QFest Movie Shorts A-M

Following are reviews of movies A-M premi�ring at QFest, July 9-20. Up to the day of the show, tickets may be purchased in person at TLA Video locations (11 a.m.-10 p.m.), by phone at 267-765-9700, ext. 4, or online at qfest.com (up to 24 hours in advance). Same-day tickets are available only at the screening venue. Tickets are $10. All times are p.m.

= Recommended
= Highly Recommended

Venue Key: PMT = Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St.; RE = Ritz East, 125 S. Second St.

Amancio

On May 5, 2005, a young man who enjoyed dressing as a woman was found slain in the Colorado River near Yuma, Ariz. Tom Murray's Amancio: Two Faces on a Tombstone tells the story of Amancio Corrales and the effort to bring his killer to justice. The documentary has a lot going for it: compelling story, interesting setting Ñ how often do we hear aboutthe gay community of Yuma? Ñ and openaccess to Corrales' family and friends. But the movie strikes an off note when it comes to the police. A lot of screen time is spent exploring the accusation that the Yuma Sheriff's Department did not do all it could in Corrales' case, and while it may well be that the sheriff was less than accommodating to the victim's advocates Ñ and that gay rights in Yuma have a long way to go Ñ no compelling evidence of indolence is introduced. ÑDoron Taussig (7/12, RE, 7)

And Then Came Lola

A comedic, lesbian, San Fran-set version of Tom Twyker's Run Lola Run, And Then Came Lola appropriates everything from the plot (um, running) to Twyker's fantasy and animation sequences. Lola is a commitment-phobe charged with getting prints to her graphic designer girlfriend (who may or may not be The One). Three scenarios lead to three different outcomes. Short interludes between each segment are in the form of relationship-counseling sessions. Sure, it's fun and Ashleigh Sumner is charming as the always-late, womanizing Lola, but did we really need a Sapphic version of an already highly conceptual movie? ÑMolly Eichel (7/11, PMT, 7:15; 7/12, RE, 4:15)

Autopsy

Procedural TV junkies, picture this: If SVU's Elliot Stabler looked a hell of a lot like Gregory House and all of a sudden realized he was gay and in love with E.R. 's Doug Ross circa 1997, and then Dexter showed up and slashed a warm body or two, and they all spoke French and wore mock turtlenecks, you would not need to see this movie. But tall-dark-and-handsome pathologist Emmanuel (Thierry Neuvic) is a degree or five hotter than George Clooney; the cop who loves him (StŽphane Freiss) is played by an actor who handles the sometimes-ridiculous, rapid-fire script with panache; the tension is high from start to finish; and the head-scratcher ending is equal parts sexy and disturbing. ÑCarolyn Huckabay (7/10, RE, 5:15; 7/12, RE, 12:15)

Diminishing returns set in with the fourth feature by Aureaus Solito, whose The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros provided a fascinating glimpse into the life of a young Filipino transsexual. Boy's milieu is much the same, its story less engaging. Opening in a seedy karaoke bar, the movie follows a young poet (Aeious Asin) in his attempt to buy a night with macho dancer Aries Pena, which he achieves by selling off his action figure and comic book collections. Coming-of-age rites, including an awkward dinner with the poet's mother, follow. The crisp, glowing digital camera work sucks you into the movie's world, but there's precious little to do while you're there. ÑSam Adams (7/10, RE, 9:30; 7/11, PMT, 12:30)

Changing Spots

A once-passionate lesbian couple separate after the loss of their unborn child and they go off to lead their lives, correcting mistakes from their past. Molly Brite (Lane West), a former television child star, deals with her drinking problem and returns home to reconnect with her estranged alcoholic father, while Peg (Danielle Egnew) tries to work past her second miscarriage and focuses on re-establishing her music career. Susan Turley's film takes its time, but it hits its stride in the middle, developing into a realistic, heartfelt drama. ÑNiesha Miller (7/17, RE, 9:15; 7/18, RE, noon)

