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Highlights: As more and more ladies of some age appeared on the stage looking absolutely fantastic my girlfriend dubbed them GILFS, a takeoff on the popular MILF acronym, replacing Grandma with Mother. So congratulations Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton. You certainly get an Oscar from me. Melissa Ethridge winning for "An Incoventient Truth." Tammy Lynn Michaels, who I can only really ever think of as a mean girl from D.E.B.S. is so sweet and in love with her. She was biting back tears as she kissed her on live TV. I’ve never been a huge Melissa fan (ok, I did go to a concert when I was about 12) but it’s always good to see the liberals and the queers teaming up and WINNING. Yes, we will inherit the earth. Al Gore’s speech cutoff joke wasn’t bad either.
Lowlights: Much of the show in general. Sadly, Ellen. I love her normally but she really was pretty lame, although I actually thought the vacumming was a little bit amusing (and Queerty seemed to like her, though I think they’re the only ones). I can’t imagine though having to host a huge show like that, then go on that creepy creepy Jimmy Kimmel’s show (I didn’t actually stay up late enough to watch this because I loathe him, but I assume it was as painful as his horrible negation of identity as he tried to fight with Rebecca Romijn last week), go to a bunch of parties until 6am, and then wake up to tape your own daily show. I don’t envy her so I’m gonna cut her some slack. The worst local angle was Willamette Week who effectively ruined my enjoyment of the Deaparted as it waited for me in my mailbox the very same day the Willy published. It’s one thing to give spoilers, it’s quite another to splash them in huge letters across a centerfold page with other articles. I hate you. As for the rest of the weekend it was pretty excellent. I actually went out twice in a row! That’s a lot for me as I enter my golden years. But the new club nights at Rotture are pretty good, even if they don’t really get hopping until 12:30. But there’s actually two, The Thin Pink Line and Juicy, so you got something every Friday night. They’re pretty dang queer but mixed with heteros as well so its a pretty interesting scene. Definitely recommended. One thing about this club, as well as my Saturday night Double Down experience, that I’ve noticed is that they’ll always put the mediocre DJ somewhere after the middle of the night so that you say 2 more songs and if they suck we’re gone. Inevitably, the better DJ will come back just as your gathering your coats. At Rotture, I held one, at Double Down I was tired of fighting the smashed in crowds and bailed. Eh, it’s a formula I guess. And one last thing. We all watched L Word, as usual, and still hate everybody for the most part but I gotta say Alice and her new girl are adorable. Alice is still ok in my book and has really always been the only decent character. (Also, the only out actress on teh show until Daniela Sea). Her new lady’s pretty hot too and we all understand why she’s gotta bite that butt. […]
Many sad movies, nay, most truly depressing tales have a lesson to give, a compelling reason to exist, even hope, or some other redeeming qualities. Madeinusa, the Peruvian submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, which shows this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at PIFF, had none of these. (I am also particularly thankful to report this film has nothing to do with gay culture)
The audience already knows that Madeinusa’s father has been waiting these 14 years to deflower his younger daughter when she decides to preempt him and cavort with the gringo in an alleyway. By this time you are praying that Salvador will rescue her but he refuses. Unlike any other character, however, his decency prevails when he witnesses Madeinusa’s father raping her despite her deflowerment. But while you may have a tiny grain of hope as they prepare to flee don’t hold onto it. Madeinusa has been driven to insanity and betrayal by her dire straights. This all leads to an ending even creepier and more disturbing that you might have initially imagined. I wouldn’t claim any saving grace in the beauty of Madeinusa‘s parting shots but there certainly is elegance to the cinematography. These colorful and bizarre images that ride through the horror of this film are the only split seconds of enjoyment one might be able to take away. But even they are not worth it. The shot of Salvador’s eye through the craggy wooden slats of the cell in which he is initially imprisoned is nicely framed but is also a frequently used, trite shot that pales in comparison to close ups in something like the disturbing-but-highly-worth-it Pan’s Labyrinth. Even the scene of the urinating cow is a beautiful, welcome relief to the ugliness of the movie as a whole. And when farm animal pee is the highlight of your screen experience you just can’t recommend a film. Madeinusa screens Tues Feb 20th, Wed the 21st and Thur the 22nd at Broadway. A complete schedule can be found on the NW Film Center website. […] |
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Despite it being one of the more boring Oscar years, I followed much of last night’s show (ok, an hour interrupted by the L Word but, whatever, I hear I didn’t miss much). 
Penelope Cruz. The best dress ever. ‘Nuff said.
For those of you with cubicle monkey type jobs, this is the perfect way to while away your desk jockey day. Our favorite MTV owned gay station had got a whole mess of 
The ironically named Madeinusa lives in an isolated village in Peru, dirt poor despite being the daughter of the town’s mayor, a patient pedophile. Her mother has left her and her sister appears to hate her. On the eve of the town’s annual festivities, or "Holy Time," as they call it, a non-indigenous (gringo) geologist from Lima, Salvador, gets stranded in the town, as there is no coming or going from the town during this holiday. What begins with what might seems like a fairly benign Holy Virgin Beauty Contest and Good Friday night prayers in the Catholic Church turns sinister quickly. God is dead and will not arise until Sunday morning. Therefore, this weekend God sees nothing and there is no sin. You can do anything to want and you will not be punished. And while I’m all for debauchery and parties, moral obligations exist in both religious and secular life for reasons and it is disturbing to think that they only matter because God is looking.