Film Review

[uillean]

Fingersmith is this two-part BBC mini-series that was televised in 2005. The story, which is an adaptation of Sarah Waters' Man Booker Prize nominated novel, follows this meeting with two very different young women; and what madness ensues.

This is about the lives of two young women, which collide in Victorian England when this trio of 'fingersmiths' (pick-pockets) concoct an elaborate scam to defraud a young heiress from her inheritance. The story alternates between the twisting back alleyways in Dickensian London and cloistered gloom in this Gothic mansion in 1862.

Directed by Aisling Walsh, it stars Sally Hawkins, Imelda Staunton, Elaine Cassidy, Rupert Evans and Charles.

[aphrodite]

But I'm a Cheerleader is this 1999 satirical romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit and written by Brian Wayne Peterson. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan Bloomfield, an apparently happy heterosexual high school cheerleader. However, her friends and straitlaced family are convinced she is a homosexual and arrange an intervention by sending her to a residential inpatient conversion therapy camp to cure her lesbianism. There Megan soon realises that she is indeed a lesbian and, despite the therapy, gradually comes to embrace her sexual orientation. The supporting cast includes Dante Basco, Eddie Cibrian, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul, Richard Moll, Mink Stole, Kip Pardue, Michelle Williams and Bud Cort.

But I'm a Cheerleader was Babbit's first feature film. Inspired by an article about conversion therapy and her childhood familiarity with rehabilitation programs. She used the story of a young woman finding her sexual identity to explore the social construction of gender roles and heteronormativity. The costume and set design of the film highlighted these themes using artificial textures in intense blues and pinks.
When it was initially rated as NC-17 by the MPAA, Babbit made cuts to allow it to be re-rated as R. When interviewed in the documentary film This Film Is Not Yet Rated Babbit criticized the MPAA for discriminating against films with gay content.

[mercedes]

Desert Hearts is a 1985 lesbian-themed romantic drama film loosely based on the Jane Rule novel Desert of the Heart. Directed by Donna Deitch, this film stars Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau with a supporting performance by Audra Lindley.

It’s 1950s Nevada, when Professor Vivian Bell arrives files her divorce. She's unsatisfied with her marriage and feels incongruous on the ranch where she stays. She finds herself increasingly attracted to Cay Rivers, this ranch owner’s daughter whose an open and self-assured lesbian.
The emotions released from their developing intimacy and Vivian's insecurities about her feelings towards Cay. These are played out against a backdrop of rocky landscapes with country and western songs.

[selene]

The Wizard of Oz is this 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; mostly known and commercial adaptation based on the 1900 novel ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by L. Frank Baum. This film stars Judy Garland; Terry the dog, billed as Toto; Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Frank Morgan, with Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin, Clara Blandick, the Singer Midgets as the Munchkins and Pat Walshe as leader of the flying monkeys
Notable for its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score and unusual characters. Over years this has become one best known film and part of American popular culture. This also featured what may be the most elaborate use of character make-ups and special effects in a film in it’s time.

Actress Judy Garland is widely considered this gay icon; The Advocate has called Garland "The Elvis of homosexuals". The reasons frequently given for her icon standing among gay men are admiration for her ability as a performer, the way her personal struggles seemed to mirror those of gay men in America during the height of her fame and her camp figure. Garland's role as Dorothy Gale in this film is particularly noted for contributing to this status.

In gay slang, a "friend of Dorothy" (FOD) is a term for a gay man. The phrase dates back to at least World War II, when homosexual acts were illegal in the United States. Stating or asking whether someone was this "friend of Dorothy"; is an euphemism used for discussing sexual orientation without others knowing its meaning. A similar term "friend of Mrs. King", i.e., Queen was used in England, mostly in first half of the 20th century

The precise origin for this term is unknown and there are various theories. Most commonly, it is stated that "friend of Dorothy" refers to this because Judy Garland, who starred as the main character Dorothy, is a gay icon. In this film, Dorothy is accepting for those who are different. For example the "gentle lion" living a lie, "I'm afraid there's no denyin', I'm just a dandy lion". Others claim that this phrase refers to celebrated humorist and critic Dorothy Parker, who included some gay men in her famous social circle.

[zodiac]

Gia is a 1998 biographical home box office film about the life of model Gia Marie Carangi starring Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Mercedes Ruehl, and Elizabeth Mitchell. It was directed by Michael Cristofer, and written by Cristofer and Jay McInerney.

Gia Carangi (Angelina Jolie) is this Philadelphia native who moves to New York City to become a fashion model and immediately catches the attention of powerful agent Wilhelmina Cooper (Faye Dunaway). Gia's attitude and beauty help her rise quickly to the forefront of the modeling industry, but her persistent loneliness after the death of Wilhelmina drives her to experiment with mood-altering drugs like cocaine. She becomes entangled in a passionate affair with Linda (Elizabeth Mitchell), this make-up artist. Their love affair first starts when both pose nude and make love to each other after this photo shoot.
However, after a while Linda begins to worry about Gia's drug use and gives her an ultimatum; Gia chooses the drugs. Failed attempts at reconciliation with Linda and with her mother, Kathleen (Mercedes Ruehl), drive Gia to begin abusing heroin. Although she is eventually able to break her drug habit after much effort, she has already contracted HIV from a needle containing infected blood and dies from complications of AIDS in 1986 at the age of 26.

[sammybabe]

Miseducation Of Cameron Post, starring Chloe Grace Moretz.

In 1993, teenager Cameron Post became secretly involved in this romantic same-sex relationship with her girlfriend, Coley Taylor. Cameron's aunt Ruth, this devout Christian, sends Cameron to God's Promise; a gay conversion therapy center for teenagers.
Run by strict Dr. Lydia Marsh and her brother Reverend Rick who claims that his sister's methods cured him of his own homosexuality; after two members of his church "rescued" him from his local Gay bar.