set in motion by the coincidence of two cataclysmic events: Keighley is chosen as the venue for the British hairdressing championships and Shelly learns that the cancer she has been fighting (and hiding from her ex-husband and son) is incurable—and decides against telling Sandra, Phil, and Brian. A flock of ludicrously coiffed hairdressers carpetbag their way into “downtown” Keighley and among them is Phil’s sworn enemy Ray (Bill Nighy) and his American daughter Christina, who casts twinkly glances at Brian. Christina is played by the wooden actress Rachel Leigh Cook whose well-drawn good looks remind me of the heroine from the anime cartoon “Voltron,” the one who drove the pink cat. The spectacle of the competition’s various stages, with its jury-rigging, elaborate costumes, and light glinting off frenetic shears, provides much-needed respite from the affected screwiness and drippy melodrama of the main narrative. Will Shelly disclose her prognosis just in time to convince Brian and wizened old Phil to enter the competition as a team? Three guesses, first two don’t count. Blow Dry’s finale condescends to tell us that though chemotherapy deprives Shelly of (all units stand by for metaphor alert!) her hair, her abiding spirit can still hold together her family.

One scene in particular encapsulates the strain of Blow Dry to underline both its drama and its quirkiness. When Shelly’s lover Sandra finally learns that Shelly’s prognosis is negative, or in Yorkshire terms, that “Shelly stuffed,” Sandra retreats to a decrepit porcelain bathtub which sits incongruously on a hill. Alan Rickman as Phil, huffing, catches up with her. Phil must, of course, climb into the bathtub with Sandra, where they decide to put aside their mutual grievances for the sake of the terminally ill point of their love triangle. The sightgag is supposed to lighten the melancholy moment, but instead it just confuses it. I can imagine Blow Dry working on a purely humor-as-therapy level (see also: Life is Beautiful). But in the end, Blow Dry is just too heavy-handed—a handicap for both barbers and movies.

Belle

2007-02-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

Belle (1993)

Library Synopsis

Set the early 20th Century. Belle is determined to lead her life as she wishes. She begins a lesbian relationship with Marthe, her mother's housekeeper, when that fails she goes on to found a chain of clothing stores, marry and have children. Nothing she does brings her contentment and she realises she has become as cold and detached as her own mother whom she despised as a child.

Top five credits

Director
ACHTEN, Irma
Production Company
Allarts Enterprises
Producer
KASANDER, Kees
Producer
WIGMAN, Denis
Script
ACHTEN, Irma

More...
Top five cast

Cast Member
HERZBERG, Rosa
Cast Member
ZITMAN, Nelleke
Cast Member
BUSSEMAKER, Reinout
Cast Member
GRONINGEN, Wivineke van
Cast Member
STEK, Do van

BD Women

2007-02-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

BD Women

A film by Inge Blackman
England, 1994, 20 minutes, Color, VHS
Order No. W99422
B.D. WOMEN is a wonderful celebration of the history and culture of Black lesbians. Lively interviews feature Black women talking candidly about their sexual and racial identities. These contemporary views are cleverly interwoven with a dramatized love story, set in the 1920s, in which a sultry romance develops between a gorgeous jazz singer and her stylish butch lover. B.D. WOMEN rewrites the vanished history of Black lesbians' lives in an eloquent and entertaining way.

Baise-moi

2007-02-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

Baise-moi (2000)

Plot Summary for
Baise-moi (2000)

Based on the novel by Virginie Despentes of the same title. Manu and Nadine lose their last tenuous relationship with main-stream society when Manu gets raped and Nadine sees her only friend being shot. After a chance encounter, they embark on an explosive journey of sex and murder. Perhaps as a revenge against men, perhaps as a revolt against bourgeois society, but certainly in a negation - almost joyful in its senseless violence - of all the codes of a society which has excluded, raped and humiliated them. Controversial for its violence and real sex scenes: a vividly nihilist road movie set in France.

Summary written by H. G. Ziche {hgz@ehess.fr}

Angels in America

2007-02-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

Angels in America

Starring: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep
Director: Mike Nichols
Synopsis: Highly acclaimed HBO mini-series, based on Tony Kushner's play, portrays the struggles of homosexual men in the 1980s, at the start of the AIDS epidemic.
Runtime: 352 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Genres: Drama, Gay/Lesbian, TV show

Review

How does one critique perfection? From Tony Kushner's incomparable writing, to Mike Nichols' impeccable direction, eight flawless principal performances, and a Michelangelo-like team of production designers, not a single thing about Angels in America is anything less than perfect.

Angels is many things at once: a drama about loneliness and family, biological and chosen; a story that shines light on all the dark places in the human heart; an offbeat comedy; a story about sexual/racial/religious/ethnic/political identity; one about life in the Reagan era; about friendship, cowardice, and guilt; a story about living with—and dying from—AIDS. Not just from HIV, but also from the ripples of heartbreak it sends out. The whole thing is a smorgasbord for dramaturges and analytical minds. What's remarkable, though, is that even if you managed to remain ignorant of all of the above interpretations, the story itself, taken at face value, is riveting.

Set in 1985, Angels in America follows the impact of AIDS on a group of people whose relationship to each other is circular: At the center is Prior Walter (Justin Kirk), a charismatic young WASP who has just been diagnosed with AIDS. His intellectual, Jewish, radical lefty lover of four years, Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman), can't cope and abandons Prior, rebounding with a married, closeted, Mormon Republican, Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson). Joe is the protégé of one of Angels' two real-life characters, the utterly nasty, smarmy and remorseless lawyer Roy Cohn (Al Pacino), a homophobic gay man who sent Ethel Rosenberg (the other real-life character, who appears later in the film as Cohn's hallucination, played by Meryl Streep) to the electric chair for allegedly being a Communist spy. Joe's wife, Harper (Mary-Louise Parker), is a Valium addict who doesn't understand why her husband isn't in love with her; in her numbed-out space, she hallucinates a travel agent named Mr. Lies (Jeffrey Wright, in the smaller of his two roles) who takes her on brief vacations from her misery and loneliness. Wright's primary role, for which he won a Golden Globe—as well as a 1993 Tony for his performance on Broadway—is Belize, Prior's closest friend and a nurse at the Washington, DC, hospital where Cohn winds up on the cancer ward when he refuses to admit he has AIDS.

Meanwhile, Joe's mother, Hannah (Streep, in her primary role—her third role is an aging male rabbi), has come to New York from Salt Lake City to help save her son's marriage, not knowing that he's gay—or not wanting to know. When Prior collapses while stalking Louis and Joe, Hannah rescues him; she takes him back to the hospital, forging an unlikely bond between a dying man who desperately needs someone to care for him and a confused woman who wants to understand her son.

Hallucinations abound in Angels, and not just for Cohn and Harper. Prior is visited by an Angel (Emma Thompson, who also plays Prior's nurse and a homeless woman) descending from the heavens in a very messy way (literally and symbolically), both terrifying and intriguing Prior with her insistence that he is a prophet and that he must join her. Add to that the ghosts of two prior Priors, in a Rosencrantz & Guildenstern-esque turn, and you've got one feverish, very confused young man.

Those who saw the original Broadway productions have said that certain aspects of the script work better on stage than on screen, but one can imagine the two are distinctly different productions. Simple logistics dictate that some scenes are too physically broad and intricate to be laid out on stage, and the transitions—well, a few of them make Escher drawings seem as direct as Ansel Adams photographs. These are the spaces in which the production design of Angels shines most. On the other hand, sometimes the imagination is more powerful than even the biggest art department budget, and some of the monologues seem like they would work better on stage.

So much has been made of the A-list trio—Pacino, Streep, and Thompson—that the lesser-known actors have often been left in their editorial dust. Wright, perhaps because of his Tony and Golden Globe awards, as well as his brief but powerful performance in The Manchurian Candidate, is starting to gain a bit of the visibility he deserves. The truly unsung hero of the cast is Kirk, who has the most physically and emotionally demanding role in the ensemble. Through Prior's varying states of health and illness, his abandonment by Louis, his auditory and visual hallucinations, the enormous range of emotional and physical states evoked by his encounters with the Angel (sexual and otherwise), to his confrontation with an entire board of angels at the culmination of the second part, Kirk is absolutely compelling. It was a fortuitous thing for Wright, whose role isn't exactly easy, either, that the Golden Globes committee couldn't decide whether Kirk was a supporting or lead actor; he wound up with split votes and was excluded from nomination in either category.

The only disappointing thing about the Angels in America DVD is the complete lack of extras (that, and a single scene in which the CGI just doesn't cut it—Prior's first visual hallucination in the nurse's office). Though the release is strategically timed to coincide with the Emmys—for which the production received 21 nominations, including one for each of the eight principals—it wasn't a total rush job, and one imagines there would have been time for at least one or two commentaries, a comparison between the Broadway and HBO productions, an interview with Kushner, a "making of…" and maybe even an AIDS PSA, or information on outreach and volunteer work. Let's hope that HBO/Warner decides in the future to release a special edition.

Nonetheless, on a four-star scale, this production of Angels in America rates at least five stars, so even without the extras, it gets a perfect score.

8 Women

2007-02-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

8 Women

Francois Ozon's 8 Women, a campy murder mystery/musical, is about as far away from his last movie (Under the Sand) as one could imagine. That film dealt with one woman's unimaginable grief after losing her husband, and was as somber and serious as the subject matter indicates. With 8 Women, Ozon's created a film that's light and fluffy that, though it does go on a bit too long, proves that he can deftly handle different genres.

Set sometime in the 1950s, the film's opening credits suitably set the tone for what's to follow. Glittery and flowery, they're completely over-the-top and entirely reminiscent of the sort of '50s melodrama that Douglas Sirk was famous for. But Ozon's not content to simply throw in contemporary themes into a retro structure; 8 Women works as an effective musical, with each character given the opportunity to sing a song. The storyline is equally old school: The sole male in a family dominated by women is found murdered one morning, and the remainder of the film is rife with revelations, petty arguments, and even a little romance.

Ozon has assembled an amazing cast of past and present French actresses, led by Danielle Darrieux - whose first movie was made in 1931 and has since appeared in over 100 features. Darrieux plays Mamy, the matriarch of the family, though her senior status doesn't prevent the others from suspecting her at one point. Her two daughters-in-law Gaby and Pierette (Catherine Deneuve and Fanny Ardant) have never gotten along, due mostly to Pierette's jealously of Gaby's wealth and marriage. Mamy's own daughter Augustine (Isabelle Huppert) is a bitter and sarcastic spinster, who pretty much suspects everyone in the house of doing the deed. More daughters appear in the form of Gaby's children, Suzon and Catherine (Virginie Ledoyen and Ludivine Sagnier), both of whom take on the role of detective in trying to determine who the killer is. Rounding out the cast are a couple of servants (Firmine Richard and Emmanuelle Beart), the latter of which has quite a few secrets of her own.

The storyline itself isn't anything special - it's the sort of thing that Agatha Christie cornered the market on decades ago - but the impressive cast and catchy songs just about make 8 Women worth watching. The movie's based on a play by Robert Thomas, and it shows. The entire film takes place in this overblown house, and (for a while, anyway) it's entertaining enough due to the frantic pace employed by Ozon. For pure camp value, there are a lot of elements in 8 Women that warrant a look; the inclusion of some decidedly contemporary themes into this old-school atmosphere will certainly elicit laughter from those familiar with the '50s melodrama.

But the novelty eventually wears off, and the constant fighting becomes somewhat repetitive and it becomes impossible to even care who the murderer is. Still, there are the songs, all of which are very well done and incredibly catchy. And though the choreography that accompanies the songs is a little stiff (putting it kindly), each number brings up the energy level of the film considerably. And who knew Catherine Deneuve could sing so beautifully?

Being John Malkovich (1999)

2007-02-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

Being John Malkovich (1999)

Plot Summary for
Being John Malkovich (1999)

Craig, a puppeteer, takes a filing job in a low-ceilinged office in Manhattan. Although married to the slightly askew Lotte, he hits on a colleague, the sexually frank Maxine. She's bored but snaps awake when he finds a portal leading inside John Malkovich: for 15 minutes you see, hear, and feel whatever JM is doing, then you fall out by the New Jersey Turnpike. Maxine makes it commercial, selling trips for $200; also, she's more interested in Lotte than in Craig, but only when Lotte is inside JM. JM finds out what's going on and tries to stop it, but Craig sees the portal as his road to Maxine and to success as a puppeteer. Meanwhile, Lotte discovers others interested in the portal.

2 Seconds

2007-02-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

2 Seconds (1998)

Cast: Charlotte Laurier, Dino Tavarone, Jonathan Bolduc, more...
Director: Manon Briand
see all cast/crew...
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Wolfe Video
Genre: Drama, Foreign, Sports Drama, France, Sports, Sports Drama
Running Time: 105 min.
Languages: English, French
Subtitles: English

Synopsis
This Canadian film (in French) premiered in the 1999 Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema section. It tells the story of Laurie (Charlotte Laurier) and her love of downhill mountain bike racing. At the start of a big race, Laurie notices a gray hair on her head; her hesitation while noticing this causes her to lose the race by two seconds, forcing her retirement from racing. Angry, she moves to Montreal to stay with her brother, a physicist who is big on loose women and theories of relativity, and she gets a job as a bike messenger. At work, she meets a crusty old man named Lorenzo (Dino Tavarone), who was a champion cyclist himself before settling down and opening a bike shop. Though enemies and competitors at first, they slowly become friends and lovers, and teach each other that time (whether it's 50 years or two seconds) is a relative concept. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide

101 Reykjavik (2000)

2007-02-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

101 Reykjavik (2000)

Cast: Victoria Abril, Baltasar Kormแkur, Olafur Darri Olafsson
Director: Baltasar Kormแkur
see all cast/crew...
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Fox Lorber
Genre: Comedies, Foreign, Romantic Comedy, Scandinavia
Running Time: 90 min.
Languages: English

Synopsis
A slacker finds himself dealing with girl trouble he never knew existed in this offbeat comedy set in Iceland. Hlynur (Hilmir Snๆr Gudnason) is a 28-year-old layabout who lives with his mother, Berglind (Hanna Marํa Karlsd๓ttir), in a run-down section of Reykjavํk. Though he doesn't have a job, Hlynur makes enough off the dole to spend his evenings drinking beer, and has a girlfriend, Hofi (Thr๚dur Vilhjแlmd๓ttir), who regards his lack of ambition with a mildly annoyed tolerance. Berglind decides to take in a boarder, Lola Milagros (Victoria Abril), a lovely young woman from Spain who gives dance lessons. Hlynur is instantly captivated with Lola and begins making a play for her, even though she's an open and unapologetic lesbian. In the midst of a drunken New Year's Eve party, Hlynur wears down Lola's resistance, and the two ring in the new year having sex. Lola soon discovers she's pregnant, but Hlynur is startled to learn that Lola and Berglind are now lovers and they intend to raise the child together -- meaning he's not only competing with his mother for the same woman, but that his child will be brought up as his sibling. As if this weren't enough, Hlynur soon learns that Hofi is also carrying his child. 101 Reykjavํk was the debut feature from writer/director Baltasar Kormแkur, and received an enthusiastic reception at the 2000 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

(In) Visible Women

2007-02-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

(In) Visible Women

1991-Illnesses & Disabilities/Gender Issues/Women's Health/Social Issues

PLOT DESCRIPTION
Featured at both the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, this video examines the lives of HIV-positive Latin and minority women and the efforts being made to further AIDS research and medical treatment for them. Scored with upbeat Latin music, the film features interviews with HIV-positive women -- artists, activists, and educators alike -- as well as ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) demonstrations. "Sensitive and hard-hitting...Highly recommended for general audiences, Women's and Latin American Studies and AIDS awareness programs," praises Bill Howie of the Library Journal. With subtitles. ~ Carrie Downes, All Movie Guide

production credits

Marina Alvarez - Director
Ellen Spiro - Director

Pledge This!

