Week One Shorts

Reviews of movies premiering in the first week of the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, July 12-18.

Following are reviews of movies premiering in the first week of the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, July 12-18. Up to the day of the show, tickets may be purchased in person at TLA Video locations (11 a.m.-10 p.m.), by phone at 267-765-9700, ext. 4, and online at www.phillyfests.com (up to 24 hours in advance). Same-day tickets are available only at the screening venue. Tickets are $10. Coverage continues next week.

All times are p.m.

Recommended

Venue Codes: PMT = Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St. | AB = Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St. | WT = Wilma Theater, 256 S. Broad St.

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Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother

Alexis Arquette, the proverbial black sheep in Hollywood's Arquette clan, is about to undergo a transformation from male to female. She's invited a film crew to follow her throughout the journey, documenting everything from her therapy sessions to her paparazzi shoots. This footage is then spliced with grainy clips from Alexis' Steve Strange-inspired childhood, making She's My Brother something of a watered-down take on Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation. Alexis, for her part, is both endearing and infuriating; she's got an ego the size of the sun, which makes her good for a laugh but tough to swallow. You tolerate her because the before-and-after payoff seems worth it. But then, like a diva, Alexis decides it's all too personal and overwhelming, and pulls the plug on the project. We're left wondering, "Well, did she? Or didn't she?" Was the reassignment surgery all an elaborate hoax, as some tabloids have speculated? Or is Alexis just human, and therefore entitled to cave like the rest of us? Either way, it's a huge letdown. �Ashlea Halpern (July 17, 7:15 WT; July 21, 2:45 PMT)

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Bears

Veteran music video director Marc Klasfeld takes a lighthearted and remarkably well-intentioned look at bears � that is, large, burly, hairy men who celebrate those traditionally heterosexual hallmarks of virility as points of gay pride � with this documentary, which follows entrants at 2005's International Bear Rendezvous in San Francisco. Though Klasfeld's shot everyone from Jay-Z to Bon Jovi, he leaves any flashy TRL tradecraft at home, opting instead to present succinct biographical sketches of the contestants en route to the big event. There's a mild-mannered Kentucky horse trainer who's lauded as a calloused "man's man"; a gargantuan New Yorker who bellows on bagpipes as his trademark entrance; a jovial, middle-aged Californian whose cub is decades his junior. As with any documentary bent on defining an entire subculture in a feature-length run time, interviewees stick to a somewhat narrow agenda when discussing the characteristics that define the community. But while the subjects applaud broad concepts like "inclusiveness" and "brotherhood" with tireless fervor, the sincerity behind the terms is never worse for wear. �Drew Lazor (July 18, 9:30 AB; July 21, 7:15 PMT)

Black Beulahs

Concentrating on three men en route to a Johannesburg gay pride march, Fanney Tsimong's documentary attempts to explore the lives of gay black men in South Africa. But at 52 minutes, and consisting almost entirely of interviews with its three subjects � a funeral director/choreographer, a bodybuilder and an entertainer � the film fails to find much context. Other than the accents and the occasional lapsing into subtitled Sotho, most of the tales of parental confrontations and self-reliance could come from anywhere. The bodybuilder's situation, maintaining his heterosexuality while keeping an agreement with his girlfriend about "hanging out" with gay men (and riding a float wearing only bright green short-shorts) suggests a more complicated reality, as do all of the participants' refusal to allow their families to be filmed. Tsimong indulges all three far too much in their own ideas of themselves, failing to paint a single convincing portrait. �Shaun Brady (July 15, 2:45 AB)

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Black White + Gray

A less compelling portrait of the curator as artist than last year's Who Gets to Call It Art?, editor/curator James Crump's debut documentary credits curator and collector Sam Wagstaff with establishing photography as a serious (and seriously pricey) art form. After staging a handful of influential shows during the last days of 1960s minimalism, the independently wealthy Wagstaff turned his attention to photographs, returning to his Park Avenue penthouse with shopping bags full of prints acquired on the cheap. He was also the patron, and for a time, the lover, of Robert Mapplethorpe, arranging the young artist's entrée into the art world, buying him a loft to work in, even handing him his first camera. Crump paints Mapplethorpe as a rugged, sexually forthright proletarian who cannily exploited the attentions of the patrician, semi-closeted Wagstaff, 25 years his senior. Despite the tender recollections of Mapplethorpe's '70s roommie Patti Smith, the movie's account of their relationship feels unbalanced and even slightly sordid; while pumping up Mapplethorpe's greatness, Crump never misses a chance to paint Wagstaff as the unacknowledged power behind the throne. Mapplethorpe's story vanishes for long stretches and then breaks in at odd times, as if Crump wanted to shut him out but can't dismiss his star power. A less grudging account could have used Mapplethorpe's rise as a means of vindicating Wagstaff's professional judgments without needing to elevate one at the expense of the other. �Sam Adams (July 18, 7:15 AB; July 21, 12:15 AB)

