In My Old Lady (Cohen Media Group), 58 year old, thrice-divorced, recovering addict Matthias aka Jim (Kevin Kline) spends his last cent to get to Paris under the mistaken impression that he has inherited an apartment, with a garden, in the Marais from his late father. His plan to sell the flat at a considerable profit and get back on his feet goes up in smoke when he meets 92 year old Mathilde (Maggie Smith), who resides in the apartment with her unmarried daughter Chloe (Kristin Scott Thomas).
It appears that Matthias's philandering father, who bought the unit 43 years earlier, did it through a distinctly French system for buying and selling apartments. In other words, as retired English teacher (who can't stop correcting people) Mathilde, who has no interest in subtlety, informs Matthias, what he has inherited is a 2400 Euro a month debt.
All of this sounds like a relatively theatrical comedic setup (the film was originally a stage play). There are some borderline farcical moments early on, but as the story develops, the characters' cruelty to each other is pure theatrical tragedy. With so much at stake, things descend into darkness quickly.
Trapped in a hopeless situation, Matthias begins peeling back the layers to reveal the dark underbelly. Mathilde carried on a lengthy extramarital affair with Matthias' father. Chloe, like mother like daughter, is having an affair with a married man. Matthias falls hard off the wagon, making his life and the lives of those around him, a misery.
When Matthias say he was "born with a silver knife" in his back, you know he's not fooling. In addition to infidelity, suicide features prominently, and there is more than a hint of incest in the story, written and directed by playwright Israel Horovitz (father of Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz). Smith is as riveting as ever, but it's hard to buy Thomas as dowdy. As for Kline, he's a good actor, but not talented enough to pull off 58 at 67. [In theaters on Sept. 19.]
REEL ADVICE
Reeling reels on, My Old Lady does too
Fri. September 19, 2014 12:00 AM
by Gregg Shapiro
Fully Reeling:
Sept. 18, 2014, 7:30 p.m., Music Box Theater: There is much to admire about straight writer/director Eric Schaeffer's new film Boy Meets Girl. First, the film's lead character, pre-op transgender female Ricky, is portrayed by transgender actress Michelle Hendley, making her film debut. As if that wasn't enough, Schaeffer gets one of the most riveting and unforgettable performances out of Hendley, making it a debut with promise and resonance.
Ricky, "born in the wrong body and the wrong town," lives at home in Kentucky with her father and younger brother Sam, while she takes hormones and waits to find out if she's been accepted to the Fashion Institute in New York. She's an aspiring fashion designer and a waitress at a coffeehouse. Her best friend, straight Robby (Michael Welch), has been her champion and defender since they were kids.
Everything in Ricky's world is upended when local rich girl (and politician's daughter) Francesca (Alexandra Turshen) comes in for a beverage. The two young women strike up a fast friendship, leading to Ricky telling Francesca about herself by text – while Francesca is sitting right next to her! It's that kind of intimate detail that separates Boy Meets Girl from the pack.
Boy Meets Girl also turns the traditional romance suggested by the title on its pierced ear. Francesca, who claims to be saving herself for marriage, is engaged to U.S. Marine David (the stunning Michael Galante). However, David and Ricky have enough of a secret history that it infuriates David when he finds out that Felicia and Ricky are socializing. Meanwhile, Ricky and Felicia's relationship is quickly moving beyond the friend stage. This is sure to confuse more than a few people, but it's handled carefully and tastefully, and makes sense in context. Through it all, Robby stands by Ricky, who must also come to terms with his own feelings for Ricky. Smart, sensitive and enlightening on many fronts, audiences from all walks of life would be wise to get acquainted with this film.
Sept. 19, 2014, 7:00 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: At 25, with films such as Laurence Anyways, Heartbeats and I Killed My Mother, to his credit, gay Canadian filmmaker/actor Xavier Dolan, doesn't seem to be able to do anything wrong. His newest movie, Tom at the Farm, an old-fashioned, erotically charged psychological thriller, shows that Dolan is as adept at creating spine-tingling chills as he is at sensitively portraying the story of a transgender person's journey.
Taking the lead again (as he did in Heartbeats and I Killed My Mother), Dolan plays the titular character, an urban young man who works as an editor at an ad agency in Montreal, heading to the country for his closeted boyfriend Guillaume's funeral. He is welcomed to Guillaume's childhood home by Agathe (Lise Roy), Guillaume's mother. However, that night, while he is asleep, he gets a different kind of welcome from Francis (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), his boyfriend's hot, redneck, cokehead, homophobic, sociopath older brother. Francis basically threatens Tom's life if he tells Agathe that they were a couple.
