The Television and Movie Recommendation/Discussion Thread!

[Rally]

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Oooh...Naughty Anime Dvds? Which ones. I'm kind of wanting to see Cool Devices myself...

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I will have to get back to you on that one, they are at home, and I didn't end watching but an hour of one. So if they are any good I will let you know.

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Well officially, of course, I have to say that I have no idea what you're talking about.

[PandoraSpocks]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this movie, but I saw it the other night on ShowCase. It was called 'Sex Monster' or 'Sex Monsters' (plural)? I laughed from begining to end, it was so funny IMO. It was much more tame than I expected, and I would have liked it if she had converted to woman altogether, but you can't have it all, unless of course your Ruth hehe (I have no idea what that means, but I'm sure Ruth will come up with something.

Tara: "I am, you know" Willow: "What?" Tara: "Yours" (Hearts a Flutter)

Edited by: PandoraSpocks at: 9/9/02 3:20:10 pm

[moniquie]

Some of these may have been mentioned before. For those who like Maria Schrader, she's in a movie called "Nobody Loves Me", or "Keine Liebt Mich" in German (it's subtitled). She plays an airline employee looking for love in all the wrong places and she has some very unusual neighbors in her apartment building.



Continuing on my foreign movie vein, I also really like "Ma Vie en Rose," about a boy who is comfortable the way he is even though the rest of society feels differently. Don't forget the classic "Maedchens in Uniform," kind of depressing, though.



I'm really fond of "But I'm a Cheerleader" and "Go Fish". My favorite movie at this time is "Antonia's Line".



"Bound" is great, too.

[GracefulVictory]

AlexisMQ I have to totally agree with you... My Big Fat Greek Wedding is just a downright knee slapper. heheheheh

I couldn't stop laughing. If you've ever been part of a big extended family or have ever known one, you'll get it. Heck even if you're not, it's a roller.



hehehehehe

[Hyo Shin]

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Don't forget the classic "Maedchens in Uniform," kind of depressing, though.

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At least the movie version has a happy ending.

[runnerbird]

While anxiously awaiting the start of the new fall season (and more importantly the premiere of "Birds of Prey").. I was watching some old re-runs of the NBC show "Third Watch" (which I've caught off and on over the past few years) and I found myself finding some really, really subtle subtext between two of the main characters ... Kim and Alex. I know it's all in my head (i see subtext in EVERYTHING) .. but... it made me think of a question I'd like to ask ...



What character on any TV show would you love to see come out of the closet?



hmmm....

------------------------------------------------

"There's only one instant, and it's right now, and it's eternity"

Waking Life (2001)

[mscheckmate]

What character would I like to see come out of the closet?



Dr. Jennifer Melfi on "The Sopranos." Not that there's currently any reason to think she would do so.

Xander: "Tara, nice axing." Tara: "My first."

[kbk3022]

Yeah, I used to watch Third Watch, at first for Kim Raver, but then because I thought for sure that Alex was going to be a lesbian. Unfortunately, they hooked her up with that cop Ty. But as for a character I wish was a lesbian, I'd say Abby off of ER, but definitely not to hook up with Kerry.



I just love Maura Tierney.



Kasey

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"You should come around here on Halloween,
you'd really see something then...
we all jump off the roof and fly."

[June Leigh]

Some people mentioned "Blue Crush," and I thought I'd give an alternative view of the movie. "Blue Crush" continues the Hollywood tradition of appropriating and exploiting minority cultures by white producers. In a surfing movie based in diverse Hawaii, the lead protagonists are white while Asian Pacific Islanders are relegated to inconsequential side roles (bell hops and hula dancers). Tokenizing and stereotyping people of color in a movie set in a state which is overwhelmingly populated by Asian Pacific Islanders is a missed opportunity and a shame.

Edited by: June Leigh at: 9/11/02 1:11:42 am

[Blue Pariah]

Does anyone here watch "Made in Canada"? (I believe some American PBS stations show it as "The Industry")



I think that the intern they had last year had it (if rather drunkenly) right. Its definately time for Veronica to come out of the closet.

I am not your judge

I am not your champion

"Blue Pariah" by BRJ

[Arafel the Witch]

Just picked up the DVD of Kissing Jessica Stein yesterday. Technically, it doesn't come out till Tuesday, but I called the store yesterday and someone there didn't know that and told me they had it, so when I showed up they decided it was unfair for me to have driven over there and sold me a copy. It has a bunch of deleted scenes, audio commentary, a featurette on the making of, and supposedly, though I haven't found it, the "original ending."



I have to say I love this flick. I think it's very funny and touching at the same time. I'm also not quite convinced about the ending and where Jessica is going. I think, given she has two different conversations in the bookstore, that it is a little more up in the air than you might think.



If you haven't seen it yet, go rent it when it comes out on Tuesday.

[starlitefaeriegrrrl]

I love Kissing Jessica Stein too. I work at a movie theatre and get to see films for free, and when we got that movie I was so excited because the trailer looked great. I saw it four times, plus bits and pieces when I would be ushering. It did really well too, lots more people than I would have thought went to go see it- although I was disturbed by the amount of single, really old men that went to see it when it first came out. We had the film for like ten, thirteen weeks and I was really pleased it did so great.



