I somehow missed the earlier films of Gregg Araki. From my experience of his "Mysterious Skin"late last month, that has to stand as my loss. "Mysterious Skin" is a haunting tale of shared mystery exerting disparate influences on two lives lived apart, yet pushing those lives inexorably towards a point of intersection and embrace.
[30 June 2005] link?
I didn't get around to reading all of H.G. Wells'"War of the Worlds" until several years ago. As a teenager I read and re-read the Classics Illustrated version of the novel. I remember being rather obsessed with its imagery, the Martian tripods roaming over the English landscape, their heat ray cutting a wide swath of death and destruction, and humanity scattering in all directions. I thought I would never see anything like the comic's imagery on the screen, having been disappointed with the version from the 1950's. It just didn't do the trick. After watching Steven Speilberg's new interpretation, I can say that I have seen the tripods walk upon the land.
I wouldn't say that the film was a complete success. The ending, despite largely following Wells' telling of the story, seemed almost tacked on and artificial compared to the scenes of imaginative realism that preceded it. That aside, I am not complaining. At last, I was there, fleeing with the multitudes of our kind, from the onslaught of the Martian machines.
[30 June 2005] link?
Nothing like staying up til the wee hours to make an old queen...yawn...sleep late.
Last night D and I slipped over to the City to see the world premiere of the film TrannyShack at the Castro. We walked around for a while, trying to catch up with any lingering remnants of the TransMarch, alas, in vain. So we walked around some more, trying to find a bar to refresh ourselves before the film, which was due to start at 11 p.m. The bars were crowded, at least the ones we wanted to go into. Having pounded the pavement without success and working up an appetite in the process, we retreated to a quiet table at Baghdad Cafe. After that respite, we walked back to stand in line at the Castro. The gay.com sponsored double decker bus kept circling around as we stood, reminding me of the recurrent car full of mimes in Blowup. We braved the smoke, and finally, tickets in hand, filed through the doors and took our seats. The atmosphere recalled memories of the Castro in the seventies, a generous dollop of queer'd pheromones in the air, and a bathroom line that snaked through the lobby, down the aisle of the theatre....okay, so I don't get around much anymore...perhaps it's always like that!
So what about the movie? Well, it was great, just the right balance of trailer trash and glamour, and I can't wait for the DVD to be released. More than that, it was special to be able to watch it in a theatre filled with many of the film's participants.
But I did have to sleep in....horror of horrors.
[25 June 2005] link?