Reverend's Report: Going Independent at LA Film Fest 2011

Even as the annual Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) primarily champions movies made outside the studio system, the 2011 edition — held June 16-26 — wasn't above showcasing such would-be blockbusters as Green Lantern, Winnie the Pooh and Guillermo del Toro's remake of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. 25th anniversary screenings of 1986's Hollywood hits Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Stand By Me were also shown. Still, it is the fest's indie offerings that stoke most attendees' devotion. This was the fest's second year at the downtown LA Live complex and, based on the obviously increased number of attendees over 2010, it is proving to be a good fit.

A healthy number of GLBT-interest films were featured, and I appreciate the festival organizers' continued dedication to including our community's stories. Wish Me Away, which details the tumultuous coming-out experience of country-western singer Chely Wright, even ended up winning the fest's Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary. The jurors remarked that Wish Me Away was noteworthy for its "honesty, humor and potential to change minds and even save lives." (The Canadian comedy Familiar Ground won the jury's Narrative Award, while Attack the Block, Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest and Senna won Audience Awards.) Here's my take on a few of the festival's memorable offerings, gay and otherwise.

Man of letters James Franco was on hand to introduce the world premiere of his latest exploration of literature and liberation, The Broken Tower. Having portrayed Allen Ginsberg in last year's Howl to great acclaim, Franco now directs, writes and stars as another gay poet, the lesser-known Hart Crane. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the sold-out event but I was informed after that our love of all things Franco should remain intact. Next up for the GLBT-friendly star: raising Caesar, the hyper-intelligent chimpanzee, and bedding Frieda Pinto in August's Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Theatre and film director Julie Taymor wisely traded NYC for LA the very week that the much-delayed, injury-inducing musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark finally premiered on the Great White Way. Taymor spoke to an adoring audience the night of June 19 at the Grammy Museum about her dual careers on film and stage. Even more unexpected, however, was the on-stage pairing of Jack Black and Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine on June 23. The pair entertainingly discussed their diverse approaches to acting as well as working together on the festival's Opening Night selection, Richard Linklater's unusual Bernie.

The GLBT component of this year's festival really kicked in, though, on June 18 with the World Premiere of Leave It On the Floor, a spectacular musical-on-a-budget by director Sheldon Larry and screenwriter/lyricist Glenn Gaylord (with music by Beyoncé collaborator Kimberly Bursa). Set in Los Angeles, it focuses on local "dynasties" of GLBT young people who perform in weekly drag balls. It combines elements of the 1991 documentary Paris is Burning as well as Dreamgirls and features the best (only?) dance number set in a bowling alley since Grease 2, the latter choreographed to the great, instantly memorable song "Knock The Mother F***er Down"! The sold-out crowd loved it, and the VIP after party/ball was the fest's best fête.

I am not only happy but grateful to have caught the North American premiere of Tomboy, an exquisite new film by French writer-director Celine Sciamma. It depicts a transgender girl's efforts to fit into a new community by presenting herself as a boy, which naturally leads to complications. Young lead actress Zoe Heran gives one of several beautifully-nuanced performances in this sensitive, compassionate movie. Rocket Releasing acquired the US rights to Tomboy, so watch for it later this year.

Also making its North American debut during LAFF was Christopher and His Kind, a feature-length distillation of the 2010 BBC miniseries about gay writer Christopher Isherwood. Best known for the autobiographical I Am A Camera, based on his years in pre-World War II Berlin and later musicalized as Cabaret, Isherwood pushed social and political barriers as he explored his family, his romances and the rise of the Nazi party. Christopher and His Kind — which features fine performances by Doctor Who's Matt Smith (as Isherwood), Toby Jones and Imogen Poots — also boasts gorgeous settings and male supporting players. As Isherwood is quoted in one of the voiceovers that opens the film, "To me, Berlin meant boys." Screenwriter Kevin Elyot and director Geoffrey Sax effectively take the author at his word. (Christopher and His Kind was released on DVD this week and is now available from Amazon.com.)

Alas, I was disappointed by another gay-themed production having its much-ballyhooed World Premiere in Los Angeles, Mike Akel's An Ordinary Family. A serio-comic take on religious and moral tensions within a "typical" American family, its central dispute between an Episcopal priest and his gay brother (who brings his new partner along for a week at their parents' lake house) seemed unnecessarily strained to the point of feeling dated. First, mainstream Episcopalians are hardly as conservative as they are made to look here and, second, no self-respecting 21st-century gay man would put up with the criticism he and his partner are made to put up with. Despite a good cast led by Troy Schremmer (who starred in Akel's acclaimed Chalk) and Greg Wise as the feuding brothers, An Ordinary Family suffers from a lack of authenticity.

There is no way to catch all of the nearly 200 LAFF selections, despite multiple showings and advance press screenings of some of them. That made it especially critical, then, to be on the lookout for those non-GLBT films that came with some pedigree. To that end, I was most intrigued by actress Vera Farmiga's directorial debut, Higher Ground, which was well-received at January's Sundance Film Festival. That it deals with religion and spirituality naturally piqued my interest as well.