2007-02-17T04:37:00.000-08:00

Pledge This!

Plot: (from IMDb)

At South Beach University, a beautiful sorority president (Paris Hilton) takes in a group of unconventional freshman girls seeking acceptance into her house.

Petrified

2007-02-17T04:32:00.000-08:00

Petrified

Plot: (from IMDb)

When a black market antique's deal is botched by a goon and his girlfriend, the mummified remains of an alien they were selling is revived by the blood of the murdered dealer. The blood hungry mummy is on the run, and stumbles upon an in-patient psychiatric facility that is home to dozens of beautiful, voluptuous nymphomaniacs.

Aimee & Jaguar

2007-02-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

Aimee & Jaguar

Berlin 1943/44 ("The Battle of Berlin"). Felice, an intelligent and courageous Jewish woman who lives under a false name, belongs to an underground organization.

Lilly, a devoted mother of four, though an occasional unfaithful wife, is desperate for love.

An unusual and passionate love between them blossoms despite the danger of persecution and nightly bombing raids.

The Gestapo is on Felice's trail. Her friends flee, she decides to sit out the war with Lilly. One hot day in August 1944, the Gestapo is waiting in Lilly's flat...

MULHOLLAND DR.

2007-02-10T02:34:00.000-08:00

MULHOLLAND DR. (David Lynch) Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux, Laura Elena Harring

Mulholland Dr., David Lynch’s nightmarish take on Hollywood and on the pursuit of the “American Dream,” is impossible to pigeonhole as belonging to a particular genre. The film is part black comedy, part mystery thriller, part psychological drama—and it boasts one of the most horrific endings ever filmed. The final result is a long, bizarre journey through an ambitious actress’s psyche; the most haunting and most tragic such journey since Norma Desmond’s in Sunset Boulevard more than half a century earlier.

Essentially the story of two women, Betty (Watts), a young Canadian who dreams of becoming a great actress and a big movie star, and Rita (Harring), a woman who lost her memory after a deadly car accident on you-know-where, Mulholland Dr. frequently branches off into the universe of several disparate characters of the Los Angeles underbelly. Those include an incompetent hired killer (Pellegrino), an arrogant film director (Theroux) at odds with the Mafia, a Hispanic entertainer on her last legs, and a creepy (and cryptic) cowboy. Ultimately, all of those figures are merely dreamlike hallucinations in the deteriorating mind of Diane Selwyn (also Watts), a disillusioned actress wannabe who is about to get thrown into the bottomless abyss of broken dreams.

Mulholland Dr. was to have become a TV-series, but it got cancelled because ABC was displeased with the pilot. Enter Studio Canal with the necessary funds to allow David Lynch to transform his failed pilot into a feature film. Taking a radically different path from Twin Peaks, Lynch’s successful TV-series that was turned into a poorly received feature film in 1992, Mulholland Dr. went from failed TV-series to major critical success upon its 2001 big-screen release.

For this cautionary Hollywood tale, director-writer Lynch takes a step back from the corny, linear style of The Straight Story, reverting to the old surreal approach he had used in Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. Actually, “surreal” is not quite the right word in this case. The dream sequences in Mulholland Dr. should be labeled “hyper-real” for they are (usually) grounded on reality—but an overblown reality, displayed in caps, bold letters, and underlined. Everything, from Betty’s over-the-top goody-goody persona to the bomb-like sound of both car crashes and punches, is an exaggeration of reality itself. This not-quite-real-nor-totally-unreal atmosphere is immeasurably enhanced by Lynch’s frequent collaborator, Angelo Badalamenti, who composed the picture’s haunting score, and by Peter Deming’s luscious though slightly off-kilter cinematography. But despite all the talent involved, Mulholland Dr. would have been a pale version of its brilliant self without the presence of British-born, Australian actress Naomi Watts.

Watts, in her first important role in a major motion picture, is a revelation. She manages to make her psychotically nice Betty a likable, three-dimensional character—and that is no small feat. The fact that Diane looks, sounds, and acts so differently from Betty earns Watts even more points, though the most astounding aspect of her performance is that the innocent Betty is clearly discernible underneath Diane’s bitterness and disillusion. Therefore, instead of coming across as a vindictive villainess, Diane is turned into a tragic victim of her own ambition. She is Betty through the looking glass—or vice-versa. Whichever the case may be, Watts’s Diane stands next to Gloria Swanson’s Norma Desmond as two of the greatest and most tragic representations of deluded actors on film.

Other directors who have aimed for Lynch’s style of hyper-realism, from Spike Jonze to Paul Thomas Anderson, might want to watch (and rewatch) Mulholland Dr. for inspiration. Admittedly, the acting of some of the supporting players is hardly top notch (though it is a pleasure to watch Ann Miller in what turned out to be her last feature-film role) and David Lynch does let his old self-indulgence get in the way every now and then. But even if certain scenes could have been shorter and others could have been excised, those sequences do not detract from the whole. That is because the director-writer never loses sight of the psychological undercurrents of his characters or of the purpose of his tale. “I’m in this dream place,” Betty exclaims shortly after her arrival in Los Angeles. Lynch then spends the next two and a half hours showing us that L.A., Hollywood, the luxurious Mulholland Drive, and all they represent are in fact the stuff that nightmares are made of.

Synopsis: MULHOLLAND DR. - excellent (David Lynch) Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux, Laura Elena Harring

Following a horrific car crash in the Hollywood Hills, a woman (Harring) gets out of her wrecked limo leaving two dead men behind. Walking aimlessly, she ends up in an apartment complex where she meets a young, otherworldly wholesome Canadian, Betty Elms (Watts), an aspiring actress who has just arrived in Los Angeles. Suffering from severe amnesia, the mysterious woman adopts the name “Rita,” after noticing a poster of Rita Hayworth in Gilda.

While Betty and Rita try to figure out Rita’s real identity, the picture cuts back and forth to other disparate characters: A hitman (Pellegrino) who has a tougher than expected time while trying to kill an obese woman. Two men talking about a strange dream at a coffeeshop. An obnoxious film director, Adam Kesher (Theroux), who is being pressured by the Mafia to use the leading lady of their choice for his next film.

Things start getting creepier when Betty and Rita begin investigating Rita’s mysterious background. First, they find a semi-decomposed body at an apartment complex. An eerie cowboy appears to Adam and gives him a cryptic warning. And finally, the two women go to a nightclub called Silencio in which a zombie-looking woman sings “Crying” in Spanish and then collapses.

And then the nightmare begins. . . Betty wakes up, and she’s neither Betty Elms nor an aspiring actress, but Diane Selwyn, a perennial movie-star wannabe. Rita, actually Camille Rhodes, is her former lover, an ambitious actress who had jilted Diane for the arrogant up-and-coming director Adam Kesher. The hitman we see in Diane's dream has in fact been hired by her to kill both Camille and Adam. Lost, guilty, and alone Diane falls into an emotional abyss that will lead to the inevitable tragic finale.

Cast and Credits: MULHOLLAND DR. - excellent (David Lynch) Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux, Laura Elena Harring

Director: David Lynch

Cast:
Justin Theroux ---- Adam Kesher
Naomi Watts ---- Betty Elms / Diane Selwyn
Laura Elena Harring ---- Rita / Camilla Rhodes
Ann Miller ---- Catherine 'Coco' Lenoix
Dan Hedaya ---- Vincenzo Castigliane
Mark Pellegrino ---- Joe
Robert Forster ---- Detective Harry McKnight
Katharine Towne ---- Cynthia Jenzen
Lee Grant ---- Louise Bonner

Screenplay: David Lynch

Running Time: 147m

Country: France / United States

Genre: Psychological Drama / Mystery Thriller / Dark Comedy

Related Films: The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Barton Fink (1991), The Black Dahlia (2006), Blue Velvet (1986), Dead of Night (1945), Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari / The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), The Hours (2002), Love Letters (1945), Mirage (1965), Seconds (1966), A Star Is Born (1937), A Star Is Born (1954), Sunset Blvd. (1950), What Price Hollywood? (1932)

Awards and Nominations: MULHOLLAND DR.

annes Film Festival: Best director (tie with Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There)

César Awards: Best foreign film

Academy Awards: 1 nomination (best director)

British Academy Awards: 2 nominations (best music, Angelo Badalamenti; editing, Mary Sweeney)

Golden Globes: 4 nominations (best picture - drama; director; screenplay; original score)

Critics Awards: Best picture, actress (Watts), and director from the Chicago Film Critics Association; best picture and director from the Boston Society of Film Critics; best director from the Film Critics associations of Toronto and Los Angeles; best picture from the New York Film Critics; best picture and actress (Watts) from the National Society of Film Critics; best breakthrough performance by an actress (Watts) from the National Board of Review; best picture (tie with Memento), actress (Watts), director, score, and breakthrough performance (Watts) from the Online Film Critics Society

Best films of 2001: Mulholland Dr. in AltFG's Best of the Best list

The Virgin Queen

2007-02-10T02:22:00.000-08:00

The Virgin Queen

2005

Director: Coky Giedroyc

Writer: Paula Milne

Producer: Paul Rutman

Music: Martin Phipps

Costume: Amy Roberts

Makeup: Karen Hartley

Director of Photography: David Odd

Production Designer: Donal Wood

Casting Director: Nina Gold

Vulnerable and imperious, passionate and unreachable, from teenage princess to accomplished queen, forever torn between duty and personal longing, the reign of Elizabeth I is exposed in lavish and spectacular style.

Anne-Marie Duff stars as the enigmatic 'Virgin Queen' in a spellbinding drama about the life of one of Britain's greatest monarchs, Elizabeth I. Her femininity baffled and threatened the male order of Renaissance England for more than 40 years. The role is as challenging and complex as anything history offers.

Paula Milne's powerful script about the long and eventful life of England's iconic Queen was filmed against a backdrop of some of Great Britain's most beautiful houses and landscapes. The Virgin Queen explores the full sweep of Elizabeth's life: from her days of fear as a potential victim of her sister's terror, through her great love affair with Robert Dudley, into her years of triumph over the Spanish Armada, and finally her old age and her last, enigmatic relationship with her young protégé, the Earl of Essex.

Cast List:
Anne-Marie Duff .... Queen Elizabeth I
Tom Hardy .... Lord Leicester (Robert Dudley)
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex .... Hans Matheson
William Cecil, Lord Burghley .... Ian Hart
Thomas Radcliffe, Earl of Sussex .... Dexter Fletcher
Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk .... Kevin McKidd
Queen Mary I .... Joanne Whalley
Lettice Knollys .... Sienna Guillory
Lord Chancellor Gardiner .... Robert Pugh
Amy Robsart .... Emilia Fox
Kat Ashley .... Tara Fitzgerald
Sir James Melville .... Ewen Bremner
Robert Cecil .... Daniel Evans
Francis Walsingham .... Ben Daniels
Cardinal Pole .... Michael Feast
Baron Casper Breuner .... Ulrich Thomsen
King Phillip of Spain .... Stanley Townsend
Sir John Brydges .... Tony Guilfoyler
Thomas Wyatt .... Bryan Dick
Valencia .... Stella Maris
Bishop Latimer .... Ken Bones
Henry Bedingfield .... Pearce Quigley
Dr. Lee .... Alan Williams
Alvaro de Quadra .... Marcello Margi
Christopher Hatton .... Jason Watkins
Mrs. Odingwell .... Lisa Millnett
Herald .... Toby Whithouse
Jean de Simier .... Enzo Cilenti
Gilbert Gifford .... Stephen Walters
Dr. William Cowes .... Ralph Ineson
Thomas Phelippes .... Vincent Franklin
Mary Queen of Scots .... Charlotte Winner
Ellen .... Emma Kennedy
Nicholas Hilliard .... Nicholas Hewetson
Captain Morgan .... Tony Maudsley
Aslop .... Karl Theobald
Sir Walter Raleigh .... Derek Riddell
Anges .... Joanna Griffiths
Cecily .... Siobhan Hewlett
Charles Blount .... Sebastian Armesto
Francis Bacon .... Neil Stuke
Earl of Southampton .... Shaun Evans
Warden .... Ken Hadley
Overweight Little Boy .... Jacob Moriarty
Dentist .... Geoff Bell
Courtier .... Richard Syms
Young Man .... Gavin Brocker

Fire

2007-02-10T02:04:00.000-08:00

Fire (1997)

Banned in India, "Fire" is the first film to confront lesbianism in a culture adamantly denying such a love could ever exist. Shabana Azmi shines as Radha Kapur in this taboo-breaking portrayal of contemporary India and the hidden desires that threaten to defy traditional expectations. In a barren arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage and into the supple embrace of Radha.
Featuring: Jaaved Jaaferi - Shabana Azmi - Nandita Das - Kulbushan Kharbanda
Special Features: Trailer, Director's Notes, Cast/Crew Biographies, Filmography, Featurette examining the controversy behind the film Color, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Director: Deepa Mehta
Genre: Lesbian; Drama
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame
Region Code: 1
Rating: NOT RATED
Languages: English
Studio: New Yorker
Street Date: July 11, 2000

AN INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP (2001)

2007-02-10T01:48:00.000-08:00

AN INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP (2001)

Up and coming playwright Faygen is surrounded by great and caring friends and her career is following precisely the path she hoped it would. But when her best friend Danielle reveals that she is in her first lesbian relationship, Faygen finds herself facing feelings that she's never had before. Confused, she turns to rugged Jamie, and embarks on a new relationship with him--but sooner or later she will have to face the fact that she is in love with her best friend.

Butterfly Kiss

2007-01-31T05:34:00.000-08:00

Butterfly Kiss

Plot Summary for
Butterfly Kiss (1995)

Eunice is walking along the highways of northern England from one filling station to another. She is searching for Judith, the woman, she says to be in love with. It's bad luck for the women at the cash desk not to be Judith, because Eunice is eccentric, angry and extreme dangerous. One day she meets Miriam, hard of hearing and a little ingenuous, who feels sympathy for Eunice and takes her home. Miriam is very impressed by Eunice's fierceness and willfulness and follows her on the search for Judith. Shocked by Eunice's cruelty she tries to make her a better person, but she looses ground herself.

Summary written by Robert Stroetgen {stroetgen@rrz.uni-hamburg.de}

My mother like women

2007-01-31T05:27:00.000-08:00

Plot Summary for
My mother like women(2002)

Directed by
Daniela Fejerman
Inés París

Sofia introduces her three adult daughters to her new lover who is their age and happens to be a woman. The women, in particular Elvira find it extremely difficult to accept their mothers sudden apparent sexual reversal. The news pushes the neurotic Elvira to the point of nervous breakdown. Sol, the youngest daughter, writes a lude rock song about it and performs in front of them at a concert. The daughters plot together on how to get their mothers new girlfriend, a native Czech, and brilliant pianist, out of her life. Their plot goes terribly wrong and turns the film from a light-hearted comedy, into mildly amusing drama.

