Further SIFF offerings - Gay Discovery

[tiggymalvern]

Last night was another anthology showing, but these were a series of shorts showing together as Gay Discovery rather than permanently hung together into a 'film', so we got to vote for them separately, which was great. The overall standard was much higher than Destricted too. darthhellokitty and I were two of just 14 women in the audience, according to the announcer - she said they'd been taking bets on how many women would turn up and counted us on the way in XD


First up was 'Night Swimming' - two teenagers just leaving school, one with a crush on his almost-straight friend. It was very cute and sweetly done, but the progression was cliched and predictable. Not a dull 19 minutes at all, but nothing to really excite either (though one of the guys was very nicely built XD).

'Guess Who I Saw Today' was fantastic. The classic fifties wife with the classic fifties husband coming home from work, and they act out their day in musical-style dance to these lyrics. Shot in black and white, every fifties cliche between them, with some funny, sweet and very poignant moments. At just four minutes long, it packed everything in, and the whole thing was so tight. Gorgeous.

'Seeing You in Circles' was another brilliant piece of work. Two ex-lovers trying to remain friends meet up for a birthday dinner, with one bringing his new lover. Told out of sequence in a series of snippets with some fantastic dialogue (not just the three guys, a number of supporting characters too), as it's revealed just how well they know each other, and that all the reasons they split up are still there between them. Witty, sparky, the longest film of the night and never felt it for a second. It didn't really have a resolution, but neither did the guys, so I think that was rather the point.

'Thermopylae'. A fifties schoolboy crushing on a repressed teacher. Well filmed, but another one with just too many cliches and predictable patterns to find any real drive.

'Still'. A dialogue-free piece with some fantastic cinematography and lighting. And... And? It needed more than that to sustain fifteen minutes. It would have made a far better series of photos to hang on my walls than it did a film. The best part of it was the opening poem 'Fishes' by the lead actor, with the first two verses that seem so uplifting and hopeful, and then... oh.

'Red Velvet Girls'. The obligatory lesbian vampires! (They are obligatory, aren't they?) This film was just awful, with every Anne Rice-style vampire cliche embraced to the full, and the vampire aristo who's supposed to continue the lineage, when she'd rather boff the kitchen girl whose job it is to kill the rabbits for the parties XD The most overdramatic dialogue and filming style, actors who can't say their lines quite right with a mouthful of vampire teeth, madly OTT effects shots - it was shooting straight for so bad it's classic, and most of the time it made it. Had the audience laughing madly more and more as it went on, pouring out the travesties with a cement mixer XD

'Summer'. Full circle with the themes, as we returned to gay schoolboy crushing on straight friend. But this was a much better effort than 'Night Swimming', with wonderfully funny, smart dialogue and capturing such a mood and sense of fun. Very, very sweet and I liked it so much it was too short, which is a much better feeling for a short film to leave you with than too long.

It was really fun, a well chosen assortment with a wide mix of themes and styles - so where were all the rest of the slasher women?!

Comments

[mmapmaker.livejournal.com]

Alas, we never get stuff like this in my podunk, little town of squares. We're a bit far off the beaten path for mind-broadening cultural experiences. Which is too bad; those shows look pretty interesting.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

It's all been fun so far - I haven't seen a film I regret yet, which is pretty good considering I'm picking most of them on very short, vague descriptions and just seeing what turns up XD Short films especially are a 'see 'em while you get the chance' thing, since they're unlikely to ever turn up on a DVD at Amazon. It's a pity how little exposure some of these works get.

[teaforme.livejournal.com]

so where were all the rest of the slasher women?!

I wanted to go, but I was busy dumping that guy. :-(

Black Orpheus was good though!

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I did want to see Black Orpheus, but decided I'd get a chance to see that by renting it or whatever, whereas the short films are unlikely to ever be accessible to me again. Which is a shame, given how good some were.

Are you still going to have to interact with him, or can you avoid?

[teaforme.livejournal.com]

I can avoid if I want, and I think I may for a while. He's a fixture at the wine tastings I've been going to (and enjoy), so I think our paths will cross soon enough. Fine by me. If he's all weird about it that's his problem. I'm determined not to let it bother me!

Black Orpheus was good, but since it's old it wasn't very fresh. I can only imagine what it must have been like when it first came out--a revolutionary experience for American audiences who had little if any exposure to Brazilian dance and music! The costumes were great, and the leads were all extremely fetching. A sweet, joyful, romantic tale with the sensuality and energy of Carnival! And if you rent it you won't have other people's heads blocking the subtitles.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I'm determined not to let it bother me!

Good for you. He was the one who pressed for it in the first place, not you, so it really can't have come as too much of a shock, even if he didn't want it to be that way.

And if you rent it you won't have other people's heads blocking the subtitles.

Usually not a problem for me, I'm the annoying bitch getting in the way of the row behind XD

[glass-bullet.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of it, but now I want to see it. lol

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

It's all been great fun! Thought it would probably have been more fun if it coincided with so much RL stuff that's making fitting everything in an extreme hassle 0_0