Reverend’s Interview: Lurch Speaks…and Sings!

They’re creepy, kooky, ooky and spooky. For decades, the amusingly macabre Addams Family has assumed a beloved spot in American pop culture via cartoons, a TV series and two big-screen capers. Tomorrow night they make their Broadway debut in a musical headlined by out actor Nathan Lane as the family’s wacky patriarch, Gomez, and the fabulous Bebe Neuwirth as his eternally devoted spouse, Morticia.

In other well-known roles, GLBT faves Kevin Chamberlin (of the movie Trick, and a Tony-nominee as Horton in Seussical: The Musical) and Jackie Hoffman (who was featured in the original Broadway casts of Hairspray and Xanadu) star as Uncle Fester and Grandmama, respectively. However, the Addams family wouldn’t be complete without its one non-biological member: Lurch, their seemingly undead butler/man-servant.

28-year old singer-actor Zachary James portrays Lurch in The Addams Family: A New Musical, and at 6’6” he more than fits the bill physically. The character of Lurch, though, isn’t exactly known for his vocal prowess. Traditionally, Lurch has been a man of few words, usually relying on painful-sounding moans and groans to express himself.

Bass-baritone James had to create a vocal and physical language for Lurch based on very little material. “I have the original cartoons (by the Addams Family’s creator and namesake, Charles Addams) all over my dressing room,” James told me during a recent telephone interview from New York. “They’ve been very helpful in developing a movement vocabulary for Lurch.” And yes, Lurch does sing in at least one of the show’s numbers.

“My first exposure to the characters was the 1991 movie (which featured actor Carel Struycken as Lurch, in addition to memorable performances by Anjelica Huston as Morticia and the late Raul Julia as Gomez),” James elaborated, “then I started watching the 1960’s TV series.”

He continued, regarding the stage musical: “We are drawing primarily from the original New Yorker cartoons, but we owe a debt to the TV series since it gave the characters names.” Charles Addams had originally refrained from identifying the members of his cartoon “family.”

James made his Broadway debut in Coram Boy a mere six months after he moved to New York. Prominent roles in the hit revival of South Pacific as well as regional productions of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum followed. James’ hometown is Springs Hills, Florida, and he majored in musical theatre at Ithaca College. He is equally adept at opera, and past productions include La Boheme, Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly.

“I’m having a lot of fun with Addams Family and creating a role; it’s very exciting to be a part of this show,” James said, while confessing his fondness for Sondheim’s works. “(The Addams Family) is my first new musical, and it has been a fascinating experience putting it together since the first reading two years ago.”

The Addams Family musical is written by the award-winning Jersey Boys team of Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice in collaboration with acclaimed Broadway songwriter Andrew Lippa. It has been designed and directed by the Shockheaded Peter team of Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch, with an assist from musical-theatre veteran Jerry Zaks (Mame).

I asked James how The Addams Family was progressing prior to its New York premiere and following a successful run last fall in Chicago. “It’s going great,” he replied. “We had our first preview audience last night and it was very well-received; it’s very exciting to be part of this show.”

On working with his stellar, accomplished cast mates, James says, “It’s been just wonderful; it’s kind of like going to work with my heroes everyday, and everyone is a family.”

James recently made his television debut as well on the popular series 30 Rock. He shared the screen with Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. “It was quite fantastic,” James enthused. “It was my first gig on-camera and I kept wondering ‘What am I doing here?”

I asked James pointedly why GLBT people should go and see The Addams Family musical. “Well, it’s musical theatre, and it’s a surprisingly thoughtful show about love, acceptance and family,” he answered. “The tagline for the show’s marketing is ‘A Family Not Much Unlike Your Own,’ and there are plenty of political jokes in the show.”

With advance ticket sales of $15 million, the $17 million production is shaping up to be a major hit. If you are planning a trip to NYC this summer or in the eventual future, be sure to pay a visit to The Addams Family.

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: A Heaven-Sent Big Gay Musical

“Sometimes being the person you’re not helps you learn to love the person you are.” So states the tagline for The Big Gay Musical. A big hit on the GLBT film festival circuit, including at January’s Palm Springs International Film Festival, the movie is due to be released on DVD tomorrow.

