In The Family (2011)

Directed by: Patrick Wang


Starring: Sebastian Banes, Patrick Wang, Trevor St. John


The Main Review: In the Family is a 2011 film that highlights the struggles homosexual couples can go through due to the prohibition of gay marriage. When Joey's partner, Cody, dies, Cody's sister takes over as legal guardian of Chip, Joey and Cody's son. Chip is taken away from his father and Joey is slowly cut off from the family he gained through Cody. So, with the help of his friends, Joey sets out to find a solution.

You can smell that deep, touching movie smell from a mile away.

The movie starts with a normal day in Cody, Joey, and Chip's lives. Joey is a contractor, Cody is a math teacher and Chip, their six year old, is adorably precocious. However, all of that is taken away quite suddenly when Cody gets into a car accident. After not even being allowed to visit him in the hospital, Joey is informed that Cody has died.

Joey and Chip are both grieved, but they struggle and manage. However, Joey is informed by Cody's sister, Eileen, that she was named the sole heir to Cody's inheritance in his will (which hadn't been updated since Cody was born). This placed her as Chip's legal guardian. She thanks Joey for being a good parent for all of those years and assures him that Chip will be well taken care of. Joey is outraged and refuses to give up his son. However, that Thanksgiving, when Chip goes to visit his grandmother, he's nowhere to be found when Joey comes to pick him up. A few days later, Joey is given a restraining order.

Joey talks to many lawyers who all tell him he has no case. However, Paul, a retired lawyer whose house Joey is contracting for, offers to help him. Joey says he wants a deposition and he meets up with Eileen, her husband, and their lawyer.

Here's Where It Gets Spoilerific: So, throughout all of this, there are some flashbacks. We learn that Cody was married to Rebecca when Joey became the contractor on their house. Rebecca was pregnant with Chip and she died shortly after he was born. Joey was a constant help to Cody and, about seven months later when the house is finished, Cody makes a move on Joey. And then six years later, here we are.

At the deposition, Joey is question by some jerk lawyer (who asks inappropriate things like, "How did you seduce Cody?" and "Are you a pedophile?"). He then gets to explain his side of everything in such a beautiful way. He says he'll give up the house and any bank accounts he shared with Cody just for an opportunity to get his son back. Eileen and her husband are obviously shaken by what Joey says and walk out of the deposition.

A while later, Eileen's husband shows up on Joey's doorstep as he's packing. He explains how sorry he is for the whole situation. He tells Joey he can stay in the house and that Eileen is just having a hard time figuring out what's best to do. He gets Joey to come outside and yells out to Eileen (whose in the car) to come out and speak to Joey herself. Just as she does, Chip jumps out of the car with her and rushes over to hug his dad. 

Scenes To Watch Out For: When Cody kisses Joey for the first time. That whole scene is brilliant.

The deposition. All of it was very well done.

Despite it's abruptness, when Chip suddenly jumps out of the car and into his daddy's arms - it's the sweetest ending I can think of for this film.

Anything Else: In The Family does not rush itself. Because of this, it's just a bit short of about three hours long. So, I think, before this film can be picked up, it might need to be edited a smidgen. However, the story really was lovely and intriguing. I hope I see it again someday.

Cloudburst (2011)

Directed by: Thom Fitzgerald


Starring: Olympia Dukakis, Brenda Ficker, Ryan Doucette


The Main Review: Cloudburst is a 2011 film about two aging lesbians on their way to Canada. Stella, the foul mouthed, cowboy hat-wearing, tequila-drinking alpha female, and Dottie, the sweet, blind woman Stella is very in love with, are separated when Dottie's granddaughter tricks her into entering a nursing home. Stella liberates Dottie and they decide to go to Canada so they can legally marry after being together for thirty-one years. It's like a happier Thelma and Louise.

They even have a sexy Brad Pitt character.

