27th Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival

This year I've had to cut back on my film festival experience. Below you'll find my Q Reviews™ of the three programs I've seen this at this year's festival.

Hooked

An engaging, thought-provoking documentary. This is the type of presentation that film festivals are all about. It was very uncomfortable to watch in certain parts as the men being interviewed described their experiences in finding sex via the Internet. The most heart wrenching moments came as the guys expressed objectifying opinions and dehumanizing experiences of instant gratification. I'm glad the filmmakers continued the process because by the end of the film, many of the men had come to the realization that the long-term implications of their actions weren't worth the price in self-esteem and respect for a basic level of human interaction that rely upon a more holistic view of a person instead of just seeing someone as a "hot or not" binary.

Ja Zuster, Nee Zuster

This Dutch musical was portrayed by the film festival as just a musical and in that regard it was very lighthearted and fun. It depicted, says the film festival, an idealized version of Amsterdam in the 1960s. They compared it to Moulin Rouge and the new Ewan McGreggor, Rene Zelwegger film, Down With Love. The film's bright, simplistic colours of the sets and costumes added a warm and uplifting context for the well thought out plot and exceptional dance numbers. I loved this film.

I went to see it with my pal Martin who, after telling some Dutch friends about seeing the film was told it is based on a children's television series from the 1950s and 60s. It was broadcast before VCRs were plentiful and in a postwar country where film stock was recycled. The original TV show, which was similar in nature to Mr. Roger's Neighbourhood, was lost to the annals of history until the filmmakers decided to resurrect the concept for this film. With my limited exposure to Dutch society, I was able to identify the comic stereotypes and enjoy some of the double entendres both visual and musical. Now with the new understanding that it's actually an homage to a beloved children's show that electrified a generation, I want to see it again to pick up another layer of nuance to this uproariously brilliant film.

Close-Up with Randy & Fenton

As part of the "Times Talks" series, Frameline included a staged interview with directors Randy Barbado and Fenton Bailey. The interrogator had a family emergency and was replaced by a guy flown up from LA. He seemed lost and unprepared. While there wasn't much flow to the conversation, I still found it interesting to hear a little bit about the broad spectrum of work Randy and Fenton have created over the past twenty years. The short clips and highlights of their work added a nice dimension to the stilted conversation. I just wish the moderator was better prepared. The Q & A with the audience was far too short so I never got to ask about their development process. It seems their work is so diverse that I was curious to know how they find material for their unique documentaries. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to ask my question because the lady running around with the microphone favoured the women on the other side of the audience and never really got to my side of the room.

Party Monster, The Movie

There's not enough party in this monster of a movie. I was left feeling like it was a cute film but I felt they squandered their material by presenting it in such a photo-realistic way. I wish they could have gone over the top a bit more to match the larger than life and often cartoonish characters depicted in the film. The narrative convention employed seemed stilted and overly contrived. I spoke to my pal Marc in Hollywood and he said they had at least four different versions of the script and a lot of problems with the producers not wanting to portray sympathetic drug users. Thinking back, I can see that almost all of the problems with the first act can probably be attributed to too many cooks spoiling the pot. Because they were working with source material from James St. James' book, "Disco Bloodbath" they had to follow a certain trajectory but I felt they did a poor job of establishing the characters and the setting. Too few exterior shots of the Limelight and no mention of it's status as a former church weaken the metaphor of Angel flying around the club with his wings and drugs. I wish they went the same route as the film, "Starship Troopers". In that film, comic title sequences established time and place while setting up the following scenes. It was based on a short story so its weaker source material left more open to interpretation. With this version of "Party Monster" I wanted to see more liberties taken. Michael Alig, the film's murderous Klub Kid created 'Project X' magazine. It was filled with colourful graphics and outrageous costumes. Maybe I was hoping to see a film presented like an issue of the magazine. The film's donut shop scene in the first act where James tells Michael how to be popular in the club scene, while funny could have been so much more if it was presented as a POV scene with Michael being captivated by an animated James and cartoony graphics flying all about.

My opinions may be tainted a bit because I knew a lot of the principles in the film. I lived the Klub Kid dream and unlike most of the NYC kids depicted in the film, I survived my experiences relatively intact. The music in the film was excellent as were the costumes. It's definately a matinee must-see, but not worth a full price ticket.

Short Films Collection: Manly Men

This Collection of shorts was loosely programmed around the portrayal of and meaning of masculinity in the LGBT "community"

Ritchie's Itch
This was a great concept, but had a poor execution. The music was great, the dialogue far too weak and unbelievable in most parts and the acting was atrocious. Obviously staffed by friends, I wish they could have got some masculine guys for the supposedly 'straight' characters.

Looking For Mr. Right
What a wry and poignant look at gay male culture. It's humorous approach and surprise ending worked extremely well as the vehicle to explore the issues of narcissism and poor self-esteem that the next short and even the feature "Hooked" could only hint at with their more formal and "serious" approach.

The Bigger The Better
Cute as a term paper / thesis project for university, but poorly executed as a short documentary film. I was pleasantly surprised to see some of my old friends from London being interviewed. I wish the filmmaker had tightened up some of the commentary and developed more of a structure through the middle. It needed an ending, like some definitive comment or a thought provoking statistic. Instead it just left us hanging and longing for a more satisfying resolution.

Strap 'Em Down
Hilarious and obviously a labour of love. This short documentary could definitely serve as a commercial for the burgeoning "Drag King" phenomenon. My favourite line came from one of the ladies dressed as a Hell's Angel with huge fluffy handle bar mustache who said, "People ask me all the time, 'Are women attracted to someone who looks like you?' and I have to reply, 'The ones I'm attracted to are'"

Packin'
I almost felt like I was watching one of those guerilla media productions created by anti-globalisation, anti-capitalist types. It was basically a scrolling series of crotch shots with obvious text that in juxtaposition created an irony and political commentary with a greater impact than either component could produce on its own. Very original execution of a simple idea and a really great short film.

Gay Cops: Pride Behind The Badge
The filmmakers treated this subject with kid gloves. They basically had a love fest as they interviewed gay and lesbian law enforcement officers at a conference in Southern California. Tragically, the event was scheduled to take place in 2001 on September 11 - 15. Obviously the events of 9-11 overshadowed their experience at the conference and the portrayal in the film. I wish they explored how the subjects deal with being in the crossroads of such deep animosity. They barely touched upon dealing with deeply homophobic coworkers and LGBT resentment, animosity and fear projected onto the enforcers of laws that force them to live as second class citizens.

A Bear's Story
Great dialogue, great acting and an engaging story made this short the obvious choice to wrap up the program. It portrayed the warm, open and affectionate attitude of the bear community while playing with stereotypes in a comedic yet subtle way.