Girls on Film 2 (Lesbian & Gay) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD contains 4 short films.
The first film, DEBS, is about 7 minutes long and was the most entertaining of the bunch (two very gorgeous girls making out in the middle of a gun fight between the goodies and the baddies).
The middle two films left me cold. One short was about a lesbian couple who goes to visit one of the partners sister who is transgendering into the man. Amanda Bearse (sp?) plays the sister who is a furious bitch to her tranny sister. This film was a major downer and I didn't see the point of it.
The third film was about a little girl who wants to fly and lives with her trailer trash mom and older sister. The girl is basically ignored unless she does something wrong. She runs away to a neighboror who everyone thinks is freak and they have a brief but touching discussion. I didn't see what this film had to do with lesbians and I was very disappointed because of this fact.
The fourth short film is a series of scenes taken from about a dozen famous films but with a gay spin (example: From Here to Eternity has two women making out a beach, Casablanca has Rick saying goodbye to his very femmy boyfriend, Young Frankenstein has a big gay monster doing it to the effeminate guy in the hay loft and so on.) Most of these short movie scenes were very enjoyable.
What I object to regarding this DVD is that it did not have a lot of lesbians and/or lesbian action, and/or the films were depressing. This DVD was not worth $25 but would be worth renting at Netflicks since you can bet your sweet bippy this DVD ain't ever going to show up at Blockbuster or Hollywood Video.

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GIRLS ON FILM II:
GIRLS ON FILM-II is another groundbreaking compilation featuring the best lesbian-themed shorts made by POWER UP members. These films have delighted audiences at festivals worldwide, including Sundance and Berlin. The DVD contains films including D.E.B.S., Give or Take an Inch and Fly Cherry, which were produced through POWER UP s film grant production program.
D.E.B.S. - 2002 POWER UP GRANT FILM, the breakout hit comedy written and directed by Angela Robinson, starring Tammy Lynn Michaels(Popular) and Clare Kramer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), soon to be a major motion picture. Running time: aprox. 11 min.Official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival. jury award best Short Big Bear Lake International Film Festival HONORABLE MENTION Cleveland International Film Festival BEST SHORT FILM AUDIENCE AWARD Dublin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival AUDIENCE AWARD Hamburg Lesbian & Gay Film Festival BEST SHORT FILM Newfest/New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (sponsored by Advocate) BEST SHORT North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival BEST SHORT FILM Outfest/Los Angeles BEST SHORT FILM AUDIENCE AWARD Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Film Festival BEST SHORT Planet Out Film Festival GRAND PRIZE WINNER Queer Identities Vienna BEST SHORT FILM AUDIENCE AWARD Seattle Gay & Lesbian Film Festival AUDIENCE AWARD USA Dallas Short Film Festival. Official selections of over 100 film festivals.
GIVE OR TAKE AN INCH - 2002 POWER UP GRANT FILM, written by Erin Eckles and directed by Lee Friedlander (The 10 Rules) stars Amanda Bearse (Married with Children) and Michele Greene (LA LAW). Runningtime: aprox. 14 min.WINNER Madrid Gay & Lesbian Film Festival SPECIAL RAINBOW AWARD.Official selections of over 40 film festivals. BEST SHORT & AUDIENCE CHOICE Denver Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
FLY CHERRY - 2002 POWER UP GRANT FILM, written by Michele Greene, directed by Jessica Sharzer, student Academy Award winner (Wormhole), and stars Sharon Lawrence (NYPD BLUE) and Shirley Knight (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood). Running time: aprox. 15 min. FINALIST BEST SHORT Dallas Short Film Festival.
Plus Bonus Tracks:BEHIND THE SCENES - the making of the POWER UP 2002 grant films. GAY PROPAGANDA (Running time: aprox. 18 min.)- The complete collection includes; The Gay Breakfast Club - dir. by Jessica Zweiman, Casablanco - dir. by James Quinn, Goodfaigolas - dir. by Lynnette Myers, The Gay Graduate - dir. by Meredith Kadlec, From Queer to Eternity, Reservoir Dykes, Taxi Lesbian & Gay Moonstruck- dir. by JD Disalvatore, Gay on Golden Pond - dir. by Kadlec, Polterqueer & Hung Frankenstein - dir. by Kurt Koehler.BEST SHORT Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Film Festival AUDIENCE AWARD Reel Pride, Fresno Gay and Lesbian Film Festival JURY AWARD Fresno Gay and Lesbian Film Festival BEST SHORT Prague Gay and Lesbian Film Festival BEST SHORT Los Angeles Actorbone Film Festival TOP TEN SHORTS OF 2002 American Cinemateque TOP TEN QUEER SHORTS OF 2002 Official Selection of over 25 festivals.

