CRAZY HEART

Title: Crazy Heart
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall
Rating: 3.5/4 stars

Loved Crazy Heart even though it is a big ol' cliche. This movie follows an old formula: down and out musician/athlete/writer meets younger woman, falls for her, hits rock bottom, cleans up his act and comes back from despair. Crazy Heart is among the best of these "Washed-up old drunk" movies for three reasons: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal and an amazing soundtrack.
Bridges plays a drunk so sublty, that when he hits rock bottom, you finally realize that he was drunk for most of the movie, but he functioned so well in those scenes that the audience (and the rest of thze characters on screen) doesn't realize it. He deserves every award he gets.
Gyllenhaal is so believable in this cliche role. The age difference almost bothered me, but Maggie was so convincing in her love for Bridges, that it didn't skeeve me out at all. And she really broke my heart a few times.
The music in Crazy Heart surprised me. I don't consider myself a fan of country, but the songs were like vintage Dylan, and were so well written that I downloaded the soundtrack and even sing along. A lovely movie!!!

THE CELLULOID CLOSET

Title: The Celluloid Closet
Director: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Starring: Lily Tomlin, Quentin Crisp, Armistead Maupin, Gore Vidal, Arthur Laurents, Harvey Fierstein
Rating: 4/4 stars

The Celluloid Closet is a gayssential. This documentary drawn from the work of Vito Russo, is a pretty comprehensive look at homosexuality in the movies. I first saw this one years ago on television. It combines two of my favorite things to research: movies and gay history. I set out to see as many of the movies mentioned in the movie as I could, and I have done pretty well. What this movie does is examine how and where homosexuals have been portrayed in the movies from the early years of Hollywood. It also gives a taste of how these protrayals effect the audience. It uses clips from a wide range of movies, from Wings to Advise and Consent to Philadelphia. Granted, it is somewhat dated now, as it was released in 1995. The 15 years of Hollywood since then have had a huge improvement in the way they portray gay people, thanks to movies like Milk, Angels in America and Brokeback Mountain. Despite it's dated-ness, it is a wonderful look at the history. Not only is this a great movie for its research value, it also has some great things to say about our lives and experiences.

INVICTUS

Title: Invictus
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon
Rating: 1.5/4 stars


Invictus is everything I expected The Blind Side to be, but wasn't. This movie used all of the manipulative tactics there are to play with the audience's emotions. Sweeping music, epic shots, dialogued filled with 'profundity' and stadiums full of extras screaming for the fictional sports team in the movie. Honestly, I am not a big Eastwood fan. I have always thought he was a pretty self-important director. And this movie proves it. It was really nothing more than a piece of melodramatic junk.
Morgan Freeman, whose performance in Driving Miss Daisy is one of my all-time faves, does nothing at all in this movie. His oscar nomination baffles me because, besides looking like Nelson Mandela and having an accent, doesn't do any acting at all. Every one of his lines sounds like it came from a book of Mandela quotes, there is no human factor in this performance.
The 1.5 stars I have given this movie, are all for Matt Damon, who I usually despise. He is great in this movie. His character could have been the one with the most cheeseball moments, but he rises above, delivering a nuanced and beautiful performance. A well deserved Oscar nomination!!

Slacker

I have not posted in like 4 days. I guess I should get on that. I have seen Crazy Heart and Invictus and will post my reviews of them, as well as my gayssential review of The Celluloid Closet. And the ladies need some love too, don't they. It'll happen, just a lot of distractions.