It is directed by Casper Andreas and Fred M. Caruso, who previously collaborated on the popular gay-themed film A Four Letter Word. The Big Gay Musical is a thoroughly silly, occasionally overbearing but ultimately entertaining tale of two gay actors who strive to overcome their personal issues while starring in an off-Broadway production of Adam & Steve: Just the Way God Made 'Em.

One of the men, Paul (played by Daniel Robinson), is constantly on the hunt for the perfect man with whom to share his life. Eventually disappointed one time too many, Paul decides to become a slut under the tutelage of the musical’s less-romantically inclined chorus boys. His new, more promiscuous approach leads Paul to encounters with numerous hotties, including an escort tenderly played by gay porn star Brent Corrigan.

Eddie, Paul’s co-star, is newly out to everyone but his conservative Christian parents, who are planning to attend the opening night of Adam & Steve but are unaware of the subject matter. Joey Dudding plays Eddie, and conveys well the young man’s struggle with his integrity. Eddie and Paul also endure a frightening ordeal involving possible infection with HIV.

The growing friendship between Paul and Eddie is touching and serves as a nice, contemporary counterpoint to the musical’s campy recounting of the not-quite-biblical story of Adam and “Steve.” Eddie tries to convince Paul to hold out for “Mr. Right” and not give in to the temptation of commitment-free sex, while Paul provides Eddie support and encouragement in coming out to his parents.

The musical numbers are fun, the men are pretty, and the film’s good-natured attack on the Religious Right is timely. Its joyous and abundant spirit of gay self-affirmation is infectious. Gossip columnist Michael Musto has a funny cameo, as does Steve Hayes (who was memorable as Christian Campbell’s show tune-loving friend in Trick) as God in the show-within-a-show.

Writer and co-director Caruso told The Advocate, “So many gay people have been screwed up by religion, but gay shows and movies about religion always end up being so depressing. I wanted to create a show with a positive message about being gay and religion that was funny, campy and crazy.” Caruso, a former Roman Catholic, has actually said he considers The Big Gay Musical to be as “divinely inspired” as the Bible.

Caruso also co-wrote the film’s original songs with composer Rick Crom. They include “I’m Gonna Go Straight to Heaven,” “God Loves Gays,” Paul’s showstopper “I Wanna Be a Slut” and the clever “Musical Theatre Love Story.” Most of the musical numbers feature energetic choreography by Shea Sullivan and pleasingly minimal costumes by Tony Award-nominee Bobby Pearce. Some of the song lyrics are obvious while other songs go on a bit too long, but all are sufficiently entertaining.  (A soundtrack CD is also currently available.)

The religious commentary in the screenplay is similarly overdone at times and borders on being heavy-handed. However, it is so unrepentantly on the pro-gay side that it is easy to forgive such occasionally preachy excess after all the anti-gay sentiment our community has weathered from religious conservatives over the years.

The Big Gay Musical boasts a cast of stage veterans representing nearly 50 Broadway productions of the past decade, including the blockbusters Hairspray, Wicked, The Lion King and Mamma Mia! Caruso intentionally recruited experienced stage performers because he needed a cast of “triple threats” who could act, sing and dance. Their professionalism is obvious even while evoking a low-budget musical on a smaller, off-Broadway stage.

While buying or renting The Big Gay Musical, you might also want to check out several other “big gay musicals” I recommend:

A Chorus Line (1985): Generally reviled by fans of the stage production, the movie nonetheless includes two gay characters (fairly bold for a mid-80’s studio film), a then-attractive Michael Douglas, dynamic choreography and most of the original songs, plus the sexy, Oscar-nominated newcomer “Surprise, Surprise.”

Moulin Rouge! (2001): Exhibiting one of the gayest cinematic sensibilities ever, Aussie director Baz Luhrmann’s musical fantasia on the bohemian ideals of “truth, beauty, freedom and, above all things, love” is an unconventional delight. Nicole Kidman has never been more beautiful on screen, and you’ve got to love its all-male rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”!

Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter (2002): I kid you not. This low-budget indie film is a mash-up of songs, transvestites, Mexican wrestlers, gory impalings, a vicious trio of lesbian vampires and the second coming of Christ. Not quite a camp or cult classic yet, but this imaginative spectacle deserves to be seen.

Rent (2005): While the film version of the Broadway smash about a group of friends struggling with poverty and AIDS in 1990’s New York City is overproduced, the score and the cast — most from the original Broadway production — are great and the gay love story at its heart remains endearing.

20 Centimeters (2006): A wacky comedy from Spain, written and directed by the talented Ramon Salazar, in which a narcoleptic transgender woman longing to complete her sex change procedure (despite her super-buff boyfriend’s protests) dreams up elaborate musical numbers in which she’s the star. Well worth tracking down on DVD.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: An Easter Threesome

Peter Cottontail and his pals at Gay.com have brought a special treat to all you good queer boys out there, at least those in LA and NYC. In conjunction with Regent Releasing/Here Films, a split triple bill of festival hits Manuela & Manuel, Dream Boy and Just Say Love is now playing at LA's Laemmle Sunset 5 and the Chelsea Clearview Cinema in NYC.

Manuela & Manuel is a hysterical, not-to-be-missed delight from Puerto Rico. The charming Humberto Busto (Amores Perros) stars in the title roles as a female impersonator whose boyfriend has recently left him. As Manuel pines for his lover's return with the help of a video diary and a teddy bear named Brad (for Brad Pitt), he receives surprising news from his female best friend, Coca. She has learned she is pregnant by a soldier who has since shipped out of town. Unable to inform her parents of the news without also telling them she and the father-to-be are getting married, Coca asks Manuel to pose as her fiancée.

Needless to say, complications ensue. Upon meeting Coca's father, Manuel recognizes him as a frequent patron of the bar at which he performs as Manuela. Manuel's fundamentalist-Christian landlady, Rosa, becomes increasingly excited by what she sees as her tenant's apparent attempts to become straight. And Manuela's bitchy co-star, Faraona (the very funny Marian Pabon), tries to manipulate the situation in order to seize the spotlight all to herself.

Director Raul Marchand Sanchez and screenwriter Jose Ignacio Valenzuela milk their comedic scenario for all that it's worth, but it never feels strained. The great script and performances — Ineabelle Colon is also a riot as Coca's alcoholic mother, appropriately named Margarita (note how she blesses herself before brunch) — result in a near-masterpiece of comic timing. My partner and I laughed pretty much non-stop through the film's 94 minutes.

Definitely not as funny but almost as worthy is the second film in Gay.com's current triple feature, Dream Boy. Written and directed by James Bolton (Eban and Charley) and based on the acclaimed novel by Jim Grimsley, it weaves a gay coming-of-age tale that unexpectedly becomes a gothic ghost story.

When shy teenager Nathan (played by Stephan Bender, who made a brief impression as young Clark Kent in Superman Returns) moves to a rural farm in the deep South, he begins to find himself attracted to his schoolmate next door, Roy. Roy also serves as their school bus driver, and it doesn't take much of an invitation from Roy for Nathan to start sitting in the seat right behind him!

The two become study partners and, gradually, lovers. Roy is predictably conflicted, since he has a pseudo-girlfriend and is friends with two of the school's more athletic, seemingly straight guys. When Roy invites Nathan to join the three of them on a weekend camping trip, things take a decided turn in an old, reportedly haunted plantation house.

While I'm generally over coming-of-age stories at my curmudgeonly middle age and find they rarely have anything new to offer, I discovered Dream Boy to be surprising and genuinely affecting. Bolton's approach to the material is subdued and rarely exploitive, aside from occasional, shirtless shots of hunky Randy Wayne (who plays Roy's buddy, Burke). Diana Scarwid, Christina Crawford herself in Mommie Dearest, also lends credibility as Nathan's mother.

