Reel Thoughts: Cherish

While you’ll have to wait until March 1 to see Cher in her most recent role in Burlesque on DVD, now is the perfect time to check out her first roles, followed by four of her notable performances since then. Cher: The Movie Collection gives you six chances to cherish Cher, even if the films are sometimes a hoot or a drag.

The first DVD is more of a Sonny movie than a Cher one. Good Times, starring Cher’s ex, the late Sonny Bono, is a bizarre film filled where the then-hot duo are being cajoled into making Hollywood trash by none other than George Sanders, channeling his Addison DeWitt character from All About Eve. It’s hard to care whether or not the “kids” sell out and make the hillbilly hit Sanders wants, since their alternatives are a bunch of skits (a western, a jungle saga and a private eye spoof) done better on their variety show. Still, both Sonny and Cher sing, and it’s fascinating to imagine that he was the bigger star back then.

Next is Chastity, where Cher plays a teen-aged runaway with a secret, who can’t let anyone get too close to her. People sure try, though, from the guy she scams at a gas station, to a nice guy she calls Andre to the lesbian madam of a Mexican whorehouse where Chastity hangs out after fleeing domestic bliss with Andre. It’s a 60’s road trip that is a hoot, but it’s most notable for its Phoenix locations. Look closely and you’ll see Wagon Wheel Kiddie Land (where the madam who looks like Shirley Partridge takes Chastity), the Phoenix Zoo, the long lost Japanese flower gardens on Baseline and Macayo’s on Central.

(It bears noting that Chaz Bono, Cher’s trangender son, was conceived during this film, and named for a character who is basically a hustler and wannabe hooker. It’s like Sir Anthony Hopkins naming his kid Hannibal.)

The next films are more familiar Cher fare, and probably don’t need introductions. As Dolly Pelliker in 1983’s Silkwood, Cher plays the lesbian roommate of Meryl Streep’s ill-fated whistle-blower. Cher captures her character’s conflicting loyalties perfectly. Her Oscar-nominated performance put her on the map as a dramatic actress.

Then comes her Oscar-winning performance in 1987’s Moonstruck, where Cher plays Loretta, a dowdy New York bookkeeper who blossoms when forced to choose between a nice-guy suitor (Danny Aiello) and his handsome estranged younger brother (Nicolas Cage). This is Cher at her best, and she’s luminous in the role.

1990’s Mermaids comes next, starring Cher as the scandalous single mother of Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci, who is adorable in her very first film. The collection ends with 1999’s Tea With Mussolini, Cher’s only trip to period drama à la Merchant Ivory. Franco Zeffirelli directed this semi-autobiographical story of a boy raised by an Englishwoman in Mussolini’s Italy. Cher is gorgeous as Elsa, a Jewish-American heiress who falls victim to internment while trying to help a group of British women (Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright and Judi Dench).

Certainly, there are titles missing from this collection, since it contains only MGM releases, but Cher: The Movie Collection is a great way to enjoy Cher’s second best talent after singing.

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Dearie Awards 2010: Documentary of the Year - STONEWALL UPRISING

The seminal event in GLBT liberation history finally received the unadulterated film treatment it deserved in the revelatory documentary Stonewall Uprising. Previous docs have dealt with events leading up to and following the riots that occurred in and around Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn in the summer of 1969, and one fictional movie (1995's Stonewall) depicted some of the events and players involved. It wasn't until 2010, however, that this assemblage of you-are-there archival footage and interviews with participants on both sides of the divide came together with the admirable intent of trying to separate fact from legend.

The result is more inspirational than anything we've witnessed before, and Stonewall Uprising (due on DVD April 26) is a true must-see for neophyte students and long-dedicated activists alike. When a New York City police officer (now in his 80's) who was there questions the wisdom of the crackdown on the Stonewall, attention must be paid.

Honorable Mentions:
8: The Mormon Proposition was an eye-opening, if not exactly unbiased, exploration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' well-organized support of California's Proposition 8, which sought to amend the state's constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. Of course, there's no rule that says filmmakers, including documentarians, have to be unbiased; if there were, Michael Moore would have been out of a job long ago. As legal challenges to the now-infamous Prop 8 continue to be filed and heard, time and justice will hopefully declare it unconstitutional once and for all. Until then, the religious forces of opposition to marriage equality need to be called out, and this film does an exceptional job at that.

