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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Making Sense of People by Samuel Barondes, rating: 9/10

The subtitle is Decoding the Mysteries of Personality.  It is actually a fairly technical modern psychology book, but puts it all in layman's terms.  It talks about some ten of the troublesome personality patterns, including types like: histrionic, dependent or compulsive.  These were terms I'd heard about before, but never until now got a full understanding of.  The book isn't very long, a significant plus.

And now for a surprise...

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Victim (1961) rating: 9/10

While homosexuality was a crime in England, gay men cowered when blackmailed with pictures taken with a telephoto lens.  But one stands up to take the blackmailers on.

Surprisingly well done argument for repealing of the law against homosexuality wrapped in a kind of action film.  Pretty astounding for a film of 1961.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Brideshead Revisited (1981) rating: 8/10

The first half of this mini-series is amazingly about a pair of platonic gay best friends. That part is fun, but also very disappointing in a way that a 1980s mini-series about platonic gay people probably had to be.

The second half is much much less interesting. Plus, the protagonist, Charles Ryder, switches teams. What a mother f**ker! The protagonist is actually not a good person in my opinion. Among other faults, he's a poor example of a non-believer and he really doesn't back his friend properly. A traitor really.

[One might reason that Charles was just romanced by the wealth of the family, not by any of them.  If Charles is heterosexual, when it was clear Sebastian liked boys (one day in), the right honorable thing should have been to stay away and not lead him on.  If Charles is bisexual, then I'm not sure what I would say.  Maybe, make up your mind, dude!]

Throughout there is a surprising focus on religion, (Catholicism) especially in the second half, which I personally found quite boring and uninteresting. That a dying old man who never went to church in 

Monday, September 5, 2011

Take Me Home Tonight (2011) rating: 6/10

Topher Grace is the lead in this film flashback to the '80s. I really like Topher, but I'll try not let it color my review here. The movie is not very funny, though there are a few good moments in the script. The presentation of the hackneyed lesson of not wasting your life as a spectator is a little obvious. Seeing Topher shirtless makes up for the movie's shortcomings somewhat.

One confusing thing is Topher wears his watch on his right arm, but eats with his right. As an almost pure lefty, I find that weird. But maybe it makes sense, like just putting on a watch is easier for his left hand.

Limitless (2011) rating: 7/10

What if there were a pill to make you smart? What if not only the smart effects went away when you stopped, but actually made you rather more stupid and even physically frail. If the story sounds a little familiar, it is a bit like Flowers for Algernon, but only a bit.

It's actually interesting how this film sort of worships being smart in all its forms, and especially not the hard working kind of studious smart, but really the easy as pie learn through osmosis street smart where it seems there is a solution to everything if only you are smart enough.

Has good action sequences, too.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Soundless Wind Chime (2009) rating: 7/10

So confusing that I had to re-watch it to understand the plot. Half of the movie is in flashback, but no explanation is really given for the non-flashback portion until way later (which is why going back to see it again is helpful). But I still have no idea why the movie is called what it is.

Two gay guys (Chinese and Swiss) become friends and seemingly nothing more despite living together.

Permanent Residence (2009) rating: 8/10

Could a straight guy ever love a gay friend enough to be his boyfriend? Obviously impossible, but that doesn't keep this movie from contriving to make it happen.

Set in Hong Kong with fairly attractive actors, the movie is well shot, and yes, there's a lot of male nakedness.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Spring Fever (2009) rating: 8/10

I love the music. Takes place in somewhere in China. The guys are good looking/pretty. The story is madness, but engaging. A suspecting wife hires a private investigator to follow her husband. It turns out he is having an affair with another man. But then the private investigator takes an interest in the other man, too. But his girlfriend finds out. Double jeopardy! Is mr homewrecker worth all the interest? Check out the movie.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say at certain points, I wasn't sure who was who, especially the women. Parts of the movie are pretty dark, too.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Eagle (2010) rating: 6/10

A Roman soldier Marcus Aquila decides the best way to restore honor to his father and himself is through recovery of a golden eagle emblem lost by his father's Roman legion fighting in Northern Britain.