Summary written by wedgwood@e-garfield.com

Frida

2007-01-31T05:06:00.000-08:00

Frida (2002)

Plot Summary for
Frida (2002)

"Frida" chronicles the life Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) shared unflinchingly and openly with Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), as the young couple took the art world by storm. From her complex and enduring relationship with her mentor and husband to her illicit and controversial affair with Leon Trotsky, to her provocative and romantic entanglements with women, Frida Kahlo lived a bold and uncompromising life as a political, artistic, and sexual revolutionary.

Summary written by Anonymous

"Kissing Jessica Stein"

2007-01-29T04:51:00.000-08:00

"Kissing Jessica Stein" ON DVD

Two women fall in love with no place to go in this bright and funny romantic comedy.

By Stephanie Zacharek

Page 1

NothingMarch 15, 2002 | "Kissing Jessica Stein" is a romantic comedy about two young women who meet, get on like gangbusters and fall in love, only to discover they don't know where to go from there. The movie itself has the same problem: The first half has some of the neurotic juiciness of early Woody Allen, and a similar loose-jointed, knock-kneed charm. In the second half, you can almost feel the panic of the writers, Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen (who are also the stars), sweating off the screen. They have no idea what to do with the story once they've set it up, and the mad scramble to wrap it up doesn't feel right.

But then any bozo can make a movie with structure. We live in a moviemaking world where the subtleties of mood and feeling often take a back seat to winking self-awareness and film-school earnestness. We've gotten so used to allegedly outsider filmmakers with all the right moves that we're reluctant to acknowledge how tone-deaf they can be. Not even slickness is the sin it was in the old days: I'll take the brightly polished sheen of "Serendipity" over the play-school Lego-construction of "The Royal Tenenbaums" any day.

Maybe that explains why even an imperfectly shaped little picture like "Kissing Jessica Stein" feels like just the ticket right now. The picture grew out of a series of theatrical sketches developed by Westfeldt and Juergensen on the subject of dating hell, which must be why the first half of the movie works so well: Westfeldt and Juergensen, guided by director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, fly through it without a hitch. These are brilliant bits of sketch comedy strung together like multicolored Christmas lights; they get tangled later when more dramatic shaping is called for, but at least they're still blinking with life.

Westfeldt is Jessica, an extraordinarily neurotic copy editor who works for a hard-ass, wiseass boss named Josh (Scott Cohen), whom she also dated briefly years earlier. She's a bright, beautiful girl, but like thousands of other bright, beautiful girls in New York, she's been single for far too long. Her family, including her well-meaning but overbearing Jewish mother, Judy (Tovah Feldshuh, funnier and less obnoxiously actorish than usual), and her friends, among them the 40-ish, newly pregnant, cat-eyeglass-wearing Joan (the appealing Jackie Hoffman, who resembles a pint-size Bette Midler), have begun to worry.

And like single women everywhere, Jessica is on the verge of being branded with that most damning label: "Just too picky." Jessica has polished honey-blond good looks that allow her to seem at home both uptown and down; she's so just-in-the-middle that she fits into every landscape and none at the same time. We're told her great passion is painting, and although it doesn't seem in character (it's a device thrown in to suggest a secret, artistic side), it does make sense that there's more sensitivity, intelligence and flintiness to this girl than her surface conventionality would suggest. You can see how it might be difficult for her to find a man who would be smart enough for her and able to handle her breathlessly rat-a-tat neurotic patter.

And so it turns out that her perfect match may be a woman. She meets Helen (Juergensen), a vibrant, sexually open downtowner who works in an art gallery and, having grown tired of men, has placed a personal ad in search of a girlfriend. Helen has had no trouble attracting guys: Her pillowy mouth and Betty Boop eyes signal the kind of fun, flirty sexual assertiveness that draws men in even as it vaguely terrifies them. Her sexuality is all on the outside as well as in: She's like an orchid with lips.

But she does have good sense and a good heart -- this isn't a story about a cruel experiment, or even a flighty, quickly forgotten one. Jessica and Helen begin to argue almost as soon as they bond. Jessica, skittish about even the possibility that she might be attracted to a woman, doesn't respond well to Helen's touchy-feely speech about her devotion to yoga. As they walk down a nighttime city street, they're catapulted into an argument by the sight of a bunch of Hare Krishnas chanting in their characteristically peacefully aggressive manner. ("They have no goals!" Jessica announces firmly.)

Their relationship evolves both slowly and bumptiously headfirst. Jessica needs to spend lots of time just kissing Helen in order to get used to the idea; Helen is eager to go further, faster. But the awkward mismatch of their rhythms makes the movie feel real and natural. The picture also tangos right into the territory of the eroticism of even platonic female friendships. At one point, Jessica gabbles to her mother on a cellphone from the back of a cab, barely breaking stride to lean over and stroke the knee of Helen's leather trousers and absent-mindedly mutter, "What are those pants, I am so borrowing!"

Helen and Jessica set out to transform themselves into lesbians even as they share lipstick tips. And ultimately, even as they forge into the dazzling underbrush of this new territory, they make the same mistakes that plenty of hetero couples make.

There may be some gay and lesbian groups who will object to the movie's sexual politics. (The issue is addressed briefly in a scene where one of Helen's gay friends accuses her of trying lesbianism on as if it were the latest fashion.) But I'd say "Kissing Jessica Stein" is refreshing precisely because it has no sexual politics. Its overriding message is that there's no explaining sexual attraction, and there's no way (or need) to justify who turns us on and why at certain points in our lives.

It also touches on some of the subtler points of attraction: When we fall for someone, how do we ever know how much of our response is cerebral and how much is erotic? In the course of any relationship, the proportions can blend and criss-cross and shift: Who can ever explain how the two can sometimes work together so sublimely, and other times, in the saddest cases, not at all?

Westfeldt and Juergensen keep "Kissing Jessica Stein" bright and funny and loose, and Herman-Wurmfeld moves along with the flow. The picture was shot on location in New York, with a very small budget. Most of the "extras" are real people who just happen to be walking by. Herman-Wurmfeld's camera makes the city feel alive and thriving, as if it were the movie's third major character.

You may think the world doesn't need another movie about single people looking for love. But as long as there are people looking, there ought to be movies like "Kissing Jessica Stein." Even its more stock setups are handled so well that you forget you've seen them before. Instead, you take delight in seeing the old conventions properly staged and polished -- for instance, an early montage of Jessica's bad dates that moves along so swiftly and pleasingly that we're swept along in its current. (The winner in that bad-date contest is the alleged writer who pompously spins out malapropisms, announcing how "self-defecating" he is.)

And then there are moments like the early one in which Jessica, unsure that she wants to "become" a lesbian, looks at Helen, who has dressed up beautifully for one of their dates, and exclaims almost mournfully, "Look at you! Who wouldn't want to have sex with you?" Jessica does and she doesn't, but she just isn't sure, while Helen, patient but hopeful and waiting in the balance, awaits the final decision. They're a match made in heaven, or maybe just the shoe department at Bloomingdales. However it turns out, you can't say they didn't try.

Ryna (2005)

2007-01-29T04:46:00.000-08:00

Ryna (2005) ON DVD

16 year old Ryna is the daughter of a poor Romanian who runs a gas station in a small community in the Danube delta. Ryna has been brought up like a boy because her father had longed for a son. The film is about strong family ties, about a daughter's search for her mother, and about a despotic father slowly losing his grip. But, it is also about poverty, social suppression and the abuse of power by those who rule under the guise of a false freedom. Ryna shows the awakening of a young girl's soul and the pain that goes with it. Caught between traditional values and materialistic dreams, in the end Ryna pays a heavy price in order to preserve her identity.

Summary written by Elena Hazanov

Credited cast:
Doroteea Petre .... Ryna
Valentin Popescu .... Biri
Matthieu Rozé .... George
Nicolae Praida .... Bunicul
Aura Calarasu .... La maman
Theodor Delciu .... Le postier
George Custura .... Le maire
Radu Romaniuc .... Micu
Constantin Ghenescu .... Le docteur Marcu
Dana Talos .... Madame Marcu
George Robu .... Le policier
Oxana Moravec .... L'inspectrice

ME AND MY SISTER

2007-01-29T04:41:00.000-08:00

ME AND MY SISTER DVD

LES SOEURS FACHEES

Martine (played by the irrepressible Isabelle Huppert) lives a comfortable bourgeois existence in Paris - having married 'up' in the world to escape her working class upbringing. She has no interest in her husband Pierre (Francois Berleand) - so long as he pays for the lifestyle. Her younger sister Louise (Catherine Frot), however, never left the provinces, and works as a beautician in Le Mans. Louise has aspirations to become a writer though, and after sending a manuscript to a publisher in Paris, she's soon invited to the city for a Monday appointment. To Martine's exasperated horror, Louise is coming to stay with her for the weekend!

In the presence of guests, Louise's provincial open-ness, quickly becomes an embarrassment for her elegant and uptight sister - who has done her very best to conceal and erase her chequered past. When alone, however, they slowly begin to re-bond. But social catastrophe looms - Martine has invited her snappy friend Sophie (Brigitte Catillon) and her husband over for dinner - and the unwitting Louise, clearly, will be out of her depth...

This stylish comedy from first time writer-director Alexandra Leclere is packed with plenty of verbal fireworks and provides a great platform for the very classy cast. However, this is Huppert's show. Whether venting her spleen at her husband, back-pedalling, or getting gloriously sloshed, Huppert's Martine is all panache.

France - 2004 - Comedy - 93 mins
In French with English subtitles

Director: Alexandra Leclere
Script: Alexandra Leclere
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Frot, Francois Berleand, Brigitte Catillon, Michel Vuillermoz

Girlpay

2007-01-25T03:34:00.000-08:00

GirlPlay
This is one for the girls! Girlplay is the true story of Robin and Lacey, two seemingly different women at different stages of their life, brought together by their love of acting and comedy. Told in a most unique fashion, join the girls as they retell their fears, experiences, joys, and the story of how they got together.

By Natalie Kalow, Regional Manager
Posted Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Brought to you courtesy of FQ Films is a delightful little tale of fate, luck, destiny, whatever you choose to call it. Ideally, I guess you would describe it as a true story about love. The story begins on a stage, which is fitting, seeing as this is a film of a play, of a real life story. Confused? Let me explain. This film oscillates between traditional ‘film scenes’ and scenes from their play onstage, which was subsequently written to tell the story of how they came to be together. One minute the girls will be standing on stage, very calming telling parts of the story, the next we will see them sitting in their apartments, chatting to each other on the phone, or going to lunch with their mother.

Robin had it all, or so it seemed. A loving relationship of 6 years with a woman named Audrey, townhouse, dog, cat, mutual funds, engagement ring etc. And then Robin met Lacey. Lacey and Robin did stand-up comedy at the same club and had become friends. One night a director approaches the girls and asks if they would be in his play. The play would depict the two as lovers. They both agree despite reservations, because they see it as an opportunity to explore their sexuality and challenge their acting skills.

One day during rehearsal, the director gets the two to get to know each other more, in order to portray more convincing characters. Whilst seeing Lacey sharing her life with the director, it becomes obviously to the audience that Robin is starting to fall in love with Lacey. We also get to know Lacey and Robin very well, their thoughts, struggles, past and present. We also see that these two women are very different. Lacey is more promiscuous, whereas Robin is more of a relationship person. We hear about past relationships, and their breakdown.

As the play gets more involved, the two are told to do a promotional photo shoot, topless and in an embrace. The rehearsals afterwards are somewhat awkward, because of the apparent feelings Robin has for Lacey, despite already having a girlfriend. During a passionate scene involving a kiss, the two get a little carried away. From then on, they get closer in their actions off stage, blurring the lines between right and wrong, character and real life.

Eventually the two discuss what has been going on and Robin admits that she’s not happy in her relationship. Despite this, Lacey says she cannot step over the line.

Robin undergoes a personal journey along the way, coming out to her mother and to her surprise, gaining her support in quite a touching end to the scene.

Towards the end, Robin and Lacey explain their own worries regarding their feelings, Robin doesn’t want to give up the past 6 years and Lacey doesn’t do relationships.

In the end, Robin realizes that she has to do what makes her happy, and so she leaves Audrey and confesses her love for Lacey. Lacey, of course reciprocates, and they seemingly live happily ever after!

I guess in hindsight, this story is about relationships, it’s about being happy and it’s about following what feels right.

2007-01-25T02:53:00.000-08:00

GOLDFISH MEMORY (director/writer: Elizabeth Gill; cinematographer: Ken Byrne; editor: Dermot Diskin; music: Richie Buckley; cast: Sean Campion (Tom), Flora Montgomery (Angie), Jean Butler (Renee), Demien McAdam (Conzo), Aisling O'Neill (Helen), Keith McErlean (Red), Stuart Graham (Larry), Justine Mitchell (Kate), Lise Hearns (Rosie), Fiona Glascott (Isolde), Fiona O'Shaughnessy (Clara), Peter Gaynor (David); Runtime: 85; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Breda Walsh; Wolfe; 2003-Ireland)

"It is a vacuous and predictable 'looking for love' story that is surprisingly entertaining due to its fast-pace."

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Writer-director Elizabeth Gill's "Goldfish Memory" is a light-hearted romantic/comedy that looks at the love life of one middle-aged womanizing poetry professor, Tom (Sean Campion), and tells a number of interconnected stories about mostly self-absorbed twentysomethings doing their dating thing in contemporary Dublin. Gill has studied under Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, and Barry Levinson, but you wouldn't know it from this harmless film. It features an attractive ensemble cast and tells a sitcom-like story about exploring the truths of different ways to love: straight, gay and bisexual. It offers a healthy libertine view about diversity in sex, but takes no further chances than leaning on clichés to cover the assortment of singles falling in and out of love without offering anything but weak comedic responses to their realistic love life problems.

Tom's rap to the gullible coeds he hits on starts with him comparing a goldfish's three-second memory to how human love is also that quickly forgotten. When student activist Clara (Fiona O'Shaughnessy) catches her Tom kissing Isolde, a student he woos by having her whisper something German in his ear, she dumps him for a lesbian relationship with local older reporter Angie (Flora Montgomery). But Clara also sours on Angie when she turns out to be a possessive drag (she berates Clara for being bisexual and hanging out with stud Conzo). The now free Isolde who dumped the clinging prof, responds to Clara's aggressive advances and begins a week-at-a-time arrangement. Angie for solace seeks out the warm shoulder of her gay bicycle messenger friend Red (Keith McErlean), which strangely leads them into the bedroom for sex. Red beams because he's happy he just scored straight bartender David, who he unexpectedly met. When Rosie finds out David's gay she goes into a snit and boots him out of her flat, and without thinking things through tries to coerce her new boyfriend Larry into an inconceivable marriage. When Red finds out he's to be a father he's overcome with joy, while Angie tries to figure out how she's to break the news to her new lover Kate. The entire film is made up of a chain reaction of such tenuous romances of every stripe, all who cannot live without love. What love means varies from some wanting marriage to others wanting only a temporary relationship.

