Pride Month Movie - Day Seven: Priest

Priest (1994)

Directed by Antonia Bird

Screenplay by Jimmy McGovern

Stars: Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, Robert Carlyle, Cathy Tyson, Lesley Sharp, Robert Pugh, Christine Tremarco, James Ellis and Paul Barber

I was intending to see The Watermelon Woman or Victim today, but some weirdness with Amazon Prime Video happened and I came upon this movie. I was bored with the movie.

A Roman Catholic priest, Father Greg Pilkington (Roache) is brought to a new parish, St. Mary's. As he gets acclimated to the community, he realizes that his calling and his hidden gay life threaten to intersect.

I understood the internal struggle of Greg. Trying to hide who are you are from others so they don't judge you for being gay. I get that. 

I understood being scared, having internalized homophobia, struggling with dichotomy religion and being your true self. 

My biggest problem is Greg as a character. I felt that he was an asshole to everybody. I cannot reveal too much. I feel that some emotional beats of the movie felt inauthentic to me. It wasn't earned to me. I felt the movie was trying to beat me over the head with a message. I didn't like that.

Rating: 4/10
 

Pride Month Movie - Day Six: Ah-ga-ssi

The Handmaiden (2016)

Directed by Park Chan-wook

Screenplay by Sarah Waters &  Seo-kyeong Jeong & Park Chan-wook

Inspired by the novel "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters 

Stars: Kim Tae-ri, Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong, Kim Hae-sook, Moon So-ri, Min-chae Yoo, Dong-hwi Lee, and Yong-nyeo Lee 

I saw the name of this movie pop on a best of list by Rotten Tomatoes. I have to say I was blown away by this movie.

Set in the backdrop of 1930s Korea under Japanese colonial rule, a young woman, Sook-hee (Tae-ri) is selected to be the handmaiden of a Japanese heiress, Hideko (Min-hee). The more time that they spend to together; the closer they become. Under the surface, Sook-hee is secretly trying to defraud her.

I did not know what to expect from this movie. It was like an onion. Layers upon layers are revealed. I loved every second of it. I was checking to see how much was going to happen. I was in for a wild ride. Every part of the movie tops another part. 

This is a movie that must be seen to be believed.

Rating: 10/10

Pride Month Movie - Day Five: Tangerine

Tangerine (2015)

Directed by Sean Baker

Screenplay by Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch 

Stars: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, Alla Tumanian, James Ransone, and Alla Tumanian

I heard of this movie a couple of years ago with Mya Taylor who plays Alexandra in the movie won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. Seeing the movie now. It was well-deserved. The rest of the movie does not fare so well.

Freshly released from Sin-Dee Rella (Rodriguez) learns from her best friends, Alexandra (Taylor) that her boyfriend/pimp, Chester (Ransone) cheated on her when she was locked up. She tears through West Hollywood trying to find him.

When I was watching the movie, I had a feeling that it was going to have the same narrative structure as Babel or Crash with interlocking stories that will converge. I don't particularly like this way of storytelling. I hate it so much.

The beginning of the movie was frenetic. The camerawork was shaky. I learned that the movie was shot on iPhones. No wonder it felt grainy with a bunch of lens flares.

I did not get the motivations of Sin-Dee. I saw shots of people walking repeatedly. I did not get the deal with Razmik (Karagulian). Why did he need to be in the movie? If the movie was about the friendship of Sin-Dee and Alexandra, then I would have like it more.

Rating: 5/10

Pride Month Movie - Day Four: Fire Island

Fire Island (2022)

Directed by Andrew Ahn

Screenplay by Joel Kim Booster

Stars: Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, Margret Cho, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomas Matos, Torian Miller, Zane Phillips, and Nick Adams

I saw a trailer for this movie and I immediately wanted to watch it. Actually, this movie inspired Pride Movie Month in the first place. It is a nice, frothy romp.

A quartet of friends do their yearly pilgrimage to Fire Island. They stay with their mutual friend, Erin's (Cho) house. They realize that this summer might be their last.

I thought that the movie was going to be focusing around Noah (Booster) and Will (Ricamora) with their situationship. But it was their were equal time with them and Howie (Yang) and Charlie (Scully).

The movie hits on topics like fetishization, elitism, self-esteem, monogamy and consent.

The third act of the movie hit you with all the feels. Seek this movie out.