Walt Disney Studios had a notoriously difficult time adjusting to meet more sophisticated audience expectations between the 1970's-1980's. Waking Sleeping Beauty provides an intimate peek behind the scenes during the company's late 80's makeover that ushered in an animation renaissance with such massive successes as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. Interestingly but perhaps unsurprisingly, the film hints that these significant Disney achievements might not have been possible if not for the artistic contributions of gay talents/visionaries Howard Ashman (who died, tragically, of AIDS-related complications in 1991) and Elton John, among others. An all-around insightful film for all of us "Disney queens" out here.

Click the following links to read our original reviews: Stonewall Uprising, 8: The Mormon Proposition and Waking Sleeping Beauty.

UPDATE: Stonewall Uprising is now available on DVD from Amazon.com.

By Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: Soul & Bone

The summer 2010 movie season winds down this weekend, and it's been a better-than-average one in terms of both studio and indie films being embraced by critics and audiences alike. Toy Story 3, Inception and Despicable Me are a few examples of the former, while The Kids Are All Right, The Girl Who Played with Fire and Cyrus were smaller-budget hits.

I only recently had the chance to watch Winter's Bone, the Sundance-acclaimed drama (it won the fest's Grand Jury Prize and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award) that was originally released in June (it will be released on DVD and Blu-ray October 26). Easily one of the best films of the year thus far, it reveals with empathy-building clarity a community that more "mainstream" Americans — including those of us in the GLBTQ community — prefer to ridicule, if not outright ignore.

Set in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, the gripping Winter's Bone follows the plight of 17-year old Ree (a star-making performance by Jennifer Lawrence, who was recently signed to play Mystique in next year's X-Men: First Class). Ree, responsible for the care of a disabled mother and two younger siblings, learns that her meth-making, drug-dealing father has disappeared after posting the family's house as bail following his most recent arrest. If he doesn't appear in court as scheduled, the house will be seized and Ree and her impoverished family members will be out in the cold. She takes it upon herself to track her father down, discovering friends and foes alike in the process.

As Ree navigates the harsh climate — physical and social — viewers are introduced to a largely unknown world populated by people commonly referred to as "hillbillies" or "poor white trash." The community has its own rules and power structure, and Ree learns the hard way what can happen when these aren't respected. However, a clan-ish concern for Ree also becomes apparent, as well as an overriding respect for the local, natural environment. There are domestic and wild animals everywhere in Winter's Bone. While these serve a variety of practical purposes, none could be termed "abused."

By film's end, Ree's semi-naïve adolescence has come to an end but she has gained a closer family and a deeper respect for her neighbors. These "backwoods folk," or whatever we may sometimes be tempted to call them, have a lot to teach us.

Summer is ending on a cinematic high note with Soul Kitchen, opening today in Los Angeles prior to a national rollout this fall. A comedy-drama by Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin (Head-On, The Edge of Heaven), it won a special jury prize at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.

Soul Kitchen isn't only the film's title; it is the name of a restaurant owned and managed by Zinos Kazantsakis (winningly played by Adam Bousdoukos). Zinos has been toiling for years to build up his clientele through a combination of deep-fried "comfort food" and funk music. The restaurant is a local favorite, but things take a turn when a variety of forces conspire against Zinos: a talented if strong-willed chef alienates his customers; his back slips a disk; his girlfriend moves to China; and his imprisoned brother, Ilias (the hot Moritz Bleibtreu, who was seen in last year's excellent The Baader-Meinhoff Complex), is let out on parole. Oh, yeah, and a slimy real-estate shark is maneuvering to buy the restaurant for a greedy developer (Udo Kier of Andy Warhol's Dracula and Frankenstein fame, and memorable as "Hans" in My Own Private Idaho).

According to a producer's note, Soul Kitchen has its roots in a cinematic genre popular in 1950's Germany known as "Heimat" films. Heimat translates as "home," as in "a place of family and friends ... a place of escape and of magic where you fall in love or fail in love." The current movie has more of a 70's vibe to it via the music (by Kool & the Gang, Quincy Jones and Sam Cooke, among others), psychedelic closing credits and rapid-fire editing. It also boasts an amusing, relatively tame orgy — inspired by an aphrodisiac-laced dessert — that wouldn't be out of place in one of Warhol's or Russ Meyers' soft-core classics.

Even if it is occasionally predictable, Soul Kitchen serves up a tasty dish.

