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Frameline 2010: Wednesday
another fine day of films
Wednesday's film reviews below the cut
Note: plot summaries (italics) and promotional images shamelessly lifted from the Frameline website. Click the image to go there for more info, including links to the official movie websites.
Carmen’s Place
Carmen’s Place is an intimate portrayal of life at a transgender friendly shelter for teenagers in Queens, New York, run by Episcopal priest, Father Braxton. Through spiritual guidance, community building, and his philosophy of ’radical acceptance, ’ Father Braxton teaches residents how to become self-sufficient adults who accept themselves and their gender identities.
Very nice. Yay Episcopalians ... we totally get it right sometimes.
Thy Will Be Done
When mustachioed, manly-man Steve decided to make the transition to become Sara, he abandoned his true calling: to be a Pastor. After a difficult divorce and a transition period filled with countless gender specialists and hostility from family members, a higher power prevails, and Sara — now an out and proud transsexual woman — can no longer ignore her call to be ordained in the Presbyterian Church. Sara is constantly confronted with opposition, intolerance and irrationality and her obstacles bring to light the contradictions of organized religion, while creating a new arena for the fight for gender recognition and equality.
This was a good documentary. I loved hearing from the many women who support Sara: her daughter, her pastor, her new wife, and even her ex-wife. I liked that the image of the church presented was more complex than just "we hate you, get out" but instead showed a large committee of people with differing opinions trying to make decisions on controversial issues. It is clear from the documentary that Sara is a powerful force within her current congregation as a member and I can't wait to see how well she does when she gets a congregation of her own as a pastor.
Mädchen in Uniform
A rare gem pulled from the archives! Manuela is a spirited teenage orphan who arrives at a strict all-girls boarding school and promptly falls in love with her teacher, Fräulein von Bernburg. But the love in Mädchen is truly forbidden — despite Manuela’s best efforts, her teacher restrains herself from allowing their relationship to pregress beyond a few stolen kisses. This 1958 remake of the historic 1931 film is gorgeously shot. Rarely seen since its initial delayed 1965 US theatrical release, Mädchen displays an amazingly progressive message of tolerance for its lesbian character. It’s a truly remarkable feat for one of only two lesbian-themed films of the decade (the other being the 1951 French girls’ school drama, Olivia).
Hmm, I keep rewriting this because every time I try I just end up with spoilers. I want to talk about why I liked this movie but it's tough without saying too much. Oh well - the DVD release is scheduled for the fall ... y'all should see this. Also, I totally want someone to write me fanfic for the secondary pairing of the film: girl with glasses/loudmouthed girl!
I couldn't find too many screen caps of glasses girl (perhaps because I couldn't figure out her name) but here's one. So cute and such a little rabble-rouser!! My favorites are always the subversive ones. Sigh ...
The Golden Pin
This was both the name of the shorts program and the name of one of the shorts. Each short is reviewed individually below.
The Golden Pin
“Is love more powerful than fate?” asks The Golden Pin, as a young Vietnamese-Canadian swimmer struggles between the expectations of his family and the demands of his heart.
The story was nice but I must admit that what I remember most about this short were all the scenes of athletic guys in very tight swim trunks.
Little
Jose, nicknamed “Little,” turns his back on his father the family farm for a bigger life in Manila. Yet all best laid plans don’t quite work out as he intends.
I really liked this one. Jose is an awesome character and the film was unexpectedly sweet.
Little Love
When desires for the future are in conflict, friendship and a relationship are torn apart in Quentin Lee’s Little Love.
Hmmph. I really had no idea what was going on or why anyone acted the way they did. Apparently this was intended to be a feature but they ran out of money and so cut it short. I have to say that explains a lot.
Masala Mama
A young boy is an aspiring comic book artist who can’t afford to buy comics. When he steals one from the gentle owner of a small Indian shop (a ‘mama’ shop), they each discover the importance of not simply judging people by their appearances.
Whee! A very sweet film. I already liked it just for the first half, but the closing scene which takes a cracktastic comic-book turn just filled my heart with joy. Superheroes and their sidekicks FTW!
