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Showing results for tags 'film'.
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culture Brokeback Mountain and Other Terrible Films
Thorn Wilde posted a blog entry in The Fantastic Mr. Wilde
Note: I'm frustrated. I swear. Deal with it. I was browsing YouTube yesterday when I came across a 10 Best LGBTQ Movies video. As I always do, I clicked on it, cause I'm always up for potentially finding new movies to watch. There were some good ones on the list, such as Call Me By Your Name, Milk, and Weekend for instance, and I found a couple I hadn't seen, either. But when they got down to #3, they lost me, because according to them the third best LGBTQ film in history is Brokeback Mountain. I was 17 when Brokeback Mountain came out. I saw it in the cinema, and I cried, and I thought it was wonderful. Because I was a 17-year-old at the time girl who hadn't really been exposed to a lot of queer cinema. I bought it on DVD when it came out, and watched it again. Then a few years passed, I became more experienced, watched other LGBTQ movies, and realised that Brokeback Mountain is, quite frankly, shit. All of my IRL queer friends agree with me. Not most, all. The film tends to be conspicuously absent when queer people make lists of greatest LGBTQ films. I feel like Brokeback Mountain caters to a straight audience that wants to feel liberal and accepting by watching gay characters on screen, but who ultimately feel more comfortable if it ends in tragedy. The story it's based on was written by a straight woman (not that there's anything wrong with straight people writing LGBTQ stories, and we have many, many straight authors on the site here who write absolutely wonderful gay fiction). Brokeback Mountain has served a purpose, of course. It has made gay stories more palatable to straight audiences, which is a good thing. The acting performances are marvellous, too. But it also demonstrated that the only way for an LGBTQ movie to win an Academy Award is if literally no one involved in its making is visibly queer. I'm not of the opinion that straight people can't play gay characters (they definitely can) or even that cis people can't play trans characters (they can, though they have a responsibility to to do well that few manage to fulfil). But nobody even remotely queer has their name on that movie. Author of original short story, straight. Writers, straight. Producers, straight. Ang Lee, totally straight. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal? Ding ding ding! Straight! As of last year, the only gay man to win an Academy Award playing a gay character, is Ian McKellen. And that was twenty fucking years ago. Meanwhile, if a cis-het actor plays a queer character in an even remotely successful film, they're guaranteed a nomination, if not a win. No trans actor has ever won an Oscar. No lesbian playing a lesbian has ever won an Oscar. Another movie that straight people keep harping on about is Blue is the Warmest Colour, which is objectively shit. After the third lengthy porn inspired male gaze centred sex scene, I switched that motherfucker off. Bohemian Rhapsody is being lauded by straight critics, while LGBTQ audiences are disappointed at the misrepresentation of Freddie Mercury's sexuality and the way everything goes to shit when he tries to live out his queer identity (which is a factually incorrect assessment of Freddie's queerness), while embracing his straight friends and staying out of 'that world' makes everything better (also factually incorrect). While not in and of itself a bad film, as a queer film it falls short, and a movie about Freddy Mercury ought to be a queer film. He's one of the most famous queer people in history. We've got Elton John, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Alexander the Great, and Freddie Mercury. (Notice how there are no queer women on that list? Sigh...) There is a lot of great queer cinema. We've had long, extensive threads on the subject in The Lounge, where people have shared their top picks of literally hundreds of wonderful films, many of which actually have happy endings for once. Straight audiences can't handle a queer movie with a happy ending. It has to be sad, or it has to be heteronormative, and that's what we get. Things are improving a little, sure. Love, Simon is a notable exception in being a well loved queer teen movie with a sweet and happy ending where no one kills themselves. How lovely! Of course, Love, Simon didn't even earn an honourable mention in the video I watched. Weekend took second place, which redeemed the list somewhat. Carol came in first. Which is fine, it's a great movie, and doesn't end in tragedy. But fucking Brokeback Mountain ought to die a fiery death and be buried in an avalanche of awesome queer cinema. EDIT: Just to clarify: I'm not saying that Brokeback Mountain is objectively a bad movie, nor am I saying that the short story it's based on isn't good. What I am saying is that it's not an LGBTQ movie, it's made by straight people for straight people, and as such I don't think it belongs on lists of good queer movies. It's a bad queer film, that doesn't necessarily make it a bad film, period. -
