Kate Clinton (comedian & blogger extraordinaire)
“My favorite LGBT film is Lizzie Borden’s BORN IN FLAMES from 1983. Like BATTLE OF ALGIERS for feminists, the movie was a shock to me back in 1983 – my friend Ferron saw a matinee of it on the day of a show and could hardly speak by show time. And it was exciting – a no excuses call for a Women’s Army – not a THELMA AND LOUISE/SET IT OFF kind of thing – but a gritty response to workplace inequities, rape and sexual harassment, and lack of representation in te new utopic government. Characters had great ordinary discussions of feminism and activism throughout. It was Sci Fi back then, but at a distance of 23 years, I figure we’re about due. To paraphrase Chaka Kahn, “Arm Every Woman” PS. There’d be gun control in a week.”
Kate’s latest tour dates, and her fabulous blog, can be found on her website.
New In Theaters: March 14th
Paranoid ParkThe latest from gay filmmaker Gus Van Sant, PARANOID PARK exists in a world of “throwaway kids” who are into skateboarding above all else. Paranoid Park in Portland Oregon is a homemade boarding facility popular with the sport’s more renegade practitioners. At the center of the tale is Alex (Gabe Nevins), a good-looking, shaggy-haired 16-year-old who is variously seen writing in a diary and watching, more than participating in, skateboarding, at which he feels he’s not that good. A security guard has been run over in the rail yards nearby and foul play is suspected. Alex is soon a suspect. With a soundtrack that features songs from Nino Rota, and cinematography by Christopher Doyle and Rain Kathy Li, the film was cast with actors found through MySpace. Opens March 14, 2008 at the Bridge in San Francisco, Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley, Camera 12 Cinemas in San Jose. PARANOID PARK, an IFC First Cut release, runs 78 minutes, is in English and is not MPAA rated.Girls RockAmerican girls are struggling with a bewildering and heartbreaking array of challenges to their self-image. Everything from eating disorders to drugs to sexual harassment makes girlhood a virtual battlefield. But Portland Oregon’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls is a place where 8-18 year olds come from all over the country to learn Rock DIY-style–forming bands, writing songs and building community. In the words of former Camp Assistant Director Jen Agosta, “it is 100% ok to be exactly who you are.” GIRLS ROCK! follows four campers: Laura, an articulate adopted Korean girl from Oklahoma obsessed with death metal; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth addiction, homelessness and gang activity; Palace, a sweet-seeming 8-year-old with a heavy metal sneer and “rawk” heart, and Amelia, another 8-year-old, who’s writing a 14 song cycle about her Chihuahua Pippi and loves “crazy noise music.” Forming bands, writing songs and playing a gig in one week, these girls and the rest of the campers engage in an experiment meant to change their perception of themselves and each other. Backed with the driving sounds of notable female rockers — from Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon to Veruca Salt – GIRLS ROCK! discovers the act of picking up a guitar and making noise can still become a truly personal act. In Limited Release.Lagerfeld ConfidentialTwo years in the making and honed out of 200 hours of digital and Super8 footage, LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIAL offers an unprecedented look at the number one man at Chanel. The perpetually pony-tailed designer, who is obviously one of the most powerful figures in the fashion biz, is observed preparing and running catwalk shows, sketching designs for dresses, taking photographs of models (including actress Nicole Kidman) and interacting regally with an endless procession of slightly nervous looking underlings. Snippets from a face-to-face sit down interview with the filmmaker are interspersed throughout the film — in which Lagerfeld talks about his formidable-sounding mother, his love life and work. Opens March 14, 2008 at the Roxie Cinemas in San Francisco. LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIAL, a Koch Lorber Films release, runs 89 minutes, is in French and English and is not MPAA rated.
