It wasn't the best of years at the movies but some of the best moments came from stars of long standing doing some of their best work and younger directors emulating an old pro.
As the definition of "independent" film has become blurred since the major studios took over the main indie distributors, so "queer" cinema has gotten harder to recognize. A decade ago the "New Queer Cinema" was all the rage with its in-your-face depiction of homosexual themes. Of the filmmakers associated with it, Derek Jarman is dead; Tom Kalin quit directing after Swoon; Gregg Araki has been quiet for a couple of years since getting into a relationship with the lead actress of his last film, Splendor; Christopher Munch couldn't get theatrical play for The Sleepy Time Gal (starring Jacqueline Bissett as a woman dying of cancer with her gay son by her side) and sold it to cable TV; and Todd Haynes has advanced to Hollywood's A-list with one of the best pictures of the year, Far from Heaven.
Along with Haynes, gay filmmakers from other countries have taken inspiration from old American melodramas and done some of their best work this year: Francois Ozon (8 Women) and Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her). Their films have varying amounts of queer content but are being marketed to general audiences. As a result, queer festivals had a hard time finding good material this year. They couldn't get the abovementioned films (or Stephen Daldry's The Hours) because higher-profile general festivals wanted them and their distributors were glad to avoid having the films ghettoized. The best film I saw in a festival this year was Fixing Frank; more typical were the ubiquitous and less than great Food of Love, His Secret Life and The Trip.
The list of out actors is still short but most of the people on it are working. Rupert Everett starred in The Importance of Being Earnest and did a voice in The Wild Thornberries Movie. Cherry Jones was in Signs and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Harvey Fierstein was in Death to Smoochy. Nathan Lane was in Nicholas Nickleby along with Alan Cumming, who was filming X-Men 2 with Ian McKellen, seen this year as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Ellen DeGeneres did voice work for Disney's 2003 release Finding Nemo. Elton John cameoed in The Country Bears and Mick Jagger had a major role in The Man from Elysian Fields. And most of them were also busy doing stage and/or TV work.
Queer themes and characters are so common in mainstream films it's not news anymore, except when Eminem defends one in 8 Mile to do spin control on his image.
Top Ten:
1. Road to Perdition - What you'd get if Steven Spielberg directed The Godfather.
2. Chicago - The best screen musical since Cabaret.
3. Y Tu Mama Tambien - A Mexican take on the Hollywood teen movie, with unexpected substance.
4. About a Boy - Hugh Grant will never have a better role than the immature hero of Nick Hornby's (High Fidelity) novel.
5. Far from Heaven - Todd Haynes' updating of a 1950s melodrama looks like the real thing but with issues that weren't discussed then.
6. Insomnia - The director of last year's best movie (Memento) goes Hollywood without losing his edge.
7. About Schmidt - You don't know Jack until you see him in the year's saddest comedy - or funniest drama.
8. Tadpole - The only picture I saw three times this year and I'm still not sure why I liked it so much. I guess it's just so romantic.
9. The Quiet American - Graham Greene's thriller combines romance and a great Michael Caine performance with a history lesson about Vietnam.
10. 25th Hour - Who'da thunk Spike Lee would do some of his best work on a movie about white people?!!!
Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically): Catch Me If You Can
Changing Lanes
8 Women
Minority Report
Pumpkin
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Roger Dodger
Scotland, PA.
The Sum of All Fears
Talk to Her