Played by all body Channing Tatum there isn't any nuance to his side of the story. Genuine and believable pained expressions? Sorry, no.

No Strings Attached (2011) rating: 7/10

Is this movie hitting on the trend of male and female role reversal? The girl is so bitten by life that she doesn't want a real relationship. She prefers friends with benefits or f**kbuddies to something real. The guy can't avoid falling in love with her.

I must say that I haven't ever really liked Ashton Kutcher, but he plays adequately here the role of guy hooked by girl and falling pretty hard despite his attempts to play along with the 'rules' set out by the girl, played by Natalie Portman (who I usually despise, but is believable here).

True Grit (2010) rating: 6/10

Over-hyped this movie is a bit of a disappointment. More of a drama than action, there's a lot of dialog, and in the tradition of the Coen brothers, there are attempts at wit and irony. Is it word-for-word identical to the original with John Wayne? I don't know. My guess is even if it were, it is significantly inferior. Still, it's at least mildly entertaining.

Red Riding Hood (2011) rating: 8/10

Who is the werewolf that terrorizes the town? The wealthy and significantly more attractive Henry (played by Max Irons) who is arranged to marry protagonist Valerie isn't to be trusted. Valerie who sometimes wears a red riding hood favors marrying the shorter, penniless childhood playmate and sweetheart Peter, though he has his dark moments (you've got strange taste girl! [please see the movie before judging this statement]). Any of them could be the werewolf or perhaps it's someone else. The movie keeps you guessing longer than you might think. A fair amount of action. Quite an enjoyable little thriller!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Michael (1924) rating: 6/10

A silent 1924 German film showing an old painter master as sugar daddy to a young straight male painter. The young artist falls in love at first sight with a nearly destitute countess who asks for a portrait from the master.

The master initially refuses saying he doesn't do requests. But then for some reason he relents, but struggles with the painting. In particular he couldn't do the eyes. His protege tries his hand and paints them, perfectly capturing her eyes. But otherwise things go downhill from there for the master.

Flipped (2010) rating: 7/10

A boy, Bryce, moves to a new neighborhood and a psycho 2nd grade girl neighbor and classmate, Juli, immediately crushes on him. Okay, maybe she isn't totally psycho, but she even loves the smell of his hair -- she says it smells like watermelon -- and goes around rather conspicuously sniffing it when sitting behind him in class. In shared narration (Bryce narrates his side of the story where he mostly rejects her), she repeats often that she loves his eyes. She ascribes all kinds of good qualities to her quarry, but as with any crush, she is quite wrong. He's just an ordinary somewhat cowardly boy. Albeit he's not a bad looking kid who all the girls in school like so much they bid an astonishing $50 in 1960's money in a charity auction for a lunch date with him. The 6th-8th grade Bryce is played by an exceedingly young looking 16 year old Aussie, Callan McAuliffe. The results of the charity auction of 10 boys confirms the traditional view that girls don't go for the nice guys.

The boy's (weirdly lovesick) grandpa notices Juli and is convinced she's a keeper and befriends her for Bryce. He works on the boy to convince him of this and not to miss his chance.

I wondered what the title means. Perhaps it's just that girl pursues boy is the reverse of what's thought of as typical.

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson, rating: 8/10

Jon Stewart had author Jon Ronson on the Daily Show. Ronson honestly looked a bit crazed while talking about this latest book. But I was intrigued with the idea of being able to diagnose psychopaths.

It turns out actually to be not that hard. There's a checklist of 20 questions. But psychopaths are fairly rare, supposedly somewhere just less than 1% of the general population. Things like: shallow affect (lack of emotion), superficial charm, manipulative, and lack of empathy are giveaways. Some, more accurate tests, are not allowed to be given anymore because they involve electric shocks (psychopaths don't have fear of electric shocks).

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Broken Sky (2006) rating: 6/10

As imdb comments say, is a mostly silent with little dialog. In Spanish, so subtitles (another one perfect for viewing at faster speed with appropriate equipment).