Boys Love (On DVD: March 18th)
The new Japanese drama, Boys Love begins as conservative, young, magazine editor Akira Mamiya (Kotani Yoshikazu) sets out to profile teen model Kisaragi Noeru (Saito Takumi). Mamiya becomes taken with the young man while viewing his paintings. The two continue their interview over dinner, and dinner leads to an encounter in a restroom stall. A relationship develops between the usually straight-laced Mamiya and irresponsible pretty-boy Noeru. But it’s a relationship fraught with peril. Jealous schoolmates, too much booze, random men, and the demands of career conspire to test whether a Boys Love can survive.
Suzanne Westenhoefer: A Bottom on Top (DVD March 18)
Shattering stereotypes and wowing audiences everywhere she goes, Suzanne Westenhoefer has been taking the comedic world by storm ever since she appeared on Sally Jesse Raphael’s “Breaking the Lesbian Stereotype…Lesbians Who Don’t Look Like Lesbians.” Now All Out Films, producers of the award-winning Laughing Matters series, captures Suzanne knocking out another sold-out audience doing what she does best – turning everyday life into a laugh-out-loud, kick-ass comedy!Filmed live in Indianapolis in front of a crowd as diverse as her material, Suzanne fires off hysterical rifts about her quirky family, wild gay cruises and struggles with strap-ons – proving once again why her girlfriend calls her the “Mayor of Inappropriate Land.” Claiming innocently that she’s just talking about everyday things – like what happen when you have sex, what happens when your parents walk in on you having sex – Suzanne’s irreverently real style has everyone in the audience – gay or straight – turning to one another and gasping, “That’s me!”Timeless, delicious and always outrageous, Suzanne’s broad-based brand of humor crosses over the colorful spectrum of life, covering just about everything that can happen to you when you’re living large from the bottom to the top!OrderSuzanne Westenhoefer: A Bottom on Top now!
Tongues Untied (On DVD: March 18th)
Tongues Untied is Marlon T. Riggs’s controversial classic documentary chronicling the black gay male experience.Riggs’s stories are fierce examples of homophobia and racism: the man refused entry to a gay bar because of his color; the college student left bleeding on the sidewalk after a gay-bashing; the loneliness and isolation of the drag queen. The stories also affirm the black gay male experience: protest marches, smoky bars, “snap divas,” humorous musicology, and vogue dancing.Tongues Untied continues to speak to viewers today with the same power that provoked heated controversy during its original release. Twenty years later, Tongues Untied remains the definitive expression of the gay black male experience as well as the touchstone for the personal documentary filmmaker.The remastered DVD of Tongues Untied includes an archival interview with director Marlon Riggs, and newly produced interviews with Isaac Julien, Phill Wilson, Juba Kalamka, and Herman Gray, as well as never-before-released deleted scenes.
Batman – Dark Knight (Trailer of The Week)
Definitely worth a peek, the new trailer for Christopher Nolan’s stab at Batman is built around Heath Ledger’s ominously disturbing swan song performance as The Joker.
Just Announced DVD: S is for Sexy
These seven sexy and smart gay shorts include the super hot drama, Serene Hunter about a free-spirited Parisian who wants more from the one guy he can’t have; the moody Internet hook-up drama, Solace; chilling British drama, Scarred; the award-winning gay bar cruising scenario, signage; charming young Mr_Right_22; a quirky little make-out movie called 41 Seconds; and the wonderfully powerful little drama about straight guys pretending to be gay, Shahram & Abbas.
Pre-order your advance copy of S is for Sexy (streetdate June 3rd).
Trained In The Ways of Men (on DVD March 11)
“Please don’t. I have a family…” were her last words. In October 2002, her picture appeared to the nation, from CNN to the New York Times. When four men discovered that 17-year-old Gwen Araujo, the girl with whom they had been intimate, was biologically male, they beat and strangled her to death. They were arrested for the murder two weeks later, claiming they acted in the heat of passion, provoked by what they saw as Gwen’s deceit. Director Shelly Prevost’s powerful documentary explores the controversial events surrounding the violent murder of Gwen Araujo in Newark, California — a murder that shocked the country when it made national headlines.
Order your copy now right here!
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