Chef's Special

Part love story, part coming-out tale, part family comedy, part cooking film, with a dash of soccer and a liberal sprinkling of farce:So many flavors in Nacho G. Velilla's Chef's Special, all perfectly complementary. Maxi (the flamboyant Javier C‡mara) is a top chef with his own hot restaurant in Madrid. He's on top of his game, angling for a star in the Michelin restaurant guide. It's a wonderful gay life. And then his kids Ñ brooding teen Edu (Junio Valverde) and inquisitive bespectacled 'tween Alba (Alejandra Lorenzo) Ñ from his unsuccessful marriage show up after their mother dies. And his busty, lusty ma”tre d', Alex (Lola Due–as), falls for his new neighbor, hunky Beckham-esque ex-footballer Horacio (Benjam’n Vicu–a). And Horacio, surprise, has a crush on Maxi. It's madcap from soup to nuts, with bizarre scenarios continually bubbling up. Yet into the hilarity Velilla manages to fold in both a touching romance and a heart-rending family reunion. Bravo. ÑBrian Howard (7/11, RE, 9:30; 7/14, RE, 9:30)

Chica Busca Chica, Pt. I

This film is a compilation of the first four 10-minute episodes of an online series about lesbians in Madrid. Nines is the sexy, flirty bartender at the club Chica Busca Chica (Women Seeking Women). There she meets and hooks up with Monica, an OCD former judo champ who is still dealing with her failure at the Olympics. At the bar she is known as "Psycho Monica" for her clinginess and long obsession with Nines. Carmen is Monica's ostensibly straight former roommate, who is sent into Nines' womanizing arms afterwalking in on her boyfriend with another woman. Ana is Monica's new roommate, fresh from small-town life and ready to become an actress Ñ and, possibly, a lesbian. Despite a somewhat confusing beginning, choppy transitions and mildly annoying characters, the plot is appealing and the women engaging in their own way. ÑMorgan Davis (7/15, RE, 7:15; 7/16, RE, 7:15)

City of Borders

Yun Suh's documentary opens on a literal evocation of its title, as young Palestinian Boody and his friends make their way through a break in the West Bank wall. They're on their way to Jerusalem, Boody says, to "have some fun" (and "If they catch us, we're gonna go straight to the jail"). Specifically, they're going to Shushan, an openly gay club owned and run by Sa'ar, also the city's first openly gay council member. He calls it "a combination between nightlife that I like and also some ideology," a mix the film explores in the context of other "borders" in the city, between "East and West, Jewish and Palestinian, secular and ultra-orthodox, and straight and gay." Lively and precise, the movie notes the club's status as a cultural haven ("like finding fresh water in the middle of the desert") and political bellwether. ÑCindy Fuchs (7/15, RE, 5)

Dreams Deferred

Remembering Sakia Gunn, 15-year-old murder victim from Newark, N.J., Charles Bennett Brack's short also insists on the reasons she has been forgotten. Stabbed to death on her way home from NYC in 2003, Gunn never received the same sort of media attention as Matthew Shepard, the film proposes, because she was a black lesbian. Raw and occasionally repetitive, the movie includes extensive footage from the trial of Richard McCullough, whose expressions of regret hardly assuage the pain of her family and friends, as well as interviews with activists and declarations by politicians (including Cory Booker, then running for mayor of Newark, now elected). Bran Fenner of FIERCE! offers salient commentary throughout regarding the class, gender and race inequities that continue to structure media and legal stories. ÑC.F. (Screens with Amancio on p. XX)

Nancy Kissam's Slamdance competition-winning screenplay may have read cleverly, but brought to life it strugglesin vainto find a consistent voice. Laura Harring plays Anora, a cartoonish '50s-sitcom housewife who escapes from her abusive husband into a fantasy world. That is, until she suddenly embarks on an interracial lesbian romance with her new African-American neighbor, swerving the story into Thelma & Louise territory, with a campy cosmetic slant. The whole thing is related through the eyes of her snarky teenage daughter (Ashley Duggan Smith), as if Diablo Cody were adapting Leave It to Beaver. Kissam raises issues of domestic and child abuse and sexual liberation, but with such a sickly sweet spoonful of irony that it actually becomes harder to choke down. Ultimately, the only point made is what a horrible guy the husband is Ñ which, in the case of this abusive racist, may seem justified, but not much fun to watch. ÑShaun Brady (7/10, RE, 7; 7/12, RE, noon)