Boy likes boy. It works out for awhile, but then boy finds another boy fascinating when separated briefly. Other boy is heartbroken. Etc etc.

At least they're not horrible to look at.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Light Gradient (2010) rating: 7/10

A lot of film burned looking at the scenery and very little dialog. The main characters aren't bad looking and so it's mildly engaging. Told in flashback, they've just met and are starting a relationship by going on an adventure into the countryside. But bad things start to happen. First tent poles are forgotten and the first night it rains. Then their bikes get stolen. This puts a lot of stress in the relationship.

I didn't really like the very ambiguous and vague ending.

Full Speed (1996) rating: 7/10

Directed by Gael Morel who was the protagonist in Wild Reeds, this film made back in 1996 seems quaint with its closeted teenage protagonist with girlfriend/beard. The young teenage dialogue is rather too cerebral and adult, but still the film was engaging enough. Oh, it's in French (but that's handy when your player shows the subtitles while fast forwarding).

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Tron: Legacy (2010) rating: 7/10

Surprisingly good action and effects and almost story. I never saw the original. I didn't remember Garrett Hedlund from the movie Troy because he wore long hair playing Patroclus, but here he doesn't look bad.

Monday, July 4, 2011

How to Be a Man by Glenn O'Brian, rating: 7/10

Who's Glenn O'Brien? The Style Guy at GQ magazine. O'Brien writes with the voice of certainty about a topic on which you might rightly question the authority of any author. But he's one of those evolved types who live in NYC and prefers being a gentleman rather than anything akin to a macho man.

I was simultaneously entertained and confused by the thought I was reading something by a British gentleman rather than an American. Somehow being a gentleman seems rather un-American at least according to me. But I appreciate O'Brien 's efforts to bring sanity to the American male.

One of the fascinating parts is straight O'Brien expounding on how he thinks straights would get more action if they acted more gay. (He also complains that you can no longer tell gays from straights -- there's less drag and camp these days. But here I think he goes astray because of lack of a more highly developed gaydar.) He discusses his experience as a straight man in gay parts of Manhattan. I enjoyed the anecdote about how he and a friend were refused entry into gay bar because they were dressed in jackets and ties (it was obvious they weren't gay: not showing enough skin).

Friday, July 1, 2011

Contracorriente [Undertow] (2009) rating: 6/10

At a seaside village in Peru, a closeted gay married fisherman and an out gay painter have a clandestine affair. The painter is a social outcast in this church-going community. Of course there is conflict... And then some supernatural events occur in keeping with local superstition and custom. I can't explain without spoilers.

I laughed guiltily at a dirty joke in a DVD extras scene about two straight guys alone together for an extended period.

Movie is actually just okay. The protagonist isn't attractive.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Fair Game (2010) rating: 7/10

A good reminder of the Bush era hard ball where administration officials Cheney, Rove, and Libby played fast and loose and didn't think of the possibility of getting caught, but were assured of a pardon anyway.

Penn was excellent. I thought Watts could have been a bit better, although the screenplay actually doesn't make Valerie Plame out to be as heroic as I thought she should be.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

A Billion Wicked Thoughts by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, rating: 7/10

These guys studied online searches for porn and combined this with recent psychology findings to delve in detail about what people like about their preferred partners, straight or gay. They discuss all kinds of stuff, but...

I skipped to the section about gay males and was kind of surprised about one part. They claim that most gay males are 'bottoms'. But I wonder if this is somehow self selection. I would think that most bottoms are more willing to be out, and so thus skew the numbers. Maybe I'm not right about this though.

Other findings in the very short gay chapter are unsurprising to me, but might be stunning for others: most gay males like male acting/appearing guys, and not the effeminate types. The authors here refer to the preferred type as just straight guys, but I think that's essentially wrong. Gays don't specifically go after straight guys, but to the point that gaydar cannot distinguish between them, gays like typically male acting/appearing guys -- gay or straight. (By terming it straight, I think they're latching onto something which might, perhaps purposely, alarm straight men, like they have a target on their back or something, which is not true at all. Heh, yeah, one doth protest too much.)

