A Gay Summer at the Movies
By Chris Carpenter
Ah, summer: weekends in the mountains, afternoons at the beach and LGBT Pride festivals beckon. Summer also is the time to enjoy an onslaught of cinematic spectacles in air-conditioned theaters. LGBT moviegoers in particular should be on the lookout for the following films between now and the end of August (release dates are subject to change).
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1) Gay-friendly star Hugh Jackman returns to his signature role as the indestructible, metal-infused hero.
Little Ashes (May 8) Miss this revealing look at the tortured relationship between writer Federico Garcia Lorca and painter Salvador Dali at your own peril! It’s one of this year’s best films.
Star Trek (May 8) This long-running, science-fiction series ran out of steam following 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, but it’s about to get a reboot with the help of a hot, young cast that includes Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, Heroes star Zachary Quinto as Dr. Spock and Eric Bana (Munich) as their formidable adversary.
Angels & Demons (May 15) Does anything scream “gay” more than Vatican intrigue? In this sequel to The DaVinci Code, Tom Hanks returns as scholar-adventurer Robert Langdon. The always-watchable Ewan McGregor co-stars as a papal toady with many secrets.
Big Man Japan (May 15) A slacker becomes a super-sized hero following an electrical mishap and is pressed into protecting the populace from the requisite giant monsters in this hip and funny import from Japan.
Easy Virtue (May 22) A Jane Austen-inspired romantic comedy, based on a lesser-known play by Noel Coward, This film’s cast includes plenty of eye candy for both the ladies and the men: Jessica Biel, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth (Mamma Mia!) and Ben Barnes —who was the best thing about The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
Departures (May 29) An attractive Japanese man thinks he’s going to work for a travel agency when he answers a ad for someone “to help with departures.” Instead, he finds himself a mortician’s assistant handling funerals for, among others, a transgender person. Winner of the Academy Award for best foreign film, it is a beautiful and moving story with universal appeal.
The Country Teacher (June 5) In this Czech Republic drama, a gifted, gay teacher becomes friends with the mother of one of his students and finds himself attracted to her son. Winner of the Audience Award at the Cottbus (Eastern European) Film Festival.
Land of the Lost (June 5) This looks like a promising and enjoyably campy update of the 1970s Saturday morning kids show about explorers who find themselves in a prehistoric world. It stars Will Ferrell, Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) and a slew of nasty, rubber-suited Sleestaks.
The Art of Being Straight (June 5) Questions of sexual attraction and orientation arise among a group of friends in Los Angeles. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2008 Dublin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
Sex Positive (June 12) This is an enlightening expose of the three gay men who pioneered the unpopular but life-saving concept of “safe sex” in the early years of the AIDS crisis.
Seraphine (June TBD) A biopic of largely forgotten French painter Seraphine de Senlis, the film looks at the housekeeper who dabbled in art as a hobby. De Senlis’ creations occupy some of the world’s most prestigious galleries, thanks to Wilhelm Uhde, the gay German art critic and collector who discovered her.
Public Enemies (July 1) Johnny Depp plays notorious bank robber John Dillinger, and Christian Bale leads the manhunt to put Dillinger behind bars.
Bruno (July 10) In what could be the gayest flick of the summer, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen takes on American attitudes toward homosexuality in the same stealth way he exposed the U.S. in his hit Borat.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17) The all-grown-up Daniel Radcliffe returns as the perpetually adolescent wizard in his second-to-last adventure.
Lion’s Den (July TBD) A woman serving time in prison for killing her lover gives birth and finds herself in a custody battle with her own mother. She finds an ally – and perhaps same-sex love – in a fellow inmate.
G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra (Aug. 7) Quit snickering at the subtitle – a cast that includes Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid and Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings the classic dolls to big-screen life.
Julie & Julia (Aug. 7) Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, who were great together in Doubt, team up again in a comedy by director Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle). Streep plays none other than chef-extraordinaire Julia Child.
Taking Woodstock (Aug. 14) Ang Lee and James Schamus, the director and producer of Brokeback Mountain, respectively, return with another gay-themed movie. This time, they tell the real-life story of the gay Catskills entertainer who organized the Woodstock music festival in 1969.
Patrik, Age 1.5 (August TBD) Thanks to a computer glitch, the baby a Swedish gay couple thinks they are adopting turns out to be a homophobic teenager. This pleasing “dramedy” had its world premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.
I can already smell the popcorn...