Frameline 2011: Saturday
Jul. 13th, 2011 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nakedbeeA belated review of some cute movies from the next-to-last festival day.
Note: plot summaries and promotional images again shamelessly lifted from Frameline. Check out the festival website and/or websearch the film's titles for more info.
Longhorns
1982. TEXAS. It's a world ruled by big hair, synth-pop and cowboy boots as Kevin, a straight frat-boy, enjoys finding creative ways to bond with his fellow schoolmates, usually with some 'straight' porn and an extra hand; it's all about helping a buddy out, right?
When he encounters Cesar, an openly gay student, Kevin’s heart starts
to flutter for the young man, setting off a chain of events where his own sexual identity comes into question.
The movie was a sweet romantic comedy, but the real standout is the unbelievably awesome faux-80's indie-queer soundtrack by the amazingly talented H P Mendoza (creator of previous festival hits Colma The Musical and Fruit Fly)!
Orchids: My Intersex Adventure
Australian sisters Phoebe and Bonnie take viewers on a courageous journey out of isolation and shame toward empowerment, connection and honesty. Both sisters have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), an intersex condition where a person’s body develops externally as female despite XY chromosomes, due to the body’s resistance to masculinizing hormones (i.e. androgens).
This candid road movie captures Phoebe and Bonnie’s brave and vulnerable pursuit of connection, where they find strength in the power of authenticity, personal storytelling and the gift of being a special type of flower.
This was a cool documentary. I really appreciated the sense of joy and love and fun!
Orchids was preceded by the short, Mind which deserves a special shout-out for excellent fantasy sequences: the documentary subject, Tom Cho, dressed as 1) Godzilla destroying a cardboard reproduction of the suburb he grew up in and 2) a 50 foot tall heavy metal rocker captured Gulliver's-Travels-style by tiny anime girls.
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
Danger! The ozone layer of planet Zots is disappearing due to an overabundance of emotion! What can a lesbian space alien do to save her world? Well, board a flying saucer of course, and take a trip to New York City (it’s on planet Earth), where hearts will be broken and “big feelings” will be overcome.
With the low-fi kitsch of 50s B movies, director Madeleine Olnek embraces the final frontier of relationship drama. Soup up your cardboard spaceship, put on your tinfoil hat, and find the nearest wormhole to claim your seats for this hilarious Sundance hit
Super cute! Jane-the-human-love-interest (pictured) was especially charming with her shy smiles. The 50s/indie mashup style was really quite cool.
Last Fast Ride - The Life, Love and Death of a Punk Goddess
Bay Area punk provocateur Marian Anderson was about more than performing topless and lesbian sex onstage. She was more than powerful vocals and lyrics that would knock you down faster than a Gilman St. mosh-pit. She was more than court cases, censorship and some nefarious business with a banana. Marian Anderson was a visionary musician who spent her life creating art and trying to exorcize her demons through the music of her bands The Insaints, Five Fingers and The Thrill Killers. This is her story.
Cool doc. It's always fun to eye up the audience for each film … this one matched up pretty well, very punk rick. I felt very square in comparison … hopefully they just thought we were incognito or something. :)
Au Pair, Kansas
Oddmund Lindeflaten is a bumbling Norwegian soccer player who arrives on a small-town Kansas bison farm to work as an au pair. And the inevitable question arises: is he gay?
Oddmund’s new employer is Helen Hazelton, an uptight widow, who’s been seeing her husband’s ghost—and talking with him. Oddmund’s charges are a sullen fifteen year old, Atticus, and a shy nine year old, Beau. To draw the boys out of their shells, he gathers together a motley soccer team: Atticus’s crush, a dyke policewoman, an older chess coach, a middle school bully, a drag queen art teacher, and an art model.
With encouragement from her dreamy dead husband, Charlie, Helen is trying to move on. As details of Charlie’s life filter through, it’s clear that he tried to hide a secret gay life, but he wasn’t very successful. As a nurturing man in a conservative town, Oddmund’s motives are under constant scrutiny. When Oddmund rebuffs Helen’s advances, she finds a terrible pretense to kick him out of the house. After the police get involved, the boys rally around their au pair. Helen learns that love—in any form—is more powerful than pushing people away. Norwegian import Håvard Lilleheie is pitch perfect as Oddmund, and cult favorite Traci Lords shines as Helen in this heartwarming, small-town story.
