*# Chop Suey (Zeitgeist Films) : Dim Sum is more like it! This photo and video buffet by famed photographer Bruce Weber has a variety of flavors and side dishes for all tastes. The centerpiece is his fixation with young model and Wisconsin-native Peter Johnson who Weber met while Johnson was attending a wrestling camp (!) in Iowa. Weber interweaves the (occasionally pretentious) narrative with color and black-and-white footage of Johnson, the late singer Frances Faye (a lesbian), GQ model Jeff Aquilon, Jiu Jitsu champion Rickson Gracie (and his family), Robert Mitchum, Diana Vreeland, and surfer Christian Fletcher (and his family). Particularly fascinating are the interviews with Teri Shephard, Ms. Faye’s longtime companion (they were together for more than 30 years), and her interactions with young Mr. Johnson. Mr. Weber speaks of “making something beautiful out of desire,” and with the tasty Chop Suey, he succeeds. On a scale of 1 to10: 7
# Come Undone/Presque Rien (Picture This! Entertainment) : Moving back and forth over the course of a short period of time, this French film (with English subtitles) tells the sexual coming of age story of Mathieu (Jeremie Elkaim) and Cedric (Stephane Rideau, who also played gay in Wild Reeds), two boys in their late teens, who meet at the beach in a resort town and begin a sexual and romantic relationship. Cedric, the more experienced of the two, has had his eye on Mathieu for a year and finally makes his move. The impressionable Mathieu, who is summering at the beach with his depressed mother, jealous and suspicious younger sister, and aunt, is receptive to Cedric’s advances, and it doesn’t take the two long to become involved. Sexually graphic and erotic, the movie is also populated with open-minded characters (Cedric’s father, Mathieu’s mother and aunt), who keep the action from getting overly dramatic. However, the movie is rather slow-moving, and the nonlinear storytelling gets confusing, although the soft-core sexual scenes will probably feel like a reward for their patience, to some viewers. The touching, queer-oriented music video for Vidrar vel til loftaras by Sigur Ros is being shown before the feature. On a scale of 1 to 10: 6.5 (@ Landmark Century Cinema)
# Mulholland Drive (Universal) : Before it veers off the road and becomes a lurid and lascivious (David) Lynchian lesbian sex fantasy, Mulholland Drive is a bizarre and refreshing tribute to and parody of film noir and the young innocent’s arrival in Hollywood. Lampooning Hollywood (actors and actresses, directors, movie studios) is a little like biting the hand that feeds, but it must have tasted awfully good. In addition to all of the fresh faces on-screen—Justin Theroux as filmmaker Adam, Naomi Watts as just-off-the-bus Betty, and Laura Elena Harring as the mysterious mystery woman Rita—writer/ director Lynch serves up a heaping portion of Ann Miller as, alternately, Betty’s landlady and Adam’s mother, looking like she’s ready for her close-up. Just when you think that the mysteries have been solved, Lynch throws in a lesbian landslide and opens a Pandora’s Box that may leave you more puzzled than pleased. Scale of 1 to 10: 7.5