I know a lot of you were caught off-guard by the film's many serious themes and the stunning talents featured in the movie. And you thought it was just another sexy boys' film with some singing and dancing. =)Isn't it exciting that filmmaker Fred Caruso shared a lot of tidbits and information?
photos by Matt DeTurck
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8 comments:
Hooray for the programming committee! This was a great, funny film. By turns it was surprisingly touching and laugh-out-loud funny.
I can't wait for the DVD to come out!
I must confess, I've become wary of "message" LGBT films. Many of them are heavy handed and depressing. On the flip side, many LGBT films are mindless fluff. I am happy to say that The Big Gay Musical was neither, but instead a delighful example of what a good LGBT film can be. It managed to be extremely funny, provocative, and moving without being preachy or too over the top. A nice way to kick off the this year's fabulous festival!
I loved this film!
I wasn't caught off guard by the films more "serious" themes. It was a cute, unexceptional film that paid some lip service to bigger issues. What more can I say about impossibly gorgeous men complaining about being single? I was offended, however, that the subtext is one gets HIV from being sexually promiscuous. That's a bit of backwards politics. If two gay men want monogamy and exclusivity, I say hooray. If others want sex no-strings, I say fine.
Thank you "Thumpman" for pointing out some of the most glaring problems with this film.
I was disappointed with this film...in fact it might be one of my least favorite opening night men's films in a long while. I think had it just been a film of the musical itself and programmed as a short...it would have been thoroughly entertaining, funny, satirical and cute. THAT I would have enjoyed.
As an entire film, however....all I can say is YUCK! Halfway through the film I looked at my partner and said: "Doesn't anybody get how ironic this film is? For a movie that's built around a them of not preaching & evangelizing----this film sure is preachy!!"
Personally, I thought the way the film attempts to push an agenda of sexual moralism (and link it intrinsically to physical/sexual/mental health) isn't really all that much more appealing than extreme religious rhetoric.
Wonderfully entertaining opening night movie! I can agree with many of the comments about it being a little preachy, but the cast was so talented and the fun of just watching a fluffy, light film ...with music...was a delightful way to spend the evening!
Personally, I loved this film. I will own it as soon as it's available on DVD.
The music was outstanding, and it didn't have that fake "everyone just starts singing randomly" thing that to many musical do. In fact, I wouldn't call it a musical any more than I would call "Birdcage" a cabaret movie. It's there, but it's secondary at best (though it does tie in nicely with the rest of the movie).
I hope ImageOut get the sequels that the artist intends to create when they're available. I'd love to the more work like this. By far this has been the "feel good" movie of the festival.
As for the "preachy" part, I didn't see it as heavy handed or implying that anyone was better than the other. If anything it showed that people can transition from one type to the other (eg from "slut" to non-slut and vice-versa), which is something our own community has issues dealing with.
I don’t know what else to say about this film but tired, tired, tired. Haven’t the story lines of “oh, will my fundamentalist Christian parents accept me when they find out I am gay”; “oh, I can’t find a boyfriend so I will be a slut”; “oh, I got drunk and had sex for the first time and can’t figure out why the guy isn’t calling me” and “oh, hard-line homophob gets to know gay person and becomes accepting’’ been done to death? I find the idea that a flowery song about how God loves me and accepts me should make me feel good quite condescending. I prefer the much powerful self-acceptance that comes from inside portrayed in songs such as “I am what I am.” And lastly, the of the topic of being HIV positive thrown around as fodder for gossip was just offensive.
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