Out of the Closet: Exploring Sexuality in Film

Independent Study

1. Brokeback Mountain (USA, 2005)
2. My Own Private Idaho (USA, 1991)*
3. Milk (USA, 2008)
4. Mysterious Skin (USA, 2004)
5. Rent (USA, 2005)
6. Y Tu Mamá También (Mexico, 2001)
7. The Virgin Suicides (USA, 1999)*
8. Billy Elliot (UK, 2000)
9. Chasing Amy (USA, 1997)*
10. Antes Que Anochezca (USA, 2000)*
11. Heavenly Creatures (UK, 1994)*
12. Monster (USA, 2003)*
13. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Australia, 1994)*
14. The Sum of Us (Australia, 1994)*
15. Breakfast on Pluto (UK, 2005)*
16. My Beautiful Laundrette (UK, 1985)*
17. Philadelphia (USA, 1993)*
18. Yossi & Jagger (Israel,  2002)*

*Now I actually have to gain access to these movies.

Six days.

2009 Summer Movie Roll Call!!

1. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) — Exciting, but not much else.
   
2. Ten Things I Hate About You (1999) — BRILLIANT.
   
3. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) — Hilarious.
   
4. Drag Me To Hell (2009) — Dreadful.
   
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) — Too much epic, but epic still.
   
6. Mysterious Skin (2005) — Gripping and disturbing and beautiful.
   
7. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009) — Epic and amazing, haters to the left.
   

Oscar Bets 2009.

In less than a month, Hollywood will witness the 81st Acedemy Awards. There will be a new Best Picture, a new set of Best Actors and Actresses, a new Best Animated feature film. Before the Academy reveals its winners for the year 2008, I would like to share my bets to win the greatest film event of the year:

Best Picture: As much as I enjoyed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on so many levels, I think and strongly hope that this award will go to Slumdog Millionaire. After winning 4 Golden Globes and 5 Critics Choice Awards, I have strong faith that Slumdog will carry its winning streak along to the Oscars.

Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk. After all, he did win the Screen Actors’ Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role this year.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Doubt. She’s in a league of her own, and it’s about time she won again.

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight. Although I love Robert Downey Jr., Ledger’s performance as The Joker deserves to be recognised by the highest degree.

Best Supporting Actress: Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I enjoyed her performance very much. She carried herself well as her character aged in this masterpiece of a film.

Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire. This movie is almost perfect, and I will carry on believing so until I see the bloopers on IMdB. I don’t plan on doing that any time soon.

Best Animated Feature: Wall-E. It was different from all the Pixar films I’ve seen in the past, and I mean this in a good way. Besides, I don’t care for Bolt, or any movie that has the words “Miley Cyrus” written on its poster.

Best Director: As long as it’s Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millioniare), David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) or Gus Van Sant (Milk), I’m happy. They’re all brilliant. Boyle also directed Trainspotting, which is one of my favourite films of all time. So is Fight Club, which was directed by David Fincher (Brad Pitt was in it as well). Gus Van Sant directed Elephant (2003), and it was a film that I liked a lot, especially because the ending was freaky as hell.

Top 10: Films of 2008

In light of recent “Top 10” film lists posted by various entertainment sites around the interwebs, I would like to post my own Top 10 list of films which came out in 2008, films that I enjoyed the most. In no particular order:

1. Cloverfield
2. Wall-E
3. The Dark Knight
4. 21
5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
6. Iron Man
7. Wanted
8. Tropic Thunder
9. Eagle Eye
10. Twilight

Now, there were many other films which came out in 2008 that I still haven’t seen —The Wrestler, Quantum of Solace, Burn After Reading, The Spirit, Australia, Cadillac Records, Pride and Glory, The Rocker, The Wackness, Pineapple Express, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Other Boleyn Girl, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist — and I’m looking forward to watching them some other time.

There were also, however, movies which I saw this year though I wish I didn’t — Meet the Spartans, The House Bunny, Jumper, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Love Guru, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, for example. Then again, that’s how things work. There are good movies and bad movies.

Next year, I’m really excited for Watchmen and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to come out more than anything else. In the meantime, I still have to watch Rushmore and A Cross the Universe.

🙂