Another Gay Film Festival

The 14th Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival presents another lineup of LGBT movies and performers, like the star of its Opening Night feature, the scene-stealing Jonah Blechman.
by R. Kurt Osenlund

Jonah Blechman. It's a name not well known outside the gay film community. Within it however, the name is gaining the prominence and widespread recognition of funny men like Ben Stiller and young headliners like Zac Efron.

Though Blechman, 33, is nearly 15 years Efron's senior (and, in truth, far too individual to be compared to other actors), his hilarious, youthful performance in the envelope-pushing farce “Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild” - the 14th Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (PIGLFF)'s Opening Night selection, shown at the Prince Music Theater on Thursday, July 10 – could put him in the company of the hot “High School Musical” star, and make moviegoers of all communities remember his name.

Thanks to PIGLFF producer the Philadelphia Film Society (PFS, which has also presented the Philadelphia Film Festival every April for the past 17 years), it just might. For over a decade, the non-profit, member-supported organization has been bringing into the spotlight the best in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender cinema. PIGLFF is the largest festival of its kind on the East Coast (and the third largest in the country, trumped only by San Francisco and Los Angeles), attracting an average of 25,000 guests every July. Members of PFS expect a similar turnout this year.

“From July 10 to the 22 [the 13 days in which the 14th PIGLFF takes place], we're just gonna be festive, we're gonna have fun, and we're gonna watch films,” said PFS Development Director Thom Cardwell on Opening Night.

“Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild” (the follow-up to 2006's surprise hit “Another Gay Movie” from Philadelphia-based TLA Releasing) is the centerpiece of 2008's lineup. In the debauchery-filled comedy, Blechman reprises his role as Nico, the flamboyant, deliciously over-the-top member of a quartet of friends exploring their sexuality. As he did in the original, Blechman steals the show, displaying comedic and musical chops that look primed for Broadway (or, given Hollywood's current obsession with adapting musicals to the big screen, blockbusters). There's even a splendidly perverse dance number that probably has Fred Astaire spinning in his grave.

“We laughed a lot on set,” said Blechman, who was on hand for questions after the movie's premiere. “We laughed all the time. I mean look at that,” he said, motioning to the screen on which the film was just shown, “it was crazy.”

Also in attendance that evening were Blechman's co-stars Jake Mosser, Aaron Michael Davies and Will Wikle (TV's “Big Brother”), along with the film's producer Derek Curl and director/co-writer Todd Stephens (who also helmed “Another Gay Movie”). Noticeably absent though, was the lead cast of the original film, of which Blechman was the only member to return. In response to an audience question of why the others dropped out, Stephens acknowledged the current dilemma of Hollywood agents urging their clients not to take on too many gay parts.

“It's really sad,” said Stephens (below, right). “You'd think in this day and age of actors coming out, etcetera, agents wouldn't be so afraid of typecasting their actors. [Recasting the roles] was an exhaustive audition process for me and my casting director, but I' m thrilled with the result. These actors came up with things that you'd never expect and just brought it to the next level. That [was] the joy of making this film.”


The openly gay Blechman (above, left), who executive produced the picture and hand-picked many of Nico's exuberant outfits, confessed later that the adjustment of being the only returning star was tough, but ultimately rewarding.

“The most important thing was getting [the new cast] comfortable,” he said. “And as you see from the film, it worked.”

When asked if the sexual antics on screen were a reflection of what took place backstage, Blechman gave a devilish smile.

“It's just research,” he said, laughing. “I'm a method actor.”

“You could make another movie out of the backstage drama that took place making this film,” interrupted Stephens.

While Opening Night - which also featured an after party at Penn's Landing's Hyatt Regency, themed after “Another Gay Sequel”'s Ft. Lauderdale setting – has ended, the drama of PIGLFF 2008 has just begun. In addition to 176 films from 29 countries, there are plenty of events to come in the next week, including a live concert at the Trocadero Theatre from queer punk band Pansy Division and a dance party at Chancellor Street's Club Stir with 2008's Entertainer of the Year honoree Alec Mapa.


It all culminates with a “Closing Night Fantasy” celebration on Tuesday, July 22, when director Tom Gustafson's “Were the World Mine” - a gay take on Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” - will be shown, followed by a lavish bash at the Bell Atlantic Building's Top of the Tower. The night will top off another year of PFS bringing rising stars like Blechman to the forefront.

