GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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In Memory Of 
Mike
Maffei |
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It will come as no surprise to my longtime readers that Vito Russo (1946-1990) is one of my heroes. Russo wrote the groundbreaking study of gays in the movies, The Celluloid Closet (1981, revised edition 1987). Later, Russo co-founded GLAAD and protested on the front lines with ACT UP. Russo is also the subject of a superb new documentary. Vito aired on HBO in 2012 and is now available on home video. By using a terrific mix of talking heads and some astounding archival footage, a full portrait of the man, and his times, emerge. By the end of the film, you will feel as if you lost a great friend. |
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Ever wish you could rewind your life? What would you do if you were given a second chance? Judas Kiss, the debut feature film from director and co-writer J.T. Tepnapa, asks these questions and tries to answer them in both playful and serious ways. Judas Kiss is an implausible but interesting Twilight Zone episode, with a touch of Back To The Future. I'm a little late getting to this film, but I'm glad I finally watched it. |
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| 2010’s Bear City was a pleasant diversion from the usual queer faire. Bear culture was featured front and center, rather than being relegated to background color. When last we saw young newbie Tyler, he had landed Roger, the silver daddy of his dreams and they’re all back for writer/director Douglas Langway’s follow-up, Bear City 2: The Proposal. Roger has proposed to Tyler and the gang is spending Bear Week together in Provincetown for the bachelor parties and wedding. | |||
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| Brokeback Mountain is the Citizen Kane of queer cinema. Some films make an impact on their first release only to be forgotten later. This one has lost none of its raw power. Brokeback Mountain was the breakthrough film that we awaited for decades. It was an exquisitely crafted movie, a critical and commercial success, and a surprise crossover hit. Conservative pundits and the family councils all went into apoplexy, jokes were made by comedians, and the mythology of the American cowboy underwent a major revision. But, above all, Brokeback Mountain was a love story that resonated with audiences both gay and straight. | |||
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According to popular
legend, playwright Tennessee Williams underwent psychoanalysis in 1957
to "cure" his homosexuality and the play Suddenly
Last Summer
was the result. This is inaccurate; the truth is much more complicated
than that. Many view Suddenly
Last Summer,
especially the film version, as being one of the ultimate artistic
expressions of a self loathing queer. The inclusion of a negatively portrayed
homosexual is hardly proof of this; Williams' fiction is populated with
far more grotesque examples of heterosexuals. |
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| Edwardian
England was not a good time to be gay. The climate was so bad that
noted novelist E.M. Forster began writing a book with a homosexual hero
in 1913 that he never published in his lifetime. That book, of course, is
Maurice
and, in 1987, Merchant Ivory Productions adapted the book to the screen.
The film
features superb performances and a meticulous attention to period detail.
It is a rich filmgoing experience and one of the most beautiful films in
all of queer cinema. |
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