The New Twenty: DVD Review

jeff — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:30:17 +0400

By Jeff Walsh

"The New Twenty" is a movie about a group of college friends who live in New York City. When the movie starts, we see them posing for a picture on their graduation day from college. After that we jump ahead a few years and see how they are growing up and apart.

There are two gay guys in the group of friends. One is an overweight guy who continually gets rejected on Internet sex sites. And the other is an Asian guy who starts falling in love with someone HIV positive. Most of the story revolves around the one friend who is starting a business and how that affects things.

For me, the movie just never grabbed me and made me interested in any of the characters, plots, or subplots. So, it wasn't that the movie was bad, inasmuch as it was just… there.

Finding Me: DVD Review

jeff — Sun, 31 May 2009 10:35:36 +0400

By Jeff Walsh

"Finding Me" is an interesting movie to watch, because most of the time I watched it, my verbtaim thoughts were soon repeated back to me. The main character of the movie, Faybien, starts off as an aimless guy who has no academic interests or a good job. But, we see him phone a friend when he sees Lonnie, a hot guy that often appears at his bus stop. In the call, he is excited to see the guy there again and decides he needs to finally say hi.

It's only after that point that the character keeps going in circles, where he keep deciding what he wants in life. But that's where it got amusing, because when the character would frustrate me and I'd think 'What is this kid's problem?', one of the characters in the movie would say 'What's your problem?' Later, I'd think, he needs to do something already and stop thinking everything through so much. Then a character would say 'You need to just go for it.'

So, on one hand, I guess I really understood how taxing it is to be Faybien's friend, but I don't think that was the point of the movie, which is really about him getting over his homophobic father, his dead mother, and other issues, and finally decide how he wants to live his life. But since you sort of know it's the only clear path, and the one he's likely to take before the credits roll, it takes him a long time getting there.

A Jihad For Love: DVD Review

jeff — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:01:55 +0400

By Jeff Walsh

As it starts, "A Jihad For Love" has a familiar feeling for anyone who's ever seen movies about issues of sexuality and spirituality. We learn that the only reference to homosexuality in the Qur'an is about Sodom and Gomorrah. And that, though not part of the Qur'an, several Hadith (sayings attributed directly to Muhammad) directly condemn homosexuality. So, we're in familiar ground here, in a debate that continues about how to rectify sexuality and spirituality.

From the beginning, if you interchanged the words Qur'an and Bible, it would seem to make a lot of the same arguments with which many Americans are familiar. But as the film plays on, the familiarity washes away. People are imprisoned. Their backs bearing the marks of 100 bloody lashes. They leave their home and wait as refugees seeking asylum from a country they love, families they miss, and a religion that is still an important and meaningful part of their lives.

Muslim filmmaker Parvez Sharma isn't out to poke holes in Islam, or quote scripture back and forth with scholars (in fact, every scholar in the movie without fail just says homosexuality is wrong). But he is clearly interested in showing the depth of purpose that many gay Muslims feel, and the disconnect that causes with their culture. Sharma is also showing many sides of Islam, but none resembling the Al Qaeda caricature we usually see.

Every Little Step: Movie Review and Interview

jeff — Sat, 09 May 2009 07:52:50 +0400

By Jeff Walsh

I'm not an unbiased viewer of "Every Little Step," the new documentary about the Broadway show 'A Chorus Line.' It is my favorite Broadway show ever. It is one of the first Broadway shows I remember having an impact on me. The cast recording has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have never once applied for a job without singing 'Who am I anyway? Am I my resume?' I've been known to sing about getting plastic surgery on my 'tits and ass' in public at karaoke bars.

On top of all that, I am still friends with Jason Tam from the Chorus Line revival cast, who I met (of course) because he was in the show, so just seeing him on screen is delightful. He gets a lot of praise in other articles about this documentary, as his audition is prominently featured and simply amazing. He leaves the producers crying, and is hired on the spot. But I'm way too biased about how talented Jason is to say any more. You'll have to watch this film and find that out yourself.

Outrage: Movie Review

jeff — Tue, 05 May 2009 09:17:20 +0400

By Jeff Walsh

"Outrage," a new documentary playing select cities beginning this weekend, is taking on the hypocrisy of anti-gay politicians who are also closeted homosexuals. In each case, there seems to be a direct correlation between the closet and their anti-gay voting records.

Unlike the trailer for the movie (embedded below), the movie names the people in closets of power, interviews their former sexual partners, talks about where they go out to meet people, and makes a strong case for the homosexuality the men, such as Senator Larry Craig, still deny to this day.

