#arye gross

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[celluloidrainbow]

BIG EDEN (2000) dir. Thomas Bezucha Henry Hart, a successful New York Artist, returns to the town of his childhood to care for the ailing grandfather who raised him. Back in tiny and quaint Big Eden, Henry must come to terms with his relationship to Dean Stewart, his best friend from high School, as well as the object of his unrequited love. All these years Henry has been pining for a dream image of Dean from back then. This is also the story of Pike Dexter, the shy, unassuming owner of the town's general store, who is as surprised as anyone to find himself falling in love with Henry. The people of Big Eden conspire and attempt to bring Henry and Pike together. (link in title)

[profdrlachfinger]

This picture is like … 3 years old and I entirely forgot to post it — I really love that movie! 💖

[tpark-art]

“I just want things to be nice for him…”

[cappuccinoandglitter]

I'd forgotten how silly and wholesome this movie was. The old busybody welcomes Henry into town, engineers a party for him to meet all the eligible ladies. When she realizes Henry is gay, she redoes the whole party but with a bunch of men. Without missing a beat.

Then there's Pike who is teaching himself to cook so he can replace Mrs. Thayer's terrible cooking with his own on his meal deliveries to Henry, but won't take credit for it because he's painfully shy.

Meanwhile Henry's high school boyfriend disaster-bi Dean (played by Tim DeKay who is no stranger to looking at his costar like he wants to tap that) is just being a slutty little bastard showing himself off to Henry because he can.

All this in a fictional town in Montana where homophobia doesn't exist and I just love that.

[haveyouseenthisromcom]

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

I saw this as a kid on TV, it's the first time I felt myself start understand that the kids who weren't white in my school were treated different. Sometimes by whispers between white kids.

Strange way to learn a lesson about society.

My best friend was a VERY white passing biracial Puerto Rican. But his father was very dark. And the kids snickered and murmured the n-word when he came to pick him up. They told him often, "you must be adopted."

It was confusing for me because I didn't get it. He was just my friend's dad. Like my dad had a European accent, and I didn't.

I just remember I was about 8 or 9 and even teared up at the at the speech that James Earl Jones gives at the end. It really stuck with me for while. It effected me kind of deeply. That even thinking about that day, I'm choked up.

It was a goofy 80s comedy, but for a suburban white kid like me, the message hit me how it was meant to.

Professor Banks: You've learned something I can't teach them. You've learned what it feels like to be black.

Mark: No sir.

Professor Banks: Beg your pardon?

Mark: I don't really know what it feels like, sir. If I didn't like it, I could always get out. It's not the same, sir.

Professor Banks: You've learned a great deal more than I thought.

‐---------------------

Legacy & input by actors from the movie:

———————

Rae Dawn Chong defended the film, saying of the controversy:

It was only controversial because Spike Lee made a thing of it. He'd never seen the movie and he just jumped all over it… He was just starting and pulling everything down in his wake. If you watch the movie, it's really making white people look stupid… [The film] is adorable and it didn't deserve it... I always tried to be an actor who was doing a part that was a character versus what I call 'blackting,' or playing my race, because I knew that I would fail because I was mixed [Chong is of African, Chinese and European ancestry]. I was the black actor for sure, but I didn't lead with my epidermis, and that offended people like Spike Lee, I think. You're either militant or you're not and he decided to just attack. I've never forgiven him for that because it really hurt me. I didn't realize [at the time] that not pushing the afro-centric agenda was going to bite me. When you start to do well people start to say you're a Tom [as in Uncle Tom] because you're acceptable.

Spike Lee responded by saying, "In my film career, any comment or criticism has never been based on jealousy."

"A white man donning blackface is taboo," said C. Thomas Howell. "Conversation over — you can't win. But our intentions were pure: We wanted to make a funny movie that had a message about racism."

Howell later expanded:

I'm shocked at how truly harmless that movie is, and how the anti-racial message involved in it is so prevalent... This isn't a movie about blackface. This isn't a movie that should be considered irresponsible on any level... It's very funny... It made me much more aware of the issues we face on a day-to-day basis, and it made me much more sensitive to racism... It's an innocent movie, it's got innocent messages, and it's got some very, very deep messages. And I think the people that haven't seen it that judge it are horribly wrong. I think that's more offensive than anything. Judging something you haven’t seen is the worst thing you can really do. In fact, Soul Man sort of represents that all the way through. I think it's a really innocent movie with a very powerful message, and it's an important part of my life. I'm proud of the performance, and I'm proud of the people that were in it. A lot of people ask me today, 'Could that movie be made today?'... Robert Downey Jr. just did it in Tropic Thunder!... The difference is that he was just playing a character in Tropic Thunder, and there was no magnifying glass on racism, which is so prevalent in our country. I guess that's what makes people more uncomfortable about Soul Man. But I think it's an important movie.

