RIP Jill Clayburgh

She was always one of those actresses who filled in her roles. Even in ridiculous rom-coms like "It's My Turn." There will never be another like her.

Word is out

I swear I'm coming back. In the meantime, I urge you to watch the documentary "Word is Out" which is available to stream on Netflix. Its an early queer doc that features someone as beautiful as this:

A brief post

about the gayness that is Burlesque.
Certainly the gay blogs have been simmering for quite some time about this Cher / Christina Aguilera vehicle, but I dismissed it as something that would be watched on tv on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
However, Phil and I went to see Step Up 3D today (don't judge--A.O. Scott and the Stranger liked it--ok, and I saw the first two) and the trailer was on the reel.
This looks like the type of campy brilliance that Glitter only wished it was (not that I've seen Glitter). Plus, Kristen Bell!

Where the hell

have I been?
Joss is writing / directing "The Avengers?" I just got chills typing that.

Some kids are ok

The Kids are All Right didn't open here this weekend. That makes me sad. Aren't we a real-enough city? I really, really liked Lisa Cholodenko's first film "High Art" and enjoyed her second film, "Laurel Canyon." I was looking forward to spending at least a couple hours in an air conditioned movie theater . . .
Maybe we'll go see the Joan Rivers doc at the Majestic Bay and swing into Portage Bay Cafe for some breakfast. Normally, I would wait for video on a documentary like that. Since, however, the Majestic Bay is attempting to keep one screen arty, and it is an independent movie theater, I kinda feel like I should go and be supportive.

When I grow up

I want to be as badass as Rip Torn. Bank break-in?!? How cool is Don Geiss now?

This is George

RIP Eric Rohmer

A great filmmaker died yesterday.
Roger Ebert has a lovely tribute.

I think I'll watch Claire's Knee when I get home.

The moments we 2 can share

Precious Moments - watch more funny videos

Presents

Scott made a post about some of his favorite movie posters and I think they're all keepers. It got me to thinking about all the amazing Polish posters I would LOVE to have hanging on my walls. Specifically, these posters:












Man, there's so many other great ones, I should just stop now. Check out Polishposters to see more. So, if you ever want to get me a present, now you know some things I'd like. Thanks.

Watch me if you can

Roy Andersson, director of one of my favorite movies, has a new one. This is only his fourth feature, and it looks spectacular. His ability to exacerbate life's dreariness by drawing out the absurdity is unparalleled. I hope this movie opens somewhere near me sometime soon.



Look for a review of the musical "Catch Me If You Can" sometime next week. Sorry if posting has been slower than usual, but we're in the canicular days of August. Also, this month has brought me many visitors.

John Hughes, RIP

I remember going to see Sixteen Candles in the theater. I was half the age of the protagonist, and the upstanding Christian woman who took myself, my brother and her daughter to see the film was mortified. It was rated PG and Samantha said "fucking."
To say that John Hughes informed my youth is an understatement.
His films were some kind of wonderful and will never be recreated.

A wonderful audio tribute at Beware of the Babylon.
And another wonderful tribute I stumbled across.

The Mighty Thor

Kenneth Branagh is directing Thor which is slated to come out in 2011. Natalie Portman and Jessica Biel are also involved. I think the reason I'm going to see it looks something more like this:

Twirl it all around

February. Crap aught neener sure is flying by! We're 1/12 of the way through the year, and what do I have to show for it but date rape and AIDS jokes?

Seriously, though, besides the abysmal, ulcer-inducing economy, '09 has begun fairly well.

I've been keeping good on my New Year's resolution to lose 2 pounds a month. My New Year resolution for '08 was to go to the gym more than in '07. I accomplished that goal by mid-March and attendance subsequently dropped. Not to say that I didn't go to the gym at all for the rest of the year, but it was noticably less.

So this year the goal is more long-term and also very achievable. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

So what else with '09? Well, Tennille visited weekend before. She stayed at the adorable Hotel Max. We went to Seattle's only male strip club Centerfolds which is only two blocks from my house. It was a first for all three of us (Tennille, Phil, and myself). Completely strange experience. Tennille and I were the only ones there when the club opened at 8. Of course, Seattle is totally puritanical so there's no drinking, but we stepped out on a couple of occasions for beverages. Only one of the guys had a nice body. I bought Phil a lapdance from a guy with a ponch. It was sorta hot--but I wish I could have watched the lapdance a la Showgirls.

Saturday we checked out the Hopper exhibit at SAM. I was surprised at the size of his painting and also at his brushwork. His color palette is so soft that some of it looked like pastels. That night we checked out Gainsbourg on Greenwood. I liked the atmosphere and the small plates, plus they were projecting Mon Oncle on the wall behind us. Oh yeah, and the hallway back to the bathroom looks like the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks.