The chief attribute to Dream Boy, however, is Max Roeg in the role of Roy. Max is the 25-year old, British-born son of actress Theresa Russell of Black Widow and Spider-Man 3 fame (whom he resembles closely) and director Nicolas Roeg, and Dream Boy marks his feature film debut. Max gives a sensitive yet strong, assured performance, which is all the more impressive for his authentic-sounding Southern accent. Anyone tempted to think British actors can easily master Southern US accents needs to listen to the London cast recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind, and learn first-hand how nearly impossible it can be! Roeg, Bender and Dream Boy will more than likely haunt you.

The third — and weakest — film in this special triple-header is Just Say Love, a meditation on Platonic love adapted from David J. Mauriello's play. Sole cast members Matthew Jaeger and Robert Mammana play two very different men; one is gay and mourning the recent death of his cat, while the other is seemingly straight and expecting a child with his girlfriend. Doug (the sexy Mammana) is the bi-curious construction worker who comes on to Guy (Jaeger) on a park bench one day during his lunch break. Doug just wants a blowjob, while the Plato-reading Guy is longing for a soul mate.

Though talky and unnecessarily stagey (wasn't a real park and bench available?), Just Say Love is often compelling. If viewers overlook the characters' heavy-handed jokes about each other's names and even more heavy-handed lines of dialogue such as "You'd be my wings if I had 'em," one can appreciate the men's deepening attraction and the actors' heartfelt performances.

So, boys, arrange your baskets, head to the cineplex, and have a happy Easter! For more information about these films, visit the Regent Releasing website.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: March Madness

Here at Movie Dearest, we try to champion films of GLBT interest even though many are far from perfect. The month of March, however, brought a pair of gay DVD releases that I, at least, feel an obligation to warn our readers away from; "Beware the Ides of March," indeed!

I've been a fan of gay director David DeCoteau's prior works: low-budget but stylish, general-interest horror flicks like The Brotherhood series and Voodoo Academy that feature undeniable homoerotic elements (he also directed 1997's blatantly-homo and sexy Leather Jacket Love Story). The filmmaker's contemporary spin on Edgar Allen Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum was released on DVD by E1 Entertainment on March 9.

A very loose adaptation of Poe's literary classic, the movie follows a group of nubile, mostly male young adults who converge on a country estate one weekend. They have been summoned by an alleged psychologist, JB Divay (played by an alleged actress, Lorielle New). Divay is interested in overcoming pain through hypnosis and other, more questionable techniques like stripping down to one's skivvies followed by lifting weights and/or wrestling one's buddies until somebody dies.

While these scenes and a central same-sex romance makes The Pit and the Pendulum DeCoteau's most overtly gay mainstream movie yet, they are also ludicrous. Man-flesh is abundant even as full male nudity is avoided (props to hottie Michael King, though, for eschewing DeCoteau's trademark boxer-briefs in lieu of more minimal briefs). The script makes absolutely no sense, so if you ignore my advice and end up renting or — heaven forbid — buying The Pit and the Pendulum, just turn the volume off and watch the pretty pictures.

Just out on March 30 is a "retail friendly" re-edited version of Raging Stallion's pornographic hit, Focus/ReFocus (from Breaking Glass Pictures). Directed by Tony DiMarco, it is a simplistic wanna be-thriller set in San Francisco that follows a porn-obsessed guy, Joe (Cole Streets), who finds himself trapped in a gay serial killer's web.

While not nearly on par with the oeuvre of Brian DePalma, whom DiMarco seems to be emulating, or even the woeful Basic Instinct, Focus/ReFocus boasts gory killings and steamy man-on-man sex scenes that include several porn stars (including my new favorite, the tattooed and muscle-bound David Taylor). It's periodically sexy but mostly dreary.

Anyone anxious to see these guys in their unbridled, unedited glory will want to check out the X-rated version, which leads me to question why they re-edited Focus/ReFocus at all. Is there that big a market for gay-interest movies neutered of their graphic sex scenes? Or is this version intended to serve as a feature-length trailer for the original?

