Pillow Book (1997)

Nagiko (Vivian Wu), a Japanese born model living in Hong Kong, narrates this film. She wants a lover who can match her desire for sex with her love for poetry and calligraphy. The roots of this lie in her youth in Kyoto, when her father (Ken Ogata) would write characters of good fortune on her face. Nagiko's father celebrates her birthday retelling the Japanese creation myth and writing on her flesh in beautiful calligraphy, while her aunt (Hideko Yoshida) reads a list of "beautiful things" from Sei Shōnagon's "The Book of Observations". The aunt tells her that when she is 28 years old, the official book of observations will be 1000 years old, and that Nagiko will be the same age as Sei Shōnagon when she had written the book. Nagiko also learns around this time that her father is in love with his publisher Yaji-san (Yoshi Oida), who demands sexual favors from her father in exchange for publishing his work.

Frustrated by her inability to find a lover who is a good calligrapher, Nagiko finally meets a bi-sexual translator, Jerome (Ewan McGregor) who offers himself to her as a living surface for her erotic creativity. Inspired by the opportunity to obtain revenge on the publisher who blackmailed her father and is Jerome's lover, Nagiko creates the ultimate love poem illuminated in red, gold and black characters and delivered to the publisher on the naked body of Jerome. Eventually Jerome overdoses on pills and dies. After his funeral, the publisher exhumes Jerome's body and has Jerome's skin flayed and made into a grotesque pillow book of his own. Nagiko, now back in Japan, learns of the publisher's actions and becomes outraged. The publisher is confronted, hands the pillow book made of Jerome's skin to the messenger, then has the messenger slit his throat. Nagiko buries the book under a Bonsai tree and life goes on. She gives birth to Jerome's child (Hikari Abe), and is shown in the epilogue writing on her child's face, like her father used to do when she was young, and quoting from her own pillow book. It is Nagiko's 28th birthday.

This film, complete with a musical score as international as the languages used in the narration, is visually hypnotic and basically "art". There is nudity in the film, but it is very tastefully done and relevant to the plot. It's an exotic, difficult film but worth watching for lovers of unique movies. Peter Greenaway directed and wrote the script based on Sei Shōnagon's "The Pillow Book", the diary of a 10th-century lady-in-waiting.

Mannequin (1987)

Set in Wanamaker's department store in Philadelphia, Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy) is a struggling young artist who goes from one dead-end job to another. He just doesn't seem to last in any job he does. But when he builds a mannequin, he makes it so perfect it is the first thing he has made that makes him feel like a real artist. The mannequin ends up in the window of a big department store. When he saves the life of the old lady who owns the store, he is rewarded by getting a job as stock boy. Then he sees the mannequin (Kim Cattrall) he had created before. He goes to work at the store displaying her and meets a gay friend there named Hollywood Montrose (Meshach Taylor), while still managing a girlfriend, Roxie Shield (Carole Davis) from the competing department store, Ellustra. While having to dodge the store's vice president, who is working with Ellustra, and his stupid security guard, the mannequin comes to life. The mannequin, "Emmy," was actually once Emahasure, a real-life woman from ancient Egypt who lived in the year 2514 B.C. Her beauty and love inspire Switcher to become the best window dresser in town. Emmy and Jonathan have to cope with problems, including the fact that only Jonathan can see her when she is alive. Furthermore, in order to regain full status as a real life person, the mannequin must find true love.

However, when the other competing department store gets fewer customers due to the display windows done by Jonathan everything starts to change. First they try to persuade him through Roxie to work there, and when that fails the vice president and security guard decide to steal all the mannequins from the store, including Emmy. When Jonathan finds out she is gone he rescues her, and they both discover that because of their true love anything is possible, including a real live Emmy and a happy life together. The gay content comes from Montrose's caricature of a screaming gay black stereotype, a lisping, limp-wristed flamboyant window dresser.

"Mannequin" is a romantic comedy that is not very funny. But it was a surprise box-office hit, earning nearly 25 million dollars in just under a month of its release--amazing considering its tiny budget and lack of appeal to any particular demographic. It's an attempt to revive the style of fantasy romantic comedies of the 1930s and '40s. It has a poor script and there is actually a worse sequel "Mannequin 2" (1991). The film is an unacknowledged remake of the obscure 1948 film "One Touch of Venus", starring Robert Walker and Ava Gardner. Sylvester Levay composed the music score, and the script was written by Edward Rugoff and Michael Gottlieb, who also directed.