Peking Turkey
Travel along with Chris Wong as he takes his French Canadian boyfriend home for some Christmas Peking Turkey.
Yay! A very cute meet-the-famliy plot. No surprises, but the mom, dad, and brother were all hilarious.
Waiting 4 Goliath
A blind date turns into an epic wait for a man of mystery in Waiting 4 Goliath, a charming romantic dramedy about finding love in the world of online dating.
Nice! This is what a short film should be! Tightly plotted, no wasted scenes and the "twist" was neither too rushed nor too slow. Managed to convey a message without being too heavy handed. Woo!
Bloomington
Student meets professor. Student crushes on professor. The crush might be mutual. Bloomington is a fresh and twisty take on the coming-of-age drama. Jackie is a former child actress attending college in search of independence. But as she connects with a seductive professor, her “normal” college experience gets turned upside down.
Attending a Midwestern college, far away from Jackie’s home in California, she’s singled out for her fame from Neptune 26, the popular sci-fi show she was once a part of. She’s not exactly close with her parents, but being alone for the first time is over-whelming. When she meets the mysterious Professor Catherine Stark at a department mixer, the two connect quickly, forming an instantly intense relationship.
As their bond grows stronger and more personal over the course of the school year, Jackie is suddenly faced with the chance to audition for a feature film that may revive her acting career. When she decides to audition, her illicit behavior with Catherine attracts unwanted attention that jeopardizes her job security. Will following her own path mean saying goodbye to her first love? Don’t miss the adorable make out session where dirty talk consists of sci-fi dialog from Jackie’s show.
I loved this movie! I'm running out of time for this review (have to leave to see more movies soon!) but I just really really loved this film. Perhaps the highest praise I can think of was that it felt slashy, like it was written by one of us. The main characters in this were amazing. I thought I had them all figured out from the plot synopsis, but they both turned out to be cooler and more interesting than I'd predicted. Also, how awesome was it to get even a hint of sci-fi geek content in a queer film? I think I've been starving for that without really realizing it (jots down note to self to look into how hard it would be to make a believable-looking spaceship set).
Tough Girls
Sugar, spice and everything tough — that’s what the girls are made of in this program of ass-kicking shorts.
This was another shorts program. I only really liked one of them, though, which was too bad.
Olivia: two girls, four strings and a bathroom is all it takes for seduction.
beautiful violin music and the main character had a cool outfit but overall a pretty unsatisfying film
Organism: Two teenagers lock eyes, and sparks fly. Maybe they have more in common than it seems.
both the leads were very cool-looking in their make-up and outfits. on the down side though, the plot made almost no sense (girl lusts after girl, fast forward 3 months, girls break up, there's a non-sequiter, then end) and I'm really not a fan of unexplained traumatic rivers of blood dream sequences in an otherwise ordinary-seeming story.
Close: a gang of tough young Polish girls talk about their relationships.
this was a reasonably cool slice of life; not very structured but pretty to look at. does make me despair for those poor girls' internal organs (that much smoking and drinking cannot bode well for their future).
The Postwoman: Nia develops a crush on her neighborhood postwoman. Maybe it’s just lust for polyester shorts, but can she show her the true meaning of unconditional love?
another example of a feature cut down to make a short. pretty unsatisfying.
Big Bright Future: pot dealers in knee socks run around a lot in this sun drenched film.
cool visual look, great use of color, costumes were fun but I really have to wonder if everyone was high when they made this because it was pretty nonsensical (and not in a cool way, more of a boring "what's happening?" way).
Hell on Wheels - Gang Girls Forever: Brooklyn girl gang member Krank, after being shot in a mysterious guinea pig lab rescue incident, comes home from the hospital in a wheelchair to find her cats are gone, her mother is still insane and her gang is kicking her out. And that’s before the film even gets its hilarious motor runnin’.
Hell on Wheels: Yay! I was so happy to see this! The director described it as wanting to make a B-movie with her friends with lots of fighting and making out and she totally delivered! My favorite bit was probably when Crash jumps into Krank's wheelchair in the middle of the full-scale gang rumble and they start making out. This is crack of a particularly fine quality! :)
Wednesday's film reviews below the cut
Note: plot summaries (italics) and promotional images shamelessly lifted from the Frameline website. Click the image to go there for more info, including links to the official movie websites.
