Wednesday 05.07.14
Montreal Boy: Some Strings Attached
Logo TV’s latest web-series
We’ve noticed a steady improvement in quality and merit of shorts and web-series lately, and Montreal Boy: Some Strings Attached certainly continues that trend. This six-part series of 5-minute episodes directed by Olivier Labonté LeMoyne is available to stream, back-to-back, on the Logo TV website, and it’s not to be missed. While it’s true that it’d be hard to go wrong with quirky first encounters, Quebecois French, passionate sex scenes and a slew of fit men all set against the beautiful and vibrantly queer backdrop of Montreal, Montreal Boy has the acting and production value to do justice to the premise.
The show is reminiscent of the British hit, Weekend, only more romantic and set in North America. There’s a lot packed into 30 minutes, but it moves along at a good pace and maintains an authentically realistic feel. Revolving around the relationship between Stéphane from Montreal and Hugh from New York; issues of intimacy, trust, and both the merits and dangers of Internet dating are subtly explored. In all, it’s a beautiful portrayal of what romance has become. And, of course, as far as being an advert for Tourisme Montréal (the Montreal Tourism Board) it certainly does its job — we’ve already started looking for flights.
Thursday 05.01.14
Film: Who Is Dayani Cristal?
Last weekend I brought the screener of this documentary to my friend’s Ray’s house. He’s Mexican and I thought it made sense for us to watch it together since the film is about the journey Central Americans take to cross the border into the United States. This powerful film is a must watch for anyone living in the USA — this country’s immigration laws are really fucked up, and watching this film really put it into perspective. ‘Who Is Dayani Cristal?’ is directed by Marc Silver and features the sweet Mexican actor, and activist, Gael García Bernal. Gael and a team of experts from Pima County go on a journey to understand how one immigrant, John Doe, died as he attempted to cross the heavily protected US/Mexican border. Gael “experiences first-hand the dangers they face and learns of their motivations, hopes and fears. As we travel north, these voices from the other side of the border wall give us a rare insight into the human stories which are so often ignored in the immigration debate.” This is a powerful, insightful film and we should force every Republican senator opposed to immigration reform to watch it. Borders are nothing but a mental construct don’t cha know. Free your mind.
Friday 04.25.14
Film: Dior and I
Last week we went to the premier of the new film Dior and I at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film, directed by Frédéric Tcheng, follows the creation of the first Dior collection for former Jil Sander designer, Raf Simons. Raf stepped into the position formerly held by John Galliano who was sacked for getting fucked up on booze and pills and hurling racist, non-coherent slurs at a couple of old ladies in a Parisian restaurant. Galliano is a visionary designer and he left a gaping hole at Dior; the documentary does a wonderful job of following Raf as he tries to infuse his own brand of minimalism and modern design into the house. What I found most inspiring about this film is Raf’s obsessive, laser like focus. He doesn’t sketch anything, instead he creates these super specific folders that have the exact specifications and references for what he wants “down to the millimeter.” Tcheng did an amazing job of capturing Raf’s creative process — it’s a very intimate film — especially when we discover how press shy and introverted Raf actually is. Dior and I plays for one more week at the Tribeca Film Festival. I’m sure it will come to theaters or video-on-demand shortly after, but if you have a chance to see it this week, please do. I left the screening so inspired and full of energy, wanting to be more creative in my own work — that’s about as big a compliment you can give a movie as I can think of.
Thursday 04.24.14
Derek Jarman’s Blue
Screening as part of Art of The Real Series at Lincoln Center
Derek Jarman by far is one of my favorite film directors — the fact that he was gay and a genius probably has something to do with it. His film Caravaggio caught my initial attention but it is his last film Blue that has totally captivated me. It is a movie consisting of audio narration and one continuos still shot of Yves Klein Blue. The loose narrative written and directed by Jarman tracks the somber and insightful descent into blindness Jarman endured as AIDS took hold of his sight. The color blue and its wide array of associations in life and death are explored in the 79 minutes of Blue made complete with an auspicious, and at times haunting, musical score by composer Simon Fisher Turner.
“My mind bright as a button but my body falling apart” notes Jarman in one touching moment as he is again at the hospital to receive an i.v. drip of medication. It is at once saddening and blue to the core. As the various passages unfolded I found myself oddly anticipating when the “blue” connections would arise and satiated once they did. As part of the Art of the Real: Documentary Redefined series at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Blue is being screened at 9:15PM on April 25th. Don’t miss the chance to see Jarman’s last film, released four months before his death, it is one of the most intimate film’s I have ever seen.