So, Dottie and Stella have been living together for thirty-one years. They're clearly in love. Dottie, now blind, it taken care of solely by Stella. However, when Dottie falls off a bed (from being tickled by Stella with a vibrator), Molly, her granddaughter, thinks it's time for Dottie to be put in a old-folks home. Molly has no idea about Dottie and Stella's relationship - thinking that they're just best friends. So, telling her grandmother that she's signing something that clears Stella of any responsibility after the accident, Molly is able to dupe her grandmother in agreeing to move to a nursing home.

When Stella finds out, she's furious. So, once Dot is gone, she immediately plans a way to free Dot, which she does, and they hit the road. They stop in a diner and, after discussing how Stella could better take care of Dot if they were married, Stella proposes and Dot accepts to try being married to her. So, they set off to Canada. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker, Prentice, a modern dancer on his way to Canada as well to visit his dying mother. 


As they get closer to the border, Stella starts to get paranoid. She suggests that they split up - Dot and Prentice crossing into Canada together and her meeting them there later. Dot and Prentice do make it but, due to Stella's foul mouth, she has a harder time finding someone to give her a ride. Prentice doubles back and gets her. However, they get stopped at the border and Stella's big mouth (and the fact that they still have Dot's medication in the car) gets the two of them questioned and Prentice cavity searched. After this, the two of them are released and, despite Prentice's obvious anger at Stella, they pick up Dot together and head to Prentice's family's house.


Here's Where It Gets Spoilerific: Once there, Prentice greets his mother, Cat - who claims to not really be dying (on that day at least). Dot uses their bathroom and then decides to lie down for a minute. She, unfortunately, ends up in bed with Cat's (very naked) husband and gets, uh... I think the correct phrase is tea-bagged. Dot runs out of the house to Stella and there is a (very naked) chase scene. 


Prentice offers to take his mother away from her mean husband, but she declines, saying he has no way to take care of her. So, Prentice leaves with Stella and Dot. They get their marriage licences and a time the next day to get married. Prentice takes them to a bar and gives them a very touching best-man speech.

The next day, Dot and Stella go to get married. However, Molly and her husband, Tommy, show up (Stella called her during a moment of doubt) and tries to stop the wedding. She gets called out on tricking her grandmother into signing away her assets and is arrested. They all go to the police station and Molly and Dot have a heart to heart.

Dot, Stella and Prentice are driving away when Dot starts to have a heart attack. She demands that Prentice marry her and Stella in the car. Molly and Tommy call an ambulance but Dottie passes quickly. Stella and Prentice talk about Dot and, at her funeral, Prentice does Dottie's favorite modern dance number.

Scenes To Watch Out For: When Stella breaks Dot out of the nursing home. Genius!

Stella's monologue praising the c-word.

Dot and Stella's marriage in the truck.

Prentice's modern dance number at Dot's funeral. Stella just laughs and laughs while everyone else considers if this is offensive or not.

Anything Else: This movie has a fantastic way of putting very sad situations in a funnier light. For example, Dot and Stella's truck-marriage and Dot's funeral sound very sad and, while it is, the way it's done is rather amusing. So, even when something so terrible is happening, we're able to see something a little on the brighter side. I think that's pretty amazing.

North Sea Texas (2011)

Directed By: Bavo Defurne


Starring: Jelle Florizoone, Mathais Vergels, Nin Marie Kortekaas


The Main Review: North Sea Texas is a 2011 Belgian film. It's actual title is Noordzee Texas but we're 'Murican here, so we'll use it's English name. It follows Pim as he's growing up, and his neighbors, Gino, Sabrina and their mother, Marcella.  It has some of the most beautiful cinematography and the acting is all solid. Of course, Pim and Gino have a relationship. And Pim has a gypsy named Zoltan staying in his house. And his mom plays the accordion!

I totally relate to this coming of age love story. Totally.

It begins with little Pim, who likes to get naked and put on his mother's tiara and sash from her beauty queen years. His mother finds him one day and while she doesn't seem mad, he runs off, crying. He's found by Marcella. He meets Gino and Sabrina, her children. Because the family is so accepting of him and kind, he makes sure to visit whenever he can from then on.