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Boy's Love

In his directorial debut, Kohtaro Terauchi mixes the worst aspects of soap operas, pornography and adolescent fiction to produce a film devoid of impact. As Taishin, a fashion magazine editor, and Noel, a teen model, fall slowly in love, cheesy music and superimposed quotations tell us exactly what to make of each scene. After 90 minutes of one-note characters and underdeveloped plot, the "momentous" ending elicits more confusion than emotion. Amateurish acting and camera work abound. In Japan, "Boy's Love" is a popular genre of gay romance stories. These books sell for the same reason most romances do: Love stories, like car crashes, are hard to resist sneaking a peek at. Boy's Love, however, is so artless that looking away won't be hard. �Peter Baker (July 18, 5:00 WT; July 22, 5:00 WT)

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The Curiosity of Chance

In this "high school sucks" tragicomedy, first-time director Russell P. Marleau tries and fails to channel the cinematic spirit of '80s teen-flick master John Hughes. Chance opens with gay protagonist Chance Marquis transferring to a new international high school and immediately finding himself in conflict with a cadre of homophobic jocks. Unfunny banter, predictable anti-jock plotting, hackneyed life lessons and lots of synth-pop ensue. �P.B. (July 14, 4:45 WT; July 15, 7:15 WT)

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The DL Chronicles

DL stands for "on the down low," and in this trio of shorts directed by Quincy LeNear and Deondray Gossett, the men of deception are gay and black but presenting as heterosexual husbands, fathers and other do-gooding archetypes. Take Wes, for example. He's rich, handsome and successful. His wife is gorgeous. Yet he can't bring himself to fuck her. Not now, not ever. But lo, when wifey's gay brother comes to town, he and Wes get randy while she sleeps unwittingly in the room next door. The mantra "I'm straight, I love my wife" pervades. And while the idea that being both black and gay is doubly hard isn't lost in the soapiness, it's sugarcoated with enough soft jazz and moonlit buttocks to keep gravity at bay. �A.H. (July 18, 7:15 WT; July 19, 5:00 WT)

A Four Letter Word

Despite its leading man, A Four Letter Word is anything but predictable. Luke (the hilarious Jesse Archer) is what his friends and co-workers refer to as a "gay cliche." The promiscuous, boa-wearing party boy spends his days working retail at a sex toy shop and nights prowling the New York club scene for someone to take home � and promptly forget. "If you're not sparkling, what the fuck are you doing?" he asks of his critics. As his fellow employee Zeke (Cory Grant) moves on to mentor gay teens and organize equal rights marches, Luke simply applies an extra layer of lip gloss. This all changes, however, when a one-night stand develops into a relationship with the charming yet mysterious Stephen. Will Luke sell out and work on a meaningful, monogamous relationship? Considering his previous motto, "Home is a four-letter word for no other option," it won't be easy. �Monica Weymouth (July 12, 7:30 PMT; July 14, 2:45 PMT)

Glue

Largely improvised by its young cast, Alexis dos Santos' "Adolescent Story in the Middle of Nowhere" is an appropriately disjointed account of three Patagonian teenagers fumbling with their nascent sexualities. His curly hair teased into a cumulus tangle, Lucas (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart) plays the Violent Femmes on endless repeat, his body jerking to their anxious rhythms. But as much as he listens to "Add It Up," he can't quite do the math. His half-naked roughhousing with his best friend, Nacho (Nahuel Viale), has obvious sexual undertones, but both boys seem blissfully oblivious (or at least unconsciously complicit) until a mixture of cable porn and glue-sniffing erodes their guard. Glue is nothing so simple as a coming-out story, especially once the shy but equally curious Andrea (Inés Efron) enters the picture; the movie is less interested in defining its characters than embodying their own half-finished struggle to define themselves. Shifting between jittery, hazed-over video and saturated Super8, Dos Santos grasps the evanescence of teenage self-discovery. Not every moment works (an oily wrestling match between two middle-aged women seems woefully out of key), but those that do have an unforced intimacy. �S.A. (July 17, 9:30 WT; July 20, 5:30 AB)

