Hollywood counts on the summer blockbuster season to bolster their bottom line but they also rely on the strength of DVD sales to do the same thing. So while this truly is the season to head out to the theater, there are just as many reasons to stay at home and fire up the grill along with the DVD player. Unlike the feature releases, however, these titles are ALL sure bets and will be of distinct interest to at least some segment of the LGBT movie going population.
21 reasons to stay home this summer:
1. Start off with a theme for your first DVD night—'Pooftas'—with the three gay-themed titles that I wrote about in last week's column as your selections: The Naked Civil Servant, The Lost Language of Cranes and Little Britain ( live and on TV ) . ( All available now )
2. The Katharine Hepburn Collection includes 1933's Morning Glory ( her first Oscar win ) ; gay director George Cukor's sexually ambiguous Sylvia Scarlet from 1936, with Cary Grant and Hepburn in drag as a very fetching young man; and Hepburn and Cukor's final effort, the TV version of The Corn Is Green ( 1979 ) . There are also three 1940s vehicles: Vincente Minnelli's tense psychological thriller Undercurrent ( 1946 ) with Robert Taylor and Robert Mitchum; Without Love ( 1945 ) , a minor comedy with Spencer Tracy and co-star Lucille Ball; and Dragonseed ( 1944 ) , with Hepburn as a Chinese peasant! Don't let that put you off this otherwise stellar collection that honors what would have been Hepburn's 100th birthday. ( Available now )
3. Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds is the first 'gay' sequel. It's a silly, sexy fun romp with Mink Stole as the queer-loving mother of out singer Jim Verraros. ( Available now )
4. The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert—Extra Frills Edition has plenty of new fun surprises to make the DVD upgrade worth it: deleted scenes, karaoke tracks, behind-the-scenes featurettes, commentaries and more. ( June 5 )
5. Desert Hearts Vintage Collection—This two-disc set is a long-overdue re-examination of the lesbian classic from 1986. New interviews with director Donna Deitch, Helen Shaver and Patricia Charboneau are among the extra goodies. ( June 5 )
6. The Fantastic Voyage Special Edition also offers a wealth of new and vintage material. Fans of this 1966 sci-fi semi-camp favorite with Raquel Welch and Stephen Boyd won't be disappointed. ( June 5 )
7. Dante's Cove, Season 2—Cable premium gay network here! brings us five new episodes of maybe the dumbest, sexiest supernatural thriller series ever in a two-disc version that easily lives up to its 'guilty pleasure' billing. ( June 5 )
8. Kathy Griffin—My Life on the D List—The hilarious first season, starring the self-proclaimed queen of the fag hags, arrives in a two-disc set just in time for Bravo to promote season three of the Emmy nominated show. ( June 12 )
9. A Little Night Music—Alright, erudite show tune queens: One of your most requested titles is here at last. ( It never made it to video. ) Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Rigg star in this little-seen 1978 big-screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical. ( Taylor also sings Send in the Clowns—no, really. ) ( June 12 )
10. Noah's Arc, Season 2—Until the feature film version of LOGO's queer African-American version of TV's Sex and the City shows up, this three-disc compilation of the show's final season will have to suffice. If this is any indication, the wait will be worth it. ( June 12 )
11. Gray Matters—The lesbian romantic comedy with Heather Graham, Tom Cavanagh, a lovelorn Alan Cumming and eccentric Molly Shannon comes to DVD. ( June 19 )
12. The Lucille Ball Film Collection—My camp prayers have been answered! 1974's Mame is finally here, and even without extras the wait has been worth it. Lucy sings, Bea Arthur camps and both look smashing in Theadora Van Runkle's drag-queen costumes. Also included are several pre-I Love Lucy films—1942's vastly entertaining The Big Street, with Ball co-starring with Henry Fonda and particularly fine as a hard-bitten showgirl; the lush musical comedy DuBarry Was a Lady ( Ball and Red Skelton ) ; Critics Choice with Bob Hope; and Ball as a ballerina ( ! ) -turned-burlesque queen in Dance Girl Dance. ( June 19 )
13. Reno 911: Miami—The laugh-a-minute, big-screen version of the Comedy Central parody hit comes to DVD in an unrated edition promising even less of Lt. Jim Dangle's short shorts and more of Terry the prostitute's butt cheeks. ( June 19 )
14. Wedding Wars—John Stamos plays gay in this charming cable TV film. James Brolin—Mr. Barbra Streisand—is also on hand. ( June 26 )
15. Puccini for Beginners—This year's other lesbian romantic comedy features Elizabeth Reaser, Justin Kirk and Gretchen Mol. ( July 3 )
16. The Esther Williams Collection, Volume 1—Dive right in and enjoy these long-anticipated water-logged musicals from MGM's pert aquatic star. The set includes Bathing Beauty, Easy to Wed, On An Island With You, Neptune's Daughter and Dangerous When Wet—all making their DVD debuts. ( July 17 )
17. Zodiac—Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey, Jr., and Mark Ruffalo star in director David 'Fight Club' Fincher's creepy story of the still-unsolved Zodiac murders. ( July 24 )
18. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer—Writer-director-composer Tom Tykwer's unfairly trounced sensual delight gets a second life on DVD and, hopefully, this time the sweet smell of success will follow. ( July 24 )
19. 300—A two-disc special edition full of extra material about the making of Zack Snyder's homoerotic, mega-violent Spartan epic, with buff star Gerard Butler and lesbian fave Lena Headey, will win the battle for both gay and straight fans. ( July 31 )
20. Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe Edition—I'm not sure about the 'savior' part, but this new version of the camp 1980 film, with Playgirl centerfold Sam Jones as the iconic hero and Freddie Mercury belting out 'Flash! Ahhhh-ahhhh!' every two minutes, is welcome indeed. A few featurettes are augmented by the inclusion of the original black-and-white serial. ( Aug. 7 )
21. Dynasty, Season 2—At long last, Joan Collins enters the story as bitchy Alexis Carrington and kick starts ( sometimes, literally ) the 1980s most-beloved nighttime soap into high gear. This six-disc set will keep camp addicts satisfied well into the fall. ( Aug. 14 )
