Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

It’s the 1980s. Bull-riding Southern boy Ron (Matthew McConaughey) drinks hard, snorts a lot of coke and engages in heaps o’ sex.

After being electrocuted, he lands in the hospital where he’s diagnosed with AIDS. He’s told that his T-cell count is 9 (a healthy range is 150-200) and will be dead in 30 days. Ron doesn’t like gays and the news is too much to bear. He leaves the hospital against doctor’s orders despite his persistent cough, his emaciated frame and dizzy spells.

He delves into research to learn all he can about AIDS, its causes and what drugs have success combating the virus. He learns about AZT but trials won’t start for another year. He treks to Mexico to get drugs. He shares the diagnosis with his best friend and soon, Ron’s friends turn on him, he gets evicted and he loses his job.

Ron’s resourceful and intelligent. He battles the FDA, bamboozles at border crossings, travels to other countries to get supplements and proteins. He starts a drug buyers club where he sells the meds that are helping people with the virus. Early on, Ron’s finesse needs work. With the help of Rayon (Jared Leto), a transvestite he meets in the hospital, they build a very successful business that helps scores of sick people despite the incessant obstacles.

This is a remarkable movie that delves into interesting history about a dark era. The facts are alarming and moving. The resilience of Ron and Rayon is inspiring as are their personal struggles. The movie tells its story without beating us with how we are supposed to feel or respond. We are given insight into information in ways that don’t distract from the main events, such as how Ron contracted AIDS.

The cast bursts with talent. Jennifer Garner as the doctor who supports Ron and Rayon’s mission. Bradford Cox (lead singer of Deerhunter) as Rayon’s boyfriend. A white-haired Griffin Dunne as a doctor exiled from practicing in the US. Steve Zahn has a bit role.

You’ve heard about McConaughey’s physical transformation for this one. He’s difficult to behold, he’s that thin. His acting is his best yet, but it’s Jared Leto that is the pulse of Dallas Buyers Club. He’s unrecognizable: his voice, his walk, his shaved eyebrows. He seizes the role of Rayon.

Dallas Buyers Club details the strength of a person who transforms from homophobe to tireless supporter of individuals whose dire needs were largely ignored by the slow-to-act medical establishment. The movie stays with you afterwards.

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée

Country: US

Genre: Drama

Run time: 117 minutes

Scale: 5

Pariah (2011)

Pariah is a young adult coming-out tale. The moving story is told with documentary-like realism. It takes an unflinching look at the difficulties faced by teenagers coming out as gay to reluctant-to-accept parents.

Alike (Adepero Oduye) isn't confused about her sexuality. However, she has been dressing in pink and semi-fluffy to appease her church-going mother Audrey (Kim Wayans). She leaves the house with a hidden change of oversized clothes, her doo-rag and baseball cap with which she becomes her true self she can be once away from home. Audrey wages her low-simmer battle to keep Alike girlie and away from bad influences, like her best friend, Laura (Pernell Walker), a lesbian and Alike’s main support. Audrey doesn’t accept the unspoken truth about Alike. As she puts it, “God doesn’t make mistakes.”

Wayans is terrific as the overbearing, pushy mother. There were moments when I expected her to launch into the comedic Wayans territory. She’d make a certain face and, I’d waited for her trademark berserk expression.

Meanwhile, Audrey and Alike’s father, Arthur (Charles Parnell) are in marital discord, which makes Audrey focus on Alike to avoid the bigger issue she’s dodging. Alike's close relationship with her father saves her from complete parental alienation; that is, until she tries to come out to him.

Writer/director Dee Rees creates a confident teen character in Alike, who tries to be true to herself and keep her parents. Her solid network of lesbian pals and an influential teacher keep her moving forward. It’s heartbreaking to see her parents deny her in her efforts to be honest. Pariah depicts the harsh realities that occur after some teens come out to their families. I’ve read about teens being kicked out of the house and shunned after coming out.

In Pariah, Alike's biggest ally is herself. With her excellent grades and good friends, she creates options for herself. Sadly, life doesn’t always present bankable options like those that open up to Alike.

Great indie film. Check it.