Joan Crawford--2/3

Joan Crawford is, sadly, remembered more as 'Mommie Dearest' than anything else. It's sad because she really was one of the greatest actresses of her time, of any time. She is always fantastic. See The Women, Johnny Guitar, Mildred Pierce, or Grand Hotel and you will see her in all her glory. I just watched What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? again after a long time. I always remember this movie as, pretty much, belonging to Bette Davis. And the truth is that it really does. But when I watched it this time, I fell in love with Crawford's performance. I am pretty sure that this is Joan's most understated and beautiful performance. She sits quietly back while Bette Davis has a scenery feast. And she manages to break my heart as well. I love her in every scene. The movie is set up for you to root for Joan as Blanche, while Bette's Jane treats her like shit, but somehow every other time I have seen it, I have rooted for Jane. I guess it was my love for a loud brassy broad. This time, however, I actually caught myself getting teary for Blanche.
The two scenes that got me, both involved Blanche and the telephone. The first is the first time that Jane leaves the house, after she has served Blanche her beloved bird on a platter and taken her phone away. Blanche realizes she needs to do something. So, for the first time, she thinks about getting herself down the stairs to the telephone. She comes as close as to put her crippled feet on the floor, but chicken's out. A few scenes later, after much more terrible treatment, Blanche finally takes the chance. She pulls herself out of her chair, and down the stairs. She calls the doctor that she has been trying to get to help her sister. Crawford is so desperate. And her desperation grows and grows as the movie goes on. She is so quiet about it. She is not the silent movie star or the over the top leading lady she was for much of her career. She is subtle, and quiet in her desperation, and defeat. I have a new attitude on this movie now!! Thanks Joan!!!!

You wouldn't be able to do these awful things to me if I weren't still in this chair.

Oscar Time!!! (gay squeal)

The 82nd Academy Awards are only a month away, and FINALLY we have the Oscar nominees. I have awaited this day with ganticipation (that is 'gay anticipation') for so long. This is one of the first years in a long time when I have actually seen a great deal of the nominated movies, and I feel that I am actually making informed opinions. And I have many of them!!! I was not really surprised by most of the nominations that came out today. Honestly, this award is so heavily predicted that it is essentially predictable, aka boring. But there are always a few surprises. And whether they are good or bad, I always hope for these surprises!!

SURPRISE 1: Two of the 10 Best Picture nominees gave me pause. One in a good way (District 9) and one in a bad way (The Blind Side). I am so glad that District 9 made the cut. This movie was brilliant. And I usually despise alien movies. The thing about this one is that it is an alien movie, that serves as a fantastic metaphor for how humans treat eachother. I am so mad that The Blind Side made this list. It really proves to me that the whole reason for making 10 nominees was as a marketing strategy. I saw it, and I actually liked it, but I don't think it is worthy of this spot. I can think of at least 3 movies that should be there instead of it. SAD SAD SAD!!

SURPRISE 2: There were two songs that I predicted were locked in the Best Original Song category: 'The Weary Kind' which did get a nomination; and 'Cinema Italiano' which did not. I am shocked that 'Take It All' from Nine made the cut over 'Cinema Italiano'. It is an odd choice, since 'Cinema Italiano' is a better song. I only hope that this now means that Marion Cotillard will be perfroming on the telecast.

SURPRISE 3: OK, not really a surprise, but I was afraid that Bright Star would not get a Best Costume Design nomination, and I am soooooooooo happy that it did. It and The Young Victoria are my favorites to win this one.

Lastly, my 'SINS OF OMISSION', those that were not nominated, that I believe should have been!

SINS OF OMISSION: (500) Days of Summer (Best Original Screenplay), Sharlto Copley (Best Actor), Alfred Molina and Anthony Mackie (Best Supporting Actor), Marion Cotillard and Samantha Morton (Best Supporting Actress), Every Little Step (Best Documentary), Where The Wild Things Are (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design), The Stoning of Soraya M. and both of it's leading ladies.

Mozhan Marno in The Stoning of Soraya M.