Reverend's Ratings:
Winter's Bone: A
Soul Kitchen: B+

UPDATE: Winter's Bone is available on DVD and Blu-ray and Soul Kitchen is available on DVD from Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend’s Reviews: Inspiring Figures Shine in New DVDs

Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling overturning Proposition 8 is the latest historic step toward full equality for GLBT citizens of the US. It is important to note, though, that it wouldn’t have been possible without the courage and persistence of a number of gay men and lesbian women who have prepared the way.

One of these figures, Charlene Strong, is the subject of the acclaimed documentary For My Wife: The Making of an Activist for Marriage Equality. The film will be released August 31 on DVD courtesy of Cinema Libre Studio.

Strong’s partner of nine years, Kate Fleming, was the victim of a tragic flooding incident in their Seattle home. As Fleming lay dying in a local hospital, medical personnel refused to allow Strong to visit since she wasn’t legally her partner’s next-of-kin. Strong subsequently fought for the establishment of hospital visitation rights for same-sex partners, and was instrumental in the expansion of Washington state’s Domestic Partnership laws.

For My Wife seems like a promo for GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) when it showcases the organization’s training program, which Strong went through; this unfortunately distracts from Strong’s inspiring story. So long as the film’s focus is on her and her memories of Fleming — who is heard at one point, eerily, via a recorded birthday message to Strong — For My Wife is a powerful testament to how GLBT love can translate into political power.

Another new DVD release, Off and Running (out August 17), spotlights the joys and challenges experienced within a family raised by a same-sex couple (the movie is also scheduled for a September broadcast on PBS; check local listings). It’s not unlike a real-life The Kids Are All Right: lesbian couple Travis and Tovah Klein-Cloud adopted three children of different races/ethnicities over the course of several years. “Our family nickname is ‘the United Nations’,” their African-American middle daughter, Avery, writes in a letter to her birth mother. Her older brother is of mixed race and their younger brother is Korean.

As the film begins, Avery has just been informed of the identity of the woman who gave her up for adoption while she was an infant. The discovery and Avery’s subsequent identity crisis launches the whole family on a journey that threatens at times to tear them apart.

Travis and Tovah, who are Jewish and who met after each had adopted a child, deserve special commendation, as do all couples who have taken in children needing a loving and secure home. They are naturally confused and concerned as Avery grows increasingly distant from them, and watch helplessly as Avery’s performance at school also suffers. As Travis says of their troubled daughter, “She’s deep in her own dramas.”

Off and Running is an excellent, insightful exploration of a contemporary American family, and is unquestionably more true-to-life than a certain current movie starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore.

Playwright Tennessee Williams may not be as contemporary but has left a significant imprint on GLBT progress. The author of such classic works as The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire was adept at creating sympathetic portrayals of characters on society’s margins, including prostitutes, addicts, the mentally ill and homosexuals. A gay man himself, Williams passed away in 1983.

After his death, a number of unproduced writings were discovered among Williams’ possessions. One of them was a screenplay entitled The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond. Written in 1957, it finally made its way to the big screen in 2009, albeit in limited release. It is set for release on DVD and Blu-ray on September 7.

The film boasts an impressive cast: Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of director Ron Howard, most recently seen as the vengeful vampire, Victoria, in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse); Chris Evans (who made a very hot Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies and will be seen next summer as Captain America); film vets Ellen Burstyn and Ann-Margret; and Mamie Gummer, who happens to be Meryl Streep’s daughter.

The central character in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond is — true to Williams’ form — a disgraced young socialite, Fisher Willow (Howard). After happily living abroad in Europe for several years, Fisher is summoned home to Memphis, Tennessee by her imperious aunt (Ann-Margret) in the wake of a family scandal.

While the aunt connives to marry her niece off to a wealthy, respectable suitor, Fisher is drawn to Jimmy Dobine V (Evans). The handsome young man is penniless but is the grandson of a well-admired, former governor of Tennessee. Complications both dramatic and romantic ensue when Jimmy escorts Fisher to a Halloween party and the expensive bauble of the film’s title goes missing.

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond is beautifully photographed (by Giles Nuttgens), and Williams’ script includes such quotable observations as “A person of my kind never has enough money” and “Propriety is a waste of time.” There is also a moment when a man overtly checks out Jimmy’s manhood in a restroom, as well as a scene wherein Jimmy strips “to the skin” (off camera, unfortunately) so two men can thoroughly search him for the lost earring.

