Reverend's Reviews: Two Men and a Camera

Award-winning cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond spent most of their adult lives joined at the hip. From their native, war-torn Hungary to Hollywood during its renaissance period in the 1960's and 70's, the men "left one revolution behind only to create another." Kovacs lensed the radical Easy Rider, Targets and Five Easy Pieces, while Zsigmond brought a stunning naturalism to such blockbusters as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Deliverance, The Deer Hunter and Close Encounters of the Third Kind as well as the underrated box-office bomb Heaven's Gate.

An Emmy Award-nominated documentary about the pair, No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos, has just been made available on DVDand Digital Download by Cinema Libre Studio. James Chressanthis' excellent expose features a diverse assortment of commentators who have worked with one or both of the men, including Sandra Bullock, Sharon Stone, the late Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Karen Black, directors Peter Bogdanovich and Bob Rafelson, composer John Williams and critics Leonard Maltin and Todd McCarthy.

As Stone says of Vilmos and Laszlo (the former shot her 1993 thriller Sliver): "They learned how to light in a war zone." The men fled Budapest while film students when the Russian army suppressed an uprising against Hungary's Communist regime. Along their way to the Austrian border, they shot dramatic first-hand footage of the brutal crackdown against their fellow citizens so the rest of the world would be able to see what was going on. The eventual master cinematographers succeeded so well because they came, according to Stone, "from the training of life and truth."


First, though, Zsigmond and Kovacs had to work their way up the film industry ladder over a ten-year period following their arrival in California. They started out shooting baby pictures, then porn and cheap horror films, including 1964's notoriously bad The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. Fearful that they wouldn't be hired because their names sounded too European, the men billed themselves as "William Zsigmond" and "Leslie Kovacs" on their early US films.

It was Kovacs' acclaimed, breakthrough work on Easy Rider that catapulted both him and Zsigmond into the big time. When the newly in-demand Kovacs was unable to take on Peter Fonda's follow-up, The Hired Hand, he recommended his best friend to Fonda as well as to director Robert Altman. Soon after, Zsigmond found himself in demand as well.

No Subtitles Necessary boasts generous helpings of personal anecdotes and clips from the men's films. Kovacs passed away in 2007 (he is seen on oxygen during an interview shot toward the end of his life), but his wife and daughters are on hand to provide more intimate insights. What ultimately, touchingly emerges in the documentary is the mutual admiration and affection Kovacs and Zsigmond held for each other. Director Mark Rydell states, "Like brothers... they matter to one another" and Kovacs' widow, Audrey, shares "They were as close as two men could ever be."

The documentary is itself well-shot by Anka Malatynska and edited to a brisk pace by Elisa Bonora. A fascinating tribute to two courageous visionaries, No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos also serves as a great companion piece to the wide variety of American movie classics for which they were largely responsible.

Reverend's Review: A

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

Reverend's Reviews: Down (and Out) in New Orleans

One of last year's most acclaimed documentaries is now available on DVDfrom First Run Features. In the GALECA Dorian Award nominee The Sons of Tennessee Williams, director Tim Wolff uncovers the vibrant history of gay life in New Orleans via the famous "krewes" that participate in each year's Mardi Gras festivities. As a 1950's newsreel report declares at the film's start, "Gay celebrations usher in Lent!" Needless to say, "gay" meant something else to most folks back then.

One participant who has been involved all along states, "You didn't put your lifestyle on the street the way they do today." Indeed, doing so would almost immediately get one arrested. Since Mardi Gras (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday each year) was the only day men could legally cross-dress in New Orleans, it became the city's de facto gay pride celebration at an early point in its history. Many decades later, in the wake of such devastating adversities as AIDS and Hurricane Katrina, the annual balls thrown by long-lived gay groups such as the Krewe of KY(!) and the Krewe of Armeinius are not only hot tickets but have won the respect of the local Black and White, moneyed, straight communities.

Amazing, elaborate costumes are in abundance throughout The Sons of Tennessee Williams but the film's finale -- shot during the Krewe of Armeinius's 40th anniversary ball, at which the theme was "desserts" -- is spectacular. Decoupage patterned on gingerbread, petit fours and New York cheesecake will not only make viewers hungry but are guaranteed to take one's breath away.

