Outfest Film Review: I Do

Glenn Gaylord's (writer and producer of Leave It on the Floor) new film I Do is quite topical.  The U.S., led by the state of Arizona, backed by the Supreme Court, has drawn some kind of new demarcation line against those who are willing to risk everything to achieve a better life for themselves and their family.  Say what you will about illegal immigration, it still occurs and will continue, as with anything, the have not's will always bear the brunt of the law more so than the have's.  Green-card marriages are a matter of fact and more common than you'd expect.  In the six short years I've lived in Los Angeles, I've been propositioned three times, and, not by the nationalities one might assume.  And, were I to I have proceeded with any of these "proposals," as an American, it would have been my choice, whatever the law or others may have prejudged about "the marriage."  Yet, the one common denominator in all three instances was that the people who asked for my hand in marriage were all female.  Naturally, of course, why would they be male, thanks to the federal statute DOMA--the provision, written by a Republican who now campaigns against the very law he composed, and then President Clinton signed into law in 1996--which arbitrarily decided that marriage (never legally defined by gender, only two consenting adults) was between a man and a woman.  The statute was a relic before it even hit the books, yet, we, as a society, must wait for time and reason to play themselves out.

The film I Do boasts a star-studded cast including Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos' Willow) and Alicia Witt (Twin Peaks, Cybil, Friday Night Lights), as well as a host of new talent including screenwriter David W. Ross, who produced as well as played the central character Jack Edwards.  He's a photographer who helps raise his niece Tara (Jessica Tyler Brown) with her mother Mya (Witt), wife of his deceased brother Peter (Grant Bowler).  He has been living in the U.S. for decades since his teenage years and, through a glitch no fault of his own, finds himself being expulsed from the country.  Thanks to a lesbian friend and associate Ali (Sigler), he finds a green-card opportunity to retain everything which he has built up, but then, in an ironic twist, finds himself genuinely falling in love with a man, Mano (Maurice Compte).  The editing is swift, the performances solid, and the message clear.

On the surface, Ross' story asks, "Should not gays have the opportunity to get away with a common "fraud" committed by straights?"  At its core, however, is the more refined, "Why is it that a gay couple facing the random deportation of one of its partners not have the same recourse as two straights in the same situation?"  And, more subtly, the movie posits the question, "Just where does one draw the line between a genuine and feigned love?" Can government really decipher the nuances? Can a federal employee(s) extract what exists in the heart of one or both partners?  Is not love more fluid and malleable?  Cannot something true spring from a foundation built originally on artifice?


Before the screening, producer Stephen Israel, director Gaylord, hyphenate Ross, editor James Cude, and stars Sigler, Witt, Brown, Compte, Mickey Cottrell, and Mike C. Manning took to the red carpet at the Ford Amphitheater.  On the way up the stairs, Ross warned young Brown that there would be plenty of flash photography.  She replied, "I know, this is my third time," (she starred in Paranormal Activity 3, as well as a guest spot on TV show Happy Endings) only to be munching on popcorn just a few minutes afterwards.  Sigler commented on how the unusual overcast weather for Los Angeles this Summer night felt very "East Coast," as she was interviewed by Ms. Sassy.  The whole cast and crew was very gracious and accommodating for the photographers.  Afterwards, they also took the stage before the audience in the Amphitheatre's outdoor seating area.

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Outfest Film Review: The Queen of Versailles

The Queen of Versailles is the recent compelling documentary from filmmaker Lauren Greenfield about billionaire couple David and Jackie Siegel, who amassed a fortune as he was the proverbial king of the timeshare business. Greenfield had the fortuitous front-row seat from the family making headlines for building the biggest house on American soil to a financial tailspin on the heals of the market collapse. The film swiftly delves into the history of the ambitious Jackie, who, on the surface, initially comes across as a self-absorbed and superficial gold-digging mother of eight. An obliviousness may complement her opulent lifestyle, but there is surprising depth to her often cartoonish ways and frustrating choices. A taxidermied former pet and a closet the size of a one-bedroom house are enough to make one want to tear her hair out, yet she isn’t one so easy to write off. This reality show nightmare quickly turns into an upscale Grey Gardens. An exaggerated version of the American can-do spirit paused, as the filmmaker ruminates over the residual obscenely lavish effects. Luckily, there's a voice of consciousness in the form of an adopted member of the family who went from rags to riches over night.

The documentary has no agenda; the businessman does a fine job digging his own grave with his short-sighted and unfortunate view of humanity (his belief is that what everybody wants most is to be rich or, at the very least, feel rich for a week out of every year; if they don’t, then they’re probably dead inside). While David contributes to the economy and supplies employment, his virtue is filtered through a minimizing and saddening purely capitalist view. He honestly believes he is saving the lives of people he has no way or interest of having any meaningful connection to. He also suffers from a victim-complex that only seems to strike people during tough times. His saving grace, unbeknownst to him, is his wife, who makes it impossible to judge the couple’s wealth without considering: is excess often a symptom of job production?

After the screening, director Greenfield explained meeting Jackie Siegel randomly through a Donatella Versace connection. She had no problem accumulating the fascinating footage, as she was just another stranger of many passing through the Siegel home. Even though there is a pending lawsuit filed by David Siegel against the film, Greenfield said she had no intent to “make an ideological statement,” rather, “a profound one.”

