OCClient

So, earlier this year I binge-watched Queer As Folk (US version) and just binge-watched Looking this weekend.

 

Enjoyed both (like ensemble shows), though I had (relatively minor) issues with some stuff on both shows.

 

What “gay” show should I watch next?

The UK had the original QAF. Some prefer it over the Showtime production. I've never seen the UK QAF.

Six Feet Under has a key gay character played by Michael C. Hall, and the show's creator was gay. Although it is not considered a gay show it was a highly regarded show. The gay son has a boyfriend and they play a big part of the storyline.

It's fair to say the SFU characters were a bit quirky. The writing was good. There were several great guest roles such as Kathy Bates, and Justin Theroux

The Wire was another great show, very highly regarded with a key gay character, Omar. It's not a gay show but they let Omar show his capacity to love his man. Omar was a bad ass, intimidating fellow.

If you want a purely gay TV show, I'm a big fan of Eastsiders. I saw Season 3 at Outfest and it was the best thing I saw there. Loved the writing. Our community ought to consider supporting it because they really need and deserve out support.

Here is Chalamet being interviewed in French. This can't help but seem impressive to Hollywood, and I imagine the French will eat it up,

The French interviewer seemed delighted.

Below is a link to a review of the movie offered by a female critic from LA. I am drawn to what women have to say about the movie. The reason for that is I find that too many (straight or closeted) male critics tend to project their own bullshit and even their own subtle layer of filth over something beautiful. The one thing she left out when comparing to Moonlight and Brokeback Mountain is that in Call Me By Your Name

****************************************SPOILER ALERT************************************************************

no one is beaten to death, sent to prison, ridiculed, etc. for being drawn towards another dude

********************************************************************************************************************

Call Me By Your Name review LA Weekly critic on our local NPR

I saw Call Me By Your Name for the 3rd time this morning.

http://anexpress.me/mother-sues-hospital-after-son-turns-gay-from-flu-shot/

 

According to the article, in 2014 alone, there were 1,248 such recorded cases.

 

The clear response is to get that "straight" guy you have always lusted over to a clinic to get a flu shot!!!

The same on line journal reports Yoko Ono and Hillary Clinton were lesbian lovers back in the 70s.

That dialogue hit on a lot of stuff. Nurture vs. nature. One of the brothers signed to the deaf dude he is not special. Then another brother claimed that the mother really hoped all the sons would turn out gay. There was some joke about the gay gene and window treatments. Diane Keaton admitted the nature vs. nurture idea was obviously disproved by the window treatments at the Stone house.

...and the climax was Diane Keaton throwing her fork across the deaf son's plate to get his attention, while she signed to him. I love you and you are more important than any other asshole sitting at this table.

Last year this played on Bravo which cut the scene but this week it showed on another channel and the whole scene was left in.

That dialogue hit on a lot of stuff. Nurture vs. nature. One of the brothers signed to the deaf dude he is not special. Then another brother claimed that the mother really hoped all the sons would turn out gay. There was some joke about the gay gene and window treatments. Diane Keaton admitted the nature vs. nurture idea was obviously disproved by the window treatments at the Stone house.

I like Zachary Quinto. The casting for Glatze didn't seem believable.

Just returned from watching a screening in NYC. Although I think it is an excellent movie I am not sure that it is the "Be All and End All." Maybe all of the previews, press junkets and youtube overkill took away a lot of the surprise and nuances. Great performances....check! Great cinematography.....check! Great script.....check! Great direction......check! I did not, however love the music. I found it a bit strident and too loud. I think the film will become a classic of sorts and play very well on the Academy Awards and the other award circuits. But.............

I enjoyed CMBYN more the 2nd time. I thought about my initial reaction last summer, that it didn't bowl me over. Perhaps I'd been too influenced by the book, so I altered my expectations ahead of my second viewing, which seemed to help. I also watched James Ivory's Maurice last night which helped align my anticipation for seeing CMBYN this morning.

