Ten Homomoments in Vision Quest

Harold Becker's 1985 coming-of-age drama, Vision Quest, must have been a beacon for young gay men. Well, obviously apart from the scene where Matthew Modine discusses wanting to become a gynaecologist so he can "look inside a woman and find the power they have over me", which is just not really dialogue I'd expect to hear in any movie. Still, I can only imagine what it must have been like to be 16 and gay in 1985 and watching Vision Quest. No doubt there were fuzzy VHS copies in high circulation for the second half of the 1980s from all the pausing and rewinding. Teenagers will take anything they can get, haven't you heard? I know that I'm doing little to distinguish myself from the 16-year-old me of ten years ago to the 26-year-old me of today by snickering and giggling at a high school wrestling movie, but it's hard not to when the movie in question is just so out there.

10. Gay tai chi
Oh look, a gay panic scene! Louden Swain (how's that for a character name?), the hunky high school wrestler, gets groped by a patron at his work whilst being taught how to perform tai chi (yeah... it was the '80s, I guess) and he goes bolting outta the room and performs pushups (yeah... I have no reasoning for that). Still, before it leaves too bitter of a taste in the mouth, it's followed by a scene where Louden and his buddy (Michael Schoeffling as Kuch) talk about it in such nonchalant manner that it becomes almost comical.

9. Gay-baiting teenage boys
Do teenage boys really talk like this? Did they ever? If you're having a war of words with a guy at your school, would you tell the other "I'll give ya something to blow" whilst grabbing your crotch? Or are straight male teenagers only afraid of being the "bottom" of a gay joke? Still, Louden's retort of "First ya gotta find it, airhead" is both glorious and gloriously '80s. "Airhead" - not enough uses of that word in this day and age.

8. Jake Ryan
Not gonna lie: I spent a large chunk of Vision Quest's exceedingly lengthy runtime imagining this as a gay romance film about Matthew Modine and Michael Schoeffling (aka Jake Ryan himself) with Linda Fiorentino and nothing more than the sass-mouthin' best friend who ends up with the geek who has been in love with her for the whole film, but whom she kept ignoring. It was still about wrestling though. Sexy gay wrestling.


7. This:
"The girl of my dreams lives under the same roof, I see her every day, but she thinks I'm a kid, immature, a dumb jock, all of which is more or less true ... She's wonderful. She's got all the best things I like in girls and all the best things I (pause) like in guys."

6. Madonna and a gym workout
Yes, Madonna's "Crazy For You" plays over a scene where Louden lifts weights. So motivating, you guys! I presume the sauna is is that-a-way. :/

5. Forrest Whitaker as "Balldozer"
Need I say more?

Okay, I will. He's not even in the movie at all. I was surprised to find him listed amongst the cast with an actual character name. He has only one line of dialogue (that I noticed) and does nothing of any importance whatsoever to the plot so why they went and named him "Balldozer" instead of "Chris" or what have you I haven't the foggiest idea of. Still, it's amusing to see him in there. You can glimpse him in the first small image of #3.

4. Frank Jasper as "Brian Shute"
Ahem.

Ahem.

No, but seriously, I'm always surprised by American high school movies where all the guys are big and bulky like this. My guess from what I've seen of it from television and movies is that it is because the American school system puts such a high esteem on sports, and especially sports that requite size like wrestling or NFL what with scholarships and all that, plus there being a general larger amount of sports to persue that are lucrative (baseball for instance). Growing up in Geelong and attending a fairly normal high school, students were into sports, but unless there was a career in it it wasn't anything that was taken all that seriously. Nothing like Friday Night Lights or this that I'm aware of, but then maybe I just wasn't paying attention. That or my school just wasn't known for its athletic champions. Plus, if you do want a career in sport it's generally AFL and that leans less on massive muscles and size like, say, NFL. Anyway. It's nice to look at and maybe high school wouldn't have been so bad if there were gratuitous somethin' somethin's like this here Brian Shute. Also: teehee, "Shute".

One more? Okay!

Could they film him taking off that top any slower? Also, he attends Hoover High!