Monday, May 30, 2011

Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution by David Carter, rating: 8/10

What's interesting is that the police never shot anyone. At one point, the police barricaded themselves inside the mob run Stonewall Inn nightclub and improvised firebombs were being thrown inside by the incensed crowd outside that 'finally had enough'.

Is It Just Me? (2010) rating: 8/10

Gosh, I really liked this same-sex romance film. Something about its not giving up on love theme which seems to be a recent meme. Or is it that I've just somehow been primed to think about this topic. The story is only very slightly Roxanne-like (Cyrano de Bergerac), except the protagonist isn't ugly. He just doesn't go to the gym so much.

Actually the guys are all good looking. Strange, the lead totally reminds me of the guy from the Logo TV show Mores for Gays. Like they could be twins or brothers. (They have different last names, I checked.)

In case it matters, there are no explicit sex scenes. Okay, maybe half of one.

Lord of the White Hell (Part One) by Ginn Hale, rating: 8/10

A review of fiction? I was lured into reading this fantasy tale of swords (heh), poison, curses and special powers by the underlying gay romance. And well, it works! I liked it.

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Big Gay Musical (2009) rating: 9/10

I found this surprisingly good. The story is inter-weaved with the musical itself. Singing performances are excellent. I'm surprised I'd never heard about this movie, but it is rated fairly highly on Netflix.

As with a lot of recent gay-interest films, it is fairly explicit.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Willful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan, rating: 9/10

The topic is not seeing what you don't want to see. It has something to do with confirmation bias, but as Heffernan describes, there's a lot more to it than that. I found this book fascinating.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Social Network (2010) rating 7/10

What an interesting story! It's fairly well told also. Why it didn't win the Oscar? Does it boil down to the disappointingly flawed protagonist? This is not a feel good movie. Well maybe also the acting wasn't quite to the level of TKS.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

A Jihad for Love (2007) rating 8/10

Islam is obviously the most chauvinistic and macho religion of all the major religions. As such perhaps it makes sense as the most homophobic. But what happens when homosexuals are 'unlucky' enough to be born in Islamic countries? This film explains through interviews -- unfortunately many of them with fuzzed out faces -- to protect the interviewees. The movie was executive produced by Michael Huffington, the former US Representative.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Sasha (2010) rating 7/10

A teenage boy, Sasha, whose Yugoslavian family has immigrated to Cologne secretly falls for his male piano teacher. Meanwhile he hides in plain sight from his macho and homophobic father with his Chinese girlfriend Jiao, a fellow student pianist. His piano teacher abruptly notifies Sasha he's leaving town, and everything falls apart.

Lokas (2009) rating 8/10

A straight guy takes a job in a gay bar. It probably happens more often than you might think. But this is only a small part of the story which is about family: a grandfather, his partner, his son and his grandson. Perhaps the first film I've seen from Chile.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Queens (2005) rating: 8/10

Spanish film set in Madrid involving 3 gay couples, all sons, their mothers and some fathers. The fictional occasion is the first same-sex marriages performed in Spain after they were approved in June/July of 2005. A fun little film with all sorts of pre-marriage conflict intended to highlight the jitters, cold feet, etc that people go through before being married, even in this case.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2009) rating: 7/10

More legal aspects than the previous two films in the trilogy. There's still a fair amount of action, but somewhat less involving Lisbeth since she starts out in a hospital and later moves to a prison. One weakness to the story is the nonsensical conspiracy and reason why it must keep itself secret so many years later.

Legend of the Black Scorpion (2006) rating: 7/10

AKA "The [Night] Banquet". A Chinese retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet takes a number of liberties with the story. It actually kind of works, though it seems a little strange that such a European story would actually make sense as a Chinese piece. Zhang Ziyi is quite good here as the Queen (Empress).

