***Gay-Friendly DVD's, Version 5*** (1 Viewer)

[Mark-W]

Rafael-
Thanks, though I don't think that can ENTIRELY
rule out that I might be losing my mind.

As a side note,
I want to mention another gay-centric film
coming to DVD in the coming months:
Querelle:
I still remember seeing bits of this film
on some pay cable channel when I was a kid.
(that's probably why I turnned gay: seeing
Brad Davis playing a gay sailor in this highly
surreal film would do that to anyone!)

Anyway, it is coming out (pun intended)
on July 10th. Columbia Tri-Star is giving
it their standard treatment: OAR of 2.35:1,
enhanced for widescreen televisions...
Here is the description
(for those who haven't turnned gay yet,
but want to):
A proud, dignified sailor becomes involved
in the underworld of drug smuggling and homosexuality
in a French port. Acclaimed German director
Rainer Werner Fassbinder's final film,
adapted from the novel by Jean Genet.

Mark
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[Elizabeth S]

Gee, where did everybody go?

Any comments on "Before Night Falls"?
A little off the topic of DVDs, but next week, they are having the 12th Annual Adam Baran Film Festival here, focusing on gay and lesbian films. Showing films like "Hedwig and the Angry Inch", "101 Rent Boys", "Big Eden", and "Lost and Delirious".

 

[Thane]

I've been wondering where everyone went as well! Probably busy watching all their new DVD's

I ordered the DVD Before Night Falls and it has been shipped so I should have it soon. Don't know how this one slipped under my radar for preorder but sounds good! I did receive the DVD The Wolves of Kromer last week. The DVD is anamorphic widescreen, with an audio commentary (that I haven't listened to yet). I enjoyed the humor in this movie (basically about guys who are different ie. they're wolves that also happen to be gay. Being different, they are on the fringe of society). The two leads are very "watchable" as well. Loved the scenes during the end credits, set to Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky"!
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[Alan Light]

Thanks - I'd be interested in hearing what others thought of The Wolves Of Kromer too. It's borderline in my mind as to whether or not I want to take a chance and order it. There are very few reviews on the web but one critic listed it as among the 10 worst films of 2000, so I'm leery.

 

[Elizabeth S]

I saw the "Wolves of Kromer" on the new rentals shelf at Tower yesterday, but with the long weekend, I decided to rent the 3-disc "Sex and the City" Season 2! I've watched 15 episodes so far, and have 3 more to go tonight so I only have to pay for a 2-day rental if I return it tomorrow!
After "Urbania", I'm really beginning to like Dan Futterman. I really liked his appearance on Disc 2 of "Sex and the City"! The whole "straight gay man" or "gay straight man" theme was kind of amusing. Darn, if I was Charlotte, I wouldn't have let him go simply because of his reaction to a mouse!

 

[Kong Chang]

I bought Before Night Falls and have yet to watch it. I will watch it this week. I never got to see this gem in the theaters before it went bye-bye.

Oh well, I have the DVD, now I must watch it this week (after I catch up with my movie watching...summer blockbusters are gonna make me broke!)
KC

 

[Alan Light]

I'm not sure whether to post this in the Gay Friendly DVD's spot or the Queer As Folk discussion spot, or both, but a friend of mine tells me that Showtime's Queer As Folk is out on "DVD" (I put DVD in quotes because while they will play on DVD players I'm not sure DVD is the term)
I received this message from a friend in Virginia who is sending me all the discs today. I'll report back further about the quality, etc.
My friend writes:
>> I have them in my hot little hands now. A friend gave them to me, as he got them in Hong Kong last week. The video quality is great as it looks extremely clear playing back in DVD player...but its only the first 17 episodes. I don't know that much about DVD formats, but my friend says he thinks its in a different DVD format called "VideoCD" which is the standard in Asia. All 17 episodes don't fit on one DVD as there are lots of them.>>

 

[Thane]

A couple of titles to look out for over the next two weeks:
The Celluloid Closet...I received this already and it looks great (much better than my laser-rotted LD!). Of particular interest is the collection of outtakes. This feature runs about 45 minutes, and is just as interesting and informative as the main presentation...lots of clips of interviews with stars and people in the film industry.
And The Band Played On...this is out next week, and my copy has shipped so should be arriving soon!
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[John Berggren]

Thane,
When you get it, could you post the aspect ratio of "And the Band Played On". From what I've seen, the DVD is supposed to be 1.33, but the IMDB (a fount of accurate information itself) states that the film was framed at 1.78.
I would love to see this one wide if it's available.
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[Mark-W]

I finished watching all the episodes of
Sex in The City: Season Two,
and I have to say I love it every bit as much
as the first season.
It is a bit heavier because the relationship
with "Big" has become more flavored with drama,
but the show is also every bit as funny!
And "gay-content" was pushed also.
Alan, was right:
Great stuff...and, yes, ELIZ is
EXACTLY RIGHT the Dan Futterman episode
was particularly nice!
As a side note, about VideoCDs, these are CDs,
not DVDs, and the picture quality is nothing to
shout about...I have the videoCD of Twelfth Night, and the piture is NOT as good as a VHS tape..
it pixelates and all kinds of other things.
Mark

 

[Alan Light]

Mark, you'll love the 18 episodes of Sex And the City Season 3 also, whenever that compilation comes out. I thought the show might run out of gas - that they would run out of new topics or start repeating themselves, but they didn't. Season 3 is just as good as Seasons 1 and 2. Let's hope this season starting June 3rd holds up as well.

