Movies
SPRING ARTS PREVIEW FILM: Flaming flicks
From silents to I MAX 3-D, docs, indies, Oscar winners and beyond
![film, gay news, Washington Blade](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2015/03/Justin_Peck_in_Ballet_422_460x470_courtesy_Magnolia_Pictures.jpg)
![film, gay news, Washington Blade](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2015/03/Justin_Peck_in_Ballet_422_insert_courtesy_Magnolia_Pictures.jpg)
Justin Peck in the documentary āBallet 422.ā (Photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures)
āJourney to Space,ā the new I MAX 3-D feature opening this week at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, can be either a nice romantic outing, a wonderful way to impress out-of-town visitors or a great way to help kids burn off cabin fever.
Featuring amazing images, a soaring soundtrack and the dulcet narration of Sir Patrick Stewart, the monumental film tells the amazing stories of the Space Shuttle and the creation of the International Space Station and looks at the challenges of planning a human mission to Mars.
The Smithsonian is opening Jean-Michel Cousteauās āSecret Oceanā on March 20 at the National Museum of Natural History and āLiving in the Age of Airplanesā on April 10 at the National Air and Space Museum.
Also opening today at the Landmark E Street Cinema is the remarkable documentary āBallet 422.ā Director Jody Lee Lipes follows emerging young choreographer Justin Peck, a 25-year old dancer with the New York City Ballet, as he creates a new work for the company. With unprecedented access, the film follows Peck as he collaborates with musicians, designers and his fellow dancers to create āPaz de la Jolla,ā the company’s 422nd new ballet. āBallet 422ā is an unembellished vĆ©ritĆ© portraitĀ of dancers hard at work.
The spring film season also includes several other interesting documentaries. āThe Mind of Mark DeFriestā (March 13) examines the controversial incarceration of the āHoudini of Florida.ā Directed and produced by the award-wining team of Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, āThe Hunting Groundā (March 27) is scorching exposĆ© of the startling prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses across the country.
Today is also opening day for āThe Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotelā at AFI Silver which continues the comic and bittersweet stories of British pensioners relocating to India. While the gay character was conveniently killed off in the first movie, the sequel includes glorious footage of India, the spectacle of a traditional Indian wedding and cracker-jack performances by such screen luminaries as Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, Richard Gere, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton.
In addition to a strong slate of international and indie films, AFI Silver in downtown Silver Spring also features classic films from Hollywood and world cinema, as well as silent film classics accompanied by original live music. This spring the spotlight is on āThe Leading Ladies of Hollywoodās Golden Age.ā LGBT audiences can delight in powerful big-screen performances by Ingrid Bergman (āCasablancaā plays this weekend), Clara Bow (āItā), Mae West (āIām No Angelā), Joan Crawford (āMildred Pierceā), Gloria Swanson (āSunset Boulevardā) and the all-star cast of āThe Women,ā directed by gay director George Cukor.
In an exciting development, Reel Affirmations, D.C.ās LGBT film festival, has announced that the annual event will be making a comeback in August 2015 at the Tivoli Theater. Submission deadlines are March 15 (early bird) and April 15 (regular) and lots of sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are available.
In the meantime, out Program Director Kimberley Bush will continue with the monthly Reel Affirmations XTRA series. On the slate there are:
āAppropriate Behaviorā (March 20), written and directed by Desiree Akhaven (HBOās āGirlsā), the movie looks at the life of Shirin who is juggling multiple identities: an ideal Persian daughter, politically correct bisexual and hip young Brooklynite.
āTiger Orangeā (April 17). Following the death of their father, two estranged gay brothers return to the small California town where they grew up. Written and directed by Wade Gasque, the movie stars Mark Strano (who shares screenplay credit) as the dutiful son Chet who stays at home and Frankie Valenti (also known as Johnny Hazard) as Todd, the son who ran away.