Sunday we went to trivia at Bill's Off-Broadway then followed it up with the Re-Bar. My stomach was completely a mess (probably from all the drinking) by the time we made it to the Re-Bar. The place was about half-full, nowhere near Flammable's heyday, but there were a few faces I recognized in the crowd. The place still manages to be the most un-pretentious dance/club night in town and that alone is reason to go.

So that's what I've been up to--oh and watching a shit-ton of movies.

Now that I've caught up on nearly all of the films from '08, I think I can say definitively, "Yawn." Slumdog Millionaire was nowhere near the top of my list. In fact, its creepy romanticization of the Mumbai ghetto puts it on par with Life is Beautiful for me. Add to that a lead that can't act and all you're really left with is some really nice cinematography and nice story structure. Milk was decent but not great. Some of the supporting characters, namely Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna were distracting. Add to that the melodramatic/operatic slaying at the end and one begins to feel manipulated. The Wrestler has to be one of the most boring affairs I've seen in a long time, again with just poorly cast and badly acted supporting characters in Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. I realize its adapted from a novel, but to become such a formulaic film for the last hour sucked all life out of it--kind of like the title character serving beef at the deli counter. Revolutionary Road is an example of why a great book should never be put on film--filmmakers trying to include way too much of the novel and not finding the right cinematic references to convey the tone of the piece. And although I adored David Fincher's meticulous Zodiac, I really don't even have the time for The Bi-Curious Case of Ben Jammin' Butthole. Frost/Nixon and Doubt are both examples of why plays should not be turned into movies, but (and I can't believe I'm defending him even a shred) Ron Howard was more adept at translation from stage than John Patrick Shanley.

I was happy to see both Melissa Leo and Richard Jenkins nominated. Frozen River was such a peculiar little film and Leo in particular was spellbinding, but I really would have liked to have seen her acting partner in the film, Misty Upham get some recognition, as well. Jenkins in The Visitor brought a type of believability to his role that none of the other acting nominees could muster. Sure, the film overall was a bit on the melodramatic, Oxygen network, side of immigration morality, but like Leo, Jenkins grounded the work with his performance.

So now I should rail against The Dark Knight, but Jim Emerson has done a much more thorough job. My problems with it came mostly from its hole-riddlered(!?) plot and inconsistent tones and styles. It wasn't helped any by Christian Bale nor Heath Ledger, both of whom are so much more fixated on the minutiae of creating a character than the realities of delivering lines and progressing the plot and tension.

Ok, so that's my take on the mediocrity of this year--so what were the good films this year?

Not a lot--Let the Right One In, Synecdoche, New York, Burn After Reading, and Wild Combination were my favorites. If you haven't taken the time to see them, do so now.

Class dismissed.

For Phil

You're my double shadow

The long nights and cold weather has made me hunger for comfort food. First was the navy bean soup, then the Frito pie. I realize the latter may not be familiar to many of you. I have my youth in Texas to thank for acquiring that taste.

I think the psychological underpinnings of needing comfort come from learning how to share space with the guy I love. Phil moved in at the beginning of the month. Some of his stuff is still in boxes, but most of it unpacked. Half of the bedroom closet contains his clothes now. The laundry pile in the bedroom has (more than) doubled.

We need a bigger bed. Luckily (or unluckily) my graveyard schedule and his swing shift schedule means that he sleeps when I'm at work and vice versa. So its not a pressing matter . . . yet.

I need to say "our" more.

I want him to be comfortable, too.

The broader, social context of needing comfort comes from the residual Prop 8/Rick Waren madness that is nearly inescapable. In my 16 plus years of being an "out" gay man, it hasn't been until recently that I feel the societal ill-will toward my natural proclivities. The latest attack comes from the man that I helped elect to the presidency.

Last week the snow came and justified my agoraphobic tendencies. I had two extra days off work. This city does not handle snow well, which is fine because we only see it every few years.

I played lots of Warcraft. I looked outside to see if the snow was still falling (most of the time it was). We downloaded movies to Tivo. Movies we generally wouldn't watch, and definitely won't watch again.

Trivia:

What movie stars Academy Award winners Kathy Bates and Kevin Spacey, as well as Academy Award nominees Paul Giamatti and Miranda Richardson?

If you answered Fred Claus, pin a rose on your nose!

So that was one of the movies, along with the simply atrocious Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

So all this comfort has got me lazy. And all this being attacked has made me feel victimized.

Guess I'll just have to turn all this shit around in 2009. Who's up for being active and pro-active?

