SGN Page 24

Friday
June 15, 2007
Vol 35 Issue 24

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Sunday, Sep 07, 2008

The Real Spin: After the parade, curl up on a sofa with these Gay-buzzed DVDs

The Real Spin: After the parade, curl up on a sofa with these Gay-buzzed DVDs
by Ron Anders - SGN A&E Writer Gay Pride is upon us and the sun is out at last! After marching in the parade, romping with friends at the rally, and partying at your favorite hot spot -- you may want to curl up on your sofa with these new DVD releases. They will provide knockout entertainment --ranging from British royalty to showbiz royalty. Alan Bennett's dialogue snaps, crackles and pops in the film version of his award-inning play, The History Boys. Set in a boys' prep school in England in 1983, the film is charged with more than its share of homoerotic electricity, mixed with a profound contemplation on the very nature of history - how we pass our values on to the next generation. Centering on the conflicts between the Oxford-bound boys and their dedicated and often disillusioned professors, the film is filled with energy, wit and intelligence. Numerous times, I replayed scenes for my sheer enjoyment. The film was irresistible to me. Extras include a world-tour video diary of the play, culminating in opening night on Broadway. At the end of the movie, I wondered about the lessons we learn from history: are they indeed cautions for the future, or perhaps - as one student puts it -- "history is just one fucking thing after another." While we're on the other side of the "pond", we have The Queen. Endless praise has been lavished on Helen Mirren's Oscar-winning, uncanny portrayal of her majesty - and it is all justified. She is riveting, impossible not to watch. The small miracle of this film is how its creators took an event which has already been thoroughly dissected in the media - the death of Princess Diana and the resulting world-wide surge of grief - and turned it into a film which is hypnotically gripping and (surprisingly) very funny. It was a daring and risky move that had a big payoff. The Queen is one of the best films of 2006 (in fact, it comes in a close second to Shortbus, my top film of last year). The "making-of" featurette is unremarkable, but after witnessing a performance like Mirren's, it doesn't much matter. The most anticipated movie of 2006, Dreamgirls, took a few decades to get to the screen from Broadway - as did Chicago, another glittery period piece that brought movie musicals back from their dinosaur-like hibernation. All the elements are there: mega-watt star power (Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and an Oscar-winning Jennifer Hudson), eye-popping sets, kinetic choreography and - thankfully - superb editing that respects the artists and the audience by not using MTV as its standard. It is a movie that I wanted to love, wanted to rave about. I didn't love it, but there is still a whole lot to enjoy in this tale of The Supremes (alias the Dreamettes) and their stormy journey to the top of the pop charts. The songs written for the original Broadway production still sparkle, but those written directly for the film have a blandness that takes some of the heart (and heat) out of the story. Dreamgirls has been released in two editions: a single disc, which includes deleted scenes, and the two-disc Showstopper Edition which gives us about five hours (!) of featurettes covering every aspect of the process of adapting a hit Broadway show to the screen. The features are endlessly enjoyable - but sometimes feel just endless. On some other end of the musical spectrum are The Kinsey Sicks, a self-titled "dragapella beautyshop quartet." The Kinseys are four guys dressed to the nines in outrageous drag, possessing heavenly voices, loads of attitude and a sense of the politically outrageous second to none. I am a huge fan (bordering on groupie) of these beauties and have been driven to helpless, hysterical laughter many times during their live shows in Seattle. They are truly my Dreamgirls. Their happy insanity has been captured on I Wanna Be A Republican, a concert DVD filmed during a performance in San Francisco. The show is staged as a mock GOP fundraiser, giving our heroines ample ammunition to skewer all things right wing. The group includes Winnie (the schoolmarmish matron), Trixie (with a soprano to die for), Trampolina (the dumb brunette) and Rachel (the pushy broad who will do anything - and anyone - for a laugh). They are great comedians and superb vocalists. If you can't catch them live, this disc is the next best thing. Features include a making-of short, If These Wigs Could Talk. A disclaimer on the back of the DVD case warns: "some material may be inappropriate for sensitive viewers and/or goats." Need I say more? Emily Rios as Magdalena, a soulful 15 year-old, is the beautiful and poignant center of Quinceanera - a portrait of life in the quickly-gentrifying Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles is simultaneously gritty and sweet. It achieves the not inconsiderable challenge of avoiding the feel-good clichés of films about the importance of family. Rios etches an utterly original and unselfconscious portrait of a girl who struggles to succeed despite the sociological odds against her. Matching her scene for scene is Jesse Garcia as Carlos, Magdalena's smolderingly angry and sexy cousin, faced with coming out as a young Gay man in a hostile environment. Chalo González as Uncle Thomas is another scene-stealer. Quinceanera, a resounding hit at Sundance last year, is one of those completely unexpected movie pleasures that I found refreshing and delightful - the kind of film that puts your faith back in movies. If you want to surprise a buddy with a Gay Pride gift, consider these flicks a sure bet. Whether his interests lie in the mean streets of L.A. or Buckingham Palace, they will supply some refreshing time to cool his heels before the next big Pride event.

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