āEat With Meā (May 15) is written and directed by David Au, and stars Sharon Omi as a wife and mother who runs away from her boring life. She ends up at the struggling Chinese restaurant run by her estranged son Elliot, who is gay, and the two try to rebuild their tangled relationship. The cast also includes Nicole Sullivan (āMad TVā) and George Takei.
LGBT filmmakers will have the chance to strut their stuff in the 2015 D.C. Shorts film festival. Under the direction of openly gay filmmaker Jon Gann, the festival champions short filmmaking though their annual showcase and a series of classes. The 2015 Film Festival and Screenplay Competition will be held from September 10-20, but preparations are already underway. Submissions are due by April 30. The Mentors program, presented in collaboration with Arlington Independent Media and Women in Film & Video, offers classes for filmmakers at all skill levels. On May 14-15, D.C. Shorts Presents āPopcorn & Pasties,ā a debauched evening of cinema and sideshow with short flicks and even shorter skirts.
Also be sure to note the Our City Festival, a celebration of D.C. through film, music and literature that will highlight D.C. beyond the monuments and politics. It runs June 5-7.
Moving from the small screen to the big screen, āEntourageā (slated for a June 6 opening) picks up the story of Vincent Chase and his devoted posse. Playing a key role in the plot is openly gay actor Rex Lee as super-agent Ari Goldās exasperated gay assistant.
Finally, while we wait for the July 1 opening of āMagic Mike XXL,ā the sequel to the popular movie about male strippers, there are some other mainstream movies that may appeal to LGBT cinephiles this spring.
āDanny Collinsā (March 27) is the story of a debauched aging rocker (Al Pacino) who has abandoned his artistic ideals to become a pop star. When his long-suffering manager and best friend (Christopher Plummer) discovers a letter that John Lennon wrote to his young fan, Collins decides to drop out of his profitable tour to rediscover his art and reconnect with the son he abandoned. Despite some slow pacing, strong performances by Pacino, Plummer and Annette Bening turn this sleeper into a charmer.
āSpyā (March 22) stars Melissa McCarthy as a CIA analyst who has to go undercover to locate missing agents. āHot Pursuitā (May 8) stars Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon as women who are being pursued by both gangsters and corrupt cops.
On a more serious note, Casey Mulligan stars in āFar From the Madding Crowd.ā the lush adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel about a woman who must choose between three very different suitors.
Movies
āOutstandingā doc brings overdue spotlight to lesbian activist Robin Tyler
āWhatever they do to us, they need to know that there will be consequencesā
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Pat_Harrison_and_Robin_Tyler_insert_courtesy_Robin_Tyler.jpg)
In the new Netflix documentary āOutstanding: A Comedy Revolutionā ā now streaming on the Netflix platform ā filmmaker Page Hurwitz takes viewers behind the scenes of a landmark 2022 performance featuring an all-star lineup of queer stand-up comedians. She also reveals the powerful queer activism that has been pushing mainstream boundaries over the past five decades and beyond through a collection of out-and-proud comics that reads like a āwhoās whoā of queer comedy icons.
In doing so, its spotlight inevitably lands on Robin Tyler, who ā after becoming the first lesbian comic to come out on national television and co-starring in a network series with her partner, Pat Harrison ā incurred the wrath of sponsors (after an on-air remark aimed at notorious anti-LGBTQ mouthpiece Anita Bryant) and wound up unceremoniously dropped by the network.
Tyler persisted, and her passion led her to activism, where her contributions are likely well known to many Blade readers. She organized and produced the first three national marches on Washington for LGBTQ rights, including 1987ās āmock weddingā of hundreds of queer couples; she and her future wife (the late Diane Olsen) were the first couple to sue the state of California for the right to be married ā leading to the seven-year legal battle that culminated in marriage equality. If you are currently in a same-sex marriage in the United States, you have her to thank.
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/06/20130325_Diane_Olson_and_Robin_Tyler_at_Supreme_Court_1_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpg)
We spoke to her about the film and her legacy, and, as always, she pulled no punches. Our conversation is below.
