Movie "reviews"

[raybear]

But not.

Here's part of my weekend:

The Deep End

The entire time I watched the film I couldn’t help but think of wearemany, not because she has a habit of disposing of found dead bodies but because the movie was beautifully shot in Tahoe and Reno and how could I not think of her when seeing those places? And also the director’s in the DVD extras talked about selecting the location not only for the water aspect but also to find a setting with a smallish town that has enough of a gay scene and gay bars accessible to 17 year old boys, but still retain a stifling and repressed nature. But I had to laugh when the scene designer discussed locating a house along the lake that was “middle class”.

The movie was badly marketed of course – it’s not a thriller. There’s no mystery. Everything you see is what happened, but I was distressed by the attempts to create suspense which caused me to not pay close enough attention to what was actually occurring. The Goran guy was pretty good though I didn’t think he was quite as exciting of a performance as other indicated – but then again, I don’t watch ER. In general, I love Tilda Swinton. I’m not exactly sure why, but I don’t really care or try to analyze it. She did a pretty good acting job, especially since she had a difficult role, i.e. carrying the entire movie and being in 90% of the scenes. For the most part the movie fit my mood, so it was a good viewing choice.


Hedwig and the Angry Inch

I would be the last queer who loves musicals on earth to see this except MelRo fell asleep so she hasn’t seen it still. I was rather hesitant to see the movie because of all the hype and fervor and fanship and love people have for it – how could it possibly live up to the expectation? Plus, I was nervous about the gender aspects and what underlying message would come out about essentialism and trans and whatnot. But since Myles loved it so, I decided I could perhaps trust the voice which is why I finally ended up renting it.

And I absolutely loved it. Who knew. I watched the making of documentary yesterday, and part of the movie with director’s commentary. I’ll probably make MelRo watch it tonight so I can see it again (and so I can mail it back and get a new movie).

I could probably write more about the movie and the idea of performance and rock and queers and drag and whatnot, but why compete with people who currently doing their doctoral thesis on these subjects within Hedwig. I can’t possibly top that.

Comments

[wearemany.livejournal.com]

the deep end: i saw that movie on a day i particularly hated new york and i cried at the opening shot, running over the water. that is precisely what my homewater looks like, and i've been to that post office, and perhaps in tahoe that does qualify as middle class because there wasn't much of a private beach. BUT. i will say. that gay bar in reno the boy goes to? they must have imported the chelsea queens. gay boys in reno just do not look like that, and neither do gay bars. otherwise i agree with your assessment. and to add: i thought the goran/tilda thing was overplayed, and that the movie got less noir-suspenseful as it went along. the first 45 minutes or so? fucking brilliant. absolute edge-of-my-seat. i'm gonna have to go rent the DVD for sure.

hedwig: melro and i are tied, then. but soon, i swear.

xoxox.

[cruelnails.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed The Deep End too and I thought that perhaps I was the only one wondering why it was advetised as a thriller while it soooo was not. It's always glad to know I'm not crazy (or not in this case, at least)...

[vfc.livejournal.com]

When Hedwig was playing live at that thatre on Broadway I was hesitant to go for the same reasons you mentioned. But it was the best thing ever. The live performance was pretty exciting, but the movie ruled too. There were many more jokes that I loved in the stage version though. You should read the script. I have it.

[milosh.livejournal.com]

i, too, saw it at the broadway theater! with my dad, crazy leo. we saw the late show (for cheap) on the friday night of the International Mr. Leather Conference and Competition last year, and my dad was quite amused by all the leather-clad, mostly-naked men dancing on tables and in windows on N. Halsted. and then a man selling streetwise told us we made a "good couple" - we thought that was great, especially since we were wearing sweetshirts and other non-dressy, non-leather attire :)

and yeah, i was trying to tell ray about the more raunchy jokes in the stage version, and the better explanation of yitzhak's (sp?) persona...

[crafting-change.livejournal.com]

hedwig is sooooo great
glad you loved it!