Reverend's Rating: B

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

Reverend's Reviews: Mary in Black

The penitential season of Lent begins this week, and Scott Grenke has a lot for which to atone. Grenke is the director, writer, producer and editor of Sister Mary, now available on DVDfrom Ariztical Entertainment. A twisted tale of murder, sexual confusion and religion, the movie isn't so much anti-Catholic as it is criminally unfunny. This is especially unfortunate since Grenke's cast includes comedy heavyweights ANT, Judy Tenuta and Bruce Vilanch.

When a killer wearing a nun's habit begins offing members of the Ex-Choir Boys -- an unapologetically gay Chicago-based music group -- and their "admirers," the city's soap opera-obsessed police chief inexplicably partners flamingly gay Detective Chris Riant (Shaun Quinlan) with the straight, homophobic Detective Mark Rima (James Vallo) and assigns them to the case. The two soon find themselves in over their heads, so FBI Special Agent Peccant (ANT) arrives on the scene to try and set things "straight." They have to contend with Rima's troubling memories of an uber-strict Catholic nun, porn star Brent Corrigan in a confessional booth (and a "Get Some Everyday" t-shirt), and the seediest group of priests seen in a motion picture since 1986's The Name of the Rose.

Sister Mary had great potential but, sadly, Grenke is neither experienced enough nor funded enough to pull it off. The performances in the film are dreadful beyond the name cast members with the exception of Quinlan, who delivers his lines with great comic timing and has great chemistry with ANT. Poor, wasted Tenuta doesn't even get to try to be funny. With only a few, fleeting moments of amusement, sitting through Sister Mary is penance indeed.

Meanwhile, the DVD anthologyBlack Briefs (out this week courtesy of Guest House Films) offers six mostly-worthwhile short films that traffic in darker gay themes. Several of the shorts included made the film festival rounds last year and two of them are award winners.

Remission won the prize for Best Horror Film at the Rhode Island International Film Fest, and it is creepy indeed. Director Greg Ivan Smith orchestrates with aplomb this increasingly frightening ordeal of a cancer-stricken gay man who is separated from his lover at an isolated cabin. As the man and the audience begin to suspect he isn't alone, both are disarmed by his heightened vulnerability. Be warned: The film's finale is plenty disturbing.

QBliss Outstanding Short Film award-winner Communication is adapted from a play about an Orthodox Jew who unexpectedly finds himself the benefactor of his beloved college professor's estate, much to the chagrin of the late academic's longtime lover. Sensitive and moving if perhaps a bit too vague, it alone is well worth the price of the DVD. I also liked Hong Khaou's Spring, which captures an S&M-tinged encounter between a young gay novice and an experienced master. It served as an Official Selection at Outfest, Frameline and NewFest.

The remaining three shorts included in Black Briefs are a mixed bag. Winner Takes All is only fitfully entertaining despite the presence of Alec Mapa and a hunky Latino guy forced to fight another man for the affections of the vain, wealthy hottie they've both been dating. The controversial but potent Promise features a gay couple forced to confront their insecurities and baser instincts the night before their wedding. And Video Night, which co-stars and is co-directed by out actor Jack Plotnick (Down with Love, Straight-Jacket), is a strictly routine captured-on-video thriller a la Paranormal Activity.

Of note, Guest House Films is currently accepting submissions of gay-themed short films, documentaries and feature films for distribution consideration. Queries or links to view submissions online may be sent to briefs@guesthousefilms.com. Black Briefs may be the company's first such compilation but it obviously won't be the last: Blue Briefs, which will spotlight films dealing with the pain that often comes with love, is already slated for release later this year.

Reverend's Ratings:
Sister Mary: C-
Black Briefs: B

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

Reverend's Reviews: Boyfriends, Beats and a Beautiful Darling

Tales of romance fittingly dominate this month's new releases on home video, but a documentary about a transgender member of Andy Warhol's "Factory" and a Bollywood-inspired comedy are also worth noting.

