Movies Dearz

Summer is traditionally a time for travel, both domestic and international. If you aren't able to get away this year, a number of new GLBT theatrical and DVD releases from different countries may yet provide a perfect, armchair travel escape.

Men for Sale is an eye-opening, hard-hitting documentary set for DVD release on August 31 by Breaking Glass Pictures. Respected filmmaker Rodrigue Jean spent a year following 11 male sex workers in Montreal, Canada. Through candid interviews with his subjects, Jean exposes a uniform, vicious cycle of childhood neglect or abuse, drug addiction and prostitution. Some of the men started having sex for money when they were as young as 12, usually after they started abusing drugs.

The revelations in Men for Sale become repetitious within a lengthy 145-minute running time, but this serves to underscore the tragic trap in which these men are caught. Although most are in their 20's and identify as heterosexual, one is a 40-something gay man who starred in several porn films starting when he was 16. The majority of self-professed straight subjects bolster their masculinity on-camera by saying they refuse to engage in anal intercourse. However, one of them tells Jean bluntly that this simply isn't true. The film makes clear that when the need for a drug high to ease the pain of a sad childhood is desperate enough, moral and/or physical taboos are easily shed.

Also of note is one sex worker's observation of his numerous political clients. "The guys who pass laws against us (re: prostitution/solicitation and homosexuality)," he says, "are the ones who come looking for us at night." Even in more liberal Canada, sexual hypocrisy is alive and well.


If you're looking for something more upbeat on your cinematic world tour, Spinnin', now available on DVD, is a thoroughly enjoyable dramedy from Spain. The film won the award for Best Feature Film at the Barcelona Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival. It opens with the love-at-first-sight meeting of two men, Garate and Omar (played, respectively, by the very attractive Alejandro Tous and Olav Fernandez), and recounts their subsequent efforts to find a surrogate mother so they can father a child.

The process doesn't go as easily as the couple had hoped, but they gain important insights and new friends in the process. While stylized and erratically edited, Spinnin' is a rainbow-hued movie that also takes on such wide-ranging subjects as Star Wars, soccer, HIV/AIDS and God's homosexuality (!). It is very well-directed and -written by the obviously talented Eusebio Pastrana, who has been described as a "rising auteur." I also found inspiring the numerous moments of physical (not necessarily sexual, although it has that too) and emotional intimacy in the film between even those characters who don't know each other well.

Finally, I would feel remiss if I didn't mention Brazil's From Beginning to End (Do Comeco ao Fim), even though it isn't yet scheduled for release in the US due to its controversial plot. Shown during the just-completed Outfest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in Los Angeles, it is the romantic, sexy, crowd-pleasing, heart-warming love story of two brothers in love ... with each other!


Ok, the film's protagonists, Francisco and Thomas, are technically half-brothers but they share the same mother and were raised together. Their unusual closeness is noticed by their mother and Francisco's father while the boys are still young, but the parents assume it is a natural phase they will grow out of in time.

Following their beloved mother's death, however, the grown (and gorgeous) Thomas and Francisco feel "liberated" and their formerly chaste, brotherly love becomes sexual. Over time, they even exchange wedding rings! As one of them declares, "To understand our love they'd have to turn the world upside down."

Their relationship is tested, though, when Thomas is accepted as a member of Brazil's Olympics swim team, requiring him to go to Russia for three years' worth of training. Left behind and lonely, Francisco gets close to a woman. Will the brothers decide to live more "normal" lives? I'm not going to give things away. Suffice to say that the movie's writer-director, Aluizio Abranches, isn't afraid to go where few have ventured outside of exploitive porn/fetish films.

Most viewers will find the moral implications of the brothers' romance challenging, but it is hard to criticize their sincere love for one another or the desire to express it physically. Moving and thought-provoking, keep your eyes open for From Beginning to End when planning your next international movie experience.

UPDATE: From Beginning to End is now available on DVD from Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

The acclaimed Swedish gay family comedy Patrik Age 1.5 opens this Friday for an exclusive one-week engagement at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles.

Sven (Torkel Petersson) and Goran (Gustaf Skarsgård) are a legally married gay couple who relocate to a suburban village to fulfill their dream of adopting a child. In the face of disapproval from their neighbors, the happy couple forges ahead through a rigorous and daunting approval process. Just when all hopes seem dashed, news comes of an available child: Patrik, Age 1.5. The couple prepare excitedly for the arrival of their one-and-a-half-year-old baby boy, unaware that a decimal mistake was made on the paperwork. When Patrik (Thomas Ljungman) shows up, he is in fact fifteen, criminally delinquent ... and homophobic. Instead of the happy family they had envisioned, the couple must find a way to navigate through the challenges of housing a troubled and troubling youth.

