This year Black Friday, the traditional jumping-off point for the annual holiday shopping madness was just the beginning of sales on just about everything including DVDs ( both "regular" DVDs and the new, supposedly improved Blu-Ray formats ) .For movie fans of all stripes, especially those of a queer bent, this will prove to be an incentive to stock up on a slew of new titles and perhaps even buy a few as gifts should the spirit of the season truly arrive. A few suggestions from my own shopping list ( unless noted, these titles are already in stores or will arrive on Dec. 8 ) :
Tis the season
Three holiday-themed movies worth adding to the collection: Make the Yuletide Gay, though a tad on the thin side, is one of the few queer-themed holiday movies that hasn't made me want to toss my eggnog. Criterion is releasing A Christmas Tale, the superb 2008 drama starring Catherine Deneuve about the holiday gathering of a dysfunctional French family. And Remember the Night, the nearly forgotten 1940 holiday gem with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray from Preston Sturges, is finally getting a release via the new DVD on Demand program, thanks to TCM and Universal ( and no one tell my husband, who has had this on his wish list for decades ) .
Classics
The joint TCM/Universal DVD on Demand program has also just given us the Universal Cult Horror Collection, a nifty set of five horror programmers with stars Lionel Atwill, George Zucco and others ( and look for a set of early Cary Grant films in early January with more titles appearing quarterly ) . MGM is getting in on the DVD on Demand action beginning on Dec. 15 with several recent titles and two older favorites: 1962's Two for the Seesaw with Shirley MacLaine and Robert Mitchum and 1956's Trapeze with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis fighting over Gina Lollobrigida.
Universal also recently released the three-disc Claudette Colbert Collection, which includes six hidden gems of one of Hollywood's unsung ( and rumored Sapphic ) classic stars. And Warner Home Video has superb new additions ( in both DVD and Blu Ray formats ) celebrating the 70th anniversary of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz as well as a 50th-anniversary edition of North By Northwest—all with hours of extras including feature length documentaries, etc. in sparkling new digitally improved formats.
Recently in theaters
Bruno, the latest from shock character comedian Sacha Baron Cohen—that includes a batch of deleted scenes and other extras, is at the top of my comedies list. Julie & Julia—the delightful dual biopic of blogger Julie Powell and legendary French chef Julia Child with a star turn by Meryl Streep and a delightful performance by Amy Adams in the title roles—is first on my partner's wish list, next to mine for 500 Days of Summer, the witty romantic comedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, one of the year's best films. It arrives on Dec. 22 just in time to stick under the tree—as does Mike Judge's very funny comedy, Extract, with Justin Bateman, which hopefully will find a larger audience on DVD than it did in theaters.
I have several blockbuster action fans on my list so I'm picking up several of last summer's biggest hits, now hitting stores—Star Trek for my best friend ( a dedicated Trekkie for 30 years ) , Terminator Salvation for that cousin on my list who has a thing for Christian Bale, Public Enemies for myself and anyone else who wants a large dose of Johnny Depp until Alice in Wonderland arrives this spring ( and maybe Dark Shadows in 2011? ) and Inglorious Basterds for that friend ( and you know who you are ) with the twisted sense of humor ( arriving Dec. 15 ) . My partner's son-in-law wants the Watchman Ultimate Box Set and, though I thought everything about it ( except Billy Crudup's blue penis ) was a waste of time, his wish is my command. My two favorite blockbusters from last summer are going into my collection: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ( the two-disc edition with all the behind-the-scenes features ) and District Nine ( which squeaks under the Christmas-giving wire with a Dec. 22 release date ) .
Going green
Earth, the stunning documentary from Disney, won't break the bank and Water Life, a fascinating six-part documentary ( available in a three-disc Blu-Ray version ) from Anamorphic is a great companion set. I'm also a big fan of the trend—started by several of the indie distributors—of releasing DVDs in recycled packaging—a trend that hopefully will spread to the majors.
Queer-themed
There's plenty out there just for Our People ( most of it in the romance or sex comedy department ) starting with Zeitgeist's wonderful documentary Chris & Don: A Love Story and Ang Lee's underrated dramedy Taking Woodstock ( arriving Dec. 15 ) . Several other interesting LGBT-themed titles: Hollywood Je T'aime, a sexy romantic comedy with Chad Allen and French hottie Eric Debets ( from Wolfe Video ) , the rough-and-tumble Shank and Redwoods, a gay romance ( both from TLA ) , Ghosted, a lesbian romantic mystery from First Run Features and Lucky Bastard, a sexy drama from Breaking Glass. And don't forget to pick up Eating Out: All You Can Eat from Ariztical to get your holiday quota of hunky near-naked studs tossed in with the comedy.
TV time
There's more queer-themed material ( lots of it ) when my list veers toward the small screen starting with the sixth and final season of The L Word, the latest seasons of Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters ( each featuring gay characters ) , Showtime's season three of The Tudors with queer fave Johnathan Rhys-Myers in the title role lands on Dec. 15 and just after the holidays ( on Dec. 29 ) comes Glee, Vol. One: Road to Sectionals, which includes the first 13 episodes of the hit Fox dramedy—something to use one of your gift cards on!
Happy holiday shopping to one and all.
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site.