Now available on DVDand Video On Demand from TLA is the sexy Finding Me: Truth. A sequel to 2009's Finding Me, it continues to chronicle the romantic successes and failures of a tight-knit group of African-American men and women in New York. The players include Faybien (Raymartell Moore), a young gay man pining for his ex-boyfriend, Lonnie (Derrick L. Briggs); the bisexual Greg, who is carrying on simultaneous relationships with a man and Tammy, the cousin of bf Amera. Attention-hogging Amera, meanwhile, suspects her boyfriend Gabe of cheating on her. And then there is Jay (the late Maurice Murrell, to whom the film is dedicated), Greg's effeminate but buff roommate who is romantically involved with a drug-dealing, bisexual gangbanger.

Filmmaker Roger S. Omeus's technique (he wrote, directed and edited both Finding Me films) has definitely improved, but with such a tight focus on a relatively small cast of characters the drama remains insular and fairly predictable. Still, the characters are likable and well-played, and the cast members attractive. Reverend's Rating : B

What Happens Next, being released on DVDFebruary 7th by Wolfe Video, is a romantic-comedy that explores the budding relationship between two very different men who meet on a park bench. Paul (played by Jon Lindstrom of the long-running soap opera As the World Turns) is a wealthy man in his mid-50's who has just sold his business and retired. Believing himself to be straight but never married, Paul is surprised to find himself attracted to the openly gay and much younger Andy (cute newcomer Chris Murrah). They gradually fall in love, much to the chagrin of Paul's overbearing sister, Elise. Elise is played by the always enjoyable Wendie Malick from TV's Hot in Cleveland and Just Shoot Me.

While the script of What Happens Next -- written and directed by Jay Arnold -- has a pleasing retro sensibility, it is often hard to swallow Paul's plight from today's gay perspective. He is so unaware of his homosexuality initially that Andy seems to be wasting his and the audience's time for the first half of the movie. The performances are good but Paul's too-cute puppy steals the show whenever she appears.  Reverend's Rating: B-

Candy Darling, a popular devotee of artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol during his late-1960's heyday, was born James L. Slattery and was known as "Jimmy" to his family and childhood friends. It wasn't long after Slattery became an adult that he underwent hormone therapy and emerged as the first trans superstar. She inspired Lou Reed's popular songs "(Take a) Walk on the Wild Side" and "Candy Says," and gay great Tennessee Williams created a leading role for her in one of his final plays, Small Craft Warnings.

James Rasin's new documentary Beautiful Darling, out this week from Corinth Films, is an eye-opening account of Darling's unique life and career. It incorporates considerable archival footage of Darling and Warhol as well as Jane Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Kim Novak, plus modern-day interviews with such offbeat luminaries as John Waters, Julie Newmar, Holly Woodlawn and Fran Lebowitz. Actress Chloe Sevigny is also on hand to read excerpts from Darling's diary and other writings.

Unfortunately, the film includes a little too much of Darling's friend and confidante, Jeremiah Newton, who also served as one of the doc's producers. While undeniably caring toward Darling and her legacy, the movie threatens to become more about him than its main subject whenever he appears. Despite this flaw, Beautiful Darling is well worth watching.  Reverend's Rating: B+

I love the genre of fun and funky Indian musicals dubbed "Bollywood." Bollywood Beats, available on DVDthis week, is an enjoyable homage courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures. It is written, directed and partly choreographed by out filmmaker Mehul Shah, who also plays a gay teenager in the movie.

While primarily the story of Raj (dreamy Sachin Bhatt), an aspiring professional dancer, Bollywood Beats features a supporting team of housewives, science geeks and retired women whom Raj helps to discover their own dance abilities. Raj also takes Vincent (Shah) under his wings when the young gay man is kicked out of his home by his homophobic father. This ragtag bunch starts performing at weddings and community events, and soon find themselves contestants in a major dance competition.

The highly enjoyable movie features some great dance numbers, especially its climactic, stylistically impressive "Bollywood through the Ages" sequence. Shah is still developing as a filmmaker and it shows in the film's rough edges but he is definitely a talent to watch, gay or otherwise.  Reverend's Rating: B

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

Reverend's Reviews: Boys and Balls

Most gay men I know tend to avoid sports-themed movies like… well, like sports themselves. We may all be for athletes in their prime but athletics hold appeal for relatively few of us. That being said, Kickoff is a must-see. It is now available on DVDand digital download from Wolfe Video.

