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Queer movie reviews part 3
Oct. 3rd, 2010 06:57 pmWatching these movies so you don't have to! Watched via Netflix streaming unless otherwise noted.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert starring Hugo Weaving. (not streaming)
Two drag queens and a trans woman go across the Outback in a bus to perform at a far-off hotel. I know this is an iconic movie but I thought it was boring; at least half an hour could have been cut out of the movie without affecting the plot at all. My roommate calls this type of film "an indie movie where nothing happens," which is a type of film I sometimes enjoy, but not this time. Also it has some problems with depictions of race, and there is a gay bashing in one of the small towns.
Aimee and Jaguar German with English subtitles.
A true story about a Nazi officer's wife and a Jewish journalist who fall in love in Berlin in 1943. As you can imagine, it does not have a happy ending. It's not the lesbianism that's a problem: it's that one of the lovers is Jewish. There are some very funny, sweet, and dramatic moments in this movie, and I liked that it's a war movie about queer women (perhaps the only one?), but it's depressing as hell. The actors are wonderful, charismatic women; there were hardly any men in this movie at all.
Big Eden PG-13.
A New York artist returns to his rural hometown to take care of his grandfather. There he encounters his high school best friend/crush, nosy but good-hearted townsfolk, and a shy storekeeper. I didn't much like the lead actor/character in this film (Ayre Goss/Henry Hart), otherwise I would have liked it more. He just wasn't interesting to me; the character never really took shape. The whole movie had a very "Hallmark Hall of Fame" feel--over sentimental, washed in gold light, everyone tries to be nice to each other all the time. There is no overt homophobia and I don't think the word "gay" is ever actually said by anyone. I did like that one of the gay characters is Native American, but I wondered why he is apparently the *only* Native person in the town. His character doesn't much take shape either, partly because he's so shy that he doesn't speak hardly at all. A love story about two shy people can work in a film (see Amelie) but it didn't quite work here. It's a very family-friendly movie, a nice movie, but nothing special.
Jeffrey 1995. Steven Webber, Patrick Stewart, Michael T. Weiss.
Jeffrey gives up sex partly out of anxiety about AIDS. Of course it is right then that he meets somebody he's very interested in. This is a comedy with a lot of famous actors, based on a play. It's sometimes bizzare and over-the-top. It is chiefly about white gay men in New York in the 90s. This film led me to start using the term "token gay bashing" because after watching all these movies, the bashing depicted in this film seemed totally unnecessary! There for token purposes. Anyways, I liked it, it was funny and had a happy ending (with some sadness), and Patrick Stewart was just awesome.
Out of all these, I can only really recommend Jeffrey. I think I really am at my limit of queer movies now, and definitely prefer the comedies to the dramas. The best of all the movies I watched were Latter Days, Breakfast with Scot, and Itty Bitty Titty Committee. I reconsidered The Bubble a bit because I keep thinking about it (which is one sign of a good movie), but, it is still too depressing to really make the recs list.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert starring Hugo Weaving. (not streaming)
Two drag queens and a trans woman go across the Outback in a bus to perform at a far-off hotel. I know this is an iconic movie but I thought it was boring; at least half an hour could have been cut out of the movie without affecting the plot at all. My roommate calls this type of film "an indie movie where nothing happens," which is a type of film I sometimes enjoy, but not this time. Also it has some problems with depictions of race, and there is a gay bashing in one of the small towns.
Aimee and Jaguar German with English subtitles.
A true story about a Nazi officer's wife and a Jewish journalist who fall in love in Berlin in 1943. As you can imagine, it does not have a happy ending. It's not the lesbianism that's a problem: it's that one of the lovers is Jewish. There are some very funny, sweet, and dramatic moments in this movie, and I liked that it's a war movie about queer women (perhaps the only one?), but it's depressing as hell. The actors are wonderful, charismatic women; there were hardly any men in this movie at all.
Big Eden PG-13.
A New York artist returns to his rural hometown to take care of his grandfather. There he encounters his high school best friend/crush, nosy but good-hearted townsfolk, and a shy storekeeper. I didn't much like the lead actor/character in this film (Ayre Goss/Henry Hart), otherwise I would have liked it more. He just wasn't interesting to me; the character never really took shape. The whole movie had a very "Hallmark Hall of Fame" feel--over sentimental, washed in gold light, everyone tries to be nice to each other all the time. There is no overt homophobia and I don't think the word "gay" is ever actually said by anyone. I did like that one of the gay characters is Native American, but I wondered why he is apparently the *only* Native person in the town. His character doesn't much take shape either, partly because he's so shy that he doesn't speak hardly at all. A love story about two shy people can work in a film (see Amelie) but it didn't quite work here. It's a very family-friendly movie, a nice movie, but nothing special.
Jeffrey 1995. Steven Webber, Patrick Stewart, Michael T. Weiss.
Jeffrey gives up sex partly out of anxiety about AIDS. Of course it is right then that he meets somebody he's very interested in. This is a comedy with a lot of famous actors, based on a play. It's sometimes bizzare and over-the-top. It is chiefly about white gay men in New York in the 90s. This film led me to start using the term "token gay bashing" because after watching all these movies, the bashing depicted in this film seemed totally unnecessary! There for token purposes. Anyways, I liked it, it was funny and had a happy ending (with some sadness), and Patrick Stewart was just awesome.
Out of all these, I can only really recommend Jeffrey. I think I really am at my limit of queer movies now, and definitely prefer the comedies to the dramas. The best of all the movies I watched were Latter Days, Breakfast with Scot, and Itty Bitty Titty Committee. I reconsidered The Bubble a bit because I keep thinking about it (which is one sign of a good movie), but, it is still too depressing to really make the recs list.