From Regency Releasing, this hilarious and heartfelt comedy-drama was directed and written by Ella Lemhagen and had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and later was Centerpiece Film at Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, where it won the Best Feature Film Audience Award.

With the Outfest Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival just concluding one of its best events in recent years, it was nonetheless clear yet again that the "B" in GLBT too often gets short shrift. This isn't festival programmers' faults since few bisexual-themed films are currently being made, according to a panelist who spoke after the North American premiere of Bisexual Revolution at Outfest on July 10.

The French-made documentary (which is subtitled, in English, Bisexuality: Is It An Art?) is the best cinematic exploration of the subject to date, which isn't hard to conclude when last year's woeful Bi the Way is seemingly the genre's high point. Filmmakers Eric Wastiaux and Laure Michel interviewed bisexual men and women around the world and compiled the insights gained for Bisexual Revolution. The result was shown last year on French television and reportedly ignited overnight a national discussion and a resultant, increased acceptance of bisexuality there.

Wastiaux and Michel, who also participated in the post-screening discussion, confessed to being dubious of bisexuality prior to filming. Both came away believers, and Wastiaux even engaged in his first same-sex experience. The doc takes a broad approach to understanding bisexuality, with Dr. Alfred Kinsey's famed scale of sexuality a particularly helpful resource. Kinsey's research in the 1950's revealed that the vast majority of human beings are neither 100% heterosexual nor 100% homosexual. Rather, we fall along various points of sexual orientation depending on our life experiences, attractions and values. The concept and practice of human sexuality emerged as much more fluid than conservative politicians and religious leaders would have us believe.


Bisexual Revolution makes this 50-year old finding abundantly clear. People of various genders, nationalities, ethnicities and ages discuss their bisexuality on camera with wisdom and honesty. Among the interviewees are American filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell (of Shortbus and Hedwig and the Angry Inch fame), French pop star Yelle, and numerous prominent writers, artists and educators.

At a concise 61 minutes, the film provides a great overview while hardly presuming to be the last word on the topic. Indeed, it serves as a great conversation-starter as evidenced by the French broadcast's aftermath and the post-screening discussion at Outfest. Audience members didn't shy from revealing their own, less-than-100%-gay-or-lesbian experiences. One transgender viewer commented about how even more complex sexuality is from her perspective!

It is unfortunate that bisexuality remains an often confounding and even taboo subject in straight, gay and lesbian circles alike. Bisexual Revolution can only help to de-stigmatize it, thanks to the film's declaration of the great truth that human beings and sexuality are too intricate to be categorized or labeled.

Watch the trailer for Bisexual Revolution here.

Reverend's Rating: B+

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

It's hot outside, so this month's Movie Dearest Calendar Wallpaper has gone back in time to a certain totally awesome decade to bring you a sizzling collection of cinematic 80's Hunks!

From dirty dancers to bulging barbarians, American gigolos to international adventurers, these are the men of August.

All you have to do is click on the picture above to enlarge it, then simply right click your mouse and select "Set as Background". (You can also save it to your computer and set it up from there if you prefer.) The size is 1024 x 768, but you can modify it if needed in your own photo-editing program.

I will always remember fondly the day in 1975 when my mother picked my brother and I up after school and unexpectedly took us to see Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. The now classic spoof of old Universal horror movies made us giggle uncontrollably then, and continues to make me and many other people laugh at the mere mention of it.

Brooks, in the wake of his huge success with turning The Producers into a stage musical, has done the same with Young Frankenstein. Though not as well received as its predecessor on Broadway, its current US tour seems off to a good start. The production just made its Los Angeles debut at the Pantages Theatre on Tuesday night.

The LA run features several performers from the original New York production, most notably two Tony Award winners: the always enjoyable Roger Bart (The Producers, TV's Desperate Housewives) as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, the role Gene Wilder made famous in the film, and the physically imposing Shuler Hensley (Broadway's Tarzan and Jud Fry in the most recent revival of Oklahoma!) as his Monster. Both are thoroughly entertaining, and no less so than when they are recreating the movie's famous Master-Monster duet on Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz."


