Bear Nation

I wanted to see this when it was on the Queer film festival circuit. Fortunately I caught it this week before Netflix takes it off instant streaming on 6/1. I didn't know much about this topic, mostly my own negative stereotypes about hairy, gay, chubby white dudes. To be fair there is plenty of that, but this documentary exposed me to so much more about the Bear culture. It's funny the more we get to know people, the more alike we really are. What really struck a chord with me was this theme of being comfortable in ones own skin and wanting to feel acknowledged and accepted. The subjects in the film all talk about feeling excluded within the larger LGBT community. Then to take the discrimination a step further, thin Bears talk about being ostracized by the Bear community itself. It all sounds very familiar. I wondered as I watched the film what Bears of color think. In the film I spotted two chocolate chips in the milk in the B roll Bear Pride shots. That's one of the few critiques about the film, I would have liked more diversity. The film includes subjects from the US, Canada and Europe and only one person of color, a very cute Asian man. The film does a great job of explaining the Bear culture but at times, some interviewees seemed to look down on "more effeminate" men or as one subject stated, "limp wristed" men. The film quality was good, a few outdoor scenes has some audio issues but not terribly distracting. The interviews has some fun and innovative angles. Overall I was "Bear-y"pleased with this film.



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Location:West Hollywood, CA

Defiance

Last night I finally watched Defiance, it has been sitting on my shelf for several months. The history geek in my was bubbling, I wanted to see it when it was in the movies, two years ago, but never got around to it. I was assembling my race track and I settled in for the journey. The movie stars, Liev Schreiber and Daniel Craig, some pretty nice eye candy, oh wait I digress. Anywho the story is about these three brothers in Eastern Europe who survive a Nazi attack and retreat into the Belarussian forrest. They partner with the Russians and create a community that saves the lives of thousands of Jews during WWII.  I thought about the fact that this movie came out at the same time as Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise, which I did see in the movies. Two very different stories about the Nazi's in WWII Europe. And of course I began to think about the number of movies about the holocaust, my favorite, if I can have a favorite in this genre is Schindler's List. And what I noticed is how these stories detail the atrocities of the Holocaust, but the stories are so moving and uplifting because they are about survival and faith. And I reflect on the number of fiction films that I have seen about Africans and African-Americans and slavery. Roots (a TV miniseries, not a film) and Amistad are the two that come to mind. Roots as a child was incredibly ground breaking, Roots as seen by my adult eyes this summer was terribly insulting. Those are the happiest most leisurely slaves ever. Amistad was a phenomenal film, but definitely told from the perspective of the white lawyer. So I discussed this with my girlfriend and she said, that slavery was depressing and we never left the land we were enslaved on so who wants to revisit that. Which I agree, but on the other hand, I worry that our history is not being told. We our losing our tradition of passing on oral history from generation to generation, because of the stigma and shame of slavery. But there are some many tales of triumph and love and survival within the horrific institution of slavery. Now as a film maker, passion is one thing, but marketability is another. I want people to see my films, not sit on a library shelf if I'm lucky enough to get an educational distributor.  But I feel this overpowering need to preserve our history and that includes our enslavement on American soil. I get to touch on this in my thesis documentary, but there are still so many stories left untold.

King's Speech

When I was an undergraduate, and people asked me what my major was I responded "speech path" the response was either a blank stare or "what the hell is that? or both. So the fact that there is a major Oscar contending movie about speech pathology almost made me wet me pants. I was privvy to this screenplay three years ago, when I attended my second Fierce Backbone meeting. Fierce is a theatre group and in that visit I sat in the small Hollywood theatre and heard a reading by playwright David Seidler about a play he was working on about a stuttering English king. The speech pathologist in me was way more excited than the director or playwright, someone knows of the work I do? And with such great pride I finally saw this Stutter King not on stage but on screen. What a wonderfully acted film. Rarely do I enjoy movies with character who stutter as they are frequently comedic in nature and I find there is nothing funny about a speech disorder. But they movie tackle what can be quite a debilitating disorder with intergrity, compassion and authenticity. I do encourage folks to see this movie and I do hope that sweet David Seidler brings home the Oscar in a few weeks.

Orphan

I hate to waste my first movie blog on this dreadful movie. It made no attempt at originality it was a terrible combination of The Omen, The Good Son and every crappy Lifetime movie about a stranger that becomes a part of a family. It is the same tired formula, troubled wife that has a checkered past that renders her unreliable. Sappy husband who believes everyone except his loved ones despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. A family friend who comes to warn the family and is then killed by this character. I think a green house and a lake are pretty customary. A prolonged ending where the culprit continues to attack despite repeated false endings that supposedly lead the audience to believe that he/she has died. What is sad about these films is that beyond being completely insulting to the audience that almost always portray the mother/wife in a poor light.