Farmiga plays a life-long Christian who, at midlife, begins to experience doubts and tensions with her faith. The fact that she and her family live in a commune-like, fundamentalist environment with fellow devotees makes her discernment all the more difficult. The actress-director was able to assemble a stellar cast that includes Broadway stalwarts and Tony Award-winners Norbert Leo Butz, Donna Murphy and Bill Irwin as well as recent Oscar nominee John Hawkes (Winter's Bone). Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project, Humpday) is also excellent as Farmiga's husband. The standout performance in the film, though, may well be Dagmara Dominczyk's heartbreaking turn as Farmiga's earthy, doomed best friend. I love the movie's haunting final shot. Higher Ground will be released nationally later this summer and could easily emerge a 2011 awards contender.

Another LAFF has come and gone, but the festival only gets better each year as a celebration of movies... independently made and otherwise.

Report by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Preview: Let Your Freak Flag Fly at Shrek The Musical

DreamWorks Animation Studios has created such hit movies over the years as The Prince of Egypt, How to Train Your Dragon and the current blockbuster Kung Fu Panda 2. But as Dreamworks' CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg recently told a group of journalists (including myself) specially invited to his lavish studio compound for a private sneak peek at Shrek The Musical, a Broadway smash making its Southern California premiere in July, "Welcome to the house that Shrek built."

The first Shrek film, inspired by William Steig's classic storybook, was released in 2001 and inspired three sequels. Shrek The Musical premiered in New York in 2009 and was subsequently nominated for several Tony Awards. It will be performed at San Diego's Civic Theatre from July 5-10 and at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles July 12-31.

"There is no more defining character or story for DreamWorks than Shrek," Katzenberg said. It took a diverse group of artists to transfer the film to the stage. These include Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, who directed 1999's Best Picture American Beauty for DreamWorks and first proposed the idea of a Shrek musical; author and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his play Rabbit Hole (which was made last year into an Oscar-nominated movie); Jeanine Tesori, who also composed the music for gay playwright Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change; and co-directors Jason Moore (Avenue Q) and Rob Ashford (the recent Broadway revival of Promises Promises, among other credits).

Shrek The Musical adheres closely to the first movie's plot about an initially disgruntled, ultimately heroic ogre who falls in love with the seemingly human Princess Fiona. Along the way, he befriends a chatty Donkey and squares off against the villainous Lord Farquad. An assortment of classic fairy tale characters (including Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs, Humpty Dumpty and the Gingerbread Man) round out the cast.

"We could make all sorts of changes in telling the story," according to DreamWorks Theatricals President Bill Damaschke, "but in the end Shrek has to be Shrek, Fiona has to be Fiona, Farquad has to be Farquad, and Donkey has to be Donkey." Damaschke, who is currently preparing the first London production of Shrek The Musical, also said, "It's a big show, necessitating many logistical challenges" in transferring it from Broadway to the tour. It also entailed several artistic challenges. Some things that didn't work as well in the generally well-received New York production were "too literal," says Damaschke, so the tour has simplified them and is more successful as a result.

Eric Petersen, a 29-year old actor who performed in Shrek The Musical on Broadway, will play the title role in Los Angeles and San Diego. He was on hand at the press event to sing a show-stopping song from the production, "Who I'd Be," and discuss his participation.

"This is such a big, huge character but I approach it honestly," Petersen said of his take on the iconic, green-skinned ogre. The married father of a baby girl shared about how he recalls his crush on a 6th-grade classmate during the scene where Shrek removes his knight's helmet for the first time before the lovely Fiona.

It takes 90 minutes and two make-up artists to prepare Petersen before each performance. He recounted how he "enjoyed" the process of developing the tour after being in the Broadway production, with Lindsay-Abaire and Tesori on hand "every day" to re-work songs and dialogue. The touring production includes a new song, "Forever," sung by a massive puppet of the dragon that protects Princess Fiona's tower.

Petersen also elaborated on the "definite" GLBT appeal to be found in Shrek The Musical. "Shrek and Fiona both ultimately realize 'I'm OK with who I am' despite their differences," he said. The star cites the show's production number "Freak Flag," in which all the fairy tale creatures sing of the culture-changing power they can draw from their uniqueness, as being particularly relevant to GLBT theatergoers.

Finally, DreamWorks Animation production designer Guillaume Aretos spoke about his consultative role in adapting the original film for the stage. "The design is at the service of the story," Aretos said, whether working in film or theatre. He is currently hard at work on the Shrek prequel, Puss in Boots. Antonio Banderas will reprise his vocal performance as the feline hero in the movie, which is scheduled for theatrical release on November 4, 2011.

Be sure to see Shrek The Musical and "Let your freak flag wave!" For additional information or to purchase tickets for the tour's limited runs in San Diego or Los Angeles, visit the show's official website.