3. All of this:
Actually, it's not just Brian Shute up there that gets his body lovingly stroked by the camera, but eventually the entire wrestling team!

I'm sure this is all very true to life of high school wrestling - and, hey, they all have good bodies so they really shouldn't suffer from the same body issues as the rest of us - but that still doesn't make it any less surprising to see it put up on the screen in an otherwise innocuous teen drama. It bathes in skin and I'm sure many a viewer was all the more thankful for it.




And what do they do after he weighs in at the correct number whilst still standing there stark naked? Grab him and slap him around as congratulations, naturally.

Let the man get some jocks on, yeah? That locker room doesn't exactly look warm and inviting now does it?

2. Ain't love grand?
Wrestling is a very homoerotic sport, isn't it? All the scenes of actual wrestling in Vision Quest look like they could be from an athletics themed porno. Yes, yes, aren't I childish, but really... the people who invented the rules of this game shouldn't have made mounting the arse of an opponent as one of the positions one must pose. It's no wonder there are all those pictures out there of male wrestlers succumbing to the wills of their body's functions when there's so much, well, wrestling going on. Jeepers!



1. Madonna
Vision Quest? Vision QUEEN. Er...



It's as if the director just knew that both his film and the then 25-year-old singer hired to sing during one seemingly insignificant scene were destined for gay icon status. Madonna's brief cameo appearance as a bar singer who performs two tracks (the uptempo "Gambler" and slow, synth-driven ballad "Crazy For You") propelled the film to international recognition, something an American film about high school wrestling would never have been expected to do. The movie was, in fact, retitled to Crazy for You in Australia and the UK amongst others as a means of capitalising on the huge success of the titular song. "Crazy for You" went to number one in Australia and the USA and "Gambler" reached the top ten here and in the UK so it makes sense. Still, "Crazy for You" is iconic and something of an anthem and it fits into Vision Quest with ease, and I remember the video clip so well with its intercuts of Vision Quest. I surprise myself by having taken this long to actually get around to watching it. "Gambler" is considered more of a cult fan favourite than one of Madonna's most mainstream, well-known tracks so I guess it's fitting that it appears in a movie that is also considered a cult favourite in certain circles.

So, basically, Vision Quest is really, really gay whether you giggle at the homo moments of the wrestling or not. Not sure how many high school sporting movies were including gay references so willy nilly (granted, most are derogatory, but the fact that the lead character shrugs them off seems quite interesting). The film really isn't all that, but it has its moments. It's no Bring It On, but it's about as good as Stick It.

Review: W.E.

W.E.

Dir. Madonna

Country: UK

Aus Rating: MA15+

Running Time: 119mins

Madonna. One name only, no others necessary. It’s a startling image to see the credit “Directed by Madonna” writ large on a cinema screen for a film as polite as W.E. For a woman whose very image was meticulously crafted to appear as the cutting edge– even when she’s behind the times, she has a marvellous way of beating everybody else at their own game–this sophomore directorial effort (her first to arrive in Australian cinemas) is a very tame picture. Having gone to painstaking lengths to ensure this film assigns her oh-so-serious directorial cred that she has sadly forsaken the very energy that makes her a megastar to this very day. In its place is a mawkish and frequently uninspired take on the lives of the rich and famous, repurposing moviemaking tricks from other sources and shuffling them about like a deck of cards. The finished product is more 52 Pick Up than anything resembling a royal flush.

Read the rest at Trespass Magazine

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 9 of Scream 3 (0:29:57-0:32:45)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 9 of Scream 3
Length: 2mins 48secs
Primary Characters: Gale Weathers, Dewey Riley, Jennifer Jolie and Steven Stone (Patrick Warburton)
Pop Culture References:

• Nancy Drew (Jennifer calls Gale this)
• Julia Roberts, Salmon Rushdie and Posh Spice (all former clients of Steven Stone)

It's like an establishing shot out of The Closer. Wes was getting a bit lazy, wasn't he? I do like that they brought back Marco Beltrami's excellent score from the original. It's so distinctive for this kind of movie, don't you think?