If viewers haven't figured out who the killer is by the midway point, they should stick to fast-forwarding through the dialogue and just watch the awkwardly-edited sex. Focus/ReFocus may be a good movie or at least stimulating in its original form (I haven't seen it), but sitting through this is an exercise in futility.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: Scared Sheepless

No one can tell a ghost story quite as effectively as the Irish, and the new supernatural thriller The Eclipse (from Magnolia Pictures, opening today in NYC and southern CA) proves it. Directed and co-written by acclaimed playwright Conor McPherson (The Weir, Shining City) and drawn from a story by co-writer Billy Roche, I guarantee it will both move you and scare the bejeesus out of you.

Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) is still grieving the death of his wife two years prior, while trying to raise their son and daughter as a single parent and looking after his late love's elderly father (played by Jim Norton, who recently starred as Finian in the Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow). Michael is a local school teacher who is also involved in organizing his town's annual, popular literary festival.

As this year's festival looms, Michael begins to see and hear ghostly phenomenon while he becomes simultaneously attracted to a woman for the first time since his wife passed away. The woman who catches Michael's interest is Lena (Danish actress Iben Hjejle), a novelist who happens to write — you guessed it — ghost stories.

Complicating matters even more is another writer in town for the literary festival, Nicholas Holden (a great, surly turn by the usually noble Aidan Quinn; case in point: Quinn played a gay man dying of AIDS in the mid-80's TV classic, An Early Frost). Holden has a crush on Lena bordering on the obsessive, and matters of the heart build to an explosive confrontation between him, the object of his affection, and Michael.

Like the best ghost stories (and I'm thinking most immediately of the classic The Turn of the Screw by Henry James), The Eclipse leads viewers to question whether the spooky visions Michael is experiencing are truly supernatural or figments of his delicate psychological/emotional state. Even though director McPherson occasionally makes the film's scares louder and ickier than they need to be, they are most effective. I jumped in my seat several times.

Hinds is wonderful as the bereaved husband and father questioning his sanity. Usually cast in authoritative and/or villainous roles (Richard III, King Herod in The Nativity Story, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life), Hinds is down-to-earth and sympathetic here. Whether it's a good fright film or a resonant love story you're looking for, The Eclipse satisfies on both counts.

Cut to a different continent and a different genre for another satisfactory movie opening exclusively at the Landmark Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles today, Sweetgrass. This unique documentary about Montana sheepherders and their flock will no doubt evoke memories of Brokeback Mountain for gay viewers, even if none of the cowboys featured here are gay.

Described in the film's press notes as "an unsentimental elegy to the American West," Sweetgrass recounts a final, summer-long pasture drive covering approximately 300 kilometers that occurred in 2003. Beautiful, unspoiled expanses of nature await the shepherds, but so do unpredictable weather, harsh terrain posing risks of injury, and hungry grizzly bears.

Sweetgrass, which was directed and largely photographed — superbly — by Lucien Castaing-Taylor, is mostly wordless and better for it. One shepherd's foul-mouthed tirade late in the film reveals the depths of his frustration, but it also throws off the tonal equilibrium established by that point.

Indeed, Sweetgrass is best when focused on the sheep. At times, they stare silently at the still camera, seemingly daring it to venture deeper beneath their fluffy exteriors. The flock is multi-generational and probably couldn't care less about what the filmmakers are trying to capture: the end of a tradition spanning at least 130 years. The sheep may be more aware than us that life will go on.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: Dysfunction Junction

Two exceptional films opening in limited release today, Kimberly Reed's award-winning, autobiographical documentary Prodigal Sons and Noah Baumbach's Greenberg, help illuminate the often painful experience of people trying to move on from dark personal and family pasts. These families don't quite put the "fun" in dysfunctional, cinematically speaking, but that's a good thing.

Prodigal Sons is the more compelling of the two for GLBT audiences, since Reed is herself transgender and one of her brothers, Todd McKerrow, is gay. As the former high school football-team-captain-turned-filmmaker notes in her director's statement, she started out making a movie about her other, adopted brother's journey. Marc McKerrow is an untrained piano prodigy who, sadly, suffered a life-altering head injury in a car accident when he was 21 years old. Prone to violent mood swings, Marc has since estranged himself from Kim and Todd. When Marc and Kim meet for the first time in ten years at their Helena, Montana high school reunion, the situation inevitably reopens old wounds stemming from their childhood sibling rivalry and Kim's later sex change.