Pretty soon, Francis is harassing Tom on a regular basis, beginning with in the men's room at the church where Guillaume's funeral is being held. When Tom threatens to tell Agathe the truth, Francis brutally assaults him. Before he realizes it, Tom is being drawn into the warped web of the Longchamp farm. The homoerotic tension between Tom and Francis increases exponentially. In fact, Tom and Francis' tango scene is not to be missed. The fact remains, however, that Tom is trapped and his descent into madness looks like it will be swift.
In what appears to be a moment of clarity, Tom calls Sarah (Evelyne Brochu), a co-worker of his and Guillaume's, who is the subject of a fabricated romance to keep Agathe in the dark about her son's homosexuality. But her arrival at the farm sours quickly and when Tom finally gets a glimpse into the Longchamp family legend courtesy of a bartender, he realizes there is only one thing left to do. Suspenseful and sexually simmering, unnerving and unforgettable, Tom at the Farm is another well-deserved feather in Dolan's cap. In French with subtitles.
Sept. 19, 2014, 7:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Directed by Andrew Putschoegl, BFFs could have descended into "gay as punchline" territory. However, the performances of the lead actresses (and screenwriters) Andrea Grano and Tara Karsian save it from being offensive.
Best friends Kat (Karsian) and Sam (Grano) have a history of unsatisfactory relationships with men. "Closed off" Kat sabotages hers while "attention whore" Sam resists settling down with just one man. Not only are both women aware of their shortcomings, but so are their friends and family. That's why Kat's mother Joan (Pat Carroll) gives her a "Closer to Closeness Weekend" couples retreat gift certificate for her birthday. Joan hopes Kat can patch things up with her ex-boyfriend Ray.
Of course, Kat has no interest in getting back together with Ray or attending the weekend getaway. Nevertheless, once Kat and Sam check out the brochure and see the possibilities for a few days of escape from their dreary situations, they decide to attend as a "lesbian couple."
Once there, they meet Jacqueline (Sigrid Thornton) and Bob (Patrick O'Connor), the couple who run the couples' haven, along with participants Suzie (Jenny O'Hara) and Ken (Richard Moll), Scott (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) and Chloe (Larisa Oleynik), David (Dan Gauthier) and Rebecca (Molly Hagan), and gay couple Jonah (Russell Sams) and JK (Sean Maher), all of whom have their reasons for participating. Following the intro session and dinner, there is a rap session where Rebecca and David have such a nasty fight that they decide to leave.
The remaining sessions, including one regarding trust, another involving communicating like animals, sharing without editing and a sexual personality workshop. It's no surprise then that even though they aren't taking it all that seriously, such intimacy leads the BFFs to question if they feel something for each other, and if so, how it will affect their friendship. All of this occurs even before the first kiss.
The humor, which occasionally borders on TV sitcom, is often worthy of laughing out loud. All of this is to the credit of Karsian and Grano who have a knack for making us laugh at them and ourselves at the same time.
Sept. 19, 2014, 9:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: First the bad news: The Foxy Merkins, the second full-length feature by queer filmmaker Madeleine Olnek suffers from the same thing that weighed down her mostly funny feature length debut Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same. Once you get to the initial punchline that is the basis for the movie, it simply goes on much too long.
Now the good news! The Foxy Merkins is a major improvement over its predecessor. Also an homage, albeit one to classic male hustler flicks such as Midnight Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho), it's much more fun, entertaining and kooky in the way that parodies tend to be. Lead actress Lisa Haas (also the lead in Codependent Lesbian... ) now has an increased, confident screen presence. As inexperienced plus-size lesbian hooker Margaret, she is taken under the wing of streetwise "straight" lesbian hooker Jo (Jackie Monahan, who gives off a low-rent Idina Menzel vibe – that's meant to be a compliment!).
The two navigate awkward sleeping situations (the women's bathroom at Port Authority), staking out territory (outside of Talbott's is a surprisingly prime spot), negotiating compensation (Talbott's gift cards won't do), dealing with dicey clientele (mostly Republican, suburban and Right Wing Christian women) and pushy merkin dealers (played with easy sleasze by Girls' Alex Karpovsky), as well as the fuzz (Margaret is regularly harassed by hotel security – which turns out to be a regular John's – or should that be Jane's? – fetish).
Some of the gags go on way too long, become uncomfortable, and lose their comedic impact. All in all though, The Foxy Merkins is a laugh-out-loud comedy that would also work as a drinking game. A person could get wasted naming all the movies it references.