It is a vacuous and predictable 'looking for love' story that is surprisingly entertaining due to its fast-pace, colorful photography of Dublin, and cheery manner it skips over all these merry-go-round ride relationships. But none of the stories were memorable or seemed original, and the scene of Tom rushing to tell his new girlfriend Renee before she boards a plane for America that he's ready to commit to marriage was a heavy-handed steal from The Graduate.

REVIEWED ON 11/2/2004 GRADE: C+

Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ

http://www.sover.net/~ozus

Two girls in love

2007-01-25T02:39:00.000-08:00

Two girls in love

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love is a touching and comic story of first love between two girls in their senior year of high school. Randy Dean (Laurel Holloman), a rebellious tomboy who lives with her lesbian aunt and her aunt's lover in a working class neighborhood, falls in love with Evie Roy (Nicole Parker), a smart and beautiful African-American who is one of the most popular girls at their high school. Convinced that something's wrong with her posh Range Rover, Evie meets Randy when she drives into the gas station where Randy has a mind-numbing afterschool job. Intrigued and charmed by each other, the two meet again at school and begin an unlikely romance that sets into motion a series of comic misadventures culminating in a showdown at a motel where family and friends converge to keep the young lovers from running away together.

Matter of fact about its lesbian subject matter yet light-hearted and funny, The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love is a unique portrayal of the universal experience of first love. Although the film's plot may seem an unlikely story for a romantic comedy with commercial aspirations, The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love is both comic and poignant in its dead-on depiction of the almost embarrassingly intense nature of teenage love, making it accessible to a wide range of audiences, including gay and straight.

Maria Maggenti's debut feature film, The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, is produced by Dolly Hall and stars newcomers Laurel Holloman and Nicole Parker. Fine Line Features will release the film in this summer.

About The Production

Maria Maggenti's original script for The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, written in 1993, began with the two protagonists already involved. While the response from those who read it was positive, everyone seemed to want to know how these two girls got together. So she revised the script, beginning the story earlier in their relationship.

Maggenti made the commitment to try and get the film made in the Spring of 1994. She received a loan of $35,000 from an anonymous admirer who had seen her short films and then began looking for a producer who was interested in tackling an offbeat, low-budget project. Through Associate Producer Melissa Painter, she was introduced to Dolly Hall, who had just finished producing Ang Lee's popular success, "The Wedding Banquet." Hall read the script and instantly signed on.

The film was shot during the summer of 1994 in parts of Westchester County, New York, and Newark, New Jersey. Principal photography was completed in an amazing 21 days. Says Maggenti, "We had a young crew, all women, and the energy was really good. Everyone who worked on the film had read the script and wanted to be a part of it. I was working with lesbians, straight women, bisexual women, polysexual women -- all kinds of women together and it was great."

Maggenti says that she wanted to make a film that conveyed the "weird, nervous, thrilling feeling of being seventeen and in love. I am very proud that this is a film about two girls who fall in love with each other. One girl definitely knows she's a dyke and the other girl definitely knows she's in love with her. I think the film deals with teen female sexuality in a frank way and portrays an experience I think everyone can relate to -- being young and in love."

Maggenti came to filmmaking in a roundabout way. After graduation from Smith College, she moved to New York and became very involved in AIDS activism. She recalls, "I was a member of ACT UP from its inception in 1987 and became involved in very guerrilla- oriented, politicized documentaries, trying to get the word out. In 1989, I lost a lot of friends to AIDS and at that time I thought 'what am I going to do with all this emotional experience?' Because I always loved drama and I always loved music and because I had such deep political convictions about the world as it is and as it should be, I thought making movies would be a great way to combine these passions. So I applied to NYU film school and, to my surprise, I got in. I was an aggressive student, trying to understand how to use the medium to translate real life experience into drama. I got older, too, and I got curious about what happens when things aren't always black and white -- that's where the drama comes in."

Although The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love is a film with lesbians in it and made by lesbians, Maggenti is unsure if it should be categorized as a "lesbian film." Says Maggenti, "What is a lesbian film anyway? My film is about first love and how being in love changes everything. It's also a conventional narrative story shot in a relatively conventional way. The content is what's subversive, not the form. This is part of what I think makes it both accessible and pleasurable to people who watch it. They watch it and think, hey, this looks like a 'real movie' and these people could be my suburban neighbors! Yet, this is a picture that comes from someone who knows what she's talking about. I have definitely lived in the whirlwind center of this particular and profound experience. Thank God I'm not 17 anymore!"

Maggenti has two projects she would like to realize in the next few years. One is a serious drama based on a true story set in Chicago in 1969 and the other is an urban comedy about a group of people aged 30 to 50. Says Maggenti, "all of my films will reflect my fascination with women, race, class and sexuality as well as that primal relationship between mothers and daughters, something I think none of us really ever get over.

But I'm a cheerleader

2007-01-21T02:55:00.000-08:00

But I'm a cheerleader from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But I'm a Cheerleader is a 1999 satire film directed by Jamie Babbit about a high school cheerleader, Megan Bloomfield (Natasha Lyonne), who is sent to a reparative therapy camp.

Plot

Megan, a high school cheerleader, is sent to a reparative therapy camp, run by Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty), to become a heterosexual after her friends and family have an "intervention" and tell her she is a lesbian.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

17 year-old Megan is a high school senior who loves cheerleading and is "going steady" with boyfriend Jared. Her family and friends suspect that Megan is in fact a lesbian, and, with the help of "ex-gay" Mike (RuPaul), surprise her with an "intervention". After producing such evidence as her vegetarianism, pictures of girls and a Melissa Etheridge poster, Megan's parents send her to "True Directions", a reparative therapy camp.

At True Directions, Megan meets the founder of True Directions, Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty). Mary tries to make Megan admit she is a homosexual (Step 1). Eventually, Megan breaks down in tears and admits "I'm a homosexual". The other campers are happy and supportive of Megan, the only exception being Graham (Clea DuVall) who seems dubious of the process.

Step 2, "Rediscovering Your Gender Identity", consists of the campers performing various duties which will supposedly help them relearn their masculinity and femininity. Among other things. the boys practise car maintenance and chopping wood, while the girls practise vacuuming and child care.

In order to learn about same sex friendship, Megan ends up partnered with Graham. Although they don't get on at first, they gradually talk more and become friends.

At Family Therapy (Step 3), the young homosexuals and their parents discuss their "root" (the reason they became gay). Megan eventually decides that her root s the period in her life when her father was unemployed and her mother had to financially support the family.

Megan and Graham begin to flirt and Megan finds herself fantasizing about kissing Graham. Soon after, she catches two boys, Dolph (Dante Basco) and Clayton (Kip Pardue), having sex. Megan panics and screams for help, telling Mike what she has seen. Dolph is kicked out of True Directions and Clayton is (literally) in the doghouse for a week.

One night, several campers, including Graham and a reluctant Megan, escape for a night out. Two "ex-ex-gays", Larry (Richard Moll) and Lloyd (Wesley Mann), take them on a trip to a local gay bar. Megan dances with a woman she meets, but when she sees Graham dancing with Sinead (Katharine Towne) she gets jealous and runs out. Graham confronts Megan and they end up kissing.

Mary finds out about the night out, and to distract her, Graham announces that she has a crush on Joel (Joel Michaely). Mary makes them picket Larry and Lloyd's house shouting homophobic abuse.

Megan and Graham have sex and Megan says that she has never felt this happy except when cheering. Graham tells her that she would love to see her cheer.

Mary finds out that Megan and Graham have had sex and Megan is kicked out. She goes to Larry and Lloyd, who let her stay with them. She discovers Dolph is also living there, and he thanks her for saving him from True Directions.

Megan and Dolph decide to rescue Graham and Clayton at True Directions Graduation. Clayton is easily persuaded, but Graham, afraid of being disowned by her parents, refuses to come with Megan. Refusing to give up, Megan puts on her cheerleading outfit and in front of everyone, performs a cheer, telling Graham that she loves her. Graham comes with Megan and they drive off with Dolph and Clayton.

Megan's parents (her mother in disguise) attend a PFLAG meeting to come to terms with their daughter's homosexuality.

Cast

* Natasha Lyonne as Megan Bloomfield
* Clea DuVall as Graham Eaton
* Cathy Moriarty as Mary J. Brown, the founder of "True Directions"
* RuPaul as Mike
* Mink Stole as Nancy Bloomfield, Megan's mother
* Bud Cort as Peter Bloomfield, Megan's father
* Melanie Lynskey as Hilary Vandermuller
* Joel Michaely as Joel Goldberg
* Kip Pardue as Clayton Dunn
* Katharine Towne as Sinead Laren
* Douglas Spain as Andre
* Eddie Cibrian as Rock Brown, Mary Brown's son
* Dante Basco as Dolph
* Katrina Phillips as Jan
* Richard Moll as Larry Morgan-Gordon, "ex-ex-gay"
* Julie Delpy as lipstick lesbian
* Wesley Mann as Lloyd Morgan-Gordon, "ex-ex-gay"
* Brandt Wille as Jared, Megan's boyfriend
* Michelle Williams as Kimberly, Megan's schoolfriend who participates in her intervention

Tipping the Velvet

2007-01-21T02:52:00.000-08:00

Tipping the Velvet

An unusual love story told in three episodes, Tipping the Velvet charts the course of Nan, an inge'nue who discovers a sexually charged world of male impersonators, actors and affluent women looking for female companionship in the usually controlled and corseted 1890s. Ultimately, however, Nan learns that she can only truly depend on herself. Stars Keeley Hawes, Rachel Stirling, John Bowe, Jodhi May, Anna Chancellor and Hugh Bonneville.
Starring: Rachael Stirling, Keeley Hawes ...

Director: Geoffrey Sax
Genre: Drama
Format: Widescreen ...
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Rated NRNot rated. This movie has not been rated by the MPAA.

Saving Face

2007-01-21T02:42:00.000-08:00

Saving Face by TIM KNIGHT

Featuring: Michelle Krusiec - Joan Chen - Lynn Chen - Jin Wang
Special Features: Color, 5.1 Dolby Digital, Closed Captioned
Director: Alice Wu
Writer: Alice Wu
Genre: Comedy; Romantic
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen, 16x9 Anamorphic
Region Code: 1
Rating: R
Languages: English; Dubbed In: French; Subtitled In: English, French
Studio: Columbia TriStar
Street Date: October 18, 2005

A winning, multi-generational romantic comedy set in New York's Chinese-American community, Alice Wu's Saving Face is an engaging charmer. In her filmmaking debut, Wu takes an affectionate yet sharp-eyed look at the romantic trials and tribulations of both a closeted lesbian and her widowed mother. Buoyed by strong performances from stars Joan Chen and Michelle Krusiec, Wu's film may not break any new ground cinematically, but Saving Face is nonetheless a heartfelt and witty film that favorably compares to Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet, even if Wu lacks Lee's subtlety and wraps everything up a little too neatly.

At 28 years old, Wilhemina "Wil" Pang (Krusiec) is well on her way to becoming a top-flight surgeon. Perpetually single, she endures weekly matchmaking attempts by her traditional mother (Chen), who never leaves the close-knit Chinese-American enclave of Flushing, Queens. Despite her protests at being paired with the professionals her beloved Ma deems marriage material, Wil doesn't have the nerve to tell her mother and grandparents that she's a lesbian. Her stern grandfather (Jin Wang) would especially object, since it would reflect poorly on him in the community, where "saving face" is of paramount concern.

Enter Vivian (Lynn Chen), a beautiful and openly gay ballet dancer. Although the mutual attraction is immediate and electric, Wil is skittish around Vivian, whose father is Wil's hospital boss. Gradually, Wil opens up to Vivian, but just as she's starting to feel comfortable with her new girlfriend, Ma shows up on Wil's doorstep--pregnant by a man she won't name. Banished from Queens for shaming the family name, Ma becomes Wil's roommate and full-time cramp on her daughter's secret love life. Under pressure from Vivian to come out, Wil struggles to find the courage. Meanwhile, Ma begins hunting for a husband to redeem herself before the family.

Modest in the best sense of the word, Saving Face both embraces and subverts ethnic cliche's with warmth and wit. Although some of the incidental characters veer into caricature, i.e., the domineering Chinese matrons in Ma's circle, Wu never reduces them to complete cartoons. Nor does she resort to sitcom-level complications or play Wil's relationship with Ma for easy laughs. There's a delicacy and understated pathos to much of Saving Face, which only falters near the end, when Wu goes the conventional route to give the film its requisite happy ending.

On the plus side, Wu has assembled a fine cast, many of whom hail from New York's Chinese-American theater community, for Saving Face. Special mention must be made of Wang and Guang Lan Koh as Wil's doting grandparents. And Krusiec (Cursed) and newcomer Chen are beguiling as the clandestine lovers. But Saving Face is quietly stolen by the luminously beautiful actor/director Joan Chen (The Last Emperor) as Ma. She pulls off Ma's gradual awakening to the world outside Flushing with impressive subtlety.

A hit with audiences at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, Saving Face marks Alice Wu as a filmmaker to watch.

Fingersmith

2007-01-21T02:32:00.000-08:00

Fingersmith

Story: Three-part BBC television adaptation of the novel by Sarah Waters, set in Victorian London. In the dark alleyways and backstreets of the capital, orphan girl Sue Trinder (Sally Hawkins) is raised by Mrs Sucksby (Imelda Staunton) and her family of petty thieves, crooks and con men. Among Mrs Sucksby's crew is a sinister young man, Richard Rivers (Rupert Evans), known as 'the Gentleman', who has come up with a bold scheme to steal an inheritance from a vulnerable and naive young heiress, Maud Lilly (Elaine Cassidy). Arranging for Sue to be employed as a maid in Maud's household, Rivers poses as a suitable gentleman for Maud's hand in marriage. The scheme is derailed however when Sue finds herself falling in love with her. With Maud eventually committed to an asylum as a result of Rivers' devious plan, Sue must turn her back on her adopted criminal family and avoid the wrath of 'the Gentleman' in order to save her.

Cast: Elaine Cassidy, Charles Dance, Richard Durden, Rupert Evans, Sally Hawkins, Susan Hemingway, Nick Lucas, Imelda Staunton, David Troughton

Directed by: Aisling Walsh

Love/Juice

2007-01-21T02:27:00.000-08:00

Love / Juice by Jasper Smarp

23 year-old Kaze Shindo has cinema flowing through her veins. Literally. Her grandfather is none other than scriptwriting stalwart Kaneto Shindo whose own directorial works include such noble efforts as Island (Hadaka no Shima, 1962), Onibaba (1964) and Black Cat (Kuroneko, 1968), still working to this day, and whose five decades within the industry formed the basis of the documentary Oji-Chan (My Grandfather) which Kaze made in 1998 whilst still studying at the Japan Film School.

Covering similar ground to Ryosuke Hashiguchi's Like Grains of Sand (Nagisa no Shindobaddo, 1995), a sympathetic portrayal of an adolescent high school student's emerging homosexual feelings for his best friend, Kaze Shindo's feature debut Love / Juice is a fresh-faced take on the conflicts between friendship and sexual desire.

Two young girls, Kyoko (Okuna) and Chinatsu (Fujimura, recently seen in supporting roles in Misa the Dark Angel / Eko Eko Azaraku III and Moonlight Whispers / Gekko No Sasayaki) co-habit an apartment in modern-day Tokyo. Best friends, they share everything together, including a bed. They cruise the local night-spots for fun, do drugs, and when their financial situation gets too tight they take a job together as Bunny Girls in a male-only bar in order to pay the rent.

