Limited runs and special events:
@ Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W Fullerton, 773/281-4114: Hush! – Gay-themed Japanese film about a gay couple and their desire to have a child. – May 30-Jun. 5; Tosca – Film version of Puccini’s opera. – Jun. 13-19; The Blue Angel – Studs Terkel hosts the screening of a new 35mm print of the original full-length version of this Marlene Dietrich classic. – Jun. 15
@ Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312/846-2600: Big Shot’s Funeral – May 30 &31; The Store – Jun. 2 & 5
@ Navy Pier IMAX Theatre, 312/595-5MAX (5629): Ghosts Of The Abyss – now playing; Bugs! 3D – now playing; The Matrix Reloaded: The IMAX Experience – summer 2003
In Theaters:
A Family Affair (Small Planet Pictures) Written and directed by, and starring, Helen Lesnick, A Family Affair is a sort of butch, left-coast Kissing Jessica Stein, combining similar comedic treatments of family, religion, and the search for and ultimate discovery of lesbian love. High strung, but hilarious Rachel (Lesnick), leaves NYC after the latest in a string of serial breakups with physics professor Reggie (Michele Greene of LA Law fame). Persuaded to move to Southern California by her super-supportive card-carrying proud PFLAG-member mother Leah (Arlene Golonka of Mayberry R.F.D and the gay-themed movie Leather Jacket Love Story renown, among others), Rachel, who ‘knew she was gay since she was DNA,’ reluctantly and grudgingly relocates to the golden state in a grey mood. Her pursuit of ‘Mrs. Rightowitz’ is observed and commented on by her gay male friends, as well as her mother, who, after Rachel goes out on a series of disastrous dates, once again persuades her daughter to let her help by setting up a blind date. To Rachel’s surprise, she actually likes blonde, San Diego-native Christine (Erica Shaffer), who is the quintessential shiksa, and before you know it (and following a hilarious sequence in which a panel of Rachel’s friend grills and then hesitantly approves Christine as her lover), the couple begins a relationship. Lesnick, who at one time studied to become a rabbi, incorporates a considerable amount of Jewish references into the movie, including a large portion concerning Christine’s conversion to Judaism, all with a Woody Allen-esque touch. Allen is even made reference to, as is Lillian Hellman’s play The Little Foxes. Serious conflict arises when the sexy and brainy Reggie re-enters the picture shortly before Rachel and Christine’s commitment ceremony, putting their relationship in jeopardy. Lesbian comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer plays Rachel’s sister-in-law Carol, but it is Lesnick’s comical narration and unusual and expressive face that is the source of much of this funny family affair’s laughs. (B) Opens May 30, Village Biograph Theatre. See Web site www.a-family-affair.com.
Finding Nemo (Disney/Pixar)—Ellen DeGeneres was born to play (and provide the voice for) Dory, a friendly but forgetful Regal Blue Tang fish that comes to the aid of distraught Clownfish and father Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks). Marlin is in search of his young son Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould), who was scooped up by a scuba diving dentist in the Great Barrier Reef. Along the way, Dory and Marlin come in contact with a trio sharks (one of whom is voiced by Dame Edna herself, Barry Humphries) who are trying to rehabilitate themselves and learn to live peacefully among the others. They get swallowed by a whale (a very Walt Disney’s Pinocchio thing to do); and ride the raging current with a flock of green sea turtles, including surfer dude Crush (voiced by Finding Nemo’s writer/director Andrew Stanton ). Meanwhile, Nemo has joined the other fish in the dentist’s office aquarium, and leader Gill (Willem Dafoe) helps to plan the escape and reunion with the assistance of the other aquarium residents and a flighty pelican named Nigel (Geoffrey Rush). I’ve been down on Disney for their empty and pointless cartoon sequels and trashy live-action features, but this Pixar co-production (like Monsters, Inc. and both Toy Stories) is a fully realized cinematic experience. (A-)
On TV:
Cinemax – Part of Cinemax’s Reel Life series, Georg and Abby Hartmann’s brief documentary is an intimate portrait of a gay man’s quest for fatherhood. In July of 1999, Jeff Danis, a Hollywood agent in the voice-over department of ICM, decided he wanted to adopt a baby. Approaching the age of 50, with mobility and independence, Danis said it was something he had thought about for many years. Don, Jeff’s life partner of 15 years, didn’t share his enthusiasm and the couple briefly separated in August of 1999. Meanwhile, Jeff moved forward with his plan, meeting with a social worker to evaluate his parental fitness. There are testimonial interviews on Jeff’s behalf, ranging from his parents to his clients (including Linda Blair and Gabrielle Carteris) to his friend Kathy Najimy. In late December Jeff is provided with photos of two baby boys in Vietnam, one of whom he selects for adoption. By January of 2000, Don has had a change of heart after seeing the photo and joins Jeff, and two female friends, for the trip to Vietnam. The adoption process took a few months, and when the baby, whom Jeff and Don have named Joe, was officially adopted, it was revealed he is the same age —nine months—that Don was when he was adopted. That piece of information, and Don’s increased involvement widens the focus of the piece and makes the short film especially powerful. (B-) – June 4
On DVD/VHS:
By Hook or By Crook (Wolfe Video) – Shy (Silas Howard, Flipper of Tribe 8 fame, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film), a handsome but aimless butch, who is about to lose her house to the bank, leaves Hoxie, Kan., for greener pastures in San Francisco. Shy, whose parents are both dead, describes herself early in the movie as being like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, but with biceps and no dog. Once she arrives in the ‘Emerald City,’ with a suitcase and no money, she meets her scarecrow, a bearded butch named Valentine (director and co-producer Harry, a.k.a. Harriet, Dodge), whom she rescues from a mugger. While Shy and Val bond, Shy (as well as the viewer) soon realizes that her new friend may, in fact, be lacking a brain. Since both women can use the cash, Shy enlists Val in her robbery scheme, as well as a hilarious scam involving a power saw and an easily confused hardware store clerk. Val’s girlfriend Billie (Stanya Kahn) is part Tin Man and part Cowardly Lion, and the trio, whose greatest heist entails the use of Super Soaker squirt guns on a soda machine, soon becomes a little family. However, Val wants more, and throughout the movie, she stops at payphones to call women with her birth-mother’s name, that she finds in the phonebook, in her quest for a reunion. Shy eventually seduces Isabelle (Carina Gia), the ‘adoption agency lady’ whom she convinces to assist her in helping Val track down her mother, but not before Val is arrested and then sent to a mental hospital. Superbly acted, particularly by Ms. Dodge, this very independent film, whose message about life being a ‘long journey to recover the two or three simple and great images which first gained access to its heart,’ eventually comes through, by hook or by crook. DVD includes commentary, interviews, outtakes and letterbox format. (B)
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