Preview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Trollin'

Norway's legendary trolls are alive but not well in first-timer André Øvredal's handheld fantasy TrollHunter, opening today in Los Angeles and playing other US cities this summer. After centuries of seclusion in their remote territories — monitored by the secretive Troll Security Service (TSS) — the giant beasts have begun rampaging beyond their traditional fjords and caves. Could this be the result of humans encroaching on their land? Global warming? Some kind of infection or disease?

A group of college students has noticed an unusual degree of government activity in the troll-impacted areas. Unaware of the existence of trolls and suspecting bears instead, they set out with video cameras to document "the truth." Needless to say, the students can't all handle the truth. This is especially the case for the closeted Christian among them since, faithful to troll specs, the critters can smell believers' blood and aren't fond of it.

Filmgoers have endured similar faux exposés of the supernatural captured on video in recent years, ever since the blockbuster success of 1999's low-budget The Blair Witch Project. We've seen shaky-cam hauntings (Paranormal Activity 1 and 2), possessions (The Last Exorcism), zombie uprisings (Diary of the Dead), monster attacks (Cloverfield) and alien invasions (Skyline, Battle: Los Angeles). TrollHunter doesn't offer anything new to the genre, but it rises a notch above most of these entries thanks to its excellent special effects. The visual and sound designs for the trolls bring the simultaneously amusing but scary creatures to vivid cinematic life.

Øvredal's screenplay riffs cleverly on Norwegian folklore and history as well as science, religion and government conspiracy theories. For example, we're informed that trolls customarily consume large amounts of charcoal and concrete because they suffer from "calcium deficiency," and a new member of the documentary team responds "Muslim is OK, right?" after learning of the trolls' violent aversion to Christianity. The actors are adequate for their naïve-student roles, although veteran Otto Jespersen is great as the film's crusading title character.

One has to wonder what's next in the burgeoning series of documentary style creatures-on-camera epics; dragons, fairies or gnomes seem like prime candidates. In the meantime, TrollHunter offers some unique and entertaining modern twists on the legends of old.

Reverend's Rating: B-

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Modern Gay Classics on DVD

Longtime fans of independent queer cinema will probably find it hard to believe that it's been 20 years since Todd Haynes' Poison hit the screen. The controversial anthology of three mini-movies exploring the darker side of the gay experience debuted at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival and won its Grand Jury Prize. It also won the prestigious Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Poison is being re-released today by Zeitgeist Films as a special, remastered 20th anniversary edition DVD. Packed with rare extras and a 16-page booklet, it provides an excellent opportunity to re-discover the film or see it for the first time. The success of Poison enabled Haynes to write and direct such popular queer titles as Velvet Goldmine, Far from Heaven and the recent HBO miniseries adaptation of Mildred Pierce.

The filmmaker's classic opens with the foreboding words, "The whole world is dying of panicky fright." Haynes then intersperses scenes from the stylistically-diverse "Hero," "Horror" and "Homo" over the next 85 minutes. The first is a mock TV news report of a boy who kills his sexually abusive father and then, inexplicably, flies away. "Horror" serves simultaneously as a black & white homage to 1950's B-movies and as a metaphorical account of the AIDS epidemic, focusing on a well-intentioned scientist who isolates the human sex drive with devastating results. "Homo," inspired by the work of gay writer Jean Genet, is a dream-like but disturbing romance between two prison inmates. All three stories are beautifully photographed by Maryse Alberti and Barry Ellsworth.

Upon its release, Poison was denounced by conservative commentators such as Ralph Reed and the American Family Association's Donald Wildmon. They objected to both Haynes' subversive, pro-gay commentary and the graphic nudity and sex depicted in the "Homo' segment, especially since the film had received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Of course, many more critics — including J. Hoberman (whose original essay from The Village Voice is included in the DVD's booklet), David Ansen and Richard Corliss — lauded the movie.

Poison also launched the careers of producers Christine Vachon and James Schamus, who have supervised many of the most significant independent films of the last 20 years. Schamus eventually became president of Focus Features, which released Far from Heaven, Brokeback Mountain, Milk and the current Beginners. He and Vachon as well as Haynes are featured in a special 20th anniversary Q&A about their achievements. As made clear by the new, remastered DVD, the impact of Poison has been far-reaching.

1981's German production Taxi zum Klo (in English, Taxi to the Toilet) has left a similar mark on queer film history and was also recently made available on DVD in a 30th anniversary Director's Cut by QC Cinema. It was written and directed by Frank Ripploh, who also stars as a respected schoolteacher with a secret gay life. Set in West Berlin, it has been hailed as "the first masterpiece about the mainstream of male gay life." While dated in some respects and perhaps not the most positive portrait of our community by today's standards, Taxi zum Klo is nonetheless an enduring testament to the gay experience, then and now.