I suppose outing has become a generic word in the culture, so we should go back to explore its historic roots. In an age where Perez Hilton "outs" Neil Patrick Harris, it is important to know that outing in the political arena is not about playing a gotcha game for people who merely deny their sexuality but enjoy secret gay lives. It is about people who deny it and actually cause harm to every gay person who has to live with the laws they pass to prove the lies they tell themselves and others are real.

The Boys In The Band: DVD Review

jeff — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:14:05 +0400

By Jeff Walsh

"The Boys in the Band" is an impressive movie if only for the fact that it exists. The play came out in 1968, the same year as the Stonewall Riots in New York City, which is considered the birth of the modern day gay rights movement. The movie followed two years later, using the off-Broadway cast, and is now celebrating its 40-year anniversary.

I have to say, this movie holds up really well, and there is good reason to watch this to see where we've made progress as a community and possibly where we haven't. But that's for viewers to decide. I'm more interested in the narrative itself.

The movie starts out with Michael preparing to host a birthday party for his friend Harold. While Michael is preparing for the party, his old college roommate Alan calls. Alan is in New York City on business and urgently needs to see Michael. Michael is caught between worlds, with a bunch of loud gay friends set to arrive, and his former roommate (who doesn't know he's gay) needing to talk. Michael also assumes that Alan is gay, and wonders if he's finally going to admit it. They make plans to quickly get together, but then switch to lunch the following day.

Ready? OK! : DVD Review

jeff — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:15:27 +0400

By Jeff Walsh

"Ready? OK!" is about a 10-year-old boy named Joshua who, more than anything else, wants to be a cheerleader. He practices routines with the girls, talks to his family about how cheerleaders always work together (unlike the wrestling team the school makes him play on), and is raising money to go to a cheerleading camp.

Of course, Joshua's 10, so the movie isn't about him being gay or coming out, just being different. If anything he's the only character in the movie who's OK with who he is. His mother, who is the main character in the movie, is harried by a job she doesn't like, a brother who drifts around, a mother who enjoys taunting her, and has no time for herself. When her son is getting into trouble cheerleading, or showing up to school in a dress, she barely seems to register what is happening, just that she has one more thing on her plate to handle that day.

The movie was well-acted and looks good, but it doesn't seem to have much to say, really. Plus, it seemed to have a lot of "indie movie grab bag" going on. The gay neighbor who believes in the kid and tries to encourage him. The packrat homeless brother who can't get his life together. The stern nun who only follow the rules. The clueless, diva who does horrible stand-ups for the local TV station. You never get the sense that all of these things solidify into one movie.

Pedro: Movie Review

jeff — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:38:55 +0400

By Jeff Walsh

"Pedro," which airs on MTV and LOGO tonight (April 1) is the story of Pedro Zamora, a Cuban-American who found out he was HIV-positive at age 17, and took his desire to speak out to a huge audience as a member of MTV's The Real World. He died in 1994, several hours after the season finale ended.

The movie itself was a strange flashback for me, since his story was so urgent to me at the time and so many of the scenes from that season are burned into my memory. So, it was somewhat strange seeing actors portraying people I knew from a reality TV and recreating famous scenes. At first, it almost seemed like the movie could star Pedro himself, but then the story becomes bigger than his brief time on the show, and we learn about his life before The Real World.

Howard Bragman: Interview

jeff — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:38:42 +0300

By Jeff Walsh

Howard Bragman is in a lot of Rolodexes in Hollywood. He's often the person you hope you don't have to call. His clients have included the family of Monica Lewinsky during the Clinton scandal, Isaiah Washington when he was accused of calling T.R. Knight a 'faggot' on the set of Grey's Anatomy and, on the flip side, he helped prep Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger before they did media interviews for Brokeback Mountain, knowing they would be asked a lot about taking on these gay roles.

In his new book, "Where's My Fifteen Minutes?," Bragman boils down his years of experience into a gameplan that anyone can use to be mindful of their public perception and how to manage that perception. And it's not just for people who want to be novelists, musicians, and actors. Bragman says everyone has a public perception anymore, and what you post on Oasis, Facebook, in e-mails, and in person shapes that on a regular basis.

The one example that we discuss toward the end of our interview is how Oasis, being online for more than 13 years, has had many people who were newly out and proud teenagers a decade earlier, who are now in their late 20s and early 30s, and writing me because their teenaged ramblings here would be accessible to future employers and co-workers. This usually leads to me scrubbing their last name from previous entries.