Carmen’s Place
Carmen’s Place is an intimate portrayal of life at a transgender friendly shelter for teenagers in Queens, New York, run by Episcopal priest, Father Braxton. Through spiritual guidance, community building, and his philosophy of ’radical acceptance, ’ Father Braxton teaches residents how to become self-sufficient adults who accept themselves and their gender identities.
Very nice. Yay Episcopalians ... we totally get it right sometimes.
Thy Will Be Done
When mustachioed, manly-man Steve decided to make the transition to become Sara, he abandoned his true calling: to be a Pastor. After a difficult divorce and a transition period filled with countless gender specialists and hostility from family members, a higher power prevails, and Sara — now an out and proud transsexual woman — can no longer ignore her call to be ordained in the Presbyterian Church. Sara is constantly confronted with opposition, intolerance and irrationality and her obstacles bring to light the contradictions of organized religion, while creating a new arena for the fight for gender recognition and equality.
This was a good documentary. I loved hearing from the many women who support Sara: her daughter, her pastor, her new wife, and even her ex-wife. I liked that the image of the church presented was more complex than just "we hate you, get out" but instead showed a large committee of people with differing opinions trying to make decisions on controversial issues. It is clear from the documentary that Sara is a powerful force within her current congregation as a member and I can't wait to see how well she does when she gets a congregation of her own as a pastor.
Mädchen in Uniform
A rare gem pulled from the archives! Manuela is a spirited teenage orphan who arrives at a strict all-girls boarding school and promptly falls in love with her teacher, Fräulein von Bernburg. But the love in Mädchen is truly forbidden — despite Manuela’s best efforts, her teacher restrains herself from allowing their relationship to pregress beyond a few stolen kisses. This 1958 remake of the historic 1931 film is gorgeously shot. Rarely seen since its initial delayed 1965 US theatrical release, Mädchen displays an amazingly progressive message of tolerance for its lesbian character. It’s a truly remarkable feat for one of only two lesbian-themed films of the decade (the other being the 1951 French girls’ school drama, Olivia).
Hmm, I keep rewriting this because every time I try I just end up with spoilers. I want to talk about why I liked this movie but it's tough without saying too much. Oh well - the DVD release is scheduled for the fall ... y'all should see this. Also, I totally want someone to write me fanfic for the secondary pairing of the film: girl with glasses/loudmouthed girl!
I couldn't find too many screen caps of glasses girl (perhaps because I couldn't figure out her name) but here's one. So cute and such a little rabble-rouser!! My favorites are always the subversive ones. Sigh ...
The Golden Pin
This was both the name of the shorts program and the name of one of the shorts. Each short is reviewed individually below.
The Golden Pin
“Is love more powerful than fate?” asks The Golden Pin, as a young Vietnamese-Canadian swimmer struggles between the expectations of his family and the demands of his heart.
The story was nice but I must admit that what I remember most about this short were all the scenes of athletic guys in very tight swim trunks.
Little
Jose, nicknamed “Little,” turns his back on his father the family farm for a bigger life in Manila. Yet all best laid plans don’t quite work out as he intends.
I really liked this one. Jose is an awesome character and the film was unexpectedly sweet.
Little Love
When desires for the future are in conflict, friendship and a relationship are torn apart in Quentin Lee’s Little Love.
Hmmph. I really had no idea what was going on or why anyone acted the way they did. Apparently this was intended to be a feature but they ran out of money and so cut it short. I have to say that explains a lot.
Masala Mama
A young boy is an aspiring comic book artist who can’t afford to buy comics. When he steals one from the gentle owner of a small Indian shop (a ‘mama’ shop), they each discover the importance of not simply judging people by their appearances.
Whee! A very sweet film. I already liked it just for the first half, but the closing scene which takes a cracktastic comic-book turn just filled my heart with joy. Superheroes and their sidekicks FTW!
