My Favorite Gay Movies of the Decade Tuesday, Jan 5 2010 

movies and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 7:49 pm

I’ve already listed my favorite films of the past decade. Many of those films were gay themed, which started me thinking about the gay movies PJ and I have watched over the past ten years. Once I started thinking about it, it turned out to be a lot — without much effort I identified some 75 gay movies and documentaries from the past decade that I’ve seen. Since I regularly teach GLBT lit, it seems worthwhile to record my favorite gay films of the past decade.

To make it a little easier, I thought that I would identify my favorite gay film of the decade and then  a) list the other   films I most like alphabetically rather than try to rank them and b) separate them into two categories: features and documentaries. This blog will just be about the features. Not all of these are “great” movies. They are just the 25 (plus several tied for #26) gay films that I most enjoy, starting with my favorite:

Shortbus (2006)

My favorite gay film of the past decade is John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus. This movie is gay-affirming, sexy, sexually graphic, and just plain fun. What more could you want in a movie?! I originally blooged about Shortbus here.

Here’s the trailer:

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A Single Man: A Review Thursday, Dec 24 2009 

movies and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 11:44 am

While in New York last week, PJ and I saw A Single Man, which stars Colin Firth as an English professor, George, who is deciding what to do with his life now that his partner of 16 years, Jim, played by Matthew Goode, has died suddenly in a car accident. Set in 1962 Los Angeles, we follow George as he goes through the day putting his affairs in order; having decided that life is meaningless without Jim, he is going to kill himself at the end of the day.

Here’s the trailer:

A Single Man is a kind of gayer version of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Like that novel, this film, based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood, allows us to not only follow the lead character as he prepares for a big event but also allows that character to reflect on life and its meaning. The narrative jumps back and forth between George’s depressed present alone and joyous past with Jim.

While George understandably feels alone, we see that there are at least three other options out there for him. While buying alcohol for a dinner party with his best friend, George meets a male escort, who sees George as a lonely guy who obviously needs his company. I really like what Tom Ford, the director and co-writer, did with this scene. It could have been incredibly clichéd and stereotypical; instead, it’s a beautiful moment of almost connecting.

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SotW: Old Devil Moon by Cheyenne Jackson Tuesday, Dec 22 2009 

music and queer culture and theater thisgaudygildedstage 10:15 pm

This week’s song of the week is “Old Devil Moon” by Cheyenne Jackson. Last week we saw him in Finian’s Rainbow, and I can’t get this song out of my head. Here’s a clip of him singing it from the show:

I was slightly familiar with the song, since it’s become an old pop standard, but it had never really stood out to me before. Now it’s one of my favorite songs. I love its old-fashioned romanticism, and Jackson does a great job singing it.

It is a great song, but the main reason it’s impressed me so much is that I thought Cheyenne Jackson was a revelation in Finian’s Rainbow. The moment he first walked out on stage I gasped out loud at his hunkiness. The phrase that keeps coming to mind is, “What a man, what a man, what a mighty fine man!” I had read about him on gay blogs before, and I have to say everything I’ve read about him is true: he’s a total hunk!

He really fills out a pair of jeans. I once read that his thighs are amazing, and they are. But what stood out to me was that he’s hunky without looking like a gym queen. Not only is he handsome with piercing blue eyes, but he comes across on stage as unselfconsciously butch. Kind of like he’s been raised on a farm rather than in a gym. In fact, on stage he looked a little closer to normal than to a beefy gym queen, which makes him even sexier.

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The Man You Had in Mind: A Review Monday, Dec 14 2009 

documentary and movies and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 6:58 pm

Last night, PJ and I watched a documentary called The Man You Had in Mind, which tells the stories of five gay couples from the Portland, OR, area who have been together for varying lengths of time: one year, seven years, ten years, fifteen years, and fifty years. Here’s the only trailer I could find on YouTube:

I really like the idea of this documentary. There at least seem to be so few records of queer lives and relationships that any addition is more than welcome. And this documentary’s focus on what gay male relationships are like in the age of fighting for marriage equality is both interesting and timely.

In particular, I think the filmmakers have chosen their couples well. To some degree, I’m sure they were selected with some degree of randomness — whoever was willing to participate, for example. But the range of couples is really good. There is the range in the length of their relationships, for example. But there is also clearly a range in socio-economic backgrounds, in religious backgrounds, and in experiences. Some of these men have children from previous marriages; it’s interesting to see how they accommodate this into their same-sex relationships.

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3-Day Weekend: A Review Friday, Dec 11 2009 

movies and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 10:21 pm

Tonight I watched 3-Day Weekend again. I saw it for the first time several months ago but didn’t blog about it for some reason — probably too busy. I recently bought a copy, and tonight I finally got around to watching it again.

It’s about two gay couples, one of which owns a cabin (though it’s misleading to call it a “cabin” — it’s more a vacation home) in the country. Each man invites one single friend to join the two couples for a long weekend there. As one couple comes together over the weekend, another one falls apart. Here’s the trailer:

Douglas Myers plays Jason, the owner of the cabin. He and Simon, played by Derek Meeker, have been together for several years. We learn very early in the film that they are having trouble, since we know that Simon has invited the escort he’s been sleeping, Andre, played by Daniel Rhyder, with as his single friend for the weekend. Jason, on the other hand, invites a semi-closeted  coworker.

Derek Long and Stephen Twardokus play Cooper and Ace, the other couple. They’ve only been together for a year and are in an age-disparate relationship: Cooper is much older than Ace, who is only in his mid-twenties. Cooper invites his yoga instructor and Ace invites a college friend along for the weekend.