Writer/Director: Dee Rees

Country: US

Genre: Drama

Run time: 86 minutes

Scale: 4

Albert Nobbs (2011)

Going in, I knew the Glenn Close played a man in Ireland in the 1800s to eek out a living when jobs for women were scarce. As it rolled, I stared at Glenn Close, assessing whether or not I’d be able to decipher that her character was a woman had I not known her already. Soon though, I got lost in the story and forgot about Close.

(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)

Albert Nobbs (Close) is a quiet professional working as a waiter in a Dublin hotel. One day, a housepainter, Hubert Page (Janet McTeer)comes round to do work at the hotel. Mr. Page is forced to bunk with Mr. Nobbs for the night; Nobbs isn’t happy about this arrangement. He’s really a lady who has lived as a man for the past 30 years. Due to an errant flea in a corset, Mr. Page finds out. Mr. Nobbs has a meltdown, scared that Mr. Page will reveal his secret. Nobbs is close to meeting his dreams of opening a tobacco shop, gaining a bride and running the shop together.

Mr. Page goes on to reveal his own secrets. Suddenly, Mr. Nobbs has an ally, someone with whom to share his reality and dreams. Mr. Page and his wife encourage Mr. Nobbs to go for it. He fancies Helen (Mia Wasikowska), a maid at the hotel, but young Helen has fallen for a new hotel employee, bad seed Joe Mackins (Aaron Taylor-Johnson)—an alcoholic who encourages Helen to lead on Mr. Nobbs in hopes that Nobbs will give Helen money which they can use to flee to America. Helen turns up pregnant. A devastating ending follows.

Based on "The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs," a short story by Irish novelist George Moore. Close played the role on Broadway in the 1980s and worked since then to get the movie made.

This is the first period piece I’ve seen about transvestites (or were they lesbians?). That point is never overtly stated. I wondered how Mr. Page figured out his arrangement with his wife. How would Nobbs plan to do that with Helen?

McTeer needed more screen time. With Mr. Page’s gait and confidence next to introverted Nobbs, the acting is strong. It’s hard to believe that Mr. Nobbs is played by the same actress who boiled the bunny in Fatal Attraction—that’s range! Brendan Gleeson is hardly recognizable as the hotel doctor; Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays himself as a hard-drinking hotel guest.

Director: Rodrigo García

Country: UK

Genre: Drama

Run time: 113 minutes

Scale: 3.5

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

Jim Carrey opposite Ewan McGregor, as love interests? Indeed and it works very very well.

Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) is a good man. He sings at church. He’s around for his family. He’s a cop and his wife Debbie (Leslie Mann) couldn’t be happier with her luck in landing him. After a near-fatal car accident, Steven decides to stop wasting time and embraces his true lifestyle. It’s working for him until his extravagance catches up with him and he ends up in prison, but this doesn’t stop him. He’s is an intelligent con man able to escape from prison (four times), talk his way out of and into anything BUT he’s also a hopeless romantic who risks it all for love: first for Jimmy (Rodrigo Santoro) and then for Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor).

This is a peculiar movie with switchbacks you don’t see approaching. It’s complex, heartfelt, humorous and savvy—like a gay Catch Me If You Can. An incredible story with an ironic twist. Carrey is stellar. McG is among my favorites but Carrey carries ILYPM. Before viewing the trailer, I thought ILYPM was related to the cigarette maker. It’s actually based on a book about Steven Russell called “I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks,” by Steve McVicker.

Co-writers/Co-directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Country: USA

Genre: Dramedy

Run time: 102 minutes

Scale: 4

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

I’m surprised there aren’t more movies about kids looking up their sperm donors. The best part of watching The Kids Are All Right is that I avoided reading or hearing anything about it beforehand so everything—from the secondary actors to the plot points to the ending were a surprise.

In a nutshell, siblings 18-year-old Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and 15-year-old Laser (Josh Hutcherson) seek out and meet Paul (Mark Ruffalo)the man behind the sperm that created them. When their moms Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) find out, they are threatened by Paul and worried about the kids.

(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)

Pros
It’s funny: Great use of humor—quips, one-liners and verbal sparring.

