Limited runs and special events:
@ Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, 312/744-6630: Video Mundi: Video art and experimental films showcase - Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (curated by Ximena Cuevas, Mexico City ) - Mar. 4 Ladies and boys and touching (curated by Astria Suparak, New York City) - Mar. 4 Selections from L'Alternativa Festival (curated by Elena de la Vara, Barcelona) - Mar. 5 Random Acts of Fitness (curated by Andrea Grover, Houston) - Mar. 5 e-motional discharge (curated by Jan Schuijren, Amsterdam) - Mar. 6 Mismanaging my Image (curated by Alex MacKenzie, Vancouver, BC) - Mar. 6 Strategies of the Short Contemporary German Film and Video Art (curated by Ulrich Wegenast, Stuttgart, Germany) - Mar. 7 Corporeal Punishment: The Body of Evidence Lies Naked and Bruised (curated by Abina Manning, Chicago ) - Mar. 7
@ DOC Films @ U of C/Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St, 773/702.8574: Queer Heroes - Southern Comfort and My Left Breast - Feb. 27 The Man Who Drove With Mandela and Tongues Untied - Mar. 6 I'm The One That I Want - Mar. 13
@ Facets, 1517 W. Fullerton, 773/281-4114: Dead Alive: Final - Feb. 28, Mar. 1 - 6
@ Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312/846-2600: A Skin Too Few - Feb. 27; The Producers - Feb. 28, Mar. 1-6; Converging With Angels - Feb. 28, Mar. 1-3, 5 Ray Charles: The Genius Of Soul Music - Mar. 2, 6
European Union Film Festival (highlights): Bend It Like Beckham - Jess, 18-year-old Sikh girl in London, attempts to become a soccer star like David Beckham, her idol. - Mar. 8, 10; The Bench - Mar. 8, 11; Irreversible - directed by Gaspar Noé and starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci - Mar. 8, 12; One-Way Ticket To Mombasa - Mar. 9, 11.
Shari Frilot, a Sundance Film Festival Programmer since 1998, pioneered experimental programming at Outfest: Los Angeles International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Her other credits include Director of the MIX: New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film/Video Festival and co-founder of the first queer festivals in Latin America: MIX Brasil and MIX México. Also a filmmaker, Frilot talks about the challenges and nuances of juggling film programming and filmmaking in a program touching on the history of experimental film within a wider festival context. Her short Strange & Charmed will be screened. - Mar. 27
In theaters:
Gerry (ThinkFilm)—Two guys named Gerry are driving an old Mercedes Benz down a highway … It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but openly gay director Gus Van Sant's new movie is no laughing matter. Co-written by Van Sant and the film's co-stars, Casey Affleck and Matt Damon, the dialogue, what there is of it, is kept to a minimum. In fact, the Gerrys don't actually speak to each other until more than five minutes into the movie, after they have pulled off the highway and entered a wilderness trail. Less than 15 minutes into the movie, they abandon their quest for 'the thing' and the pair gets lost in the beautiful terrain that soon begins to look the same to them. Early on, their conversations are jocular. By the next day, their moods begin to shift, and claustrophobia sets in amidst all the openness. Clouds wisp over mountains, sounds are muted, tumbleweeds blow by, and the Gerrys (who have taken to using 'gerry' as a verb) begin to feel the effects of exposure and dehydration. The joke about men not asking for directions comes to a devastating conclusion, which takes a little too long to arrive, in the bleak and unforgiving landscape of stone, sand and sun. (C) -
On TV:
A&E - Role Reversal - New York City is home to 4.2 million women and 3.7 million men and this documentary (narrated by Miriam Shor who played Itzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch), about challenging gender stereotypes, shows us what happens when two of those women and two of those men undergo the ultimate transformation. The chosen participants are Ary Nunez, a 31-year-old fitness trainer; 27-year-old aspiring playwright Tye Mackie; Ryan Tavlin, a 23-year-old actor/waiter/bartender; and 40-year-old Starla Muraszka, a part-time women's advocacy consultant and comedian. The 'gender-bending puzzle' plays out Real World-style, complete with a video diary camera in which the members of the Brooklyn household speak their minds. From the hair salon to the 'sexual identity boot-camp' (including sessions with voice coach Kate Wilson, gender communication consultant Deborah Tannen, character development specialist and choreographer Richard Move and performance artist Shelly Mars) the quartet sheds their old skins. Ary transforms into Julian, Starla becomes Dave, Tye morphs into Darcy, and Ryan is Yarden/Jori, and they each discover that 'when deconstructing gender, the newest stranger is your self.' As they begin to separate learned gender behaviors from those that come naturally, their roles become more real to them. So real, in fact, that openly gay coach Move, comments to Ary, 'Whatever man you turn into, I'm gonna date.' Whether they are shopping for genitalia or trying on new gender-appropriate clothes, all four work on balancing both the interior and the exterior and by the time they are faced with their series of public challenges, the viewer has witnessed a fascinating series of events. (B+) - Mar. 2 Ƙ p.m. CST, A&E)
WE: Women's Entertainment - When I Was A Girl - From Linda Ellerbee's Lucky Duck Productions comes this clever series of interviews with women about the part that the girls they were played in helping them to become the women they are. The first part is focused on female musicians, including India.Arie, Jo Dee Messina, Tanya Tucker, Lee Ann Womack, Donna Summer, and Melissa Etheridge. Of the six singers, Etheridge's interview segments are the most moving and entertaining (although Messina's ran a close second). Etheridge begins by talking about music and how she 'tried to look like Bruce Springsteen,' and also that 'she was the band at her prom.' Her favorite album is Carole King's Tapestry and Etheridge said that her parents never told her to turn down her music. She talks about being aware of her sexuality in high school and not fitting in, and how after seeing A Star Is Born, she wanted a perm like Streisand's. There are plenty of other revelations about Etheridge, including that her favorite cartoon was The Archies and the she wanted to be Reggie. She talks about the impact that The Wizard of Oz had on her and how growing up in Kansas, where they are 'famous for Dorothy,' made it more meaningful. Ellen DeGeneres is also among those entertainers profiled in the series, which starts March 3. (B-)
Sundance Channel highlights (check local listings for times) - Amargosa - Feb. 27
The House of Mirth - Feb. 28
Anatomy of a Scene: Prozac Nation - Erik Skjoldbjaerg's film version of the Elizabeth Wurtzel memoir stars Christina Ricci, Jessica Lange, Jason Biggs and Anne 'Just Visiting This Planet' Heche - Mar. 16, 20 & 22
Gods and Monsters: Openly gay actor Sir Ian McKellen received an Academy Award nomination for his remarkable performance as the late gay filmmaker James Whale (Frankenstein and others) in openly gay writer/director Bill (Chicago) Condon's Oscar-winning adaptation of Christopher Bram's novel. The movie presents an intriguing portrait of a Hollywood era gone by with great heart and generous humor. Lynn Redgrave (who also received an Academy Award nomination), as Whale's protective and religiously devout housekeeper Hanna, and Brendan Fraser, as the gardener Whale befriends at the end of his life, are exceptional, making this one of the best movies of 1998, or any year for that matter. (A-) - Mar. 15
Sleep With Me: Co-written by openly gay writer Joe Keenan (My Blue Heaven, the TV series Frasier), Sleep With Me ) looks at marriage, fidelity and a vague romantic triangle involving Eric Stoltz, Meg Tilly and Craig Sheffer. Some of the supporting cast, including Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy), Parker Posey and Thomas Gibson (Tales Of The City) have a built-in queer following. However, Sleep With Me is probably most notable for a dialogue between Duane (actor and In The Bedroom director Todd Field) and party guest Sid (Quentin Tarantino), revolving around Sid's homoerotic analysis of Top Gun, complete with a simulated 'sword fight.' (C+) - Mar. 16