$13, 9:15PM, ELEANOR BUNIN MONROE FILM CENTER, 144 W. …
Tuesday 04.15.14
Tribeca Film Festival 2014
Our selection of not-to-be-missed LGBTQ films.
The Tribeca Film Festival starts this Thursday, April 17th and runs until the 27th. There are countless films, over 100 titles and shorts, but just a handful of LGBTQ films of interest, so I thought I’d just cut to the chase and simply list them here for you. I desperately tried to attend screenings of each but got lost in a sea of publicists so only managed to see half of the six playing.
I am confident the following titles will be standouts:
Pelo Malo (Bad Hair):
This film is a thoroughly engaging and at times heart wrenching tale about a young boy, Junior, living with his single mother in Caracas, Venezuela who wants nothing more than to straighten his unruly hair — “a fixation that stirs homophobic panic in his overtaxed mother.” Junior tries an array of home spun procedures to get smooth shiny hair and even gets half a blow-out from his grandma all to no avail. The doting grandmother and female best friend add some levity to the situation that has a poignant and bittersweet end.
A total immersion into the transgender community of Puerto Rico, Mala Mala which basically means “fierce” as in a heightened feeling of elation, as opposed to it’s original meaning, “I’m on my period” covers all the territory from political activism to street walking/prostitution. We follow a diverse cast in this riveting documentary as they campaign for human rights, by appearing in civil court to plead their case for equal employment in the work place. …
From left: Pelo Malo, Sunsan Sontag, Mala Mala, Something Must Break, Der Samurai & Love is Strange.
Thursday 03.27.14
In Their Room: Berlin
The lives of seven gay men are illuminated in this NSFW film from director Travis Mathews
There is a lot to like in director Travis Mathew’s new feature-length film, In Their Room: Berlin. An intimate, documentary-style trip through a day in the lives of seven gay Berliners, the film offers a very real glimpse into what love and lust look like for a modern set of men looking for human connection wherever it can be found. Thanks to the film’s collaboration with porn site NakedSword, it also provides a frank portrayal of sexuality and male nudity from the film’s cast that’s still a rarity in modern cinema, with a result that ends up being enticing and progressive in equal parts.
Drawing from Mathews’ short film series of the same name, In Their Room: Berlin is similar in style to I Want Your Love, Mathews’ acclaimed first full-length collaboration with NakedSword that made the rounds at film festivals across the globe last year. Mathews also worked with the most homo straight man alive, James Franco, on last year’s Interior. Leather Bar., an exploration into the seedy S&M clubs of the Meatpacking District in the 70’s. What aligns In Their Room: Berlin perfectly with Mathews’ other projects, then, is the very sincere gaze he holds over his subjects, who open up about their insecurities, histories, and desires amidst a filmmaking style that is as candid and erotic as it is artistically distinct. If this is the direction porn studios are going to go in the next few years, producing feature-length films with character depth, emotional heft, and decent cinematography, then we are SO on board. …
Wednesday 03.26.14
Film: Anita – Speaking Truth to Power
You remember Anita — she testified against Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court nominee in 1991 on a sexual misconduct charge that “ignited a political firestorm about sexual misconduct and gender equality in the workplace?” Yes, it’s Ms. Hill I’m talking about. Well 22 years later she gets to tell her side of the story in a riveting documentary ‘Anita: Speaking Truth to Power’ directed by Oscar winning film director Freida Mock. In addition to revealing Anita’s story the film features youth activists from the group Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) who work to combat sexual harassment and gender-based violence in NYC schools. The founder and executive director of GGE said, “Like Anita we want young people who have experienced sexual harassment or violence in schools to know what it takes to speak truth to power.” I say amen to that. For Anita, who was painted as a villain by the media, this film provides further vindication, and for the viewer, an opportunity to explore a story that is as timely and powerful today as it was when it first appeared on the front page of the Times.
Saturday 03.22.14
Film: Big Joy – The Adventures of James Broughton
This movie made me feel good from the inside out, probing a place in my soul I haven’t visited in ages. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the two brilliant filmmakers Stephen Silha and Eric Slade who bring us this timely, compelling and relentlessly effervescent documentary Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton. James was a visionary poet, poetic filmmaker, a pioneer who was a defining artistic voice of the sexual revolution. His films broke down the boundaries between language and moving images and merged them into a new aesthetic. Considered by many to be “The golden secret of west coast bohemia” James stirred the pot of the post WW ll San Francisco Renaissance changing the cultural landscape forever. His break out film The Pleasure Garden, made in 1953, won a special prize at Cannes. Jean Cocteau awarded him the prize with a kiss on either cheek and said “Bravo an American who made a french film in England.” Straight, gay, bi, he transcends all those monikers. He eventually found a soulmate at age 61, 35 years his junior to which James said “My house is falling down but let it fall, I’ll go to another mansion.” Now that’s one fierce queen whose poetry and films will hopefully gain a new audience with the release of this documentary — go on, meet James it will bring you big joy, I have no doubt!
