AmosL
08-11-2006, 08:11 AM
BLOODY MOON'S GUIDE TO GAY AND LESBIAN FILM
Literary Pride--A Gay Reading Circle
Ever have a hard time decide what movie to see? Ever have a harder time knowing what movies are available? Not to worry---there is an answer. I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of "Bloody Moon's Guide to Gay and Lesbian Film" at a local bookstore. It's more than just a guide, it is a commentary (although highly biased) on the newest releases in theaters and on DVD.
2005 was a great year for us--many films were made and we now have one comprehensive guide of the year's most interesting and intriguing gay, lesbian and transgendered films. It is illustrated with great photographs, it is provocative and it is proud. Included are gay cowboys, gay Nazis, naked marines, nervy detectives, gay Mafia men, porn stars and women in love.
Bloody Moon, the author, maintains that it was Brokeback Mountain that smashed open the closet door of Hollywood but I am forced to disagree--he forgets Philadelphia, The Killing of Sister George, The Children's Hour and Longtime Companion as well as a slew of others. Be that as it may, 2005 ushered in a period when gay and lesbian movies filled the market and now it is not just what to see but when is there time to see them all.
The book starts off with an introduction about what is happening in films that are geared to us and takes us on a mini history of gay and lesbian film. He them moves on to a section in which he announces the creation of the Bloody Moon awards which honor merit and excellence in gay lesbian and transgender film. The winners are predictable enough. "Brokeback" won all of the major awards with the best actress going to Felicity Huffman for Transamerica. Interesting is that he also gives the runners up and there are a few surprises here.
After quite a lengthy section on Brokeback Mountain (including a nude photo of Heath Ledger, memorable quotes, background information and a comparison of the stars to Rock Hudson and James Dean) we get an alphabetical listing of all of the movies that are out at present (or so it is stated---I think he missed about 200 movies available on DVD. The listing on each film includes photos, cast, credits, reviews and in many cases some juicy gossip. However being here in Little Rock it is not highly likely that we will probably not have a chance to see many off the movies. It is even hard to find rental movies in many cases. And this is the one problem that I had with the book. Bloody Moon gave no information as to whether the film was available on DVD and from which company it came. Hopefully in future editions this will be covered.
Not all of the movies cited are new but the majority are. Some of them I had actually seen a year or so ago but there is plenty of news about new releases. The book is also divided into full length feature films and what Moon calls the shorts. Here again I have seen some of the movies that he classified as shorts and they were indeed full length.
And there is a special feature section entitled "Blood Moon's Triptych of Hollywood's Honest Hunks". And those three are Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Colin Farrell. Also appearing periodically in the book is some really juicy dish on Colin Farrell. But I'll let you read the book to find out what it is.
I rarely give a bad review but I had a lot of trouble with some of the things in this book--or better put the lack of important information. However we have nothing else like it available right now so it does serve a purpose even though not as completely as it should.
Literary Pride--A Gay Reading Circle
Ever have a hard time decide what movie to see? Ever have a harder time knowing what movies are available? Not to worry---there is an answer. I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of "Bloody Moon's Guide to Gay and Lesbian Film" at a local bookstore. It's more than just a guide, it is a commentary (although highly biased) on the newest releases in theaters and on DVD.
2005 was a great year for us--many films were made and we now have one comprehensive guide of the year's most interesting and intriguing gay, lesbian and transgendered films. It is illustrated with great photographs, it is provocative and it is proud. Included are gay cowboys, gay Nazis, naked marines, nervy detectives, gay Mafia men, porn stars and women in love.
Bloody Moon, the author, maintains that it was Brokeback Mountain that smashed open the closet door of Hollywood but I am forced to disagree--he forgets Philadelphia, The Killing of Sister George, The Children's Hour and Longtime Companion as well as a slew of others. Be that as it may, 2005 ushered in a period when gay and lesbian movies filled the market and now it is not just what to see but when is there time to see them all.
The book starts off with an introduction about what is happening in films that are geared to us and takes us on a mini history of gay and lesbian film. He them moves on to a section in which he announces the creation of the Bloody Moon awards which honor merit and excellence in gay lesbian and transgender film. The winners are predictable enough. "Brokeback" won all of the major awards with the best actress going to Felicity Huffman for Transamerica. Interesting is that he also gives the runners up and there are a few surprises here.
After quite a lengthy section on Brokeback Mountain (including a nude photo of Heath Ledger, memorable quotes, background information and a comparison of the stars to Rock Hudson and James Dean) we get an alphabetical listing of all of the movies that are out at present (or so it is stated---I think he missed about 200 movies available on DVD. The listing on each film includes photos, cast, credits, reviews and in many cases some juicy gossip. However being here in Little Rock it is not highly likely that we will probably not have a chance to see many off the movies. It is even hard to find rental movies in many cases. And this is the one problem that I had with the book. Bloody Moon gave no information as to whether the film was available on DVD and from which company it came. Hopefully in future editions this will be covered.
Not all of the movies cited are new but the majority are. Some of them I had actually seen a year or so ago but there is plenty of news about new releases. The book is also divided into full length feature films and what Moon calls the shorts. Here again I have seen some of the movies that he classified as shorts and they were indeed full length.
And there is a special feature section entitled "Blood Moon's Triptych of Hollywood's Honest Hunks". And those three are Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Colin Farrell. Also appearing periodically in the book is some really juicy dish on Colin Farrell. But I'll let you read the book to find out what it is.
I rarely give a bad review but I had a lot of trouble with some of the things in this book--or better put the lack of important information. However we have nothing else like it available right now so it does serve a purpose even though not as completely as it should.