This time I really saw Oliver's love and joy and how he was consumed with Elio during their passionate moments. Elio seemed to be all aboard, climbing, almost scrambling into Oliver's arms.

For me the music was good. Ravel was sampled twice. Lovely. I'm a Sufjan Stevens fan. I especially like how his Visions of Gideon was sampled in the middle as a foreshadowing, and then the entire piece came at us with that ending. The other two songs by Stevens worked really well for me. His Futile Devices got me a little choked up this time. Mystery of Love ought to get the Oscar for best song. Would love seeing Stevens accept, and I imagine the clever, funny things he might say. He is quite a unique fellow.

I'll certainly see CMBYN a third time.

Lastly, please don't rush out during the ending credits. You'll break Luca's heart and miss some of the best of it.

Harris Dickinson received a Spirit Award nom so that's something.

I admired how the movie handled this scene even better than the short story. In Annie Proulx: Enis steals the shirt. In the movie, when he comes down, he worldlessly asks her if he can have it and she wordlessly says, "I want you to have it." (maybe even "I sent you upstairs to find it"). Having grown up in a VERY rural place, I recognize those quiet, loaded, nods quite well.

That is such a lovely sentiment, R.H.

Nice smile.

I never get tired of Brokeback Mountain. I have the 2 disc collector set.

Ang Lee is really something and the cast and the writing. The scene I think about the most is Enis visiting the ranch. So little is said and yet so much is said. How Ang Lee got them to portray such emotions!

"Want a cup of coffee, don't you. Piece of cherry cake?" I get choked up each time I think of that scene, the parents' grief. The father's bitter disappointment. And then Enis heads up to Jack's room. How Ang Lee figured out those scenes might seem easy but I doubt many directors could achieve what he did with them.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SOfSSqoXxvg/R5J86C1v2AI/AAAAAAAAAW4/EwUVghd-FsU/s1600/Cameo2.jpg

Much has been said about Call Me By Your Name. One of the many things I appreciate is how it portrays that men can be desirable without having an Abercrombie and Fitch physique. Elio was a beautiful young man. I beautiful, skinny young man.

A movie that rarely comes up, one that got ignored and IMO treated unfairly by critics is called Burning Blue. I own it and watch it again from time to time. Reviewers called it histrionic and ham fisted. I don't care. I like it. But I guess I'm easy to please, and maybe that's good. It's a military/DADT themed drama.

It's leading Independent Spirit Awards noms w/six including best feature, best director, best male lead (Chalamet) and best supporting male (Hammer).

Chalamet's other movie Lady Bird also was recognized with nominations in a few categories. I'm looking forward to see him in both. I actually saw CMBYN and will again.

I would see Beach Rats again. CMBYN is poignant and lovely, while Beach Rats is dark and has a

+++++++++++++++SPOILER++++++++++++++++++++++++

needless gay bashing which apparently the director thought would add some kind of necessary texture to her story. It probably appealed to the indie film festival hipsters peering into what the writer/director wanted to portray with her impression of the seamy underbelly of gay life.

+++++++++++++++++END OF SPOILER+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The lead actor is very good though, worth the price of admission IMO.

God's Own Country I would also see again. The comparisons to BrBckMt might be more fitting for UK fans and where they are at with acceptance of love between men on film.

BrBckMt was groundbreaking for Americans around a decade ago. But time marches on. For me, the comparison is not helpful, except there were a lot of sheep in both movies. Honestly, Brokeback Mountain is an astounding movie for me, for a lot of reasons. I just don't see how GOC can be compared to it, and I don't think it is fair to do that to GOC, which stands on its own merits.

To whet our appetites even more...

Love this scene. Was cool that Guadagnino had T.C. learn to play those piano parts.

These two have chemistry. Can't wait to hear them announce the sequel.

OK, one more new one I just found. Yeah I'm obsessed with the book, the audiobook and the movie.

I love this one because they start out by saying Armie's character falls in love with Elio, which is totally overlooked by many reviewers. Plus the interview never mentions anything about sexuality. That is pretty smart of Hoda, bless her heart. Good on the Today Show.