Insightful details and characterizations: Joni and Laser are confident. They have real teenage moments and through these we learn what drives them. Their relationship with one another is strong and they are self-assured. The relationship between their moms Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) is portrayed with its blemishes and struggles. Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is affected by his relationship with Joni and Laser and he grows up.

Cons:
The ending: The way Paul is cut off from the Laser and Joni at the end was sloppy and offered no resolution. If this movie were longer, Laser and Paul would get likely be in touch again. They shared a connection but it would be difficult for the entire family to forgive Paul’s perceived “interloping.” I loved the idea of this blended family working out somehow.

Was Jules definitely gay? No way! I had difficulty believing that Jules was gay after her sex scenes with Paul. She was really into it MANY times over. At the very least, maybe she’s bisexual?

Co-writer/Director: Lisa Cholodenko

Country: USA

Genre: Dramedy

Run time: 106 minutes

Scale: 3.5

Savage Grace (2007)

Savage Grace is an uneven and slow slog. I’d go as far as calling it boring. It shocks you over and over but in between, the unsympathetic characters provoke anything but distaste, revulsion and confirmation that people with too much money are miserable wagons.

This disturbing mess tells the alleged true story of Barbara Daly Baekeland (Julianne Moore) and Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane); the latter the heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. They have a son, Antony (Eddie Redmayne), who is doted on by his mother and ignored by his father. The family travel the world mingling with persons of high social caliber. Brooks is irritated while Barbara is in her element pushing Tony’s accomplishments onto the annoyed guests.

(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)

Tony’s interest is mildly peaked when he meets hot Spaniard Blanca (Elena Anaya) but that doesn’t stop him from sexing it up with his male buddy (see picture). Barbara pushes Tony and Blanca to sleep together, but soon Brooks runs away with Blanca leaving wife and son behind never to look back. Tony is crushed by his dad’s abandonment and his “inheriting” his mother, her depression and her suicidal tendencies.

Many lurid events follow: Barbara takes up with a gay man. They  engage in a ménage à trois with Tony. Tony is numb as his mother’s keeper, confidante and sometimes lover. I wasn’t expecting the final scene where Barbara mounts her son, has sex with him and asks him if he came. When he says no, she gives him a hand job. Once done, they get up and contemplate what to order for dinner. Tony stabs and kills her. After nearly eight years in a psychiatric hospital, Tony is released and moves in with his maternal grandmother. Within a week, he stabs her. She survives but Tony goes to Rikers Island where within the year he’s dead by suffocation with a plastic bag (it was uncertain if it was a suicide or murder).

A fucking mess.

Director: Tom Kalin

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 97 minutes

Scale: 2

The History Boys (2006)

Set in the 1980s with a soundtrack featuring New Order, The Smiths, The Clash, Echo and the Bunnymen and The Cure, The History Boys follows a group of boisterous young men preparing to present their A-levels in history for admittance into Oxford and Cambridge. What are A-levels, you ask? Wikipedia defines them as follows:

A-levels (Advanced Levels) are courses which are taken by British 16-18 year-olds who hold 'advanced' levels of intelligence. The courses are the way to get to university and thus set their proud owner up for a life of unimaginable riches, unimaginable luxury and unimaginable sex. All because you have A-levels.

In this character-driven drama, you get to know the gifted students in their hunger to achieve and learning about themselves. Main character Dakin (Dominic Cooper) believes his smarts and good looks will get him anything. Posner (Samuel Barnett) who has a crush on Dom and his verve. Teacher Hector (Richard Griffiths) loves drama and poetry and has the boys recite poetry or break into song, but this is no time for singing. The headmaster is worried that if they don’t get it, he won’t be able to clock any victories for his school. He brings in Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore) to fine-tune them to impress with new perspectives on history. As the young men work harder to excel, you start seeing a parallel: Just as in history with wars and battles, they want to win and conquer.