Other effective, crowd-pleasing performances in the tour include those of Broadway regular Brad Oscar in the dual roles of Inspector Kemp and the Blind Hermit; Cory English as Frankenstein's devoted assistant, Igor; Joanna Glushak as Frau Blucher; and Anne Horak as Inga, the local Transylvania girl brought to life in the original film by Teri Garr. Unfortunately, the role of Elizabeth, Dr. Frankenstein's high society fiancée originally played by Madeline Kahn, wasn't as well-played or -sung by Beth Curry as the others (it may be worth noting that Megan Mullally also had difficulty with the part in New York).

It is equally to the show's benefit and its detriment that the book (co-penned by Brooks and Thomas Meehan) was adapted nearly verbatim from the original screenplay. The film's plot and best jokes — which are essentially all of them — have been retained and remain fresh, ensuring often-riotous audience laughter throughout; on the other hand, there is little in the show apart from the song score and a Starbucks reference that anyone who has viewed the Young Frankenstein movie hasn't seen or heard before. The horses still whinny in terror whenever Frau Blucher's name (which is synonymous with "glue factory") is pronounced, Castle Von Frankenstein's doors continue to sport their notable "knockers," and the Blind Hermit predictably sets the Monster's thumb on fire instead of his cigar. The musical is carried along more by familiarity with Brooks' schtick and nostalgia than anything original.


The songs, however, are a happy exception to this. The musically-gifted Brooks has actually improved on his score for The Producers with Young Frankenstein's more complex, beautifully orchestrated and (most importantly) very funny tunes. Highlights during the performance I attended included "Roll in the Hay," convincingly staged in a "horse"-drawn wagon; "Join the Family Business," a rousing chorus number that culminates in the on-stage assembly of a gigantic Frankenstein monster; and Frau Blucher's hilarious, S&M-tinged "He Vas My Boyfriend."

Young Frankenstein boasts more set changes than I can recall in a recent musical, especially for a touring company. Longtime designer Robin Wagner has done a masterful job, especially with Frankenstein's lab. The soaring, elaborate set includes working pullies and electric gadgetry as well as an operating table that rises to the rafters with the lead actors on it! Peter Kaczorowski's lighting effects and Jonathan Deans' sound design provide great support.


Susan Stroman, a double Tony-winner for her direction and choreography of The Producers, repeats those duties here but without as much success, especially in the dance department. Her dances are serviceable but not noteworthy, although a Russian-inspired segment during "Join the Family Business" and a "Puttin' on the Ritz" chorus line featuring oversized, taps-laden monster boots are impressive.

Brooks is reportedly working now on a musical version of Blazing Saddles. He's a brave man. Young Frankenstein has already shown that it is difficult to capture the same magic twice, let alone three times. If one is yearning, though, for an unquestionably entertaining evening of music and laughs, it's hard to beat Young Frankenstein.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

A middle-aged, male escort and his younger, cross-dressing protégé are the unusual central characters in The Extra Man. Based on the novel by Jonathan Ames, the film opens this Friday in New York and on Friday, August 6 in the Los Angeles and San Francisco vicinities.

As the movie begins, Louis Ives (Paul Dano, of Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood) is being fired from his teaching position. Ives, who is devoted to 1920's literature and fears himself "unlovable," takes advantage of his unexpected freedom and moves to Manhattan to pursue a writing career. Fortunately, he not only finds a job quickly but also discovers a bevy of "tranny" bars wherein he hopes to indulge his fondness for wearing women's clothing.


Ives also secures himself a room in the residence of Henry Harrison (the irrepressible Kevin Kline), a failed playwright turned companion to wealthy, older women. To call Harrison "eccentric" would be an understatement. He proudly — and loudly — boasts of his disdain for sex, kissing, recycling, homeless people and feminism, while cherishing dancing and his Christmas ornament collection. After imposing a "no fornication" rule on Ives upon moving in, Harrison begins introducing the young man to his clients. Harrison insists he is not a gigolo but rather "an extra man" or "walker" for lonely women who don't return his attentions with money. Rather, he is "paid in pleasure" via dinners in high-end restaurants, nights at the opera and the use of beachfront vacation homes.

Some of the women become suspicious of Harrison's interest in Ives. As one of them, played by the always welcome Celia Weston, tells Ives: "People suspect Henry is a homosexual. He was in the theatre. Theatre types need to be a little homosexual so they can feel things more deeply." Also, Ives' age-appropriate co-worker, Mary (a nice, light turn by Katie Holmes), on whom he is crushing notes "Maybe he's in love with you" when Ives tells her of Harrison's kindness toward him. Meanwhile, Ives undertakes his own sexual exploration with the help of a spank-happy dominatrix (Patti D'Arbanville) and a women's makeover artist.