Sept. 20, 2014, 4:45 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: The dance in the title of the film adaptation of Don Scime's stage play The David Dance (Brave Lad), has more than one meaning. Literally, it comes from the time that David's (playwright Scime who also plays the lead role) thrice-divorced older sister Kate (Antoinette LaVecchia), arranged for a perfect stranger, Chris (the incredible Guy Adkins), to dance with her gay brother at her third wedding. More memorable to Chris and Kate, this introduction plays an important role later in the movie when David and Chris meet again under different circumstances.
The other dancing that David does is more along the lines of the kind of thing someone who isn't comfortable with social interaction might do. For David, it's easy to do, because not only is he a librarian with limited public contact, but he's also a DJ on a gay radio show in Buffalo, New York. Safely hidden away in the stacks or in his booth, he can be anyone he wants to be and he chooses to be Danger Dave on air. This persona allows him to laugh, make jokes, sing, and even challenge a fanatical and hateful Christian talk show host named June (Jordan Baker) to a debate
But all the dancing really does is get in the way of his personal life, including a potential relationship with Chris (who is very into him) or becoming a father-figure to the daughter that single mother Kate plans to adopt from Brazil. As film adaptations of plays go, The David Dance feels stagey, in spite of the fact that the movie has multiple locations, ranging from Buffalo to Brazil. Part of it is the dialogue feels too theatrical. Here's the unexpected surprise. The late Adkins, who passed away in 2010 at 41, pretty much steals every scene in which he appears. His Chris is the opposite of David, at ease in his skin and immediately likeable. It's Adkins' nuanced performance that saves the movie and makes it worth seeing.
Sept. 20, 2014, 5:00 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Beginning with the 911 call in 2007 that sent police officers to Manhattan's West Village to investigate a violent altercation between seven young lesbians and one homophobic man on the street, Blair Doroshwalther's doc Out In The Night, follows the impact of that fateful night on four of the women. Out In The Night is especially powerful in light of the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri.
The trial by media – including incriminating and untrue headlines and labels, such as "killer lesbians" and "lesbian wolf pack," as well as the misuse of the word "gang" – helped to seal the fate of defendants Venice (pronounced like Denise), Renata, Terrain and Patreese. The four close friends from New Jersey, along with three other women, never thought they'd have a problem being queer in NYC. But everything changed when they were verbally, and then physically, assailed by a man sitting on a fire hydrant in front of the IFC Center cinema.
The man, who refused to be interviewed for the doc, is represented onscreen by the voice of an actor reading his trial testimony. The four women, speaking for themselves, tell of his threats of sexual violence, leading to a defensive exchange of words, followed by the man spitting and throwing a cigarette at them. The physical fight that ensued led to the man being stabbed and the arrest of the girls, and their subsequent detention at Rikers Island and later incarceration at Albion State, following the trial and sentencing.
As heartbreaking as it is hard to watch, Out In The Night not only makes a powerful statement about the miscarriage of justice regarding the trial (the judge also refused to be interviewed for the film), it also presents a portrait of supportive and loving family units. All four women now out of state custody, are forever changed by the experience, and audience members will probably also feel changed by watching this compelling doc.
Sept. 20, 2014, 7:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Lesbians longing for a 21st century Claire of the Moon need look no further than Marina Rice Bader's noxious Anatomy of a Love Seen (Soul Kiss). From the effed-up play on words of the title to the insipid dialogue and plot, it's hard not to think – "Please let this be an elaborate hoax" – while watching this lascivious lesbian loathe story.
Actresses Zoe (Sharon Hinnendael) and Mal (Jill Evyn) have endured immeasurable pain and suffering while filming a love story as Ellie and Jordan for director Kara (Bader). Over the course of making the movie, they fell in and out of love, threatening the entire production. Kara gets the ex-lovebirds to return to the set on the pretense of finishing filming a crucial love scene.
The combination of the woo-woo prayers of Kara's new-age zombie assistant Anne (Constance Brenneman), the actor-speak, the tears and hyperventilating, and the rote recovery recitations, this Love not only dare not utter its name, it doesn't deserve to be Seen. Consider this review an open letter to director Marina Rice Bader to simply say, we already have one Nicole Conn, we don't need another. Please! Stop! Immediately!
