Quill & Claw/Pen & Paw

Okay, there was this one time, ages ago, when my best friend (straight) and I were watching the Oscars in his apartment in Omaha, NE. The show goes and he squints at the red carpet preshow I was forcing him to watch. The day before he had been bitching about how he didn't care for Joan Rivers and how he found the whole thing to be quite fake and gregarious. And as he watched now, he leaned back and said something that I still laught about today. "She looks like crap in the dress." Here he was, straight as an arrow--and all his education and straightness--and he knew what looked good and what doesn't. And we think gays are shallow? Seems to be universal. But our obsession with beautiful manifests itself in slick commercials, ongoing programs of self-improvment and reality shows of the pressures of said art. Now there's a movie too. The Devil Wears Prada is a formula movie. I noticed novelty is far and few between this year. Must be because last year was so full of...

I used to hate when they lumped my issues with that of bisexuals and transgendered individuals. I really did. I was younger and could not understand how my travials were equal to theirs. Surely, discrimination is fairly universal, especially with the current government, but me--who loved men with men--could not possibly understand what it was like to feel like a woman on the inside and want to be different. As time passed and my wisdom grew, I realized that, they too, have only a handful of films to show the world their situation in a manner that is uplifting and approachable. Gay movies, when made into the mainstream, ended with violence and saddness--and films about transgendered individuals were even smaller in number--I mean, Silence of the Lambs ? Not a good example of transgendered experiences. This is the first film, as a matter of fact,that opened my eyes to several points that I have to mention. An art film of sorts, the movie stars Felicity Huffman from Desparate Housewives f...

Ever hear of culture shock? I mean, really powerful stuff, the kind where you enter a strange land with even stranger people? Happened to me once, when I went away to college. It started small enough. My friend had sent me a book called, "How to talk Minnesotan." I thought it was a joke. The kinda thing you send to people to create a sense of identity over the holidays or special situations. I read it, but I didn't really understand it. Then I arrived in Moorhead, Minneasota. Culture shock. No one hurried. Nothing was a yes/no answer--everything was a tale. And they laughed at the weirdest things. Every Sunday, my idiot roommate, blonde as the Norweign sunset would be glued to the radio, the radio , listening to Prarie Home Companion. Since he liked it, and I hated him, I refused to like it. Time passed, and with it came wisdom. I discovered that culture can be a very strong thing--and helps with pride. Think of a gay teen, struggling with his own identity, realizing that...

Before I really get into the crux of this review, I have to say something about it's stars. This movie has four major actors in the pivotal roles. Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johanssen and Marq Helsenberger. I've heard of them, I know that. If you've not, well, I think you might be dead. My question? WHY AREN'T THEY FAMOUS YET? Okay, so Scarlett has done a crapload of blockbusters and noisemakers, but what of those other three? I don't know about you audiences, I really don't. Yes, I blame you all. I can't blame the filmmakers. They are just following the money. And these actors don't bring in the bucks. So why splash their names on a marquee? Because it isn't worth it to them. Here's my example. I watched In Good Company . Now in order to prove my point, I have to elaborate on the plot. It's a comedy/drama, not unlike Terms of Endearment in the approach department. Instead, you have a good man (Quaid) a pitchman for a good magazine...

I just had to go to this conference in the mountains this past week, and I was alright with going. Sure, I was alone, but the drive was through some of the most beautiful terrain, so I had zero concerns as the roads twisted and turned, attempting to make me barf with motion sickness. See, I hate driving. Three hours stood between me and the meetings. I stacked up on CDs and the portable DVD player for when I got there. One hour in, I looked over and saw what I referred to in the past as a 'creamer truck. A long, silver cylinder being hauled by a Mack or a Peterbilt through the narrows of I-70. Behind it, I knew for sure, a bright red Mack followed. And my mind flew back to seeing this title last week, when a Mack truck was doing the same thing...only making faces in the rear end of the silver cylinder. Yes, after seeing this movie once, I memorized everything. You see, in our neat little nation of ours, the car-culture rules. That is why this gas problem hits us so profoundly; this...