Bragman has also done a lot of work on gay rights, so we get his thoughts from a PR perspective on what the gay community has to do in the wake of Proposition 8. Here's what we said:

Another Gay Sequel: DVD Review

jeff — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:37:04 +0300

By Jeff Walsh

I already reviewed this movie when it first premiered in San Francisco, and reading it again months later, it still sums up my thoughts on this movie. I wanted to like it as much as the first, but it just didn't happen.

My only addendum is that a gay movie that lampooned other gay movies, as the original did, seemed to give it more resonance than one with references to The Brady Bunch, beach movies, and other more traditional fare.

When I saw it, it didn't even have end credits, but now sports a Perez Hilton song and video called "The Clap." I also think there was a visual effect added whenever Jasper zapped the other Jasper's balls, but otherwise, it's the same movie I saw, so just read the original review for movie information. My review is of the uncut theatrical edition, but I can't imagine anyone would buy another else anyway.

Indigo Girls - Poseidon and the Bitter Bug: CD Review

bulldyke — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:25:37 +0300

By bulldyke

I grin as the first chords of the new Indigo Girls album echo in my room, meeting the sunshine and dancing. The song is Digging for Your Dreams. It takes me a few days after getting Poseidon and The Bitter Bug to learn the words, but the music is so beautiful, and their harmonies are breathtaking.

The Indigo Girls, Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, play an eclectic mix of folk and country. I own 10 of their albums, and iTunes seems to have a different genre listing for each of them. Some are rock, some folk, others country, or alternative, or even pop.

Over the next week, I listen to nothing but the new album.

There is a melancholy air to the songs, as many of them are about looking back and finding mistakes.

Justin Tranter of Semi Precious Weapons: Interview

jeff — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:24:38 +0300

Semi Precious Weapons have provided the soundtrack to my life for more than a year now, when I first heard their single "Magnetic Baby" after Perez Hilton loved the track and posted it on his site.

Finally, the band is out touring the country on their debut album, "We Love You," which is an amazing collection of garage glam gems that show how much talent is behind the first impressions you might get based on seeing Justin Tranter, the band's lead singer. He tends to like his eyes lined, his hair platinum blonde, and his heels high.

Before the band's recent in-store gig at the Apple Store in San Francisco, Tranter and I headed over to a quiet tea place to do the interview. While Market Street lined with people in advance of the St. Patrick's Day parade, Tranter and I weaved through the crowd. You could see people checking him out in his ripped T-shirt, suit coat, heavy-eyelined eyes, black and grey striped panty hose, and high, high heels the whole way there.

But Tranter was just a delight to talk to, and a great performer a half hour after we spoke. I even got to sing one of the "I've been magnetic since I was a baby" lines when he held the mic in my face.

We chatted about the band, labels (both the record kind and the sexuality kind), the music scene, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Lady Gaga, jewelry, and a lot of other topics over a quiet lunch. Here's what we said:

Contest: Win a signed copy of 'We Love You' by Semi Precious Weapons

jeff — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:19:58 +0300

You can win a signed copy of 'We Love You' by Semi Precious Weapons. It's signed by all four band members.

And the winner is... Biohazard.

I Dreamt Under The Water: DVD Review

jeff — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:16:53 +0300

By Jeff Walsh

"I Dreamt Under The Water" isn't an easy movie to love, because you never really get a sense of the motivation of the main character, Antonin, yet the whole movie follows him. So, a whole movie without empathy isn't my favorite thing.

The movie starts with a charismatic singer, Alex, Antonin's straight crush and friend. Alex is heavily into drugs, and his descent pushes Antonin to seek comfort in the underbelly of Paris, with gay sex with groups of men in parks, drinking, drugs, and the requisite prostitution.

We see Antonin on several of his tricks with the sadness and empty expression that accompanies all gay movie prostitution, whether sleeping with seniors or aggressively spanking a naked john as he scrubs a kitchen table.

Boystown: DVD Review

jeff — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:08:24 +0300

By Jeff Walsh

"Boystown" is one of those movies that are impossible to resist. It's just a perfect Almodovar-inspired Spanish farce that's delicious from beginning to end.

A real estate agent has a dream to turn a section of town into a perfect gay neighborhood with high-end shops and nice restaurants. The only problem is all of the elderly residents still living in his future gay mecca don't want to sell their apartments to him, so he starts killing them.

Rey and Leo have a fractured relationship with a lot of problems, although at the core they are drawn to each other and there is tenderness and love obviously flowing between them.

When one of the recently-killed elderly residents leaves her apartment to Rey, who always did odd jobs for her, he doesn't sell the flat to the real estate agent/killer, but instead moves his mother, who hates Leo, into the flat. She gets to say the best, nastiest lines in the movie.