Cinema, this summer: everything Advocate readers need to know about the gayest big-screen offerings for the hottest months – Summer Movie Preview
Michael Giltz
May
[A] THE MATRIX RELOADED (Warner Bros.)
WHEN May 15
WHO Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Carrie-Anne Moss
WHAT The first of two sequels to The Matrix tells the story of a future in which computers have enslaved humans and kept them locked up in a virtual reality so they won’t rebel.
WHY Out actor Anthony Wong of Australia plays Ghost, a weapons expert, in both sequels and even the video game. Keanu Reeves as the Christlike savior of the world? Whoa, dude. There’s also Hugo Weaving (The Adventures of Priscilla …) as a multitasking bad guy.
HOW GAY Around the edges
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L’AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE (Fox Searchlight)
WHEN May 16
WHO The delightful Audrey Tautou of Amelie
WHAT College students in an exchange program share a place in Barcelona and hope to share some bodily fluids as well.
WHY Tautou has a boyfriend in this one, unfortunately. But when said fella needs to learn the art of pleasuring a woman, he’s smart enough to turn to queer roomie Isabelle (Cecile De France), who puts her own advice into practice when her girlfriend comes for a visit.
HOW GAY Pretty dang gay
[F] FINDING NEMO (Walt Disney/Pixar)
WHEN May 30
WHO The voices of Ellen DeGeneres, Barry Humphries, and Allison Janney
WHAT A fishy story about a dad desperate to find his lost child before the dangers of the deep (or a fisherman’s net) catch it first.
WHY Barry Humphries (a.k.a. Dame Edna) may be doing the first animated performance in drag. And DeGeneres’s work here whets our appetite for her upcoming HBO special and syndicated talk show.
HOW GAY Gayish
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June
[C] FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY (20th Century Fox)
WHEN June 13
WHO Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini of American Idol
WHAT Grease meets Where the Boys Are in this romantic musical about true love in South Florida between a mop-topped boy and a wholesome girl.
WHY Nothing’s campier than a silly summer musical that isn’t trying to be camp.
HOW GAY Pretty dang gay
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THE HULK (Universal)
WHEN June 20
WHO Stars Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly and Nick Nolte; directed by Ang Lee
WHAT The Incredible Hulk comes to the big screen, losing an adjective but gaining Bana and Connelly in the process. The computer-generated Hulk in the early trailers looked iffy, but we have faith in director Ang Lee (The Wedding Banquet; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).
WHY Purple pants and green skin make for a very fashionable statement.
HOW GAY Around the edges
[E] GASOLINE (Strand)
WHEN June 27
WHO Regina Orioli and Maya Sansa in a film cowritten and directed by Monica Stambrini
WHAT What’s an Italian girl to do when her mother confronts the kid at the gas station where she works (with her mechanic-lover, Stella, accidentally dies then draws the attention of some nosy people? Throw mama into the trunk and head out on a road trip, of course.
WHY Weekend at Bernie’s with a Sapphic twist.
HOW GAY Way gay
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July
[I] BOYS LIFE 4: FOUR PLAY (Strand)
WHEN July
WHO Craig Chester stars; four rising writer-directors are highlighted in this entry in the popular shorts compilation series.
WHAT New short films from Brian Sloan (I Think I Do), Phillip Bartel, Alan Brown, and Eric Mueller (World and Time Enough) are the draw in this sexy-sweet anthology.
WHY Any chance to see queer-friendly shorts is welcome, and the Boys Life brand has earned our trust.
HOW GAY Way gay
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[B] KM. 0 (TLA)
WHEN July
WHO The queer-friendly writing and directing team of Yolanda Garcia Serrano and Juan Luis Iborra
WHAT Spanish comedy about 14 strangers looking for love at the Plaza del Sol in Madrid on a steamy August afternoon.
WHY The horny gay college student looking for love.
HOW GAY Way gay
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[H] MADAME SATA (Wellspring)
WHEN July
WHO Lazaro Ramos stars; Karim Ainous writes and directs
WHAT The early life of the Queen of Carnival, Madame Sata, originally a hard-living transvestite cabaret performer in 1920s Brazil with gay lovers, prostitute friends, and no love for the police of Rio de Janeiro.
WHY Queer history written with passion, thanks to Ramos’s ferocious, career-making performance.
HOW GAY Way gay
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[D] LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED WHITE & BLONDE (MGM)
WHEN July 2
WHO Reese Witherspoon, Bob Newhart, Sally Field, and Luke Wilson
WHAT The delightfully ditsy Elle stumbles as an aide into the House of Representatives, which totally needs a makeover. She also finds time to fight for the rights of her gay chihuahua.
WHY Witherspoon is delightful, and out director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld (Kissing Jessica Stein) is in charge behind the camera.
HOW GAY Pretty dang gay
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SWIMMING POOL (Focus)
WHEN July 2
WHO Charlotte Rampling in out director Francois Ozon’s latest film
WHAT Rampling plays a British mystery author spending the off-season in the south of France at her publisher’s house. She’s unsettled by the arrival of his French daughter (Ludivine Sagnier of Ozon’s 8 Women), a sexually uninhibited girl who enjoys pricking Rampling’s prim English reserve.
WHY Ozon hasn’t made an uninteresting movie yet.
HOW GAY Gayish
[G] CONFUSION OF GENDERS (Picture) This!)
WHEN July 4
WHO Pascal Greggory
WHAT A French comedy about Alain, an attorney who is sexually indecisive–but not so indecisive that he doesn’t act on his many impulses, which lead him to lust for his female boss, a client who’s guilty of murder, and his boss’s sexy teenage brother.
WHY We love equal-opportunity bisexuals as much as we love voracious omnisexuais who just can’t commit–especially when they’re French.
HOW GAY Way gay
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THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (20th Century Fox)
WHEN July 11
WHO Sean Connery, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, and Peta Wilson
WHAT Based on the comic books by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill, it features Victorian-era heroes like Allan Quartermain, Dr. Jekyll, Captain Nemo, and Tom Sawyer fighting evildoers to save the world.
WHY Townsend plays Oscar Wilde’s decadent Dorian Gray.
HOW GAY Around the edges
[J] THE EMBALMER (First Run Features)
WHEN July 11
WHO Ernesto Mahieux and Valerio Foglia Manzillo
WHAT A low-key romantic triangle develops between a dwarf who works as a taxidermist, the handsome new male assistant he quietly yearns for, and the woman catching the assistant’s eye.
WHY The triangle isn’t as imbalanced as you might expect, giving full weight to all their passions (though the attraction between the two men remains sadly devoid of physical contact).
HOW GAY Way gay
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[N] LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER–THE CRADLE OF LIFE (Paramount)
WHEN July 25
WHO Angelina Jolie and her lips
WHAT Our favorite video game heroine since Ms. Pac-Man is back in action with a sequel that we hope makes more sense than the first one.
WHY Ms. Jolie packs herself into those shorts–and did we mention her lips?
HOW GAY Gayish
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[O] CAMP (IFC)
WHEN July 25
WHO A talented cast of unknowns guided by writer-director Todd Graff
WHAT Summer camp crosses with Fame with a cast of musical misfit kids.
WHY The straight boy who loves the Rolling Stones but has never heard of Sondheim is the oddball at this performing arts camp peopled with drag queen boys, heavyset girls who can sing, and more musical numbers than any movie this side of Chicago.
HOW GAY Way gay
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August
AMERICAN WEDDING (Universal)
WHEN August 1
WHO Alyson Hannigan, Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, and Eugene Levy
WHAT Yet another sequel to American Pie. This time, Jim (Biggs) and Michelle (Hannigan) tie the knot.
WHY Since Pie 2 had two of the guys kissing (so they could watch lesbians make out), it’s no surprise that this one shows them stumbling into a gay bar by accident. Guys, any psychiatrist can tell you there are no “accidents.’
HOW GAY Around the edges
[M] THE SECRET LIVES OF DENTISTS (Manhattan Pictures International)
WHEN August 1
WHO Campbell Scott, Hope Davis, and Denis Leary in an Alan Rudolph film
WHAT Scott and Davis are husband-and-wife dentists struggling to maintain a marriage that could use a root canal.
WHY Out author Craig Lucas (Long-time Companion) adapted the script, and queer comedian Kate Clinton has a supporting role as a receptionist (an homage, we hope, to Marcia Wallace of The Bob Newhart Show).
HOW GAY Around the edges
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[K] GIGLI (Columbia)
WHEN August 1
WHO Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck; writer-director Martin Brest
WHAT Affleck plays a Los Angeles hit man looking to make a bundle by kidnapping the mentally challenged brother of a federal prosecutor. Lesbian assassin Lopez is brought in when he can’t close the deal.
WHY Lopez is rumored to have a kissing scene with another gal. So maybe Jenny is going all the way around the block. And if the buzz is to be believed, this could be the new Glitter.
HOW GAY Gayish
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[L] FREAKY FRIDAY (Walt Disney)
WHEN August 6
WHO Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan
WHAT Mom and daughter switch bodies for a time and find out life ain’t so easy for the other one.
WHY If it’s a hit, maybe they’ll release the 1976 Jodie Foster original on DVD.
HOW GAY Around the edges
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AMERICAN SPLENDOR (Fine Line)
WHEN August 15
WHO Paul Giamattti and Hope Davis
WHAT The travails of Harvey Pekar, file clerk by day and comic book artist by night. Think a grown-up Ghost World set in Cleveland that combines archival interviews with the real Pekar and others with fictional depictions of his life.
WHY Pekar’s friend Toby Radloff (who appears in the documentary sections and is also portrayed by Judah Friedlander) is gay. Besides, outsider misfits who are much cooler than everyone else? We can relate.
HOW GAY Around the edges
SUDDENLY (Empire)
WHEN August 27
WHO Newcomers Tatiana Saphir, Carla Crespo, and Veronica Hassan
WHAT In this Argentinian film, two young lesbian criminals steal a taxi in Buenos Aires and kidnap a big gal before heading out into the wilderness.
WHY Bonnie and Bonnie is a lot more fun than Bonnie and Clyde.
HOW GAY Way gay
Giltz writes for publications including the New York Post.
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