Chief among The Extra Man's numerous attributes is its excellent cast. Kline, harking back to his wackier characterizations in such offbeat 80's movies as The Pirates of Penzance and A Fish Called Wanda, is a delight. Dano more than holds his own against Kline as the hopelessly romantic Ives, who would have been more at-home in his skin during the 1920's. In addition to Weston and D'Arbanville, stage icon Marian Seldes appears as another of Harrison's lady friends and gives a lovely, more comical-than-usual performance. Only John C. Reilly, as a former roommate of Harrison's, seems off-key, which is amplified (literally) by his decision to speak in a higher octave.

Adapted from the book and co-directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who previously made The Nanny Diaries and the excellent American Splendor, The Extra Man has its more outré moments but is in general an enjoyable, pitch-perfect celebration of non-conformity.

Reverend's Rating: B+

UPDATE: The Extra Man is now available on DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Few movies inspire such love and hate as Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 “morality tale”-slash-camp classic, Showgirls. Now you can recreate the fun in your own home with the brand new 15th Anniversary "Sinsational" Blu-ray, featuring hilarious extras like pole dancing lessons and a commentary by superfan David Schmader entitled "The Greatest Movie Ever Made".

Showgirls is the story of Nomi Malone, played by Elizabeth Berkley in a manner that can best be summed up as “petulant slut”. Nomi hitches a ride to Las Vegas packing a switchblade and a dream. “I’m a dancer,” she tells the first of many men who’ll use and abuse her on her rise to the top; or rather, the sort of sad, middling pinnacle that is headlining a Vegas topless review at a casino that has since been demolished.


Faster than you can lose at the craps table, Nomi is robbed and left with nowhere to go, until she meets and nearly vomits on sweet Molly Abrams (Gina Ravera), a costumer for Goddess, the “hit” show at the Stardust. Molly lets her crash at her trailer, where the two bond over their love of chips and tacky nails, and soon Molly introduces Nomi to the reigning Queen of Vegas, predatory lesbian Cristal Conners (played deliciously by Gina Gershon, who is the only actor who knows what kind of movie she’s in).

Like a naked All About Eve, Nomi uses her inexplicable irresistibility to become Cristal’s understudy and then her replacement. You haven’t lived until you’ve watched Berkley and Gershon spar at Spago over who’s a whore and which of them liked eating Doggie Chow more.


The film’s cynical take on the highs and lows of fame could be viewed as a sublime satire of women behaving the way men who know nothing about women think they do, if not for a truly awful and vicious rape scene toward the end. Shmader wisely advises you to fast forward through it, like he does when he presents his cinematic master classes on Showgirls across the country. Despite all the degradations Nomi endures (including her uproariously awful stint as a lap dancer at the Cheetah, a “Gentleman’s Club”), she leaves Las Vegas with her dignity, switchblade and a newfound self-awareness. Los Angeles, look out!

Why has Showgirls cast such a rhinestone-studded spell over lovers of camp and others? I asked numerous notable people for their opinions as to why Showgirls has become the Citizen Kane of trash cinema, and also asked them to share their favorite Showgirls moments or lines.


“Gosh, Showgirls,” replied Charles Busch, celebrated star and playwright of Die Mommie Die! and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. “You know, I've never actually seen it. Isn't that wild? I'm better versed on Lady of Burlesque with Barbara Stanwyck.”

Ron May, talented actor/director of numerous Arizona stage hits admitted, “Oh My God, Showgirls. It's ridiculous how much I love that movie. It's so deliciously awful. I think the only movie I laugh at as hard as I do that movie is Congo ... with Tim Curry and the talking monkeys.” He also divulged that he’s desperately tried to snag the rights to a “Sock Puppet Showgirls” that happened in New York a few years back. “Even though I have no idea if it's even any good or not.” He also highly recommends the blog Nomi Malone Can Read.


Joshua Grannell, the inspired filmmaker who hosts Midnight Mass screenings in San Francisco as his alter ego Peaches Christ, took time from promoting the cross-country tour for his outrageous new horror comedy, All About Evil (co-starring Natasha Lyonne, Mink Stole and Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson) to say: “My favorite thing about Showgirls is how totally committed the movie and everyone in it was to making it so extreme,” Grannell explained. “It's an extreme movie in every way, and I love it for that. I think it succeeds because it's so relentless and so much fun. It's colorful, outrageous, bizarre, hilarious, depraved, and provides for a wonderful group viewing.

