Limited runs and special events:
@ Big Wig, 1551 W. Division, (773) 235-9100: Ho'ly Night at the 4th monthly Pleasure Play Party to benefit Dominatrix Waitrix – Dec. 14
@ Facets Multi-Media, 1517 W. Fullerton, (800) 532-2387: Facets Film School winter courses on the films of Pedro Almodovar (Nov. 19–Dec. 17) and Marlene Dietrich (Nov. 19–Dec. 18)
@ Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State Street, (312) 846-2800:
Reno: Rebel Without A Pause: Filmed at The Club at La Mama E.T.C. in NYC in December of 2001 by director Nancy Savoca, this video record of lesbian monologist and comedian Reno's one-woman show opens with an answering machine message from Reno's friend Pat, received the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Humorous and harrowing, Reno aims her laser-sharp wit at everything from Christian fundamentalists, her neighbors in downtown Manhattan, Rudy Giuliani, George W. Bush, John Ashcroft and the C.I.A. to phone calls from long-lost friends in the days following Sept. 11, yellow police tape, patriotism and militarism, American flags, Celine Dion's recording of "God Bless America," and "suck-up media freaks." Sub-titled "Unrestrained reflections on September 11th," the uninitiated might be a bit put off by Reno's rambling rants, but when she ties it all together, as an American flag is lowered and then dropped on her, you don't know whether to salute her or hug her. – Nov. 28-Dec. 2. [Reno will be performing live at HotHouse, Sat., Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., www.hothouse.net .]
Venus Boyz: Written and directed by Gabriel Baur, Venus Boys is a documentary about drag king culture in New York, which is portrayed as a "journey in search of women who live in between for a night or for a lifetime." Tracing the rise of the drag king scene beginning in 1996 when the young king movement was getting on its feet through the Club Casanova night started by Mo B. Dick (a.k.a. Mo Fischer) as well as the significant contributions of Diane Torr and her drag king workshops through present-day issues of transgender identity. Via revealing and emotional interviews, the documentary gives the viewer a first-hand look at the friendships and bonds that develop across drag communities. I also got the impression that Baur would like Venus Boyz to be the Paris Is Burning of its time. As one drag king "televangelist" declared, "Drag kingdom come, thy will be done." – Nov. 28-Dec. 4
The AIDS Crisis Is Still Beginning: Four Video Works: Gregg Bordowitz, a PWA as well as a leading figure in AIDS activist media, introduces the video works which address the now 20-year-old AIDS crisis. Bordowitz will lead a discussion about the works and current AIDS issues after the screenings of Danny, They Are Lost To Vision Altogether, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien and A Luta Continua. - Dec. 4
Girl With A Pearl Earring (Lion's Gate) – Griet (Scarlett Johansson in another notable performance), a teenage girl, living with her family in Delft, Holland in 1665 is sent off to work as a maid for the painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth), when her parents are no longer able to support her, in the movie adaptation of Tracy Chevalier's novel of the same name. Griet walks into a virtual hornets' nest where Vermeer's jealous and suspicious wife Catharina (Essie Davis), Catharina's mother Maria (Judy Parfitt) and the Vermeer's daughter Cornelia (Alakina Mann), conspire to make life difficult for the dutiful maid. Griet does form a tenuous friendship with maid Tanneke (Judith Scanlan) and is courted rigorously by the butcher's handsome son Pieter (Cillian Murphy), but her life is further complicated by Vermeer's sexually aggressive and despicable patron Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson). The most radiant moments occur during the interactions between Griet and Vermeer, leading her to become the subject of one of the painter's most famous works. Director Peter Webber takes careful pains to make the movie, a fictionalized imagining of the origin of the titular painting, look like a live action canvas and the film is a visual delight. (B) – Dec. 10
First A Girl - 1935 British film directed by Victor Saville based on the 1933 German film Viktor und Viktoria (remade by Blake Edwards in 1982 as Victor/Victoria). - Dec. 28 & 29
@ Gerber/Hart Library, 1127 W. Granville, (773) 381-8030: Queersploitation, monthly film series viewing and examining the treatment of homosexuality in some exploitation films of the ?s and ?s. Score – Dec. 11; Vampyr Lesbos – Jan. 8.