Are you talking about your morals? You're easy for anyone who gives you pizza? Any particular toppings? Sausage, perhaps? :D:rolleyes:

Well, let's say I am easy to please!!

Whatever he's hiding behind that McDonald's bag:

Some posters have mentioned different pizza places; I think it all depends on how appetizing it looks after delivery:

I'm so easy when it comes to pizza.

Back in the Midwest a side dish was scalloped/cream corn casserole kind of thing. My aunt Frances used to add oysters to her cream corn casserole. It's how she rolls.

Just ran across this video today. I'm really struck by A.H. and T.C., how informed and honest their answers are. And really, despite some of the interviewer's clownish behavior, the questions were awesome, and the actors seemed glad about that.

He could give back, and do some indies, or a few more films with the Coen brothers. Perhaps he is tired of all of it. I hope he doesn't go under the knife. In Hail Caeser! it looks as though he may already have.

Hey, we can make a day of it - lunch and matinee? Let me know when and where!

OK! Let me do some searching for lunch spots. I sort of know my way around LA.

@OCClient I am planning on seeing it when it opens in LA. I don't work on the 24th! Apart from checking out any sale on a new dishwasher, I am free. What about you?

 

In the meantime, below is another article on that tall drink of water, Armie Hammer...

 

The words tumble out of Armie Hammer’s mouth so fast that sometimes they hit their mark before you realize what he’s even said. That attribute made Hammer perfect to play Oliver, the grad student who beguiles young Elio (Timothée Chalamet) in Luca Guadagnino’s Italian romance Call Me by Your Name, since his character often ducks out of every scene with a tossed-off “Later,” and leaves Elio behind to parse everything said and unsaid between them. It also means that Hammer simply packs more words into every minute than anyone I’ve ever interviewed, and he told me plenty of great stories I just didn’t have room for in this week’s profile. Here, then, are 15 more of them.

 

1. He made a crazy election bet with Luca Guadagnino.

Yes, we’re all familiar with the time that Armie Hammer expertly ethered James Woods on Twitter, but for my money, Hammer’s most cutting clapback came last November. Shortly after Donald Trump’s election victory, a frustrated Hammer tweeted, “Our new president elect is the man the KKK endorsed. I’m going to bed.” The next morning, a random twitter user by the name of “bobokoko2” replied, “He didn’t seek their endorsement, nor did he embrace it. Quit changing the narrative to fit your political view.” Mere minutes later, Hammer wrote back, “What part of the narrative did I change? They did endorse him. Adjust your hood so you can see better.”

 

Adjust. Your hood. So you can see better.

 

With that terse tweet in mind, I had to ask Hammer what he was going through on Election Night. “I was officially depressed,” he said. “It was as depressing as anything I’d ever seen, and I’ve been more depressed since.” Making matters worse was that he had made a “way too big” bet with hisCall Me by Your Name director about the election’s outcome, and he found himself on the losing end: “That was rough. My whole reasoning for taking the bet with Luca was, ‘We’re not at that place as a country. I know we’ve got our problems, but it’s not possible that we’re that bad.’ And boy, have I been proven wrong!”

 

So what were the terms of the bet that Guadagnino and Hammer had made? If Hillary Clinton won, as Hammer had been certain she would, then Guadagnino would have to fly Hammer to the city of his choosing, put him up at a beautiful hotel for a few days, and join him for dinner in that city’s best restaurant. When Trump won, as the more fatalistic Guadagnino had predicted, Hammer found himself unable to finance that same prize for his director. “I was like, ‘Let me be honest with you, I cannot afford to do this bet right now. I just can’t! I’ve only done small movies for the last few years. It would literally bankrupt me, and I need to buy diapers tomorrow.’” Hammer has since bartered Guadagnino down to a Hermès sommelier set, which still costs a pretty penny: “I have now learned why they say, ‘Don’t make bets with Sicilians.’”

