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Shared Darkness

A Communal Life in Film, Examined

Daily Archives: February 17, 2007

Inland Empire Interview and Q&A Clips

director David Lynch’s self-release of the film through his production company Absurda, these video clips of the filmmaker and members of his reparatory company at the movie’s AFI Fest premiere last fall provide either tantalizing glimpses forward or a few interesting glimpses back for fans.

Excerpts of the Q&A with Lynch, Laura Dern and Justin Theroux, moderated by Shaz Bennett, are notable for Lynch’s jocular tone. For a more impressionistic pass, check out the music-set montage of arrival, red carpet and party room mingling. A straight interview with Theroux may be the most interesting of the pieces; he talks some about seeing Lynch’s Blue Velvet as a teenager. Of course, if you want more, read my chat with Theroux from last summer by clicking here.

101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men

We know what makes The
Boys in the Band a gay movie. But why is Mommie Dearest gay? Or Fight Club?
Or Jackass? On Wednesday, February
21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, in collaboration with DIVA (Diverse
and Inclusive Visionary Artists), author and film journalist Alonso Duralde provides
a glimpse into how he crafted the list for his book, 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men.

Through images and discussion,
Duralde will demonstrate that a movie can be considered “queer” without having
any specific homosexual content. Join Duralde as he discusses a broad range of
favorites including Boom!, Showgirls, Valley of the Dolls, The
Women, Tongues Untied, Dog Day Afternoon, Swoon, Female Trouble, Bound, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and many more. A reception will be held after
the event, sponsored by Absolut.

Bridge to Terabithia

Based on Katherine Paterson’s popular Newbery Award-winning novel of the same name,
Bridge to Terabithia is part family drama, part adolescent fantasy — a
wonderful little movie about friendship, as well as about the power and exhilaration of
a blossoming imagination.

Zathura’s Josh Hutcherson (above, right) stars as Jess, a reserved 11-year-old who’s a bit
of an outsider at school and home as well. When he strikes up a
friendship with the quirky new girl in town (AnnaSophia Robb, of
Because of Winn-Dixie), together they create a secret, magical kingdom that serves as their joint escape. There they play-act a series of fantastical escapades
against figurative representations of school bullies and, in the
process, change each other for the better. The movie mines a deep reservoir of genuine feeling that’s often missing
in adolescent entertainment, combining it with just the right amount of
sensory pleasures. For a short review of the film, from CityBeat, click here. Alternately, for a longer look at the movie and Walden Media’s new lock on kids’ lit, in a piece from FilmStew, click here.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Director Jean-Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y. explores the triumph and beauty of acceptance, both of
oneself and others. Spanning two decades, the film chronicles the life of young
gay male Zac (Marc-André Grondin), focusing on the contentious relationship he
has with his father Gervais (Michel Côté). The pain they endure, the lessons
they teach one another and, ultimately, the love they exude for one another helped
make this heart-warming coming-of-age film a smash hit in its native
French-speaking Canada,
ringing up over $5 million in theatrical receipts.

Zachary Beaulieu was born on Christmas Day in 1960, a symbolic
blessing indicative of his power to heal, according to his very Catholic mother (Danielle Poulx). Of his five sons, Gervais seems to favor Zac over the others, but Zac’s birth date
is just one of many things that set him apart from his siblings. When Gervais begins
to witness unusual behavior in his son at an early age (including Zac’s preference
for his mother’s clothing), their relationship undergoes a change; he becomes distant
and disdainful of him, an aversion that Zac will spend the rest of his
childhood trying to overcome. Zac still shows signs of those tendencies through
his teenage years (such as his David Bowie-style glam-rock look), but his
father’s conservative values push him to repress his sexuality for a long time.
As Zac ultimately moves towards self-actualization, Gervais must also come to
grips with the reality about his son, and grapple with acceptance of his
lifestyle.

C.R.A.Z.Y. was a
sensation on the festival circuit, playing at the Toronto International Film
Festival, picking up an audience award at AFI Fest, and winning 10 Genie Awards
including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Côté). It’s easy to see why. The film is nicely acted, and superbly constructed by Vallée. (Much praise has also
rightly been given to the eclectic soundtrack of the movie, which ranges from Pink
Floyd and the Rolling Stones to Patsy Cline and David Bowie, and a European friend of mine recently mentioned was a club re-mix staple in Amsterdam). The only big knock on the movie is that its script is a bit repetitive and married to structural clichés, in that it elongates the arc of sibling bickering to such a degree that resolution feels forestalled instead of worked through and arrived at. Still, there’s some fine work here, if one is inclined to be interested in coming-out stories.

Presented in a regular Amray case, in 1:85 anamorphic widescreen
and with a French language Dolby digital 5.1 sound, C.R.A.Z.Y.
comes with English subtitles, obviously. There are unfortunately no supplemental DVD extras to distinguish this disc. B- (Movie) D (Disc)

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