This comedy-drama is written and directed by out British filmmaker Rikki Beadle-Blair, who previously helmed such acclaimed GLBT-themed productions as Stonewall, Metrosexuality and Fit. Kickoff takes place entirely on a football (or soccer, to us Yanks) field. It is there that the all-gay Platoon meets an all-straight rival team, the Reapers, for a Sunday competition.

Things quickly devolve into, as one character states, “total non-stop drama-rama.” The issue of gay vs. straight soon becomes secondary, however, to conflicts amongst each team’s members. Among other things, Platoon team captain Archie (the yummy Ian Sharp) freaks out over the fuchsia shorts selected by his partner for the players to wear, and a black male couple discovers they’ve both been having sex on the down low with the same... woman. Meanwhile, the Reapers have to contend with two sparring brothers, one of them a drug addict, and an overly aggressive player who is hooked on steroids.

Very little football is actually played before Kickoff’s finale but that doesn’t stop most of the in-shape, multi-ethnic cast from spending much of the movie shirtless. The script is chock full of Beadle-Blair’s trademark great, snarky dialogue that plays on clichés and stereotypes. While it doesn’t overcome them all, Kickoff could still help advance dialogue between sports-playing members of the gay and straight communities. Sports has probably made stranger bedfellows in the past.

Reverend's Rating: B

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

Reel Thoughts: GLBT DVDs for X-mas

If you haven’t yet found the perfect stocking stuffer for your better half, a number of gay and lesbian-themed DVDs have come out that will make your choice easier. These are all films that had little to no public release yet, so you are sure to look impressive for finding them. It’s okay, we won’t tell!

Into the Lion’s Den(QC Cinema /Breaking Glass Pictures):
Into the Lion’s Den is a gripping and graphic gay take on exploitation horror films like Hostel and Vacancy where unsuspecting travelers are lured into a deadly trap. Bored by the West Hollywood gay scene, three buddies, jaded Johnny (Jesse Archer), sweet Michael (Ronnie Kroell) and naïve Ted (Kristen-Alexzander Griffith) decide to drive cross country to New York City. Johnny uses the latest technology on his phone to arrange sex hook-ups, like one with a sexy gas station attendant (porn star Jake Steel), much to Michael and Ted’s annoyance. Reaching Amish country, nerves are getting frayed and the boys end up at a sleazy motel that Norman Bates would love. Even in the middle of nowhere, however, as soon as Johnny gets a signal, he gets another instant message from a man with a hot torso photo inviting Johnny to a bar called The Lion’s Den. After convincing his unsuspecting pals to go with him, they find that the ominously-named bar is a redneck haven with no sign of a gay nightlife.

What happens next plunges the trio into a depraved scene right out of a Saw movie with a sexual twist. Director Dan Lantz pulls no punches either in the sexy early scene at the gas station or in the dungeon scenes later in the film. This approach gives the film a realistic feeling that will make you think twice before meeting someone over the internet. Archer gives another good performance as a past-his-prime party boy, and the handsome Kroell (Eating Out: Drama Camp) is suitably hunky. Griffith is the weak link in the cast, and his monologue at the end of the film is unintentionally funny. Despite some cheesy acting and low budget production values, Into the Lion’s Den is a taut and entertaining thriller for any fans of exploitation movies.

Trigger(Wolfe Video):
Envisioned as a My Dinner With Andre-style film about two estranged band members reuniting after many years, Trigger turned out to be female lead Tracy Wright’s brave final film before she succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Wright and Molly Parker play the two former members of Trigger, a popular Canadian alternative rock band. After a dramatic fight the band broke up, but now the two women will have to reunite for a benefit concert. Vic (Wright) and Kat (Parker) meet in a restaurant and, like My Dinner With Andre, the two spend the evening talking and confronting old demons. If you are not up for a film rooted in dialogue instead of action, you won’t want to pull this Trigger.