Years go by and Pim is obviously taken with Gino. He has a little box of collected things - which include his mother's tiara and sash as well as tokens from Gino. Gino and he have sex for the first time in a tent the day before Pim's fifteenth birthday. They continue to get it on in the wilderness once Gino gets his motorcycle.

However, it's discovered that Gino has a French girlfriend, Françoise. Pim is obviously distressed and it seems that he may have only been something in Gino's "experimental" years. However, Pim's promiscuous, semi-negligent mother takes in Zoltan as a boarder. Zoltan had been a previous boarder and seemed to come and go with the fun fair. Both Pim and his mother are clearly smitten with this guy. I mean, who doesn't love a man with a self-labeling arm tattoo?

 Here's Where It Gets Spoilerfic: Pim walks in on his mother and Zoltan gettin' busy and he runs away. When he comes home, the two of them are gone. He goes to live with Sabrina and Marcella (Gino moved away to live with Françoise). Marcella, however, is very ill and she has to be hospitalized. Before she passes, she shows Gino and Sabrina a photo of their father (whom they'd never seen) and make it clear that she's okay with Gino and Pim being together. 


After she dies, Pim and Sabrina straighten up both of their houses and get themselves on track. Gino shows up when Sabrina's out and tells Pim he wants to be with him. They kiss and the movie ends.


Scenes To Watch Out For: The scene with Little Pim walking around his mother's room, talking to his imaginary maid, Maria, and putting on the sash and tiara. Absolutely adorable.


When seventeen year old Gino just starts masturbating in front of Pim (and Pim follows suit). My friends don't just start touching themselves when there's a lull in conversation... Do my friends not like me?


When Gino and Pim have sex in the tent, it is one of the most beautiful scenes I've witnessed. The sound of their hushed love-making becomes one with the low rustling of the grass. 

When Marcella is in the hospital, Gino and Pim both take one of her hands. She moves and places the boys' hands together as a sign that she knows they have feelings for each other. It's very touching.

Anything Else: As I said, the cinematography is brilliant. I wish this movie all the luck in the world. I hope American audience can just accept subtitles for once... And homosexuality. But, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride, I guess.

Jack and Diane (2012)

Directed by: Bradley Rust Gray


Starring: Juno Temple, Riley Keough, Kylie Minogue


The Main Review: Jack and Diane is a 2012 motion picture. At it's core, it's a love story about two girls, Jack and Diane, who meet in New York. Jack's a strong, hot, but sweetly awkward native New Yorker while Diane is a cute, British girl visiting her aunt. However, Diane's awakening sexual desires are bringing out the werewolf inside of her. So, it's a werewolf movie with lesbians. Doesn't that sound awesome?

It sounds so great, there is no way we could be completely and totally let down!

The first scene seems promising. Diane is in the bathroom when suddenly a big, gross-looking werewolf comes out of nowhere and attacks her. We cut to some weird letters made out of a hair braid and we are transported to an earlier time.

Diane is looking for her twin sister who was supposed to come by bus to visit. After it's apparent that she's not arriving, Diane roams the streets for a while, trying to get someone to lend her a cell phone. She walks into a shop and sees Jack. She promptly gets a nosebleed (the apparent first sign of werewolfism) and Jack takes her to a back room and let's Diane make a call. Jack then takes Diane to a club at which Diane gets sick and has another nosebleed. But, Jack and Diane make out, so that's good, I guess. I wonder when the werewolves are gonna show up...

So, Jack and Diane hang out some more. Jack gets hit by a taxi, but she ends up being fine. She just breaks a cassette tape. The two of them have awkward conversations about stuff and Jack tries to play Diane her favorite song - which happens to be a Yaz cover - but can't, due to the song being on the broken tape. Jack eventually finds out that Diane is leaving to go to a French fashion school a few days, so she decides to be a complete jerk. Man, it'd be really cool if there were some werewolves now. 