Traci Lords was really fantastic and overall the acting was very good in this film. I thought the story was only OK, but the Norway vs Sweden jokes were funny.
Note: plot summaries and promotional images again shamelessly lifted from Frameline. Check out the festival website and/or websearch the film's titles for more info.
Longhorns
1982. TEXAS. It's a world ruled by big hair, synth-pop and cowboy boots as Kevin, a straight frat-boy, enjoys finding creative ways to bond with his fellow schoolmates, usually with some 'straight' porn and an extra hand; it's all about helping a buddy out, right?
When he encounters Cesar, an openly gay student, Kevin’s heart starts
to flutter for the young man, setting off a chain of events where his own sexual identity comes into question.
The movie was a sweet romantic comedy, but the real standout is the unbelievably awesome faux-80's indie-queer soundtrack by the amazingly talented H P Mendoza (creator of previous festival hits Colma The Musical and Fruit Fly)!
Orchids: My Intersex Adventure
Australian sisters Phoebe and Bonnie take viewers on a courageous journey out of isolation and shame toward empowerment, connection and honesty. Both sisters have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), an intersex condition where a person’s body develops externally as female despite XY chromosomes, due to the body’s resistance to masculinizing hormones (i.e. androgens).
This candid road movie captures Phoebe and Bonnie’s brave and vulnerable pursuit of connection, where they find strength in the power of authenticity, personal storytelling and the gift of being a special type of flower.
This was a cool documentary. I really appreciated the sense of joy and love and fun!
Orchids was preceded by the short, Mind which deserves a special shout-out for excellent fantasy sequences: the documentary subject, Tom Cho, dressed as 1) Godzilla destroying a cardboard reproduction of the suburb he grew up in and 2) a 50 foot tall heavy metal rocker captured Gulliver's-Travels-style by tiny anime girls.
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
Danger! The ozone layer of planet Zots is disappearing due to an overabundance of emotion! What can a lesbian space alien do to save her world? Well, board a flying saucer of course, and take a trip to New York City (it’s on planet Earth), where hearts will be broken and “big feelings” will be overcome.
With the low-fi kitsch of 50s B movies, director Madeleine Olnek embraces the final frontier of relationship drama. Soup up your cardboard spaceship, put on your tinfoil hat, and find the nearest wormhole to claim your seats for this hilarious Sundance hit
Super cute! Jane-the-human-love-interest (pictured) was especially charming with her shy smiles. The 50s/indie mashup style was really quite cool.
Last Fast Ride - The Life, Love and Death of a Punk Goddess
Bay Area punk provocateur Marian Anderson was about more than performing topless and lesbian sex onstage. She was more than powerful vocals and lyrics that would knock you down faster than a Gilman St. mosh-pit. She was more than court cases, censorship and some nefarious business with a banana. Marian Anderson was a visionary musician who spent her life creating art and trying to exorcize her demons through the music of her bands The Insaints, Five Fingers and The Thrill Killers. This is her story.
Cool doc. It's always fun to eye up the audience for each film … this one matched up pretty well, very punk rick. I felt very square in comparison … hopefully they just thought we were incognito or something. :)
Au Pair, Kansas
Oddmund Lindeflaten is a bumbling Norwegian soccer player who arrives on a small-town Kansas bison farm to work as an au pair. And the inevitable question arises: is he gay?
Oddmund’s new employer is Helen Hazelton, an uptight widow, who’s been seeing her husband’s ghost—and talking with him. Oddmund’s charges are a sullen fifteen year old, Atticus, and a shy nine year old, Beau. To draw the boys out of their shells, he gathers together a motley soccer team: Atticus’s crush, a dyke policewoman, an older chess coach, a middle school bully, a drag queen art teacher, and an art model.
With encouragement from her dreamy dead husband, Charlie, Helen is trying to move on. As details of Charlie’s life filter through, it’s clear that he tried to hide a secret gay life, but he wasn’t very successful. As a nurturing man in a conservative town, Oddmund’s motives are under constant scrutiny. When Oddmund rebuffs Helen’s advances, she finds a terrible pretense to kick him out of the house. After the police get involved, the boys rally around their au pair. Helen learns that love—in any form—is more powerful than pushing people away. Norwegian import Håvard Lilleheie is pitch perfect as Oddmund, and cult favorite Traci Lords shines as Helen in this heartwarming, small-town story.
Traci Lords was really fantastic and overall the acting was very good in this film. I thought the story was only OK, but the Norway vs Sweden jokes were funny.