Hold Your Peace(QC Cinema):
The bad thing about LGBT films is that because they are for a niche audience, sometimes bad acting and even worse writing pops up without warning, ruining an otherwise great premise. As far as a gift goes, Hold Your Peace is the perfect lump of coal to drop in some deserving ex’s stocking!

Riding a wave of films dealing with same-sex marriage, Hold Your Peace tells the story of Aiden (Chad Ford), a hapless single guy who is invited to be the best man at his ex-boyfriend’s commitment ceremony. What’s a guy to do? Why, bring his gal pal’s vacuous twink friend and pass him off as your boyfriend, of course. But, what could have been an entertaining premise full of great potential is done in by poor casting and a ridiculous ending that has to be seen to be believed. Despite its shortcomings, Hold Your Peace manages to raise a lot of interesting conflicts that everyone can relate to, such as how to deal with unresolved feelings for your ex, and what to do when his new boyfriend is gorgeous and apparently perfect.

Of the cast, only Blair Dickens as Forrest, the new beau, comes off as natural and engaging. Ford has no charisma and looks constipated throughout of the film, and handsome Tyler Brockington as Max the ex is so wooden, IKEA could build a bookshelf out of him. Scott Higgins, as the flamboyant Lance a.k.a. Brick, is the worst actor of all, taking a stereotypical role and making it worse with terrible line readings and a smarmy presence. You will wonder if writer/director Wade McDonald ran out of film when, after a long lead up to the nuptials, the film is wrapped up in a jaw-dropping ten seconds at the end. Hold Your Peace will definitely make you hold your nose.

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

Reverend's Reviews: Here Comes Santa Claus

Who knew your average shopping mall Santa has to risk so much? From crying, inconsolable toddlers to sick children vomiting on their freshly-laundered suits and the "post-Christmas depression" that sets in for many of them come December 26th, it isn't easy being the North Pole's jolliest inhabitant. The illuminating, highly enjoyable new documentary Becoming Santa (now available on DVDjust in time for the holidays from Cinema Libre Studio) reveals all these perils of the trade as well as its many joys.

"It's not a job; it's a calling, a destiny," according to one interviewee in the film who annually dons the familiar red and white. Director Jeff Myers primarily follows the journey of Los Angeles resident Jack Sanderson, who found Christmas had lost much of its value and meaning following the deaths of his parents. The funny, well-spoken Sanderson decided to try to re-discover the holiday spirit by growing out his beard, dyeing it white and attending one of several schools for professional Santas scattered across the US. Myers' camera tracks Sanderson as he learns such valuable lessons as never refer to children as "kids," never add an additional exclamation to Santa's traditionally triune "Ho, ho, ho," and to always assure the children sitting on his lap that he will do everything possible to satisfy their Christmas wish lists. "In essence," Sanderson confesses, "I've been given a license to lie to children, and to lie big."

As a lifelong devotee of the pleasantly-plump mascot of gift giving, I was impressed not just by the caliber of character(s) depicted in Becoming Santa but by the documentary's incorporation of historical facts behind the contemporary legend. The source tale of St. Nicholas -- a 3rd-century benefactor known for his secret support of the poor and needy in what is now known as southern Turkey -- is given considerable time, as are the Civil War-era innovations to the tradition. These included the first American artistic illustration of Santa (which would later be appropriated by the Coca-Cola Company to even greater effect), the first Christmas tree sales in the US, and the introduction of Christmas greeting cards. The first "live" Santa, personified by James Edgar, debuted in a Boston department store in 1890.

I wish Myers would have focused less on Sanderson, entertaining though he be, and given some of his supporting Santas a little more screen time. Each has a fascinating back story, and most unselfishly volunteer their considerable time spent as Santa each year in malls, parades and at parties. But Myers succeeds, movingly so, at showing the great good done each year in the name of Santa Claus via considerable fund-raising efforts and gift donations that support underprivileged children, men and women worldwide.

Although I've become increasingly horrified by the greed and commercialism that drive "Black Friday" and the holiday shopping season, I will always believe in Santa and the overly-generous devotion to humankind's good that he represents. If there is anyone out there who needs your Christmas spirit renewed, rent Becoming Santa today. I guarantee you won't regret it.

