Pictured The lesbian film D.E.B.S. is at the Chicago GLBT Film Fest this year. Beaver Run Café. The Adventure of the Iron Pussy.
I don't know exactly who I have to thank for not having a flu vaccine available but whoever gets the credit (and I honestly hope that by Nov. 2 he and his cronies are filling out change-of-address cards), I'd like to thank them for felling me with a major flu bug. It allowed me endless hours to preview some of the upcoming attractions at the 23rd annual Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival. None of the GLBT movies I screened were ever less than interesting and whetted my appetite for more of the same.
The festival, second-oldest in the country (after San Francisco), is going to screen an amazing array of more than 97 entries from 16 countries. This year's crop of films will be shown at Chicago Filmmakers, Landmark Century Cinema and the Music Box. The festival runs from Nov. 4-11 and includes what promises to be fun, fabulous opening and closing night parties, as well as several ancillary events throughout the fest. See www.reelingfilmfestival.org for complete schedule and event details.
A random selection of highlights from the nightly schedule are below, plus more to come next week:
Thursday, November 4
The festival kicks off with a 7:30 p.m. screening at the Music Box Theatre of D.E.B.S., which is described as a 'funny, sexy, girl-power spy spoof,' a first feature from Angela Robinson (and a full-length version of the film she screened at last year's fest). The film was not available for screenings but rumor has it that terrific audience response to the movie is pointing toward a theatrical release. The opening night gala reception in the Music Box Theatre's ornate lobby begins at 6:30 p.m. and is hosted by Pink Pages, with hors d'oeuvres from La Donna Italian Cuisine and Thai Classics Restaurant. An after-screening party will be held at Izzo/Jones Arena + Studio for the Arts at 1806 W. Cuyler.
Friday, November 5
From Ireland comes the story of 20-somethings Shane, David and Gemma, at the center of director David Gleeson's comic drama, Cowboys & Angels. Shane and David are prickly roommates in Limerick at first and then, of course, end up being best friends. As the characters become more secure within themselves and their sexual identities, the friendship will naturally be tested. This film will get a theatrical release here later this fall and my full review will appear at that time, but I'm recommending it.
NINE LIVES screens the same night.
Saturday, November 6
One of the festival's most intriguing films is sure to be Hidden Führer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality. Documentary directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato previously brought us the insightful, humorous The Eyes of Tammy Faye and the creepy but fascinating Party Monster. Was Hitler gay? Was he trying to cover up his latent homosexuality by exterminating his own kind? The film relies heavily on interviews with German historian Lothar Machtan who proposed just that in a book that had defenders and vilifiers lining up on either side of the argument. The thought-provoking, intense movie doesn't try to answer the question but archival footage of Hitler giving the once over to a fellow Nazi cutie is horrifyingly persuasive.
Eating Out is one of those mistaken sexuality comedies in which someone plays gay to get someone straight but wait a minute maybe they're gay or just curious or maybe just have a great body and the audience won't care as long as they take their shirt off again. Lots of eye candy on display here and as everyone's in college, naturally they're also horny as hell. I loved the sensual, funny scene between supposedly straight boy Caleb who gets off having phone sex with Gwen—with major help from gay Kyle!
Also: DORIAN BLUES, SUPERSTAR IN A HOUSEDRESS, MANGO KISS and SUGAR SCREEN THE SAME NIGHT. More reviews next week's Windy City Times.
Sunday, November 7
Is there life after porn? The documentary Naked Fame, while tracking the attempts of porn star Colton Ford to pursue a singing career, surreptitiously explores that question. At the outset of the film Ford and his boyfriend Blake Harper, another porn star, are preparing to leave behind the industry that has given them prominence. Ford's attempts to break into the music business via a solitary dance track (and not a very good one—though he's a terrific singer) are much less interesting than scenes that focus on the couple's attempts to return to 'normal' life and their struggles with fans who still want them to be nothing more than the porn stars they masturbate to.
Ford obviously still has a bad case of the stardust syndrome and it doesn't seem like it would take much to get him back in front of the porn cameras. More interesting is whether Harper, who had the longer career and apparently struggled with drug addiction, would do the same. We glimpse him working again as a nurse, his pre-porn career, and the sight of Harper clothed in the loose-fitting uniform and somewhat heavier immediately raises questions that are much more interesting than whether or not the 40-something Ford gets a record deal. As adult film director-drag queen Chi Chi LaRue wisely points out, there is no real escape from a career in porn and one wonders about the social and emotional repercussions—and perhaps, regrets?
The festival's centerpiece screening is a comedy from Russia called You I Love. Ad executive Timofei is at the top of his career in the new capitalist Russia and he's got a beautiful, television reporter for a girlfriend. When a young Mongolian man literally falls out of the sky and lands on the roof of his car, naturally the two end up having an affair and 'wacky' complications of all sorts ensue. The movie's shot in splashes of hot pop colors and has a lot of 'goofy' fantasy elements that reminded me of early MTV videos. Not unlike the Australian misfire Young Einstein with the self-referential Yahoo Serious and Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror follow-up, Shock Treatment, this one didn't translate for me. But the actress playing the television reporter is a stunner.
