Sean Penn and James Franco in a scene from ‘Milk,’ the most high-profile gay film since 2005’s ‘Brokeback Mountain.’ (Photo by Phil Bray/Focus Features).
Waiting for ‘Milk’ Season’s mediocre lineup ends with promising biopic
With
one
notable
exception,
gay
films
in
this
fall’s
lineup
are
more
of
the
“gay-interest”
variety
than
stories
about
lesbian,
gay,
bisexual
or
transgender
people.
That
said,
there
are
still
some
notable
oddities
and
curiosities
to
keep
gay
movie
fans
in
the
multiplexes.
September’s
pretty
bleak.
Even
gay
fans
of
the
Harry
Potter
franchise
(who
were
thrilled
at
the
revelation
from
series’
author
J.K.
Rowling
about
sage
Professor
Albus
Dumbledore
being
gay)
will
have
to
wait
until
July
after
Warner
Brothers
decided
to
bump
the
film
because
of
the
already
grim
financial
projections
for
next
year’s
traditional
blockbuster
season.
Old-school
queens
regardless
of
age
should
be
wary
of
an
upcoming
remake
of
the
1939
camp
classic,
“The
Women.”
Diane
English,
who
has
no
directing
experience
and
has
worked
mostly
as
a
writer
for
the
TV
series
“Murphy
Brown,”
writes
and
directs.
If
that’s
not
enough
to
give
pause,
the
cast
can’t
hold
a
candle
to
the
1939
assemblage
who
turned
the
film
into
a
camp
delight.
The
Norma
Shearer
role
has
gone
to
Meg
Ryan
as
a
woman
whose
no-good
husband
cheats
on
her
with
Eva
Mendes
(Joan
Crawford
in
the
first
film).
In
the
20th-century
version,
the
heroine’s
attempt
to
regain
her
husband
leads
to
one
of
the
greatest
bitch
fests
ever
captured
on
celluloid.
But
according
to
Entertainment
Weekly,
the
new
incarnation
is
decidedly
less
catty
(and
dare
we
say
less
fun).
Ryan
is
quoted
as
saying,
“It’s
a
story
about
female
friendship.”
Let’s
hope
English
doesn’t
turn
the
snappy
story
into
a
saccharin,
gutless
bore.
It
opens
Sept.
12.
Atlanta
sees
the
release
of
Alan
Ball’s
“Towelhead,”
which
played
last
year’s
Sundance
Film
Festival.
Ball,
the
gay
writer
and
director
known
for
“American
Beauty”
and
HBO’s
“Six
Feet
Under,”
heads
this
film
about
a
young
Arab-American
girl
who
goes
to
live
with
her
strict
father.
Full
of
raging
adolescent
hormones,
she
begins
a
sexual
awakening
that
involves
at
least
one
inappropriate
older
man.
Toni
Collette
and
Aaron
Eckhart
are
some
of
the
bigger
names
attached
to
the
film,
and
Summer
Bishil
takes
the
leading
role.
It
opens
Sept.
19.
OCTOBER
PICKS
UP
the
pace,
starting
with
“Nick
&
Norah’s
Infinite
Playlist.”
Michael
Cera
(“Juno”)
plays
the
only
straight
guy
in
a
queer
band.
He
ends
up
falling
for
a
girl
(Kat
Dennings)
during
a
romp
through
Manhattan.
Look
for
it
Oct.
3.
Sundance
Film
Festival
entry
“Breakfast
With
Scot”
is
October’s
shining
star.
A
very
queeny
11-year-old
ends
up
living
with
his
gay
uncles,
one
of
whom
(Tom
Cavanagh)
is
a
TV
sportscaster
and
former
professional
hockey
player.
Mr.
Straight-Acting
is
confronted
with
his
own
sissy-phobia
when
the
boy
turns
out
to
love
musicals
and
a
pink
poodle
belt.
This
could
be
the
movie
that
gays
not
only
have
been
waiting
for,
but
need.
As
the
culture
slides
into
more
mainstream
acceptance,
subtle
layers
of
homophobia
(internal
and
external)
come
to
the
forefront
as
they
do
in
this
likely
enlightening
and
charming
film
opening
Oct.
10.
Rather
than
“The
Women,”
this
fall’s
true
woman-power
film
could
be
“The
Secret
Life
of
Bees,”
based
on
the
best-selling
and
much-loved
book
of
the
same
title.
Dakota
Fanning
stars
as
a
Southern
girl
who
escapes
her
abusive
father
with
their
maid
(Jennifer
Hudson).
Set
in
1964,
racial
tensions
are
perilously
high,
but
the
disparate
pair
ends
up
at
a
house
and
bee
farm
owned
by
three
African-American
sisters:
Alicia
Keys,
Sophie
Okonedo
and
Queen
Latifah.
It
opens
Oct.
17.
Curious
fans
young
and
old
will
probably
see
“Filth
and
Wisdom,”
Madonna’s
directorial
debut.
The
story
follows
an
eclectic
and
eccentric
group
of
friends
in
London,
each
trying
to
eke
out
another
day
in
their
bizarre
and
often
hilarious
lives.
Gogol
Bordello’s
Eugene
Hutz
is
the
protagonist
who
spanks
men
for
money.
The
film
opens
Oct.
17.
THE
REAL
MUST-CATCH
THIS
SEASON
could
be
“Milk,”
the
film
about
Harvey
Milk,
the
first
openly
gay
man
elected
to
political
office
in
a
major
city.
Fellow
San
Francisco
City
Supervisor
Dan
White
assassinated
him
in
1978.
Both
Milk
and
his
lover
are
played
by
straight
actors
(Sean
Penn
and
James
Franco,
respectively),
but
there’s
high
hope
for
a
truly
queer
read
on
this
historic
figure.
Gay
director
Gus
Van
Sant
is
at
the
helm.
Unlike
fiction-based
films
by
straight
artists
that
end
in
tragedy,
this
movie’s
story
is
true,
shocking,
and
rings
all-too-familiar
in
its
discrimination.
The
film
is
already
generating
Oscar
buzz.
It
opens
Nov.
26.
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