Reverend's Rating: B+

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

Reverend's Reviews: Love Bites

The latest entry in the Twilight vampire saga, Breaking Dawn, Part 1, is currently burning up the box office. But despite the involvement of an openly gay director, Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls), the blockbuster is disappointingly low on gay content. And no, Taylor Lautner's frequent shirtlessness doesn't count.

If it's gay vampires one is after, look no further than Bite Marks. It is newly available on DVDfrom QC Cinema. While I wish I could report Bite Marks was as expertly made and lavishly produced as Breaking Dawn, first-time director Mark Bessenger gets some points for his use of slapstick and adding a new twist or two to a pretty tired genre.

Benjamin Lutz (easy on the eyes if not the best actor) stars as a sexually confused trucker hired to transport a shipment of coffins. Along the way, he picks up a pair of gay hitchhiker-boyfriends played by Windham Beacham and sexy former porn star David Alanson. The three soon discover that the truck's hold is full of bloodsuckers, who break free and go after them.

Gay actor Stephen Geoffreys, who memorably played a newly-turned vampire in the 1985 version of Fright Night, has a fun cameo in Bite Marks but the cast's performances are otherwise pretty weak. Despite a promising, animated opening titles sequence and a very good music score by Rossano Galante, the movie is recommended only for die-hard fans of "creatures of the night."

Love and death often go hand in hand, at least at the movies. The Tree is a beautiful Australian family drama that illustrates this expertly. The film was released on DVDNovember 15 following a theatrical run earlier this year. It could well end up on my top ten list for 2011. Charlotte Gainsbourg (who can currently be seen on the big screen as Kirsten Dunst's sister in Melancholia) stars as a wife grieving the sudden death of her husband. While her performance is excellent, the real focus here is on the young actors playing her four children. Precocious, eight-year old daughter Simone (played by charming newcomer Morgana Davies) becomes convinced her late father is speaking to her via the massive fig tree next to the family's home, and she soon convinces her mother of this as well.

The Tree takes a metaphysical approach to be sure (it is adapted from an amusingly-titled book, Our Father Who Art in the Tree), but it really scores in capturing the various experiences and stages of grief. While observant screenwriter-director Julie Bertuccelli (Since Otar Left) explores how we can ascribe meaning to seemingly random events in the wake of a loved one's death, she doesn't rule out the possibility that our loved ones can indeed communicate with us from the other side. Also to Bertuccelli's credit, there isn't a single sentimental moment in The Tree. This is rarely the case in movies dealing with children and death, likely including the upcoming Hugo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for the perfect holiday gift for a gay friend or classic-film lover, the new home video release everyone will appreciate finding under their tree this year is the Oscar-winning musical classic West Side Story, on Blu-rayfor the first time. The film was restored earlier this year to commemorate its 50th anniversary, and the results are even more stunning in high definition. Sing along to Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein's memorable score, marvel at Jerome Robbins' choreography, and weep with your main squeeze at the end of this 1950's street-gang adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Nothing says "Happy Holidays" better than that.

Reverend's Ratings:
Bite Marks: C-
The Tree: A
West Side Story: A

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

Reverend's Reviews: A Harvest of New Releases

Beginners, last summer's hit starring Christopher Plummer as an older gay man who comes out to his unsuspecting son (Ewan McGregor), may be this month's highest-profile GLBT release on home video (November 15) but at least two other new DVDs command attention as well.

Out Late (now availablefrom First Run Features) serves as a fascinating documentary companion piece to Beginners. Declared "brilliant" by Phil Donahue, it profiles five men and women who came out as either gay, lesbian or transgender between the ages of 57-79. Their stories vividly illustrate how much cultural attitudes around GLBT issues have progressed since the 1950's. In the case of one participant, however, Out Late shows how far we still have to go regarding marriage equality. Cathy and her partner live in Kansas next door to a straight couple with whom they have been best friends for over 20 years. Sadly, Cathy's neighbors don't support a right for civil marriage for GLBT couples. That the couples remain friends, though, is inspiring, as are all the journeys recounted here. Out Late, co-directed by Beatrice Alda and Jennifer Brooke, is not to be missed.