Peking Turkey
Travel along with Chris Wong as he takes his French Canadian boyfriend home for some Christmas Peking Turkey.
Yay! A very cute meet-the-famliy plot. No surprises, but the mom, dad, and brother were all hilarious.
Waiting 4 Goliath
A blind date turns into an epic wait for a man of mystery in Waiting 4 Goliath, a charming romantic dramedy about finding love in the world of online dating.
Nice! This is what a short film should be! Tightly plotted, no wasted scenes and the "twist" was neither too rushed nor too slow. Managed to convey a message without being too heavy handed. Woo!
Bloomington
Student meets professor. Student crushes on professor. The crush might be mutual. Bloomington is a fresh and twisty take on the coming-of-age drama. Jackie is a former child actress attending college in search of independence. But as she connects with a seductive professor, her “normal” college experience gets turned upside down.
Attending a Midwestern college, far away from Jackie’s home in California, she’s singled out for her fame from Neptune 26, the popular sci-fi show she was once a part of. She’s not exactly close with her parents, but being alone for the first time is over-whelming. When she meets the mysterious Professor Catherine Stark at a department mixer, the two connect quickly, forming an instantly intense relationship.
As their bond grows stronger and more personal over the course of the school year, Jackie is suddenly faced with the chance to audition for a feature film that may revive her acting career. When she decides to audition, her illicit behavior with Catherine attracts unwanted attention that jeopardizes her job security. Will following her own path mean saying goodbye to her first love? Don’t miss the adorable make out session where dirty talk consists of sci-fi dialog from Jackie’s show.
I loved this movie! I'm running out of time for this review (have to leave to see more movies soon!) but I just really really loved this film. Perhaps the highest praise I can think of was that it felt slashy, like it was written by one of us. The main characters in this were amazing. I thought I had them all figured out from the plot synopsis, but they both turned out to be cooler and more interesting than I'd predicted. Also, how awesome was it to get even a hint of sci-fi geek content in a queer film? I think I've been starving for that without really realizing it (jots down note to self to look into how hard it would be to make a believable-looking spaceship set).
Tough Girls
Sugar, spice and everything tough — that’s what the girls are made of in this program of ass-kicking shorts.
This was another shorts program. I only really liked one of them, though, which was too bad.
Olivia: two girls, four strings and a bathroom is all it takes for seduction.
beautiful violin music and the main character had a cool outfit but overall a pretty unsatisfying film
Organism: Two teenagers lock eyes, and sparks fly. Maybe they have more in common than it seems.
both the leads were very cool-looking in their make-up and outfits. on the down side though, the plot made almost no sense (girl lusts after girl, fast forward 3 months, girls break up, there's a non-sequiter, then end) and I'm really not a fan of unexplained traumatic rivers of blood dream sequences in an otherwise ordinary-seeming story.
Close: a gang of tough young Polish girls talk about their relationships.
this was a reasonably cool slice of life; not very structured but pretty to look at. does make me despair for those poor girls' internal organs (that much smoking and drinking cannot bode well for their future).
The Postwoman: Nia develops a crush on her neighborhood postwoman. Maybe it’s just lust for polyester shorts, but can she show her the true meaning of unconditional love?
another example of a feature cut down to make a short. pretty unsatisfying.
Big Bright Future: pot dealers in knee socks run around a lot in this sun drenched film.
cool visual look, great use of color, costumes were fun but I really have to wonder if everyone was high when they made this because it was pretty nonsensical (and not in a cool way, more of a boring "what's happening?" way).
Hell on Wheels - Gang Girls Forever: Brooklyn girl gang member Krank, after being shot in a mysterious guinea pig lab rescue incident, comes home from the hospital in a wheelchair to find her cats are gone, her mother is still insane and her gang is kicking her out. And that’s before the film even gets its hilarious motor runnin’.
Hell on Wheels: Yay! I was so happy to see this! The director described it as wanting to make a B-movie with her friends with lots of fighting and making out and she totally delivered! My favorite bit was probably when Crash jumps into Krank's wheelchair in the middle of the full-scale gang rumble and they start making out. This is crack of a particularly fine quality! :)