Photography by Joel Singer. Courtesy of James Broughton Estate.Photography by Joel Singer. Courtesy of James Broughton Estate.
Sunday 03.16.14
Film: Becoming Chaz
“Can’t you just do this quietly?” quips Cher to camera regarding her once golden haired cherubic daughter’s high profile FTM transition in the riveting documentary Becoming Chaz. The answer is a resounding No! “As hormone shots give way to top surgery down-to-earth unflappable Chaz beams with a sense of liberation and goes public with his story to put a face on a misunderstood issue.” Gender reassignment, all the ins and outs, including a highly emotive girlfriend dealing with the new reality of living with a man is captured on film by directors Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey with profound effect. Weeks after viewing this film I am still left with a sense of awe by Chaz’s braveness, sharing this deeply personal story and in effect baring his soul. Take the journey, watch the film and get inspired by a man finally “embracing his true self.”
Thursday 03.13.14
Gay Sex in the 70’s Screening
Followed by a Q&A with director Joseph Lovett
From the sluttiest dance floors in Hell’s Kitchen, to the craziest performance art raves in Bushwick — I love our little gay world. But there’s no denying it’s changing — events and partygoers defy sexual labels, straight clubs, sports teams and big brands embrace the LGBT rainbow and we feel less obliged to identify ourselves alongside a set of strict ideas of what it means to be ‘gay.‘ This tacit non-scene revolt feels very now, very post-millennium — the freedom to say “I’m not into the scene” is a sign of how far we’ve come from the fabulous ghettos and underground sex that defined 1970s gay life. In the early days, the scene was all there was.
While the AIDS crisis in NYC has been the subject of multiple plays, films and documentaries (The Normal Heart, How To Survive A Plague and Angels in America are all compulsory viewing, children), it’s fascinating and important to look back on what came before that. Joseph Lovett’s 2005 documentary, Gay Sex in the 70’s is a wonderful glimpse into the hedonistic New York scene between the Stonewall Riots of ’69 and the outbreak of AIDS. It was a time when gay men poured into New York to be a part of the sexual revolution and a community that was louder and prouder than ever. Drugs, cruising and sex took place on the streets, in the clubs, on the dunes of Fire Island, and nobody could see the tragedy ahead. …
Monday 03.03.14
MEAT
Matt Lambert directs a psychosexual short film
Having a mind-numbingly boring workday and/or completely, irrevocably stoned out of your mind? Then feast your eyes on the psychosexual fever dream that is MEAT, a new short film by queer film visionary (and GAYLETTER fave) Matt Lambert. The LA-raised, Berlin-based artist directed the film as promotion for an upcoming 240-hour long (!) experimental theater piece happening at Berlin’s Schaubühne theater in April.
The theater production, directed by Swedish artist Thomas Bo Nilsson and part of the Festival of International New Drama, draws from the story of Luka Magnotta (infamous escort/porn star/cannibalistic serial killer) to create a dialogue between sexual identity and the more sordid corners of the Internet. Lambert’s film does an A+ job of capturing that claustrophobically digital atmosphere in just under four and a half minutes, during which a bleach blonde twink gyrates to a stuttering electronic track in front of a camera at an Internet café. It’s like watching those seamy Cam4-type sites, only filmed in much better lighting. Needless to say, we’re into it.
Nilsson’s theater piece will be live streamed starting on April 3. Check out Lambert’s short film below:
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Saturday 02.22.14
Film: Cal
We happened upon this cool new film distribution company that focuses on bringing international gay and lesbian “cutting edge cinema” to North American audiences called Canteen Outlaws. They sent us a link to a few screeners, one of them is tittled Cal, directed by Christian Martin and is “set in the economically depressed England of today, Cal, the follow-up to the hit 2009 film, Shank, is a startlingly powerful drama of a young gay man searching for love, respect and acceptance.” We love this super sexy film starring a twenty year old sweet boy Cal (Wayne Virgo) who comes back to Bristol, his hometown to see his dying mother in a hospital. Then he meets his adorable boy toy Jason (Tom Payne), they get into all sorts of trouble with a drug dealer involving guns and a weird sexy fight. We won’t give away the end, except to say it’s startling. Cal is beautifully shot, full of intrigue and a GAYLETTER pick.
From left: Wayne Virgo and Tom PayneFrom left: Wayne Virgo and Tom Payne