“Diversity, freshness, and excellence have been our watchwords this year,” said Associate Festival Programmer Scott Cranin in a written statement. “We've been scouring the globe for the finest in LGBT cinema, assembling one of our best programs ever.”

Echoes Cardwell, “Somehow each year...we seem to have enough support to offer all of you, the ticket buyers, an exciting, festive, and fun summer-in-the-city experience.”

For more information on tickets and showtimes for the 14th Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, visit phillyfests.com.

This is reprinted by the author from an article written for Inter-County News Group's OUT & ABOUT magazine.

And the award for MOST FABULOUS CAST goes to...

...Elegy, directed by Isabel Coixet (she did the "Bastille" segment of last year's blissfully romantic Paris Je T'aime). You know that feeling you get when you hear about a new film coming out and the talent involved makes you wonder if they made it just for you? Elegy is the latest example of that feeling bubbling up inside Your Movie Buddy. Just take a look at this lineup:

Okay, so I can't account for the random inclusion of Dennis Hopper. But Kingsley, Clarkson and Sarsgaard are three of my favorite actors in the business and ever since Volver, Cruz's Hollywood cred has been increasingly gaining strength (look out for Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona in August - she's reportedly stellar).

Still, a golden cast doesn't always equal a golden result (see last year's Evening...or acually, don't). And the trailer below looks a little generic to me. But put this many great performers in the same room, and I get giddy. I'd love to see this movie perform well, and perhaps put Coixet on the short list of female filmmakers to watch (you know we just don't have enough - Sofia Coppola is mighty lonely). Take a peek. What do you think?:

Is There an Echo in Here?

I don't want to make any "waves," but here's an open letter to Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers:

Hey Pete,
I like you man, and I'm certainly no Pauline Kael, but you might want to think about keeping your archives handy when writing your next review. Did you not notice your word-for-word self plagiarism in your recent critique of Wall-E?

From RollingStone.com:
"It's a landmark in modern moviemaking that lifts you up on waves of humor, heartbreak and ravishing romance."
- excerpt from your review of Wall-E (2008)

"Atonement sweeps you up on waves of humor, heartbreak and ravishing romance."
- excerpt from your review of Atonement (2007)

Tsk, tsk Mr. Travers. Every writer struggles to stay fresh, but recycling quotes verbatim? A reviewer as established as yourself should know better. It's not like you were saying "two thumbs up." As a new voice in the business, I'm constantly trying to think up new phrases and avoid redundancy. What am I to think if a colleague I look up to can't form distinctive opinions? Is it not your job to weed out generic texts?

Sincerely,
Your Movie Buddy

Bond is Back...Again

The trailer for the latest James Bond flick (entitled "Quantum of Solace," whatever that means) is now online. Daniel Craig is back as 007, and it looks Jeffrey Wright is too as...oh, I forget. I really do like the new gritty, no-frills take on the action franchise, just apparently not as much as everyone else (Really, Entertainment Weekly - "Casino Royale" as #19 on the list of the Top 100 films of the last 25 years? Really?!? And "Mulholland Dr." didn't even make the list? I know I'm biased, but come on). To me, this trailer just looks like more of the same: more bombs, more guns, more interrogation rooms, more Judi Dench. Oh, and another title with just enough O's to conveniently work in that special number.

Waaaall-Eeeee!

Joel and Clementine. Noah and Allie. Ennis and Jack. Wall-E and Eve.
Disney/Pixar's newest creation, Wall-E (which made me happier than any other film I've seen this year), is many things at once but first and foremost, it joins Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Notebook and Brokeback Mountain as one of the few instantly classic cinematic love stories of the new millenium.