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The L Word: Season One (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Museum director Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals) and executive Tina Kennard (Laurel Holloman), a committed couple for 7 years, are planning to start a family.
Their next-door neighbor is swimming coach Tim (Eric Mabius), who is preparing for his girlfriend, Jenny ( Mia Kirshner),a talented young writer, to move in. Soon after mixing with Bette and Tina's circle of lesbian friends, Jenny learns that her Midwest background may not have prepared her for what she will soon learn about life, lust and love in Los Angeles.
Bette's sister, Kit (Pam Grier) is battling with her alcoholism and trying to keep her music career going. Dana (Erin Daniels) struggles with her identity as a closeted lesbian while advancing in the world of professional tennis.
Shane (Kate Moennig), an assistant hair stylist by day and resident player by night, always keeps the women satisfied. Writing for a local magazine, Alice (Leisha Hailey) makes sure she's in the know about everyone and everything. Their lives and loves are discussed and played out at the local coffee shop/club, The Planet, run by Marina (Karina Lombard).
The L word is most definitely one of my favorite shows. I can't wait to own it on DVD. The story is well written, the characters engaging. This first season also has excellent guest stars including Ossie Davis, Holland Taylor, Lolita Davidovich, Rosanna Arquette and many more. This series gets my highest recommendation.
As for the DVD itself:
The episode list:
1.1 Pilot
1.2 Let's do it
1.3 Longing
1.4 Lies, lies, lies
1.5 Lawfully
1.6 Losing it
1.7 L'ennui
1.8 Listen up
1.9 Luck, next time
1.10 Liberally
1.11 Looking back
1.12 Locked up
1.13 Limb from limb
Extra DVD features include:
- An Original Puppet Show Performed by the Cast
- Photo Gallery
- Audio commentary by Ilene Chaiken and Jennifer Beals on the pilot episode

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Set in the chic world of Los Angeles, this humor-laced dramatic series explores the lives of a group of lesbians, their friends, family and neighbors, The series take a smart, sexy and fun look at hopes, dreams and lives of these people as they deal with things like career struggles, relationships issues and the pressures of tying to start at family. The show provides a fresh look at everyday life, told with passion, frankness and humor.

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The L Word: Season Two (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't be fooled by the theme of this show: The L Word is so much more than some throw-away gay show. The themes are universal and should resonate with more than gay viewers.
S2 lived up to its promise from the producers. In comparison to S1 (which was quite good), S2 provided much better storytelling and Ilene Chaiken and her production staff have become much better film makers. This show is a very adult drama. One example, the Bette and Tina (Jennifer Beals and Laurel Holloman: fiery chemistry) saga remind one of Bergman's "Scene's From A Marriage" as this couple struggles with issues of sexual inertia, miscarriage, infedility, the loss of self to a seductively potent and sometimes dismissive partner, wanting sexual intimacy with your partner while your partner is seemingly disinterested.
The themes dramatized are universal: in addition to those already mentioned, these include the fear of disaffection of a loved parent (Bette's father, Melvin: performed by Ossie Davis who was nominated for an Emmy for his brilliant turn as Melvin), the loss of a loved parent (Melvin), the lost soul (Shane) who craves love but thinks being in love will destroy her, the best in class girl (Dana) whose parents love her and who is their "golden girl" in all but her private life, the woman who miscarried (Tina) and wanted nothing but to conceive of a child with her partner, the woman (Tina) whose partner desired another woman and who got back some of her sexual self-esteem and broken ego in the arms of another (Helena), the woman (Alice) who fell in love with her best friend, the scared and troubled woman (Jenny) who is trying to remember a traumatic childhood event and is spirilling toward a mushroom cloud of self-destruction, the down to earth and earthy woman (Carmen) who lives her life as she pleases while looking for someone to love and be loved in return.
All of these stories are told with honesty and passion. The storytelling is not the familiar fare one (especially Americans) are used to in their couch potato universe. You need to pay attention when viewing this series for it is not spoon fed to the viewer as are so many series.
Some viewers (the most vocal but who, imho, represent only a minority of viewers) have expressed disdain over the music of EZ-girl. I am not one of those viewers.
While I don't applaud everything this composer has produced for this show in S2, she is not without talent. In fact, Betty is a very fun band to see in person.
EZ-girl just needs a bit of managing. (Her website has served as the red cape to some viewers. She is an in-your-face person and does little to assuage the ridicule and hatred of some viewers. It seems the more vocal the minority is about their hatred the more she may be increasing the volume of her in-your-face fare. She is not that different from other artists in this vein like Emminem, etc.)
IMHO, a few scores of the background music she produced for S2 do not lend themself to the overall benefit of the production. However, (and this is where her talent comes to the fore) her background music was pristene for other scenes. Several come to mind: Tina alone and very pregnant in Dr. Wilson's office; Alice and Shane talking about Tina on their way to the Planet; Tina and Alice walking to Tina's Lawyer's spare guest house; Bette drunk; Bette with hangover; Tina and Helena making love in the pool; Melvin's sick and death scenes (truly haunting scoring, imho). There are more but those are just a few of the ones that come to mind.
Indeed it is a mixed bag. But, it is no where near as bad as some of her harshest critics passionately avow. As I said, her talent needs to be directed and the scores I mentioned in the last paragraph that showcase her talent and strength as a composer needs to be cultivated and encouraged by the producers. I am not unhappy that she will be coming back for S3. My only wish is that her talent is as focused (and directed by the producers) as it was in the scoring scenes I mentioned.
The few things that didn't work for me in S2 were a couple of the Shane and Carmen scenes and the Gloria Steinem scene in the finale (which was preachy and out of place: talking about feminism when they should have been telling stories about Melvin, Bette's father, which brought them together in the first place).
The few Ez-girl missteps, a couple of the Shane and Carmen love scenes and the Steinem scene in the finale are the reasons I am giving S2 a 4 but a solid one.
I already pre-ordered S2.
This show is groundbreaking. I have never seen on my TV some of the scenes shown on this show. For example, a very pregnant Tina making love. Some people have been turned off by this for various reasons and others have rejoiced in its depiction. I fall in the latter category.
I have been a subscriber to Vanity Fair for over 15 years. I remember the scandal that was caused when Demi Moore posed pregnant on the cover. That issue was mailed to me (and every other subscriber) in a brown paper cover so as not to offend. Imagine that. A pregnant woman not doing anything but being pregnant in full beautiful bloom on the cover of a major American magazine: but it was considered by some to be disgusting and pornography. It was nothing of the sort.
So, for those of us who have been pregnant whether or not we are gay, Moore's pregnant cover girl and Holloman's very real life pregnancy played out in Tina's character (who was not ashamed of her body or of her sexual needs and desires) was glorious and very much welcomed and celebrated in my household and among my partner and my circle of friends (straight and gay).
So, brava to Ilene Chaiken and the people behind this show. Overall, wonderful writing, directing, acting and production values.
Of course, every show on TV can be improved upon and TLW is no exception. If a show has nothing to shoot for then why continue on with the show. There are so many stories left to tell and I for one am looking forward to S3.
I recommend this show and the DVD without hesitation.