Jack is shown a porn video of a very drunk, college girl getting cummed on by some frat boys. The girl is Diane's twin and Jack rushes to tell Diane about it. She phones her sister who say's that she'll be fine and everything's alright and... That's the end of that. So, where are the werewolves?

Diane and Jack seem to be okay now. They almost have sex until Diane stops Jack, who leaves to go sleep on the couch. Jack wakes up and tires to find Diane. Diane finds her first and attacks her as a werewolf. She reaches into Jack's torn open chest and pulls out her heart. Back in human form, she beings to eat it as Jack dies. And, that's a cool way to end a film. I mean, it took forever to get to the werewolf part but I guess this is okay...

Here's Where It Gets Spoilerific: It was all a dream! Or, at least, the Diane turning into a werewolf and eating Jack's heart bit was... God dammit! When are the cool werewolves gonna show up!?

So, Jack and Diane hang out some more and are in gross, non-werewolf love or something. Ew. When Diane is about to leave, Jack helps her get some luggage out of a shed. The door shuts, trapping them in the dark. Using the flash on a disposable camera Jack gave her, Diane uses the brief light to try and find their way out. Of course, Jack (who got a nosebleed prior to this) turns into a werewolf and attacks Diane! Cool! Finally some werewolf violence!

Except, no! It ends with Jack giving Diane a hug! Ah, screw this! Where are the werewolves!? 


So.. Diane leaves for France and Jack sends her the "Only You" cover tape and she listens to it smiling. And then the movie ends.


...What?!


Scenes To Watch Out For: Whenever Jack tries to say something meaningful... You know, to Diane... She, uh... She has a really... A really, really... Hard time... A hard time just saying... Anything...

Jack's on the phone with Diane's twin after Diane has been grounded and her twin is pretending to be her. Jack asks, after a moment and a shot of her fingertips dipping into the front of her shorts, "Are you touching yourself?" Just right out of the blue! No lead up to that... No "What are you wearing?" She just goes straight for it! Do people do that?

The porn video that has nothing to do with anything.


All of the times there weren't any werewolves in the film. Oh, wait! That was the entire damn movie!

Anything Else: Oh, yeah... I left out the weird animation. Yeah, periodically throughout the film there are shots of what I can only assume are supposed to be a human's internal organs and a strand of braided hair slithering around them... That's the best I can describe it. This movie was wack.

This was another film I saw at Damn These Heels! Out of the eight films I saw (and the eleven in total at the festival) this was the only one with distribution. Wow. Just... meditate on that for a while.

Gayby (2012)

Directed by: Jonathan Lisecki


Starring: Jenn Harris, Matthew Wilkais, Mike Doyle


The Main Review: Gayby is a 2012 film that follows two best friends, Jenn and Matt, as they try to conceive. Jenn is a hot yoga teacher and Matt is a struggling comic book writer. Matt's still trying to get over his last boyfriend and Jenn is single by choice. So, remembering a promise they made to each other in college, they decide to have a kid together. The old fashioned way.

Yeah, that's gonna work out well and totally not be awkward.

Matt's moved to Brooklyn and works in a comic book store. He's desperately trying to avoid his ex-boyfriend, who doesn't seem as concerned with avoidance. Jenn teaches Bikram yoga and runs errands for her boss. So, after her sister tells her all about the baby she's adopting from Africa, Jenn goes to Matt to ask him to father her child. He says yes and, while he thinks it's weird for a gay man and a heterosexual woman to have sex, he agrees to trying the old fashioned way.

So, a week later, they get down to it. This ends up being awkward to say the least. Jenn decides that her apartment is too drab for creating a baby (the energy is all wrong), so she hires her boss' hot brother, Louis, to paint it. She moves in with Matt for a while and they get into a routine of having procreative sex, while both trying to get back into dating. They start to meet up with people online. However, at the comic store, Matt meets Scott, the very hot single daddy. And, can I just say that Scott kinda looks like a super hero in disguise. Just a little bit. I mean, look... He's got nerdy glasses... And that man-chest! Dayum.