Sunday, February 13, 2011

A Right to Discriminate? How the Case of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale Warped the Law of Free Association by Andrew Koppelman, rating: 8/10

Up until a couple years ago, I thought of libertarians as socially liberal, but anti-tax conservatives. Then I realized they are closeted racists. Now I find it was my idiot mistake to leave off homophobes and bigots from the description. This book goes into the flawed reasoning behind the Supreme Courts decision to allow Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to discriminate against gays (and atheists) based on a right of free association. It shows that in an extreme interpretation of the ruling: it means all anti-discrimination law are unconstitutional, or we are allowed to disobey laws whenever doing so is perceived to endorse a message (conforming to a non-discrimination statute counters the BSA message against gays). What has it to do with libertarians? The ruling is one which endorses a libertarian viewpoint that the state should not regulate the private sector. A viewpoint which the book points out came about many years ago as a way to justify discrimination against blacks post-abolition. Even today racist libertarians like Rand Paul want to repeal the Civil Rights Act!

Reading this book today (it was published in 2009), I was struck by the fact that actually the US military is more advanced than the BSA with it's repeal of don't ask don't tell. BSA is headquartered in Texas and is fairly overtly religious with the Scout oath starting off: "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country". These two facts lead me to believe the BSA is pretty much a lost cause, and probably would not change their rules, unless the costs of being homophobic increase. I hope they do.

It would be nice to think that the Boy Scouts are a truly inconsequential private institution, but in fact, quite a number of boys go into the Scouts. The fact that it gets preferential treatment in many places as a de-facto socializing agent for children actually says that plays a not small role in society and should not be allowed to discriminate.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The King's Speech (2010) rating: 8/10

Not a complicated story. One gets most of it even from the trailer or even some of it from old facts one picks up about British history. But it's the execution which while not flawless is very nearly so by Colin Firth. And of course there is the mysterious thing to Americans that is the British monarchy.

The Duke of York is kind of a funny person with his self-deprecating jokes. (There is a zinger about what friends are for.)

And wow, I didn't know there is another Prince Albert -- a leftie no less -- in British royal history (the other was Victoria's consort). Bertie is kind of a cool nickname, I'd never heard it before. I'm rather more partial to Albee at the moment, but maybe I'd warm up to it.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Winter's Bone (2010) rating: 8/10

A bit otherworldly, this depiction of rural life in Missouri. There is a whole different code of honor and blood which I've never seen before. In this, we see a 17 year old girl bravely take on the role of breadwinner and head of a household, facing huge dangers because of the possible loss of her family's house and farm.

Patrik, age 1.5 (2008) rating: 7/10

Swedish comedy about a gay couple who moves into a family oriented neighborhood and receives a lukewarm welcome. Still they hope to blend in better when they plan to adopt a baby. Then of course everything goes awry. Entertaining.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Vertavo String Quartet, rating: 8/10

Four strangely exotic Norwegian middle aged women play stringed instruments. They do like to play all sorts: Grieg (also Norwegian), Bartok, Schumann, and Verdi. One looks a bit like Lisbeth Salander (or Noomi Rapace), despite the fact that Salander is Swedish.

Monday, January 24, 2011

the upside of irrationality by dan ariely, rating: 8/10

Another in an almost series by Ariely on the topic of irrationality. It's strange how people act so differently from what you might logically reason they would act. Ariely investigates more or less subtle issues in this field. My short term memory fails me, but certainly if I were to encounter an applicable situation, I would say, "hey, that's just like what that guy said in that book."

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Prayers for Bobby (2009) rating: 9/10

Sigourney Weaver stars in this made for TV movie, and she really puts it all out there as a religious mother of several kids, one of which, Bobby, is a gay teenager. At the point that she is aware of his orientation, she oppresses him relentlessly. Bobby is played by Ryan Kelley who hits all the right notes in anger, despair, and happiness. It's a story based on real life, and so made ever more real in the determined portrayals. I think I've never bawled this much recently. LOL.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

One Nation Under God (1993) rating: 7/10

It's pretty clear this was produced on a shoestring (back almost 2 decades ago). It exposes the 'ex-gay' movement for its destructiveness, despite it claims of wanting to help gay people. Perhaps most striking is how the religious backed movement picked currently discredited parts of early scientific investigation into homosexuality and took these as the basis for their 'tools' for attempting to convert the gay person to be straight. This YouTube piece gives more background: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2PLPyKmtas .