Intent on reconciling with both her older brother and her past life as a young man, Kim extended her time in Helena from one week to over three months. She documented as much as possible on video, so viewers subsequently get glimpses of Marc's rages as well as of the siblings' compassionate mother, Carol, and Kim's dedicated partner, Claire.

We are also privy to the unexpected revelation that Marc was born to Rebecca Welles, the daughter of silver screen legends Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. Marc does bear an uncanny resemblance to Orson, which is confirmed by the late actor-director's one-time lover, Oja Kodar. As a result of this, Prodigal Sons becomes a multi-generational exposé of family secrets stretching from Hollywood to Montana to New York, with a stop at Kodar's home in Bosnia.

I came away from the film, though, wishing that Kim had spent as much time focusing on her own journey and difficulties as she does on Marc's. As much as their stories are intertwined, Kim's own story is unique and interesting in its own right. While we see vintage home movies of Kim in her prior incarnation as star athlete Paul McKerrow, we don't see or hear much about her actual transition or about her life as an aspiring professional filmmaker. I also would have liked to have heard more from Todd, who seems too often on the sidelines.

Since Prodigal Sons is her first feature-length documentary — and an effective, interesting one at that — I'll cut Kim some slack. It opens today in Los Angeles and Irvine, CA, in Arizona and San Diego on the 26th, and in other US cities come April. No doubt, one will find something to identify with in the McKerrow-Reed family's travails.

Meanwhile, Roger Greenberg, the central character in Baumbach's new movie Greenberg, is in so much denial about his past that he denies his Jewish heritage to friends despite his last name and the fact that his family lives in a predominantly, and obviously, orthodox Jewish neighborhood. He also refuses to own up to the fact that he is an alcoholic (his diet consists almost solely of whiskey and ice cream bars), and that he single-handedly torpedoed his friends' dream that the high school band they formed together would go professional.

Roger's day of reckoning comes when his Vietnam-bound brother (played by Chris Messina, who was Julie/Amy Adams' husband in Julie & Julia) lures him from New York to Los Angeles to house- and dog-sit for a month. While there, he makes a very tentative romantic connection with his brother's personal assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig, an actress on-the-rise best known to date for the Duplass Brothers' goofy Baghead). Florence is an aspiring singer living a simple life, and is nearly 20 years younger than Roger. While she is attracted to Roger, Florence naturally finds his non-committal nature and periodic, nasty tirades unappealing. Still, something begins to grow between them, and Roger sloooowly starts to grow up.

Ben Stiller plays Roger, thinner than usual and keeping his typical, exuberant schtick in check apart from a scene where he snorts coke with some college students, when wild-eyed mania is appropriate. It's an affecting performance and Stiller's best dramatic turn yet. As Florence, Gerwig is refreshingly — and attractively — naturalistic. I found her character a bit of a cipher and would have liked to know more about Florence's past and what makes her tick, but Gerwig can't be blamed for this. Rhys Ifans (so memorable in Notting Hill, and some readers may recall his pseudo-gay stalker role in Enduring Love) is also quietly effective here as Roger's former best friend.

Writer-director Noah Baumbach was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for his 2005 film, The Squid and the Whale, which focused on the members of a dysfunctional family. He most recently co-adapted the Oscar-nominated Fantastic Mr. Fox with his filmmaking soul mate, Wes Anderson. Greenberg has an even more low budget, indie feel to it than Baumbach's previous works as director, which makes his new film all the more poignant. And poignant it is, especially when it reaches its hopeful finale.

