New Documentary 'Before You Know It' Takes A Look At The Senior Gay Community: VIDEO

Before You Know It, opening this weekend in New York City, peeks in on the everyday interactions of three individuals who are enjoying the third trimester of their lives. It just so happens that these men are gay, and leading fabulous lives of their own. Love, marriage, drag, dancing, music, and community color shapes these men's lives.  

Joe.My.God. has the full synopsis:

The subjects of BEFORE YOU KNOW IT are no ordinary senior citizens. They are go-go booted bar-hoppers, love struck activists, troublemaking baton twirlers, late night Internet cruisers, seasoned renegades and bold adventurers. They are also among the estimated 2.4 million lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans over the age of 55 in the United States, many of whom face heightened levels of discrimination, neglect and exclusion. But BEFORE is not a film about cold statistics and gloomy realities, it’s a film about generational trailblazers who have surmounted prejudice and defied expectation to form communities of strength, renewal and camaraderie – whether these communities be affable senior living facilities, lively activist enclaves or wacky queer bars brimming with glittered trinkets and colorful drag queens.

Enjoy the trailer (and catch the doc in a theater near you) AFTER THE JUMP...

What Seniors Think About Gay Sex: VIDEO

"Wanna know what the 'F' stands for? Flexibility."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Film Explores a Gay Man's Twilight Years: VIDEO

A film about being gay and growing old is getting attention in the Phillippines where it was made, and has been submitted as the country's Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Film, the WSJ reports:

The movie stars Eddie Garcia, a popular Filipino actor, as Rene, a curmudgeon with a sensitive side who didn’t come out of the closet until he was 60 and now faces old age alone. Rene occupies his time talking to his dog, Bwakaw (which rhymes with “Macau” and translates to “voracious” or “greedy”), hanging out with a gay couple who run a hair salon and visiting an elderly nursing-home resident (Armida Siguion-Reyna) who is eventually revealed to be a former sweetheart...

...[Director Jun Robles Lana] wanted to capture the sadness and silence of aging, “but at same time I didn’t want the film to be bleak. I used humor to break the silences,” he said.

To attract moviegoers in the Philippines, “Bwakaw” is being marketed as a comedy, with ads and trailers highlighting its lighter moments, including an upbeat poster that shows Bwakaw perched on Rene’s shoulder. Producers thought it would be an “easier sell,” Mr. Robles Lana said, noting that locally made comedies and horror movies dominate the country’s box office.

Watch the trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...

Now Playing: 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'

BY NATHANIEL ROGERS

YOUR FEATURE PRESENTATION

Though some media pundits scoffed last weekend when THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL opened for business the same weekend as The Avengers (previously reviewed) it turned out to be a savvy move. Where else were the spandex averse or Downton Abbey addicts to go? (Rather perversely, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel denies Abbey addicts additional showdowns between Lady Crawley and the Dowager Countess; Penelope Wilton and Maggie Smith's stories don't intertwine much) In fact, this British retirees in India dramedy should have opened even wider since they had the nation's second best per screen average and could have cracked the top ten with far fewer theaters than the other movies.

But enough about money. Hotel manager Sonny  (Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel) is a dreamer, not a businessman. His family is losing patience with his dream and time is running out for the hotel. It's running out for the guests, too, as they near the end of their lives. The name of Sonny's establishment is actually “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for Elderly and Beautiful People”. The movie's title lops off those last five words which only proves Sonny's business model's point: he believes that countries don't care about their elderly so he'll outsource old age. Come to India and live out your autumn years!

Would you rent a room from Dev Patel? MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay New York Couple of 60+ Years Who Married Last Year Die Just Two Weeks Apart

Couples in their golden years who have been together for a long time often can't survive the death of their spouse, and often dies within days, weeks, or months of each other. What's unusual about this case is that the couple was gay, both were noted and acclaimed entertainers, and they were also married.

Shaun O'Brien (right), a dancer of four decades with the New York City Ballet, died at the age of 86 on February 23. His husband (left) Cris Alexander, a Broadway actor and photographer, died on March 7, just two weeks later.

The NYT noted the cause of death most accurately:

When same-sex marriage became legal in New York last year, he married Shaun O’Brien, the celebrated character dancer with the New York City Ballet. They had been together for more than 60 years and died less than two weeks apart — Mr. Alexander on March 7 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at age 92; Mr. O’Brien on Feb. 23 at 86. They shared a Victorian house in Saratoga Springs.

“If there is a cause of death, it’s a broken heart,” his friend Jane Klain said in confirming Mr. Alexander’s death. “It’s as simple as that.”

Hopefully we'll all get to lead such fulfilled and long lives. And those long-term couples around the country will have the chance to dignify their relationship in law like O'Brien and Alexander did.

Movies: Best LGBT Characters of the Year

Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glenn (Chris New) in "Weekend"... one of the best films of 2011

NATHANIEL ROGERS
...would live in the movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience. Follow him on Twitter @nathanielr.

 
TIS THE SEASON... OF LIST-MAKING
Meryl Streep, recently profiled on 60 Minutes, was asked about playing characters who seem so incredibly different than she herself is, like her upcoming role in The Iron Lady which opens in a week's time. Her answer intrigued:

It always really bothers me when people imagine that characters who don't look like you or don't have the same accent as you are far from you. A great actress Sybil Thorndike said 'I think we all have the germ of every other person inside of us.' And I believe we do."

This is true enough. A well written character of any type can feel human and relatable to anyone with a working imagination. This is especially true for minority moviegoers who learn instinctively to recognize themselves in people who look and seem nothing like them at first glance. Sometimes we have to go long stretches without seeing mirror-like reflections in mainstream pop culture. We may have a germ of every other person inside of us, but it's still thrilling to see something closer to yourself on the screen.

So herewith a list of the best LGBT movie characters of this past year in film. Tis the season of...list making.

Three notes before we begin: I missed the Iranian lesbian drama Circumstance which I've heard is quite good; I'm not touching Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In so as to avoid spoilers; The highest profile film skipped on this list is J. Edgar because you're better off doing just that.

TOP TEN LGBT CHARACTERS OF 2011 AFTER THE JUMP...