Rating: 8/10

Pride Month Movie - Day Three: Cruising

Cruising (1980)

Directed by William Friedkin

Screenplay by William Friedkin

Based on the novel by Gerald Walker

Stars: Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Barton Heyman, Joe Spinell, Don Scardino, Randy Jurgensen, and Ed O'Neill

I have heard of this movie. It seems to have a polarizing response since it was released. I have to say that I was confused about the intent of the movie.

There is a serial killer on the loose in NYC. This killer is specifically targeting gay men in the leather/S&M scene. Capt. Edelson (Sorvino) recruits Steve Burns (Pacino) to go undercover in the scene to help sniff out the killer before he kills again.

This movie is weird. It feels as though the entire movie was re-recorded. The ADR was in full effect. It took me out of the movie. The music. Oh, boy. The music used in the movie was atrocious. I hated it. It was weird alternative rock or something. It was not good. 

I was bored. I did not get the point Friedkin was trying to make with this movie. It felt hallow. I did not care for any of the characters. The ending of the movie did not make sense to me.

There was a feeling in my gut that the book was written by a heterosexual man that tried to be edgy. 'Ooh, I'm writing about killing a whole bunch of fags.' So? It did not feel genuine, like Walker did his research of the subject. Granted, I did not read the original book. The reviews I saw for it, the book had the same reaction as the movie.

Rating: 3/10

Pride Month Movie - Day Two: But I'm a Cheerleader

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

Directed by Jamie Babbit

Story by  Jamie Babbit

Screenplay by Brian Peterson 

Stars: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul Charles, Eddie Cibrian, Melanie Lynskey, Katrina Phillips, Katharine Towne, Joel Michaely, Douglas Spain, Dante Basco, Kip Pardue, Bud Court, Mink Stole and Michelle Williams

This moment is serendipitous. I saw the fantastic Snatch Game with Jinx Monsoon portraying Natasha on All Stars 7 and mentioned this movie. It was meant to be that I was going to see it during Pride Month.

Megan (Lyonne) is a typical high school girl. She is part of the cheerleading team,. She has a boyfriend that mouth assaults her with his kisses. She is a good Christian. She cannot get the images of women out of her mind. In order to put her on the right path, Megan's parents (Court, Stole) send her to "True Directions," an gay conversion camp to help her to become straight.

Full disclosure. I have not seen many-- if any lesbian centric movies-- so I am only basing my feelings of the movies with my own queer experiences. The topic of this movie very prevalent. There are a lot of families are taking their kids to these ex-gay camps to try to "cure" the homosexuality. It is a terrible practice that I'm glad is being outlawed in some states.

I liked the movie. I wish I would have gotten the motivation on why Mary Brown (Moriarty) started True Directions. Is it because of her son Rock (Cibrian) that is clearly gay with his booty-shorts? A clear example why the program does not work. Wait a minute. Maybe that's the point. Clearly the campers and the counselors still have the urges. I wish we got to see more of the other camp with Richard Moll's character and his onscreen partner more.

Mary tries to teach the campers archaic lessons from the 1960s. The gender dynamics have to be firm in her eyes. Girls like boys, pink, housework. Guys like girls, chopping wood and throwing a football around. The colors of this movie were intense. Certain shots assault your eyes with bubble gum pink in one frame then purple the next. Monochromatic dressing. 

Rating: 7/10

Pride Month Movie - Day One: Jongens

Boys (2014) 

Directed by Mischa Kamp

Screenplay by Chris Westendorp & Jaap-Peter Enderle 

Stars: Gijs Blom, Ko Zandvliet, Jonas Smulders, Ton Kas, Stijn Taverne, Myron Wouts and Ferdi Stofmeel

To celebrate Pride Month, I wanted to watch a movie under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. I was looking the Rotten Tomatoes ratings of the best of the genre and I came up with this movie. A Dutch TV movie from 2014.

This is a coming of age story about a track athlete, Sieger (Blom) trying to keep his burgeoning feelings for his fellow teammate, Marc (Zandvliet) at bay.

It is a sweet story. The pacing of the movie was a bit off, because you can feel the commercial breaks were in.

I understood that Sieger was so deep in the closet that he almost got lost. I was praying that Marc would not get back together with Sieger. He treated Sieger like shit. The ending of the movie was not earned in my eyes.

Rating: 6.5/10