Greenberg is produced by the openly gay Scott Rudin, which should be a strong selling point for GLBT filmgoers if the fact that this is a great film isn't enough. As one of its characters says, "Hurt people hurt people." Those of us from dysfunctional families — which is most of us — have been hurt, and we've all hurt others at times; turns out that there's at least a little bit of Greenberg in all of us.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: A Bisexual Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Prior to meeting Lisbeth Salander, the talented computer hacker at the center of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (scheduled to open in limited release this Friday), a man is warned: “Lisbeth is a pretty odd girl.” Glum, leather-clad, and sporting multiple piercings in addition to the skin art of the title, Lisbeth quickly proves herself not only a startling sight but a force to be reckoned with.

This bracing new film is based on the novel by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson. Unpublished at the time of his death in 2004, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first in what is referred to as Larsson’s Millennium series. The first two books (the second is The Girl Who Played with Fire) have become international bestsellers and the third, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, is due out in the US later this spring.

The books have sold over 8 million copies worldwide to date. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been #1 on the Los Angeles Times paperback bestsellers list for the past two months. The film version is the highest-grossing Swedish film in history, and won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at January’s Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Lisbeth Salander is the heart of the series, but she isn’t your typical literary or cinematic heroine. Despite being on probation and under a court-ordered conservator’s care following a crime she committed as a child, Lisbeth is an avenging angel who has zero tolerance for bullies, misogynists and unethical business people. She faces all three, as well as murderous Nazi sympathizers, in this initial mystery-thriller adapted from Larsson’s works.

What’s more, Lisbeth is unapologetically bisexual. She beds men and women, both on the page and on the screen. As played memorably by Noomi Rapace in the film, Lisbeth is physically strong but emotionally fragile. She’s also undeniably sexy. The character’s intellectual and moral superiority make her all the more attractive, and Rapace fully conveys Lisbeth’s complexity. Lisbeth bemoans the male domination of the Internet during a web search by asking, “Why do female names always take you to porn sites?”

In the novels and film, Lisbeth comes to the aid of a crusading financial journalist, Mikael Blomqvist (well played by Swedish superstar Michael Nyqvist). Blomqvist becomes a pariah in the wake of a fraud trial involving a powerful banker. Not only does the tycoon get off, but he also slaps Blomqvist with a libel suit. Suspended by the publication he writes for, Millennium, Blomqvist must find a way to clear his name.

He receives significant assistance from Salander, who is herself locked in a battle of wills with her vile new caretaker. At first, Salander keeps her identity a secret from Blomqvist. Good journalist that he is, though, Blomqvist soon tracks Salander down and discovers her in bed … with another woman.

Despite this, Salander and Blomqvist gradually become sexually involved. Salander is a refreshing character in terms of her refusal to be stereotyped or categorized. As she tells Blomqvist at one point, “You choose who you want to be.” Thus, Salander sums up her approach to life, including her bisexual orientation.

The pair of crusaders eventually become involved with the mysterious Vanger family, a wealthy, secretive clan that recruits Blomqvist to resolve the disappearance of one of their members in the 1960’s. While doing so, Blomqvist and Salander uncover a number of possibly-related serial killings inspired by the biblical book of Leviticus.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo weaves a dark, complex tale. While it isn’t as gruesome as the 1995 film Seven, to which it is being compared, it has enough sexual and physical violence in it to likely cause viewers to occasionally avert their eyes.

However, it is an engrossing, extremely well-made movie thanks chiefly to the lead performances, Niels Arden Oplev’s direction, Eric Kress’ cinematography and the adapted screenplay by Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel. The book’s author was reportedly very concerned about anti-democratic, right-wing extremism as well as with efforts to keep women regarded as inferior to men. Although he was only 50 when he died, the Millennium books are proving to be the embodiment of Larsson’s extensive knowledge and work against neo-Nazism and anti-feminism.

Anti-GLBT sentiment would also be of concern to Larsson. While the author is gone, his greatest creation — Lisbeth Salander — is clearly carrying the torch for an end to all forms of oppression.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: Mother Lode

Most gay men have what we might politely describe as "unique" relationships with our mothers. For some of us, dear old Mom is our biggest fan, while others of us would say Christina Crawford had it easy!