Execution of Justice (1999)

In November 1978, Dan White (Tim Daly ), a City Supervisor in San Francisco, shot and killed Mayor George Moscone (Stephen Young) and Harvey Milk (Peter Coyote), the first openly gay elected official in the country. White's lawyers presented what came to be known as the "Twinkie Defense," claiming their client had temporarily lost his sanity because of too much junk food. Despite what appeared to be a clear-cut case of first-degree murder, White was convicted only of voluntary manslaughter, and a riot erupted in the city. Released from prison only five years later, White brought closure to the case when he committed suicide.

Brief glimpses of White's past show how all-American he was. White was a policeman before he became a fireman like his father, married the daughter of a fireman, excelled at baseball, and so on. But we are also shown his darker side. His mother and his wife both urge him to seek psychological help for his moodiness, and Daly is not very subtle in showing us White's anger and frustration when struggling to pay his family's bills. This is a man who seems on the edge, and we don't see much of him from his own point of view, but mainly from that of his defense attorneys.

When White is elected to the Board of Supervisors, he seems to befriend Milk, only to feel betrayed when Milk votes for the opposite side of an issue. However, the filmmakers seem to ignore the obvious central conflict: Milk was a gay activist, whereas White was the Irish Catholic who felt San Francisco was going to the dogs. They are different individuals, but White's right-wing convictions are largely absent in the movie. As a result, he comes across as childish and stupid, smiling vacuously whenever someone asks him about anything substantial or political. It's one thing to portray White as a bad politician, but it's another to suggest that he shouldn't have graduated from public school. White ultimately remains a mysterious figure, and the film asks many questions without providing many answers. It keeps the viewer off balance, and gives the film a disturbing fascination.

This made-for-TV movie was filmed in Toronto and San Francisco by Daly/Harris Prods. and Paramount Network Television in association with Showtime. It is loosely based on Emily Mann's play "Execution of Justice", which was taken entirely from transcripts of Dan White's trial, plus the events and news clips that followed. It opened on Broadway on March 13, 1986, and the play has been performed in hundreds of regional theaters. The TV movie is very different, showing instead the lives of Dan White and Harvey Milk leading up to the murders. Sister Boom Boom (Khalil Kain) always fluttering around Milk is an anachronism, because Milk was killed before the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Sister Boom Boom ever appeared in SF. It works as a dramatic device, but it's wrong in a film that is otherwise generally accurate about the facts. Also included is a 20 minute trailer of commentary and news-film footage of this story by the actual political leaders, police, and others whose lives were affected by the tragedy. Daniel Licht composed the music. Michael Butler wrote the teleplay derived from Emily Mann's play, and Leon Ichaso directed.

Gia (1998)

Seventeen year-old Gia Marie Carangi (Angelina Jolie) is a rebel in Philadelphia working in her father's diner. She moves to NYC and becomes a fashion model. Immediately she catches the attention of powerful agent Wilhelmina Cooper (Faye Dunaway). Gia had no intentions of becoming a model, she just becomes one--a supermodel on the cover of Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Her attitude, beauty, and willingness to pose nude help her rise quickly to the forefront of the modeling industry, but her chronic loneliness drives her to experiment with illicit drugs like cocaine. She becomes involved in a passionate lesbian affair with Linda (Elizabeth Mitchell), a make-up artist. However, after a while Linda begins to worry about Gia's drug use and gives her an ultimatum. She asks, "...this or me?" Gia chooses the drugs. Failed attempts at reconciliation with Linda and with her mother Kathleen Carangi (Mercedes Ruehl) drive Gia to begin using heroin. Although she is eventually able to break her drug habit after much effort, she has already contracted HIV from a needle containing infected blood and dies of complications from AIDS in 1986 at the age of 26.

