A blog on all things movie related. Mainly focused on foreign language and gay films. Not really into big blockbusters that rely on special effects. I am very new to this and only just learning the ropes.
A friend of mine lent me a copy of this fashion documentary as she highly recommended it. I was a bit apprehensive about watching it as I had never heard of the designer and thought it was going to be terrible. I was pleasently surprised.
Halston was an American designer who changed the nature of American fashion and became the first US designer to make it on the international fashion scene. His style was minimalist, recognisable and worn by every top celebrity name, including Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie O.
The documentary explored his life through interviews with close friends, his contemporary designers and relevant people of that time. This involved dragging out Liza Minnelli and similar celebrity icons. It recalls the famous Studio 54 lifestyle, including the disco music and fashion. It recounts his attempt to become part of the mainstream and reflects on the horrific impact of AIDs on gay society in the 1980s which lead to his death.
As a documentary, I found the interviewer quite annoying with his need to change his hair style for every interview and his look of surprise at every part of the story. I would have thought someone who was involved in the 1970s, as he claimed to have been, would be partially aware of Halston's life. But do not let you put off by this, Halston's life was fascinating.
I Don't want to sleep alone is about a compassionate man taking in another brutally beaten man and nurses him better. Then at some point a woman comes into the story. To be honest, this is the point I lost all interest and got too involved with my phone.
This film is tedious and slow. There is simply no dialogue and I do like my films to have proper character development, which this film simply does not have. It is pretentious and not entertaining. I am sure a proper film critic would love to dedicate an afternoon to this to depict its meaning. For me, it is this sort of film that puts your average film watcher going to see foreign language films.
The only slight plus of this film is the beautiful scenery. But it is certainly not enough to carry this film.
The Trip is a packed gay romantic comedy based on a true story between a right wing Republican and a gay rights activist during the 1970s and 80s.
It starts with Alan, a committed Republican who is writing a book on the history of homosexuality, who meets the right on gay activist, Tommy, at a party. Tommy agrees to be interviewed for his book. Predictably, Alan falls for Tommy and they start a relationship and move in with each other. The film jumps four years where the publishing company decide to publish Alan's book at the time of an anti-gay vote in Florida and they split. It is not until a few years later when Alan learns that Tommy has AIDs and decides to be with him again and take their once in a life time road trip through Mexico.
Although very predictable and includes the standard cliches that featured in every gay-AIDs films of the 1990s, there is something very moving about this film. The on-screen chemistry between the two leads is very touching, especially in the second part of the film. Maybe I just like the slushy romantic stuff but was quite moved by the ending.
The film got quite over-packed with the director needing to include ever major bit of the gay liberation movement footage - reminiscent of Milk. I do not think this film needed it but I think the director wanted to make a small political point.
There was moments of comical genius but also a bit too much goofy slapstick which can be forgiven for the inspired decision to cast Alexis Arquette as the comedy role.
Despite its predictability and cliches, I think The Trip was a delightful little film and a great way to spend a Saturday night in.
The 'Guilty Pleasures' genre of film is one genre that is often misunderstood. They are not meant to be works of art and their story lines are often one dimensional with obvious morals. However, they are easy to follow and are generally fun which is great if you have had a busy week at work. Pecker is certainly one of these films.
The film tells the story of Pecker (Edward Furlong) who is an amateur photographer who constantly takes pictures of his everyday life in Baltimore. He leads a simple life working in a fast food joint and dates Shelley (played by the fantastic Christina Ricci) who runs a laundry. His family are full of odd balls, including his mum, who works in a second hand clothes shop, his older sister, a waitress in a gay go-go dancer bar, and his younger sister, a girl with an obsession for sugary food.
When Pecker displays his pictures in his work place, a New York art collector offers him the opportunity to have his very own display, which he takes up. He becomes an instant hit. It is not until later he realises his success is due to New York yuppies see his every day life as comical and, in a way, look down on him and his family. As he becomes more and more famous, he starts to see that when his local community starts to disown him for making them a mockery. It is not until the end that Pecker gets to turn the tables.
Although this film is light hearted, it does raise the obvious question of whether the family were exploited? I do not think they were. It just reminded me of an American version of a Mike Leigh film but in photography. Photography, like film, is a form of voyeurism and it merely reflects what the artist sees.
One of the main reasons I decided to watch this film was that I love Christina Ricci. I first fell in love with her in the excellent The Opposite of Sex and since then, I love watching her, regardless of the quality of film. I would almost say she is almost as good as Michelle Williams. In this, she outplays Furlong, but that is probably because his character was more happy-go-lucky and hers had more depth. The rest of the cast had seem to have all come from the excellent TV show, My So-Called Life, which was a treat in itself!