However, for Chinatsu the relationship is more than platonic, and jealousy encroaches when her sphinx-like roommate makes a play for a boy working in a local tropical fish shop. Chinatsu tries to divert her attention away by buying her a goldfish which for the rest of the film sits symbolically in a cramped glass bowl in the kitchen. However, Kyoko waves aside Chinatsu's earnest attempts at engaging in any sexual relationship until her repeated rebuttals eventually drive an intractable wedge between them.

In Love / Juice, Chinatsu's own preferences for the same sex are highlighted in the early nightclub scenes, where her attempts at picking up other girls end in bitter disappointment ("Why was I born a girl!", her tearful refrain). Adopting the predatory "male" role, with her fuller face and close-cropped hair, Chinatsu is by turns predatory, sullen and demanding. She carries a camera in which she frequently tries to "capture" Kyoko's image, underscoring the idea that sexual obsession ultimately equates to a yearning for possession (the desire for osmosis and themes of cannibalism are also subtly introduced at the end of the film). The more traditionally feminine Kyoko is teasing and skittish, quite literally impenetrable; an 'obscure object of desire' to paraphrase Bu๑uel, fully content to watch Chinatsu bring herself to orgasm in a scene where she turns the tables on her would-be seductress, whilst at the same time flirting with any boy that wanders into the frame leaving her admirer fuming at the sidelines.

Shindo foregrounds the relationship between the two female protagonists, almost reducing periphery male characters to the level of ciphers. The world focused upon here is purely a girls' one, warm and intimate, and for Chinatsu, uncomfortable with her own role within the wider context of a male-oriented society, any forays outside it prove quite literally fraught with danger.

Conciliation seems impossible as Kyoko remains fully aware of her best friend's desire for her, indeed revels in it, yet perversely flits way from the engagement of a full-blown sexual relationship with showy displays of emotional onanism. The treatment of such themes in Love / Juice could just as well be applied to the power play which exists at the core of any ill-matched relationship, not just a girl-girl one. One party chases, the other is chased; one kicks, the other is kicked.

Though the naturalistic performances coaxed out of the two attractive young leads here may be down to their similarities in age and gender with that of the director (a fact worth stressing, if only because of the fact that their aren't many female director's working in the Japanese film industry at the moment, and certainly not so young), Shindo also displays an innate talent for visual storytelling. Long static tableaux of the girls draped over each other complement the dialogue; the colourful scenes within the tropical fish shop open the film out nicely from the potentially claustrophobic scenes set within the apartment.

Despite the limited funds on which it was obviously made and a slightly unsatisfying ambiguous code, Love / Juice is a fresh and naturalistic piece of female-oriented low-budget realism set against the backdrop of modern day Tokyo, and is an enjoyable and undeniably warm-hearted debut from a director who looks like she has a fascinating career ahead of her.

And the award for the most curious film title of the year goes to...

How can you deny a film about young, hipster, pot-smoking, Tokyo nightclubbing girls who share a flat and end up getting jobs as hostess bar bunnies to pay the rent? Kiyoko and Chinatsu are best friends, they share the same bed in the same tiny flat, they go out partying together, they tease each other like little kids...

Chinatsu is kind of butch, and likes to pick up girls when they go out. Kiyoko knows this, and has no problem, though they've agreed that if Kiyoko can't bring men home to their apartment (like the boy at the fish store she has fallen for), then Chinatsu can't bring women home.

Kiyoko basically teases her friend, sexually toying with her in the name of fun, not realizing how much she is torturing Chinatsu, who has inevitably fallen for her. After Chinatsu gets dumped by a girlfriend, Kiyoko goes so far as to let Chinatsu find comfort in her bed. Their close friendship comes to a crossroads when Chinatsu confesses that she is in love with Kiyoko.

Butterfly

2007-01-21T02:24:00.000-08:00

Butterfly

Director: Yan Yan Mak
Producer: Jacqueline Liu, Yan Yan Mak
Writer: Yan Yan Mak, Chen Xue (original story)

Cast: Josie Ho Chiu-Yi, Tian Yuan, Eric Kot Man-Fai, Isabel Chan Yat-Ning, Joman Chiang Cho-Man, Redbean Lau, Stephanie Che Yuen-Yuen, Pauline Yam Bo-Lam, Kenneth Tsang Kong, Carl Ng Ka-Lung
The Skinny: Well-made and worthy, but also a little off-target. Butterfly is a film with intriguing characters and real-feeling situations, but even with a two hour-plus running time, a lot feels left out. Still, Yan Yan Mak's low-budget indie is refreshing stuff, and the acting (especially from Josie Ho) is exceptionally strong

Review
by Kozo:

The Hong Kong indie scene gets a lift with Butterfly, a well-meaning, well-made, but probably a bit too ambitious independent drama. Josie Ho is Flavia, a seemingly happily-married teacher with a baby daughter and no apparent issues. But that's just on the surface. In actuality, Flavia is a closeted lesbian, and has been since who knows when. Now turning thirty, Flavia has her inner desires reignited when she meets Yip (Tian Yuan), a singer who immediately catches her eye, and perhaps her heart. The two form an immediate bond, and Flavia seemingly yearns to stray from her husband Ming (Eric Kot), but somehow she can't fulfill her own desires. This isn't surprising, since Flavia is trapped - not just within the usual societal mores of sexuality, but also within confines of propriety, commitment, responsibility, and that pesky thing known as history.

Back in the late eighties, Flavia (played as a young girl by Isabel Chan) was involved in a relationship with close friend Jin (Joman Chiang), a human rights activist, and the time the girls spent together was one of unbridled affection and carefree existence. Except, there is no such thing as carefree existence. Outside pressures (family, jealousy, etc.) got in the way of a happily-ever-after for Flavia and Jin, and in the present, Jin has become a nun, while Flavia went on to her loveless marriage to Ming. Now that Yip has entered Flavia's life, a sea change could be in the works. After all these years, it's time for Flavia to confront who she is, and who she wants to be. Like the titular butterfly, Flavia's years of "normal life" are a gestation period, and only with Yip's arrival can Flavia finally break free from her cocoon and spread her wings. But not without breaking a few eggs.

Metaphors aside, Butterfly is a remarkably complex portrait of a single woman, and she's portrayed powerfully by Josie Ho, one of Hong Kong's most gutsy and underappreciated actresses. There's plenty to like in director Yan Yan Mak's independent drama. Aside from the artful style, handheld camerawork, and affecting intimacy, Butterfly posits a portrait of a woman that represents the closeted person within all of us. Flavia's journey is one which asks her to finally take the steps necessary to be true to herself - even if it means challenging society, expectations, or those she loves to get it done. There's a wonderful and completely worthy message in Butterfly, and it's not hidden at all. Rather, it's pushed upon us with an obviousness that's both necessary - by it's very subject matter, Butterfly is obviously about this theme - and a little unfortunate. Because, in being so much about one woman, the connection to the rest of us gets a little lost.

Butterfly is predominantly an internal drama, in that everything is meant to speak to the changes and turmoil happening within Flavia. Josie Ho is remarkable in that she's given precious few speeches to convey her feelings. Instead, it's actions, emotions, and plenty of relevant flashback that's meant to reveal what's going on within her confused, troubled soul. The revelations in the flashbacks are necessary, but a little long-winded. Essentially, we see through the numerous grainy interludes that Flavia and Jin were torn apart by exterior forces, while together they shared a love and intimacy that transcended all. The problem: these scenes are numerous, but the extended time spent there doesn't really reveal that much. Director Mak revisits these scenes time and time again for new snippets of info or revealing dialogue, but the constant timeshifting seems to extend the film more than reveal anything more.
Furthermore, characters in the present are given only truncated life. Eric Kot turns in a surprisingly intense performance as the inherently likable, but still somewhat shrill Ming, who ends up as Collateral Damage Victim #1 in Flavia's quest for personal independence. Eventually, her decisions impact him greatly, and the actor does what he can with his brief scenes. However, it's not enough, and we can only gleam what's happening with him through our own minor deduction. Tian Yuan turns in a magnetic, startlingly charismatic performance as Yip, but her character seems to be more of an enabler for Flavia than a living, breathing human being. Yip is the film's catalyst, but she doesn't seem to be much more than that.

On the other hand, there are numerous scenes which probably could have been trimmed, or even cut. Extended sequences detail Flavia's relationships with her family, particularly her wayward dad (Kenneth Tsang), and her emotionally-troubled mom (Redbean Lau). Her family's hidden, yet still-bubbling turmoil plays a large part in her current issues, and we get that early on. However, thanks to numerous other flashbacks and a few minor scenes, we get more Flavia and family than is probably necessary. This is in addition to the "everyday" shots, e.g. Flavia tending to her child, working, attending family functions, pensively contemplating the world outside her window, etc., etc. All these sequences are appropriate and, thanks to Josie Ho, exceptionally felt, but there are simply far too many of them.
Hong Kong's famed auteur Wong Kar-Wai is famous for shooting miles and miles of film, but few of his movies (2046 being the one major exception) clocks in at over ninety-five minutes. The reason is economy: Wong sifts through tons and tons of dailies to find the story he wants to tell, and tells it. Yan Yan Mak tells a story in Butterfly, but she doesn't economize, leading to a film that's probably longer than it needs to be (Butterfly has a running time of 124 minutes). Butterfly is essentially about Flavia and Flavia only, and too much of that is not necessarily a good thing. Flavia's story is meant to represent us all (at least, that's what the DVD cover copy says), but that's lost beneath the copious Flavia-centric content.
Still, Butterfly is intriguing, worthy stuff that should be seen by anyone who wants more out of Hong Kong Cinema than the latest Twins laffer. It features real-feeling situations, fine acting, and a complexity of emotion and situation that's remarkable. If the above gripes are saying anything it's that Butterfly is perhaps too ambitious; it attempts a universal portrait of Hong Kong people through a laser-tight focus on one woman, and spends so much time there that it becomes a bit too much. That's unfortunate, because Butterfly is revealing, risk-taking, and rewarding. Hopefully Yan Yan Mak will have many more opportunities to tell her stories, because even if Butterfly doesn't exactly soar, it shows that in time Yan Yan Mak may have the means to fly. (Kozo 2005)

Clara's summer

2007-01-21T02:19:00.000-08:00

Clara's summer

Cast: Selma Brook, Stephanie Sokolinski, Salom้e Stevenin, more...
Director: Patrick Grandperret
see all cast/crew...
Studio: Picture This
Genre: Drama, Foreign, France, Gay & Lesbian, Coming of Age , Features
Running Time: 86 min.
Languages: French
Subtitles: English
see additional details...

Synopsis
A week away from home has a profound impact on a young woman in this French drama. Clara (Selma Brook) and Zoe (Stephanie Sokolinski) are two close friends in their early teens who are being sent off to summer camp for a week. Zoe, who is very much aware of her burgeoning sexuality, sees their time away from home as a perfect opportunity to meet boys and lose their virginity, though Clara is a bit more cautious about such matters. Zoe sets her sights on cute Sebastien (Leo Grandperret), but when his lack of maturity angers her, Zoe decides she's through with men, and declares her affection for Clara. Clara isn't sure how she feels about this, but while the next day Zoe is back to flirting with Sebastien, Clara has found herself newly open to the idea of having a relationship with another girl. Clara begins seeking the attentions of Sonia (Salom้e Stevenin), a precocious teenaged bisexual, but when gossip begins to spread about Clara's Sapphic desires, she is torn between her new feelings and fears about her reputation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Lost and Delirious

2007-01-21T02:16:00.000-08:00

Lost and Delirious

I was seemingly the only reviewer in the country who did not like Lea Pool's last film, "Set Me Free," a phony and calculated coming-of-age story that looked as if it were told by someone who had never actually come of age, but had instead been manufactured, like the robot boy in "A.I."

Now the French-Canadian Pool returns with her follow-up, "Lost and Delirious," her first film in English. Within five minutes, I knew this film had been made by the same person responsible for "Set Me Free." A shy young girl named Mary -- and nicknamed Mouse -- (Mischa Barton) arrives at a boarding school, and immediately her roommates launch into that fake expository talk, introducing her to everything in a snide and cynical way. Everything they say is premeditated precisely for the newcomer, even though they would never say any of this stuff in real life. One character even manages to get the title in there within the first five minutes ("Welcome to the club! We're the lost girls... lost and delirious!"). What?

Mouse's new roommates are the defiant Paulie (Piper Perabo) and the attractive, demure Victoria (Jessica Pare), who turn out to be passionate lovers, a fact that Mouse accepts with no trouble. The three girls' relationship struck me in exactly the same way as the characters from the recent "Girl, Interrupted" did, a movie which in itself was not good. Paulie is the Angelina Jolie character, while Mouse represents the Winona Ryder character, and Victoria is merely window dressing.

When a group of other girls discovers Victoria and Paulie in bed together, Victoria withdraws and refuses to acknowledge their relationship. Paulie embarks upon an endless series of scenes in which she enters, does something outrageous or rebellious, and runs away crying. Meanwhile, she finds an injured falcon in the woods and nurses it back to health. She slowly begins to identify with the falcon, and the soundtrack (believe it or not) even gives us a few bird noises when Paulie gets especially agitated.

This marks Perabo's third movie after "Coyote Ugly" and "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" ("Lost and Delirious" fares slightly better than the former, but not as well as the latter), and she's probably going to get high marks for her "surprising" performance here. She goes through the same motions that Jolie did in her Oscar-winning "Girl, Interrupted" performance, but lacks Jolie's edge. Perabo merely comes across as a spoiled ham, and the object of her affection, Victoria, doesn't seem worth the trouble.

Not a single thing anyone says feels true or original. (Perabo continually says things like "rage hard!" in a deadly serious tone, her voice quivering.) "Lost and Delirious" is a movie for spoiled, sheltered 14-year-old girls who have never read a book or seen a movie or a play. Anyone who falls outside this narrow range will immediately recognize this twaddle as fake and derivative. It made me long for the deeply flawed, but far more truthful "crazy/beautiful."

Still, almost every bad movie has a bright side, and here it's Graham Greene as the school's gardener and Keeper of Wisdom (Whoopi Goldberg played this part in "Girl, Interrupted"). Though Greene, best known for "Dances With Wolves," has to choke on the same rotten dialogue as everyone else, he manages a small grin and a waft of humanity. When Paulie and Mouse run through the woods screaming like a falcon, Greene watches them go by, simply shakes his head, and goes back to work. I wish I could have done the same. I'm mad. I want my two hours back.

Make a Wish

2007-01-21T02:12:00.000-08:00

Make a Wish

Skillfully mixing laughs with thrills, this inventive independent horror film follows lesbian Susan as she decides to celebrate her birthday by inviting her former lovers on a camping trip. But when the ladies begin vanishing in the woods, a deadly mystery quickly unfolds. Moynan King, Hollace Starr, Lava Alapai star. 96 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo; audio commentary; interview; theatrical trailer.

