I gotta say the best thing about last night’s PLGFF opening was that it was at the Hollywood Theater. I love Cinema 21 but NW can really just get under my skin and make me anxious sometimes. What can I say? I’m an Eastside girl.
Does this picture not say, “International school somewhere in Europe in the 80s…”What could have made it better? Besides a decent movie…alcohol. Far be it from me to create yet another space where young queer people can’t attend a queer event, but I could really have used at least a beer to get through The Curiosity of Chance. I quite enjoy a good campy flick but Chance couldn’t even pull that off. Somehow it managed to attempt some level of seriousness even though it opened the story with the setting of “Somewhere in Europe. Somewhere in the 80s.” The opening monologue’s insistence that Chance had the hardest adolescence of anyone ever was also more than just a tad melodramatic. Really, his life was pretty good. His dad may have been an army man but he didn’t beat the boy or anything. If the worst that happens to you as a gay teen is your dad rolls his eyes at you when he finds you in your mother’s dress having make up being put on my your li’l sis then I think you’ll survive.
I just couldn’t stay for the Q&A with the director. What do you say to an audience that has collectively laughed at and groaned over your movie for an hour and a half? “You chose actors that couldn’t act…but at least they were hot!” A disappointing opener to say the least.
Fortunately, the rest of the fest looks to be put together well. Tonight’s Brand Upon the Brain extravaganza featuring Karen Black is bound to be a spectacle and there’s a whole host of films with more promising reviews in the coming week. Well, here’s to hoping I can brave the Westside for the best of the fest…