NIGHTHAWKS

Title: Nighthawks
Director: Ron Peck
Starring: Ken Robertson, Rachel Nicholas James
Rating: 3/4 stars

This is one interesting film. Released in 1978, it depicts a time in gay life when AIDS wasn't even a thought. The story of a London teacher and his escapades in the gay bar scene, Nighthawks could be a documentary. Long shots of men dancing are plentiful. This movie is the definition of 'slice of life'. A couple of times I found myself bored with the lengthy scenes with no dialogue, and weird 70's disco music playing in the background. But it served the purpose of showing what Jims experience was really like, in a way that no other film has done for me. Nothing much happened in this movie, and yet it is pretty brilliant. I say that because at the beginning of the movie, when Jim entered the bar, I felt sorry for him, but, by the end of the movie, he again enters the bar, and I felt somhow empowered. A brutally realistic movie, that portrays the experiences of sleeping with, and getting to know different men, Nighthawks really made me think. When Jim frankly discusses his sexual identity with his students at the end of the film it is such a wonderful moment. This is a Gayssential!!

WHEN IN ROME

Title: When In Rome
Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Starring: Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Dax Shepard, Will Arnett, Danny DeVito, Anjelica Huston, Jon Heder, Don Johnson
Rating: .5/4 stars

This movie should be erased from history. A few (and far far between) funny lines does not a movie make. This is the worst piece of junk I have seen in a long long time. I do love a romcom, and usually give them a lot of leeway. I cannot do that for When in Rome. I wanted to see this movie for one reason and one reason only. I have a crush on 4 of the male stars. They all make my heart and libido go pitter-pat. Thank God I had a free pass, and didn't pay for this movie. The writing was HORRENDOUS. The director must have been out of town when they made this. I have lost a little respect for Anjelica Huston for making this movie. I thought she had more taste. Anjelica, whatever the paycheck you got for this one, IT WASN'T WORTH IT!!! The Dax Shepard shirtless count was only 3.5 times....and that makes me sad as well. The only terrible acting here was Bell, but the rest of the cast had such terrible material to deal with, that they couldn't rise above it. I wish I could 'un-see' this movie!!

**I made Dax the biggest for all to enjoy!!!!

Oprah Winfrey--1/29

Today is Queen Oprah's birthday, so I'm writing about her. Op hasn't made that many movies as an actress, but everything she does tends to be significant. She always plays strong women overcoming terrible odds and adversity. Her best performance to date, in my opinion, is her first. The Color Purple is one of my favorite movies. Its one that I can catch on TV at any spot and will sit and watch the rest, and sob at the end of. Oprah is amazing in this movie. She is Sofia. Granted, I read the book after I saw the movie, but there is NOTHING about Sofia in the book that I don't see in Oprah's performance. She captures the strengh and vulnerability of Sofia with grace and dignity in every word.

My favorite scene of Oprah's in The Color Purple is when she finally goes back to see her family, after being in jail, and being Miss Millie's maid. She hasn't seen her children in years, but their reunion is cut short by Miss Millie's ignorance and selfishness. Oprah shows you how hurt Sofia is in this moment, without showing too much. She walks a fine line between being true to the character and being over the top. She gives us a whole person in this movie, a whole person's life, a whole person's soul. I can only imagine what Oprah's career would have been like, had she focused on film acting, rather than her talk show. God knows the world would be a completely different place were that the case. She may have been a fantastic Mary Jones in Precious or Mrs. Miller in Doubt. I do love her, and would love to see her do more acting when her show goes off the air. Happy Birthday Oprah!!!!!!!!!

Diana Rigg--1/28

The movie version of the Sondheim musical A Little Night Music is pretty much universally thought to be one of the worst movie musicals of all time. The transfer to screen just didn't work for this one. Some blame it on bad casting (Elizabeth Taylor) and some on bad filmmaking (Harold Prince was a successful stage director, not film). I happen to appreciate this movie, because I LOVE the source material. There is one thing in this movie that is the bright spot, whether you like the movie or not, you will love Diana Rigg. She is FANTASTIC as the long suffering wife of Count Mittelheim. Her wry wit, and spot on comic timing crack me up!  She delivers looks over her teacup that remind me of one of the greatest at "the look" Bea Arthur. It's not just her comic chops that I love. She breaks your heart at the same time. When she is degrading herself, she holds herself together so well. And, my God, she is class all the way! I can't even tell you!! Love her. Watch this movie, the whole thing, on YouTube.