About this Movie

Starring: Bobby Breen , Basil Rathbone , Marion Claire , Henry Armetta , more cast
Directed By: Kurt Neumann
Released By: Unknown
Run Time: 80 min.
Genre: Musicals

Description:
A group of women go camping for an annual Birthday party for Susan, who always like to invite her ex-lovers every year to go with her. Each of the women
embodies an aspect of the lesbian community, including one that is no longer gay. In addition to these women, the film includes a hunter representing the worst
aspects of heterosexual manhood, a jealous boyfriend and a detective. As the camping trip continues, the women (and several of the men) begin disappearing one
by one. The film leads to the standard conclusion in the somewhat standard way, with the last few seconds of the film causing the viewer to lose track of the plot entirely.

Qvamp says:

'Make a Wish' is a thriller directed by a lesbian and written for a lesbian audience, and is one of the first in the genre. There are lots of humorous queer 'inside jokes' and it is refreshing to see a cast of mostly queer lead characters in a horror flick. Unfortunately, many of the characters are one-dimensional cliche's.

Monster

2007-01-21T02:09:00.000-08:00

Monster
2003: 1 Oscar: Mejor Actriz (Charlize Theron), 2003: Globo de Oro Mejor Actriz de Drama (Charlize Theron) / Drama. Homosexualidad / Basada en hechos reales, narra la historia de Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron), una prostituta ejecutada en el estado de Florida en el an~o 2002 tras confesarse autora de seis asesinatos, incluido un polici'a. Aileen siempre declaro' que mato' en defensa propia, en respuesta a violentos ataques mientras trabajaba como prostituta. Cerca de la desesperacio'n y del suicidio, Wuornos entra un di'a en un bar de Florida, donde conoce a Selby Wall (Christina Ricci), una joven lesbiana enviada por sus padres a vivir con su ti'a para "curar su homosexualidad". Wuornos, vi'ctima de una tra'gica infancia llena de abusos, ra'pidamente se enamora de Selby, encontrando en ella una razo'n para vivir. Incapaz de encontrar un trabajo digno pero desesperada por mantener su nueva relacio'n, Wuornos continu'a trabajando como prosituta. Cuando uno de sus clientes se vuelve violento, ella le dispara en defensa propia, comenzando asi' una tra'gica cadena de asesinatos. Esta es la historia de una asesina, declarada por los medios de comunicacio'n "la primera mujer serial-killer de Ame'rica", pero tambie'n es la historia de amor entre dos inadaptadas. (FILMAFFINITY)
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"Esta es una de las ma's grandes interpretaciones de la historia del cine" (Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times)
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"Ahi' esta' la Theron, como una fuerza de la naturaleza, convencie'ndonos de que vayamos ma's alla' de lo que se supone un telefilm, para que miremos a Wuornos directamente a los ojos. Su cruda y fascinante interpretacio'n hace de 'Monster' una experiencia que no olvidara's." (Peter Travers: Rolling Stone)
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"Monster no seri'a lo que es, una vigorosa, tremenda historia de muerte y amores a contracorriente, sin la presencia inmensa de Charlize Theron." (M. Torreiro: Diario El Pai's)

Open my heart

2007-01-21T02:06:00.000-08:00

Open my heart
GENRE(S): Drama | Foreign
WRITTEN BY: Giada Colagrande (story)
Francesco Di Pace
DIRECTED BY: Giada Colagrande
RELEASE DATE: DVD: March 22, 2005
Theatrical: December 17, 2004
RUNNING TIME: 93 minutes, Color
ORIGIN: Italy
LANGUAGE(S): Italian (with English subtitles)

Plot Summary: Maria is a prostitute who has a very obsessive relationship with her younger teen-age sister, Caterina. Maria behaves as Caterinas mother, sister and lover and she only lets her out of the
apartment to go to dance classes. Caterina loves Maria. She happily accepts her state of "imprisonment" until the day she falls in love with Giovanni, the caretaker of the dance school. When Maria discovers their affair she develops a homicidal fury.

Hardcore

2007-01-21T02:03:00.000-08:00

Hardcore
wo young girls sell their bodies to buy drugs.
Featuring: Dimitris Liolios - Andreas Marianos - Konstadinos Markoulakis - Ioannis Papazisis
Special Features: Color, Closed Captioned
Director: Dennis Iliadis
Writer: Dennis Iliadis
Genre: Drama
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame
Rating: NOT RATED
Languages: Greek; Subtitled In: English
Studio: Strand
Street Date: August 09, 2005

Plot Outline: Two young girls sell their bodies to buy drugs.

2007-01-21T01:57:00.000-08:00

Technorati Profile

Out of Season

2007-01-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

Out of Season

Review
by Jeffrey M. Anderson

"Out of Season" is a minor film that doesn't seem destined to affect a whole lot of people one way or another. Micki (Carol Monda) is a lesbian drifter who reluctantly comes to a small fishing village to take care of her dying uncle (Dennis Fecteau), but falls in love with a cook at a diner (Joy Kelly). These actors are all interesting to watch and in another universe they would all be big stars. But if this movie didn't have the lesbian angle going for it there wouldn't have been any reason to make it at all. It opens this week at the Lumiere.

ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER

2007-01-19T05:49:00.000-08:00

ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER

SYNOPSIS

Cecilia Roth stars in this celebrated film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. Distraught over the death of her teenage son, Manuela drives to Barcelona to find the boy’s father, an itinerant transsexual named Lola (Toni Canto). While combing the city's less reputable districts, she also meets up with Agrado (Antonia San Juan), a sassy transvestite prostitute, and Rosa (Penélope Cruz), a pregnant nun on her way to El Salvador. She also becomes the manager for Huma (Marisa Paredes), the actress her son idolized, and helps her through a run of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Together these great ladies bond through various heartrending crises, enduring the pain and celebrating the beauty of being women (or almost women). Considered to be one of Almodóvar's most fully realized works, this charming and unique film blends his earlier gender-bending irreverence with the mature grace and compassion of his later work, striking a perfect note of humor and pathos.

MOVIE QUOTES

"They call me La Agrado, because I have always tried to make everyone's life more pleasant. I used to work the streets, on bridges, near the cemetery. Aside from being pleasant I am also very authentic: almond shaped eyes, 80 thousand; silicone in lips, forehead, cheeks, hips and ass, the liter costs sixty thousand pesetas...you add it up because I stopped counting. Tits? Two, I’m no monster. Seventy each, but these have been fully depreciated. It cost me a lot to be authentic, but we must not be cheap in regards to the way we look. Because a woman is more authentic the more she looks like what she has dreamed for herself.--Agrado (Antonia San Juan)

TIDBITS

Spanish director Almodovar's tribute to motherhood deftly bridges the works of Tennessee Williams, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Douglas Sirk, Ranier Werner Fassbinder, and John Waters--creating a tender, intelligent melodrama of thematic depth that evades the pitfalls typically associated with the genre: cloying sentimentality and inanity. Almodovar's staple of eccentric and troubled women (pregnant nuns with HIV, half-transsexuals, aging lesbians, heroin-addicted primadonnas) are all present and possess an eloquence and emotional weight that never falters toward hyperbole or moralistic archetype. Roth delivers an especially strong performance as Manuela, aching with humanity as she grieves the loss of her son and seeks to fill the hole left by his death through her relationships with Rosalita, Agrado and Huma. Leaving the stoney, post-fascist Madrid of his previous films for the vibrant sun-filled promenades and fluid modernist architecture of Barcelona, Almodovar and cinematographer Beato bathe the cast in a Mediterranean glow, offering some relief from the occasionally overbearing emotional demands of the story. Without abandoning the transgressive elements that make his earlier films so enjoyable (WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS; WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN; TIE ME UP, TIE ME DOWN), Almodovar has sharpened the focus of his scripts, raising his craft to new dramatic and emotional heights--making this his most striking, effective film yet.
OTHER NOTES
Filmed on location in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain.

ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER won the 1999 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

The film also won the 1999 New York Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also won that category the same year for the National Board of Review, the British Independent Film Awards, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

The film won the 2000 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also won the Golden Satellite Award for that year in the same category, as well as France's Ceasar Award, the British Academy Award, and the Chicago Film Association Award.

BAD GIRLS:season one

2007-01-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

BAD GIRLS:season one
This popular British TV show is a drama set inside a women's prison, and focuses on the various problems that beset the residents of G-Wing at HMP Larkhall. The show focuses on both the inmates and the staff who keep them there, while also outlining the often frosty relationship that exists between the two groups. Lesbian relationships between many of the women flourish and flounder, while an undercurrent of violence is always bubbling just below the surface. Hugely successful in its native UK, where BAD GIRLS commands a loyal audience, the first season of the show is presented here in its entirety.

Amour de femme

2007-01-17T06:36:00.000-08:00

Amour de femme
Jeanne - a wife, mother, and osteopath - feels desperately lonely and incomplete. In the drudgery of her daily routine, Jeanne feels her youth slipping away. Her husband and son give Jeanne stability and a feeling of connectedness, but she longs for deeper expression and sensuality in her life. Then she meets a

professional dancer, Marie, at a disco party, and cautiously enrolls in Marie's dance class - where passions erupt. Marie, a self-assured, seductive, free spirit, rekindles Jeanne's love for romance, sex, and dance. Marie's wild and spirited nature ignites desires in Jeanne that lead her on an emotionally dangerous journey of self-discovery.

Jeanne's home life is irrevocably disturbed when her husband discovers that his lovely and dutiful wife is finding fulfillment in the arms of an attractive and untamed woman. The very idea of romance and sex with another woman is far from the reality Jeanne knows, and threatens the very fabric of her life. Though family and friends disapprove and ostracized her, Jeanne's attraction for Marie remains fierce.

Marie is unconcerned with societal conventions and dances to the beat of a different drummer. Dance here is a metaphor for the excitement and delight of romantic love and passion. The throbbing intensity of the beat provides a seductive backdrop in this sexy, stormy love story.

Show me love

2007-01-15T02:08:00.000-08:00

Show Me Love

Featuring: Josefin Nyberg - Rebecka Liljeberg - Erica Carlson - Stefan Horberg - Alexandra Dahlstrom - Mathias Rust
Special Features: Color, Dolby Surround, Closed Captioned
Director: Lukas Moodysson
Writer: Lukas Moodysson
Genre: Lesbian; Drama
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen
Rating: NOT RATED
Languages: Swedish; Subtitled In: English
Studio: Strand
Street Date: October 03, 2000

Review

In a small town called Amal, Elin (Alexandra Dahlstrom) and her high school friends are part of the "in-crowd." Elin is the school debutante, she is popular and all the coolest girls want to be her best friend, and she is the rage of all the boys on
campus. Agnes (Rebecca Liljeberg) is not part of the "in-crowd," she is considered an outcast. Young and pretty, but unconcerned of her social status, Agnes is getting ready for a birthday party she doesn't really want that is being planned by her parents.
Nothing much happens in the small town of Amal..until Elin accidentally goes to the wrong party and her life takes a new direction. On a dare, Elin kisses Agnes to see if Agnes really is a "lesbian" and her life is transformed. Elin discovers that she has
been repressing something that was innately there all the time. This is the story of two girls, Elin and Agnes, who fall in love. It is a contemporary tale of longing, the joy and pain of being in love, the

Better than chocolate

2007-01-15T01:55:00.000-08:00

Better Than Chocolate
If only Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) would stop smiling like a politician. She smiles in every scene, and it's more a leer than a smile. She looks like someone who just got laid, hit the lottery, and finished traffic school at the same time. OK, I lied about the last two. It's too bad, too, because she is the lead character in a story that is enjoyable to watch and worth going to see.

Canadian director Anne Wheeler's Better Than Chocolate is a movie for women, about women. Mostly it's about gay young women, but it is also moderately about larger issues, such as liberation and acceptance.

When Lila (Wendy Crewson), Maggie's straight mother, comes to live with Maggie in Vancouver because her marriage has broken up, Maggie tries to hide her sexual relationship with Kim (Christina Cox), her vagabond new lover of several hours. This isn't easy since Maggie makes a whole lot of noise when she and Kim are sharing their intimate sofa behind the curtain - the curtain that Maggie's 17 year old brother Paul, who has come along with Lila, enjoys peeking through.

Maggie works at the Ten Percent Book Store, which has nothing to do with discount literature. As most people who see Better Than Chocolate will already know, 10% is the estimate of how much of the population is gay. As for any of the other 90% who come see this film thinking it's about Willy Wonka, many will be shocked by the steamy female sex. But they'll probably tell all their friends and come back to see it a second time. Speaking of course from a strictly filmic, non-prurient standpoint, both Maggie and Kim are well worth watching when they are tearing up the sheets and the stall in the ladies' room, to say nothing about when they paint each other's naked bodies with soft little brushes, making special red swirls around their...you know.

The title Better Than Chocolate refers not to sex but to love, which Lila is convinced she will never find again now that her husband has admitted he's been screwing his partner's wife for more than a year. Since love is doubtful and sex seems out of of the question, Lila has turned to chocolate. Then one night she drops her candy under her bed and while searching for it discovers the box of sexual enhancers Maggie has hidden there. Something old, something new, something borrowed and something latex. A few hours and one battery change later she has left her chocolate on the night stand for good.

This is a feel-good film. Judy (Peter Outerbridge), cabaret singer and transgender friend in the mode of The World According To Garp's Roberta Muldoon (John Lithgow), is excellent. The song she sings: Don't F___ With My Tender, Cross-Gender Heart, is hysterical. Maggie's manic smiling is tough to watch, and her attraction to butch Kim, who walks like Gary Cooper, is hard to explain, but it works. Perhaps it's that Kim never smiles. No, it must be the sex.

The ending is very Hollywood. Gay girl gets gay girl, gay girl gets transgendered girl, straight girl gets vibrator, bi girl gets Maggie's brother, Paul. Troubles are patched up, happiness arrives, and the vehicle seems to have been...not chocolate, and not love either. Sex, which makes the world go around, has led to acceptance. Friend Carla says it best (when she's doing it in an open mall with jubilant Paul): "Do you like boys?" he asks her. She replies: "Hard centers, soft centers, I like all the chocolates in the box." This is a wonderful message. It makes us all feel good. Maybe that's really what Maggie is smiling about.

The monkey mask

2007-01-14T02:51:00.000-08:00

The monkey mask

Cast: Susie Porter, Kelly McGillis, Marton Csokas, more...
Director: Samantha Lang
see all cast/crew...
Rating:
Studio: Strand Home Video
Genre: Foreign, Gay & Lesbian, Features, Australia & New Zealand
Running Time: 91 min.
Languages: English
see additional details..

