The Ledge

Go Back   The Ledge > Main Forums > Chit Chat
User Name
Password
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read


Make the Ads Go Away! Click here.
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #76  
Old 07-21-2014, 10:07 PM
TrueFaith77's Avatar
TrueFaith77 TrueFaith77 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New York City!
Posts: 5,012
Default

Great works of art about gay marriage:

1. "Kick the Bride Down the Aisle" by Morrissey
2. I Am Happiness on Earth by Julian Hernandez
3. 5x2 by Francois Ozon
4. Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom by Patrik Ian-Polk
__________________
"They love each other so much, they think they hate each other."

Imagine paying $1000 to hear "Don't Dream It's Over" instead of "Go Your Own Way"

Fleetwood Mac helped me through a time of heartbreak. 12 years later, they broke my heart.
Reply With Quote
  #77  
Old 07-22-2014, 08:55 AM
WatchChain WatchChain is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 915
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by sorcerer999 View Post
In my opinion, 90% of gay themed films are atrocious. There was an episode of "Will & Grace" where both Will and Jack are helping Karen's nerdy cousin come out of the closet. I do believe one of them says, "Let me tell you a little secret that we try to keep within the community. Gay movies suck but until the laws change we're still obligated to go see 'em."

I must be a bad gay man because I've only seen one film on this list. :/
I'm a little late to the party on this topic, but I agree with with this comment. Can someone in Hollywood please make a decent gay film? I find very few that I'm able to sit through. Bad scripts, bad acting, and weak plots are just a few things that make most gay films tank for me. Don't get me wrong, there are a few gay films worth the price of admission, but 90% of them are laughable.
Reply With Quote
  #78  
Old 07-23-2014, 06:34 PM
TrueFaith77's Avatar
TrueFaith77 TrueFaith77 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New York City!
Posts: 5,012
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by WatchChain View Post
I'm a little late to the party on this topic, but I agree with with this comment. Can someone in Hollywood please make a decent gay film? I find very few that I'm able to sit through. Bad scripts, bad acting, and weak plots are just a few things that make most gay films tank for me. Don't get me wrong, there are a few gay films worth the price of admission, but 90% of them are laughable.
Did you miss my list of 21 Best Gay Films of the 21st Century? Of course most of them are NOT Hollywood.

The greatest gay movie of all time is THE LONG DAY CLOSES. Finally, recently released on Criterion. Don't miss it!
__________________
"They love each other so much, they think they hate each other."

Imagine paying $1000 to hear "Don't Dream It's Over" instead of "Go Your Own Way"

Fleetwood Mac helped me through a time of heartbreak. 12 years later, they broke my heart.
Reply With Quote
  #79  
Old 07-24-2014, 05:39 AM
pattyfan pattyfan is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 679
Default

I have a few ideas for good gay movies.

My favorite is called "Undertow" in English. (Contracorriente in Spanish). It's from Peru and is truly an unforgettable movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm1-tDY-esU

I just saw The Way He Looks (from Brazil). It won the audience award at the GLBT film festival this summer in SF. It was amazing. Sweet, realistic, not overblown, and thought provoking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBsJ63fo7q4

I also really liked Shelter for the same reasons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFw5oUmlYtA

I think that for the most part, Hollywood movies get made by group and consensus and tend to be, well, pretty crappy. Technically well made, but false, facile, and totally not interesting.

Of course, some other Hollywood movies with gay themes that I did like were My Beautiful Launderette and Maurice. My two cents

Kevin

Last edited by pattyfan; 07-24-2014 at 05:43 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #80  
Old 07-24-2014, 09:24 AM
TrueFaith77's Avatar
TrueFaith77 TrueFaith77 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New York City!
Posts: 5,012
Default

I'm intrigued to see The Way He Looks.

It's playing at the New York GayGay Film Fest. I got tix for I Am Happiness on Earth (second best movie of the year), Cupcakes, and Blackbird.
__________________
"They love each other so much, they think they hate each other."

Imagine paying $1000 to hear "Don't Dream It's Over" instead of "Go Your Own Way"

Fleetwood Mac helped me through a time of heartbreak. 12 years later, they broke my heart.
Reply With Quote
  #81  
Old 07-24-2014, 03:06 PM
pattyfan pattyfan is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 679
Default

Let me know what you think about The Way He Looks. Also, the same director made a short movie, which is similar but not the same, with the same actors, which is in youtube.

Enjoy

Kevin
Reply With Quote
  #82  
Old 07-25-2014, 07:42 AM
Dex's Avatar
Dex Dex is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sussex
Posts: 938
Default

OK, update. I watched series 1 of the original Queer as Folk last night and, to my surprise, actually did love it. Guess I've finally grown into it. Good one, Russel T Davies.

