‘Off and Running’ – Photo: Courtesy
DVDiva
“Off and Running”
(First Run Features)
Nicole Opper’s documentary “Off and Running: An American Coming of Age Story” provides a unique LGBT twist to the genre. The film begins with African-American teenager Avery, a good student and rising track and field star, writing a letter to her birth mother Kay. Adoptive lesbian mothers Travis and Tova raised Avery and her two brothers in a Jewish household. Avery’s interest in her birth heritage arose from attending Erasmus Hall High School, which has a large African-American student population.
After a few months, Avery receives a response from her mother that’s friendly but distant. Kay answers some of Avery’s questions but her experience is different from that of her best friend Jenna, who met with her birth mother, and her brother Rafi, who made a connection with his biological brother and sister.
Rafi’s departure to Princeton following graduation combined with Kay’s lack of response creates difficulty and discomfort for Avery. As she discovers black culture, Avery feels misunderstood by her mothers.
Avery’s struggle with her identity leads to a downward spiral. She eventually drops out of school with a plan to get her G.E.D. Feeling out of place at home, she begins staying with various friends. In the midst of this, Travis and Tova, who are worried about and hurt by Avery’s actions, get married in Toronto. Finally, a pregnancy scare leads Avery to a trans-racial adoptive counselor who helps her get her life back on track.
Off and Running
Prodigal Sons – Photo: Courtesy
DVDiva
Prodigal Sons
(First Run Features)
Transgender documentary filmmaker Kimberly Reed grew up in 1970s Helena, Mont., where anything could happen - and did. Reed’s childless parents, Loren and Carol, adopted baby Marc because they thought they were unable to conceive. But shortly after that, Carol became pregnant with Kim, born Paul, who was followed by another baby, Todd.
The three brothers had a fairytale childhood. But after high school, Kim (then Paul) left for San Francisco and then New York. As Kim puts, she went to San Francisco as a man and left a woman.
DVD reviews, Prodigal Sons, Mother
A scene from “The Messenger” with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster. – Photo: Courtesy
An avatar and a messenger
“The Messenger”
(Oscilliscope)
Like Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar-winning “The Hurt Locker,” one of the best and most effective films of 2009, Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” is a nontraditional war movie. And what “The Hurt Locker” did for its star Jeremy Renner, “The Messenger” could potentially do for Ben Foster. Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Foster) is a model soldier, described by his superiors as a “goddamned hero” after saving several of his buddies in combat. As a reward, he is assigned duty on a casualty notification team, alongside expert casualty notification officer Captain Tony Stone (the ubiquitous Woody Harrelson, who received an Independent Spirit Award for turning in his second admirable performance of the year). Their job is to alert next of kin of war casualties. With three months left to serve, Montgomery stoically faces his new duties, death beeper in hand. His personal life is nothing to write home about. His main love interest Kelly (Jena Malone) is engaged to marry someone else.
DVD reviews, Avatar, The Messenger
A scene from “The Runaways” – Photo: Courtesy
Runaways and showgirls
“The Runaways”
(Sony Pictures Home Entertainment/Apparition)
Biopics are always a hit-or-miss proposition, and “The Runaways” is a good case in point. An all-girl (emphasis on “girl,” as the band members were in their teens) rock band that actually played its own instruments and co-wrote its own songs, The Runaways formed in the mid-1970s, a time when such a thing was still on the risky side.
Southern California girls Joan Jett, nee Larkin (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), who share a love of rock music and coloring outside of the lines, are groomed by record producer/starmaker Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) to be the next big thing.
DVD reviews: "The Runaways" and "Showgirls"
"The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela"
The amazing truth about pornography
“The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela”
(E1/Regent/here!)
According to filmmaker Olaf De Fleur, transsexual women in ancient myths were feminine but strong, guardians of kingdoms. De Fleur goes on to say that today many of them live outside of society, have little education and work low-paying jobs or in the sex industry.
Based on actual events, De Fleur’s narrative style documentary tells the fascinating story of Raquela Rios, the “Queen Raquela” of the title. Living as a “ladyboy” in Cebu City in the Philippines, Raquela, 21, works as a prostitute. She is a streetwalker during what she calls, in her falsetto voice, the “low season” and on rainy days. She is surrounded by danger from police chases to accidents to harassment. Raquela, who lives at home and has a dog named Tootsie, dreams of going to Paris.
Read more...Opinion
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