Sept. 20, 2014, 7:30 p.m., Chicago Filmmakers: Eric Cassacio nails the various and vain moods of the egotistical gay man in his short film Narcissist. Rob (Brionne Davis), who dyes his chest hair and goes by "Hot Doc" on Grindr, ought to consider getting some help. He calls it quits with nice guy Evan (Hunter Lee Hughes), who lives in a house he inherited from his grandmother. The break-up takes Evan, whose house is filled with framed photos of the seemingly happy couple, completely by surprise.
Meanwhile, Rob, who has a stack of photos of him posing with various guys in the same location, has moved on to young Jon (Jonathan Looper). However, by the time their one year anniversary rolls around, Rob is already bored. When Jon leaves him, giving the "Hot Doc" a taste of his own medicine, Rob tries to get back with Evan. But the bitterest pill is yet to be swallowed.
Sept. 20, 2014, 9:30 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Writer/director J.C. Calciano's movies, including Is It Just Me? and eCupid, usually look great and have a cast of attractive male actors. His latest, 10 Year Plan (Cinema 175), is no exception. Calciano's previous films also tended to sacrifice substance for surface, and that's where 10 Year Plan differs from the rest.
Faithful (almost to a fault) to the rom-com formula (see My Best Friend's Wedding), 10 Year Plan operates on the premise of the pact made by gay best friends Myles (Jack Turner) and Brody (Michael Adam Hamilton) while in their mid-20s. Essentially, a contract is written up on a bar napkin that states if neither is in a committed relationship by their mid-30s, they will become a couple.
Of course, they couldn't be more unalike if they tried. Big shot attorney Myles is an old-fashioned, gun-jumping romantic who has a habit of regularly scaring off potential suitors. All he wants is someone to settle down with – forever. Commitment-phobic police officer Brody lives in borderline squalor and is a popular confirmed bachelor on social media hook-up sites.
Realizing that nine years, 10 months and 29 days have passed since they struck their deal, Brody has to act fast to find a suitable mate for his BF. When Myles ends up meeting a guy named Hunter (Adam Bucci) online, Brody is unexpectedly jealous. Things get even more complicated when Brody discovers that Hunter isn't being especially faithful to the smitten Myles. Then it's only a matter of time until we reach the sweet, but predictable, finale.
If all of this sounds too familiar, it's because we've heard and seen it before, including the sex-crazed co-workers, in this case portrayed by Teri Reeves (Diane) and Moronai Kanekoa (Richard). What makes 10 Year Plan different, as it follows the fellows from flip-phones to iPhones, is that the writing and acting are a considerable improvement over previous Calciano efforts.
Sept. 21, 2014, 1:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Ethan Reid's reverent doc Peter de Rome – Grandfather of Gay Porn (Marvy Movies), about late gay porn pioneer Peter de Rome (who died in June 2014), is as erotic as it is enlightening. Combining groovy vintage footage, both personal and professional, the doc pays homage to one of the most significant figures in the history of late 20th century pornography.
At the time the doc was made, de Rome lived so quietly in Sandwich, county of Kent, in England, that his neighbors don't know anything about his private, or public, life. This in spite of de Rome displaying his gold, winged penis-shaped 2012 Erotic Film Awards trophy in his window. In other words, he looks like a perfect English gentleman on the outside, who is perfectly at home discussing cock.
More ambitious than the average porn filmmaker, he had a way of bringing the viewer in to his fantasy world. According to de Rome, anything that caught his eye went into his movies. During his happy childhood in Ramsgate, including summers at a beach chalet, he enjoyed his first sexual adventure at age 11 with Barry, a friend of his older brother. Soon de Rome began pursuing male classmates, including Porky who would go on to become a good friend until his death in 1945.
His love affair with the movies began sooner, at age five. After he finished school he got his first job as publicist for the British film industry, but left "dull" England for NYC in 1956. While working at Tiffany, de Rome explored his attraction to men of color by getting into "mischief" in the men's room of the Apollo Theater.
Essentially a "one-man band," he began making short movies – Double Exposure, the atmospheric Butch Easter, The Fire Island Kids, Encounter, Underground, and the Wet Dream Film Festival award-winning Hot Pants. As the doc points out, de Rome was filming and having gay sex at a time when it was illegal to do both. With an award to his name, suddenly he was a filmmaker and famous people, including David Hockney, Derek Jarman and William S. Burroughs, among others, wanted to see Peter's films.
The film also highlights de Rome meeting Jack Deveau impresario (Hand In Hand Films), Jack becoming Peter's producer and the showing of The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome playing in a mainstream movie theater in NYC, as well as leading to the production of full-length feature films such as Adam & Yves and the gay horror pic The Destroying Angel. The fact that de Rome was not only rediscovered at nearly 90 years of age, but was also honored by the British Film Institute makes this doc even more special.