Can we also talk about Angels in America? I've never seen it live, but the HBO miniseries is ****ing legendary to me. I watch it and am just in awe. That dialogue! There's just so much to sink my teeth into.

I don't think it's entirely fair to dismiss gay-male films as largely crap. It's a fairly niche genre, let's face it, so money and resources are going to be allocated elsewhere much of the time, and when they're not, it makes sense that filmmakers would opt for a lot of lowest-common-denominator stuff that they're sure will bring in more viewers. Try and be easy on them! They're up against a lot. But it's true, all the gems of gay cinema are solidly in indie-film territory where commercial interest was clearly not a priority.

Did anyone else like Weekend? I know it's supposed to be overrated as all hell, but, it just hit home with me. Loved it to bits.
Reply With Quote
  #83  
Old 07-25-2014, 08:04 AM
TrueFaith77's Avatar
TrueFaith77 TrueFaith77 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New York City!
Posts: 5,012
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex View Post
OK, update. I watched series 1 of the original Queer as Folk last night and, to my surprise, actually did love it. Guess I've finally grown into it. Good one, Russel T Davies.
Yay!! Read my review in my book Serpents and Doves (link below).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex View Post
Can we also talk about Angels in America? I've never seen it live, but the HBO miniseries is ****ing legendary to me. I watch it and am just in awe. That dialogue! There's just so much to sink my teeth into.
I've read the play--which I had admired but its Brechtian conceit is, now, dated. I've seen the play--which was an exciting experience for me in early college. I've seen the movie--which I think is an abomination. Angels in America--in all its iterations--pales compared to Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train and The Witnesses--the greatest movies ever made about the AIDS era but also timeless works of art.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex View Post
I don't think it's entirely fair to dismiss gay-male films as largely crap. It's a fairly niche genre, let's face it, so money and resources are going to be allocated elsewhere much of the time, and when they're not, it makes sense that filmmakers would opt for a lot of lowest-common-denominator stuff that they're sure will bring in more viewers. Try and be easy on them! They're up against a lot. But it's true, all the gems of gay cinema are solidly in indie-film territory where commercial interest was clearly not a priority.
I don't cut anyone slack. Fact is: most American indie films suck. That said: Patrik Ian-Polk (Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, The Skinny, and Blackbird) and Gregg Araki (Nowhere, Kaboom, The Living End) may lack money and resources, but not inventiveness, authenticity, insight and cinematic skill--plus they are great with actors.

However, there are foreign "independent" movies that shame any Hollywood films for scope and vision. Terence Davies' The Long Day Closes reinvents cinema language through the sublime representaiton of the cultural, familial, and pop consciousness of a gay boy--an unforgettable vision and the greatest gay movie ever made. Patrice Chereau's Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train's Cinemascope vibrancy and Eisensteinian montage makes it an unparalleled modern movie experience--imagine a gay Big Chill that's as rich as Shakespeare. Andre Techine's Wild Reeds is the ultimate coming-of-age film, combining pop culture, sexual awakening and experimentation, and conflicting political allegiances. Wong Kar-Wai's lyrical Happy Together remains the definitive film about the ups-and-downs of a gay relationship--starring China's then-biggest stars Leslie Cheung (r.i.p. to this gay icon) and Tony Leung. Those are all among the very very best 90s films, while this century's gay cinema has been dominated by, of course, Chereau (r.i.p.) and Techine (always mighty) but also by new-kid-on-the-block Julian Hernandez whose trilogy (A Thousand Clouds of Peace, Broken Sky, and Raging, Sun Raging Sky) combines lush cinematography--the best lenser of performers sinces Ingmar Bergman!!!--and Mexican folk culture and pop lore to show how, in three distinct stories, gay desire, then heartbreak, then fulfillment can extend outward in gratuitous love for those outside the couplings. He's the best new filmmaker of the century.

As for Hollywood films. Don't forget that The Staircase was a major Hollywood production, directed by Stanley Donan (Singin' in the Rain) and starring Richard Burton and Rex Harrison at the peaks of their careers--both giving their very best performances ever.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex View Post
Did anyone else like Weekend? I know it's supposed to be overrated as all hell, but, it just hit home with me. Loved it to bits.
Not my kind of movie.
__________________
"They love each other so much, they think they hate each other."

Imagine paying $1000 to hear "Don't Dream It's Over" instead of "Go Your Own Way"

Fleetwood Mac helped me through a time of heartbreak. 12 years later, they broke my heart.

Last edited by TrueFaith77; 07-25-2014 at 08:13 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #84  
Old 07-25-2014, 08:18 AM
Dex's Avatar
Dex Dex is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sussex
Posts: 938
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TrueFaith77 View Post
Not my kind of movie.
Ha. And I hated Kaboom! I think there's actually little we ever agree on, TrueFaith. I kinda dig it.