Based on the real life of Gia Carangi, Angelina Jolie's unforgettable performance, a good story line, and above average casting make this made-for-TV HBO film well worth watching. Gia's tragic self-destruction is compelling but very sad. It's not really sensational, some scenes are laughable, and it's basically a cliche--a movie about a rebellious druggie who messes up her life. But it really happened. Both Jolie and Dunaway won Golden Globe awards for their performances. Terence Blanchard composed the music. The screenplay was written by Jay McInerney and Michael Cristofer, who also directed.

The Hours and Times (1991)

In 1963 John Lennon (Ian Hart) flies to Barcelona with the Beatles manager Brian Epstein (David Angus) for a weekend of relaxation. On the flight they meet stewardess Marianne (Stephanie Pack). Lennon flirts with her and gives her their hotel telephone number. He asks Epstein about gay sex and says he thinks about it sometimes, but believes it would be painful. They play cards and Epstein tells Lennon he is surprised that he mentioned it because the situation between them is hopeless. Lennon says that he finds Epstein charming but does not want to have sex with him, and is angry because everyone they know thinks they are having a sexual relationship. He goes to bed and receives a telephone call from his wife Cynthia. She says that she misses him, and Lennon says that he misses his son Julian.

Lennon and Epstein go to a gay bar and meet a Spaniard named Quinones (Robin McDonald), married but gay. He is invited back to the hotel where the three of them have drinks. After some friendly conversation he leaves early. Epstein is angry with Lennon, calls Quinones a fascist, and says that nothing matters because he can’t have the one thing he wants. He goes to bed and confides in Miguel (Sergio Moreno), the hotel boy. He asks Miguel for a blowjob but then says he is only joking. Later he talks to his mother (Unity Grimwood) on the telephone.

The pair look around Barcelona and Lennon takes photographs of Epstein. They discuss Lennon’s relationship with Cynthia, but he does not like talking to Brian about it. Lennon has a bath and plays the harmonica. Epstein enters, sits on the tub, and Lennon asks him to scrub his back, which Epstein starts doing. Lennon kisses Epstein, who undresses and gets into the bath. They kiss a little more, then Lennon abruptly gets out of the bath and leaves the room. Epstein finds him smoking in bed, and Lennon says he is not angry but can’t put into words what he is thinking. The telephone rings, it is Marianne, and Lennon tells her to come up. Epstein is angry, Marianne arrives, and Brian leaves. Marianne asks Lennon why Epstein is upset, and they argue. She says that she can see they care about each other but she thinks Lennon torments Epstein. They dance to a Little Richard record.

Lennon asks Epstein about his first time in Barcelona. Epstein says he was sent there by his mother a couple of years previously following an incident where he was robbed and blackmailed by a man he met for sex. Following the trial, he was forced to see a psychiatirst and his mother sent him to Spain. Two months later he met the Beatles. Epstein tries to get Lennon to promise to meet him in Barcelona in ten years, no matter what they are doing. He agrees to at least remember the arrangement. Later, Epstein lies awake in bed with Lennon sleeping next to him. He remembers a time when he took Lennon to his special place, the roof of his family’s store and told him how special the time they spent together was to him.

This indie film, shot in black and white, captures the intimacy and intensity of a friendship that would soon be diminished by Beatlemania. Controversial and provocative, it is a fine contribution to gay cinema. Ian Hart's resemblance to Lennon is so uncanny he went on to play John Lennon again in the film "Backbeat". It must be noted that the real John Lennon said, "It was never consummated. But we did have a pretty intense relationship." Christopher Munch scripted and directed.

Milk (2008)

"Milk" opens with archival footage of gay history that may shock many people. During the opening credits, a barrage of vintage film clips reminds us that only 50 years ago gay men, lesbians and transsexuals were subjected to violence, harassment, physical abuse, arrest and humiliation by those that citizens look to for protection: the police and judicial authorities. Using flashbacks from a statement recorded late in life and archival footage for atmosphere, this film traces Harvey Milk's career from his 40th birthday to his death.

