For the Queers Monday, January 15, 2007 [ banter 0 ]

Stop what you're doing. Just watch.

Gay Gyllenhaal on SNL

I love that Jake knows who his core fanbase is, and I love that he gets the joke and can poke fun at it. The gay cowboys in the audience are my favorite, next to the beefcake arms. Love the Gyllenaahl for this (and for that), and that he did it full-out without camping it all up like most straight guys would ("Look, I'm a guy in a dress! That's funny, see? Cuz I'm a GUY in a DRESS!"). Hilarious, I was peeing myself at my computer.

Still though, let's not forget who went there first. Mmkay?

All this and Jennifer Hudson won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, first award of the night. I sat on my futon crying in front of the TV, overidentifying as usual. Between all the crying and peeing this weekend I'm just drained.

The History Boys Sunday, December 10, 2006 [ banter 0 ]

I saw the Broadway play earlier this year and loved it. I think I loved this movie even more, it just makes more sense on film and the subtleties resonate more clearly. I love how so many of the conversations that people are having are layered and not really about what they're actually discussing, like where the old rambunctious teacher sits with the young shy student and talks about the sadness in poetry... but it's obvious they're both talking about being gay and lonely. Great film, reminds me of a movie I did back in the day called The Emporer's Club. It was basically a lesser version of Dead Poets Society but instead of a coked up Robin Williams we had a really sincere Kevin Kline. Tip: if you slow-mo some of the classroom and hallway scenes you can actually spot me in little uniformed jacket & tie outfits carrying books and doing my damndest to look parochial and 14. That was fun. Haven't thought about that in forever. One of the actors in History Boys reminded me so much of Randy, too. The resemblance was striking, made me a little nervous.

Go see The History Boys, if for no other reason than it features the complete original London cast from 2yrs ago and you get to hear Frances De La Tour's brash (Tony -winning) monologue about how the entire scope of history is significantly made up of women cleaning up after the messes made by insignificant men. Love it.

"Can We Go Somewhere?" Wednesday, August 30, 2006 [ banter 2 ]

The essense of the entire My So-Called Life series --- shit, the entire high school experience --- can be captured in this clip. The best moment in TV high school history.

The Exorcism of Mary J Saturday, August 26, 2006 [ banter 1 ]

I didn't think it was possible for Mary J. Blige to get any more passoinate and upset singing than she was 4yrs ago when she sang "No More Drama" at the Grammy's --- do you remember that shit? It was like watching an exorcism. But here she goes again, letting all those inner demons loose in this beautiful song with *ugh* U2. This video is really simple, in all black and white, and she looks great in that tank top with the boots and the wind blowing her hair all wild; she always manages to somehow look hotter than she did before.

During that last part of the song, where she just starts wailing "One" over and over, out of nowhere my eyes well up with tears. God bless Mary J.Blige and all those demons she's fighting.

Not Ready To Make Nice Friday, August 11, 2006 [ banter 0 ]

I was never a huge fan of Dixie Chicks, and I barely recall having an opinion about during the backlash they got for their anti-Bush remarks a few years ago, but this single "Not Ready To Make Nice" from their new album is fucking great. The song itself is defiant and honest, I love that they used it as the first single. The video is just gorgeous to look at and, like the lyrics, is full of between-the-lines messages. I love the whole look of the girls in those old pilgrim-like dresses, like a spin on The Crucible or Salem "witches" in those days when women who spoke out of turn were looked at as hysterical and evil, with them fighting against restraints and smearing them with ink. The violins and the vocals both soar when they talk about the death threats they recieved and it's just really cool. I love the song.

Why am I blogging about a Dixie Chicks song/video? Cuz they got snubbed at the height of their fame --- right on the heels of that awesome "Landslide" cover --- for speaking their own minds. Radios stopped playing their music and the media went nuts over it. It was bullshit and this song probably won't get much attention or accolades b/c of it. Natalie, the lead singer who really bore the brunt of the backlash even though they ALL felt the same way, stares straight into the camera at the end of the video and her expression is just perfect. It's like she's looking directly at every hatemail-writing lunatic who threatened her life, every DJ who banned their music from radio, every politician who pinned them as anti-American, even directly at Bush himself and saying, "What's gone down is not cool and I'm not gonna shut up or pretend to be past all of it."

Of course all of this could just be me projecting my own ex-boyfriend issues into the situation. But whatever.

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