At the opposite end of the age spectrum, Harvest (being released on DVDNovember 15 by TLA Releasing) beautifully details the coming of age of two young German men. Benjamin Cantu's gay drama won the Audience Award at this year's Berlin Film Festival. Blonde, insecure Marko (Lukas Steltner) meets the darker, more comfortable-in-his-shoes Jakob (Kai-Michael Muller) at the cattle farm where they are both working summer internships. They gradually realize there is more to learn about than birthing cows and harvesting carrots; namely, their growing attraction to one another.

Cantu and director of photography Alexander Gheorghiu take a naturalistic, almost lyrical approach to their story. While the lead actors are undeniably attractive, I appreciated the fact that there is no nudity or graphic sex shown. Rather, the focus is more often than not on the silences and unnoticed glances between the two. Harvest's nice, subdued but romantic ending works perfectly in light of the film's overall tone.

Meanwhile, another gay-interest November release, Phantom Images (also out on on DVDthe 15th courtesy of Ariztical Entertainment), is a woefully self-important tale about a terminally-ill theatre director coming to terms with his past. High on pain medication, alcohol and regret, Darwin King (played flatly by Rob Moretti) reminisces about his past using the actors of his latest project as stand-ins. Matthew Doyle's screenplay features occasional flashes of insight, such as when King exclaims "the highjacking of the gay movement came when we chose emulation (of straight people) instead of assimilation," but they are rare indeed.

One should probably beware in general of a movie that opens with a quote by Albert Camus and ends with another by Jean-Paul Sartre. Existentialism can too easily become pretentious in the wrong hands. Phantom Images can't help but evoke Lars von Trier's provocative 2003 film Dogville, as both are played out on black box stages with minimal scenery. While Dogville often threatened to cross the line into pretentiousness, it never did thanks to the quality of the writing and acting by such pros as Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall and James Caan. Doyle's cast is not untalented, and the several African-American actors involved make a particularly strong impression, but the material ultimately fails them as well as the audience.

Reverend's Ratings:
Out Late: A
Harvest: B+
Phantom Images: D

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

Reel Thoughts: They Called Him the Streak

Talk about a streak of fame! Robert Opel made Academy Award history when he famously ran naked past presenter David Niven at the 1974 Oscars, which led Niven to quip, “Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?" To show how far we haven’t come, this streaking stunt was decades before Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl “Nipplegate,” which seems almost quaint in comparison, yet Jackson’s areola ignited much more rabid Right Wing mouth-foaming than Opel’s penis. Opel even got invited to The Mike Douglas Show where the host serenaded him alongside Bea Arthur.

Uncle Bob (available on DVDthis week), as you might guess from the title, is a tribute to the man who gained national fame in an instant, made by his namesake and nephew Robert Oppel. The film is a fascinating look at a man who was a pioneer in gay rights political action, as well as an erotic photographer who created images as controversial as Robert Mapplethorpe’s. Sadly, Uncle Bob was murdered in 1979 in his San Francisco gallery called the Fey-Way Studios by thugs demanding drugs and money. The younger Oppel spends the film trying to make sense of how and why his uncle was gunned down in front of witnesses.

Oppel mixes archival footage with recreations of events where he plays his uncle, including his murder, and the effect is sometimes effective and sometimes too over-the-top and badly acted. Opel’s death occurred shortly after he staged an “execution” of Harvey Milk’s Twinkie-loving killer Dan White while dressed as “Gay Justice.” Director Oppel (seen, like his namesake in archival photos, frequently full frontal during the course of Uncle Bob) uses a heavy hand to explore the possibility that this act of performance art enraged the San Francisco Police Department, and that they somehow orchestrated his uncle’s murder.

This tangent, with scenes of cops yelling “Kill! Kill!” into the killer’s ear in a jail cell, isn’t necessary, though, because Uncle Bob was a fascinating man who interviewed and worked with the likes of Divine and the infamous Cockettes. The interviews with those close to Opel provide an engrossing look at life in the 1970’s Castro District of San Francisco, and more specifically a moving portrait of a man who led a radical and trail blazing life who was cut down in his prime.