 

2. There’s one topic Hammer has never broached with his director.

Hammer and Guadagnino told me about their intense bond while filming Call Me by Your Name, which Hammer described as “falling in love.” What was it about Guadagnino that he so responded to? “In all honesty, I’ve never met a more astute student of human emotion,” said Hammer. “The complexity and duality within every human, he just gets it. He’s just a fucking genius, I don’t know.”

 

I’ve had conversations before with Guadagnino where he discusses actors, and it’s uncanny how well he can zero in on the locus of a star’s appeal, laying bare what makes that actor tick. It’s more than just a party trick: Guadagnino is simply that good at reading people. I wondered, then, if he had ever analyzed Hammer to his face. “I think he knows that if he would describe me to me, it would crush me,” Hammer said with a laugh. “He’s never even tried, and I’m so appreciative.”

 

3. Hammer didn’t meet Timothée Chalamet until they were both cast.

Though Call Me by Your Name lives or dies based on the connection Hammer has with his co-star, incredibly, he never did a chemistry read with Chalamet. In fact, the two actors only met once they were both in Italy to begin work on the film. “That might just be part of Luca’s genius,” said Hammer. “He said he just picked people who he loved, and knew that would be enough. As a control freak myself, that would scare the shit out of me.”

 

Fortunately, Hammer and Chalamet got along like gangbusters. “Timmy is, without a doubt, the most emotionally accessible human being I have ever come across in my life,” said Hammer. “You say something to him and you watch the entire thought process play out on his face. He is a completely open book, which is why you can end the movie on a seven-minute shot of just his face. I couldn’t do that!” Though Chalamet is just 21, Hammer said he more than held his own in their scenes. “I was as impressed with Timmy as a scene partner as I was with anyone I’ve ever done a scene with,” he said. “I know he’s going to be able to maintain that and foster that, and I can’t wait to see what he does as a performer.”

 

4. Hammer needed a creative muse for that dance scene.

As he made clear in our profile, Hammer wasn’t keen on filming Call Me by Your Name’s glorious dance scene. “Like any actor or artist, I definitely have my moments of feeling self-conscious,” said Hammer, who self-describes as “so gangly.” The fact that the scene was filmed without music — the Psychedelic Furs song “Love My Way” was added later, in postproduction — only exacerbated his embarrassment.

 

If Chalamet hadn’t been nearby, Hammer isn’t sure he could have shed his inhibitions. “He had to basically console me to help me get through the whole night,” said Hammer. “He’s so fucking free and open! When it was my coverage and he wasn’t even on shot, he would just be dancing over someone else, enjoying himself, having a good time. Watching him be so free every time, I was like, ‘Okay, that’s what this needs to be for me. This moment has to be a demonstration of Oliver really in his body, not worrying about anything and just letting himself go.’”

 

5. He’s game for a Call Me by Your Name sequel.

Since Hammer speaks so passionately about his experience shooting Call Me by Your Name, I asked him how he would feel if Guadagnino reunited the actors for a follow-up film, as the director has expressed interest in doing. “Anything he wants to do, I’m in,” said Hammer. “If it’s a sequel to this, that’s hilarious. I don’t know how you’d do it.” Hammer tossed out a few ideas for what could happen in the second film, mulling over whether they could expand the epilogue from André Aciman’s book that’s not used in the movie. Then he shook his head and pointed at a fruit plate on the table: “Whatever it’s about — it could even be a movie about this plate covered in limes — as long as it’s Luca, I would still love to do it.”

 

 

Continue here for #'s 7- 15

I am free @LoveNDino. I do not work Friday

There are still plenty of tickets available. Are you a Landmark fan? The Arclight? It's also at Sunset Sundance cinema.

Thanks for sharing the article. So interesting. I assumed Hammer was financially OK knowing is line. I hope he was exaggerating about thin finances, but in case he's not I'm glad I've been trumpeting how wonderful he is in the audiobook. Such a handsome and clever man, isn't he?

In one interview I saw on YouTube the question came up whether Guadagnino had kissed Hammer and Hammer responded in sort of a dramatic tone "not yet!" One can tell how much he would like getting back on set for a sequel.