BLADE: āOutstandingā highlights your removal from āprime timeā as a setback for queer visibility, but do you still think of it as a setback for your career?
ROBIN TYLER: You know what? Everybody says, āOh, she gave up this career, she could have been a star,ā but what they mean is I could have gotten mainstream acceptance. Itās like saying to Richard Pryor: āIf you didnāt tell the truth, maybe white people would have loved you.ā The best thing that happened to us is that we didnāt get picked up, because then we could go and be free. It takes your life away, having to live a lie. We gained our freedom and lost nothing.
I donāt care about mainstream acceptance, if it means being in the closet. Donāt forget, 75 million Americans are MAGA supporters. To me, thatās the mainstream.
BLADE: As an organizer, you spearheaded the fight for marriage equality. How did that happen?
TYLER: In 1987, two men from L.A. wanted me to do the āmock weddingā as part of the ā87 march on Washington. I took it to the board ā thereās always this board of 68 people, itās different people, but the same attitude, with every march ā and they voted it down. They said, āno oneās interested in marriage,ā and I said āfine.ā And I did it anyway, and 5,000 people came. Obviously it was an issue we were interested in.
It was also interesting that a march board would try to decide what people want or not. Well, we did want it, and we got it, now.
BLADE: And yet, it seems weāre still fighting for it.
TYLER: I agree, and I think with this Supreme Court weāre in trouble ā but passion is much better than Prozac, so we need to keep aware and be ready to get into the streets again. We canāt just be āarmchair activistsā on the internet, you know? Because then weāre just reading to each other.ā
BLADE: It does seem that the internet has made it easier for us to live in our comfortable bubbles.
TYLER: Yeah, but Iām an organizer, and itās wonderful for that. I was the national protest coordinator when we stopped Dr. Laura [Schlesinger, the anti-LGBTQ talk radio āpsychotherapistā whose transition to television was successfully blocked by community activism in the early 2000s], and we did all the demonstrations locally. We worked with a guy who knew the internet, and we were able to send out information all over the country for the first time. I remember when we just had to go to parades and bars and baseball fields and had to leaflet everyone. This is easier. Less walking.
BLADE: Still, social media has become a space where ācancel cultureā seems just to divide us further.
TYLER: That term was created by the right. They can go ahead and say anything they want, but we get to not be called names anymore. At least we have a way to fight back. They call it ācancel cultureā and we call it ādefending our rights.ā
And you know what? Even today, people like Dave Chappelle are doing homophobic jokes, and itās not just that theyāre doing it, itās that these people sitting in the audience are still laughing at it. They still think they can get away with ridiculing us. You can always punch down and get a laugh. And why is it so bad, with people like Chappelle or Bill Maher? Because anytime you dehumanize anybody, when you snicker at them because you donāt understand, youāre giving other people permission to attack them. Theyāre attacking these people that are being brutally murdered, and theyāre using humor as the weapon.
We didnāt accept it in the ā70s, so why are we accepting it now? And why arenāt we calling out Netflix for giving it a platform? Itās not enough to put out āOutstandingā and showcase pro-gay humor. If a comic says something racist, their career is over, yet itās OK for Chappelle to do homophobic stuff? What if I stood up and changed what heās saying to make it about race instead of transgender people?
And itās not just about ārightā vs. āleftā anyway. Even with the Democrats in, they never deliver. Since 1970, they promised us a āgay civil rights bill,ā and we still donāt have one. Why not? Democrats have held power in Congress, the Senate, the presidency, and they never pushed it through. We still canāt rent in 30 states, we can get fired; the United States is not a free country for queer people, and we must hold the government accountable. We have to fight for marriage separately, we have to fight for this and that, separately ā and all it would take is one bill!
Itās been 54 years. Isnāt it time? We have to look at who our friends are ā but donāt get me wrong, Iām still voting for Biden.
BLADE: So, how do we fix it?
