Flickr: Maura Teague

So you have a crush and you’ve been on a couple of dates and things are going pretty well! Hurray! But don’t pop the bubbly just yet. There’s still one ritual left before you can do cute stuff like bake surprise cakes for each other or go to yoga together: the viewing of the “gauge” film. You know, that lazy afternoon when you make your new love watch something really important to you, partly because you want to share things that you love with them, but mostly because you need to judge whether they’re worth your time by their reaction to it. We asked our writers to share their deal-breaker films. What follows is their answers:

Laura Schadler: Il Deserto Rosso and The Fast and The Furious

The aesthetic sensibilities of potential suitors has always been high on my list when determining compatibility. By no means does someone need to share my exact tastes (I prefer they don’t), but they need to demonstrate a level of coolness, intelligence, obscurity and nuance which leads me to, at times, suspect they might be cooler, smarter or more obscure and nuanced than me. That way talking to them is fun, unexpected and inspiring. I’ve had many a debate about this, with those who suggest that true love doesn’t necessarily have to do with what music/movies/books someone likes. But I kind of think it does. Those things are indicators of how someone sees, interacts with and contemplates the world around them. It’s actually a profound gauge of who they are and what they value, not just a superficial judgment of what they like. That being said, a mix of high/low is most important for me. I don’t want to be with someone who is all artsy snob or all trashy idiocy, but am hopelessly drawn to someone who is an eclectic combo of snobby and trashy. And a middle of the road guy is definitely a deal breaker. My true love is someone who likes both Antonioni’s Il Deserto Rosso and the Fast and the Furious franchise, who wants to talk about Jonas Mekas and Jason Bourne. My dream boy is unpredictable, irreverent, informed and engaged. Bonus points if we both don’t like something that everyone else seems to like a lot (ex: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Beasts of the Southern Wild) because it’s nice to sit on the couch and make fun of things together.

Emmanuel Hapsis: The Sound of Music

Tumblr: Busted Weave

There are areas in your life where compromise is important. Choosing the person you want to kiss up on is not one of them. My deal breakers come in many forms. For example: Is Sporty Spice his favorite? Swoon. Is he a Virgo? Get away from me. You know, rational markers like that. This qualification process extends to movies too. While it’s important for my soul mate to be able to quote lines from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Grey Gardens and Clueless, the movie that really gets to the heart of the matter is The Sound of Music. Several tests lie within. Here are some of them:

• Must know at least 85% of the words.
• Must indulge me in ranking the Von Trapp children in order of preference (Brigitta must be first or second, Louisa must be last).
• Must be offended by the most anti-feminist song to ever exist, “16 Going on 17.”
• Must look up the shooting location and seriously consider taking me there.
• Must consider making tanks and cut-offs out of curtains for at least 30 seconds.
• Must not complain about how long the movie is.
• Must complain about how short the movie is.

Note: one may fail one or two of these tests, if he resembles River Phoenix or Kurt Cobain in any way.

Lizzy Acker: 10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You is not generally considered high art or the kind of thing you would use to judge the quality of a human being. It is, of course, a hilarious and ridiculous comedy based on SHAKESPEARE, set in the Pacific Northwest (my homeland) and starring the man of my dreams, Heath Ledger (RIP), which are all things a person I plan on getting naked with should value but isn’t necessarily required to love. However, there are two reasons any potential partner of mine should appreciate this movie. One: anyone who “doesn’t get it” or pretends to think it’s stupid is either way too serious or way too old for me. Both are deal breakers I might be blind to if a person is cute or complimentary enough, without the help of this movie. Two: at a crucial moment, someone says to Heath, about his true love and what he must do to win her back: “You embarrassed the girl. Sacrifice yourself on the altar of dignity and even the score.”

I have embarrassed myself for love over and over again and I am still waiting for someone to get up on the bleachers and sing me a classic love song and even the score. Anyone who wants to marry me (because, let’s face it, I am too much of a romantic to go on useless dates; it’s either true love or nothing at all) has to be ready to absolutely humiliate themselves to prove they care, at least once and preferably to music.

Gina Scialabba: The Godfather

If you don’t get The Godfather Part I and Part II, you don’t get me. Literally and figuratively. The tale of the rise and fall of the Corleone crime family has mesmerized audiences for years. More importantly, it has mesmerized me. Any potential partner who wants to get past the third date should study up on the history and lore of this crime drama. Expect a pop quiz. The story is classic: the rise of a chosen son to save the family. It’s also addictively quotable: “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.” And who can forget, “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.” Genius. The acting beats out any modern film: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton and James Caan. (Bonus points to any potential date who has actually read the novel by Mario Puzo). It is a bit long at 175 minutes, but, if you can sit through the movie (over and over again), you possess a rare and valuable character trait: concentration (and stellar taste in movies). So, if my potential partner has 1.) never seen The Godfather, 2.) never heard of The Godfather, 3.) or dislikes The Godfather, in the words of Michael Corleone to his brother Fredo in Godfather Part II, “You’re nothing to me now.”