@ Navy Pier IMAX Theatre, (312) 595-5MAX (5629): Santa vs. the Snowman 3D – LGBT moms, dads, aunts, uncles and others looking for a holiday movie experience that can be enjoyed by viewers young and old, need look no further than the clever and colorful Santa Vs. The Snowman. Santa (voiced by Jonathan Winters) tells the story of the Christmas that almost wasn't which involves a lonely snowman, a stolen flute, and a newfound friendship. The 3D effects are spectacular, particularly in the scenes in the elves workshop and also in the Star Wars-like battle scenes (really!). This collaboration between writer/director John Davis and the multi-talented Steve Oedekerk has the potential to become a holiday classic for all sorts of families. (B) - Nov. 19 – Jan. 4
In Theaters
Girls Will Be Girls (IFC/SRO) – Girls will be girls, but sadly, drag queens won't. Gay Hollywood continues its fascination with washed-up starlets (see Die, Mommie, Die!) in writer/director Richard Day's parody homage Girls Will Be Girls, which attempts to skewer almost everything from All About Eve to Joey Heatherton. The ironically named has-been Evie (Jack Plotnick) and indentured housemate Coco (Clinton Leupp) are preparing for the arrival of new roomie, the unspoiled (or is she?) Varla (Jeffery Roberson). Also tangled in Evie's sloppy, gin-soaked web is her gorgeous but diminutively hung son Stevie (Ron Mathews), the director of her speci-mercial comeback vehicle (Dennis Hensley), and Varla's late mother Marla (also played by Roberson). Day hauls out tasteless rape and abortion jokes, a festival of flatulence (it's good to know the fart is no longer the sole domain of the straight male), and more pratfalls than the average Sandra Bullock comedy, as if he didn't have enough confidence in his writing and directing skills. Plotnick, Leupp and Roberson inhabit their human cartoon characters as best they can, and look as though they are relieved to have the drag to hide behind.
On DVD:
O Fantasma (Picture This!) – Young and strikingly handsome Sergio (Ricardo Meneses) is a sexual compulsive who, driven by his animal needs, eventually hits rock bottom. Working on the night shift as a garbage collector in Lisbon, Sergio seeks out anonymous gay sexual encounters in public restrooms, in cars, and various other settings. The only other being with whom Sergio has any kind of connection is a dog named Lorde. There are times when Sergio's behavior, including licking faces, sniffing garbage, tearing at things with his teeth, growling and whimpering, not to mention his endless "humping" resembles that of a dog more than it does a person. However, when he stumbles across a sexy swimmer and motorcycle enthusiast, Sergio finds a focus for his desires, only to have them unreciprocated. This rejection leads Sergio, dressed in head-to-toe black latex, into a swift downward spiral. Sexually explicit and both visually and psychologically dark, O Fantasma is as haunting and nearly as inexplicable as an apparition. In Portuguese with English subtitles, the special features of the DVD include Meneses's "audition interview," isolated "eye candy" moments (suggestive and graphic scenes), and commentary by director Pedro Rodrigues, to mention a few. (C+)
On TV:
Cinemax: To Live is Better than to Die – Many Henan Province (Central China) farmers augmented their incomes during the early 1990s by selling their blood. A large percentage became infected with HIV/AIDS. The village of Wenlou was hit especially hard. Weijun Chen's no-nonsense and intimate documentary introduces us to farmer Ma Shengyi and his wife Leimei, both of whom are infected. Of the couple's three children—oldest daughter Ma Ningning, youngest daughter Ma Rong, and toddler son Ma Zhancao—only Ma Ningning is uninfected. Beginning in the Year of the Snake, with the "Summer Solstice" and ending with "Spring Festival" at the time of the Chinese New Year, Chen's camera follows the family through its evolving health crisis and the eventual loss of one of the parents. Powerful in its understatement, To Live Is Better than to Die, is all the more resonant for being a true story. - Dec. 1
here! Pay-Per-View (now available): Sordid Lives; Food Of Love; Circuit; When Boys Fly; The Business of Fancy Dancing.
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