Sadly, though, there isn’t much else to recommend The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond. Jodie Markell’s direction is stilted and the performances are disappointingly one-note, save Jessica Collins as a waitress yearning for “release” from her dead-end life. Still, it’s good to know that Williams’ pioneering spirit lives on.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: New International Films of GLBT Interest

Summer is traditionally a time for travel, both domestic and international. If you aren't able to get away this year, a number of new GLBT theatrical and DVD releases from different countries may yet provide a perfect, armchair travel escape.

Men for Sale is an eye-opening, hard-hitting documentary set for DVD release on August 31 by Breaking Glass Pictures. Respected filmmaker Rodrigue Jean spent a year following 11 male sex workers in Montreal, Canada. Through candid interviews with his subjects, Jean exposes a uniform, vicious cycle of childhood neglect or abuse, drug addiction and prostitution. Some of the men started having sex for money when they were as young as 12, usually after they started abusing drugs.

The revelations in Men for Sale become repetitious within a lengthy 145-minute running time, but this serves to underscore the tragic trap in which these men are caught. Although most are in their 20's and identify as heterosexual, one is a 40-something gay man who starred in several porn films starting when he was 16. The majority of self-professed straight subjects bolster their masculinity on-camera by saying they refuse to engage in anal intercourse. However, one of them tells Jean bluntly that this simply isn't true. The film makes clear that when the need for a drug high to ease the pain of a sad childhood is desperate enough, moral and/or physical taboos are easily shed.

Also of note is one sex worker's observation of his numerous political clients. "The guys who pass laws against us (re: prostitution/solicitation and homosexuality)," he says, "are the ones who come looking for us at night." Even in more liberal Canada, sexual hypocrisy is alive and well.

If you're looking for something more upbeat on your cinematic world tour, Spinnin', now available on DVD, is a thoroughly enjoyable dramedy from Spain. The film won the award for Best Feature Film at the Barcelona Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival. It opens with the love-at-first-sight meeting of two men, Garate and Omar (played, respectively, by the very attractive Alejandro Tous and Olav Fernandez), and recounts their subsequent efforts to find a surrogate mother so they can father a child.

The process doesn't go as easily as the couple had hoped, but they gain important insights and new friends in the process. While stylized and erratically edited, Spinnin' is a rainbow-hued movie that also takes on such wide-ranging subjects as Star Wars, soccer, HIV/AIDS and God's homosexuality (!). It is very well-directed and -written by the obviously talented Eusebio Pastrana, who has been described as a "rising auteur." I also found inspiring the numerous moments of physical (not necessarily sexual, although it has that too) and emotional intimacy in the film between even those characters who don't know each other well.

Finally, I would feel remiss if I didn't mention Brazil's From Beginning to End (Do Comeco ao Fim), even though it isn't yet scheduled for release in the US due to its controversial plot. Shown during the just-completed Outfest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in Los Angeles, it is the romantic, sexy, crowd-pleasing, heart-warming love story of two brothers in love ... with each other!

Ok, the film's protagonists, Francisco and Thomas, are technically half-brothers but they share the same mother and were raised together. Their unusual closeness is noticed by their mother and Francisco's father while the boys are still young, but the parents assume it is a natural phase they will grow out of in time.

Following their beloved mother's death, however, the grown (and gorgeous) Thomas and Francisco feel "liberated" and their formerly chaste, brotherly love becomes sexual. Over time, they even exchange wedding rings! As one of them declares, "To understand our love they'd have to turn the world upside down."

Their relationship is tested, though, when Thomas is accepted as a member of Brazil's Olympics swim team, requiring him to go to Russia for three years' worth of training. Left behind and lonely, Francisco gets close to a woman. Will the brothers decide to live more "normal" lives? I'm not going to give things away. Suffice to say that the movie's writer-director, Aluizio Abranches, isn't afraid to go where few have ventured outside of exploitive porn/fetish films.

Most viewers will find the moral implications of the brothers' romance challenging, but it is hard to criticize their sincere love for one another or the desire to express it physically. Moving and thought-provoking, keep your eyes open for From Beginning to End when planning your next international movie experience.