Doc interview subjects include writer Rupert Smith, BFI's Brian Robinson, filmmaker Topher Campbell, filmmaker Wakefield Poole, film critic John Russell Taylor, Hand In Hand Films' editor Bob Alvarez and retired porn actor Jake Genesis. Also fascinating are Peter's connections to Greta Garbo, John Gielgud, Andy Warhol, Madeline Sherwood (The Flying Nun) and present-day pornographer Kristen Bjorn.
Sept. 21, 2014, 3:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Alex & Ali, straight filmmaker Malachi Leopold's tribute to his gay uncle Alex and the hardship he endured attempting to reunite with his Iranian lover Ali is as devastating as you might expect. The men, who met in late 1960s Iran when Alex was a young American Peace Corps volunteer and Ali was a young "determined, dedicated athlete," maintained a correspondence for more than 20 years, although they haven't seen each other since 1977, when they were separated in the early years of the revolution in Iran.
Alex, HIV+ since 1986, describes Ali as his soulmate. An openly gay man for much of his life, Alex is as sensitive as possible to Ali's situation. Being gay in Iran is practically a death sentence. Still, the men agree to meet for the first time in more than 30 years in Turkey, a country known for offering refuge for LGBT exiles.
Sadly, their May 2012 reunion in Istanbul is tainted by the fact that authorities in Iran confiscated incriminating photos and documents (including an application for asylum) from Ali as he was boarding the plane. With a month to resolve the situation before Ali must return home, he has decisions to make, including whether or not he will declare his homosexuality, to set the wheels in motion for his exit from Iran. Naturally, this casts a pall over everything impacting the men's interaction. Alex & Ali has all the elements of a suspenseful thriller, made even more difficult to observe due to the true components of the story.
Sept. 21, 2014, 3:30 p.m., Gateway: In Dutch with subtitles, Boys (M-Appeal) aka Jungens is an insightful exploration of the first blush of young gay love. Teen track team mates Sieger (Gijs Blom) and Marc (Ko Zandvliet) have an immediate attraction as they train for a relay meet with fellow runners Step (Stijn Taverne) and Tom (Myron Wouts). A visit to a swimming hole cements things when the two kiss. Of course, Sieger tells Marc he's not gay, in spite of not hesitating to kiss Marc back.
The boys' home lives couldn't be more different. Sieger and his older brother Eddy (Jonas Smulders), a former track star turned motorcycle-riding hoodlum, live with their widowed father. Eddy insists on riding a motorcycle, even though his father disapproves since the boys' mother was killed in, you guessed it, a motorcycle accident. Marc, on the other hand, is an adoring older brother to his kid sister, and has a good relationship with his folks.
As Sieger and Marc's relationship develops, and they can barely keep their hands off of each other, complications arise. There is Sieger's possible interest in Jessica (Lotte Razoux Schultz), for example, and his obvious confusion about his feelings for Marc. However, a victory at an important track meet is just the thing Sieger needs to face his demons.
Sept. 21, 2014, 7:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Non-traditional doc Age of Consent (Bangor Films), co-directed by Charles Lum and Todd Verow, combines the history of notorious London men-only gay fetish bar The Hoist with the fight for and evolution of gay rights in the U.K. What makes the doc so unconventional is the level of graphic sexual activity depicted throughout, even used as background footage for discussions of politics and other serious subjects.
In the opening Hoist half, we meet "Uncut" Kurt Striegler, one of the owners of The Hoist, which opened in 1996, who gives us a detailed guided tour of the club, complete with quotable lines about amusing toilet graffiti and his intolerance for anything "domestic" in his club. Along the way we encounter various patrons, some of whom know it's not polite to talk with your mouth full; get a feel for the club's "rough, industrial, dank smell," and meet the staff; learn about the cleaning and maintenance of slings; and watch as Kurt obsessively straightens the lights in the club before it opens. Co-founder John Grimshaw and co-owner Guy Irwin also put in their two cents (or should that be pence?).
Then, following an interview with human rights campaigner and LGBT activist Peter Tatchell, Age of Consent, shifts its focus, becoming a political doc about the modern struggle for gay rights and the impact of AIDS on the gay community in London. The interview with Dr. Joseph Sonnabend is particularly fascinating. But don't get too comfortable, because the doc shifts gears again, returning to the Hoist and covering issues such as the impacts of the Internet, gentrification and the trans community on the bar. Whew!
