Queer Theory: Sex and the Other Gender

“New York” magazine recently ran an article by Mark Harris called "The Gay Generation Gap," in which he describes that chasm perhaps best summarized as the binary thinking of the old versus the non-thinking of the new. As Harris rightly notes, "There's nothing duller than a young gay man whose curiosity about the world doesn't appear to extend past his iPod." While the lack of critical thinking skills in both old and young is disheartening, as a genderqueer person balanced between both gender and the gap (as a 39-year-old gay man in a bio female body I'm on the young side of Harris's 45 divide, though not by much) I found myself rooting for the bubble brains if only in self-interest.

To read the rest visit my Sex Beat column at Carnal San Francisco.

No Budget? No Problem

Absolute Independent Pictures , a Baltimore-based production house run by indie filmmaker Michelle Farrell – who I profiled in my Sex Beat column - has the equipment, crew, reasonable rates, and willingness to travel. Email laurenvile@gmail.com for more information.

Flame & Citron

The midsummer release of “Flame & Citron,” Danish director Ole Christian Madsen's edge-of-your-seat, based-on-actual-events thriller, which follows the titular code-named heroes as they wage battle with the hidden forces of Nazi evil during the German occupation of Denmark in 1944, makes perfect sense. While a film about the Resistance would seem more suited to the end-of-year, SS-centric season, Madsen's ingenious piece of Academy catnip has more in common with Michael Mann's “Public Enemies” than it does with last winter's atrocious Daniel Craig-fights-Nazis vehicle “Defiance” (never mind that our hero Citron is played by Bond villain Le Chiffre himself Mads Mikkelsen). Madsen's tour de force is a gangster flick through and through.

To read the rest of my review visit Slant.

Now Playing at a Newsstand Near You

The good news – the Summer issue of Filmmaker magazine is out! The bad news – you’ll have to get hold of a print copy to read my interview with Maria Beatty in the Reports section.

“Rambo Solo” Creator Meets Rambo Book-O Author!

If you missed Zack’s last screening here’s your second chance…

From The Brick Theater blog:

Zachary Oberzan's indie theatre hit “Rambo Solo” took the theater world by sneak attack last year. This Thursday, see the movie "Flooding with Love for The Kid,” which it detailed, at The Brick for free! (8pm! RSVP now!)

And right now read about how “First Blood” author David Morrell bought Zachary breakfast last week!

For more on the madness visit The Brick.

Interviewing Michelle: Unraveling Michelle

What thrilled me most about the documentary Unraveling Michelle, which follows the ups, downs and in-betweens of MTF transsexual Michelle Ann Farrell as she transitions into her new life as a physically female being, has nothing to do with gender issues. No, the most subversive part of Michelle isn’t her tits, but her profession – indie filmmaker, her choice to turn the lens on herself merely an extension of her art form. Just as capable directing low-budget horror as she is reminding her cameraman to be sure to shoot wide during her surgery, Michelle’s most powerful declaration is simply, “I want to be a female filmmaker.” From an early age the former Joe loved to play at being a girl, then became an elite hockey player in high school – not because Joe was in denial of his feminine side, but because he loved to play hockey and was great at it! This is the next step in the gender revolution (as it was in the sexual) – defining ourselves by who we are not by any cookie cutter expectations of the mainstream. For electrolysis and facial reconstruction, red lipstick and high heels, are only as deep as icing on a cake.

To read the interview visit my Sex Beat column at Carnal Nation .

Thank You, But Our Princess is in Another Castle

As delightfully elusive as its title Eddie Kim's four machinima theater pieces that make up an engaging show at The Brick Theater substitute gamers and virtual worlds for actors and theatrical performance. According to the program the first half is comprised of "Neo In Liberty City," which involves an Xbox 360 running Grand Theft Auto 4 and samples of Alvin Lucier's "I am Sitting in a Room" and "The Matrix," and "The Four Factions," which is based on Samuel Beckett's "Quad" and uses five laptops running Warcraft 3. From there it's on to "Komachi," which is four laptops running Warcraft set to Kim's adaptation of Kwanami's "Sotoba Komachi," and finally "Niobe," Kim's adaptation of Ted Hughes' "Tales from Ovid" performed on three Xbox consoles running Halo 3 (and the most literal narrative of the pieces with bows and arrows replaced by robots with submachine guns though the text remains the same).

Of course if angels come to mind at the mention of the word "Halo" the above paragraph may as well have been written in Klingon.

To read the rest of my review visit Theater Online.

Filmmaker Maria Beatty Removes The Leather Restraints

Recently I interviewed director Maria Beatty for the upcoming issue of “Filmmaker” magazine. Best known for the lesbian BDSM movies she's been creating for the past decade and a half, Beatty and I discussed the challenge that awaits every growing and changing niche artist sooner or later—how to move beyond the "ghetto" that once defined the art without losing the support of the very community that allowed the artist to blossom in the first place.

To read the rest visit my Sex Beat column at Carnal Nation.