Natalie Grace Sweet: Cry-Baby

What can I say, I’m a sucker for a classic love story, the weirder the better. Therefore, John Waters’ masterpiece Cry-Baby wets my whistle every damn time. While most girls go gaga over Johnny Depp, I prefer to leave my heart with Cry-Baby Walker, the leather-jacket clad bad boy with a heart of gold. This film has everything I need for a rip-roaring good time: ’50s rock ‘n’ roll, young love, vintage cars, threats of Juvenile Delinquency, and Iggy Pop in a washtub. It gets better. It’s also a musical. Cry-Baby delivers a quirky, campy rendition of the “star crossed lover” genre in perfect John Waters fashion. Naturally, it takes place in a romanticized version of the olden days; a time when people still solved their problems through song and flawless choreography, and the bad boy gets the good girl gone bad. I love it when weirdness wins out over squares! Johnny Depp’s Elvis-like appearance and sound certainly don’t hurt, either. It’s all just so romantic. Still not convinced? Traci Lords is in it. So is Rikki Lake, when she’s still fat. And there’s a character called Hatchet Face. It’s awesome. Seriously, it’s awesome. But the point is this, I love this movie. If you don’t at least like it, I’m not sure I’ll ever understand you, nor you me.

Tony Bravo: Boom!

When two boys are dating and they really, really like each other and take all the proper precautions…they should watch Tennessee Williams movies together. For me, the ultimate Tennessee Williams movie is not A Streetcar Named Desire or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: it’s Josey’s Losey’s 1968 art film from beyond Boom! (the exclamation is in the title, seriously) adapted for the screen by Tennessee from his play The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore. The man had a way with a title.

How does one introduce Boom! to the non-initiated? It’s John Waters’ favorite film: so if you’re the kind of guy I like to date, that’s already a ringing endorsement. Boom! tells the story of Flora “Sissy” Goforth (Elizabeth Taylor, at the height of her supernatural beauty and the hysterical peak of her talent), the richest woman in the world with the best name EVER. Sissy lives on her own private island (a modernist setting art directed within an inch of its life) where she’s perpetually drinking champagne from Borgia goblets, getting injections (“Hot sun, cool breeze, white horse on the sea, and a big shot of vitamin B in me!”), dictating her memoirs, bossing around the little person with a whip she keeps on staff (the great Michael Dunn) and wearing untold millions of dollars worth of jewelry. So, basically, she has my life. One day, a visitor arrives on the island, Chris Flanders (golden-voiced Richard Burton, Taylor’s husband at the time), a.k.a. Angelo della Morte. As you may have guessed from his moniker, he may or may not be the Angel of Death; that’s the kind of film we’re talking about. Add to the mix Noel Coward as “The Witch of Capri” (the part was originally offered to Katharine Hepburn who refused so, clearly, if you can’t get her, by all means, the next logical choice is Noel Coward), some truly unbelievable wardrobe choices (exclusively white 1960s haute couture for Taylor, a Samurai robe and sword for Burton), and some of the strangest and most poetic dialogue ever written. Like caviar, Oceanic art and Anne Sexton poetry, Boom! is an acquired taste, but it’s quite possible that so am I. For a man to get me, he has to get Boom! in all its surreal, elegant, vulgar, brilliant, ambitious glory. As Burton says to Taylor, “Boom! The shock of each moment of still being alive!” Coincidentally, more than one man has said that to me, but never before the third date.

If Freaks and Geeks would have continued beyond its ridiculously short one-season run, Sam Weir might have went on battling the bullies of his high school with mild success. He might have had that life-changing mentor who recognized his genuine artistic talent or his extraordinary computer coding skills and encouraged him to apply to NYU or Stanford. His family, from the fictional town of Chippewa, Michigan, might not have had the money to pay his tuition and so Sam might take out loans for college and graduate with big time debt. But it would have been worth it. It was in college that he found like-minded individuals. It was in his theater troupe or his D&D club that he found he didn’t need Greek life or football to boost his popularity, that he could be himself, his totally uncool self. And that’s pretty cool.

At some point in our lives, we have all experienced the feeling of being uncool, or of being the underdog, the person in society or a situation with little influence and even littler chance of succeeding. Of course, underdogs are often fan favorites. Fans who pay $250 for a ticket to see Roger Federer take on an unseeded 19-year-old from Japan do not want it to end in three sets. They want major tension, they want a game. As a spectator, rooting for the underdog is easy and fun. As the underdog, life is anything but.

robotsinmasquerade.blogspot.com

Unlike Freaks and Geeks, when Glee first premiered in 2009, it was not only one of the most hyped up shows of the season, it was one of the most controversial. From creator Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Popular, American Horror Story) came a high school dramedy centered around mostly underdogs: a group of students with gifted vocal cords, trying to make it in their glee club. How uncool is that? The original promos featured our core group of kids getting Slurpee-like drinks, known on the show as “Big Quench,” thrown in their faces. The producers even went so far as to use “Big Quench” as one of their major icons as though to say, We Are The Kids You Pick On. And you were either with them or against them. And if you were against them, well, good luck to you. The show helped to give even more rise to the geek, the gay, the freak, the underdog. It tackled your typical high school topics: gun control, suicide, sexual identity, teen pregnancy, and above all, bullying. But something began resonating with actual kids in actual American high schools. And after a slew of actual teen suicides, foundations and organizations (The Trevor Project, Born this Way Foundation) shot into the limelight, and rightfully so.

