Eldar Rapaport’s August played Saturday night at the Frameline film festival here in San Francisco, and while it’s a moody, thoughtful, stylized love story between two ex-boyfriends and one current boyfriend, it is not as good as the trailer (above). Why are gay filmmakers so good at editing their trailers, but not their actual movies?
I do recommend August (the actors are hot and the score and cinematography were gorgeous), but it would have been a lot better than it was had it been about 20 minutes shorter. By the 80th exchange of brooding glances between characters, I got it: they’re brooding. The same problem with redundancy (be it in dialogue, facial expressions, or sweeping wide shots) existed in a number of other movies, documentaries, and short (i.e., long) films that I watched over the weekend.
Maybe gay men are too narcissistic to cut from their own work, and that’s why so many “gay movies” come out over-written and under-edited? Or, maybe I shouldn’t attempt to be a movie critic because what do I know, really? After all, there are plenty of straight filmmakers who make equally earnest yet sometimes tedious independent films, so narcissism knows no sexual orientation. Or, maybe what I’m really trying to say is, I have the attention span of a gold fish.
On Sunday, I watched a cute, 35-minute documentary on a Christmas tree called Making Christmas. It was touching and informative, and it could have been a little bit shorter! So sweet, though:
Later on Sunday, I saw Judas Kiss. The convoluted story–a grown man returns to his college to judge a film festival where one of the student filmmakers is a younger version of the grown man and they end up sleeping with each other–didn’t bother me because I went into the screening knowing the fantasy aspect of the plot. The lead, played by Richard Harmon, was great, but it was Timo Descamps (the blond in the trailer below) who stole every scene. And, of course, Brent Corrigan/Sean Paul Lockhart. You can be skeptical of his chances at making it as a mainstream actor, but if you actually see Judas Kiss, you won’t be skeptical of Lockhart’s talent. His performance was understated, natural, and the heart of the movie:
Frameline continues through June 26th, and the calendar of screenings and events is here.
embarrassed to be gay
Go suck a titty then.
August plays like your typical gay movie: Skin (to get gay men to the theater), Angst (because we gay men never seem to grow up always looking back) and Deception (yep gay men cheat)= SAD movie…no thanks!!
Check out these gay movies that may have escaped your notice:
1. Wilby Wonderful (LOVE this movie)
2. Madagascar Skin (touching and well done)
3. The Bubble (simply heart breaking and compelling)
4. Walk on Water (I have seen it too many times)
5. C.R.A.Z.Y. (personal favorite)
That guy on the freeze-frame picture for the first trailer is beautiful! Wow.
That would be the lovely Murray Bartlett. I heart him deeply, and would stalk him mercilessly if I were let back in the country.
And he was on Guiding Light too. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him!
and Farscape.
Murray Bartlett was the hot, comically overbearing Australian in “Flight Of the Conchords.”
Ref: Brent Corrigan, “His performance was understated, natural, and the heart of the movie.”
A generous endorsement from ‘The Sword.’ I have yet to see Judas Kiss other than the trailers. Your description would fit any movie Sean/Brent has had a prominent role in. Hopefully the ‘Austin (Texas) Gay and Lesbian Film Festival’ will pick it up for their event in September. The application was sent. No word last I heard.
Brent Corrigan is ‘understated, natural etc.” Sean can be a tough businessman. Both descriptions are the real Sean. Add charm and beauty. He is a rarity. Looking forward to seeing the movie.
From what I have read, the credits at the end are part of the entertainment. No doubt Carlos Pedraza and Jody Wheeler with J.T. Tepnapa abused the cast and crew without mercy.
Nice write up Zach