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Set in the chic world of Los Angeles, this humor-laced dramatic series explores the lives of a group of lesbians, their friends, family and neighbors. The series takes a smart, sexy and fun look at the hopes, dreams and lives of these people as they deal with things like career struggles, relationships and the pressures of tying to start a family.The second season of The L Word takes off with 13 hotter-than-ever, sexy episodes filled with sizzling new characters. A must-have DVD set for the legions of fans that have purchased Season 1.

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The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)I reccently rented this movie and appreciated the way it avoided the overglossed perfect world trap that so many other love movies have stuck themselves in. Also it takes great care to avoid the preachy and heavy handed treatment given to many coming of age novels. The result: a dynamic product that anybody regardless of sexuality can relate to.
Sure, the title may make some progressives flinch (after all, how many male chauvinist fantasies have been built on the "amazing lesbian couple" theme, but I was really proud in the way this movie's script was handled and thought the movie was done very respectively and tastefully. These women seek pleasure only for themselves, and not for oogling spectators who would reduce them to an exotic item. They are natural and three dimensional beings who are trying to find their place in the world.
I am not very overly emotional about films, so I was unprepared for the crying that followed Evie and Randy's hidding. Because these women dared to be themselves, they encountered tremendous amounts of hatred and fear from their town. Whether it was the director's and writers intention or not, that part of the film was the most dramatic (I did not think it was comedic at all) and reminded me of the many publicized hate crimes against gays and lesbians.
Granted the independent nature of the film (as well as the subject matter) made it really difficult to accheive box office sucess, but the world's loss is the gain of devoted fans of all backgrounds who know caring relationships when we see it. Apparently our society is well in need of a wake up call that heterosexuality does not neccesarily equal a great and stable relationship.

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Two teenagers experience the excitement of first love. Written and directed by Maria Maggenti.Year: 1995Starring:Laurel Holloman, Nicole Parker

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Better Than Chocolate (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)This movie will seem very familiar to most long-time movie watchers as it is in many ways a remake of the vintage screwball comedies of the early '30's but with a decidedly '90's twist.
The heroine of the film is Maggie, a young woman who has dropped out of university to try and find herself as an artist. She also supplements her income from painting by working at a bookstore which serves the LesBiGayT (Lesbian-Bisexual-Gay-Transsexual) community of a small British Columbian town.
Maggie's life is greatly complicated when, on the same day, she begins to fall in love with an itinerant painter named Kim, and she receives word that her mother and teenage brother are going to be coming to town to stay with her. This is particularly problematic because Maggie hasn't disclosed her sexual orientation to her family.
A certain amount of predictable hijinks ensue as Maggie tries to keep her family from deducing the truth about her relationship with Kim. She also, of course, must keep them from figuring out that anything is "out-of-place" about her friends and co-workers. As well, there are several sub-plots introduced to give the film more political relevancy, including Canada's strict censorship laws and the subject of anti-transsexual discrimination in the LesBiGayT community, however they are not especially well developed.
In conclusion, this film is very funny at some points, but moves very predictably at others. It is a rather light-hearted take on lesbian romance and coming-out issues, but the sub-plots occasionally weigh it down. Since most of the sub-plots contained enough potential to be films of their own, the film-makers could have dropped some of them from this picture to spend more time exploring Maggie and Kim's relationship. That said, I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys romantic comedies and has an open mind.

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BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE - DVD Movie

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