Anyway, Jenn goes back to her apartment some night when Scott's over, to find Louis there. She and Louis have some crazy sex. She later finds out that he has a girlfriend. Jenn decides that she doesn't want to have sex with Matt anymore and they go for the turkey baster method (except, they use a cat medicine syringe supplied by Matt's bear friend Nelson (woof!)). Jenn finally conceives and it looks like Momma and Daddy are gonna have a baby!

Here's Where It Gets Spoilerfic: So, we find out that, when Louis and Jenn had sex, all of the condoms they used broke. So, there's a minor chance that he's the babydaddy. When she tells Matt this (on his birthday, no less), he flips. Matt won't talk to Jenn and Jenn spends a long, long time in bed not doing anything. Finally, her sister gets her up and going. Jenn buys into her hot yoga studio and she apologizes to Matt.

A year later, they have a beautiful baby girl! Jenn has hooked up with Neil, who works at the comic store with Matt. Scott is taking Matt out that night (and Jenn spills that he's going to ask Matt to marry him). Matt's doing well with a comic he wrote called "Gayby." At the end, Matt and Scott leave for their date and Jenn look at her little girl, remarking, "You look just like your daddy."

Scenes To Watch Out For: Nelson and Matt discussing the initialism LGBTQA and how ridiculously ong it is.

After Matt and Jenn's internet meet-ups, the hilarious exchange in the hallway.

The very "athletic" sex Jenn has with Louis. 


Anything Else: This was a really sweet, funny, if not a bit stereotypical (but in a nice way) film. Really, it's adorable. I hope it gets distribution soon.

Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean (2012)

Directed by: Matthew Mishory


Starring: James Preston, Dan Glenn, Dalilah Rain


The Main Review: Joshua Tree, 1951, is a very recent film from this past year. Today, it premiered at multiple lgbt film festivals, including Damn These Heels! - where I had the opportunity to view it. Joshua Tree is a film supposed to follow part of the life of James Dean and his bisexuality. It's shot in black-and-white and very stylized. The actor who plays James Dean is gorgeous, of course. He is shown with a woman once in the film but seems to have a good amount of sex with other men.

Scratch that. He has a lot of sex with other men. 

The movie is nonlinear. The best I can piece together is that Dean and his unnamed actor roommate move in together and then Dean gets involved with Roger, the gay movie agent. At least, I'm pretty sure he's some sort of agent. James Dean has some fun-to-watch gay sex - if gay sex is your cup of tea - and seems to express at least mild interest in a few girls. Later on, Dean and his roommate go off into the desert, with Violet, who works for Roger.

Because of it's non-linearity, there are many flashbacks. We are shown the Roommate and Dean's acting classes at UCLA. Roger and Dean's relationship is sort of gone into. Also, The Little Prince seems to be very important and regarded as the most important literature a man can read.


Here's Where It Get Spoilerific: Honestly, this film doesn't really lend itself to spoilers. I mean, Dean is sleeping with his roommate (as well as every other able bodied man shown in this film, it seems, so it's not surprising). He's at least macking the calf with Violet, and it seems Roommate and Violet have something going on as well.


And, really, don't we all know how the story of James Dean ends? It really is a tale too short. 

Scenes To Watch Out For: Most of the scenes with the Roommate and James Dean - especially right before Dean goes off to New York. It's quite touching, really.

James Dean explaining "passive" and "aggressive" to a young man he met at the beach.

"I Fall In Love Too Easily" being sung in a nightclub.

Anything Else: I'll be completely honest - I know basically nothing about James Dean. I think I can name the movies he was in on a good day. So, I'm a little unsure about where and how often this film takes some artistic licence with what we actually know about James Dean. I - and the people who attended the film with me - were under the impression that James Dean was a little more heterosexual than what was presented in the film. As I said, though, I know very little about him.

Also, if you see this film and see something in my review is off, I'm sorry - but this film was kinda confusing! I don't know if it's just me, but I had a hard time following some of it. It was very... artistic.