Dianne Feinstein (Ashlee Temple) announces on November 27, 1978 that Supervisor Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) and Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) have been assassinated. Milk is seen recording his will throughout the film, nine days before the assassinations. The film then flashes back to NYC in 1970, the eve of Milk's 40th birthday and his first meeting with his much younger lover, Scott Smith (James Franco). Milk and Smith move to San Francisco hoping to find acceptance of their relationship. They open Castro Camera in the heart of Eureka Valley, a working class neighborhood evolving into a predominantly gay neighborhood known as The Castro. Frustrated by the opposition they encounter, Milk uses his background as a businessman to become a gay activist, eventually becoming a mentor for Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the ex-street hustler who created the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial. Early on, Smith serves as Milk's campaign manager, but his frustration grows with Milk's devotion to politics, and he leaves him. Milk later meets Jack Lira (Diego Luna), a sweet but disturbed young man. Just like Smith, Lira cannot tolerate Milk's political activism, and eventually hangs himself.

After two unsuccessful political campaigns in 1973 and 1975 to become a City Supervisor and a third in 1976 for the California State Assembly, Milk finally wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 for District 5. His victory makes him the first openly gay man to be elected into major public office in the US. Milk then meets fellow Supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin), a Vietnam veteran and former police officer and firefighter. White, who is politically and socially conservative, has a difficult relationship with Milk, and grows resentful of the attention paid to Milk by the press and his colleagues.

White and Milk manage a working relationship. Milk attends the christening of White's first child, and White asks for Milk's assistance in preventing a psychiatric hospital from opening in his district, possibly in exchange for White's support of Milk's citywide gay rights ordinance. When Milk fails to support White, he feels betrayed, and he is the only one to vote against the gay rights ordinance. Milk also launches an effort to defeat Proposition 6, an initiative on the California state ballot in November 1978. Sponsored by John Briggs (Denis O'Hare), a conservative state legislator from Orange County, Proposition 6 seeks to ban gays, lesbians, and anyone who supports them from working in California's public schools. It is also part of a nationwide conservative movement that starts with the successful campaign headed by Anita Bryant and her organization "Save Our Children" in Dade County, Florida to repeal a local gay rights ordinance. On November 7, 1978, after working tirelessly against Proposition 6, Milk and his supporters rejoice in the wake of its defeat. The increasingly unstable White wants a Supervisor pay raise, but does not get much support, and shortly after supporting the Proposition, resigns from the Board. He later changes his mind and asks the city to rescind his decision. Mayor Moscone denies his request, after having been lobbied by Milk to do so.

On the morning of November 27, 1978, White enters San Francisco City Hall through a basement window in order to conceal a gun from metal detectors. He requests another meeting with Moscone, who rejects his request for re-appointment. Enraged, White shoots Moscone and then Milk. The film suggests that Milk believed that White might be a closeted gay man. "Milk" ends with an aerial shot of the candlelight vigil held by thousands for Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone throughout the streets of the city.

Harvey Milk is now a gay icon. What he started lives on, so the movie ends on a hopeful note. Milk was a a frail human being, idealistic, funny, complex, tender, and gentle. He is the subject of Randy Shilts' biography "The Mayor of Castro Street", and the 1984 Oscar-winning documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk". This near-perfect motion picture makes its point without ever being preachy, while remaining true and accurate regarding the historical and biographical facts. It received 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, winning two for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Sean Penn and Best Original Screenplay for Dustin Lance Black. Danny Elfman composed the music score, and Gus Van Sant directed.

Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)

Larry Lapinsky (Lenny Baker) is an aspiring actor in his early 20s who leaves his Brooklyn home, overbearing mother Faye (Shelley Winters), and hen-pecked father Ben (Mike Kellin) and moves to Greenwich Village, a few subway stops away. This is the Village of 1953. Bob Dylan and the folkies won't arrive here for years, and even the beatnik scene isn't yet in full bloom. But it is the hippest place in town, filled with counter-culture artist types, and Larry settles right in. Very quickly he gets entangled with a group of free spirited friends, discovers adult romance with foxy girlfriend Sarah (Ellen Greene), deals with life's problems and triumphs, and hardest of all, copes with his mother.

Shelley Winters is brilliant as the ultimate Jewish mother. When Faye weeps over the radio singing of Jussi Bjorling, vowing to hear him in person at the Met, or unconventionally jitterbugs with a black gay guy at a Greenwich Village party she crashes, we feel affection for her despite her cluelessness and manipulations. Bernstein (Antonio Fargas), a black flamboyantly un-closeted homosexual is asked by Faye if he's Jewish, and he replies, "No, darling, I'm gay."