The courtship that takes place between Wall-E (a droid left to clean up Earth after humans are forced to leave in the 2100's due to fatal toxicity levels - ahem, ahem) and Eve (a sleek, egg-like beauty who shows up 700 years later to seek out organic life) is as old-fashioned as they come. Apart from a couple of still-running, looped video ads that fill you in on bits of mankind's backstory, nary a word is spoken through at least the entire first third of this film. Before Eve arrives, we get a good taste of Wall-E's personality (thanks to the wizards at Pixar having mastered the art of making the most non-human of creatures as expressive as Steve Carrell) as we watch him decorate a city with centuries of cubed-up trash, buzz around with his lone cockroach friend, and fill his loading dock of a home with found treasures (where to put the spork?!) When she gets there (assuming she's a she and he's a he), he woos her with charms pulled right out of an old silent picture. Like Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin, Wall-E is a bumbling idiot in front of his love; and it's not what he says but what he does that wins her - and the audience - over. He adorably shows his affections by making love notes out of junk, and caring for her even when she puts her nonexistent nose in the air. She - an we - soon find him irresistable. Who'da thought that the movie to most beautifully take its time to present one of the most believable and natural on-screen relationships in years would be animated?


Wall-E (directed by Andrew Stanton) doesn't feel animated at all. Earth looks like the wasteland it would if global warming took over and everyone up and left. Wall-E looks like a real, worn-out android, and everything he touches looks like real, worn-out garbage. In fact, once the gelatinous, bone-mass deprived humans living on Eve's mothership light years away are revealed, it's a shock: "what are these cartoons doing in this movie?" Pixar is now scarily close to being able to effectively re-create just about anything that isn't two-legged and carbon-based. A working Zippo lighter and a small plant are a working Zippo lighter and a small plant. String lights and sandstorms are string lights and sandstorms. The only thing left for this revolutionary art studio to conquer is people. Once they can render them with such flawless believability, will there still be a need for actors?

Because, from here, it looks like Wall-E the robot (played by Pixar's production team) - and his movie, for that matter - is the best performance of 2008. He's the most lovable character of his kind since Ellen Degeneres's Dory from Finding Nemo in 2003. Hell, I can do better than that: since E.T. DreamWorks is pushing Jack Black's line "Skadoosh" from Kung Fu Panda as the word of the summer. Forget that. Listen to this little guy say his name once or twice in buzzing, beeping, robotic tongue. It's the word (or name, if you're picky) of the year.

Mid-Year Oscar Buzz: The Performances

It's just about 6 months until we wrap up 2008, and at this point, there are only a handful of performances earning rave reviews and gaining Oscar buzz. Here are the batch of actors and roles that have everyone talking: a Joker, a Visitor, a smuggler, a double threat, Woody's latest muse and a little animated robot.

BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor

BEST ACTRESS

Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Julianne Moore, Savage Grace
Julianne Moore, Blindness

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight








BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona










Oh yeah, and did I mention this guy? :

Fireworks!

Happy 4th of July! To celebrate, and to make up for lost time, I've dedicated my latest review to 2 explosive current releases, the stylishly action-packed "Wanted" and the bombastic "Hancock."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Page --> Place --> Picture

This past month, I had a unique film experience like I've never had before. First, I read John Berendt's "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" - a big deal seeing as I don't read books nearly as often as I should. Like Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" (which I - surprise, surprise - have never read), the book begins as a travelogue but features enough colorful characters and events to warrant a great novel. It's highly engrossing nonfiction, depicting Savannah, Georgia and its lively inhabitants in a great ensemble drama. The book was the author's first, and spent 216 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list following its release.



Not long after finishing the book, I visited Savannah itself, and got to see first hand the setting of the story and the home and streets within and upon which the characters walked. It's one of the most beautiful towns I've ever seen, and having the connection to the story made it all the more splendid. Never before had I read a famous work, then visited the land in which it took place in such back-to-back fashion.

While I was in Savannah, I bought a copy of director Clint Eastwood's film version of Berendt's book. I'm always looking for an excuse to expand my DVD library, and it seemed like the logical next step. It was a change of pace for me - usually I'm visiting the places I've seen in the movies, not vice-versa. Whether it was the afterglow of Savannah's beauty, the affection for Berendt's words, or just a case of poor adaptation, I was underwhelmed by Eastwood's film. Too easy, too Hollywood, and not nearly as graceful as I would have expected from Mr. Eastwood or for the screen treatment of this work. People have long been telling me that the movie is never as good as the book. This is one time when I can wholeheartedly agree with them, and say also that the setting of both media trumps all.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (book): A
Savannah, Georgia: A+
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (movie): C

And So It Begins...

