VIP Fave Q Movie Pick
Where we ask today’s hottest queer and queer-friendly filmmakers, stars and community leaders to answer the question:
“One of my favorite LGBT movies is...”
Ashleigh Sumner (AND THEN CAME LOLA)
“My favorite queer movie of all time is HIGH ART. Great performances. Great script. Great film. Lisa Cholodenko can do no wrong.”
Speaking of great performances, script and film be sure to check out Ashleigh in the fabulous lesbian feature, AND THEN CAME LOLA and her newest screen appearance in the gay comedy, I WANT TO GET MARRIED (co-starring Matthew Montgomery and coming to DVD December 13th, 2011).
Paul Marcarelli (writer, THE GREEN and yes, he was also the Verizon Guy)
“I am a huge fan of all things Todd Haynes, and while his work is not exclusively LGBTQ focused, I would have to say his perspective and thematic drive have been immensely influential on my own work and creative sensibility. I love that in films like Poison, Safe and Superstar (which I was lucky enough to see on VHS back in the early 90′s), he exposes the darker corners of the human psyche, but at the same time, he finds a way to challenge us to respond with the broadest possible spectrum of emotion and thought. After watching the full eight hours of his Mildred Pierce (two times through) a few months back, I decided to watch Far From Heaven again. I love that movie. Every frame possesses its own energy, tension, beauty and purpose. In it he pays homage to the films of Douglas Sirk, specifically All That Heaven Allows, but also manages to comment on the culture and mores of America in the 1950s in a way that feels fresh and totally relevant to a contemporary audience. And it holds up. In fact I think this film and what it has to say about the potent toxicity of repression will remain important until someone figures out how to do away with homophobia in all its forms. Even then, the film would stand on its own as great story-telling.”
Click thru now to watch the trailer (or order your DVD) of Paul’s powerful new gay drama, THE GREEN (coming to DVD from Wolfe November 22nd) or look for it on VOD and digital nationwide starting October 18th.
Marie [Riese] Lyn Bernard (Autostraddle.com Editor in Chief and CEO)
“I’m gonna say that SAVING FACE, objectively, is the best lesbian movie I’ve ever seen. It’s so underrated, but impeccably orchestrated, funny, and compelling, like any good romantic comedy. The best foreign lesbian movie ever is FUCKING AMAL [SHOW ME LOVE]. So tender! But my heart of hearts of hearts, because it lives inside my body which has eyeballs, has seen BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER 56 times, and will see it 56 more times before I die, because it is a masterpiece, and one of a handful of lesbian movies I feel like straight people have also seen and/or heard of. Right? It’s so funny. And Clea Duvall! Mhm.”
Discover more of Riese’s fabulous writing and the joys of her wonderful lesbian website — Autostraddle.com!
Jane Lynch (L Word, GLEE, Bam Bam & Celeste)
“My favorite LGBT film is DESERT HEARTS. During one summer in the early 90′s I had occasion to watch this film via video over 50 times! It was a major transitional time for me and Donna Deitch’s beautiful desert landscape and passionate images set my imagination flying. A stranger in a strange land hoping to escape herself only to be faced with herself. It all starts with a train coming into town and ends with a train leaving town; classic. Never had I seen in celluloid such real passion and desire between two women. I also adore Audra Lindley’s performance; the scene with Helen Shaver in the lodge over brandy is genius. I could not get enough of this story. Nor would my romantic musings let it go as I created an entire scenario for Cate and Vivian after they got on that train to New York.”
We love her on GLEE, adore her on THE L WORD and are always thrilled to see in her dozens of amazing performances! Own one of Jane’s funniest roles (in BAM BAM & CELESTE) or check her out in FABULOUS!: THE STORY OF QUEER CINEMA.
Ash Christian (director, MANGUS!)
“My favorite LGBT film would have to be TORCH SONG TRILOGY. It really affected me when I saw it. I think it was the first queer film that I saw – and it’s always stuck with me and really made me want to get out of my small town and move to New York. It was a great story with inspired actors and direction. It made me want to make movies to tell our stories to the rest of the world.”
See the trailer for Ash’s wonderful new movie, MANGUS! (coming to DVD and digital on December 6th from Wolfe)!
Craig Chester (actor-writer-director, ADAM & STEVE)
“My favorite LGBT film is one of the first - PARTING GLANCES. It’s one of the few films made about gay life and the AIDS crisis DURING the crisis. It’s incredibly observed, funny, warm, and true. It’s one of the few films that deals with the machinations of a committed relationship between two men and it’s refreshingly ‘grown up’ compared to most of the gay sex farces that seem to dominate now a days. Watching PARTING GLANCES reminds us of the most difficult period in our history – but also the time when we had the most soul.”
Discover Craig’s hilarious film ADAM & STEVE (yes — he wrote, directed and stars in it).
Erika Randall-Beahme (co-director, LEADING LADIES)
“THE INCREDIBLY TRUE ADVENTURE OF 2 GIRLS IN LOVE it is! I remember the countdown til this film came out. I remember the charge I felt waiting in line and then sitting in a theatre, a real, public theatre, waiting for the darkness to wash over the me, ready to lose myself in this love story… but more I remember loving being there in the light with all those other women just before it started, finding myself in a story about my own life, a story that was so new and unexpected. Teenage queer girls need these stories–and this film is, to me, part of the world that inspired LEADING LADIES.
Also, as a bisexual woman, CHASING AMY was/is really important to me. Choosing someone out of “100% of the population” has long been my mantra and was a revelation to me at the time. Plus I thought Joey Lauren Adams and her weird little voice were wicked hot.”
Erika’s wonderful new film, LEADING LADIES is available for pre-book now from WolfeVideo.com and hits the streets on September 13th at fine retailers everywhere. Erika is pictured above with husband Daniel Beahme at the recent premiere of the film at Frameline35: The San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival (photo by Ana Grillo).
Paris Pickard (actress, A MARINE STORY)
“I would say my favorite gay film is THE BIRDCAGE. My best friend Robin and I used to watch it religiously in middle school and memorize all the lines. I was a huge Robin Williams fan growing up, not a typical celebrity obsession for my generation but I was a bit of a weirdo. The Guatemalan housekeeper Agador never got old. I love the accent, it’s hilarious to me. That might have something to do with my having a Chilean girlfriend now, ya never know.”
Paris’s wonderful new film, A MARINE STORY is out on DVD now — you can order your copy (and watch the trailer) at WolfeVideo.com!
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