But then, I suppose it's a nice demonstration of why so many gay filmmakers in the west incline towards the cheapest, broadest appeal. It's safer. As a people we're diverse, but we know we all like nice bums and sex jokes.

Happy Together is quite snazballs too, though. I gotta say.

Last edited by Dex; 07-25-2014 at 08:42 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #85  
Old 07-25-2014, 08:23 AM
TrueFaith77's Avatar
TrueFaith77 TrueFaith77 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New York City!
Posts: 5,012
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex View Post
But then, I suppose it's a nice demonstration of why so many gay filmmakers in the west incline towards the cheapest, broadest appeal. It's safer. As a people we're diverse, but we know all like nice bums and sex jokes.
To what is this in reference?
__________________
"They love each other so much, they think they hate each other."

Imagine paying $1000 to hear "Don't Dream It's Over" instead of "Go Your Own Way"

Fleetwood Mac helped me through a time of heartbreak. 12 years later, they broke my heart.
Reply With Quote
  #86  
Old 07-25-2014, 08:24 AM
Dex's Avatar
Dex Dex is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sussex
Posts: 938
Default

I have a new co-worker who is apparently a lesbian. This seemed to excite someone else at work, who rushed up to tell me, and then asked "How do gay guys and lesbians get along!? Is it... like... is there a rift? I hear there's a rift!"

I was so bewildered and kind of amused by the question. Maybe you have to know the guy. He's so nice, but kind of naive. He asks me all sorts of questions about being gay, and always wants easier answers than I'm prepared to give. But this one really took the cake for some reason. Who told him there was a rift? Who the hell talks like that? We're groups of people who will probably never have much sex with each other, but otherwise coexist, as people do with others they don't have sex with.

He didn't seem at all satisfied with my answer.
Reply With Quote
  #87  
Old 07-25-2014, 08:26 AM
TrueFaith77's Avatar
TrueFaith77 TrueFaith77 is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New York City!
Posts: 5,012
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex View Post
He didn't seem at all satisfied with my answer.
There's a rift.
__________________
"They love each other so much, they think they hate each other."

Imagine paying $1000 to hear "Don't Dream It's Over" instead of "Go Your Own Way"

Fleetwood Mac helped me through a time of heartbreak. 12 years later, they broke my heart.
Reply With Quote
  #88  
Old 07-25-2014, 08:28 AM
Dex's Avatar
Dex Dex is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sussex
Posts: 938
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TrueFaith77 View Post
To what is this in reference?
The general consensus that western "mainstream" (inasmuch as gay films can be mainstream) films are basically cheap sleazy crap. If you're making a film and only expect to appeal to a gay audience, you're likely to try and appeal to that entire audience base. And I honestly think the only way people know how to do that is through sex-based content. We're divided on most other matters.

Last edited by Dex; 07-25-2014 at 08:41 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #89  
Old 07-25-2014, 08:29 AM
Dex's Avatar
Dex Dex is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sussex
Posts: 938
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TrueFaith77 View Post
There's a rift.
See? He should've asked you! But I'm getting along so well with the woman that if I'd said that it'd be clear by now that I was just lying.
Reply With Quote
  #90  
Old 07-25-2014, 04:45 PM
becca's Avatar
becca becca is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 939
Default

There's a book titled Widescreen Dreams : Growing up Gay at the Movies that might be worth a look?

I liked My Beautiful Laundrette quite a bit too. There's a good one titled C.R.A.Z.Y. that seems to get played on the Sundance channel here a lot which I also liked. Another film, Different For Girls, is more trans I suppose, but some great late '70s-early '80s U.K. music and the two main romantic characters met at a boys school.

Does anyone remember a movie that featured a character obsessed with Cass Elliot music? It may have been Australian (or I've just gotten it mashed up with Muriel's Wedding). I've been racking my brain to come up with it's title to no avail!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


Billy Burnette - Billy Burnette [Used Very Good CD] Rmst, Reissue picture

Billy Burnette - Billy Burnette [Used Very Good CD] Rmst, Reissue

$12.47



Billy Burnette - Billy Burnette [New CD] Rmst, Reissue picture

Billy Burnette - Billy Burnette [New CD] Rmst, Reissue

$15.38



Billy Burnette - Memphis in Manhattan ***PROMO*** 2006 Release picture

Billy Burnette - Memphis in Manhattan ***PROMO*** 2006 Release

$19.99



BILLY BURNETTE COLUMBIA RECORDS VINYL LP   167-21 picture

BILLY BURNETTE COLUMBIA RECORDS VINYL LP 167-21

$6.77



BILLY BURNETTE S/T Self-Titled  1980 Columbia In Shrink w/Hype Sticker Rock  NM picture

BILLY BURNETTE S/T Self-Titled 1980 Columbia In Shrink w/Hype Sticker Rock NM

$11.99




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:13 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
© 1995-2003 Martin and Lisa Adelson, All Rights Reserved