My favorite scene is when Jessica's pregnant friend asks Helen what having sex with another women is like. Helen's answer is so beautiful, I thought, and so true.

[KISMIC]

'Kissing Jessica Stein' is out on DVD over there?!? In Aus it's still not out, and isn't coming out till early November!

[Indygo]

I saw it in a preview screening here in Sydney organised by Queer Screen (which is our gay and lesbian film society here), and I can tell you that the audience reaction to it was somewhat harsh. No one liked the ending, despite the fact the film was working towards that ending obviously the whole way. It had some wonderfully sweet moments, but overall we had an entire cinema filled with lesbians walking out disappointed.



I'm looking forward to seeing what the audience and critical reaction is to it when it gets a cinema release here in November.



Indygo

[KISMIC]

Indygo, is it just me who thinks that most Australians tend to be REALLY harsh om film-festival type films?!? Just can't help but, to put it harshly, beat the crap out of 'em. So it's a disappointment...But is it still worth the money to go see it anyway?

[Arafel the Witch]

I have to admit I have mixed feelings on the ending. I wish it had ended (SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IT) with the two walking off the roof hand in hand after the ex-boyfriend kisses Jess. On the other hand, for Jessica it never seemed like a fit. I think in some ways the ending is true to both characters; Helen finds out that yes she is gay and has a new girlfriend, and Jessica learns more about love. I also think, given she has a conversation with a girl in the bookstore before the one with the ex-boy that things aren't quite so cut and dry with Jessica as it might appear.



But I still love the flick. I think my favorite scene is in the bar where Helen asks to guys to explain why guys find lesbians so fascinating and cool while underneath the table she's running her hand up Jessica's thigh. I'm bi, and married a guy whom I absolutely love to death, and whom I can't imagine my life without, but sometimes watching that scene I wish marriage didn't mean (at least for me, and I know it does because I've thought it over long and hard), forsaking all others.

[Amaranthcat]

I just came back from the Toronto International Film Festival. Unfortunately I only got to see one of the GLBT-related films there, but I thought I should head over here and do a quick review anyway since it'll probably get distributed more widely one of these days. I'll keep it as general and unspoiler-y as possible.



It's an Italian film called Benzina, which I overheard someone describe as "an Italian lesbian Thelma and Louise." Fairly accurate, I guess. Its heroines are a pair of lesbian lovers who work at a gas station together. Five minutes or so into the film, one of them causes a completely accidental murder, and the rest of the film is pretty much spent with them trying to get out of the mess they're in.



It was nice in that they're very clearly the heroines, both sympathetically portrayed, and in the flashbacks of their earlier relationship they're clearly very loving and there's a nice (though not very explicit) sex scene. But by the time of the main action of the movie they're both under a ton of stress for obvious reasons, so they're pretty angry and upset with each other for good stretches of the plot. Though you can see how much they love each other even through the anger -- it's good acting from both lead actresses.



The ending is kind of weird and open-ended, so you don't really know which of two things happens to them in the end. And one of the potential endings feeds into that damn Dead Lesbian Cliche, so I'm not sure I can really recommend this film unreservedly. But it definitely has some redeeming merits as well. Maybe one of those things that's worth renting, but not so much paying to see in a theater.

[informationjunky]

Here's some info on that Showtime lesbian series, "Earthlings," with cast pictures and speculation on whether it will be like "Queer as Folk:"



www.afterellen.com/tv/earthlings.html

[runnerbird]

Has anyone here seen the movie "An Intimate Friendship"

us.imdb.com/Title?0212667



I wanna know if it's worth buying on DVD since my blockbuster doesn't seem to carry it.



thanks..

------------------------------------------------

"There's only one instant, and it's right now, and it's eternity"

Waking Life (2001)

[starlitefaeriegrrrl]

Wow, I knew nothing about that Earthlings show so I went to read the article, scrolled down through the cast and LEISHA HAILEY will be in it?!! Be still my heart... Now if I could find out what her character will be like...does anyone have info?

[Arafel the Witch]

Yesterday I watched Kissing Jessica Stein for the third time in three days, only this time with the audio commentary from Heather and Jennifer turned on. They said that people either loved the ending or hated it. They also said that having the two ostensibly straight women both realize they are gay seemed trite to them, and too Hollywood, and that endings are rarely has neat as portrayed in Hollywood, which is why they ended it as they did, with the women best friends, and things a little unsettled for Jessica. My husband watched it with me on one of those times (he had never seen it) and (SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT) he agreed with me that the conversation she has with the lady salesclerk in the bookstore at the end indicates that things for Jessica are a lot more up in the air than might appear. Oh, the audio commentary also said that they had her meet Josh at the end not to say that they were getting together, but more as friends, and so people would know what had happened with Joss' arc, since he is an important character.

[kbk3022]

Wow, Leisha Hailey the yogurt girl...I would like to see that show if she's in it, but I don't have the money to get it.