TYLER: Hereās what I believe in: a woman walks into a dentist office, and heās about to drill her teeth when she grabs him by the balls and says, āWeāre not going to hurt each other, are we?ā I believe in that approach. Whatever they do to us, they need to know that there will be consequences.
And, also, at Cedars-Sinai they have just one channel in the hospital, and itās comedy, because laughter is healing. Maybe we should we end on that?
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Robin_Tyler_insert_courtesy_Robin_Tyler.jpg)
Movies
Gender expression is fluid in captivating āPaul & Trishaā doc
Exploring whatās possible when you allow yourself to become who you truly are
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Paul_Whitehead_and_Tricia_van_Cleef_in_Paul_and_Tricia_insert_courtesy_Gravitas_Ventures.jpg)
Given the polarizing controversies surrounding the subject of gender in todayās world, it might feel as if challenges to the conventional ānormsā around the way we understand it were a product of the modern age. Theyāre not, of course; artists have been exploring the boundaries of gender ā both its presentation and its perception ā since long before the language we use to discuss the topic today was ever developed. After all, gender is a universal experience, and isnāt art, ultimately, meant to be about the sharing of universal experiences in a way that bypasses, or at least overcomes, the limitations of language?
We know, we know; debate about the āpurposeā of art is almost as fraught with controversy as the one about gender identity, but itās still undeniable that art has always been the place to find ideas that contradict or question conventional ways of viewing the world. Thanks to the heavy expectation of conformity to societyās comfortable ānormsāĀ in our relationship with gender, itās inevitable that artists might chafe at such restrictive assumptions enough to challenge them ā and few have committed quite so completely to doing so as Paul Whitehead, the focus of āPaul & Trisha: The Art of Fluidity,ā a new documentary from filmmaker Fia Perera which enjoyed a successful run on the festival circuit and is now available for pre-order on iTunes and Apple TV ahead of a VOD/streaming release on July 9.
Whitehead, who first gained attention and found success in Londonās fertile art-and-fashion scene of the mid 1960s, might not be a household name, but he has worked closely with many people who are. A job as an in-house illustrator at a record company led to his hiring as the first art director for the UK Magazine Time Out, which opened the door for even more prominent commissions for album art ā including a series of iconic covers for Genesis, Van der Graaf, Generator, and Peter Hammill, which helped to shape the visual aesthetic of the Progressive Rock movement with his bold, surrealistic pop aesthetic, and worked as an art director for John Lennon for a time. Moving to Los Angeles in 1973, his continuing work in the music industry expanded to encompass a wide variety of commercial art and landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records as painter of the largest indoor mural in the world inside the now-demolished Vegas World Casino in Las Vegas. As a founder of the Eyes and Ears Foundation, he conceived and organized the āArtboard Festivalā, which turned a stretch of L.A. roadway into a ādrive-through art galleryā with donated billboards painted by participating artists.
Pereraās film catches up with Whitehead in the relatively low-profile city of Ventura, Calif., where the globally renowned visual artist now operates from a combination studio and gallery in a strip mall storefront. Still prolific and producing striking artworks (many of them influenced and inspired by his self-described ācloset Hinduismā), the film reveals a man who, far from coming off as elderly, seems ageless; possessed of a rare mix of spiritual insight and worldly wisdom, he is left by the filmmaker to tell his own story by himself, and he embraces the task with the effortless verve of a seasoned raconteur. For roughly the first half of the film, we are treated to the chronicle of his early career provided straight from the source, without ātalking headā commentaries or interview footage culled from entertainment news archives, and laced with anecdotes and observations that reveal a clear-headedness, along with a remarkable sense of self-knowledge and an inspiring freedom of thought, that makes his observations feel like deep wisdom. Heās a fascinating host, taking us on a tour of the life he has lived so far, and itās like spending time with the most interesting guy at the party.