The great thing about Parker Posey as Jennifer Jolie is that within minutes of her first appearing on screen - it's 30 minutes in and she's barely had more than a couple of minutes - she is such a full character. We know her everything. Despite the fact that she's costumed to look so utterly trashy, you can sense that's her character. I can picture Jennifer Jolie on red carpets and being mercilessly fugged, while also coming off as somewhat charming. I actually think her character is modeled a little bit on Drew Barrymore, which just adds to the fun.

"You see this Dewey? I haven't had one of these in a year and a half. Someone's gonna pay for this!"
I certainly hope that wasn't Ehren Kruger's attempt at making Jennifer Jolie a viable red herring! Like, 'see how mean she can get! grrr!' of course, the whole smoking thing would have then been her fault, so...

"You! Like I'm ever gonna win an award playing you!"
I love the way Parker Posey does these weird movements and body contortions. Like I said just up there, it's all part of the character, it's so lived in and fresh. You don't have a character like this in a slasher movie unless they're a big obnoxious idiot, but Jennifer is just so endearing and playful I can't help but love her. I love the way Gale can't even hide the fact that she think's Jennifer is a big ol' loon. But, speaking of Gale and Jennifer... as I've been writing up this scene, I've had this song stuck in my head! I think it's apt, don't you?


Amazing.

"Cotton Weary, Sarah Darling... don't you get it?"
"Someone's killing them in the order that they die in the movie!"
I like that in the ensuing conversation, Gale ask's "who dies third?", which continues on with Sarah Darling's "girl that gets killed second" stuff and it's like everybody just forgets that there are two opening victims. Christine was just collateral damage, I suppose.

It's for scenes like this that I love the Scream franchise. Other films would cut this more character building sequence out, but these films have always been more about the characters so that you feel a bit more about them when they bite the dust. Sure, sometimes we don't feel a thing (hello Tyson and Tom), but more times than not, it works.

"I get killed in Stab 3?"
To be honest, getting killed third does seem like an very un-glamourous way to go. Very unfitting of one of the franchise's defining characters. You'd think, even in the fake world of Stab 3, that she would make it to the end. Or, like a later Stab 3 script change infers, she's the killer. Wow, this is all getting a bit confusing!

I kinda love this big, goofy grin on Dewey's face as he talks about how he's Jennifer's "rock". Reminds me of the "She's with me!" grin from the original that was so adorable.

He calls him "Dew Drop"! Meanwhile, I suggest you read the comments of this Scream to Scream entry for a bit of backstory regarding the character of Warburton's "Steven Stone" and who was originally meant to play him.

"Your resume reads like the obituaries."

This is so very true. Why would Woodsboro hire him again in Scream 4?

Scream:
Intro, Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, Scene 31 Scene 32, Scene 33, End Credits

Scream 2
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14. Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, End Credits

Scream 3
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8

Review: Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Dir. Ricki Stern & Anne Sundberg
Year: 2010
Aus Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 84mins

It's interesting to note that Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work is the greatest celebrity documentary to come along since In Bed with Madonna in 1991 because they both put a woman who has been relentless in her determination to subvert the public's perception of what a woman in their field should be and can do. And, furthermore, they do it while facing ever-mounting criticism that they are "going too far" and "too old". Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg's documentary may focus on the tail-end of the comedienne's life, whereas Alek Keshishian's groundbreaking meld of black and white backstage divadom and lavish onstage performance pieces focused on the early peak of its subject, both serve as viable testaments to the tenacity and fire-in-the-belly spirit of two women who have each been equally liberating and man-baiting in line with men's expectations. A Piece of Work isn't the masterpiece that Madonna (also known as Madonna: Truth or Dare outside of Australia) is, but it's a searing portrait and wounding testimonial for the celebrity funny woman that can also rank as the funniest movie of 2010.