A female detective discovers the dark side of the world of contemporary literature in this unusual thriller from Australia. Mickey (Abbie Cornish) is a brash young female poet who is gaining a potent reputation for her powerful verse about love and sex. When she
suddenly disappears, private detective Jill Fitzpatrick (Susie Porter) is hired to help find her. Jill doesn't know much about poetry, so she starts her investigation by tracking down Mickey's teacher and mentor, Diana (Kelly McGillis), to learn more about Mickey and
the circles in which she traveled. Jill is a lesbian, and quickly finds herself strongly attracted to Diana; though Diana is married to Nick (Marton Csokas), she finds herself equally infatuated with Jill, and the two are soon having an affair. When Mickey is found
murdered, her parents ask Jill to step up the investigation, and Jill digs deeper into the facts of Mickey's life -- learning the young woman was willing to sleep with nearly anyone who could advance her career. She also discovers that the two older male poets with
whom Mickey had become involved are not at all eager to answer questions about her disappearance. The Monkey's Mask is based on a mystery novel written in verse form by Dorothy Porter; the novel became an international bestseller and the biggest-selling book of poetry published in Australia since World War II . ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Treading Water

2007-01-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

TREADING WATER

Director: Lauren Himmel

This abysmal lesbian romance is another one of those earnest amateur piffles that gain praise at Gay & Lesbian Film Festivals especially if the director shows up for some back-pats & high-fivin' moments, but which comes off as an autobiographical fiction by someone who never had anything interesting happen in their lives that would justify making the rest of us watch.
The main message is "families are dysfunctional" but beyond that there's not much of a story & even the message gets lost in the greater reality "these people can't act." Well, Anette Miller as the mother can act, but she's way too horrible a person to save this turkey.
Casey & Alex (Angie Redman & Nina Landey) live on grounded boat & Casey is a longshore worker. Treading Water tries to insult some adulthood into all the whining with some softcore scenes awkwardly inserted at intervals. The actors playing Casey & Alex seem awfully uncomfortable doing nudity at all, let alone with each other.

Alex seems to have no relatives in town & has made the gosh awful choice of living in screaming distance of Casey's family. Casey loves her messed up family a whole lot, though nothing about them is loveable, & she seems almost eager to sacrifice her partner's wellbeing in order to cater to her mother's emotional landscape & cruelty.

Since mom refuses to let Alex anywhere near the house, Casey goes to holiday events leaving Casey out, making Casey one of the most spaz partners anyone gay or straight could ever have. And she's not charming enough or intelligent enough to be easily forgiven for being such a crappy-ass lover.

Alex knows Casey is loonytunes when it comes to her family so she manages not to mention that in her capacity as a drug counsellor, one of the clients the court has appointed to her is Casey's baby brother, who has always been the black sheep of the family, at least up until the time Casey revealed she was a dyke.

Mom the totally creepy bitch with no saving grace is the sort of person who can say no one loves their children more than she loves hers, as she sabotages their lives then blames them for not making her happier.

Dad (Richard Snee) might have been more a more understanding sod if he weren't a spineless worm (perhaps that's where Casey got her lack of gumption). He never talks about anything real with anyone but only tells bad jokes to keep from coping with life.

We learn there were originally three rather than two brothers, but one of them, Derek, drowned five years earlier, & in between vicious behavior against Casey for being queer, mom & the family have never really dealt with this shared loss.

Nothing is ever really worked out between Alex & Casey, it's almost all about Casey's disruptive family who'll certainly never change. Casey does go home to the boat now & then for sex. Which if you ask me, won't be enough to keep those two together much longer.

If any of that sounds like it could be interesting, then go for it, as it's at least better than some afternoon soap opera.

High Art

2007-01-13T02:58:00.000-08:00

HIGH ART

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Cast: Ally Sheedy, Radha Mitchell, Patricia Clarkson, Gabriel Mann, Bill Sage, David Thornton, Anh Duong, Tammy Grimes
(Universal, 1998) Rated: R

The Chick with the Leak

When she returns home from work at the photography journal Frame, Syd (Radha Mitchell) sits on the toilet, her gaze drifting toward the
ceiling. Conversing between rooms with boyfriend James (Gabriel Mann), she agrees to a martini. The scene cuts to her in the bath, as her gaze returns
to the ceiling, except now it's because of a leak. It's too late to call the super, and too expensive to get a plumber.

Syd decides to investigate. Upstairs, she asks, "Are you running a bath?" No, says Lucy (Ally Sheedy), "Are you?" Already, there's electricity sparking in High Art. And already, it's clear that first time director Lisa
Cholodenko -- who wrote the script while a grad student at Columbia University -- will be emphasizing water (baths, leaks, pipes), as it connects to queer notions of "fluidity."

In this upstairs apartment, Syd is introduced to Lucy's tired glamour and drug-fucked world. Greta (Patricia Clarkson), a former Fassbinder actress, is central to this milieu ("I'm Greta," she introduces herself, "I live for
Lucy"). When Syd turns up at Lucy's a second time, Greta refers to her dismissively as "the chick with the leak." Syd is partly drawn to Lucy because she was once a famous photographer, a situation that allows Syd
room to flex her art theory vocab and namedrop Barthes and Derrida. "I haven't been deconstructed in a long time," says Lucy. The reason being: her art long ago lost out to a heroin habit that has become occupational. Lucy's uninspired recent work consists of Greta shot underwater (more "fluid" imagery) and snaps of Lucy's anti-Greta mom (Tammy Grimes).

Taken by still photographer JoJo Whilden, Lucy's images show a documentary realism similar to Nan Goldin's work. In her commentary (the only feature on the DVD), Cholodenko says that audiences and critics felt
High Art was riffing too heavily on Goldin's life and work. Cholodenko doesn't entirely deny the parallel; in fact, she points out that, among other notable artists like Jack Pierson and David Wojnarowicz, Goldin "donated" one of the art images adorning the walls of the Frame office

Frequent references to the contemporary New York art world suggest that it's comprised of competing and often intersecting forces: a slick, corporate system is pitted against underground, romanticized drug
cultures. When Syd pitches Lucy's work to Frame, the editors jump at the chance to revive her career by offering her the cover. As executive editor Dominique (Anh Duong) puts it to Lucy, "You have a cultural currency we'd like to explore with you." The artist mocks such language and attitude. Reluctantly, she takes the assignment, but only if Syd is her editor.

Sealing their working relationship with a long overdue first kiss, Lucy and Syd are interrupted by Greta's overdose, in the same bath that had leaked into Syd's apartment. (Along with the underwater photos, Greta's
near-death experience cements Cholodenko's reference to Greta as a "washed up actress.") Syd resuscitates her, her first kiss with Lucy ironically sealed by Greta's rescue operation. Syd returns to her downstairs apartment drenched, and James suspects Lucy made her wet. Indeed, as
the film was shot during a New York heat wave, Cholodenko notes that the sweat frequently visible on Sheedy and Mitchell is real. Where other lesbian-themed films might ride the sweat-stained clich้ for all it's worth, Cholodenko instead shows restraint, offsetting Lucy's world-weary, sexually fluent "top" to Syd's straight nervousness.

High Art's murky, sweat-stained atmosphere is most authentic during the frequently claustrophobic drug binges in Lucy's apartment. During these scenes, Tami Reiker's cinematography blurs edges, moves slowly, and
heightens color. Bytes of loopy, "improvised" conversation share audibility with Shudder to Think's brilliantly minimal electro-trance score. Along with the stoned performances -- of which Clarkson's tragicomic Greta is a
highlight -- the cinematography and music simulate what Cholodenko calls "a heroinized affect." (During her commentary, she frequently uses the words "affect," "affecting," and "affected").

Most "affecting" is the way High Art still holds up as the most accomplished queer film made in the late '90s. Considering the early part of the decade saw an independent wave of New Queer films that was barely
sustained later, I would argue that High Art was the last sophisticated indie queer film, and certainly superior to Cholodenko's uneven studio follow-up, Laurel Canyon (2002). Queer quality aside, Cholodenko must also be commended for casting Aussie Radha Mitchell in her first international role, and for staging Ally Sheedy's comeback, however brief it turned out to be.

Gia

2007-01-13T00:28:00.000-08:00

Gia

Angelina Jolie gained wide recognition (and a Golden Globe award) for her role as the titular Gia, and it's easy to see why. Jolie is fierce in her portrayal -- filling the part with nerve, charm, and desperation -- and her role in this film is quite possibly the most beautiful train wreck ever filmed.

Gia chronicles the real-life rise and fall of Gia Marie Carangi, a top model in the late '70s and early '80s. At a time when models were thin and blond, Gia quickly becomes a sensation with her dark, sultry looks and predilection for nude photo shoots. She begins a tumultuous relationship with Linda, a makeup artist with a live-in boyfriend; tries to reconcile with her mother (who abandoned Gia as a child); and later turns to cocaine and heroin to deal with the highs and lows of modeling. Her dependence is no secret, and she nearly loses her career when she begins to nod off in heroin-induced hazes at runway shows and photo shoots.

After declaring herself indigent and going through detox, Gia still does not feel well. A trip to the hospital reveals that she has AIDS (she was one of the first women to be documented with the virus), and she dies soon after, at the age of 26.

Director Michael Christofer deftly constructs an absorbing cautionary tale with Gia. Christofer captures the beauty and glamour of the high life, but is just as explicit with the horrors of addiction, withdrawal, and the ensuing chaos. For all her recklessness and bravado, Gia was just a young woman looking for love.

DVD Details
Gia has minimal extras. Cast and crew bios and a photo gallery of stills from the movie are all that supplement the film. Apparently, only the R-rated version is available on DVD (it's surprising that the option to view the unrated version wasn't included). Additionally, the DVD is sorely lacking in any sort of substantial extras -- a commentary with Christofer and/or Jolie would have been worthwhile and, since the film is based on a true story, some additional information on the source subject (such as the TV interview Gia gave, claiming to be drug-free when in reality she was shooting up only minutes before) seems to be in order.

Gia is shown in a full-screen 4:3 aspect ratio with English audio in Dolby Surround or Spanish in mono. Subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish. The picture is beautiful, but the sound seems to waver between barely audible speaking parts and a booming soundtrack.

Bound

2007-01-12T22:48:00.000-08:00

Bound

Cast: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, more...
see all cast/crew...
Rating:
Studio: Republic Pictures
Genre: Gay & Lesbian, Neo Noir, Crime, Neo Noir, Features, Erotica
Running Time: 109 min.
Languages: English, French
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Plot

Corky is a lesbian Ex convict who is working in a building as a plumber. Until she meets Violet, the sexy mistress of mafia gangster Caesar who both live next door.
Both Corky and Violet have a love affair and Violet encourages Corky to help her steal 2 million dollars from Caesar who is holding the money is custody, and
torturing and killing a man who stole the money from Ceaser's employer Mob boss Gino who will pick up the money himself, and set up Caesar to take the fall. Setting
their plan in motion, the two lesbian lovers find their plan is about to go wrong, when Gino unexpectedly goes missing and Mickey, one of the gangsters is assigned to find him.

My summer of love

2007-01-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

My Summer of Love (2004)

Starring: Nathalie Press, Emily Blunt Director: Pawel Pawlikowski Rating R

Plot Synopsis: A tale of obsession and deception, and the struggle for love and faith in a world where both seem impossible. The film charts the emotional and physical hothouse effects that bloom one summer for two young
women: Mona, behind a spiky exterior, hides an untapped intelligence and a yearning for something beyond the emptiness of her daily life; Tamsin is well-educated, spoiled and cynical. Complete opposites, each is wary of the
other's differences when they first meet, but this coolness soon melts into mutual fascination, amusement and attraction. Adding volatility is Mona's older brother Phil, who has renounced his criminal past for religious fervor
which he tries to impose upon his sister. Mona, however, is experiencing her own rapture. "We must never be parted," Tamsin intones to Mona but can Mona completely trust her?

The girl

2007-01-12T22:24:00.000-08:00

The girl

Cast: Agathe DeLa Boulaye, Claire Keim, Cyril Lecomte, Sandra N'Kake, Ronald Guttman
Director: Sande Zeig

REVIEW
A sophisticated, lust-loving lesbian film that depends very heavily on an immense sense of style and is a tad weak in the plot department. Sande Zeig's existential, film noir love
story is unlike just about any other lesbian feature film ever made before. Set in a timeless, strangely quiet Paris of cool tones and understated jazzy tunes, the story revolves
around an artist (and narrator) (Agathe de la Boulaye), who spends her time strolling along the Seine, slapping color on canvas and lounging in clubs. One night she becomes smitten by the nightclub's new singer, who is simply named the Girl (Claire Keim), and they begin a lusty affair.

Moody, manic and talkative, the Girl insists that each rendezvous in her hotel will be their last, while a boyfriend, the Man (Cyril Lecomte), casts a ominous shadow over their
trysts. The artist, however, is undeterred by these threats and even has her own main squeeze to lean on, the liberated Bu Save (Sandra N'Kake). Intrigued by, but not jealous of, her
girlfriend's new affair, Bu Save quips "Violent pleasures lead to violent ends;" a foreshadow it proves to be when the Girl goes completely bipolar, the Man's thug posse joins the party, and weapons enter the picture. The Girl is stylized with a capital "S," and mood, eroticism and intimacy envelop the film.

The truth about Jane

2007-01-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

The truth about Jane

The truth about The Truth About Jane (2000) is that it's a pretty good movie. Alternately cheesy, angsty, humorous, and occasionally melodramatic, it has all the hallmarks of a classic coming-out narrative combined with excellent acting

The movie, which is directed by Lee Rose and originally aired on the Lifetime network in 2000, tells the coming-out story of 16-year-old Jane (played by
Ellen Muth), the daughter of Janice (played by Stockard Channing) and Robert (James Naughton). The film works overtime to present her as An Average
American Teen who has friends, a good relationship with her parents, and does well in school. Still, she feels different from her friends, but can't put
her finger on it. When her friends tease her about the new boy in school being interested in Jane, she asks herself "Why wasn't I like my friends? Why couldn't I just like a boy named Ned?"

Then she meets Taylor (played by Alicia Lagano), who is very comfortable with being gay (although it's never clear whether she's bisexual or a lesbian).
The two girls get into a relationship, and Jane struggles to make sense of the implications even as she is deliriously happy with Taylor. She keeps the
revelation from her parents, but her brother sees Jane and Taylor kissing one day, and rumors start to spread. Finally, all hell breaks loose when Jane's parents get an anonymous phone call telling them their daughter is a lesbian.

The first half of the film is Jane's story, but the second half is really about Janice and her issues with Jane's sexual orientation. This shift signifies the overall message of the film--that Janice is the one with the problem, not Jane. It's homophobia, not homosexuality, that is bad.

Other characters who figure into the story include Ms. Wolcott, Jane's lesbian teacher who helps her realize that being gay is okay (played by The O.C.'s Kelly Rowan, who also plays a big homophobe in the Showtime movie A Girl
Thing, also directed by Lee Rose), and RuPaul as Jimmy, Janice's long-time black gay friend. Ned, the new boy in school, is interested in Jane and remains friends with her throughout the harassment by her classmates (Ned
is played by Noah Fleiss, who also appears in the gay-themed movies Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her and The Laramie Project).

The film is careful to counter the stereotype that lesbians hate men, and portrays men in a fairly positive light. Ms. Wolcott's response to Jane's question about when she first knew she was gay was "It's not that I didn't
like men, but just felt connected to women in a different kind of way, a way I'd never felt with a man." Ned is one of the only kids who stands by Jane after she comes out, saying "I'm still your friend, no matter who you sleep
with." When he defends Jane one day from taunting classmates, Jane says in a voice-over "At that moment, if I were straight, I'd marry Ned."

Jane's dad is presented as the more enlightened of the two parents; although he also doesn't want his daughter to be gay, he continually admonishes his wife that they "can't just pretend this is happening" and that they have to help Jane through this.

The movie also tries really hard to drive home the point that homosexuality is not a choice, emphasizing repeatedly that Jane was predestined to be gay, as in this voice-over by Jane: "I was gay, with or without Taylor. I knew it deep down for a long time. But what my mother didn't know was I was exactly who I was supposed to be, whether she liked it or not."

