Another movie you have to see
It’s a documentary about the Stonewall riots in 1969. Another packed theater, this time at the Film Forum on Houston St. I never actually knew what happened. I just knew the basic facts: it started early on June 28, police raided the Stonewall Inn and the patrons fought back over two nights. What I didn’t know was the actual events; why did the police raid at that time, when they usually raided earlier in the night? Who participated? What was the immediate aftermath?
This is an exceptional movie, and everyone needs to see it. You even get Ed Koch’s point of view – he was, I believe, Commissioner at the time, but I know him as former Mayor of NYC. I was able to see it on June 28th, which was sentimental in a way.
Watch it.
ASAP
7/13/2010
A movie I would recommend?
Perish the thought!
Adam and I went to see “The Kids Are All Right” this past weekend. I wanted to see it before I got all the negative reviews I usually read for a movie I want to see. A mainstream movie with lesbian character leads? OK, it’s an indie, but it’s a well-publicized indie. We showed up at 4:45 for a 5:00 showing; we got the last two tickets for the 5:30 showing. Of course, what do you expect, it was in the East Village.
After seeing the trailer (the one I saw was more conservative than the trailer they have now,) I was ready for a disappointing movie about two lesbians who never touch each other, and then a man shows up, and all of a sudden, there’s sex. While the situation works best with two women and a man, it’s more about a long-term relationship with kids that aren’t completely biological and what happens when you throw another person in the mix.
And how refreshing is it to have lesbian characters that aren’t fighting society? Granted, those movies are quite valuable and have a special place in my heart, but I don’t identify as queer, living in NYC means I actually don’t have to fight as much (great related movie review for my next post) and I just want a movie that happens to be about two gays in love. Yes, the movie is very white bread (there’s one black character and a Latino gardener (who’s NOT stereotypical)) but if you think about it, it’s about one family. One family in Southern California.
I have a confession to make: I’m in love with Julianne Moore. This is only one of the reasons I wanted to see this movie. And I wasn’t disappointed. It’s her character, Jules, who has the affair with a guy, and the way she goes about it made me wonder about her past. Did she sleep with guys before? How old was she when she met her wife? When did they decide to get married? Have kids? I don’t get this in many movies. Of course, at 12-13 bucks a pop in Manhattan, I don’t see many movies at all, and by the time it comes out on DVD, I’ve forgotten why I wanted to see it in the first place. But that’s another rant.
The audience was mainly women; many of the men were with their female SO’s. I’m assuming most of the others were gay. There were four people in their 60′s in front of us, two men and two women, and I was wondering why they were going to watch this movie (not to be ageist, but “that new-fangled gay movie” doesn’t usually attract people over 50.) Then I heard one of the guys talking about his boyfriend, and I realized what was going on. So cool that there were quite a few people over 50 in the theater.
I would say half of the laughter was of the nervous kind – the kind that tells everyone else “I’m cool with this, I get it.” But there was real laughter as well, which was up to the writing. Favorite quote (not a spoiler): the moms are talking to their son, who’s 15, and they think he might be gay because he’s hanging out a lot with this other boy and they caught him watching a certain type of movie. They’re telling him that it’s all right, we’re behind you 100%, and they ask him if he has any questions. He says, “Why do you watch gay male porn?” The look on the moms’ faces is priceless. Their answer is even better.
So, go watch this movie. If it’s not playing near you, rent it when it comes out on DVD. I might even go to see it again. And that’s saying something.
6/30/2010
The Rubin Museum is awesome!
The Rubin Museum of Art features art of the Himalayas. I just left a talk at The Rubin with Sunil Pant, an openly gay Nepalese parliamentarian who’s advocating for gay marriage in Nepal. This was part of the series “OUT in the Himalayas”, sponsored in part by OUT magazine and In The Life TV.
I wish I had noticed this series earlier. This was a fantastic talk, and the talk about the third sex in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism last week was great. This was the inaugural year; the museum wants to do this next June, but they need support.
I want this series to continue next year (I only wish there was more than a Gay Pride month.) The Rubin really needs new members, or at least new prospectives. Please check out the website and sign up for their mailing list. Let them know that there’s interest for discussion about gay issues around the world. And, if you’re in NYC, go check them out. Right now, there’s an exhibition on death across cultures that I hope to have time to see over the next week. They have a movie series on Fridays; this week is Bonnie ad Clyde, and the original Wicker Man is up at the end of July. Admission to the museum is $10, the movies are either free or $7 bar minimum. I’m not even a museum person and I like this place, so check it out!
6/30/2010
I need to get a new look, and I need to change the format of this blog. The look of the blog will be a while coming (maybe I’ll do something this weekend, although the 4th is already spoken for) but I’ll do some shorter posts. The longer ones take tons of research, which turns me off of writing them – I’ve always loved doing the research, but hated writing the paper.
So stay tuned, it’s my season of change: the past two weeks I haven’t gone home right after work 2 days in a row. I’ve actually been going out to talks and movies and stayed away from my new apartment which has super-annoying neighbors and no A/C. Usually I don’t mind the latter, but when you can cut through the humidity with a knife, it’s nice to have a little cool air in your apartment.
5/14/2010
*sigh*
I want one of those moments where I can say “This is Unix. I know this!”