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

Reverend's Reviews: Partying at the DGA & Eating Out

Gay Hollywood and its supporters were out in force the night of October 20th at the Director's Guild of America. With free cocktails provided by Absolut (who also generously donated $30,000 to the night's beneficiary, the Outfest Legacy Project), director-choreographer Adam Shankman (Hairspray, the upcoming Rock of Ages) and cable TV network Lifetime being honored, and such celebs as Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) and full-throated diva/hostess Jenifer Lewis in the house, there was no way not to have a good time.

In accepting his award and reflecting on his successful career, Shankman proudly declared that he was able to coax Tom Cruise into wearing both butt-revealing chaps and a codpiece for his role as a "hair metal" rocker in next summer's Rock of Ages. The openly gay, Jewish Shankman also brought down the house by sharing a letter he received from Crystal Cathedral pastor Robert Schuller when Shankman's adaptation of the pro-Christian novel A Walk to Remember was released. Schuller commended Shankman as the new leading face of Christianity in the US. Shankman was tempted to invite Schuller to meet him at the West Hollywood club Rage to discuss it... "and on Passover."

The Outfest Legacy Project is dedicated to LGBT film preservation and restoration in partnership with the UCLA Film & Television Archive. During her presentation, Outfest's Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer revealed three recently-restored films and announced that the project was a third of the way through its most ambitious undertaking to date: restoration of the 1919 German film Different from the Others. Believed to be the first cinematic depiction of a gay man's life, most prints had been destroyed by the Nazis. To make a contribution toward this and the Legacy Project's other worthy efforts, visit their official website.

Outfest is primarily known for premiering more contemporary LGBT movies during its annual summer festival in Los Angeles. Among these has been the ongoing Eating Out film series created by Q. Allan Brocka (who also serves as an Outfest board member). The latest installment, Eating Out: Drama Camp, is being released on DVD today by Ariztical Entertainment. Brocka returns as writer-director after sitting out the last two films, and Drama Camp is all the better as a result.

An enduring, funny-sexy plot involving confused relationships and secret motives among gay and straight people has here been moved to a summer camp for aspiring actors. Additionally, Drama Camp throws the series' first trans character (played by trans actress Harmony Santana, who recently made an impressive film debut in Gun Hill Road) into the mix. Chris Salvatore and Daniel Skelton return as Zack and Casey from the last Eating Out entry, but their relationship has grown stagnant. Once at Dick Dickey's Drama Camp, whose namesake is played by the hilarious Drew Droege of YouTube's Chloe fame, the partners find themselves tempted by several classmates. Unfortunately for them all, Dickey has forbidden sex at his camp under threat of expulsion.

The Eating Out series isn't known for comedic or sexual subtlety, but what Drama Camp lacks in restraint it makes up for with good humor and hot guys. Brocka gets game performances from his cast, which also includes Mink Stole as Casey's liberated Aunt Helen (who at one point says -- hilariously -- to her much younger lover, "You make me feel like Demi Moore!") and a cameo by fan fave Rebekah Kochan. Brocka also fills the screenplay with witty jabs at pop culture behemoths including Facebook, Betty White, Glee, Neil Patrick Harris, Black Swan and, of course, Lindsay Lohan.

It likely won't be of such lasting, historical value that the Legacy Project will feel compelled to preserve it, but gay viewers today can do a lot worse than Eating Out.

Reverend's Rating:
Eating Out: Drama Camp: B

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

Toon Talk: Lions Share

On the heels of its record-making 3D theatrical re-release (which cemented its box office standing as the most successful traditional animated movie of all time), The Lion King roars back on to home video this week with its high definition debut on Disney Blu-ray. The Academy Award-winning King, along with another Disney “jewel-in-the-crown” Beauty and the Beast, also makes its 3D Blu-raythis week. And joining them for the first time on DVD shelves is the Disney Blu-ray and DVDpremieres of Disney Nature’s latest “true life adventure” documentary African Cats. Talk about “lions and cheetahs and beasts, oh my...!"

Click here to continue reading my Toon Talk review of The Lion King: Diamond Edition Blu-ray at LaughingPlace.com.