Sept. 21, 2014, 9:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Crazy Bitches (Film McQueen) is a twisted slasher comedy with an unexpected ending twist from director/actress Jane Clark (Meth Head). Sorority sisters prissy and pearled Taylor (Samantha Colburn), predatory lesbian Cassie (Cathy DeBuono), smug and smart Princess (Mary Jane Wells), terminally ill Dorri (Nayo Wallace), cheated on Alice (Victoria Profeta), woo-woo woozy Minnie (Liz McGeever), gay guy pal BJ (Andy Gala) and Alice's nasty sister Belinda, gather for a weekend at the Benton Estate, site of a grisly murder a few years earlier and said to be haunted by the souls of the seven girls killed there.
Combining elements of revenge killing for past hurts, ghost stories, as well as references to classic horror, and a healthy dose of pansexual humping, Crazy Bitches gets most of it right. It keeps us guessing as each of the characters begins dropping in ways specific to their personality. Fashion obsessed Belinda gets a stiletto heel to the eye, Taylor chokes on her pearls, hair hung-up Princess is scalped, skin color conscious BJ discovers too late that there is acid in one of his cream tubes, and so on. Be sure to pay close attention to the sub-story involving Alice's philandering husband Eddie (David Fumero). Crazy Bitches refreshes a genre that was getting tired and tiresome.
Sept. 22, 2014, 9:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Wade Gasque's beautifully rendered Tiger Orange, a story of gay brothers Chet (Mark Strano, who also co-wrote screenplay with Gasque) and Todd (Frankie Valenti aka porn-star Johnny Hazzard) who different paths in life, like Ken Roht's Perfect Cowboy, has the ability to restore a person's faith in the lost art of gay indie American filmmaking. While it has enough similarities to Thomas Bezucha's 2000 masterpiece Big Eden to qualify as an homage, Tiger Orange is original and entertaining enough to stand on its own.
Set in a rural California town, just north of Los Angeles, Tiger Orange (whose title comes from a paint color sold at the hardware store inherited by Chet after his father died) utilizes flashbacks to illustrate the ways the brothers differed as children. Abandoned by their mother when they were small and raised by their perpetually raging father, Chet and Todd are as different as brothers can be. Chet stayed behind after college to help his father with the store, while Todd got the hell out of town as fast as he could.
Chet, who lives alone in the cabin where he took care of his father until his death, has his safe and stable existence rocked by a pair of events. First, Brandon (Gregory Marcel), an old high school crush who has since come out as gay, returns to town to take care of his ailing mother. Second, tattooed and pierced Todd, who has basically been run out of L.A. following a series of unfavorable events, also returns to town, and wants to stay at the cabin with Chet.
As you might imagine, the set-up is rife with conflict. But what gives Tiger Orange its roar is the way that the astute and sensitive screenplay handles an array of situations, including the way gay people are able to coexist peacefully with straight folks in a suburban setting, as well as the portrayal of the complex sibling relationship that arises when both brothers are gay. Strano and Marcel are quite good, but it's Valenti, who like fellow porn actor Sean Lockhart (aka Brent Corrigan), proves there's more to him than what we've already seen.
Sept. 23, 2014, 7:00 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Gay, Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox (Yossi & Jagger, The Bubble) ventures into Almodovar's arena with the colorful, sugar-coated coated comedy Cupcakes (Strand). On the night of the UniverSong competition, a group of friends and neighbors – gay schoolteacher Ofer (Ofer Schechter), lesbian singer/songwriter Efrat (Efrat Dor), assistant to the Minister of Culture Dana (Dana Ivgy), blogger Keren (Keren Berger), former beauty queen Yael (Yael Bar-Zohar) and baker Anat (Anat Waxman) – gather together to watch the event on TV. That night, they also end up writing a song together which unexpectedly launches them into the running to represent Israel in the following year's UniverSong competition.
Looking for dramatic tension to balance the camp and comedy? Ofer's in a relationship with closeted Assif (Alon Levi), the spokesperson for his family's successful hummus biz. Socially awkward Keren's life revolves around her laptop. Anat's marriage is on the rocks. Dana, who has always followed her father's orders, is itching for a change. Efrat is growing weary of playing her music to small coffeehouse crowds. Yael's in a dead-end relationship with an offensive and sexist lawyer (Lior Ashkenazi). With their chance to make it big right before them, the sextet is determined not to let anything get in their way and get to Paris to compete.
