Reports from a darkened theatre: more Outfest

Outfest 2009 is now history. As always, it was a great time to catch up with movie-going friends and see gay themed movies.Outfest always manages to put together a great event. And it’s consistently the best run film festival I attend.

But by the end of its 10 day run, it’s a relief that it’s over. As great as the event is, it’s also an endurance test that leaves you exhausted, especially when contending with other demands of life and work..

I saw 6 films during the opening weekend. And during the second half, I saw four more films plus which are reported on below. I also attended a panel on the new TV series Glee a fun event which pumped anticipation for the show’s fall debut. And to close my Outfest going, I went to an event where film director Don Roos talked about his experiences in Hollywood and offered some controversial opinions.

The winners of the Outfest Awards are reported in a separate posting.

Making the Boys

In April 1968, Boys in the Band made history by being the first play about gay men. Oh sure, there had been other plays that touched on homosexuality, but this one was out, loud and somewhat proud. Some cringe at the stereotypical portrayals of gay men as flaming queens and bitter aging men, but the play still marks a special place in history if only for running over 1000 performances off-Broadway. And then in March 1970, a movie based on the play using the original off-Broadway stage cast was released.

This documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of both the play and movie. But it’s so much more than that. Making the Boys examines the circumstances that lead up Mart Crowley’s penning the play and the play/movie’s impact. And finally, it catches you up on what happened to the actors in the 40 years since then.

Director Crayton Robey, who made a splash with his amazing 2003 documentary, Where Ocean Meets Sky, has an equally impressive second film. He met Crowley while making that that first film about Fire Island’s gay scene and later asked if he could make a documentary about Boys. Crowley felt “neglected” after being shunned for years once Boys fell out of favor, but Robey convinced him that it was an important story that needed to be told, that should be preserved. Because of the friendship they’d built, Robey manages to get a deeply intimate interview with Crowley. Other documentarians can only dream of getting their subjects to open up and talk about uncomfortable things the way Crowley does.

Robey (pictured right) also got an impressive array of interviews with other notable figures, including playwrights Tony Kushner, Edward Albee and Terrence McNally who admitted that he could never have made Love! Valor! Compassion! (about the relationship between a group of gay men) if Boys in the Band hadn’t come first.

But this film goes far beyond the play/movie. Robey uses extensive archival footage to explain society’s attitudes toward homosexuality in the 1960s and how things began changing following the Stonewall riots. As Robey explained, “it’s a moment of visibility. It's about the movement as well as about the play.”

The print that Outfest audiences saw was a work in progress. It was nearly complete, but Robey hopes to get an interview with William Fried kin, the young director who made the Boys movie before moving on to direct such hits as The Exorcist and The French Connection (for which he won an Oscar). Hopefully he will since a Friedkin interview will serve to make this must-see film into a don’t-you-dare-miss one.

Drool

Imagine John Waters directing Thelma and Louise and you start to get a feel for this campy dark comedy about a poor white trash woman escaping and finding love.

Laura Herring (best known for David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive) stars as Anora, a beaten down wife (literally and figuratively) who falls for Imogene, the perky and optimistic black woman who sells “Kathy Kay” cosmetics. Anora’s racist lout of a husband takes an immediate dislike to Imogene and when he finds the two women together, he has a fit. He’s accidently killed, which leads to impromptu road trip trying to figure out where to dispose of the body.

Shot in 15 days in Louisiana, this film is funny and sad, moving and affirming. Although writer/director Nancy Kissam grew up in Long Island, she says she loves the South, saying that despite how homophobic and racist it is, it’s also rich and colorful and passionate.

Indeed, Kissam does bring the color out. Remember in The Wizard of Oz, how Kansas was in black and white, but once Dorothy arrives in Oz, everything is in color? Drool uses a similar effect, gradually increasing the color saturation as Anora gets further and further from home. By the end everything has an otherworld feel.

While the story is dark, Kissam lightens the mood by having animated sequences carry the story through some of the darkest scenes. And the animation works for the story because the teenage daughter is a budding artist.