 

[Thane]

Received And The Band Played On yesterday. It looks GREAT! Guess because it was a TV presentation and HBO, I expected it to be 1:33 but it's widescreen, and anamorphic on top of that I don't know how to tell aspect ratio, but 1:78 sounds about right to me. The picture is wonderful, and the sound is 5.1! The sub even kicked in a couple of times! No extras except for cast & crew bios. All-in-all, much better than I expected!
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[barry]

I was already going to buy this DVD, but with a Widescreen Version, I can't wait till they release it next week.
Also, has anyone heard about a date for the Showtime movie "Common Ground". It is available on VHS, but not DVD.

 

[Mark-W]

Has anyone heard anything about these two
"gay" anime titles (following inforamation
comes from a gay catalog):
Fake
(1996, 60 min):
Japanese, gay-positive anime for the queer set!
Dee Laytner is a loud gay cop and he as long-standing
crush on his adorable undecided partner, Ryo.
On vacation in England, they discover a dead body and
a mystery that needs to be solved.
It is on DVD...
Kizuma, Parts 1 & 2:
(1995, 30 min each)
Fans of Japanese anime will be delighted
with these two-part gay soap opera about a deadly
love triangle within the Japanese mafia.
(In Japanese with English subtitles.)
If you've seen them, let us know.

Mark

 

[Alan Light]

Here are a few TV items that may be of interest.
On June 7 on the TRAVEL Channel at 4pm Eastern Time is a 1-hour "Lonely Planet" episode described as "A tour of the Greek Islands, from a festival on Hydra to horseback riding with a Gay Cowboy group on Mykonos."
SUNDANCE channel is again showing lots of gay films and short subjects in June for "gay pride month." Check the schedule at www.sundancechannel.com (the schedule for June is not up yet as I type this, but should be posted any time now).
SHOWTIME presents the last three episodes of Queer As Folk for this season at 10pm Eastern Time on June 10 (episode #20), June 17 (#21) and June 24 (#22). Showtime is also rerunning ALL of the parts of the Tales of The City series in June, one June 5, 6, 12, 13 & 19 at midnight Eastern Time. SHOWTIME2 is also rerunning the series, on different days than those.
BRAVO Channel is doing a gay filmfest of sorts in June. A lot of it is movies that have been on regular cable before (Wedding Banquet, Opposite of Sex, Love Valour Compassion), but starting June 18 there will be an 8 part gay/lesbian "reality based" soap set in NYC and Miami, called The Gay Riviera. (2 parts each at 10pm Eastern Time the nights of June 18, 19, 20, 21)
Also on Bravo on Friday, June 22 at 10pm is something called Gay Mardis Gras and it's 2 hours long.
Listings for Bravo, which are searchable, can be found at www.bravotv.com.
An easy way to find programs which interest you is to use Link Removed You can use the search page to search for keywords "gay or lesbian or homosexual" or any other keywords you choose and it will return complete listings for the next week or ten days.

 

[Mark-W]

Alan-
You continue to be a HIGHLY valuable source
of information!
As a side note, copies of the
OOP 3 VHS Tape set of the original
Armistead Maupin's Tales of The City
are selling for ridiculous amounts over at eBay.
I dug my set out of my storage, and sold
them on eBay in less than an hour for the
"buy it now" price of $65.00 dollars.
Other sellers are getting well over $100.00 for them,
so if you have a set that is in good condition,
now is the time to cash in those sets.
Personally, I will be recording them on
Super VHS this week off of Showtime, so
I really don't value my other ones...well
not $65.00 worth...not on lowly vhs.
I just hope someone realizes, legal battles
aside, there IS a market for the original
series on DVD.

Mark
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[RafaelB]

Mark-
To your side note- I read on talesofthecity.com that Armistead & Terry are trying to negotiate the rights to get it released as a special edition in the States. Currently, Channel 4 in the UK snagged up the rights and re-released them there.
All it's going to take is a little bit of time.
Rafael

 

[Mark-W]

Rafael-
Thanks for the info.
Also, just to let everyone know, word from
http://www.thedigitalbits.com
Mark
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[Kong Chang]

Mark,
As for the two gay themed anime, they're both pretty good, for what they offer. Anything that has to do with gay theme in anime are usually based on manga, which in part is part of the shoujo ("girl") manga, where stories are primarily targeted to young females. And any shoujo stuff will primarily be drama intensive (with some humor to lighten up the intense moments) in whatever genre the story takes place.
I do recommend watching them. But don't expect anything fancy from them.
KC

 

[Mark-W]

Kong-
Thanks for the info. I will give both a look.
Also, I have only had a brief glance at the
DVD of The Celluliod Closet: Special Edition,
but thus far I am quite impressed!
The outtakes are all threaded together into themes,
and I was liking watching a bunch of extra fascinating
minutes with more comments from people including:
Rita Mae Brown
(she had some GREAT zingers in the deleted section)
Quentin Crisp
(who is always a delight to get sound bites from)
Tom Hanks
(who continues to talk about Philadelphia
and mentions a deleted snuggling scene with Antonio B)
Gore Vidal and Arthur Laurents
take opposite sides of the debate
of Hithcock's Rope
(Personally, as much I as I adore Vidal,
I gotta side with Laurents,the film openly gay screenwriter, on this one.)
and on and on.
And the DVD does have TWO commentary tracks,
including one pieced together of Vito Russo himself.
Altogether, it seems like Columbia TriStar really
made this a fantastic DVD that has more supplements
than their Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon dvd.
That means a lot (and says alot) to me.

Mark
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