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The Godfather of Disco

Putatively a documentary on West End Records founder Mel Cheren, Godfather spends the bulk of its time exploring the symbiotic relationship between record labels and club DJs at the height of the disco era. Gene Graham's doc begins and ends with Cheren's personal life, finally paying tribute to him not only as a dance music visionary but as a pioneer in the crusade against AIDS. But so much homage is paid by the slew of talking head DJs to Larry Levan, one gets the impression that if the DJ/producer hadn't died in 1992, the film would have shoved Cheren away from center stage. As it stands, Godfather is a loving reminiscence of a not-far-bygone era and offers nothing but respect to a much-maligned genre. �S.B. (July 14, 9:30 PMT; July 16, 9:30 WT)

The best scene in Henry Jaglom's latest comes when Tanna Frederick's desperately struggling actress wanders into a backyard film being shot by a trio of schoolkids and ends up getting fired by the preteen director. If only Jaglom controlled the reins of his own films with such discipline, you wouldn't have to dig so hard to find the pearls in his flabby, overstuffed films. The main obstacle here is the lead performance by Frederick, an unrestrained, hysterical portrait of a disturbed, ambitious young woman. It's nearly impossible to tell when she's playing a horrendous actress and when she simply is one. But Jaglom's typically improvisatory methods allow room for a here's-how-it's-done over-the-top comedic turn from Karen Black and a heartfelt one from Melissa Leo. Too bad they're left adrift in such a meandering film, which otherwise is yet another attempt to skewer the easy-target mores of La La Land. �S.B. (July 13, 9:30 PMT; July 14, 12:30 PMT)

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In Sickness and in Health

Pilar Prassas' moving documentary is, at heart, the story of Marilyn Maneely and Diane Marini, whose longtime relationship became the center of New Jersey's battle over gay marriage. Although they were among those who successfully lobbied for domestic partnership benefits, the inequities that remained became tragically clear when Maneely was diagnosed with the degenerative nerve disease ALS. As Maneely lived out her last days, Marini joined six other couples in suing the state for the right to marry, which resulted in the recognition of civil unions in 2006. A bittersweet partial victory, as Marini describes it: "They've put us in the front seat, but they've given us our own bus." That the difference between marriage and union is more than semantic is made achingly clear when Marini describes not being allowed to sign the papers willing Maneely's body to science; even as domestic partners, they were never quite equal. Prassas' movie is rough around the edges, but the boldness and braveness of her subjects shines through. In simple human terms, their story is too powerful to ignore. �S.A. (July 15, 5:15 PMT)

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Itty Bitty Titty Committee

For all of its references to feminist icons, Jamie Babbit's girl-power satire is woefully unschooled. Raising Victor Vargas' Melonie Diaz plays Anna, a jilted baby dyke who gets her consciousness raised by sultry Sadie (Nicole Vicius), the take-no-prisoners head of the art-terrorist group C(I)A (Clits in Action). Wide-eyed Anna's entrée gives the movie license to drop names and factoids galore: A torrid lovemaking session is interrupted to cite the percentage of women discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." It's fine to sugar-coat a polemic for the uninitiated � no one said revolution can't be a blast � but even under the surface, Itty Bitty lacks teeth: Its climactic revelation is that the Washington Monument looks like a big cock. (Take that, patriarchy!) Babbit's taste in forebears is exquisite (the soundtrack, crammed with songs by Le Tigre, Sleater-Kinney and Team Dresch would make a formidable mix tape), but Babbit doesn't seem to have learned anything from them about the conjunction of revolutionary politics and radical aesthetics. It's not much of a movie, but Itty Bitty makes a great shopping list. �S.A. (July 14, 7:15 PMT; July 15, 2:15 PMT)

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Life of Reilly

A few years back, Alec Baldwin did a memorable impression of Charles Nelson Reilly on SNL, being grilled by Will Ferrell's James Lipton on Inside the Actor's Studio. This record of Reilly's repetitively staged but engaging one-man show, Save It for the Stage, is the real deal, letting Reilly put the game shows behind him and relate his lifelong love of acting. While he's far from coy about his sexuality (recounting a rejection by NBC in the '50s because "they don't let queer on television"), neither does he delve into his personal life � instead recounting the tragicomic tale of his childhood, spent with an overbearing mother, a (literally) straitjacketed father and a lobotomized aunt. �S.B. (July 15, 3:00 PMT; July 22, 4:45 AB)