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Outfest Film Review: Gayby

At the recent premiere of Gayby, (because I'm all about the name-dropping) I saw famed Chloë Sevigny's impressionist and Groundling Drew Droege who starred last year on stage in The A-List and did a stellar job directing Jersey SHOREsical.  He probably thinks I stalk him, as I also saw him at the Scream 4 opening night at the Cinerama Dome last year (which had to have been the largest congregation of white Gen-X gay men I've ever been a part of).  Much to my delight, the LA Film Festival wisely ditched the poorly produced pre-film promo from last year that only elicited one big WTF (various faces morphed into each other ala Michael Jackson’s “Black of White” music video conveying a series of emotions that one can feel "at the movies" and had the worst eye-gauging cinematography imaginable) and was absolute torture the fifteen or so odd times I sat through it (the DP owes my eyes, as well as everyone else who was blinded by it, new contact lenses).  The Festival still struggles with the organization of the ballooning size of the event, but puts on quite a deal.  Drea Clark provided her bubbling personality as host of the screening, where she introduced the SXSW entry, which, only one year previously from its premiere, had no script to speak of.  The screening finally got underway after a twenty minute delay and three subsequent sound gaffes.  Gayby is Jonathan Lisecki’s feature length version of his recent short about two best friends—one gay, the other a fag hag—from college who decide to have a baby together.  Before you go running from this film screaming, “Not another poorly produced independent gay film rife with annoying clichés,” (not like anyone screams that, but I digress) be prepared to be at least mildly surprised and, gulp, entertained.  Yes, this is a gay movie.  But, like most gay films these days, it isn’t one of those gay movies.  It’s actually well-executed and entertaining.  Yay for the gays!  

The aforementioned premise doesn’t break new ground as even the trailblazing sit-com Will & Gracewent down that road after it jumped the shark around season five or six (or whatever).  And movies about untraditional procreation involving white people living in Brooklyn seem to be the rage or the recent Friends with Kids from Jennifer Westfeldt was just a coincidence (er, wait, wasn't Grace living in Brooklyn at one point with Leo, I forget; so sue me, I never lived in New York; I get all those boroughs mixed up).  With Friends, it got the Kid-making part out of the way fairly quickly: those predictable feelings that surfaced after the characters took on the responsibility of parenting fueled the movie.  With Gayby, the focus doesn’t quite get to the birth part so swiftly, and smartly so as the leads endeavor even less introspection than their Friends counterpart, while they go through the sexual motions (and otherwise) to create their child.  Jenn (Jenn Harris) works as a yoga instructor and Matt (Matthew Wilkas) runs a comic book store and is an aspiring artist.  Getting on in years and feeling her life is missing something, Jenn is the one who is struck by her biologically ticking clock.  Matt is excited and open to the idea of becoming a father.  She only has one caveat, “I want to do it the old fashioned way … surprise.”

Director Jonathan Lisecki also plays Nelson:
"It seems so early for a mid-life crisis
and yet here we are."

With no Photoshop skills necessary, old pictures of the leads, who are best friends in real life, incidentally, are used in the film’s opening credits. Their chemistry is obvious and lends a great deal of heart to the feel of the film.  The deadpan Harris is in full-effect here and receives ample support from Wilkas, who has one of the less showier rolls but can still get appropriate mileage out of lines like, “I just kissed him so he’d shut up.”  And, the writing is often just as sharp and a great deal of fun.  Nelson, a friend of Matt’s (played by director Lisecki) who later plays an ad hoc gynecologist to the proceedings, remarks to Matt on his decision to help Jenn have a baby, “It’s nice to see you’re opening up a closed locations in these troubled times.”  He’s full of comic-relief as an effeminate newly-bearded man exploring his masculine side, “I’m here, I’m bear, get used to it, woof, paw.”  (Accented with appropriate gesticulation.)  He’s full of acerbic and/or thoughtful observations.  Concerning the main plot-point, perhaps in a nod to Westfeldt’s comparable film or, well, modern reality: “That is so Brooklyn.”  Each protagonist has his/her own chorus of friends/romantic interests/enemies.  Playing the shrew of a sister Kelly is the lusty-voiced Anna Margaret Hollyman (who was there for a Q & A along with producer Zeke Farrow after the screening). 

Producer Zeke Farrow and actress Anna Margaret Hollyman
at the LA Film Fest screening 6/16

The quirky direction never goes too far and there’s a zany randomness that Lisecki injects seamlessly into the proceedings like the sound of Matt squirting lube and mounting Jenn during their first baby-making session, heaving a couple of hooah's.  In a kind of a Laugh-In moment, Jenn receives doctor recommendations and diet advise from coworkers Jamie (Jack Ferver) and nemesis Valerie (Joanne Tucker), the latter of which has nothing vested in her best interests whatsoever, but it works.  There’s even a short pole-dancing sequence which plays like a DVD outtake, but manages to make itself at home in the narrative.  Judicious, but never over indulgent, Lisecki is in complete control of his material and aware of his audience, taking gay stereotypes and milking just the right amount of screen-time and humor out of them.  The film just debuted at the Provincetown International Film Festival and will screen at BAMcinemafest, as well as Outfest 2012.  Angelenos can find Oufest tickets here:

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