Kasey

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"You should come around here on Halloween,
you'd really see something then...
we all jump off the roof and fly."

[starlitefaeriegrrrl]

About Kissing Jessica Stein, I keep trying and trying to remember some suggestive scene with a store clerk at the end of the film, but I really really can't. Would anybody be able to remind me?



Also, SPOILERS FOR END OF FILM!!! about the commentary of the two actresses/writers, I understand them wanting to be more true to life with both straight girls not becoming gay, but (like with W/T), if I wanted realism I would deal only with my own life and not watch films or teevee. I thought they told a beautiful story with the film, but I never even looked at it as Jessica becoming gay, I just thought that she fell in love with Helen (as described in her talk with the pregnant friend) and WAS IN LOVE WITH HELEN, not that she'd renounced penis and become a full lesbian. But since the movie made it seem that the girls were meant to be together, I was really sad that they then made it so the girls weren't. I liked them together, their relationship drove the film. So why end it with Jessica falling out of love with Helen and becoming friends only with her? Much grrrness.

[MsTizzyFantastico]

Just gonna add my two cents to the Kissing Jessica Stein disscussion.



I saw it in the theater with one of my friends, she's gay too, and we both enjoyed it. We kind of decided though that it seemed like the movie really wasn't directed at a gay audience. To me it seemed as if the writers were trying to make a lesbian movie for a straight audience. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I thought the writers were trying to make a lesbian relationship more accessable to straight people. Just what I saw in it.



Otherwise, I thought the movie was very cute. My friend and I made fools of ourselves laughing way to hard at the scenes were Jessica and Helen were making their first, awkward stabs at physical intimacy. The thing is, at the part where Jessica pulls out all the books she's gotten and goes over her research, we turned to each other and just had to laugh because one of my friends IS Jessica in that scene. I mean, she's straight, but when I came out to her, she went to the GSA at my high school and brought me back a book. I had a really hard time keeping a straight face while she gave it to me, but it was a sweet thought.

[KISMIC]

Okay I'm going WAY off-topic for one second just to say:


THANK-YOU Arafel The Witch. In an Amber interview she says something that sounded like 'blambasted'. Only problem with that is there's no such word. Well after a week off searching for anyone who has heard of the word you cleared it up by typing 'lambasted'! Yay!








So on topic..Uhh thanks to everyone for the quick summaries and great recommendations...Turns out there's alot of movies I haven't seen.

[superZONic]

runnerbird, do NOT buy this movie.



I think it might very well be the worst movie i have *ever* seen. The writing and acting are utterly hack. The plot is essentially a retread of Claire of the Moon (there being no justification for either movie to have been made) - straight girl shags male thru entire movie until gradually won over by female friend. I will say this tho, the actresses are drinking wine in almost every scene in the film and the wine glasses should be nominated for an award for outacting the rest of the cast. Their subtle performances had grace and clarity.





Really, it's like the Plan 9 of lesbian romance movies.

Rent from Netflix if you absolutly must try it.





Zon

[starlitefaeriegrrrl]

...I too saw it as Jessica being in love with Helen. However (SPOILER) it was Helen who dumped Jessica, not Jessica falling out of love with Helen, that ended the relationship, because Jessica wasn't as into the sex as Helen was. Jessica seemed to me to be a bit asexual; she still loves Helen, and I think if she had her druthers she would still be with her...



I agree, she loved Helen. But they implied she loved her as a friend, only, what with the needing to consume alcohol before sexage could occur with Helen. It's true that sometimes the sexiness leaves and you're left with being best friends, but that is *not* how I wanted it to end for the girls. Just my opinion. I mean, it didn't seem like Helen was demanding sex every day, just to feel sexy and wanted once in awhile. Jessica had stopped desiring her.



..."I think it might very well be the worst movie i have *ever* seen..."



Have you seen Bar Girls? Barf. Now, *that* is one of the worst films I've ever seen, and worst lesbian one for sure. It's based on a play and, whoa, can you tell, the acting is cardboard and well...cardboard describes it perfectly, really. Dialogue is awful, plot is ridiculous and all sorts of other yuck.

[Arafel the Witch]

Has anyone seen But I'm a Cheerleader? Is is good? I've been debating whether or not to pick it up, so any kitten opinions on it are welcome.

[starlitefaeriegrrrl]

But I'm A Cheerleader is awesome! I love that one, it's really crazy and wacky and colorful and romantic and has Clea Duvall kissing another girl...mmm... Really sweet film, I definetly recommend it. There's people who think that it's too campy, but I say 'bring on the camp!' and so I love it. Depends on taste, really.

[KISMIC]

Bad gay movies? Uhh 'Everything Will Be Fine'! It's in French or some other language with subtitles and just a bad, bad movie!





Now 'But I'ma Cheerleader' was a great movie. I don't particularly like the blonde haired girl/lead character but Clea and the rest of the cast easily made up for my dislike of her. Definately recommend seeing it. If you like nothing else about the movie, you have to admit it has some great lines in it!