UPDATE: From Beginning to End is now available on DVD from Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

MD Contest: Chloe on DVD

Thanks to the generosity of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, one of our lucky readers will receive a free DVD of Atom Egoyan's sexy thriller Chloe starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried.

To enter, all you have to do is send an email with the subject line "Chloe on DVD" to the email address below. Please include the address you want the DVD shipped to along with your full name.

All information received will be kept confidential. Contest restricted to US residents only please. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced next Saturday, July 17.

The DVD and Blu-ray will be available July 13; click here to watch the trailer.

UPDATE: This contest is now closed; click here for the results.

MD Contest: I Want A Single Man

Movie Dearest is launching our very first contest today! Thanks to the generosity of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, one of our lucky readers will receive a free DVD of Tom Ford's critically acclaimed, award-winning A Single Man starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.

To enter, all you have to do is send an email with the subject line "I Want A Single Man" to the email address below. Please include the address you want the DVD shipped to along with your full name.

All information received will be kept confidential.  Contest restricted to US residents only please.  The winner will be chosen randomly on Tuesday July 6, the day A Single Man is released on DVD and Blu-ray.

That's next week, so enter now, and good luck!

UPDATE: This contest is now closed; click here for the results.

Reverend's Reviews: Proposition 8, Revisited

It's hard to believe that it has been two years since the first legal same-sex marriages took place in the state of California. Sadly, euphoria turned to disappointment a mere five months later, when voters approved the insidious Proposition 8 by a narrow margin and took away the right of GLBT couples to marry.

The new documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition is being released this Friday to commemorate the anniversary of California's short-lived time of marriage equality. The film will debut in 13 major US cities and will be available that same date for On Demand purchase via cable and satellite providers as well as digital download channels.  Also, the DVD is already scheduled for release on July 13.

It is no secret that the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (whose members are often referred to as LDS or Mormons, for short) was a major supporter of Proposition 8, both financially and in terms of its leaders encouraging members to vote for the legislation. 8: The Mormon Proposition reveals that Mormon donations accounted for 71% of campaign contributions toward the success of Proposition 8, even though Mormons make up less than 2% of California's population.

GLBT and other protesters stormed the church's Los Angeles temple immediately following the proposition's passage and continued to do so for several weeks. This and allegations against the LDS of overstepping Church-State bounds are revisited in the film. Veteran political consultant Ron Karger appears and terms the overall effort to see Proposition 8 succeed "dirty politics."

What I found new and interesting in the documentary is an unveiling of a Mormon "conspiracy" against same-sex marriage that predates Proposition 8 by over ten years. In 1996, LDS leaders became concerned about efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Hawaii. They secretly began laying the foundation then for a well-organized opposition from the church that would culminate in California in 2008.

8: The Mormon Proposition — which is narrated by the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk, Dustin Lance Black, who was raised LDS — is similarly interesting and helpful when it explains the Mormon theology of marriage and the afterlife, which are intimately related. As Black bluntly states, "Gays interrupt the Mormon plan for Heaven," thereby posing a somewhat understandable threat to LDS families hoping for the ultimate, celestial reunion of their members.

As the movie unspools, however, the filmmakers' biases become more evident, to its detriment. According to the film's press notes, director Reed Cowan and many of those behind the camera grew up gay in the Mormon faith. They often experienced bigotry and a lack of acceptance from their own family members, which has resulted in a number of suicides among young, gay LDS men. A couple of these cases of suicide are detailed in the film, along with torturous psychological techniques some Mormons have been subjected to in an attempt to "cure" them of their homosexuality.

While GLBT viewers will naturally be sympathetic to the filmmakers and these sad experiences, the detailed recounting of them distracts from the film's main subject. What's more, the unrelenting attack on the LDS church in 8: The Mormon Proposition lets other churches and religious groups that were also heavily involved in promoting and passing Proposition 8 off the hook. There is only one fleeting mention of the Roman Catholic Church's historic partnering with the LDS in opposition to same-sex marriage, and no mention of the various fundamentalist congregations in California that also helped Proposition 8 to succeed. The Mormons did not and could not secure its passage all by themselves, but the film sure makes it look like they did.

8: The Mormon Proposition resurrects a painful period in California's GLBT history. While it is always important to remember the past in our effort to not repeat its disappointments, it is also time to move on and to work together harder than ever for the equal right to marriage in California — and everywhere.

UPDATE: 8: The Mormon Proposition is now available on DVD from Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.