Pascal Robitaille's Dogme 95-certified film, the first Canadian feature adhering to Lars Von Trier's minimalist guidelines, follows teenaged cutie-pie Médéric as he comes out to his mom and takes an erotic camping trip with his older, wiser boyfriend, William, and another gay couple. Robitaille uses only natural light and sound as a somewhat shaky camcorder is passed around from character to character. They film everything � from Médéric's birthday party, when Mom goes bonkers after William plants a sloppy kiss on her son, to a sexy encounter between Médéric and another camper in a tent. The intentionally amateurish camerawork sometimes borders on snooze-inducing (the prolonged shot of the car's side mirror as the boys cruise to the country; the never-ending close-up of their crackling campfire), and more than one scene devolves into Real World-style testimony wherein each guy none-too-subtly tells the camera his story. But considering that the actors improvised the entire thing, dialogue and all, and the film was made on, literally, no budget, Lonely makes for pleasant enough company. That said, it's no Breaking the Waves. �Tami Fertig (July 17, 5:00 WT; July 21, 7:45 AB)

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Love and Other Disasters

The chick flick's pink, glittery bar has been raised with this Alek Keshishian film, which boasts an Orlando Bloom cameo, three airport chases, relentless Breakfast at Tiffany's references and plenty of hot gay men � all set in swanky London. Brittany Murphy stars as Emily Jackson ("Jacks"), an assistant at U.K. Vogue with a vague American backstory to explain the worst British accent since Madonna hopped across the pond. Jacks is so busy setting up her shy gay roommate, Peter (Matthew Rhys), that she neglects her own sad love life. Mostly a less amusing Will & Grace, Love occasionally and brilliantly redeems itself. Catherine Tate is hilarious as Talullah, a strung-out poet with a fetish for black men and a purse full of hash brownies. And when Peter consults a psychologist, you can easily forgive Jacks' knockoff Audrey bangs. Relationships, the straight-talking shrink tells him, are like farting: First comes denial, then truth, then disgust. True that. �M.W. (July 13, 5:00 PMT; July 15, 7:00 PMT)

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Love Sick

Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu makes a lasting impression with his feature film debut. Love Sick is a relatively simple story with complex emotional undertones, ebbing and flowing from the lighter-than-air bliss of young love to the confusion and desperation of heartache. Maria Popistasu and Ioana Barbu give refreshing performances as Kiki and Alex, two college students caught up in a blossoming romance that is challenged by Kiki's sexually charged relationship with her brother. The film is not weighed down by the all-too-familiar business of dealing with adolescent exploration of sexuality; that the lovers are both girls is inconsequential. Instead, it focuses on the developing tensions felt on all sides of the triangle � not a new concept, but one that is dealt with here in a provocative and moving way. �Sara Scott (July 17, 5:00 PMT; July 21, 12:00 PMT)

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Mala Noche

Released from limbo after 22 years (and minus a few costly music cues), Gus Van Sant's 1985 debut is a daydream of urban decay, set on the mean streets of Portland, Ore. Shot in the acid black-and-white of a seedy film noir, the movie shadows Walt (Tim Streeter), a rumpled liquor-store clerk who develops an erotic fixation on a full-lipped Mexican transient (Doug Cooeyate). In his first feature, Van Sant demonstrates the attraction to sensual impressions that dominates Elephant and Last Days; the movie cuts abruptly into too-tight close-ups, stacking images haphazardly and then lingering longingly on a fugitive instant, driven by Walt's desire to savor every moment of closeness with his determinedly heterosexual crush. The movie's progress is unsteady, its narration (taken from Walt Curtis' autobiographical novel) clumsy and awkwardly booming, but it has an exquisite feel for the rhythm of a disjunctive life. �S.A. (July 17, 9:30 PMT; July 19, 9:30 PMT)

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Out at the Wedding

Through a whirlwind of gossip, Alex, a Southerner now living in New York, gets outed as a lesbian at her sister's wedding. She's actually quite straight and engaged to a charming man. But because the guy's biracial, Alex has kept him a secret from her family, whom she thinks are total bigots. When her family shows an interest in Alex's lifestyle, she has to scramble to keep all of her lies straight. From the first awkward scene, the characters either fall just short of interesting (such is the case with Alex) or reach way into caricature status (like Alex's token flamboyant best friend). The dialogue feels forced at times, but the film almost turns a corner with the introduction of the lesbian-for-hire Alex pays to pretend to be her girlfriend. Risa (Cathy DeBuono) is easily the most magnetic presence in the film, and her chemistry with Alex's sister is a pleasant surprise. But overall, the payoff comes too late and is wrapped up too quickly. �S.S. (July 13, 7:15 WT; July 15, 5:00 WT)