Although most of the film is serious, there are some humorous moments, like when Jane's dad takes her to a soccer game and she says "Dad, don't think I
all of a sudden like sports because I'm gay" or when Jane catches Janice smiling at her and Ned, and Jane teases her "Don't even think about it, mom!"

Perhaps the most powerful point in the film is when some of Jane's classmates call her names in front of her mother, and when Janice looks horrified, Jane asks her scornfully "Why do you care what they say? You're just like them." This is meant to drive home the film's message that parental intolerance is equivalent to overt homophobia.

A second runner up for best moment is when Jane's brother calls her a dyke at dinner one night, and she leaps across the table and starts beating on him.

The Truth About Jane does have an afterschool-special feel to it at times, most noticeably in Jane's extensive support system and the movie's too-neat wrap-up. Few gay teens have either an out-and-proud family friend like RuPaul's character in whom to confide, or a lesbian teacher like Ms. Wolcott willing to risk her career to provide her with support--let alone both. And the ending is not only cheesy but extremely unrealistic.

But it's a sign of progress when we can criticize a movie about a lesbian teenager for being too gay-friendly and supportive. Everyone likes to make fun of the Lifetime woman-in-peril movies (myself included), but there's no getting around the fact that no other network on broadcast or cable television so far has made a film about a lesbian teenager.

At the end of the day, if the question is whether this movie will help gay teenagers--and some parents of gay teenagers--the answer is a resounding "yes." The fact that it's entertaining, as well, is just an added bonus.

D.E.B.S

2007-01-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

D.E.B.S. (2004) (Special Edition) - DVD

USA. 2004.
Director/Screenplay - Angela Robinson, Producers - Jasmine Kosovic & Andrea Sperling, Photography - M. David Mullen, Music - Steven M. Stern, Music Supervisor - Howard Paar, Visual Effects Supervisors - David Tecson & Mark Thompson, Visual Effects - Edgeworx, Special Effects Supervisor - Mike Tristano, Production Design - Chris Anthony Miller. Production Company - Screen Gems.
Cast:
Sara Foster (Amy Bradshaw), Jordana Brewster (Lucy Diamond), Meagan Good (Max Brewer), Jill Ritchie (Janet), Devon Aoki (Dominique), Jimmi Simpson (Scud), Holland Taylor (Mrs Peatree), Michael Clarke Duncan (Mr Phipps), Geoff Stults (Bobby), Jessica Cauffiel (Ninotchka Kaprova)

Plot: The D.E.B.S are a crack troupe of high school girls who have been recruited via a secret test embedded in the SAT scores and operate as secret agents. Amy Bradshaw is part of a four-girl D.E.B.S team that is assigned to spy on villainness Lucy Diamond as Lucy meets with Russian
assassin Ninotchka Kaprova in a restaurant (on what is really a date between the two). But the undercover operation goes wrong and the D.E.B.S. are spotted. While pursuing Lucy, Amy bumps into her. At the same time as she is trying to arrest her, Amy effusively expresses admiration for
Lucy, having written an essay about her. Lucy makes an escape but is captivated by Amy. And so she breaks into D.E.B.S. headquarters to abduct Amy to go on a date. Amy is drawn to Lucy and almost lets Lucy kiss her. Back at Hq, Amy keeps the date a secret only to be appointed the squad's team leader because of her encounter with Lucy. But then Lucy conducts a bank robbery, which is really a set-up for her to abduct Amy. Sequestered at Lucy's lair, the two fall in love. But the other D.E.B.S. mount a countrywide hunt for Amy and break in to find the two of them in bed together. Amy is regarded as an embarrassment but agrees to renew her loyalty to D.E.B.S. However Lucy still pines for Amy and tries to redeem herself to get back together with her.

In many ways D.E.B.S. could be construed as another film that joins the fad for spy movie spoofs that began with Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery (1997) and passed through the likes of Spy Kids (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), Agent Cody Banks (2003), Johnny English (2003) et al. D.E.B.S. is somewhat different to these though. For one, rather than drawing from the James Bond series and spoofing its conventions, it is a witty skewering of Charlie's Angels (1976-81). D.E.B.S. also resembles the first Austin Powers in a number of ways that the numerous Austin Powers sequels and copycats do not - that is to say, rather than merely spoof the conventions of the original, it sharply deconstructs them. Austin Powers' cleverness was to show up the swinging playboy spy image of the James Bond films by contrasting it to the 1990s post-feminist, sexual responsibility generation; while D.E.B.S.' cuteness of concept is to play all the girls-kicking-ass action as a suppressed lesbian romance.

D.E.B.S. found quite a degree of success by playing at various gay and lesbian film festivals around the world, although is really a film that has a much wider appeal than this niche market. (Part of the problem with selling the film was apparently its distributors scratching their heads over what niche to pitch it to). It's an extremely funny film, in fact far more so than any other film to come out of the whole Austin Powers spy spoof fad. The moves are wittily parodistic - the girls charge into action wearing school uniforms with skirts that are so short as to almost prove indecent, while wielding absurdly augmented guns that are nearly as big as they are. Director Angela Robinson spoofs all the Bond gadgetry - Jordana Brewster's break-in to the D.E.B.S. headquarters, where she is seen cutting through the forecefield with a glasscutter, skipping across the laser grid on a lawn like it was hopscotch squares and scaling a wall using sucker tips that make cute little plink noises, is hilarious. Robinson spoofs the action moves, although for all that she seems almost entirely disinterested in actually directing any action scenes. Rather she has much more fun subverting all the poses. A covert meeting at a restaurant between two lethal women turns out to really be a date - "So you're an assassin ? What's that like ?" - while a John Woo-styled Mexican standoff between Sara Foster and Jordana Brewster turns into an hilarious scene of mutual attraction. Robinson has a near perfect touch with deadpan comedy and in being able to throw all sorts of wittily deadpan off-the-cuff gags - be it turning the four D.E.B.S. sitting on a perch covertly surveilling the restaurant into almost a piece of minimalist theatre where the distances moved apart signify what is going on, to hilarious little throwaway gags about Lucy's Target sweater and jewelled handcuff presents. One of the funniest parts of the film is the montage of scenes as Lucy tries to go straight.

Robinson has chosen an extremely good cast of unknowns. In the central role is Sara Foster, who has to be one of the tallest lead actresses that I've ever seen in a film (and with the mini-skirt she is outfitted in, she comes across as looking 3/4 legs). Foster is one of the understated strengths of the film, playing the absurdities with a remarkable seriousness and complete straight face. Jordana Brewster quite sparkles in a role that has clearly been modelled on Demi Moore in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003). Be it playing out a truly amazing scene of eye flirtation upon first meeting Foster or cheerfully bursting into D.E.B.S. Hq to ask for a date, Brewster has a charmingly twinkly flirtatiousness to her performance that steals a large part of the film. Equally good is Meagan Good who plays her part with considerable sass and forthright strength. The scene stealer of the show though proves to be Devon Aoki - who subsequently appeared in Sin City (2005) - who plays the entire role in deadpan sour-face, managing to break the audience into hysterics every time she lights up yet another of her cigarettes.

Robinson had earlier made the film as an 11-minute short D.E.B.S. (2003), which also featured Jill Ritchie. The short essentially played as a promo for a mythical tv series a la Charlie's Angels. She was granted a modest B-budget to expand the idea to a feature film. After making such a wittily subversive gay film, Robinson was then chosen by Disney to direct the big-budget family film Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), although that lacked any of the scintillating that this film has.

(Winner in this site's Top 10 Films of 2004 list. Nominee for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress (Jordana Brewster and Sara Foster) at this site's Best of 2004 Awards).

When night is falling

2007-01-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

When night is falling

Running Time: 1 hr. 36 min.
MPAA Rating: R
Distributors:
October Films
Production Co.:
Crucial Pictures Inc
U.S. Box Office: $786,019
Filming Locations:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Review

Melodramatic lesbian love triangle from Canada. A repressed Christian college lecturer's world is turned upside down after she spends the night with a passing circus performer

Rozema's witty Taking its title from Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, Rozema's fantastical tale of sexual and emotional awakening is confused, heavy-handed and packed with over-obvious symbolism.

Camille (Bussie'res) lectures in mythology at Toronto University. She's stuck in a safe but unexciting relationship with theologian Martin (Czerny), then the death of her dog prompts Camille to reconsider her feelings for her partner. Grieving in the launderette, she gets herself picked up by exotic lesbian juggler Petra (Crawford) and is entranced by life at the circus.

A heavy reliance on blatant imagery - swimming underwater, hang-gliding, the death and resurrection of Camille's dog - rapidly saps the film of any charm. Characters are sketchy, motivation is obscure and while the circus performers are nimble, the dialogue is distressingly lame. Bussiere's gamely does her best but the extraordinary gaps in plot and logic make it difficult to sustain much interest.

November moon

2007-01-12T05:58:00.000-08:00

November moon

1985-France/West Germany-War Romance/Gay & Lesbian Films

PLOT DESCRIPTION

Homosexual love among the ravages of war would be more convincing in this tale of a lesbian relationship if the war itself were more than just a vague backdrop to the story. November Messing (Gabriele Osburg) is a young

Jewish woman forced to flee the growing Nazi menace in Germany in 1933. She finds a safe haven with a family in Paris, but then both the young man in the family and his sister, develop a romantic attachment to November. The relationship between November and the sister wins out, and although

November is Jewish, there is no regard for the Gestapo who take over the city or the panic that forces many to leave Paris as soon as possible -- the Jewish woman and her lesbian relationship are oddly isolated. This split with reality influences other aspects of the film and may raise the objections of some

Fish and Elephant

2007-01-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

Fish and Elephant

China, 2001

director & writer: Li Yu
cinematography: Fei Xiaoping
editor: Jiang Jianwei
design: Wang Nan
music: He Wei
producers: Lao Ge, Cheng Yong, Li Yu
production co.: Cheng Yong Productions

cast:

Pan Yi ... Xiaoqun
Shitou ... Xiaoling
Zhang Qianqian ... Juanjuan
Zhang Jilian ... Xiaoqun's mot

p review

It's always interesting to welcome a "first" in Chinese cinema, and Fish and Elephant 's publicity material trumpets it as the first lesbian-themed mainland film. Novice director Li Yu has delivered an engaging film that successfully takes up the challenge, in a thoughtful, often humorous way, even if it doesn't transcend its trail-blazing agenda.

Li Yu is a twenty nine year old filmmaker who was famous as a TV host in China, before making her first film, the independent documentary Sisters, in 1999. Fish and Elephant is her first feature film. It is an "underground" film, which is to say neither its script nor its print was submitted to the Film Bureau for approval. Which is not surprising, given its subject matter. Filmed on 16mm, and cast entirely with non-professional actors, it managed, like most recent independent and unauthorized mainland films, to stay "under the radar" during shooting. An unfortunate mishap caused the print to temporarily disappear (it was dispatched from the Venice Film Festival to the very officials at home who would not have been thrilled with its unauthorized appearance in Italy), so the 2001 Vancouver Film Festival audience could only watch a videotape. By May 2002, though, a print seems to have found its way back into circulation, and it was shown at the Inside Out Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival.

Xiaoqun and Xiaoling are two single Beijing women: Xiaoqun, approaching thirty, is the elephant keeper at the Beijing Zoo, and keeps a tank of fish in her small apartment (hence the two animals in the title). Her mother is constantly trying to set her up with a string of more or less eligible men: the resulting parade of desultory "dates" makes for some of the film's funniest moments. Not just funny: some of these men were actually recruited by fake personal ads placed by the director. Their partially improvised conversations with Xiaoqun take unexpected turns when she chooses to reveal to them that she doesn't like men. And their reactions, which seem completely unrehearsed, are both funny and telling: they just don't get it, and seem consistently to struggle against accepting the meaning that Xiaoqun's words clearly contain. Xiaoling sells clothing she makes from a stall in an indoor market, or rather sits listlessly ignoring customers, fixing her nails, in between avoiding her ex boyfriend. We see the two women meet, Xiaoqun takes the initiative, and soon they are sharing Xiaoqun's apartment and bed.

Li Yu's style can be a bit rough and ready: some scenes are carefully composed, and use the almost square 16 mm format effectively. In these, Li favours long takes and an economically motionless camera. Other scenes, though, seem a bit awkwardly framed and imprecisely cut, as if the director hadn't completely worked out her visual design. But there are advantages to this shoot-as-you-go style, too, not the least of which is a real sense of documentary realism, of a straightforward, unmanipulated honesty that serves its subject particularly well. In fact, the film does contain more than a seed of documentary. Li Yu explained that she found it difficult to find professional actresses for the two leads, given the lingering sense of taboo that still extends to portrayals of lesbians in mainland Chinese cinema. She eventually found Pan Yi and Shitou (who play respectively Xiaoqun and Xiaoling) in a Beijing club frequented by lesbians. Though neither had acting experience, the director inspired performances from them that were both completely engaging and frankly courageous.

Does the "first lesbian mainland Chinese film" necessarily constitute the beginning of a genre, or a movement? Fish and Elephant does not seem interested in assuming these sorts of burdens: it opens a door, treats its subject with sensitivity, a graceful, intimate, good humoured honesty, and a lack of pretension. Its flaws are those, entirely forgivable, of a first film, of a novice director who really wants to try to cram all of her ideas into one work. A last act swing towards melodramatic gunplay is jarring in tone, and Li Yu just can't quite pull it off, within the clearly marked constraints of the domestic dramatic comedy that she's established. Fortunately, after this excursion, the film smartly rights itself with a wonderfully ambivalent coda, offering what looks like comedy's traditional closure, while hesitating to tie up every loose end. A final scene replays a visual trope that's been threaded throughout the film: the camera looks at the action from a position at a slight distance, on the outside, through a screen. Perhaps this is Li Yu's way of representing her own, and much of the audience's position with respect to the film's subject. It's a perfectly poised distance that she establishes, one that ironizes without alienating, observes without fetishizing.

The bitter tears of petra von kant (1972)

2007-01-12T04:53:00.000-08:00

THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT(1972)
Director: Rainer Werner FassbinderGenre: DramaStudio: Wellspring Media Inc.Rating: Not RatedTheatrical Release:DVD Release:Date Added: 5/8/2003 2:29:00 PMVideodetective ID: 474203
Synopsis
THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT is a scathing chamber piece that could have only sprung from the mind of German cinema's enfant terrible, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Based on a play by the maniacally prolific writer-director, the film is a hyper-contained tale of obsession and deception. Margit Carstensen plays the titular character, an emotionally unstable fashion designer who becomes obsessed with one of her models, the gorgeous Karin (Hanna Schygulla). What at first appears to be an open and shut case of the powerful dominating the powerless becomes something much more complex as the film builds to its shocking third-act climax.
One of Fassbinder's most widely recognized films, THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT features deeply affecting performances from regular contributors Carstensen (MOTHER KUSTERS GOES TO HEAVEN) and Schygulla (THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN). In adapting his own play for the screen, the devious rebel once again employs his contradictory style, which juxtaposes intense, almost unbearably intimate drama with melodramatic, campy flourishes. The result is an uncomfortable viewing experience, to be sure, but one that tests the boundaries of drama in a way few films ever have.