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SotW: Finally by Adam Joseph Thursday, Dec 3 2009 

music and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 9:45 pm

My song of the week is Adam Joseph’s cover of “Finally,” which was originally sung by CeCe Penniston. It’s a classic song for drag queens and gay bars, so it’s a natural choice for Joseph to cover it. More importantly, it’s a beautiful ode to marriage equality.

The video features Lars Stephan, who is the guy getting out of bed at the beginning of the video. He’s also a photographer. I’ve followed his flickr photostream for a long time now. He primarily focuses on one subject: himself. While this might sound narcissistic, I don’t think it is. On the one hand, Stephan is gorgeous. If anyone should be the subject of photography, he should. On the other hand, I think his art is more an exploration of identify and the ways in which the physicality of the body and of location affect identity. (Warning: Some of his work is nude, so the links to his flickr page and blog aren’t entirely safe for work.) Stephan also has a blog, which is fun to read.

Adam Joseph’s rendition of “Finally” has really grown on me. At first, it seemed too different from the original, which is such a dance hit. But the more I’ve listened to it, the more I’ve fallen in love with it. By the way, his single “Faggoty Attention” is one of the greatest gay songs ever! I’m glad he’s gone another one — I hope this presages a new album soon!

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SotW: Whataya Want from Me by Adam Lambert Wednesday, Nov 25 2009 

music and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 7:51 pm

All the “controversy” about Adam Lambert’s performance on the American Music Awards is really just homophobic silliness. All if want to say about it is that ABC (once again) should be ashamed of itself. When they canceled Lambert’s performance because of his “unpredictability” and scheduled Chris Brown of all people, they made it clear that they are more than happy to further our country’s homophobia and misogyny, which Eve Kosofsy Sedgwick taught us go hand in hand. It’s surprising that a network other than Fox can be the villain in a story about queerness, sexuality, and artistic expression, but ABC continues to claim that mantle every chance they get. Shame on them.

End of rant.

On the flip side, Adam Lambert is an extremely talented musician who has a long career ahead of him. Any doubts about this should be laid to rest with the following live clip from CBS’s The Early Show:

I’m not such a fan that I can’t entertain some of the criticisms about Lambert’s performances from time to time — and let’s face it: the real controversy about the AMA performance should have been that it just wasn’t very good vocally. I also sometimes find myself agreeing with critics who say that he tends to scream a little too much.

But this clip shows just how talented he really is. He can be a great singer; he definitely has a great voice. And it’s a pretty good song (co-written by Pink!).

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Make the Yuletide Gay: A Review Saturday, Nov 21 2009 

movies and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 11:34 am

Last night PJ and I watched Make the Yuletide Gay, which is about a 22-year-old college student, Olaf “Gunn” Gunnunderson, who goes home for Christmas to visit his parents, who don’t know that he’s gay. When his boyfriend,  Nathan, shows up unexpectedly, comic mayhem ensues. Here’s the trailer:

After watching the movie, I read some other reviews online. The most accurate summary would be that Make the Yuletide Gay got mixed reviews. On the one hand, some people criticize it for being over the top, badly written, and cheaply produced. On the other hand, positive reviews praise its humor, good intentions, and leading performances. I can’t totally disagree with the former, but I nevertheless loved this movie. I think it’s a fun, adorable, heart-warming Christmas movie, and it’s about time we gays got a fun, adorable, heart-warming Christmas movie!

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Wrecked: A Review Saturday, Nov 14 2009 

movies and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 3:41 pm

On Friday, PJ and I watched Wrecked, a gay indy we rented from Netflix. Here’s the trailer:

Wrecked is about a would-be actor, Ryan, whose plans become derailed when his ex, Daniel, suddenly shows up and wants to crash at his house indefinitely. Although Ryan knows that Daniel is no good, he agrees to let him back into his life. When it becomes apparent that Daniel is still a drug addict and unable to commit to a monogamous relationship, Ryan has to decide whether to kick him out or jump right into Daniel’s drug-fueled sexual escapades. He chooses the latter, and his life quickly begins to spin out of control.

Theo Montgomery, which is apparently a pseudonym for actor Jake Casey, stars as Ryan. (PJ thinks that all of the actors on this movie used pseudonyms, but I don’t have time to confirm that right now.) I thought his performance was excellent. His Ryan has a winning mix of youthful gay attitude and innocence. I assume Casey and the other actors use fake names here because of the sexually explicit nature of this movie, and maybe they thought it would hurt their careers or embarrass their families or something.

And this film is sexually explicit. We see the four of the actors completely nude. They make out, feel each other up, get erections (which we see), feel each others erections up, and (presumably) simulate anal sex.

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Pageant: A Review Monday, Nov 2 2009 

documentary and movies and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 3:39 pm

PJ was feeling under the weather on Saturday, so instead of going out for Halloween, we decided to stay in and watch Pageant, a documentary about the Miss Gay America Pageant. Here’s the trailer:

Simply put, I loved this documentary. Let’s start with the level of being a documentary. This film focuses on five of the 52 contestants in the Miss Gay America Pageant. I liked this emphasis on just a small sampling of the contestants, since it allows you to become familiar with them and start rooting for (or against) one or more of them. This focus creates the documentary’s narrative and sucks up into the competitions and back- and onstage dramas.

Like the ladies in the Miss American Pageant, these ladies participate in a series of competitions before the pageant’s finale, where the finalists are named and then compete for the crown. We see the contestants undergo an interview as men — they are required to dress in male clothing and are judged, in part, on their ability to distance themselves from their drag persona. They have a solo talent competition, in which they have to perform alone and without separate props. Then they have a talent production contest, in which they can have back-up dancers, props, and sets. And they have to compete in evening gowns.

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