Reverend's Ratings:
Poison: A-
Taxi zum Klo: B-

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Coal Miner's Disaster

Now that the political/sexting scandal dubbed "Weinergate" is over (please God!), it's time to get back to more critical matters like big corporations raping the environment and local communities. The eye-opening, ire-raising new documentary The Last Mountain, which opens this weekend in Los Angeles and Orange County and will soon expand nationally, is well timed in this regard.

Eco-filmmaker Bill Haney, whose last film was the acclaimed The Price of Sugar, has once again teamed with social issues-oriented producer/director Tim Disney (American Violet) to pull back the curtain on the continuing battle over coal strip-mining in the Appalachian Mountains. The citizens of Coal River Valley, West Virginia, have long been subjected to deforestation, flooding, birth defects and brain tumors that they claim are the consequences of mountain top removal by Massey Energy in their vicinity. According to a statistic cited in The Last Mountain, "Mountain top removal has destroyed 500 Appalachian mountains, decimated 1 million acres of forest, and buried 2,000 miles of streams."

Haney focuses on efforts over the past decade led by Maria Gunhoe, a local waitress-turned-activist, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to hold Massey Energy's CEO and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, one of the corporation's biggest defenders, accountable. Along the way, we meet numerous townspeople and experts concerned about the coal industry in particular and America's ongoing dependence on coal energy in general. The film also provides gorgeous, almost painterly shots of the Appalachians. This is one movie that really ought to be presented in 3D.

The Last Mountain filmmakers unquestionably side with Massey Energy's critics, which limits their objectivity. Defenders of the corporation and of coal mining are given very brief screen time. Still, this is an important account of a disastrous situation that was permitted to grow out of control under former President George W. Bush. Damage has obviously been done. Hopefully, The Last Mountain will encourage justice to be achieved and healing to begin.

Reverend's Rating: A-

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Preview: Dance Camera West 2011

As the founder of a famed Massachusetts dance troupe and festival is quoted in a new documentary, "Dance is the one art form that leaves nothing but memories." While the more recent technologies of film and video can now record such "memories" for the ages, dance remains distinct from painting, sculpture and what can be described as tangible or permanent media.

Southern California's annual Dance Camera West Film Festival, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary June 16-19, is a major chronicler of dance's magnificent global evolution. This year's event will take place at a variety of locations in and around Los Angeles, including the Getty Center, UCLA and the Hammer Museum. For a full schedule and to purchase tickets, visit the fest's official website.

The GLBT pinnacle of this year's festival is Never Stand Still, the feature-length documentary referenced above. It will make its West Coast premiere on June 19. The film recounts the fascinating history behind the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, which is derived from the first all-male dance troupe established by choreographer Ted Shawn in 1931. Shawn had been partly paralyzed as a young man, the result of diphtheria, and initially took up dance for strictly therapeutic purposes. He later came across and purchased an abandoned farm in the Berkshires (later learned to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad), which was christened Jacob's Pillow. According to gay choreographer Bill T. Jones, who narrates Never Stand Still, Shawn "wanted to prove dance could be a viable career for men" at a time when it was dominated by women.

Dance was also dominated by ballet when Shawn established Jacob's Pillow, so he set out to expand modern dance as a legitimate field of study and performance. The results were trailblazing. 80 years later, Jacob's Pillow is today considered one of the world's preeminent dance studios by such choreographic luminaries as Mark Morris, Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor (all of whom are gay and appear in Never Stand Still) as well as acclaimed dancers/performers Marge Champion, Bill Irwin and Rasta Thomas.

The documentary, insightfully directed by Ron Honsa, showcases some remarkable dance pieces featuring an array of diverse styles and techniques. Honsa will be on hand to introduce the screening on June 19. Also not to be missed during DCW is the incredible short film Stronger, which will be shown as part of the "Global Screendance 2" program on Friday, June 17. Two attractive, shirtless male dancers leap through the woods and into the trees during this beautifully choreographed, photographed and edited film.

Whether or not you are a dance aficionado, DCW is the place to be and create new memories this June.

Preview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Mixed Musicals Now on Blu-ray

There are various theories as to why Martin Scorsese's first big-budget movie — 1977's New York, New York — was a box office flop. One is that its blend of 1940's musical melodrama with more modern language and acting styles was off-putting. Scorsese seems most accepting of this suspicion in his commentary on the film's just-released Blu-ray edition. Another is that New York, New York was doomed by such contemporary mega-hits as Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Saturday Night Fever and Annie Hall, all released in 1977 as well.

Upon watching the gorgeously-designed movie on Blu-ray, however, another reason quickly becomes clear: its screenplay is awful. At 163 minutes, the story about an egotistical saxophone player (Robert De Niro) and a rising jazz singer (Liza Minnelli) who share a tortured romance is too slim and derivative of other, better movies such as the 1954 version of A Star is Born (which even starred Liza's mother, Judy Garland).