Weekend viewing

Pasolini's Salo
Jim Henson's The Muppet Movie
Tarsem's The Fall
Paris Hilton's The Hottie and the Nottie

And if you have a life that doesn't revolve around chasing the dragon (of sleep) then I'd recommend going to see the director's cut Donnie Darko tonight at the Egyptian.
It features a cover of this song:

I prefer the original.

Bam! Pow!

A couple lines about this summer's comic book exstravaganza--

Iron Man -- Mostly enjoyable but no real sense of an enemy until the final third of the film--I mean, sure, we all knew the Dude was gonna be the bad guy, but he wasn't really that bad until the end. Some fun sequences and really Robert Downey Jr.'s show.

The Incredible Hulk -- Took itself a little too seriously for my tastes. One joke about purple stretch pants was about the only moment of levity. The Abomination fight at the end was pretty anti-climatic. There wasn't even the "Oh no he's really not dead" take.

Hellboy 2 - All around great time. Had some fun B-movie nods with outstanding special effects. The expository dialogue was peppered well with characterization which adds to the completeness of the film's universe. The only storyline which seemed a bit forced was the Duala/Abe love story. It existed in too few scenes or the intensity of their meeting when they pressed hands wasn't played up. A genuinely fun film.

The Dark Knight - Kind of a mess. Some glaring plot holes and poor character development all-around with the exception of maybe James Gordon. I saw it on IMAX and I couldn't tell what sequences were filmed for IMAX which was a bit disappointing. As for that character development--Rachel and Harvey never quite seemed in love, therefore Harvey's transformation seemed implausible. The implications that the Joker manifested as a result of Batman's hubris were pretty laughable because we never get anything other than an action hero.
As for those plot holes--who took care of the Joker after Batman saved Rachel?
And I'm sure it was glossed over in some dialogue from a news anchor or something--but how did those people end up on the ferry boats?

I liked them all well-enough, though, and I'm probably being a mite hard on The Dark Knight because I felt a wee bit ripped off and let down. I think if I had seen it this weekend after the first wave of mania subsided on a normal sized screen that didn't cost (Phil) $15 a ticket, I would have been a little more forgiving--or rather could have given into it a bit more.

Review: Skull & Bones, (finally)

Remember when queer films were small and angry and weird--films like Pink Flamingos and Sins of the Fleshapoids? Yeah, well, I don't exactly remember that time, either, but I do know that somewhere along the way, queer ingenuity gave way to gay mediocrity.

I was pretty stoked when I heard about Hellbent. Then I saw it and was pretty let down with its cookie cutter plot, stereotypical characters, and plodding editing. There were no ideas in that film. Only a meth-head go-go boy could match its vapidity.

Then, last October I was tipped off by now-defunct QTA to the premiere of Skull & Bones which was timed just perfectly with my visit to Tennille and NYC. I went expecting a film on par with Hellbent, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a film with a guerrilla attitude and queer sensibilities. Sure, the production values were far below Hellbent, but the budget was significantly less. And, yes, some of the scenes could have been tightened by a better editor for maximum comedic payoff. But some great ideas and social commentary carry this film--as well as some sick jokes that, if you're like me, will have you in stitches. And one joke in particular that made me a little uneasy--and it takes a lot to make me even slightly uneasy.

The story is pretty simple--two gay dudes who are fed up with being cast aside by the Ivy League upper crust and who are obsessed with serial killers, decide to balance the scales by offing a few of the douchetards in Yale's Skull & Bones society. Its pretty simple for them to infiltrate the ranks--it only takes some liquor and blow before the secret society members are licking and blowing members. The killers fuck, castrate, murder, and zombify the hapless Ivy leaguers and end up with the docile, cock-hungry shell of a Skull & Bones member. As the film ends, their killing spree is still underway.

Skull & Bones is the type of independent film that there needs to be more of today--silly, energetic, gross, and most importantly addressing ideas at which the mainstream is not willing to look. Support truly independent film by dropping 20 bones on a copy for yourself--I did!

My (non-pornographic) dvd collection, not including televsion shows

91 titles

From All that Heaven Allows to A Zed and Two Naughts
Keep the River on Your Right, Last House on the Left
Blue Sunshine, Sunshine
Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, INLAND EMPIRE
Videodrome, Eastern Promises
The Royal Tennenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
CQ, Lost in Translation
Disco Godfather, Disco - Spinning the Story
Dottie Gets Spanked, Velvet Goldmine

Most Pretentious:
tie - The Collected Short Films of Maya Deren, The Collected Short Films of Jan Svankmejer

Least Pretentious:
Dragon Wars

Commentary:
There are many holes in my dvd collection, including many of my favorite films. I own a lot of movies I have only seen once. I have purchased many mediocre movies but find myself purchasing less now that I can send movies to my Tivo from Amazon.