There are many gay-related films at the Chicago International Film Festival. See www.chicagofilmfestival.com for details:
Blue Spring: 10.13 - 9:45 PM @ Music Box / 10.14 - 4:45 PM @ Landmark Century / 10.15 - 9:15 @ Landmark Century
Cool and Crazy: 10.10 - 9:15 PM @ Music Box / 10.11 - 8:45 PM @ Landmark Century / 10.13 - 2:00 @ Music Box
The Human Comedy: 10.11 - 9:00 PM @ Music Box / 10.14 - 2:15 PM @ Music Box / 10.17 - 7:15 @ Music Box
The Iron Ladies: 10.17 - 9:00 PM @ Landmark Century
Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India: 10.13 - 2:00 PM @ Landmark Century / 10.14 - 4:00 @ Music Box
Night Shift: 10.10 - 4:30 PM @ Landmark Century / 10.11 - 7:00 PM @ Landmark Century
Our Lady of The Assassins: 10.13 - 7:00 PM @ Music Box
Smokers Only: 10.12 - 9:15 PM @ Music Box / 10.13 - 9:30 PM @ Landmark Century / 10.14 - 9:00 PM @ Landmark Century
Trembling Before G-d: 10.14 - 8:30 PM @ Music Box
Truly Human: 10.16 - 6:30 PM @ Landmark Century / 10.17 - 7:00 PM @ Landmark Century
Waterboys: 10.11 - 7:00 PM @ Landmark
Trembling Before G-d ( New Yorker Films ) : Sandi Simcha BuBowski's documentary about the inner conflict of being gay or lesbian and trying to maintain one's faith as an Orthodox or Hasidic Jew is especially compelling at this time in history with our heightened awareness about religious fanaticism. On a scale of 1 to 10: 7.5
Waterboys: It's hard to believe that some of the people involved with the charming Shall We Dance ( from 1996 ) had anything to do with this clumsy and ridiculous movie. Director Shinoku Yaguchi's fluffy comedy tells the unlikely story of a synchronized swim team at the all-male Tadano High School. High school senior Suzuki and his four teammates ( including the mincing and emotionally unstable gay Saotome ) overcome the odds to become the hottest ticket at the Tadano Festival. Overflowing with enough silly physical comedy and unpleasant situations that you will be tempted to make frequent trips to the concession stand. However, the spectacular finale is worth the nearly interminable 90-minute wait. On a scale of 1 to 10: 5
In theaters:
Mulholland Drive ( Universal ) : Before it veers off the road and becomes a lurid and lascivious ( David ) Lynchian lesbian sex fantasy, Mulholland Drive is a bizarre and refreshing tribute to and parody of film noir and the young innocent's arrival in Hollywood. Lampooning Hollywood ( actors and actresses, directors, movie studios ) is a little like biting the hand that feeds, but it must have tasted awfully good. In addition to all of the fresh faces on-screen...Justin Theroux as filmmaker Adam, Naomi Watts as just-off-the-bus Betty, and Laura Harring as the mysterious mystery woman Rita...writer/director Lynch serves up a heaping portion of Ann Miller as, alternately, Betty's landlady and Adam's mother, looking like she's ready for her close-up. Just when you think that the mysteries of Mulholland Drive have been solved, Lynch throws in a lesbian landslide and opens a Pandora's Box that may leave you more puzzled than pleased. On a scale of 1 to 10: 7.5
On TV ( Sundance Channel -
www.sundancechannel.com ) :
A Union In Wait: Susan Parker and Wendy Scott are a lesbian couple who had been together in a loving relationship for 16 years when they decided to have a holy union ceremony at the Baptist church in North Carolina to which they belonged. This personal and revealing documentary, directed by Ryan Butler, about the controversy that erupted over their plans for a commitment ceremony is a fascinating look into the explosive debate over same-sex unions. Interviews with both women, members of the clergy, and such high-profile community activists as Barney Frank, Candace Gingrich, and Andrew Sullivan are compelling and empowering. The poisonous rhetoric of hate-mongering Christian activist Fred Phelps continues to make him look the carcinogenic cartoon character that he is. The documentary ends with Susan and Wendy's long-awaited ceremony at the Wake Forest Baptist Church and will delight anyone who loves to cry at weddings. On a scale of 1 to 10: 7 ( Showing 10.11.01 on Sundance )
Conversations In World Cinema: Christine Vachon, the creative producer responsible for bringing the politics of sexuality to movies in the early-to-mid-1990s, is the subject of the October segment of this biographical interview series on Sundance Channel. Shortly after working on her first film ( Parting Glances ) , she co-founded Apparatus Productions. She subsequently produced friend and creative partner Todd Haines' first film Poison, and also worked with him on Safe, Velvet Goldmine and his forthcoming Far From Heaven. The impressive list of films with which Vachon was involved ( Boys Don't Cry, Happiness, Kiss Me Guido, Go Fish, Stonewall, I Shot Andy Warhol, and Postcards From America, among others ) is like a who's who of contemporary queer cinema.