Grannell, who is hosting a giant Showgirls event on August 7 in San Francisco, continues: "I think my favorite part of our Midnight Mass show is always the "Free Lap-dances With Every Large Popcorn". It's just so appalling and wrong watching an audience full of Showgirls fanatics get grinded on by drag freaks, monsters and lap-dancing mutants. And I also love bursting out of that volcano naked! That's a tradition at our show, and there's something so liberating about erupting onto stage that way.”


Zachary Jackson, host of Zack Attack Camp Cinema at the MADCAP Theaters, is a more sincere lover of Nomi and her pals. His favorite moment? “Nomi is sitting on the hood of her car above the flashing Flamingo sign — eating a hamburger nonetheless — overlooking the Las Vegas strip during sunset,” he explained, “The scene lasts less than a minute, but I don’t know …there’s something beautiful about it.”

Actress Angelica Howland wasn’t so enamored of Berkley’s mastication prowess. “My favorite part is when Elizabeth Berkley can't even eat a hamburger like a believable human being and then she throws the hamburger wrapper into the alley like she is tossing flowers into the air ... cuz, well you know ... littering is über-beautiful and outrageously sexy. My second favorite part is when she is thrashing around on Kyle McLaughlin's junk in the pool and he's barely able to hold on to her. The look on his face is hilarious — like, 'What the hell?! This gigantic, naked, Saved by the Bell psycho is gonna freakin' break my back and drown me!'”


The pool scene, complete with neon palm trees and spitting dolphin fountains was the stand-out scene for most people I interviewed, but the grand, gaudy grotesquery of the faux show Goddess ranks right behind. Many a backstage tale has made it to the screen, but none other feature exploding volcanoes, garlic-eating monkeys flinging poop on stage and a sassy showgirl berating the costumer with bon mots like “Molly, they're going to see a smiling snatch if you don't fix this g-string.”

Hard to believe, but Showgirls was primed to be a huge, groundbreaking event. Madonna was sought for Gershon’s role, and Drew Barrymore was the first pick for Nomi. Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie, Jenny McCarthy, Pamela Anderson and Finola Hughes all auditioned. Joe Eszterhas received an unheard-of two million dollars for his script.


“Showgirls was the first big budget NC-17 film — and a highly anticipated release,” Jackson explained. “When it opened in theaters in 1995, it tanked. The reviews were beyond harsh and it practically destroyed Berkley’s career. The idea of paving the way for a new line of controversial adult filmmaking was brilliant; however the execution of Showgirls put a swift end to that concept.”

Monique Parent, the gorgeous redheaded actress best known for roles in erotic films like The Witches of Breastwick and Blood Scarab, as well as the new horror film, The Perfect House, related her disappointment. “I only saw Showgirls once, when it first came out. I really, really expected it to be a good film and wanted it to be a good film. As an actor who has appeared in many films with little or no clothing, I hate the fact that most people seem to believe that nudity in a film means it's bad or that only bad movies have nudity. I really wanted Showgirls to be the movie that proved that theory wrong. To be a film that showed beautiful women fully nude and still had strong writing and strong acting.


"But frankly, I hated it. I felt that Elizabeth Berkeley's character ran the gamut of acting emotions from A to B. Not even her fault. That's how the movie was written, as best I can remember.  I still believe a film can feature beautiful people fully nude and be a really good movie at the same time. But Showgirls is not it.”

What really sends Showgirls into the stratosphere of camp, though, is the dialogue, the glorious, mind-bendingly vulgar lines that people can’t stop quoting, from Cristal’s signature “Hi darlin’” and Nomi’s thudding endorsement “It doesn’t suck” to the aggressively unfunny stand-up comedy of Henrietta “Mamma” Bazoom (Lin Tucci). Here are the lines that inspire these notable Showgirls fans. Feel free to add your own.


Phillip Fazio (New York actor and director): Cristal: "I'm gettin' a little too old for that whorey look... "

Kirby Holt (writer/creator of Movie Dearest and The QuOD - The Queer Online Database) Al (Robert Davi) to former lap-dancer Nomi: "It must be weird, not having anybody cum on you."

Matthew Harris (actor and drag performer Rhianna Matthews): Cristal: "I want my nipples to press, but I don’t want them to look like they’re levitatin'."

Scott Pierce (actor and Snatch creator Pandora LeStange) Cristal: "We're all whores, honey."

Jimmy Asimenios (actor): Henrietta Bazoom: "Goddamn it! You're the only one who could get my tits poppin' right!"

Buddy Early (performer/former editor, Echo Magazine): Nomi, showing off her new dress: "I bought it at Ver-sayce!"

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.