An Englishman in New York

Thirty-some years after The Naked Civil Servant, John Hurt reprises his role as sharp-tongued Ÿberqueen Quentin Crisp. Living out his latter decades in Manhattan, Crisp finds his relevance waning, his swishy passivity ill-suited to the dawning of the AIDS era. Congenitally incapable of sincerity, he dismisses the burgeoning gay plague as "a fad," which puts a major dent in attendance at the theatrical evenings where the faithful gather to see him turn out bon mots. Hurt's marvelously entertaining performance doesn't capture the pathos of Jonathan Nossiter's documentary Resident Alien, in which Crisp describes himself as "a sad person's idea of a gay person" and offers himself up for ridicule (and, presumably, an appearance fee) on the set of Sally Jessy Raphael, and the movie's attempts to chart the shifting priorities of gay culture via publisher Denis O'Hare are clumsy and forced. But the sheer enjoyment Hurt generates is hard to shrug off, even if Englishman doesn't quite deserve it. ÑS.A. (7/10, PMT, 12:15; 7/17, RE, 7:15)

Felicia (played by writer/director/producer Faith Trimel) is one of six black, lesbian best friends who make a pact to come out of the closet within 30 days. Drama ensues with each woman facing her own challenge Ñ like Monifa (Mahogany Ratcliffe, the best actress of the six), who falls in love with her male high school sweetheart. Family has more drama than a soap opera, and about as much depth. Although occasionally funny and touching, the acting is weak and the pacing is off. Because the storylines are separate for most of the movie, we end up seeing only a snapshot of each character, instead of the portrait, meaning the film never delivers on its title. ÑKyle Press (7/15, RE, 5; 7/19, RE, 6:45)

Ferron: Girl on a Road

When folksinger Ferron left Warner Bros. and returned to her "home" on Saturna Island, British Columbia, she was also embarking on a new journey. Gerry Rodgers' documentary follows her reassembled band on the road, cutting between live performances and interviews with the musicians. Recalling their first meetings with Ferron, they also contemplate her creative evolution and influence on other artists (Ani DiFranco, Tori Amos and the Indigo Girls). Ferron remembers her own influences, including Dory Previn and Joni Mitchell, while acknowledging what was missing: "Both of them couldn't get to what it was with me, which is that I was a lesbian. I had that mentality but I didn't know it yet." Now, she hopes to help young women especially to preserve their communities and legacies. ÑC.F. (7/14, RE, 5)

A spin-off of Maurice Jamal's previous work, Ski Trip (on LOGO), Friends & Lovers is a poorattempt to spoof kitschy gay and lesbian couples living in Hollywood. Through awkward camera cuts and actors rushing through lines, the characters gossip aboutsextingwhile doing yoga and drowning while giving oral sex. Jamal attempts to combine outrageous comedic situations with realistic issues, such as living with HIV, infidelity and drugs, but ultimately misses the mark. Diverse ethnic representation may be the movie's strongest asset, followingblack, Latino and Asian characters. ÑNeal Santos (7/16, RE, 9:15; 7/17, RE, 5)

Fruit Fly

Screen- and songwriter H.P. Mendoza follows up his slacker musical Colma with his directorial debut, following another cast of young artsy types bemoaning their rainy dispositions in sunny California. The story this time is set squarely in San Fran, opening with a musical number detailing the city's public transportation system. Colma star L.A. Renigen returns as a performance artist who moves into an artists' commune, and what loose narrative there is follows her attempts to stage her latest piece. But mostly the film is simply an excuse for Mendoza to send up a variety of familiar hipster types, the highlight being Aaron Zaragoza's duet with his own laptop image about being 17 and full of misdirected anger. As in Colma, the catchy tunes threaten to run together in their quirky singsong sameness, but this time they're more fully integrated, nearly a synth-popera rather than a listless indie film with songs. (Read Shaun Brady's Q&A with H.P. Mendoza.) ÑS.B. (7/16, RE, 7:15; 7/18, PMT, 2:30)