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Pantasya

Brillante Mendoza orchestrates the vignettes in Pantasya with a deft hand and a throbbing hard-on. His cautious young Filipino protagonists long for happiness, but only in their fantasies can they feel truly fulfilled. At least that's what they say as they drive through crowded streets, searching for bliss and settling instead for a group jerk in the locker room showers or a quickie in the front of a taxicab. The picture is oddly philosophical, its sage and dreamy script punctuated by steamy sex scenes shot with fearless intimacy. As the boys' hungry mouths devour one another's lithe bodies, Mendoza begs the question: And if you could have it your way? �A.H. (July 13, 7:15 AB; July 15, 9:30 WT)

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Socket

The premise in Sean Abley's debut is intriguing: Individuals who've been struck by lightning need electricity to survive. Not in any quantifiable way, but in order to feel whole. And so they seek out others like themselves. They meet in secret, shock one another, and go on all-night clubbing benders. The electrocution scenes are thunderously orgasmic � bodies shudder, brows sweat and voyeurs can't help but feel hot and tingly. (It doesn't hurt that leading man Derek Long is Michael C. Hall-handsome, times 1,000.) Eventually, Long and his loverboy, an intern at the hospital where he works, get the brilliant idea to surgically implant plugs in their wrists to "charge up" whenever they need a boost. Before we know it, the doc's a total addict � sneaking into nightclub bathrooms to electrocute himself, showering with a TV set at his feet, and sticking a fork tine in a socket at work. It's an electric slide downward when Long starts killing hookers and homeless people just to get his fix, but inspired nonetheless. Or should we say powerful? �A.H. (July 14, 9:30 WT; July 15, 5:00 AB)

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Starrbooty

If you've been wondering what RuPaul's been up to these last few years (and we know you have), look no further than this campy, trashy, so-bad-it's-almost-funny spoof of 1960s blaxploitation flicks. Here's what you'll get: hollow dialogue, absurd acting, "juicy" Russian cock shots, cheap polyester ensembles that make Lady Lord look like Saks couture, highly coiffed secret agents who pause in the middle of gun battles to answer their cell phones, a priest who likes jerking off to the smell of farts, RuPaul taking it up the cooch/butt/whatever, a fat queen fellating a pickle, and the most grotesque cameo with Lady Bunny your virgin eyes have ever seen. Overall, a hammy inebriated romp, though one that may turn you off sex forever. �A.H. (July 14, 9:30 PMT; July 15, 2:30 WT)

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Times Have Been Better

Two bourgeois left-wing parents react, quite awkwardly, to their 33-year-old "golden boy" son coming out in Régis Musset's witty and perceptive film. As a mild comedy made for French television, however, it tends to rely a bit too much on gay stereotypes. Yes, Dad is angry, emasculated and vitriolic because his son is queer. Yes, a bitter old queen is on hand to dole out advice to the sympathetic mother. And yes, there is embarrassing speculation about dear gay son being the bottom (not to mention parental despair about a future without grandchildren). Yet Times Have Been Better is endearing because, stereotypes notwithstanding, the emotions the characters express feel real. And while the messages about acceptance may be obvious, the film is perfect nonthreatening viewing for a queer couple to take their in-laws to see. �Gary M. Kramer (July 16, 7:15 WT; July 22, 12:15 WT)

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Trantasia

A deeply humorous, occasionally poignant and infinitely entertaining glimpse at the life of trans entertainers, Jeremy Stanford's documentary tracks the first ever World's Most Beautiful Transsexual contest set against the lame-and-crystal-studded backdrop of Las Vegas. Stanford follows six of the contestants offstage, where they introduce him to their families, ambitions and candid, often surprising observations about transgender identity. Stanford paces the proceedings well � by the time the competition reaches a hair-teasing frenzy, the viewer has already developed allegiances with particular characters. But as in any competition, sympathy does not always lead to victory. �Elisa Ludwig (July 14, 2:45 PMT; July 16, 9:30 AB)

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2:37

Murali K. Thalluri's directorial debut chronicles a day in the life of seven troubled high-schoolers. After we're shown that a student has committed suicide in a school bathroom, we're transported back to the start of the day to predict which of the youngsters will check themselves out early. We meet each student and learn their potential motives for suicide, which range from a macho gay athlete's inability to be true to his secret stoner lover to the pregnancy of a girl raped by her brother. But it's hard to drum up sympathy when each character is a hollow cliche; by the end of the film, we couldn't care less about which of them actually dies. �Donny Sheldon (July 15, 9:15 PMT; July 17, 7:15 PMT)