Jimmy and Francine meet cute, even though De Niro comes across as only a slightly less psychotic version of Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, in a nightclub the night of V-J Day. She is understandably wary at first, and Minnelli is great in these early scenes as well as in her later musical numbers. The Blu-ray includes the lengthy, lavish production number "Happy Endings," which was quickly cut from the film after its release in a desperate effort to make a shorter, more audience-friendly version.

There is much to admire in New York, New York, especially Boris Leven's production design, Theodora Van Runkle's costumes and Laszlo Kovacs' stunning cinematography. But the script by Earl MacRauch and Mardik Martin takes a full half-hour for anything substantial to happen, and even then nothing too substantial happens. It's best to skip chapters, stopping each time Liza sings.

Along with New York, New York, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM have also released Milos Forman's energetic adaptation of the rock musical Hair (1979), choreographed by Twyla Tharp, and the more recent gay classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Blu-ray for the first time. Both look great in the high-def format, and boast memorable performances and musical numbers. They serve as great inspiration to anyone who hasn't yet invested in Blu-ray player to do so.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Preview: It's All Greek to Me

If the Greeks didn't actually invent homosexuality, they were at least the first culture to recognize and integrate it. The Los Angeles/Hollywood summer season of film festivals kicks off this weekend with the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF), a more obscure or specialized but increasingly popular event. Now in its 5th year, the fest runs through Sunday, June 12 at the Laemmle's Sunset 5 in the gay mecca that is West Hollywood. Seven feature films (including one of definite GLBTQ interest reviewed below), five documentaries and nine shorts will be screened, and represent three world premieres, ten US premieres and eight LA premieres. "This year's films represent all facets of Greek life: humor, music, wine, erotica, and family... with a twist! Los Angeles audiences will not be disappointed," says Ersi Danou, LAGFF co-founder.

Last night's opening gala celebrated Lea Binzer's documentary Pelican's Watch. It pulls back the veil on a small community of elders on the island of Santorini, where they are charged with the unique duty of preserving the ancient traditions of vine growing and winemaking in the face of changing times. It was followed by a reception featuring some of the top Greek wines with the Santorini winemakers and the filmmakers in attendance. Tonight, LAGFF will present the US premiere of Roy Sher's My Sweet Canary, which recounts the life story of Roza Eskenazy, the Diva of Rebetiko, or “Greek Blues," whose music shaped the soundtrack of Greece and Asia Minor for almost a century.

The festival's major GLBT happening takes place on Saturday night, with the LA premiere of Strella (A Woman's Way). No doubt the tale of "family... with a twist" that Danou refers to above, this provocative drama-comedy weaves elements from traditional Greek tragedies and myths through a decidedly modern story. Set in Athens, it opens with an inmate, Yiorgos (a fine, subtle performance by Yanis Kokiasmenos), kissing his cellmate/lover goodbye as he is released from prison. Yiorgos doesn't waste time in starting to search for his long-estranged son. He settles into a hotel, where he makes the acquaintance of his pre-op transexual neighbor, Strella (Mina Orfanou, very good). Although Strella makes her living as a prostitute, she and Yiorgos embark on a sexual relationship together that soon turns romantic.

I don't want to give away any of the plot's sometimes jaw-dropping twists, so let's just say Yiorgos's son turns out to be closer than his father suspected. Directed by Panos H. Koutras and written by Koutras with Panajotis Evangelidis, Strella is well-structured and -layered. The lighting and photography aren't the most glamorous but this generally suits the film's lonely, wounded central figures. There are also some amusing sequences involving an animated squirrel that serves as Yiorgos's id. Ultimately, much of Strella's impact and resonance can be summed up in one character's line to another: "You made me love you in every possible way."

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story, a documentary about the legendary comics creator, and the reality-inspired horror film The Death I Dreamed Of will also be shown during the fest. "The growing Greek film community is rapidly proving itself a formidable source of truly groundbreaking cinema, and I am proud to help bring these incredible works to the Los Angeles screen," states Owen Ward, Director of Programming. LAGFF will conclude Sunday with another gala screening and reception. Tickets for screenings and other festival events can be purchased online at the fest's official website or at the door while still available.

Reverend's Rating:
Strella (A Woman's Way): B+

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Sing Out, Louise!

"If we really heard the voice of God, we would be reduced to juice. The vibration of His voice would reduce us to liquid... so He has to use other people to speak His word."

So says singer-turned-pastor Andrae Crouch at the start of Rejoice and Shout, a wonderful new documentary about the evolution of Gospel music from Magnolia Pictures that opens today in New York and June 24 in Los Angeles. I likely would have loved the movie solely for incorporating footage of the late, great Mahalia Jackson, but when you throw Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Clara and Willa Ward, the original Five Blind Boys of Alabama and the Edwin Hawkins Singers ("Oh Happy Day") into the mix, it constitutes a near-instant classic.