Itās when āArt of Fluidityā introduces its second subject, however, that things really begin to get interesting, because as Whitehead was pushing boundaries as an in-demand artist, he was also pushing boundaries in other parts of his life. Experimenting with his gender identity through cross-dressing since the 1960s, what began tentatively as an āin the bedroomā fetish became a long-term process of self-discovery that resulted in the emergence of āconverged artistā Trisha Van Cleef, a feminine manifestation of Whiteheadās persona who has been creating art of her own since 2004. Neither dissociated āalter egoā nor performative character, Trisha might be a conceptual construct, in some ways, but sheās also a very authentic expression of personal gender perception who exists just as definitively as Paul Whitehead. They are, like the seeming opposites of yin and yang, two sides of the same fundamental and united nature.
Naturally, the bold process of redefining oneās personal relationship with gender is not an easy one, and part of what makes Trisha so compelling is the challenge she represents to Paul ā and, by extension, the audience ā by co-existing with him in his own life. She pushes him to step beyond his fears – such as his concerns about the hostile attitude of the shopkeeper next door and the danger of bullying, brutality, and worse when Trisha goes out in public ā and embrace both sides of his nature instead of trying to force himself to be one or the other alone. And while the film doesnāt shy away from addressing the brutal reality about the risk of violence against non-gender-conforming people in our culture, it also highlights what is possible when you choose to allow yourself to become who you truly are.
As a sort of disclaimer, it must be acknowledged that some viewers may take issue with some of Whiteheadās personal beliefs about gender identity, which might not quite mesh with prevailing ideas and could be perceived as āproblematicā within certain perspectives. Similarly, the depth of his engagement with Hindu cosmology might be off-putting to audiences geared toward skepticism around any spiritually inspired outlook on the world. However, itās clear within the larger context of the documentary that both Paul and Trisha speak only for themselves, expressing a personal truth that does not nullify or deny the personal truth of anyone else. Further, one of the facets that gives āArt of Fluidityā its mesmerizing, upbeat charm is the sense that we are watching an ongoing evolution, a work in progress in which an artist is still discovering the way forward. Thereās no insinuation that any aspect of Paul or Trishaās shared life is definitive, rather we come to see them as a united pair, in constant flux, moving through the world together, as one, and becoming more like themselves every step of the way.
Thatās something toward which we all would be wise to aspire; the acceptance of all of our parts and the understanding that we are always in the process of becoming something else would certainly go a long way toward making a happier, friendlier world.
Movies
New Cyndi Lauper doc brings overdue spotlight to queer ally
āLet the Canary Singā captures a unique, era-defining star
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Cyndi_Lauper_insert_courtesy_Paramount_Plus.jpg)
Every era in our cultural memory has given rise to popular artists that helped to define them, but few can be said to have made as definitive an impact as Cyndi Lauper in the early ā80s. Splashing onto our airwaves and across our television screens (courtesy of the newly minted MTV) with a defiantly upbeat and colorful blast of society-shifting energy, her proclamation that āGirls Just Want to Have Funā caught the world off guard with a feminist anthem disguised as a good-time party song, and her sense of quirky punk style became an iconic influence over the ālookā of an entire decade. In some ways, you could almost say Cyndi Lauper was the ā80s.
For many people who grew up or came of age during her rise from unknown girl singer to pop music phenomenon, that might be the extent of their knowledge of her life and career. Despite the success (and Grammy Award) she achieved with her first few hits, the ever-roving eye of public attention inevitably moved on to the next new superstar, and her later efforts ā while not exactly ignored ā never managed to garner as much attention.
That doesnāt mean she has been inactive, though, as her die-hard fans (and there are many) well know; this is especially true in the queer community, where she has long been recognized and celebrated as a staunch ally ā which is why it seems apt that Pride month should coincide with the release of āLet the Canary Sing,ā a new documentary profile of Lauper that premieres on Paramount Plus this week.