Nino, a 17-year-old Palestinian illegal immigrant and Dudu, an Arab-Israeli heroin addict, work as gay hustlers in the ironically named Garden neighborhood of Tel Aviv. This raw, jagged film, a sort of Israeli version of HBO's documentary series on streetwalkers, 'The Point,' lays out the amazing friendship between the two that survives despite their horrendous circumstances. Nino, especially, small and wiry, seems the essence of toughness and loyalty and repeatedly throughout the film he's shown jumping into the middle of trouble, fists flying, before asking questions.
DO I LOVE YOU?, POSTER BOY, ROUND TRIP screen the same night.
Monday, November 8
Mysterious Marcy has a secret reason for coming back to the small western town of Beaver Run but, until she's ready to reveal all, there's her newfound infatuation with Regina, the waitress with the common sense who works at the gay-owned Beaver Run Café. This sweet, simple, 'stop and smell the flowers' film, basically an in-depth character study, seemed sort of a lesbian variation on Big Eden, one of my all-time favorite gay movies. A film that has scenes where getting a character to smile or laugh as its highpoint is to be appreciated.
Chicago's Own is a trio of three shorter works by Chicago filmmakers and the best is presented first. My Porn Star utilizes a bedroom scene cribbed from The Way We Were as the starting point for a doomed relationship between a flight attendant who wants to be a filmmaker and a fading porn star diva. In the second, Dragon Seed, a predatory art dealer gets more than he bargained for when he wines, beds and tosses aside a young, seemingly shy artist. The third presentation, Succubus, obviously had a larger budget though I found it the least successful of the group. It's set squarely in the midst of John Waters territory and like the least of Waters, I found the comedy forced and the shocks grotesque.
SLUTTY SUMMER the same night.
Tuesday, November 9
After breaking up with his longtime boyfriend, ad exec Conrad doesn't want another relationship but sex is something else. So he does something that a lot of us have fantasized about: for 200 American he hires the Australian Tyler to scratch his itch. After a repeat, all-night visit, the sex is so good, Tyler is so charming and Conrad is so intrigued that he offers Tyler a deal for regular sex in exchange for a job at the ad agency. Complications ensue when a co-worker falls for Tyler and vice versa. This is described as a gay comedic variation on Pretty Woman but a nice, straight-ahead relationship drama with a handsome, striking cast is more like it.
Yes, there is a glimpse of the full frontal nude Antonio Sabato, Jr. in Testosterone. Yes, Jennifer Coolidge plays an artist's agent with the foulest mouth this side of Whoopi Goldberg. Yes, Sonia Braga still looks exquisitely beautiful and the lead guy has a nice ass and there's some hot man-on-man sex. Yes, the Buenos Aries locations are gorgeously photographed. Yes, that is one big machete. Yes, that guy does have a gun in his pocket and a crush on his intended victim. All these elements swirl around the story of the missing Pablo who is pursued by the broken-hearted Dean. Why did he leave? What was the basis of the relationship to begin with? This screening precedes a theatrical run here next month when my full review will appear.
THE GRAFFITI ARTIST also screens this night.
Wednesday, November 10
Beautiful Boxer from Thailand is based on the amazing true story of champion kick boxing transvestite Nong Toom. Touching and sweet one moment then rife with thrilling kick boxing sequences the next, the performance of Asanee Suwan in the lead ties it all together. The triumph of Nong's nature over nurture, when it finally comes, is well earned after years of internal struggle. This was one of the favorite movies that I previewed and I highly recommend it.
Seven is the lucky number for Brushfires, the story of the ever-changing relationship of three young women. The feature-length film collects seven separate vignettes each directed by seven different women from the Chicago-based improvisational group Split Pillow. The visual and rhythmic changes between the pieces are obvious but add to the success of the whole. An interesting idea with great performances that sustain it.
THE ROAD TO LOVE also screens this night.
Thursday, November 11
Another fabulous entry from Thailand is The Adventure of the Iron Pussy in which a timid 7-Eleven clerk by day becomes the glamorous, cross-dressing Iron Pussy by night. A hilarious mixture of action, adventure, lots of karate chopping, and a fair share of not half bad musical numbers. Elements of '60s spy flicks Modesty Blaise and Casino Royale and a lot of Bollywood influence as well. A fun ride.
What if they made a movie about superstar Rock Hudson's phony marriage to a studio secretary in order to hide his homosexuality back at the height of his fame in the mid-'50s? Well, they finally have and though the names and some of the situations have been changed, the story remains essentially the same. Straight-Jacket, the festival's closing night presentation, is the new film from director Richard Day, who last wrote and helmed the hilarious but overlooked Girls Will Be Girls. The movie is shot in the style of the Hudson-Doris Day Technicolor comedies (but unfortunately, obviously didn't have the same big budget as those or last year's triumphant recreation of them, Down With Love). But it's playful and bright, has the hunky Matt Letscher as the lead, Adam Greer as his equally shapely heartthrob, and the sublime, tough and funny Veronica Cartwright as his jaundiced agent. Topping them all is Carrie Preston as Sally, the innocent but controlling wife. When Sally performs a musical number for dinner guests at the huge organ she has had installed in her stupefied husband's house, the film reaches its comic zenith.
A closing night party follows the screening at Hydrate nightclub beginning at 10:30. $25 dollars gets you into the 9 p.m. screening at Landmark Century, entrance to the party and complimentary drinks and hors d'oeuvres.
See www.reelingfilmfestival.org for complete information on the festival.
More reviews next week.