I read an interesting article in the Advocate a few days before seeing this movie. It talked about why people like my partner and myself have such a liking to comic books and their many facets of television and movies. It was an editorial, but it made a good point--super heroes tend to live a double life like many gays and lesbians. Not mention, they are hot, but we don't need to elaborate there. Still, that's why so many of my kin ran to the movies when "X-Men" opened up. The whole story line of being 'different' and having to survive in a discriminatory world was profoundly (and sadly) too easy to relate to. I took "X-Men" probably more strongly than most. I knew I was going to see this movie. I was nervous, being a cineast and knowing from my sources some of the changes they were making (Juggernaut as a mutie? Where's Bryan Singer's style? Why did James Marsden leave?). But I had no choice in those matters. This film, like others I've...

Sorry it took so long to post, friends. The blogsite's been having troubles uploading my posts and I decided to just write at home. Hopefully, we're back in business--especially since I sent some of you all emails! Like answering a question with a question, I'm going to start this review with a book review. I hated the Divinci Code book by Dan Brown. I'm really surprised I read it cover to cover. Complicated and completely devoid of adjectives, Mr. Brown's text reads like a Grisham novel---it reads like a movie adaptation. 'You've seen the movie, now read the book!' is it's attitude at the time, even tho there was no film yet. You could practically see the camera angle comments and editing remarks between the dialogue. He wanted to make a movie. Worse, he deals with art for goodness sakes, but lacked the ability to create said art in the reader's brain. I had to keep running to the internet to see exactly what he was describing. So, as I read, I ...

You know, it has been a long time since I published anything on this blog. Seriously, it's not that I've not wanted to write; oh you have no idea how much I've wanted to write--but situations being what they are, life gave me a hand this past school year. Not only a hand, but one, very strong, finger. How did it happen after being a teacher for 13.5 years and a writer all my life did both things go to pot so quickly? Luck, perhaps. Situational ethics, maybe. Whatever the situation, movies and weekend escapes of that sort took on a new meaning this school year. Now they weren't merely 'diversions.' Now they carried a weight to them, a weight that made mistakes appear more profound; a consequence that made successes even more joyous. I was cursed with very few 'awake' hours with my significant other. So those few hours became precious. When I went to the movies; I WENT TO THE MOVIES. The school year had ended and, quite thankfully, so has my partner's ...

(WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS) I'm having a rough time with writing the review of this one. On one hand, as you can see, I think the movie is well made and comes together on several levels as a whole. But on the other hand, I'm not sure I like it. It's hard for me in that I'm an author who is gay--and my bias comes right up as I watched this movie. I mean, for the first time EVER, I saw a movie where I could walk away and relate to the characters on more than one level. Previously, I could watch my favorite Casablanca and understand the concept of giving it all up for the love of your life. But now? I didn't realize that I could feel such a deep connection with the characters played on the screen on such a visceral level. Is this what the straights have been doing for years? You lucky dogs you. And they say there's no such thing as discrimination against gays. Let me elaborate by completing the rest of this review. The movie is just like the rest of ...

Okay, so this guy, Kevin Jackson, makes three movies about his most favorite book and they give him an Oscar. Frankly, I don't want to review that movie, for I hate fantasy tales, but I have to say something. I've read Lord of the Rings etc. and you know what? Those are boring books. Really long and they encouraged me to hate the genre more. But still, when I bought those tickets to see what everyone was talking about--wow, just wow. It was obvious to this reviewer that the film maker really loved those titles. He must have, for he took a fanboy tale and made it something for the masses. So, for his next run, seeing he's already got an Oscar, they gave him the pick of what he wanted to do next. And he, like his favorite book, goes with one of his favorite movies--King Kong. And really, was what great and wrong with the Lord of the Rings was what was great and wrong about King Kong. Folks, this is the reason we go to the movies. Huge monsters, depth of characters and ongoing...