Of course, this film had its faults and, at times, was a bit too silly. But overall, this was a fun piece of cinema that will certainly be on my guilty pleasures list! A great film by John Waters and is much better than his more famous Hairspray!
Soundless Wind Charm is an observational and challenging piece of gay cinema. It tells the story of Ricky, a Chinese guy who has moved to Hong Kong but still regularly communicates with his dying mother in Beijing. An act of fate brings him together with Swiss Pascal, who is trying to leave his abusive boyfriend which they then develop an unhealthy codependent relationship. While this story is told in fragment, Ricky travels to Switzerland and bumps into a dead ringer for Pascal.
One thing I can say about this film that it is slow. There is minimal dialogue and the story is really told through small observations made by the direction. It reminds me of the superior Be With Me. What makes the film enjoyable is the fact that every scene is so gorgeous which is complimented by very natural acting by the two leads. The contrast between the hustle, bustle and rustic feel of China and the white, cold Alps of Switzerland gave this film real exciting visual extremes.
Where this film went a bit wrong was in the fragmentation of the story. The director had placed different parts of the story all over the place, most likely to reflect the fragmented nature of life and love. However, just keeping up with what was happening and trying to fit the tiny pieces together was just too hard work for me to enjoy this film. I understand what the director was trying to do but it just did not work. Maybe a second viewing would be helpful to comprehend the story fully.
There were basic mistakes, like at times the subtitles merged in with the background which made them unreadable, but this merely reflects the low budget of the film. It was also refreshing that the film focused on just the pressures of their codependency rather than pressures from discrimination or pressures of the gay scene.
Anyone who has looked at my blog before will notice I am quite Euro-centric in my selection of foreign films and I do admit I generally prefer them. However, it is nice to dip my toe in another culture every now and then and this is one I have enjoyed experiencing, even if it was hard work at times!
3/5 - Fabulous detail but it was the structure of this film that let it down
Adam and Steve is an over the top gay indie film based around two gay guys who quickly develop a loving relationship despite their own insecurities. It is not until later, they find out that they had a disastrous one night stand 17 years earlier and freak out. but it is their best friends bring them together in the end.
Some films are meant to be bad and some are pretty good at it. Adam and Steve is one that is intending to be bad but fun and over the top which it does to some extent. There are lots of funny one liners which depict the comical aspects of your stereotypical gay lifestyle. Parts of it were hysterical and captures what it is like being a gay guy in a big city finding love.
However, the film sometimes does not know when to draw the line. One of the comedy moments was about Adam always being attacked or insulted whenever he shows affection in public. It is funny the first three or four times but after the twelfth it is just repetitive. I also did not find the whole stand up piece of Rhonda (Parker Posey) about her being fat particularly funny.
I was particularly excited when I heard Kristen Schaal was in it as she is a very underrated comedian. Unfortunately, the scene of Adam's Jewish family was too slapstick for me and just not funny.
Despite this, Parker, along with Chris Kattan (Michael), the two straight best friends, slightly made this film ahead of the main gay characters. Parker is brilliant as the fag hag and Kattan as the envious heterosexual who wants to live a gay man's lifestyle but with women.
It is a quite funny way to spend 90 minutes of your time watching and unbelievably Courtney Love is in the soundtrack! It covers the every day gay issues of addiction, commitment and discrimination in a fun and over the top way.
When a film covers an important but often neglected part of history, you really want to like the film just because you feel the issue needs to be respected and recognised. Before I sat down and watched Proteus I was thinking that I really want to like it because it told the real story of a sodomy trial in a hard labour camp in South Africa in the 18th Century. With the topic of apartheid dominating South African history, this subject has often been neglected.
However, Proteus fell on its arse. The main problem was the horrific direction of Canadian John Greyson. The only previous thing I have seen him direct is an episode of Queer as Folk US in series 2, which was actually one of the best episodes of the series, so I had raised expectations of this film. He really ruined this film. He was blatantly ripping off Derek Jarman with the inclusion of items and scenery from centuries after the time it is based. The actual recording of the film felt like a university film project. I was surprised he has made a number of films as this just came across as a first time film maker with its amateur shooting and non stop cliches.
In addition to this, the acting was poor. There was no chemistry between the two lovers or with any other characters. None of the scenes were at all believable and is an embarrassment for all those involved. What made it worse was the constant change between English, Dutch and Afrikaans. There was no consistency and it made no sense why mid conversation characters were changing their language.
I have tried to see the positives in this film but I am sorry, there was nothing. Considering the story it is based on, this is definitely a wasted opportunity.