Robert Downey Jr. referenced Howell and Soul Man when addressing the potential controversy over his role in Tropic Thunder: "At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character. If I didn't feel [the role in Tropic Thunder] was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell [in Soul Man], I would've stayed home."

Mathcore band Botch has a track named "C. Thomas Howell as the 'Soul Man'" on their album We Are the Romans (1999).

[miriam-heddy]

9-1-1, I’m catching up to you! (On S6E6)

Opinions, which are mine:

I really like Detective Lou Ransone. He should’ve been a regular.

Arye Gross was definitely my fave guest star.

Ana Flores was cute the way Hello Kitty is cute. But Eddie made the right decision.

Taylor Kelly’s pretty and sexy and I love her voice. But she’s far too emotionally mature for Buck.

Buck and Hen drinking together was brilliant.

I adore Karen and Hen together.

Bobby deserves all the hugs out there. He is owed back pay in hugs.

[bonniehooper]

Top Picks of 2022

My Top 20 Favorite TV Shows - #17: Castle

Show Premiered: March 9th, 2009

Show Ended: May 16th, 2016

Started Watching: June 2022

[slimewalk]

[90smovies]

[twenty-words-or-less]

A Midnight Clear

Summary: Follows an American intelligence unit that finds a German regiment willing to surrender at the end of WWII.

Engrossing war drama that subverts expectations (and not in obnoxious way) and features actual characters rather than cardboard cutouts.

Rating: 3.75/5

Photo credit: IMDb

[riphimopen]

JUMPSCARE

i would NEVER, go out with an ugly girl. Why?

[gib-mir-gift]

eric schweig i wont you

[bengiyo]

If you had to pick one film that was your favorite from each unit of your Queer Cinema Syllabus, which ones would they be and why?

The Queer Cinema Syllabus grew out of a conversation that @shortpplfedup and I were having about what queer works I would show to a prospective BL fan, which eventually led to the creation of @the-conversation-pod. Captain Hands here has decided to run the gauntlet and has reached Unit 2.

Unit 1: Coming of Age Post-Moonlight

It's definitely Pariah (2011). This movie and Moonlight (2016) are having a complex conversation about Blackness and Queerness that feels so resonant to me. It's so rare that we see lesbians of any sort treated with this much complexity and sympathy in a contemporary setting. The complex web of lesbian interactions here isn't matched that often, and the only other movie that comes to mind it The Watermelon Woman (1996).

Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class

Probably The Way He Looks (2014) because it's an easy layup to introduce folks to the genre. The intersection between Leo's blindness and his queerness gives the newer person multiple things to think about and forces them to consider how queer people are more than just their queerness. I also feel warmly about this film because it was a project we followed all the way from short film to movie, and I love that we were able to get the entire cast back.

Unit 3: Faith and Religion

You haven't gotten here, but this is where things start to get especially heavy. I think for this section I'm going with The Wise Kids (2011) because I really like the way Stephen Cone approaches the struggle with faith queer and non-queer people have in evangelical spaces. There's an honesty that I really admire. This is not an easy film, but it's lingered with me for over a decade.

Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley

This is the section of straight losses. I don't know that I ever want to watch it again, but I would probably select Bent (1997) as my favorite because the idea that we could still love even in the greatest of horrors spoke to me. I also think the performances in this adaptation are phenomenal.

Unit 5: Lesbians

I think we just passed Lesbian Visibility Day, so happy birthday, lesbians! This is actually a difficult selection because there are so many great films in this section. I think, today, I'm giving it to The Handmaiden (2016), but I almost chose Bound (1996).

Unit 6: Gems

I don't even need to look to know Big Eden (2000) is in this section. This section whips ass all around, but Big Eden is my favorite because there's just so much love all over this movie, and every new fact I learn about the BTS of it makes me love it more. Arye Gross and Eric Shweig did not have to go as hard as they did in this movie. The director left that choice to them a veteran actors and they did that 23 years ago. Nothing but admiration and respect. This is one of my most beloved films.

Unit 7: Asian Film Warm-up

This is a difficult selection because I think it depends on my mood, but for now, I'll go with The Stranger by the Shore (2020). This is a very Japanese take on second-chance romance. I like the way Japan approaches the quiet internalized homophobia that grips us. Some of the same things in Minato's Laundromat can be found here. It's also gorgeous and approaches sex in a frank way that I really loved.

Unit 8: Yaoi

Once again I don't even need to look to know that it's Yuri!!! On Ice (2016). This show is so goddamn gay. I know people feel like it was censored because of the kiss, but these two proposed to each other. It's what sports anime wishes it could be with the open queerness on display from so many characters. It's beautiful and so much fun.

Unit 9: Boys Love

I will not be selecting a favorite BL, but I will say that I really love The Boy Foretold by the Stars (2020) and it's a movie. I loved that we had a femme lead for once and that they explored what faith meant for femmes. It's a film that took the romantic lead's gay awakening very seriously and explored what being together might look like in a sequel called Love Beneath the Stars.

I'm looking forward to you completing the syllabus!