It's satisfying to see a film that will surely hold appeal to family audiences, take such obvious time and pride in acknowledging the considerable gifts of a gay man in the shaping of our entertainment culture. The film includes an amazing pitch meeting for The Little Mermaid (a favorite film of mine) in which Ashman is clearly leading the creative team to exactly the head space he needs them to go. The even greater piggyback success of Beauty and The
Beast is more bittersweet as the success follows Ashman's death from AIDS complications.
Waking Sleeping Beauty is currently playing in just four cities. More theaters to come presumably. The film might be trying to accomplish too much. It's a lot of
ground to cover and you might frequently wish it had been conceived as a
miniseries; Ashman's section alone begs for a full two hour
treatment. But if you've ever been to Gay Days at a Disney theme park or sung along to any of the modern classics in your home, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
Also opening: Hollywood's gross new rip-off trend
"Retrofitting" — that's when they
force 3D onto movies shot in 2D so that they can charge 3D prices — continues with CLASH OF THE TITANS. So if
you must see Sam Worthington in a skirt reenacting nostalgic movie moments, choose 2D.
BONUS SCENES
John Cameron Mitchell, one of the most talented gays in the world (writing, acting, singing, directing *whew*), may well own 2010 when all is said and done. He's directing the stage-to-screen transfer of the award-winning Rabbit Hole (Nicole Kidman takes over the lead reigns from Cynthia Nixon). It'll open late in the year with Oscar dreams in its eyes. At virtually the same time, Mitchell will bring his already classic trans-gendered rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch back to the stage. It's been a miraculous Off Broadway show, a Golden Globe nominated indie movie and now, a decade later, Hedwig will finally make it on Broadway. Mitchell will reprise his "slip of a girlie boy" role at age 47. He's already hit the gym but it probably helps that the Shortbus auteur has always had that boyish face. Plus, Hedwig wears a lot of make-up.
Did you see movie legends Debbie Reynolds and Cloris Leachman on RuPaul's Drag Race this week? I'm so proud of Ru for inviting them. Now if only she would invite other drag superstars as guest judges… wouldn't it be great to see Lypsinka or Jackie Beat? Speaking of Ms. Beat, her send up of a certain film classic reworked as "Whatever Happened to Busty Jane?" moves from Los Angeles to New York this May.
If you see more of your movies at home than in the theaters the new weekly batch of releases includes Oscar contenders (An Education) and blockbusters (Sherlock Holmes). More importantly, this weekend gives us a very real opportunity to get familiar with a seminal work of cinema that influenced everyone from David Lynch to Martin Scorsese. Kenneth Anger's "Magick Lantern Cycle" has been fully restored and re-released for home viewing. The collection includes homoerotic masterpieces Fireworks and Scorpio Rising and many more. Kenneth Anger is 83 now and a true gay pioneer. He was making queer cinema a full two decades before Gay Liberation.
Between Waking Sleeping Beauty's memorable tribute to Howard Ashman, the exciting John Cameron Mitchell news and this Kenneth Anger restoration, GLEE's recent promo with its gay positive joke "we make culture" seems even funnier and smarter. We do.
