The Gay Thread

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by Dex

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).

Originally Posted by Dex

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.

Originally Posted by Dex

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.

Originally Posted by Dex

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.