Fox proves himself to be as adept at comedy as he is at drama. Cupcakes also features tunes by Scissor Sisters' Babydaddy (aka Scott Hoffman). Don't be surprised if you walk out singing. In Hebrew with subtitles.
Sept. 23, 2014, 9:00 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Farcical musical Waiting in the Wings: The Musical (JJ Spotlight/Nandar Entertainamen), is an old-fashioned throwback all gayed up for the 21st century, and better than you might think it would be. This is especially true since this is one of those cases where the screenwriter, Jeffrey A. Johns, is also the lead actor. There are also enough breathtaking bodies, cleverly written musical routines, cameos and brief star appearances, to make this mix-up mash-up entertaining.
Anthony Richardson (Johns) lives in Montana with his conservative boyfriend Trevor (Matt Wool) and sings (and grabs the spotlight) in the church choir under the direction of the handsome priest (Christopher Atkins). Anthony dreams of making it big on Broadway. With the help of Trevor and pal Ethel (Lee Meriwether!) he submits a video to an online Broadway musical competition and is selected to participate.
Across the country in New York, dancing stud Tony Richardson (Adam Huss) also enters an online competition, produced by the same production team behind the Broadway musical, to become a professional male stripper. Like Anthony, Tony, who is roommates with his social worker brother Aaron (Arie Gonzalez), is also selected to participate. However, when bumbling producer Bob (Mitch Poulos) drops the files containing all of the applicants' headshots and resumes, can you guess which ones go into the wrong files?
After that it's a series of song and dance numbers, madcap situations, opportunities to rise to the occasion, and finding love when and where you least expect it. Sally Struthers and Shirley Jones camp it up as a sperm bank receptionist and Broadway diva, respectively. Blake Peyrot, who plays Anthony's potential new love interest Lee, doesn't spend enough time shirtless on screen.
Sept. 24, 2014, 7:00 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Recently out actor Ben Wishaw plays Richard, widower of Kai (Andrew Leung), in queer writer/director Hong Khaou's feature-length debut Lilting (Strand). Together four years, Richard loses his boyfriend when Kai is struck by a car on the way to catch a bus to visit his stubborn and unassimilated mother Junn (Pei pei Cheng) in the sheltered home where she resides in London.
A complex portrait of difficult relationships on par with Ira Sachs' Love Is Strange, Lilting depicts the challenges, linguistic and cultural, that arise when loss clouds everyone's perspective. Both Richard and Junn are struggling in their own ways, which are more similar than they realize. Jealous of her son's relationship with Richard, the level of which she supposedly doesn't fully grasp, Junn, who doesn't speak English, is miserable in her living situation. This is the case, despite of being the object of fellow resident Alan's (Peter Bowles) affection.
In the meantime, Richard is coming to terms with living alone in the home that he shared with Kai. Making an effort to reach out to Junn, he visits her, even going so far as to hire a translator, Vann (Naomi Christie), to help with the language barrier. But it is what is unspoken – Richard's relationship with Kai – that is the greatest obstacle. Unbeknownst to each other, it is their memories of Kai, seen in flashback, that truly bind Richard and Junn.
The performances in Lilting are simply awe-inspiring. The writing, while definitely on the tearjerker level, also makes subtle use of humor, giving the characters and the audience the chance to occasionally catch their breath.
Sept. 25, 2014, 7:00 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Patrik-Ian Polk's ambitious (perhaps overly so) collaboration with Rikki Beadle Blair, is a film adaptation of Larry Duplechan's gay lit classic Blackbird (Hicks Media). A high-school pseudo-musical, Blackbird (Hicks Media) takes us into the Deep South and hits below the bible belt. Choir boy Randy (Julian Walker) tries to pray the gay away every chance he gets. Who can blame him? His crazy mama Claire (Oscar winner Mo'Nique), who hasn't been the same since Randy's sister Chrissie disappeared six years earlier, is on a first name basis with the son of God and wants the same for her own son. Absentee dad Lance (Isaiah Washington) doesn't fare too well either, but he's making an effort to be in Randy's life.
Randy's social life is just as messy. His struggles to hide his attraction to cool football star Todd (Torrey Laamar), both when he's asleep (those pesky nocturnal emissions!) and when he's awake (visions and premonitions involving Todd's gay-friendly girlfriend Leslie, the pastor's daughter, played by Wanita Woodgett). However, Randy's inability to come to terms with his sexuality, may end up driving supportive BFFs, gay Efrem (Gary LeRoi Gray) and hot virginal Crystal (Nikki Jane) away. Meanwhile, Todd looks at gay online hook-up sites on the sly. The turning point occurs when Randy auditions for a student film at a local college, gets cast and then gets involved with fellow actor/college student Marshall (Kevin Allessee). Could Randy be losing his religion?
