ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

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SynopsisA reporter gets more than she bargained for when she tries to prove that a murder has occurred in Brian De Palma's disturbing thriller. Danielle (Margot Kidder) meets Phillip (Lisle Wilson) on a "Peeping Tom"-themed game show and, dodging her ex-husband Emil (William Finley), takes him back to her apartment. But Danielle has a separated Siamese twin sister, Dominique, who is not pleased about the overnight guest. Journalist neighbor Grace (Jennifer Salt) sees Phillip slaughtered by one of them through her window; the body vanishes before she can convince a skeptical detective (Dolph Sweet) to take a look. Determined to prove that she's right (and get a career-advancing story), Grace investigates, assisted by a private eye (Charles Durning), and becomes more involved in the relationships among Danielle, Dominique, and Emil than she ever expected. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

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From IMDb: I enjoyed this surprising film, which I saw at the SF Frameline festival this past weekend. Jeffrey is a gay architect who is enamored with a guy who won't spend the night or otherwise deepen their relationship. When he sees this guy letting himself into an apartment building (with another guy on his arm) and then sees an sign saying there's another apartment available, he lets the eager landlady show it to him. What starts out as clearly a bad idea turns into a nightmare. There's fun along the way, but it isn't really tongue-in-cheek. A good homage to lots of thrillers - yet it has its own plot twists. A good time was had by all. Recommended.

[Fran]

Also known as:

Zombi 2 Island of the Flesh-Eaters Island of the Living Dead (Europe: English title) Ultimi zombi, Gli (Italy) Zombie 2: Gli ultimi zombi (Italy) (DVD title) Zombie Flesh Eaters (UK)

From IMDb:  Now this is how a zombie film should be made! Whilst Lucio Fuci never had the creative genius of Dario Argento in Profondo Rosso, Tenebrae and Suspiria, he certainly knew how to make a good old-fashioned zombie/gore movie.

[Fran]

Gay & Lesbian Movies!

   

[MaineWriter]

from Wikipedia:

An American Family was a documentary shot in 1971 and first aired in the United States on PBS in early 1973. The show was twelve episodes long, edited down from about 300 hours of footage, and chronicled the experiences of a nuclear family, the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California, during a period of time when parents Bill and Pat Loud separated and Pat filed for divorce.

The parents had five children. One of them, Lance Loud, was a gay 20-year-old man who occasionally wore lipstick and women's clothes and took his mother to a drag show in the second episode of the series. Scholars sometimes mention that Lance came out of the closet on TV, but this is technically incorrect—he was simply gay without announcement or drama; his family says that they had known for quite a while. As such, Lance was the first openly gay character on television and has become something of a gay icon.

Most notable was when Pat Loud asked her husband for a divorce and to leave the house on camera. Pat famously saying to her husband "you know there's a problem" and Bill Loud responding "What's your problem?". The moment was later chosen as one of the Top 100 Television Moments by TV Guide.

On airing, the show drew over 10 million viewers—phenomenal viewership for PBS standards in 1973 or even today—and drew considerable controversy. The series was widely discussed in the media in 1973, and the Loud family appeared on the cover of the March 12, 1973 issue of Newsweek magazine.

The series was parodied in 1979 movie Real Life, in which a narcisstic filmmaker disrupts the filming of such a television series, instituting changes that he says are "good for the series". An American Family was featured in a 2002 television special, in which TV Guide named it one of the best 50 shows of all time.

[southendmd]

IMDb:  I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this wonderful documentary. The archival material alone -- film clips and still photographs of gay life in America between 1900 and the '60s -- is enough to make this film a treasure; but it is the interviews with survivors of the pre-Stonewall era that make Before Stonewall a priceless heirloom of gay studies and a must in the personal education of any socially conscious person interested in gay culture.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Reena is a young Indian American lesbian who lives and works in New York. Her sister Sarita, who is happily married, discovers that she is infertile. Reena offers to be a surrogate mother for her sister's baby, hoping to improve her relationship with their mother, who disapproves of Reena's sexual orientation. Reena has second thoughts when her girlfriend Lisa feels left out.

[MaineWriter]

IMDb lists this as being "in production." I think it has been in production since the book came out in 1994! Oh well, it also has a YEAR...probably next year it will be 2009. One of these days I'll get to see it...meanwhile, I entertain myself by reading the book over and over....

[southendmd]

This review was written just before BBM came out:

I will not write of the non existent talent in this piece of trash, nor that I think any person (gay straight or refined beyond that) who writes positively about this is either playing tongue in cheek or totally high. Rather, I only add my 2 cents to the comments that we need to be supportive and gentle to reviews of gay indie films because they are so "hard to get made." Well, if this is an example of the product put before filmmakers or distributors it's no wonder! There is no excuse for this movie - I honestly cannot believe that all the people on camera are as talentless as they come off - they just bet on our lowered standards so long as they throw us a few tight torso's and full frontals. The ancillary characters were like penance for the good stuff, but there was no good stuff.

So long as we praise this poop, we'll continue to get dribbles of it. If we aim higher we might just make a film that we can be truly proud of.

I only hope that Ang Lee, and Annie Proulx save us from ourselves.

[Fran]

Synopsis:

Two misfits struggle to make their way through the living hell that is high school in this independent comedy drama. Rodney (Ash Christian) lives in a small Texas town where most folks don't have much use for musical theater or much understanding of the gay lifestyle. Since the barely closeted Rodney wants little else besides a boyfriend and the leading role in a Broadway show, this doesn't make life easy for him, and he has only one close friend -- Sabrina (Ashley Fink), a smart and funny girl who happens to weigh nearly three hundred pounds. Sabrina encourages Rodney to embrace his inner "fat girl," and he finds someone who understands his dreams when he strikes up a friendship with Mr. Cox (Jonathan Caouette), the school's drama coach, who also does a mean Liza Minnelli impersonation in his spare time. Written and directed by leading man Ash Christian when he was only 20 years old, Fat Girls was screened in competition at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide