The Projectors

Pink Flamingos (1972)

This month, movies have been gay to a variety of extremities with no shortage of themes of “suppression”. Well we’re throwing suppression out the window as well as anything having anything to do with polite society because we’re finally getting to a John Water’s film. John Waters and his eccentric Baltimore circle of friends and freaks had been making movies for a handful of years already, but when he finally released his 1972 film “PINK FLAMINGOS” upon the public, it represented a distinct point in his career. It’s a showcase of notorious Baltimore personalities that, quite frankly, seemed way more fun and accessible than those folks up in Andy Warhol’s Factory. This movie stars Divine, Edith Massey, Mink Stole, David Lochary and Mary Vivian Pearce. John Water’s philosophy of filth, as represented in Pink Flamingos, may be very unsettling at some points but you’ll be laughing twice as much a you’ll be wretching. It’s a war of filth and the god of filth is Babs aka Divine. Can try hard haters, The Marbles, even hope to out-filth the Queen? If you’re not a very political person and you’re looking from some ideology then look no further than this movie. Here’s a link we found: https://archive.org/details/pinkflamingos1972_202211
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Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)

We’re in our final stretch for June’s theme of MOVIES ARE GAY and we discuss one last classic film of subtext and suppression before we rip the mask off and step from the closet and into the light. It took us a long time to get to Elizabeth Taylor, who is the iconic starlet gay ally, and Marlon Brando who we would guess is probably “aggressively pansexual”. It seems like you could literally picture Brando doing any fluid or freaky thing, truly. This divisive, amber tinted, 1967 John Huston adaptation of Carson McCullers’ ‘REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE” probably deserves more attention just for the parody potential alone. Taylor and Brando are no strangers to playing pent up sweaty southerners, it seemed like Taylor’s thing for a while, but they’re all suppressed here on this military academy fort. Brando’s Major Penderton is so closeted that he can get off to looking at pictures of the statue of David. His wife could not have picked a worse husband but she gets hers from Brian Keith’s Colonel Langdon. Then you have Robert Forster playing a peeping tom. Julie Harris playing a mentally ill woman with a gay filipino companion who is easily the most unapologetically themself person in this whole movie. Montgomery Clift was supposed to play opposite Taylor but he passed away. RIP Montgomery Clift, you classic queen. We found this link to the movie with Spanish subtitles: https://archive.org/details/reflejos-en-un-ojo-dorado-1967-usa-john-huston-vose
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Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

The lesbianism is in full effect for our second annual MOVIES ARE GAY themed month and there’s very few dogs around considering how many lesbians we’re seeing. We booked William Friedkin’s “Boys in the Band” but since Bob double booked Friedkin (see/hear our discussion on CRUISING available now) we decided to postpone the boys and hit up only our third 2024 released film this year so far. We love some neo-noir scuzz and Rose Glass’s second feature film delivers some real desert grit. Jackie, a body building drifter, rolls into town and very quickly makes a connection with Lou, a troubled lesbian who runs the local gym. Lou’s dad is a dirtbag, her sister gets beat up by her dirtbag husband, she has a stalker on meth hounding her daily and now she’s in love with this bodybuilding babe. Can their romance overcome their troubled past? What are they willing to do for each other? Can they eventually shake their troubles and ride off into the sunset scott free? Of course it’s not easy but sometimes love is bigger than life. We’re talking “LOVE LIES BLEEDING” starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brien, Ed Harris, Dave Franco and Jena Malone. It just became available on rental and physical media should be available soon so get stretched and hear us tell of it.
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Querelle (1982)

For our MOVIES ARE GAY theme this month we’re hitting up some extra Fassbinder just like Fassbinder himself hit up those extra party favors. We’re actually discussing Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final film before he left us too soon at the age of 37. His 1982 film “QUERELLE” is adapted from the Jean Genet novel “Querelle in Brest” starring Brad Davis, Franco Nero and many more. A bisexual sailor in Brest, Querelle, kills a man over an opium deal. Querelle also gets railed by the man married to the woman his brother is fucking. He will also later fuck that woman. Everyone is pretty much gay in this movie except for, maybe, Lysiane who runs the bar. There’s a gay ship Lieutenant who records his poetic lusts for Querelle and the other sailors. Even the buildings are gay. Querelle shares murderous kinship with a fellow who stabbed his bully and this guy really looks a lot like Querelle’s brother. Seems like Querelle can pass some blame onto a poor sad gay sucker. Love won’t stop Querelle from being a dirtbag. Querelle’s gonna Querelle. My grandma used to say that when she would watch gay porn in the living room. We found this link to the movie with Spanish subtitles: https://archive.org/details/QuerelleRainerWernerFassbinder
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Moonlight (2016)

For this month’s theme of MOVIES ARE GAY shit can get sad. Today we’re discussing the best picture Oscar winner from 2016. This seems like one of the few best picture winners in the last decade that make sense. The nature of suppression comes up often in LGBTQ stories, especially when things get historical, but what balances Barry Jenkins film “MOONLIGHT” a little better than most is the convincing quiet tenderness. Like its main character, Little/Chiron/Black, this movie keeps a lot to itself. It’s got to be the quietest gay movie of all time. It stars Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae and the lead crosses generations with portrayals by Alex Hilbert, Ashton Sanders & Trevante Rhodes. Growing up gay in Liberty City, Miami in the middle of the crack epidemic isn’t easy but tenderness finds its way. Mahershala is great but the third act is definitely the best part.
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Bros (2022)

For our MOVIES ARE GAY theme we like to hit up, at least, one romcom and today’s discussion had an unprecedented major studio presence for a gay film with a majority LGBTQ cast but it seemed to come and go fairly quietly. The Judd Apatow produced film directed by Nicholas Stoller, written by Billy Eichner and starring Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane may have had an uphill battle within an era where romantic comedies in general have become more and more rare. We’re talking about the movie “BROS” from 2022 in which Bobby, a neurotic and loud NYC gay man with a podcast, gradually falls for a beefcake “bro-type” named Aaron. It’s a lot like many romantic comedies in some ways while showing what is different about queer relationships. Very adult but seems like decent fodder for the romcom crowd. This didn’t blow up the box office but perhaps this movie will linger over time with a gradual shift in overall perception? We will see. We’re talking waaaaay deeper cuts than “BROS” this month but the future of gay romantic comedies may have been unfairly hoisted up “BROS” shoulders in today’s shaky moviegoing landscape. Hear us tell of it.
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The Old Dark House (1932)

MOVIES ARE GAY all month long and how could we go through Mondays of classic cinema subtext without another selection from the one and only James Whale? This 1932 film was very underrated in its time and fairly lost until it was risen from the grave for a new appreciation by modern cinephiles and James Whale fandom. “THE OLD DARK HOUSE” seems to lampoon tropes as it appears to create them. Genuinely unsettling and strangely comical, this film features a group of strangers stranded in a storm that have to contend with the dangerous legacy of a mansion’s inhabitants. It stars Boris Karloff, Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton (gay) and Ernest Thesiger (very gay) and it’s all directed by the iconic pioneer in queer film history, James Whale (super queen supreme). Will these guests survive the turmoil of the Old Dark House? Perhaps they will come out of the closet? Not Horace. He’s never been anywhere near a closet. God bless him. God bless this family. Here’s the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnpbcUfmzkc
 
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The Watermelon Woman (1996)

We keep on trucking’ for this month’s theme of MOVIES ARE GAY and you can call this “LOW BUDGET WEEK”. We got one movie made on about 22 grand and this one was made from a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. That’s right. We paid for this one. So you’re welcome for the sex scene. It also happens to be the first film by a black lesbian. Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film “THE WATERMELON WOMAN” has a lot of issues stemming from low budget. You get what you get when you need some pals, who have no acting ability or experience, to help you hold down a few scenes. But the layered story of a woman seeking a long lost black lesbian thespian manages to push beyond its surface and show interesting personal relationships with a nice amount of black film history to boot. Did we mention the sex scene? It’s the best scene in the movie in terms of pure execution. This sex scene could win a contest. It could be it’s own short film. See for yourself. Minute 41: https://archive.org/details/the.watermelon.woman.1996.webdl.720p.h264.aac-deep
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The Living End (1992)

This month, MOVIES ARE GAY and we’re hitting up our second ever Gregg Araki movie with his groundbreaking 1992 film “THE LIVING END” starring Craig Gilmore and Mike Dytri. This low budget feature is considered ground floor for what was dubbed a “New Queer Cinema Movement” in which LGBTQ creators were looking to push boundaries within a world of social and political marginalization during a time in which the AIDS epidemic was thoroughly embedded into the queer culture scene. This new movement did not seek safety in the sentimental but presented queer characters struggling in a world they didn’t make. Luke, a nihilistic vagabond who has killed a few people, meets movie critic Jon. Jon has just been diagnosed with HIV. Luke already has it. In many ways they are different but their situation brings them closer together in backlash to a fatalistic world that wants nothing to do with them. They may not make it to the 21st century. A lot of low budget acting tropes get balanced out nicely here in a well executed ground floor film that shines in the context of its time. Last we checked, we found the film right here: https://archive.org/details/this-is-how-the-world-ends-gregg-araki-2000 and you should be able to find out more by looking up “Strand Releasing”. Fuck the world in the most gay 90s way possible.
 
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Strangers on a Train (1951)

It’s time for a bit more classic film gay subtext of a varying degree of obviousness. It’s one of our favorite things to see in this month’s theme we’re calling MOVIES ARE GAY and we say that because they are. We like Pro Wrestling too and that is also gay. So many gay things all around us. You step on a train full of strangers and surely one of them will be gay. Maybe they can tell that you’re at least kinda gay and they got some great ideas they want to share. Like killing your wife in exchange for you killing their homophobe dad. Are we speaking the same language? Hitchcock seems particularly sad of the classic closeted Hollywood. The repression maybe didn’t make him very nice to Tippi Hedren but the rumors still live on after pushing that “wife guy” image so hard. I’m sure Alma had a deep understanding. Maybe it was a Charles Laughton/Elsa Lancaster situation? We’re discussing Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 film “STRANGERS ON A TRAIN” and here we star Farley Granger (gay) as “Guy” who has a chance encounter and candid conversations on a train with “Bruno” as played by Robert Walker (mormon). Bruno leans in a little too much and kills Guy’s no good wife and insists that Guy kill his father. It’s all a big mess that leads to tons of that Hitchcock tension your grandma loved. Including a killer carousel at the end that has a fatal design flaw. Good thing pappy was there. Stay gay, true believers. Here’s the movie: https://archive.org/details/strangers-on-a-train-720p Excelsior!
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