While setting up a video installation in memory of her murdered girlfriend, German artist Sophie meets Mei-Li, a reporter inexplicably drawn to the story of her girlfriend's death and Sophie herself. When Sophie returns to Hamburg, Mei-Li follows, and the two become romantically entangled. But Mei-Li's motives for her reportage and interest in Sophie remain ambiguous. Scenes and dialogue are underdeveloped and direction appears nonexistent. We're indifferent to past and present while the locations are underutilized in low-resolution wide shots reminiscent of Real World segues. ÑBrion Sheffler (7/10, RE, 5)

Hannah Free

Hannah (Sharon Gless) and Rachel (Maureen Gallagher) nurture adeep lovefor each other while growing up and growing old in a conservative Midwestern town. Hannah is strong-willed, butch and free-spirited while Rachel spent most of her life married with children. Set in a nursing home, the film focuses on Hannah, whose only wish is to say her final goodbyes, but is forbidden to see her coma-stricken lover by Rachel's daughter. Cuts weave through the past and present, revealing a realistic and flawed relationship. Director Wendy Jo Carlton does not hold back in showing two older women's sexuality. Though at times predictable, the film skillfully portrays grounded lesbian characters with backbone. ÑN.S. (7/19, PMT, 4:45, 7/20, RE, 5)

Homewrecker

Camped out to the max, surprisingly funny Homewrecker is a parody of that much-beloved genre, the Lifetime movie, meaning lots of tears, sex and comfortably predictable plot twists. When Boyd (Dylan Vox) is released from prison, his one goal is to wreak havoc on the coupled television producers (Collin Lawrence and Bruce L. Hart) who didn't give him his big break. It's easy to forgive the wooden acting and ridiculous plot when you consider its inspiration, even if the film does lose considerable steam at the end. ÑM.E. (7/12, PMT, 9:15; 7/14, RE, 5)

Hollywood Je T'aime

Despite living in the city of romance, Paris, JŽr™me is alone and drifting through life. His boyfriend recently left him for another man, and Jerome is facing the holiday season with no companion. So he books himself a ticket to Los Angeles where he spends two weeks living a life far from his own. He befriends a cast of interestinglocals, and finds himself pursuing a previously nonexistent dream of becoming an actor. Writer/director Jason Bushman weaves a touching tale that hits on important gay and transgender issues while not sending an overtly political message. ÑM.D. (7/9, PMT, 7; 7/11, RE, 2:30)

I Can't Think Straight

Shamim Sarif's seductive tale of two young Middle Eastern women who fall in love under complicated circumstances features Leyla (Sheetal Sheth), whose boyfriend introduces her to his soon-to-be-married best friend, Tala (Lisa Ray). Although talk of religion and tradition comes between them at the first,Tala and Leyla soonbecome close. They begin taking trips and spending extended weekends together developing a romance, until the usually aggressive Tala has second thoughts. Should she be with Leyla and go against her religion or marry Ali, the fourth man she's been engaged to? I Can't Think Straight's snappily written dialogue elevates it above its trite plot. ÑN.M. (7/17, RE, 7; 7/19, PMT, 2:30)

It Came From Kuchar

You know you're in the Kuchar brothers' world when, during the course of a single conversation, a film can be analyzed as exploring "the underlying organic horror of existence" and inspire a debate over whether the vomit that the heroine slipped in was real. At one point during Jennifer Kroot's doc, Buck Henry praises the films of George Kuchar as "funny and serious in equal absurd amounts," and Kroot does a delightful job in profiling the filmmaking twins with the same sensibility. Inspired by the melodramas and horror films of their youths, the Kuchars have created countless cinematic curiosities over the past 50 years, from Super-8 to video. The film captures the brothers' eccentricities, though you feel it shying away each time a topic too intimate is broached. But the films themselves, even in the glimpses excerpted here, are so perversely personal that confessions seem superfluous. ÑS.B. (7/14, RE, 9:15)