Directed by Emmy-winning documentarian Alison Ellwood, āCanaryā takes its name from a comment made by the judge in a legal case that opened the door for Lauperās stardom ā no spoilers here, youāll have to watch the movie to find out more. It undertakes the telling of a well-rounded and comprehensive life story to cast that stardom in a new light. Maintaining a comfortable sense of chronology, it begins with Lauperās childhood, growing up in Brooklyn (and later, Queens) in a close-knit family as the middle child of three with a divorced single mother, and follows the trajectory of her life ā rebellious, risk-taking teen to driven, passionate artist and activist ā through her love of music, her rise to fame, her struggle to evolve in an industry that rewards predictable familiarity, her emergence as an LGBTQ advocate, and her expansion into a genre-leaping artist whose reach has extended beyond pop culture to earn her renown for her versatility. It also covers her accomplishment as the first woman to win a Tony Award as sole composer of the music and lyrics of āKinky Boots,ā the Harvey Fierstein-scripted drag-themed Broadway musical which made a star of Billy Porter ā and nabbed her another Grammy (for its Original Cast Recording), to boot. Bolstered by extensive current interview footage with Lauper herself, as well as elder sister Elen, younger brother Fred, and other important figures from her personal and professional life, it finds an arc that reveals its subject as an authentic and uncompromising visionary dedicated to ālifting upā the entire human race.
That would sound hyperbolic ā and probably more than a little disingenuous ā if Lauper did not come across so palpably on camera. Whether itās footage from a decades-old Letterman show or newly filmed commentary shot specifically for the film, her ātrue colorsā come shining through (forgive us for that one, we couldnāt resist) to provide ample evidence that, even if she didnāt always know where she was going, she always knew it would be the direction of her own choosing. Indeed, as the movie makes clear, much of the reason behind Lauperās fade from the pop spotlight was the result of her refusal to repeat herself, to compromise her own path by delivering pale copies of the formula that had made her an āovernight successā after 15 years of trying. Although the documentary doesnāt insinuate this, itās impossible for us not to suspect that homophobic backlash following her public embrace and advocacy of the queer community ā something surely intertwined with her close bond to sister Elen, an out lesbian who is positioned in Ellwoodās film as a key pillar of both emotional and artistic support in Lauperās life ā may have had something to do with the mainstream music industryās ambivalence toward her as she pursued her artistic impulses beyond the flashy appeal of her debut album.Ā
In any case, āSheās So Unusual,ā as a debut album title, proved to be an ironic foreshadowing of the very reasons she was unable to āstay in her own laneā well enough to remain in the good graces of a public (or, perhaps more truthfully, of record executives) that only wanted more of the same. Lauper has never been one to conform, and itās made her vulnerable, like so many other unrelenting female voices both before and after her, to the mainstream insistence on reinforcement of the comfortable over the breaking down of boundaries.
āLet the Canary Singā captures all of this succinctly, yet with layered and sophisticated nuance, as it pays its tribute to a pop icon whose seminal work has continued to resonate after more than 40 years. Unavoidably, perhaps, it sometimes feels like a āBehind the Musicā episode or a āpuff pieceā for an artist about to launch a new project ā indeed, Lauper announced a āfarewell tourā of 23 cities, as well as a ācompanion pieceā greatest hits album release, on the eve of the movieās streaming debut ā but it pushes past such irrelevant comparisons thanks to the palpable sincerity conveyed onscreen, not only from her, but from all the people in her orbit whose comments about her are included in the film.
Of course, it must be said that anyone whoās not a “Cyndi Lauper fan”, whether by virtue of generational gaps or personal tastes, will probably not be drawn to watch a filmic love letter to her, and thatās a shame. It (and she) has the power to make viewers into true believers not only in her talent, but in her message of acceptance, inclusion, and unconditional love. Part of that, hinges on Ellwoodās skill as a filmmaker and teller of real-life stories, but the lasting impact rests on the persona of the star herself, who exudes a genuine air of transcendence and makes us not only feel instantly comfortable, but completely āseenā and validated, no matter who we are or which spectrum we might be on.
Itās hard to fake the kind of sincerity that makes that possible, and nothing about āCanaryā suggests that Cyndi Lauper has any interest in being fake, anyway.
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