Writer-director Paul Mazursky's autobiographical "Next Stop, Greenwich Village" is a film of considerable charm and appeal. Lenny Baker, who made only a couple more films before dying of cancer in 1982, is fine in the central role--an actor playing an actor. The movie is smart and well-observed, with humor and warmth, along with an improvisational feel. It also tends to play very real, especially the scenes involving the two young lovers. It's a classic film about youthful ambition, betrayal, tragedy, and a never-ending surplus of hope. While most directors wind up knee-deep in schlock when making a movie about their youths, Mazursky keeps his focused on honesty. Bill Conti composed the music.

The Anderson Tapes (1971)

In this crime thriller, career burglar John "Duke" Anderson (Sean Connery) is released from his latest prison term of 10 years. He renews his relationship with his old girlfriend Ingrid (Dyan Cannon), who lives in a upscale apartment block in NYC. Anderson decides to burglarize the entire building. He gets financing from a Mafia boss and gathers his four-man crew, including Haskins (Martin Balsam) a vintage 1970s gay stereotype, and old ex-con drunk William "Pop" Myer (Stan Gottlieb), whom Anderson met in jail, and who is to play concierge while the real one is bound and gagged in the cellar. What Anderson doesn't know is that every move he makes is being monitored and taped by several law enforcement agencies, who hope that he will lead them to the Mob kingpins. "The Anderson Tapes" boasts an impressive supporting cast, many of whom play against type, including Alan King as the aging and infirm Mafia don Angelo. It was the first major motion picture for actor Christopher Walken, who appears as "The Kid."

Less welcome is a man the Mafia foists onto Anderson: the thuggish "Socks" Parelli (Val Avery) , a psychopath who has become a liability to the mob and, as part of the deal, Anderson must kill him in the course of the robbery. Anderson is not keen on this since the operation is complicated enough, but relunctantly agrees. The agents, cameras, bugs, and tracking devices of numerous public and private agencies see almost the entire operation from the earliest planning to the execution. As Anderson advances the scheme he moves from the surveillance of one group to another as locations or individuals change. The movie goes on and on and on and finally in a shootout Anderson kills "Socks" but is himself shot by the police. The other robbers are killed, injured or captured, but none get away with it. "Pop" gives himself up after a while of letting the police believe that he is the real concierge.

In the course of searching the building, the police discover some audio listening equipment left behind by the private detective who was hired to check up on Ingrid. While organizing the robbery Anderson met various people who were under similar surveillance for other reasons by various government agencies. To avoid embarrassment over the fact that they failed to realize what was going on and that some of the tapings were illegal, the agencies order the tapes to be erased.

This fast paced movie is slick, humorous, experimental at times, with a notable performance by Martin Balsam as the gay Haskins. Direction is flashy, but it fails to explain the tapes very well, although it addresses the influence of surveillance on modern times, as well as the lack of co-ordination between government agencies. Sean Connery's performance helped him breakout from being stereotyped as James Bond. The screenplay was written by Frank Pierson, based on the best-selling 1970 novel of the same name by Lawrence Sanders. Quincy Jones composed the music score, and Sidney Lumet directed.

Any Mother's Son (1997)

One night in 1992, Allen Schindler (Paul Popowich), a 21 year-old navy sailor serving on the USS Belleau Wood, was on shore leave in Sasebo, Japan. He was followed into a public restroom and beaten to death. While given a military funeral, it was still a full two months after his brutal murder that his mother, Dorothy Hajdys-Holman (Bonnie Bedelia), discovered that her son had been killed by two of his own shipmates. "They beat him to death." she says, "They beat him beyond recognition!" Dorothy becomes even more distraught when the representatives of the US Navy refuse to provide her with full details on her son's murder.

Then a newspaper reporter informs Dorothy that her son was gay, and that this might have been the reason he was killed. But the Navy has nothing to say about it, the entire matter will be swept under the rug, with Dorothy remaining as much in the dark as the rest of the world. A deal had already been made with one of Allen's killers, who after a secret court-martial was given what amounts to a legal slap on the wrist. Dorothy comes to grips with her own homophobia in learning to respect who her son was. Radicalized by the incident and its aftermath, she joins forces with a crusading journalist to force the Navy to reveal the whole truth--and she will not allow the court-martial of Allen's other assailant to be conducted behind closed doors. "I don't think people really know that the assailant served only 78 days, and he didn't even get a dishonorable discharge. My son signed papers saying they could give him a dishonorable discharge just because he declared he was gay," Dorothy said. "Is our country saying that it is a bigger crime to be gay than to help kill somebody?"