Beginning at the time of Joan Rivers' 75th birthday, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work spends a year in the life of the icon (to use a word that so many of her followers, comedians and fans alike, use.) She indicates that it has been a tough time and, ever the workaholic, she will play any gig offered to her no matter the seat venue. If it's a hundred seat dive bar in the Bronx with stools held together using gaffer tape or a 4000-seat Las Vegas-style double-hitter with Don Rickles, she gives it the same energy and force. Throughout the year she will reach highs (Celebrity Apprentice, she hopes, will put her back on top), lows (the loss of a lifelong business partner and friend in circumstances that the directors leave mysteriously unresolved) and everything in between and it's all incredibly fascination.


Again, much like In Bed with Madonna, this film's big moment is one that exemplifies everything that is both incredible and terrible about its big star. Whereas Madonna strutted across the stage in 1991 performing "Express Yourself" whilst grabbing her crotch, disrobing herself and her male dancers and belting out one of the defining songs of her career so too does Joan Rivers go through, at a mile a second, all the things that have made her JOAN RIVERS: SUBJECT OF DOCUMENTARY in a bravura sequence that will split the haters from the lovers. As Rivers makes her way through a comedy routine in the Midwest state of Wisconsin, a place she jokes has no gays because they murdered them all, she breezes through joke after joke that should feel rote and blasé ("we've seen it all before" you can hear people commenting about Rivers AND Madonna in equal measure), but her energy and force power her and the audience through. It's a thrill. Of course, for Rivers, it doesn't come easy and a joke about Helen Keller brings about a heckler who, let's just say, feels the full force of Rivers' wrath (although backstage she expresses her sadness at the man's situation). Both stars are in their element in these equally compelling set pieces and much like how "Express Yourself" is the musical highlight on In Bed with Madonna, Rivers' comedy routine in Wisconsin is the funniest sequence in A Piece of Work. Even a joke about the vintage of a bottle of wine ("May? That was a good month!") kills. Sometimes, and I suspect Joan Rivers knows this too even when she wouldn't admit it, you have to have your back against the wall before you reach your truest potential.

At 85 minutes long the film is brisk and cuts very close to the bare bones that Stern and Sundberg have given the film. It does not provide a detailed, start to finish look at Rivers' life as much is missing from her story including her first marriage, her successful daytime talk show (although she is seen winner her Emmy for it) and her several film roles, which is especially odd since Rivers talks about never being taken seriously as an actress. Instead they show footage of the 1994 TV movie Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story, which she co-starred in with her daughter Melissa (as themselves), which is as navel-gazing as it gets. Whether it was the directors' intentions to omit this stuff or if Rivers didn't want it included lest audiences see that she hasn't suffered as much as she suggests, it feels sloppy.


Nevertheless, occasional sloppiness can be forgiven when the movie is as funny as it is. It's not the film itself is particularly funny - it's sad rather than uproarious - but Rivers' act is legitimately guffaw inducing. Jokes about Osama Bin Laden, vagina slippers, anal sex, Asian mail-order brides and all the other smut that has filled Rivers' repertoire for decades is as funny as ever and if you respond to Rivers' acidic comedy then you will be in good stead with this documentary.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work isn't so much about "unmasking" a famous pop culture icon - in fact the opening scene involves make-up artists putting Rivers' face on in a moment that recalls The Devil Wears Prada - but aims to show the life of someone who has seen it all and can't give up because, if she does, what does she have left? As her daughter Melissa says, her mother needs the gratification. Without it she will feel her life is a waste and so while her life may appear easy - giving out fashion advice during awards seasons for ludicrous amounts of money (although, to her, it's not ludicrous since she lives in a Versailles-in-NYC style apartment, sends her staff's children to private schools and provides for several relatives), the film proves it is not. You may not like her or her act, but you can't deny her work ethic. Furthermore, it speaks to the universal nature of why artists do what they do and how deeply they are filled with self-loathing, self-doubt and misery. Rivers' life is reduced to a few upcoming pages in a diary. If it's empty her life is meaningless, if it's covered in ink then it means she's wanted and that she has purpose, and isn't that the same for us all? It's a remarkable piece of cinema and if the same mission had been attempted with someone far less funny and far less fascinating then it wouldn't have been as successful, but with Rivers it is, indeed, a piece of work. A-