Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Knight at the Movies: Limelight; Footloose
2011-10-12

This article shared 7425 times since Wed Oct 12, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


A little more than 26 years ago I began working as an event promoter at what was then arguably the hottest nightclub Chicago had ever seen: Limelight.

From the day I set foot inside 632 N. Dearborn St., my professional life changed forever. To say the team of fellow creatives who worked and thrived alongside me for the next three and a half years, unless the nightspot closed New Year's Eve 1988, would be an understatement. I am reminded of that life-changing experience on a daily basis and, last year, at a 25th-anniversary reunion party, I greeted old colleagues and friends with the pleasure that comes with all such reunions.

Looming over the reunion but physically absent was Peter Gatien, Limelight's sole owner, who had also psychically presided over the club from his base in Manhattan, the original Limelight, during the club's heyday in the mid-'80s but had rarely visited. It's doubtful that even if Gatien had wanted to attend the Chicago reunion he would have; after being charged and found guilty of income-tax fraud, he was deported back to his native Canada in 2003, and visits back to the States aren't easily managed.

Now his daughter, Jen Gatien, a film producer of rather interesting offbeat indie fare (including the forthcoming LGBT-themed Jack and Diane) has produced a documentary directed by Billy Corben called Limelight that details the events in the early to mid-'90s that led to Gatien's demise as the onetime nightclub king of Manhattan, where he had presided over not just Limelight but The Tunnel, Palladium and his own mega club, USA.

Everything that happened to Gatien and his empire—when he was pitted against the neo-conservative, cross-dressing onetime New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his administration—occurred after my professional association with Gatien ended. That's not to imply any attempt on my part to distance myself from the man I once worked indirectly for and have occasionally been in touch with since. Rather, it's to point out that the club scene that rose to popularity after my tenure was very, very different, and the period examined in the film—the early to mid-'90s—is miles from my era.

My decade was the decade of big hair, big shoulders, outrageous fashion shows and art installations, cocaine, MTV and the invention of the CD and answering machines. Cell phones and the Internet were years away. As the '80s turned into the '90s the age of the club kids, all-night raves, designer drugs, hip-hop and rap became the driving forces behind the success of the megaclubs. The party went on non-stop because the drugs, like Ecstasy and Special K, worked for hours—and the music and the revelers followed suit.

The film details these changes to nightlife culture (that for my money took it down several notches) after Gatien, in his signature monotone but now sporting designer shades in place of the one time de rigueur eye patch (worn as the result of a teenage hockey accident in his native Canada), narrates his own history to an off-camera interviewer (illustrated by snippets of archival footage that filled me with nostalgia).

The bulk of the ensuing saga, according to the movie, looks at the Giuliani administration aiming to close down the megaclubs. Two of Gatien's top party promoters relay this information. One is Michael Alig, the king of the club kids who was eventually convicted of murdering another club kid—relay this. The other promoter, Lord Michael, is another convicted felon who proudly trumpets his claim of having been the first person to bring Ecstasy to Manhattan.

In contrast to these smarmy individuals, a trio of prosecutors describes attempts to directly link Gatien to the drug dealing that was going on in his clubs. Journalist Frank Owen, a longtime watcher of the party scene who chronicled Gatien's story in a book, is another talking head adding details to the story that gets seamier and more repetitive as the film progresses. Corben relies too heavily on the sleazy, ego-driven promoters who clearly relish their time on camera and could have used some fresh interview subjects to offset the taint they leave behind. Also, the film—a none-too subtle attempt to exonerate Gatien's reputation (which, based on the story here, has some merit)—leaves avenues unexplored and questions unanswered.

Although it's not quite the David-vs.-Goliath story that perhaps Gatien and his producer/daughter Jen might have hoped for, Limelight certainly offers an insider's view of a specific, particularly infamous period in nightlife history. Obviously I'm far, far, far from being objective, but I want the next Limelight movie to be a prequel and focus on the mid-'80s. Cue up "You Spin Me Round," "Blue Monday" and "Our Darkness," and meet me on the dance floor while we wait.

Limelight plays exclusively at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., Friday, Oct. 14 and Friday, Oct. 21. www.musicboxtheatre.com

Why would anyone in his or her right mind want to remake the nonsense that was the original 1984 quasi-musical Footloose? Oh yeah, probably because it made a zillion dollars, had a hot soundtrack that burned up the charts for months and developed a rabid cult following.

It is my duty to report that the story—one stretched to credibility in which an entire town of teens not allowed to dance finds an out-of-town rebel to lead a revolt—has been kept nearly intact, albeit with a Southern twang (with the action now in Tennessee). A newcomer hunk, Kenny Wormald, replaces Kevin Bacon while Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell have been given character roles, but the movie (which, surprisingly, has a few hot dance sequences) is still one of those awful/glorious guilty pleasures that you either go all the way with or simply roll your eyes at when confronted by its terrible, cynical crassness. (Like the original, this is an example of marketing as moviemaking.)

Given that, it's surprising that the movie's biggest misstep is casting Dancing with the Stars Julianne Hough (on leave from the show) as the bad girl preacher's daughter and then not using her. Hough, who as any DWTS watcher can attest, is nothing if not a whirling dervish on the dance floor and a vocalist with a decent set of country-flavored chops. Hough easily handles the stereotypical dialogue and situations but is never given a song and barely three seconds of solo time on the dance floor. You keep waiting for the director to realize he's neglecting his hotly talented leading lady. But, no: Not only are we stuck with the wooden Kevin Bacon wannabe who dances and dances and dances and sweats up a storm in his muscle tee, but he never once conveys the glory in uninhibited dancing. Worse, he never takes off his shirt. That's not footloose—that's foolish.

Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitymediagroup.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter website.


This article shared 7425 times since Wed Oct 12, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21
- It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27
- February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23
- The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic 2024-02-23
- At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree 2024-02-16
- In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller 2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards 2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Tom Holland, Bowen Yang, Pet Shop Boys, Mariah Carey 2024-02-02
- In the wake of Nigel Lythgoe exiting So You Think You Can Dance, queer personality JoJo Siwa is returning to the series, per Deadline. Siwa, who was a judge on season 17 of the Fox show, will replace Lythgoe, who left ...


Gay News

Leather Archives & Museum announces 2024 Fetish Film Forum 2024-01-27
--From a press release - CHICAGO, Illinois—After a wildly successful inaugural year, including a 10-film series at the Leather Archives & Museum and a 5-film series at FACETS, the Leather Archives & Museum is thrilled to announce the continuation of Fetish ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.