One of the most controversial and widely-reported true stories of the early 1990s is dramatized in this made-for-cable movie. The upshot of this high-profile case was the creation of the Service Members' Legal Defense Network, assuring that no branch of the armed services would ever again be able to conspire to cover up a major crime. Dorothy Hajdys-Holman served as the film's technical advisor, while the US Navy refused to cooperate. "I am the one who named the movie. I wanted people to realize that Allen could be any mother's son," Dorothy explained. "Any Mother's Son" made its Lifetime cable network debut on August 11, 1997. Pray for Rain composed the original music, Bruce Harmon wrote the screenplay, and David Burton Morris directed.

My Fellow Americans (1996)

Former US Presidents Russell P. Kramer (Jack Lemmon) and Matt Douglas (James Garner) have spent the past 30 years hating each other. The film begins with the Republican Senator Kramer of Ohio winning the Presidential election, narrowly defeating Democratic Indiana Governor Douglas in a very close race. We hear Kramer's trademark speech, "Our dreams are like our children ... " He says he hopes their stay in Washington is for a long time to come. The movie then skips forward four years, to Douglas' landslide win over the incumbent Kramer, who says 80 million voted against him. By the end of his first term, Douglas is well-known for his infidelity. The funniest sequence finds the two blundering into a small-town gay pride march and falling in step with a marching band of Dorothys from ''The Wizard of Oz", strutting to an arrangement of ''Over the Rainbow.'' After being safely escorted from the parade to Cleveland by a gang of black-leather-clad women on motorcycles, Kramer says that he was wrong, he should have allowed gay enlistees into the military.

The film skips forward another four years, to where Kramer's former Vice President William "Bill" Haney (Dan Aykroyd) defeats Douglas. Haney's Vice President Ted Matthews (Heard) is widely seen as an idiot and becomes an embarrassment for the Haney administration. Haney detects a scandal brewing and tries to nail it to the previous administration. Haney agrees to resign, while Douglas and Kramer are introduced to the sniper who saved them, who turns out to be a gay man they had encountered earlier in the film during a Gay Pride parade in West Virginia. Kramer and Douglas, one-time political opponents, are thrown together, and the film goes on and on and on. It concludes with Matthews set to begin a prison term and Douglas and Kramer, running on the same ticket as independents in the Presidential election, arguing over which of them will be the nominee for President. Douglas first takes the podium when he throws a dollar on the floor to distract Kramer. As Kramer bends over to pick up the dollar, Douglas takes the mic and says: "My fellow Americans," presumably to announce himself to be the nominee, and causes Kramer to swear in front of the crowd, when the film cuts out mid-sentence.

Many call this "The Odd Couple Goes to the White House." Lemmon and Garner play ex-presidents in this comedy, each of them having served only one term as chief executive. The best jokes are in the first five minutes. We meet both men living life after the White House, Kramer making speeches for whoever will pay his large fee, while Douglas writes relevant books no one reads. Any time they show up at the same function, they insult each other like snarling schoolboys. Comedy comes largely from the series of cheap shots and snide recollections the two hurl at each other. The feel-good part comes from their bonding over shared experiences as past presidents. This political thriller builds as the hired guns keep trying to assassinate the ex-presidents.

"My Fellow Americans" is a bit goofy, but it's a good farcical spoof with just enough plot twists to keep it from becoming entirely predictable. Funny at times, yet after the brief introduction it goes downhill, becoming yet another road movie traveled by characters who hate each other. As the jokes get dumber and cruder, the movie may become tedious for some viewers. The DVD contains production notes, theatrical trailer, bloopers, optional Spanish and French soundtracks, optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, and Dolby audio. William Ross composed the original music. E. Jack Kaplan, Richard Chapman, and Peter Tolan wrote the screenplay. Peter Segal directed.