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Frameline 2011: Friday
Went in to work, so I only made it out for one film this day. I'm so sad there're only 2 more days left!
Note: plot summaries and promotional images again shamelessly lifted from Frameline and the film's website. Check out the festival website and/or websearch the film's titles for more info.
Leave It On the Floor
Been looking all your life for a sizzling mash-up of Paris Is Burning, Rent and Dreamgirls? Leave It On the Floor is that and more, a supersized musical featuring a family of fierce voguing performers coming together to snatch a trophy in the big ballroom competition.
When our hero Brad is kicked out of his house for being gay, he finds himself drawn into a raucous ballroom event. Looking for a warm place to sleep—and someone to sleep with?—Brad meets the ragtag members of the struggling House of Eminence. As he searches for his place in this family of fascinating characters, he gets schooled in how to express himself with spins, dips, and hands. When he decides to join the house and compete with his new family, everyone comes together to help him learn. That is, until a love triangle threatens to destroy all that they’ve built together.
This is absolutely the musical love story companion to "Paris Is Burning", the documentary on ball culture we saw in a retrospective screening yesterday. It was fun to watch, especially in a packed theater with an enthusiastic crowd. The actors were all fantastic singers and dancers as well as actors! The choreography was really great, but I thought the music was only OK … I wanted the lyrics to pop more, but they often got overshadowed by the accompaniment. Princess was totally my favorite character, with Eppie a close second. The final scene where the main character makes his ball debut was really awesome … they did a great job of holding back enough in the training scenes (but without seeming to) that the final performance was triumphantly impressive.
In the same way that the documentary "American Movie" should always be watched as a double feature with the fabulous comedy "Brittney Baby One More Time", "Paris Is Burning" should be paired with "Leave It On the Floor." Woo hoo!
Bonus pictures!
Note: plot summaries and promotional images again shamelessly lifted from Frameline and the film's website. Check out the festival website and/or websearch the film's titles for more info.
Leave It On the Floor
Been looking all your life for a sizzling mash-up of Paris Is Burning, Rent and Dreamgirls? Leave It On the Floor is that and more, a supersized musical featuring a family of fierce voguing performers coming together to snatch a trophy in the big ballroom competition.
When our hero Brad is kicked out of his house for being gay, he finds himself drawn into a raucous ballroom event. Looking for a warm place to sleep—and someone to sleep with?—Brad meets the ragtag members of the struggling House of Eminence. As he searches for his place in this family of fascinating characters, he gets schooled in how to express himself with spins, dips, and hands. When he decides to join the house and compete with his new family, everyone comes together to help him learn. That is, until a love triangle threatens to destroy all that they’ve built together.
This is absolutely the musical love story companion to "Paris Is Burning", the documentary on ball culture we saw in a retrospective screening yesterday. It was fun to watch, especially in a packed theater with an enthusiastic crowd. The actors were all fantastic singers and dancers as well as actors! The choreography was really great, but I thought the music was only OK … I wanted the lyrics to pop more, but they often got overshadowed by the accompaniment. Princess was totally my favorite character, with Eppie a close second. The final scene where the main character makes his ball debut was really awesome … they did a great job of holding back enough in the training scenes (but without seeming to) that the final performance was triumphantly impressive.
In the same way that the documentary "American Movie" should always be watched as a double feature with the fabulous comedy "Brittney Baby One More Time", "Paris Is Burning" should be paired with "Leave It On the Floor." Woo hoo!
Bonus pictures!