The trailers for two major Fall contenders have recently hit the web, Spike Lee's epic Miracle at St. Anna and David Fincher's Zodiac follow-up The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. From here, both of them look as though they might garner at least a few big nominatons by year's end, and both of them have officiall been added to my "Must-See" list. Take a look:

Miracle at St. Anna:




The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:

Funny Bunny?

HA! Is it a mortal sin that I think The House Bunny with Anna Faris actually looks like a pretty good knee-slapper?

If so, strike me down. It's my personal opinion that Faris is a budding comic genius, with more brains hidden beneath her giggles than all of the Girls Next Door combined. ....And I need a "yob" too!

Monday Madness

It's okay. We all go a little mad sometimes...

...right, Mr. Beale?

...or was that Mr. Bates?

HAPPY BEGINNING OF THE WEEK

YOUR MOVIE BUDDY: REVIEW VAULT

All of my reviews can now be found in one place, the newly-formed sister site, YOUR MOVIE BUDDY: REVIEW VAULT. It will be updated weekly. Head over there now to get all the dish on The Happening, Kung Fu Panda, Sex and the City and more!

Mistress Asia

Asia Argento's exotic look is certainly what makes her so appealing to audiences, but the same attribute is also what has kept her on the sidelines in films like xXx (yikes) and Marie Antoinette. She's earned plenty of indie cred. with movies like Gus Van Sant's Last Days and the infamous JT LeRoy account The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, which she herself wrote and directed. Yet none of those titles have managed to give the rebellious beauty the kind of attention she seems to deserve.

This month, Asia stars in her father, the great Dario Argento's horror-thriller Mother of Tears, and coming soon, she'll play the sex-crazed lover of a libertine in the lush French period piece The Last Mistress. Given the early buzz, Mistress may finally earn the sexy starlet her much sought after spotlight. Here's the trailer:

Roid Rage

Last night, I attended an advance screening of budding filmmaker Christopher Bell's much-buzzed about documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster at Philly's Ritz Five. The movie - which attempts to expose the cold, hard facts about steroid use in America - is very entertaining and comprehensive, but doesn't really bring about anything new regarding our country's performance enhancement drug problem.

Like Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock before him, Bell narrates with a comic, relatable enthusiasm, and investigates his topic with great resolve. However, with their films, Moore and Spurlock did and do reveal hidden truths (being, perhaps the Columbine killings and the deadliness of fast food, respectively), as should all non fiction entertainment. Bell just sort of uses their formula to recycle what everyone already knows about steroids. He thrusts mass quantities of facts and figures at the audience, but none of it is all that staggering. Will the use of anabolic roids make your testicles shrink? Yes. Will females develop deeper voices? Check. Are most professional athletes doing it? Probably. Will it kill you? Probably not. This picture doesn't open your eyes, it just makes sure you haven't closed them. But it an age when war, fuel costs, and a groundbreaking election are making headlines, forgive me if I avert my gaze elsewhere.

Bell does succeed in gaining unprecedented access for his project, proving that there must have been some serious cash behind it. Nearly everyone the director makes an example of, everyone who has ever been involved in a high profile steroid case, is not only mentioned, but featured in the film. Olympic athletes, doctors, lawyers, politicians, fitness models, photographers, magazine editors who are pro-roids, psychiatrists, current users and family members of users all appear somewhere. Even Gov. Schwarzenegger (who, as a former user like himself, was the director's hero as a child) shows up in a captured photo-op. He's meant to be made out as the villain, a la Charlton Heston in Moore's Bowling for Columbine, but in actuality looks more like an accomplished man with a dark past than an ignorant bastard. Bell does not have a strong enough position on the topic, or direction with his movie, to inspire such strong emotional responses.

That's a surprising detail, given the fact that the subject matter of B,S,F hits close to home with the director. As mentioned, Bell himself is a former user, but his two bulky brothers are currently shooting up, and provide the human side of the story. One lifts 700 lbs. in a strong man competition, and the other has pipe dreams of making it big as a pro wrestler. This should make the movie ring true despite its obviousness, but Bell's ambivalence and the lack of severely devastating side effects keeps it from doing so. It becomes a well-produced personal account of a story that everyone's already heard.

If you like documentaries that tell you what you already know, but allow you to have a blast in the process, give B,S,F a look when it goes wider in theaters this Friday (look out for an appearance of the man with the world's biggest biceps - shocking!). If not, just check out the trailer:

Planet B-Boy (again)

I've lost the link to where this review was originally published, so I'm re-posting it here. It's the review for what is surprisingly one of the better films I've seen in 2008, the breakdancing documentary Planet B-Boy.

Review: Planet B-Boy
5 stars (out of 5)
by R. Kurt Osenlund

While an absurdist comedy like last year's Jamie Kennedy flop Kickin' it Old Skool may suggest that breakdancing died in the late '80's, director Benson Lee's rousing documentary Planet B-Boy confirms that the widely overlooked art form is alive and well. Spanning numerous countries around the world and presented in over six different languages, the film is like a UN conference with a turntable.

It opens with a history of the dance, along with the culture of hip-hop from which it was born. Going back as far as the late '60's, participants like original B-Boy (aka Beat Boy) Ken Swift recount the culture's formative years, and clear up its common misconceptions. According to Swift and co., hip-hop is very different from rap, composed of DJ's, MC's, graffiti artists, and of course, B-Boy's. It's revealed that the influences of breakdancing - the legitimacy of which is repeatedly stressed – included Kung Fu, gymnastics, and the unique moves of James Brown; and that the late '70's marked its official, widespread arrival. More than one guest makes mention of 1983's Flashdance, to which these guys flocked, not to see Jennifer Beals in off-the-shoulder sweats, but then-underground-legends like Swift and “Freeze” in curbside cameos. That movie's success ushered in what was a apparently a decade-long bout of breakdance exploitation, remedied in 1990 with the formation of a worldwide competition that would rightfully bring the head-spinning, windmill-ing form of expression back to its feet.


Battle of the Year (which appropriately, and perhaps unintentionally, bears the acronym B.O.Y.), an annual competition based out of Hanover, Germany, was that remedy, and it serves as a platform for the action of Lee's film. Founded by Germany's Thomas Hergenrother (who, as proof of the phenomenon's cultural diversity, is markedly white), the tournament attracts teams from over 18 countries each year. Lee introduces us to a handful of those teams during the strenuous months leading up to Battle of the Year '05, including '04 champions The Gamblerz from Korea, France's Phase-T, and USA's Knucklehead Zoo from Las Vegas. Clever transitions made up of moving maps and an animated subway let us follow these teams around the world, like an international monorail tagged with colorful graffiti. We learn not only the various dancing styles of these vastly different groups, but also the motivations of their members, back stories about family and friends, and the passion for the “sport” that unites them all. Lee obviously cannot show all of Battle of the Year's hopefuls, and like any non-fiction entertainment, individuals with the most charisma (like team Ichigeki's “Prince” of Japan) get the most play, but the representative sample gets a loud, clear point across.

A contagious energy spills out of the screen once these B-Boy's get moving. Whether it's the daring showmanship of Phase-T (which even has a young boy in their crew), the technical wizardry of The Gamblerz and Last for One (also from Korea), or the transcendent style of Ichigeki, one can't help but get caught up in the graceful insanity of these dancers. Their inspired, rhythmic movements succeed in showing what the founders were so intent on telling in the movie's earlier scenes: breakdancing is far from illegitimate. The finale in Germany unfolds the way most movies of this type usually do, be them documentary or narrative features. The teams we've come to know put all of their best efforts on the line, and square-off against one another in one last fight for the gold (which here, is primarily notoriety and future opportunities, as the miniscule prize money is distributed among the victors). But as someone observantly pointed out to me, one of the more impressive differences about Planet B-Boy is the lack of any and all coaching. These artist/athletes choreograph all of their own moves and shows, and invest their own time into it because they're doing what they love. Tie-breaking “battles” highlight the improvisational side of the competition, but the six-minute “performances” from each country truly showcase each crews' talents.

Planet B-Boy puts a lot of emphasis on the fact that breakdancing is a lot like fighting, although no opponent ever strikes another. The intensity is there, but the violence is not. This aspect remained with me long after the film ended. It opened up the possibility that Lee's work could not only educate and entertain, but perhaps inspire an urban youth to productively channel his or her energy into something artistic; something that has as much street cred. as gang violence, without any of the repercussions. If it achieves that inspiration (which it could), than it's not only a fine piece of entertainment, but a priceless one. Even if it didn't, it would still be one of this Spring's best movies.