Mother, a new film by the extraordinary, Korean writer-director Bong Joon-ho (whose last production was the great giant-monster-on-the-loose thriller The Host), has its own unique take on the love of a mother for her son. It opens today in LA and NYC courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. Drawing inspiration from equal parts Oedipus Rex and Alfred Hitchcock, Bong weaves an engrossing murder-mystery.

Do-joon (Won Bin) is an immature young man who townspeople frequently refer to as "retarded." At the age of 27, he still lives with — and sleeps with — his doting mother (Kim Hye-ja, who gives a great, award-worthy performance). When a local high school student is murdered and Do-joon becomes the #1 suspect, his mother's protective instincts kick into high gear in an effort to prove him innocent.

There are twists, turns and revelations galore in this well-written, beautifully-shot movie. It also features a fine, suspenseful music score by Lee Byeong-woo that includes appropriate nods to Hitchcock's favorite composer, Bernard Herrmann. Mother will likely receive a gradual, national release, so watch for it. Just think twice about taking your mother to see it if it plays your town!

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Previews: Cruz’n through Fusion 2010

Though it has grown in popularity over the years and now runs for ten days each July, the Outfest Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival still can’t come close to showing every LGBT film produced each year around the world. Thankfully, we have Fusion: The Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival to supplement Outfest and provide a unique showcase of the diversity within our own community. Fusion 2010 starts today and runs through March 13.

Wilson Cruz, the prolific stage, film and television actor, will be the recipient of the 2010 Fusion Achievement Award. Cruz made television history in the 1990’s as an openly gay teenager on the acclaimed My So-Called Life. He also played the HIV+ transvestite, Angel, in Rent on Broadway.

The Latino actor’s other credits include TV’s ER, The West Wing, Noah’s Arc and Rick & Steve, the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, as well as the feature films Nixon, All Over Me, Party Monster, Coffee Date, Bam Bam and Celeste, Supernova and He’s Just Not That Into You.

Cruz will also co-star in this year’s Fusion Gala film, The People I’ve Slept With. This delightful new comedy by acclaimed gay director Quentin Lee (Drift, Ethan Mao) focuses on Angela (Karin Anna Cheung), a sex-loving woman who discovers she is unexpectedly pregnant and isn’t quite sure who the father is. In Angela’s quest to find the mystery dad, everybody has advice: her gay best friend (played by Cruz), her conservative sister (Lynn Chen), and a handsome conquest (the very attractive Archie Kao).

Also of note in the cast of The People I’ve Slept With is veteran actor James Shigeta (who has appeared in everything from Flower Drum Song to Die Hard to Mulan) as Angela’s fitness-obsessed father and the very funny Randall Park, who nearly steals the show as “Nice but Boring Guy,” one of her baby’s prospective fathers. Well-written by Koji Steven Sakai, this accomplished film is a must-see for both men and women.

According to the Fusion press release announcing Cruz as the recipient of this year’s award, “Through his activism and art, Cruz is a role model of courage and honesty who inspires those within and outside the LGBT community.” Cruz has been especially devoted to the support and encouragement of LGBT youth. The Fusion Achievement Award will be presented to Cruz during the opening remarks of the Fusion Gala this Saturday night.

The traditional “Legacy Screening” at Fusion this year will be of 1967’s Portrait of Jason. The movie is noteworthy for being filmed in one wild night at New York’s Chelsea Hotel. Considered a landmark of non-fiction film,Portrait of Jason is the raw record of a confessional conversation with an African-American gay hustler recounting his life and times. The documentary’s director,Shirley Clarke, was a key figure in the American avant-garde and has been an influence on filmmakers and video artists over the last 40 years. It will be shown on Saturday.

Also being presented on Saturday will be the Fusion Shorts Programs. These series of LGBT short films will include the striking Boy Meets Boy, by director Kim-Jho Gwang-soo, as well as stories about transgender youth, a sexually conflicted jazz musician and a butch girl with a crush on a married woman. This year’s movies hail from the US, Wales, various parts of Asia and other countries.

Fusion screenings, parties and related events will take place at various locations throughout Hollywood. For more information about Fusion and to buy tickets, please visit the fest's official website.

Preview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.