As this sweeping film (made by the longtime team of director Don McGlynn and producer Joe Lauro) points out, Gospel music has long represented freedom in times of slavery and oppression. The first known or recognized Gospel record was recorded in 1902 by the Dinwiddie Colored Quartet. The film's press notes point out that this was nearly 20 years before any African-American blues or jazz recordings were made. Influenced by their relatives' experience of having worked on Southern plantations for white masters, these black musicians struck a multi-cultural nerve.

Other Gospel musicians honed their craft through the Great Depression and two World Wars. These included the "controversial" Thomas A. Dorsey, who wrote both spiritual and secular songs that often seemed at odds with one another. And then there's Mahalia, who started out as a hairdresser aspiring to sound like her idol, Bessie Smith, and ultimately "crossed all barriers" performing Gospel songs on The Ed Sullivan Show. As Smokey Robinson says in the film, "Just as many white people had Mahalia Jackson in their homes, listening to her, as black people did." Heck, I have several Mahalia compilations I listen to on a semi-regular basis today.

Interviews with scholars, authors and contemporary musicians are incorporated throughout Rejoice and Shout and provide essential, generally objective perspectives. The movie also utilizes restored archival footage of the most significant figures in Gospel music. There were a couple of premature edits or reel changes in the print I viewed, but these were hopefully unique and won't be observed elsewhere.

"Faith is the thing that keeps you going," according to on-screen commentator Bill Carpenter (no relation). He won't find an argument from me, nor will the numerous musicians recounted over 150 years of often-painful American history in Rejoice and Shout.

In a natural progression, six backup singers of various ethnicities yearn for headliner status in the new DVD release This Time, available now from Village Art Pictures. Having once sung with the likes of Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin, these talented individuals have more recently battled homelessness and the brutality of the music industry in an effort to become stars themselves.

This similarly-exceptional documentary features three queer subjects in addition to its openly gay director-photographer-editor, Victor Mignatti (who directed chapters 13-22 of R. Kelly's infamous "Trapped in the Closet" music video). The GLBT folks shown are cabaret singer Bobby Belfry, music producer Peitor Angell, and Estelle Brown, now a lesbian minister who co-founded the Unity Fellowship Church in Los Angeles. The talents of all concerned are on full display here, and their music is both inspiring and entertaining.

Feel free to sing along to both of these films, whether you'll be watching in a theatre, at home or at your local worship center.

Reverend's Ratings:
Rejoice and Shout: A-
This Time: B+

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: Two Spirits, One Brief Life

Traditional Navajo culture used the word nadleehi, or "two-spirit," to refer to male-bodied persons who possessed a feminine nature. Some today may call them "effeminate" or "transgender," often in a disparaging sense. There was a time, however, when such people enjoyed an honored position in North America.

Sadly, Fred Martinez, Jr. was not one of them. The 16-year old from the border town of Cortez, Colorado became one of the youngest hate crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered in 2001. Martinez's only "offense" was to put on make-up and dress in female attire, which led his assailant, Shaun Murphy, to abduct him from a local rodeo one night. Murphy would later brag to friends about having killed "a fag." Martinez's body laid in the desert for five days before it was discovered by two boys at play.

An insightful new documentary about the Martinez case will make its premiere in June. Appropriately titled Two Spirits, it will air as part of the PBS series Independent Lens. The film will also have several special theatrical screenings in California and elsewhere. Please visit the PBS website for more information.

Two Spirits, directed by Lydia Nibley, utilizes gorgeous location photography (by David A. Armstrong) and an effective mix of interviews with those who knew Martinez, archival footage, and recreations of moments from the young nadleehi's life and death. It doesn't take viewers long to agree with one commentator who remarks, "The place where two discriminations (in this case, against Native Americans and transgender people) meet is a dangerous place to live."

Efforts by some to eradicate two-spirit people began long before 2001. The Spanish conquistadores were horrified to discover nadleehi in America, and fed them to wild dogs as a form of entertainment. Later, the post-Civil War schooling system established by the US government for Native Americans "sought to rub their culture out of them," according to the film.

Martinez's mother, Pauline Mitchell, is interviewed extensively in Two Spirits. Sad but dignified, she recounts her experience raising her unique child and trying to protect him from a prejudiced society beyond their community. Martinez didn't have to travel far from home (just a few miles) to discover how vicious the outside world could be. Mitchell continues to mourn her son-daughter's loss nearly ten years later, despite several mystical experiences she says she has had wherein Fred has appeared to her.

As illustrated in the film and by Martinez's life, ours is "a many-gendered world." Navajos have traditionally believed that there are four genders among human beings: males who identify as males, women who identify as females, men who identify as females and women who identify as males. The term "two-spirit" is often applied to the latter two, but it ultimately describes the entire spectrum of gender and sexual expression among Native Americans.

Two Spirits has been recognized by the American Library Association (ALA) as one of 15 Notable Videos for Adults released in the past two years. The documentary and the educational outreach efforts of the Fred Martinez Project have also been awarded the Monette-Horwitz Distinguished Achievement Award "for outstanding activism, research, and scholarship to combat homophobia." With or without such kudos, the film should not be missed.

