This
summer
features
a
limited
selection
of
gay-themed
indie
films,
a
few
appealing
summer
blockbusters
and
the
seemingly
inevitable
step
backwards
for
gay
representation
in
film.
Adam
Sandler,
criticized
by
some
gay
advocates
for
his
film
“I
Now
Pronounce
You
Chuck
and
Larry,”
returns
with
another
vehicle
filled
with
gay
stereotypes.
He
appears
this
season
in
“You
Don’t
Mess
With
the
Zohan,”
opening
June
6,
a
film
about
an
Israeli
secret
agent
who
fakes
his
death
before
heading
to
the
U.S.
to
pursue
his
dream
of
becoming
a
hairstylist.
The
cliché
of
the
flaming
gay
hairdresser
predictably
comes
into
play
here.
Written
by
Sandler
and
Robert
Smigel
(the
man
behind
“Saturday
Night
Live’s”
Ambiguously
Gay
Duo),
the
film
exploits
Zohan’s
newfound
profession
as
fodder
for
jokes.
Of
course,
everyone
assumes
Zohan
is
gay
because
of
his
skill
with
scissors
and
flamboyant
personality.
After
observing
Zohan
fight
on
the
street,
an
onlooker
asks,
“What
are
you,
bionic?”
to
which
the
main
character
replies,
“No,
I
only
like
the
girls.
Thanks,
anyways.”
Another
scene
shows
the
racist,
xenophobic
villain
getting
thrown
through
a
window
and
landing
at
a
party
populated
by
gay
men
where,
of
course,
everyone
finds
him
irresistible.
An
independent
film
called
“Miss
Conception”
starring
Heather
Graham
and
Mia
Kirshner
(“The
L
Word”)
should
help
balance
out
the
offensive
“Zohan”
that
week.
Georgina
(Graham)
learns
she
has
just
two
weeks
to
conceive
a
child
before
her
biological
clock
goes
kaput.
With
the
help
of
Clem
(Kirshner)
and
her
token
gay
friend,
they
devise
a
plan
to
find
Georgina
the
perfect
father
for
her
last-chance
baby.
Clem
places
an
ad
for
“dark
handsome
males
in
prime
physical
condition,”
which
gets
her
a
few
gay
respondents.
Brit
Eric
Styles,
a
documentary
filmmaker,
directs.
Director
Tom
Kalin
became
a
queer
cinema
darling
in
1992
with
his
debut
film
“Swoon.”
Often
tackling
gay
and
AIDS
themes,
he’s
won
several
awards
at
gay
and
lesbian
film
festivals
since
that
time.
Kalin’s
latest
project,
“Savage
Grace”
shows
Julianne
Moore
at
her
beastliest
as
she
portrays
Barbara
Baekeland,
wife
of
the
heir
to
the
Bakelite
plastics
fortune.
In
a
film
peppered
with
disturbing
imagery,
Kalin
portrays
the
events
leading
up
to
the
Baekeland
murder
case
of
1972,
in
which
the
couple’s
son,
Tony,
murdered
his
mother.
Barbara
and
her
son’s
relationship
is
devoid
of
personal
space
or
boundaries.
She
doesn’t
condone
her
son’s
homosexuality
and
tries
to
distract
him
from
his
feelings
for
other
men
by
forcing
him
into
bed
with
willing
girls.
When
that
doesn’t
work,
their
relationship
becomes
incestuous.
“Savage
Grace”
opens
in
D.C.
on
June
13.
ON
A
CHEERIER
NOTE,
opening
July
18
in
limited
release
is
“The
Doorman,”
a
mock-umentary
about
a
man
who
keeps
less-than-beautiful
people
out
of
hot
nightclubs.
Paris
Hilton,
yoga,
catering
and
a
stunning
wardrobe
make
him
the
guy
who
knows
everybody.
He
loses
his
job
and
has
to
come
to
terms
with
the
reality
of
his
personality
and
deflated
ego.
Though
the
handsome
lead
Argentine
actor
Lucas
Akoskin
chats
with
stunning
female
creatures
throughout
the
film,
by
the
end
he’s
schmoozing
Thom
Filicia
of
“Queer
Eye
for
the
Straight
Guy”
fame.
A
hit
Broadway
musical
turned
feature
film
with
beach
scenes,
diva
worship
potential,
silver-haired
studs
and
buff,
shirtless
men?
Yes,
please.
For
those
with
limited
access
to
obscure
films,
July
18
still
holds
promise
—
“Mamma
Mia!”
makes
its
big-screen
debut
after
many
successful
years
on
Broadway.
Starring
Meryl
Streep,
Amanda
Seyfried
(“Mean
Girls”),
Pierce
Brosnan
and
Colin
Firth,
this
musical
is
bound
to
be
a
hit
among
gay
film
fans.
Dominic
Cooper,
who
played
Dakin
in
stage
and
film
versions
of
“The
History
Boys,”
appears
in
his
first
major
studio
film
as
the
husband-to-be,
Sky.
From
top:
Matthew
Goode
(left),
Haley
Atwell
and
Ben
Wishaw
appear
in
‘Brideshead
Revisited’;
Julie
Walters
(left),
Meryl
Streep
and
Christine
Baranski
are
in
what-could-be
the
most
lighthearted
film
of
summer,
‘Mamma
Mia’
(‘Brideshead
Revisited’
photo
by
Nicola
Dove/Miramax
Films,
‘Mamma
Mia’
photo
by
Peter
Mountain) |
|
Phyllida
Lloyd
directs
the
ABBA
musical
about
a
bride-to-be
trying
to
find
her
real
father
before
her
wedding.
Lloyd
has
been
working
in
British
theater
and
opera
for
more
than
20
years.
Streep,
Seyfried,
Christine
Baranski
and
the
men
in
the
film
all
perform
the
hits
from
the
soundtrack.
“Brideshead
Revisited”
opens
in
limited
release
on
July
25
and
stars
Emma
Thompson.
Based
on
the
novel
by
Evelyn
Waugh,
the
plot
of
the
film
will
focus
on
the
relationship
between
narrator
Charles
Ryder
and
his
female
love
interest,
Lady
Julia
Flyte.
The
novel
delicately
hints
at
a
relationship
between
Ryder
and
his
good
friend,
Julia’s
brother,
Sebastian.
Tensions
rise
between
Sebastian
and
Ryder
over
the
particulars
of
their
friendship,
which
are
left
to
interpretation.
From
gay
director
Alan
Ball
comes
“Towelhead,”
a
drama
about
a
13-year-old
Arab-American
girl
who
is
struggling
with
her
own
sexual
awakening.
Her
conservative
father
and
odd
friendships
with
older
neighbors
(Aaron
Eckhart
and
Toni
Collette)
don’t
help.
Ball,
creator
of
...