Speaking of the daughter, Kissam says she hated Tabby as written in her script and kept rewriting her scenes to make her more likeable and believable, all to no avail in her opinion. Yet, once actress Ashley Duggan Smith started performing Tabby’s scenes, Kissam feel in love with the character.

The film also deserves special note for the make-up. Jill Marie Jones, who plays Imogene, has a different look in every scene. Jones reports she spent an hour each day in makeup to create the vibrant look to match the Imogene’s personality. Jones pulls off the look and the character perfectly.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the title, Kissam reports she loves the word “drool,” saying visceral and evokes strong images. The fact that Outfest audiences were drooling after Drool apparently was just a coincidence.

Make the Yuletide Gay

A gay Christmas film – a niche film within a niche film – this comedy is about an out and proud queer student who’s still in the closet to his parents. Hilarity ensues when his roommate/lover surprises him by coming to spend the holidays with his family.

Adamo Ruggiero, the openly gay actor best known for playing Marco on TV's Degrassi: The Next Generation, stars as the roommate/lover who comes to visit. He has a good flare for comedy and carries the film with his reassuring presence.

Ruggiero (pictured on right) and Keith Jordan (picutred on left), who plays his boyfriend, make a believable couple. The casting of these two actors with such amazing chemistry was surely serendipity as Jordan reports that the two started shooting scenes just a few hours after meeting.

Kelly Keaton is also notable for her hilarious portrayal of the mom. She offers laughs every time she opens her mouth. No matter how many times she says, “Don’t Cha Know,” it never seemed to get old.

The impetus for the film came at a Hollywood party when two actors (Keaton and Derek Long) started talking in a Wisconsin accent. Writer/director Rob Williams (Long Term Relationship, 3-Day Weekend) had been pondering on his next movie, but upon hearing this impromptu comedy session, he realized wanted them for the parents. With those two characters in mind, the story started writing itself. And the script he came up with is witty and clever.

Shot in 12 days in December 2008, the movie was done in the “Roger Corman style” as co-star Allison Arngrim (pictured right), best known as villainess Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie, described it. Corman is know for his ultra low budget films hurriedly shot -- set up a scene, shoot it from various angles and then move on to the next scene.

And therein is the film’s biggest problem. The production’s low budget is written all over the film. Make the Yuletide Gay looked washed out and the performances seemed to be all over the place. Oh, don’t get me wrong, the actors do a very good job with what they had, but they didn’t seem to be getting the proper instructions to get them all on the same page for each scene. With a bit more money, this film could have shone brightly, but as is, it’s in need of a good polishing.

Mr. Right

A British ensemble comedy about a group of lovers and frenemies dealing with love and career woes. Some are gay, some are straight, but they’re all striving to find happiness. And along the way, they have many laughs.

Written by David Morris, the film strives to be a gay film you would feel comfortable taking your mother to. Indeed, the fact that most of the characters are gay is of secondary importance to the plot. The scenes are deliberately sensual, but not sexual.

Filmed over 23 days in summer 2006, Mr. Right looks fantastic. Shot on high definition film, it’s crisp and colorful. Indeed London never looked as good as it does here. Much of the movie takes place in Soho, a notorious red light district of Central London (just north of Piccadilly Circus). Director Jacqueline Morris (the writer’s sister) who lives in Soho said she was tired of seeing her neighborhood portrayed on film as a sleazy area. She was determined to make Soho look good and pulled it off skillfully.

Audience reaction was mixed. Some people adored it, while others were left confused. The film’s biggest problem is that eight characters are introduced in the space of 60 seconds; far too quickly for viewers to begin to distinguish them. One’s an actor, one’s an artist, one’s a carpenter/repairman. But I couldn’t begin to tell you who was who.

Further complicating matters is the fact the sound quality is poor. For a film that looks so crisp, the sound is anything but crisp. Dialogue often couldn’t be heard over soundtrack music. And even when there wasn’t music playing, the words were still hard to understand. And it’s not because the actors had heavy accents; the sound was just badly done. Thus, conversations which might have helped distinguish the characters from each other couldn’t be heard properly. Consequently, I was left just to observe. I didn’t feel connected or involved with any of the characters. And that’s a fatal flaw for an ensemble film. Mr. Right was the biggest disappointment of my Outfest experience.