In between, Claire has a series of meltdowns (including coming dangerously close to becoming Margaret White, the mother in Carrie), Marshall takes Randy to Booty Hill (the gay lover's lane) where they secretly encounter Efrem, a same-sex Romeo & Juliet (Romeo & Julian) is in rehearsal at Randy's high school, there is a teen suicide and the filmmakers find a way to make a statement about abortion in Mississippi. Blackbird is vastly different from anything else we've seen from Polk (see Punks, Noah's Arc, The Skinny), the kind of movie a filmmaker needs to get out of his system before he can get back to the work at hand.
Sept. 25, 2014, 7:15 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: One of the best comedies on the festival circuit, Appropriate Behavior (Parkville Pictures) begs the question, "Why can't all lesbian comedies be this witty, smart and sexy?" Writer/director/actress Desiree Akhavan has made a queer film that, like Ira Sachs' Love Is Strange, will appeal to audiences from every demographic.
Appropriate Behavior begins with a break-up. Shirin (Akhavan) and Maxine (Rebecca Henderson), victims of lesbian bed-death, among other things, have called it quits and Shirin is moving out. High on the list of other things is Shirin's hesitance to come out to her Persian immigrant mother and father (Anh Duong and Hooman Majd, respectively). Making matters worse is that Shirin, who has a Masters Degree in journalism isn't making much of her professional life while competitive and overachieving older brother Ali (Adrian Moayed) and his fiancée Layli (Justine Cotsonas) are taking the medical world by storm.
A Brooklyn hipster in training, Shirin finds another living situation with roommates and is hired by druggy Ken (Scott Adsit) to run an after-school filmmaking class for kids. Adding insult to injury, the kids are much younger than the inexperienced Shirin expected.
At the (broken) heart of all of it is that Shirin is far from being over Maxine. Through flashbacks, we see their relationship from its clever and comedic commencement to its ugly and cruel end. Beginning with discovering that they have a "hatred of things in common," as well as being the "same kind of stoned person," the pair deals with the "dating an immigrant experience," "playing the Persian card," and the (unexpected) fluidity of both women's sexuality.
The writing is consistently hilarious and darkly sexy. The therapy session in the lingerie store and the post-break-up scene where the women run into each other (and their new lovers) owe a debt to Woody Allen. Coming off (and out) like an Iranian Sarah Silverman, Akhavan's feature length film debut is a triumph, despite an open-ended finale that feels like a cop-out. But that's really the only complaint.
Sept. 25, 2014, 9:30 p.m., Landmark Century Cinema: Perfect Cowboy (Orphean Circus), out actor/writer/filmmaker Ken Roht's second full-length feature, is an impressive achievement on a few levels. From the main characters, who are gay fathers in a small town, to the way it kicks religious fanaticism to the curb and the handling of issues ranging from HIV to recovery, Roht reinvigorates independent filmmaking with a cast of virtual unknowns (including himself), turning in (mostly) strong performances.
Jimmy (Roht) and Ty (Jeffrey Watkins), musicians and gay fathers (together for 20 years), are embraced by most of the citizens in their small town. Together they raised Ty's son Mark (William Nicol), who shares his fathers' love for music. Mark's mother Lacy (Charla Cochran), a recovering addict, lives nearby and keeps to herself.
Troubled Jimmy avoids recovery. Instead he regularly drinks himself into oblivion, leading him to do something stupid like attacking a convenience store ATM with a baseball bat, thereby violating his probation and landing him in prison for three years. Ty is there to pick him up at the pen when he is released and brings him back home.
Jimmy's re-entry is complicated by a number of things. He's still drinking heavily. Mark, who is also a talented singer, wants to play a bigger role in the band Jimmy and Ty started. Jimmy appropriates one of Mark's songs, setting off a firestorm resulting in Mark attacking Jimmy. Jimmy's resulting hospitalization reveals his newly discovered HIV status, something that is hinted at in earlier scenes.
Perfect Cowboy covers a lot of ground, including the negative influence of Christian extremism (see the collapse of Mark's marriage to Darlene, played by Sienna Beckman), the definition of family, the road to recovery, healing and forgiveness, and the opportunity to begin again. For those reasons alone, Perfect Cowboy is recommended viewing.