The History Boys plays like a live theater production (makes sense as screenplay was written by Alan Bennett and based on his award-winning play). Most of the film happens in the classroom. The banter is well timed. There are several short musical numbers and movie scenes providing meta drama. There’s also an element of pedophilia in the form of fondling. It’s happening isn’t betrayed but everyone knows about it. Is this another historical parallel? The ending is a shock and then reminiscent of the series finale of Six Feet Under. The History Boys is worth a view. The original Broadway production opened in New York in 2006 and won the 2006 Tony Award for the Best Play. Eleven of the actors recreated their Broadway roles in the movie. Barnett was nominated for the 2006 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Director: Nicholas Hytner

Country: UK

Genre: Drama

Run time: 109 minutes

Scale: 3.5

Beginners (2010)

As of late, I am winning too, Charlie Sheen. On a winning spree of movies, that is.

Beginners is a love story—part rom-com, part dram-com. Introspective Oliver (Ewan McGregor) falls in love with Anna (Mélanie Laurent) in the months following his father Hal’s (Christopher Plummer) death. Oliver absorbs himself in the memories of his father coming out after 45 years of marriage to Oliver’s wacky mother, Georgia (Mary Page Keller).

Shortly thereafter, Hal reveals another doozy as Oliver continues examining his own life and why all of his previous relationships have failed.

The movie has a winning personality—uncommonly witty yet humble. Extremely well cast. One reviewer stated that McGregor gets better with age; I couldn’t agree more. I’ve admired him since Shallow Grave and Trainspotting but haven’t felt bowled over by him again until now. He plays Oliver with genuine compassion and warmth as he supports Hal, even getting a kick out of his discoveries in his new lifestyle, such as house music and falling in love. There are no recriminations or angry declarations—this isn’t that kind of movie. Rounding out the stellar cast is Arthur (Cosmo), Hal’s charming long-haired Jack Russell terrier. Arthur holds his own opposite the speaking characters. He even gets subtitles. It’s brilliant.

Beginners is a semi-autobiographical, based on writer/director Mike Mills' experience with his own father coming out. Mills uses old photographs and random images to help visualize parts of the story. He also presents LA scenes. Instead of the usual frenzied and sprawling, you get a peek at the tranquil spots in its neighborhood landscapes.

This one is a gem that shouldn’t be missed.

Director: Mike Mills

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 105 minutes

Scale: 4.5

Seattle Gay Pride Parade (June 26, 2011)

Not having had attended this event for years, I was struck by the vibrant energy, the enormous crowds and the big smiles. Even the sun made an appearance.

Venkovský ucitel (The Country Teacher) (2008)

If I’d read the concept for The Country Teacher, I’d have canned it on grounds that the story could not have been pulled off without demonizing the protagonist for his lack of judgment and the teen boy’s mother her choices. Instead, the viewer is presented with an emotionally tangled, confusing and uncomfortable situation that winds out of control.

Peter (Pavel Liska) leaves Prague to teach science in a countryside school. He wants to spread his wings away from his mother, a fellow teacher at the school. Soon, he builds a life in the country village. He befriends Marie (Zuzana Bydzovská), a dairy cow farmer with a young teenage son, Lada (Ladislav Sedivý).

(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)

The Country Teacher works slowly. Peter is anguished—he’s in the present but not exactly in the moment. Marie is similar. She’s a strong but sad person in search of love and connection. Early on, Peter declares that “Chance is the mother of change.” The statement foreshadows and sets the tone. When Peter’s his former lover unexpectedly shows up to win him back, Peter tells him the truth—he never loved him. He sets out to ruin Peter’s new existence and this leads up to an entertaining catalytic scene. There’s an outdoor party. The town is there dancing to a terrific band (who I’m still trying to identify). As the band plays the chords to the punk rhythms and the townies are dancing, I wanted be at the party dancing with them despite the brimming conflict and tension.

The movies highlights unrequited love, loneliness and forgiveness. Almost all the characters are in love with someone who doesn’t/can’t love them in return. Lada’s girlfriend Bara is the exception: she gets what she wants and doesn’t seem to long; she’s a symbol of hope. The ending doesn’t quite deliver. Peter has metamorphasized but it happens too quickly. Are people are capable of forgiving themselves and others and learning from it, especially in these circumstances?

Writer-Director: Bohdan Sláma

Country: Czech Republic

Genre: Drama

Run time: 112 minutes

Scale: 3.5