There Will Be Spoilers Ahead Of The Amazing Movie Maltese Falcon. For those of you that have never seen this movie, The Maltese Falcon is a movie starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo, Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman. It is based on a Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name, and written & directed by the talented John Huston in his first directorial role. A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette. The movie starts out with introducing the main character, Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer played by Jerome Cowan. A woman comes into the office, Miss Wonderly, who is trying to find her missing sister who was last seen in the presence of a man named Floyd Thursby. Through a disjointed story that Spade and Archer don't seem to believe, they agree to shadow Miss Wonderly when she goes to confront her sister and the man Thursby. Some hours later, Thursby is dead, Archer is dead, and the police think Sam Spade killed them both. Thus the plot of this movie really begins. We also find out that Sam Spade has been having an affair with Archer's wife. Sam doesn't really like Archer but after all, they are partners. It really wouldn't look good for Sam's reputation if he didn't solve the murder of his partner despite what he might feel about him. After the murder of Archer, Sam finds out that Miss Wonderly is actually searching for a solid gold statue called the Maltese Falcon that was painted black to protect it from treasure seekers. Sam also finds out that she has not been so forthcoming as she also has partners in this quest to find the bird. One is Gutman, the tall fat man that is eerily polite yet also quite menacing in his own right. Villain Number One, Gutman, a brilliant scene where Sam confronts the fatman, (a term that is used throughout the movie). This was Sydney's first scene in front of a camera, though he had been a stage actor for over 40 years. Here you can see how formidable he can be across from a veteran star like Humphrey Bogart. Villain Number Two, Cairo, a man that uses gardenia drenched business cards and is overtly homosexual for a movie made in the 40's. The brilliant Peter Lorre plays Cairo to a tee, single minded, delicate, yet truly sinister in the way he interacts with Sam Spade. Villain Number Three, Wilmer, a gun for hire that looks up to Gutman as a father figure. Wilmer is also the murderer of Thornsby and the ships captain that was in cahoots with Miss Wonderly in smuggling in the falcon. There are many twists and turns in this classic film noir story. And Sam must navigate the lies and deceit of the main players without losing his life. It all culminates in an almost twenty minute finale as Sam negotiates with Gutman and company to sell the falcon while trying to puzzle out who is who in this sordid tale. Its is mesmerizing to watch the scene when the falcon actaully shows up and Gutman and company realize its a fake. The Maltese falcon is still out of reach, and they must continue their search. The three murders that has transpired seemingly secondary to their quest. After putting all the pieces together, Sam confronts the murderer of his partner Archer. One of the most iconic movie endings. What is the falcon? The stuff dreams are made of. The Maltese Falcon is one of my favorite movies, its dialogue heavy that manages to keep you on the edge of your seat. The entire movie is almost shot over Humphrey Bogart to give your the illusion that you are finding out the plot points as the character Sam Spade is. Unlike the prior two movies based on this book, this one forgos the happy ending for a realistic turn that leaves you almost sad that Sam had to turn over the lady he loved for his morals. I greatly urge you to watch this film, its on par with some of the best movies ever made. Jason
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The BBC reports that J.K. Rowling is going to write a screenplay for a film version of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them detailing the adventures of its fictional author, Newt Scamander. Are we excited??
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Hello, Looking to collaborate/commission a talanted ghostwriter to edit/rework a short story for my new photographic work (still & moving images). Not sure how and where to start looking for right person, any link or advice will be much appreciated! Kobi
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I used to sing choir in grad school. Alas now... I have youtube to reminscence. Anything arranged by Moses Hogan(RIP you) gets me. And I like the Russian melody, Polyushko Polye in Japanese. The clip's from Boy's Choir, a japanese movie, which I highly recommend the film if you're in the mood for japanese teenage angst. A very touching film about a boy, on cusp of adolescence, losing his golden soprano voice.
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Has anyone seen the british film - "And when did you last see your father". It was released in 2007 and stars Colin Firth. Or read the book? I'll maybe say why this interests me if anybody has. If so, anyone have any reviews?