Reverend's Rating: B+

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Preview: Summer Picks for GLBT Moviegoers

In addition to Beginners (opening June 3) and an onslaught of superhero epics, there are a number of movies being released between now and the end of August that will be of special interest to the GLBT community:

Mr. Popper's Penguins (June 17): OK, so a family film starring Jim Carrey as the surprised recipient of a gift of six penguins might not seem like gay-interest fare. Throw co-star Angela Lansbury into the mix, however, and it becomes the biggest event for her GLBT fans since her 2009 Tony Award-winning turn in Blithe Spirit on Broadway!

The Smurfs (July 29): Similarly, a big-screen version of the more irritating than charming kiddie icons from the early 1980's may tempt us to run screaming from our local multiplex, but Neil Patrick Harris (its openly gay star) will no doubt get me to fork over $10 to watch him help the little blue animated critters fight the villainous Gargamel (played by gay fave Hank Azaria).

Larry Crowne (July 1): Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts reunite in this dramedy co-written by Hanks and Nia Vardalos. Vardalos previously wrote and starred in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Connie and Carla, both popular among GLBT viewers. Hanks, who played gay in 1993's Philadelphia and won an Academy Award for it, directs as well as stars as a recently laid-off man who decides to go back to college.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (July 15): Femme-centric director Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club) returns with a new tale about forbidden friendship between two young women in 19th-century China. Several modern-day scenes include one in a Shanghai nightclub that features a musical cameo by Hugh Jackman.

Friends with Benefits (July 22): Justin Timberlake headlines and reportedly shows a lot of skin in this romantic comedy that has him and hot co-star Mila Kunis (a recent Golden Globe nominee for her bisexual turn in Black Swan) grappling with unexpected emotions that intrude into their initially strictly-sexual relationship. Will Gluck, who made last year's delightful Easy A, directs and Woody Harrelson plays a gay role!


The Perfect Host (July 1): Out actor David Hyde Pierce stars as a man planning a lavish dinner party at which a bank robber hiding from the police shows up in this dark comedy-thriller. Singer-actress Helen Reddy, long absent from the screen since her 1970's heyday, is in the supporting cast.

The Help (August 12): Based on the bestselling novel that details the lives of African-American maids in the early 1960's and the white families for whom they work. The film's star-studded cast includes Emma Stone (also an alum of Easy A), Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, Viola Davis and Cicely Tyson.

Circumstance (August 19): A lesbian love story set in repressive Iran, this movie has been hailed by some as the best of numerous GLBT-themed entries at this year's Sundance Film Festival. While it is American-produced, much of it was secretly shot in Iran.

Conan the Barbarian (August 19): Summer will end on a hunky note, as newcomer Jason Momoa inherits Arnold Schwarzenegger's loincloth to become Robert E. Howard's classic warrior. Stephen Lang (Avatar) plays his supernaturally-powered nemesis.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Reviews: That's Show Biz

Magicians and ventriloquists may be considered by some to inhabit the lower rungs of the show business ladder, but that doesn't give pause to the diverse group of aspirants on display in two new documentaries, Dumbstruck and Make Believe (both opening today in Los Angeles). While one is more accomplished than the other, they make a fascinating "double feature."

Dumbstruck (playing exclusively at Landmark's Regent Theatre, where writer-director Mark Goffman, producer Lindsay Goffman and Dan Horn, one of the ventriloquists featured, will be appearing at select opening weekend shows) follows five voice-throwing puppeteers. They are a 14-year old white boy who operates a black dummy; a six-foot-five woman who has been ostracized by her family; a cruise ship performer with a failing marriage (Horn, who Arizona readers may recognize from his days on The Wallace and Ladmo Show); a former Miss Ohio, whose mother bemoans "She always played with the little puppets; I thought it would end as she got older"; and Terry Fator, the rare success to score a $100 million contract at a Las Vegas resort.

While the filmmakers do a good job showcasing their subjects' talents, I found the movie a bit lacking in exploring their personal lives and motivations. Wilma, the plus-sized former security guard turned ventriloquist, shares "I can say things that I can't say as myself or I'd get fired or beat up" so long as she has her puppet in hand. That's about as far as Dumbstruck goes, though, in revealing what keeps these people devoted to their craft against numerous obstacles. Similarly, we are told Horn's wife is planning to divorce him due to his long periods away from her and their family, but we never hear his wife's or kids' perspective firsthand. We also don't learn what grievance Wilma's family has against her, so the film serves as an accessory to the proverbial "elephant in the room."

On the other hand, Make Believe (which won prominent awards at last year's LA and Austin Film Festivals) more than satisfies with its multi-layered approach to an assortment of teenaged, wannabe magicians from the US, Japan and South Africa. They converge at the 2009 World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas, referred to as "the Magic Olympics," where superstar illusionist Lance Burton will ultimately name one of them Teen World Champion. We see their performances in full, and also meet the young people's friends, family members, classmates and mentors.

"Magic is borderless," according to the impressive Hiroki Hara, an 18-year old Japanese contestant. One-half of a poverty-stricken duo from Cape Town says, "With magic, we're trying to find out who we are as a person." And Bill Koch, a 19-year old magician-musician from Ohio, shares his mantra: "The goal is excellence, nothing less." Such wisdom "from the mouths of babes" could put many older performers in the entertainment industry to shame. Make Believe also provides viewers a rare inside look at LA's famed Magic Castle, with openly gay board member and actor Neil Patrick Harris making a brief appearance.

Make Believe, by the proficient filmmaking team behind 2007's The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and beautifully shot by Richard Marcus, reaches deep into its magic hat and pulls out a treasury of human and show business revelations. Especially when viewed in conjunction with Dumbstruck, I gained a greater appreciation for those willing to risk all for their respective craft... including the risk of being christened a misfit in our modern, high-tech entertainment world.

Reverend's Ratings:
Dumbstruck: B-
Make Believe: A

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

Reverend's Interview: Mike Mills Memorializes His Gay Dad in Beginners

No one was more surprised than graphic artist turned filmmaker Mike Mills when his father came out as a gay man shortly after the death of Mills' mother. Mills has parlayed his unusual experience into the alternately funny and dramatic new movie Beginners, which opens June 3 in Los Angeles and will expand throughout California and the nation next month. I had the opportunity to watch the movie in advance and speak with Mills about it.

"I have so much at stake with this project: My memories of my dad and my career as a filmmaker," the sensitive, soft-spoken screenwriter/director said. "I feel more like a sharer than an author." Beginners is only Mills' third cinematic outing, following the 2005 film festival favorite Thumbsucker and the 2007 documentary Does Your Soul Have a Cold? "This script was developed with the belief that something this personal can become universal."

Mills' father was 75 years old when he came out and had been married to his mother for 45 years. When his parents married in the 1950's, conservatism and homophobia were the norm in the United States. Mills' father told his wife-to-be he was gay prior to their marriage. She was Jewish, and faced as much difficulty fitting into post-war America as he did. Subsequently, Mills says, "My mom took off her Jewish badge and he took off his gay badge."

Following his mother's death and dad's revelation, their son watched with equal parts surprise, confusion and admiration as his father became heavily involved in Southern California gay life and began a relationship with a younger man. "He just started living this explosive new life," marveled Mills. "He became more emotionally alive than I'd ever seen him." Just five years later, however, the elder Mills was diagnosed with terminal cancer and passed away. His father's death served as the true catalyst for what would become Beginners.

Mills was fortunate to secure the participation of two fine actors in the roles based on his father and himself: Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music and an Oscar nominee for 2009's The Last Station) and gay favorite Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge!, Star Wars Episodes 1-3). The filmmaker wrote them both very personal, impassioned letters asking them to be in his movie. While both actors were initially hesitant to play characters so close to Mills, they eventually agreed based on the strength of Mills' screenplay and his reassurance that they could make the parts their own. They deliver excellent performances, as do fellow cast members Mary Page Keller (as Mills' mother), Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) and ER's Goran Visnjic, who plays Mills' father's late-in-life boyfriend. An impressive Jack Russell terrier also plays a pivotal role.

"The experience I'm most trying to communicate with Beginners is that of an adventure, the feeling of something breaking open," Mills shared. "While this film has illness and death, it's about beginnings, change, and how deeply funny life can be in its most serious moments." It is a touching movie with truly universal appeal. As Mills has learned via feedback from audience members at early screenings, his father's long-closeted homosexuality wasn't as unique as the filmmaker originally thought.

Beginners is composed of both autobiographical and fictional elements. "I wanted to root around between the way things really happened and the way we choose to remember them," Mills says. In the film, Mills goes back and forth between events in 1955, when his parents married, and 2003, when his father died. The historical sequences include a powerful gay rights montage set to words about "becoming real" taken from the classic children's book, The Velveteen Rabbit.

"The film is hopefully asking, 'What is real, anyway?' Are these memories real, or did I get them wrong?" according to Mills. "I lived with a man whose biography was somewhat fictionalized, a performance of sorts. He had to hide deep, personal, intimate things."

While Beginners tells a broader story than just a gay-themed one, there is considerable gay interest in it. "To be honest, the gay community is the audience I am most concerned about," Mills told me. "My dad's gayness taught me so much as a straight man, but it's definitely a film by a straight man curious about his gay dad and I'm not sure how that will resonate." I assured Mills I didn't think he has anything to worry about; between Plummer's liberated performance and the overall humanity of the film, Beginners will move gay and straight viewers alike.

"I do think my father would have loved coming out to the world through Beginners," Mills concluded. "He would have seen it as keeping the party going — but with a larger invite list."

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.