Originally a play by David J. Mauriello, director and producer Bill Humphreys' film adaptation of Just Say Love captures this love story's written-for-the-stage roots, with its simple sets and two-man cast. Lacking a realistic environment, however, the film's already impractical tale of love and spirituality oversimplifies themes of sexual identity and the ancient teachings of Plato. When arrogant manly man Doug (Robert Mammana) serendipitously meets Guy (Matthew Jaegar), a soul-searching hippie with a (nearly) meat-free diet, the construction worker "hottie" is hardly looking for love. Doug has a pregnant girlfriend at home, but the pair's casual meeting becomes something much more complicated. Not surprisingly, Doug isn't eagerto see his relationship with Guy flourish. The film's happily-ever-after conclusion is too far-fetched Ñ not to mention monologues by the two men about an hour in, which are almost too introspective to bear. ÑChelsea Calhoun (7/18, RE, 12:15; 7/19, RE, 9:15)

A film about purgatory that feels like being trapped in it, Limbo mires a gay fifth-grader in a strange hospital stuck between heaven and hell. Sexually ambiguous Isao dreams of becoming a Parisian fashion designer, and carries around a doll; naturally, he's bullied by classmates and alternately mocked and ogled by teachers. When he's cornered by one of them in the shower after a swimming try-out, he knocks himself unconscious and winds up in the netherworld, accompanied by a harried, double-talking nurse and a lawyer with a mysteriously painless gunshot wound to the head. Director Horacio Rivera seems poised to pile on the cloying eccentricities, but stops short even of that, opting instead for an addled aimlessness that feels like a cute short padded to feature length. It may all be intended as a coming-of-age ghost story in the end, but that would imply that something had been learned along the way. ÑS.B. (7/18, RE, 7:15; 7/19, RE, 4:30)

Everett Lewis' Lucky Bastard sets out to document the gritty subculture of meth users in the gay community, but has such thoroughly stilted dialogue, it plays out like an after-school special. The film follows Rusty, a successful but emotionally fragile home designer in Hollywood Ñ "I like houses because they can't reject me," he says. When Rusty's boyfriend goes out of town, he unexpectedly finds romance with Denny in a convenience-store stockroom. Rusty and Denny enjoy several shirtless make-out scenes set to soft acoustic plucking before the film reveals that Denny is not only HIV-positive, he's also a meth addict. Despite a lack of chemistry, Rusty follows Denny on his drug binges. Though well shot, the film never escapes the limitations of its actors Ñ who alternately stare blankly or devolve into caricatures Ñ or its script, which is laughably unaware throughout. ÑTom Dreisbach (7/18, PMT, 9:30; 7/19, RE, 4:30)

When Nathan Stanford makes a surprise visit to his boyfriend Olaf "Gunn" Gunnunderson's house for the holidays, he's shocked to find that the gay-pride Gunn is still pretending to be straight in front of his family. Gunn's parents, the quirky and overly Wisconsinized Anya and Sven, don't show any indication of knowing that Gunn is gay, and instead continue to push his high school girlfriend on him. Nathan closets himself while around the family, but tension builds and Nathan and Gunn are both forced to deal with their identities and how they affect their relationships with their parents. Despite the short running time, the movie drags. Anya and Sven's hippie Midwest attitudes are stereotypical to the point of obnoxiousness. The movie is saturated with sexual innuendo that quickly loses itsappeal. The ending is predictable, and equally unsatisfying. Despite the mediocre acting, the only highlight is seeing Adamo Ruggiero (aka Marco from Degrassi: The Next Generation) as Nathan. ÑM.D. (7/10, RE, 7:15; 7/12, PMT, 12)