One of the most well-known and well-documented was the It Gets Better Project, started by author Dan Savage whose goal was to help prevent LGBT youth suicide through messages of encouragement, assuring the viewer that life will get better beyond their lowest of low points. And what a hit it was! From Tom Hanks to Google, from the San Francisco Giants to Kermit the Frog, celebrities jumped at this chance to help. It was (and still sort of is) an inspiring campaign and because of the Internet and YouTube, unlike any that preceded it. If you helped out with this cause or any like it, you were pretty much the coolest. If you didn’t, wow, totally uncool man for realz.

However you label it, the outcast, the underdog, the other, have always been a part of popular culture, be it in movies, television, books, or real life. The underdog creates tension and makes for a great story. It gives us as the spectators someone to root for and gives the actual underdog something to strive for, a shot at living the cool life, not matter how uncool they are. There’s a moment in the beloved film Can’t Hardly Wait when Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character Amanda is on the search for Preston, played by the adorable Ethan Embry. Preston (nobody) has admired Amanda (somebody) for some time now. She finally reads the love letter Preston has written her and is on the hunt for him at a party, not knowing much about who he is or what he looks like. She stumbles upon two stoners who give her this description: “He’s kinda tall. Has hair. And wears tee shirts sometimes.” It’s perhaps the best line of the movie and a great example of how easy it is for young people to get lost in the shuffle. No wonder these years are known for rebellion and the search for identity. Everyone in high school wears tee shirts sometimes!

In the end, we’re all just looking for a way to be ourselves, to be our own individualized subculture of one. And if we go unnoticed, it sucks, and if we go too noticed, it also sucks. We just want to find that happy medium, that compromise, that moment when the slow tempo shifts to fast tempo and although we’re scared, we decide to go with the flow and just dance. And that’s pretty cool.

The Source Family

I’m intrigued by cults though I know very little about them. Even the word itself contains vague complexities, etymologically and otherwise, and can be interpreted through both theological and sociological frameworks. One definition is merely any organized group of people with whom you disagree. There are the famous examples (Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate, etc) and the associations we then make with mind control, indoctrination, abuse and violence. Yet my parents and all their friends followed a guru in the 70s and if my yoga studio was a cult I’d totally be a member. So, what is a cult really? What happens in the larger culture to inspire them? How is it possible they sometimes attract hundreds of people? Fictional interpretations have the luxury of using cults as a motif to explore a range of larger ideas, from faith, to power, to free will, to identity and non-fiction gets to use the truly divergent and unbelievably, wildly compelling details of the real thing. What follows are my favorites of both.

Recently I saw the absolutely riveting new documentary, The Source Family, about Jim Baker and his followers in 1970s LA. They owned one of the first health food restaurants, lived together in a bohemian mansion, had a proclivity for home births and played psychedelic rock. There was also some weird sex magic, and Baker got more and more narcissistic until he was a polygamist with underage wives, truly believing himself a god. Interviews with former members reveal some are broken, others crazy, others completely fine. They range from being participants in newer cults, to successful millionaire businessmen, to hippies living in solar-energy houses. One woman is grateful for the stability offered to her as a teenage runaway. Almost all talk about the feeling they had of truly being part of a family. While a lot of the audience snickered at the hokier details (everyone had the last name Aquarian), I found the story heartbreaking as it revealed very relatable needs and psychologies, as well as the somewhat awesome seeming origins of something that went pretty badly awry. The movie got me thinking that cults are not so unfathomable; they represent the dire extreme of something we all do, which is seek meaning and connection in our lives, all the while making bad decisions and not always knowing what we’re getting ourselves into.

Pete Rock, author of the new novel The Shelter Cycle  (you can read a fantastic excerpt of it here), which fictionalizes the Church Universal and Triumphant says it well, “[the novel] attempts to humanize and understand, to follow what seems an extreme collection of beliefs to where they make sense.” His wording encourages empathy but also points to the subjectivity of the groups we join, the beliefs we hold and even the minutia of each of our lifestyle choices. In each of our deepest convictions is something that makes sense to us even if it seems crazy to someone else.

In Sound of My Voice, Brit Marling (co-writer and star of the underrated Another Earth), again co-writes and stars, this time as a cult leader who just might also be a time traveler. The movie is creepy and enigmatic, placing us first as firm skeptics and then messing with our heads until we halfway feel we might believe. For days after we saw the movie I kept asking my husband, “Do you think she was for real?” In many ways that’s the wrong question. The questions of the film are about how or in what ways our lifestyles are sustainable, what we can do in order to reconcile our pasts and be ready to face our futures. In making a movie that uses a cult as its center point of suspense, Sound of My Voice is able to ponder these concerns in a context that seems both alien and chillingly relevant. “No one joins a cult,” a woman says at the beginning of Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple and that seems true.

Martha Marcy May Marlene doesn’t use the word cult to describe the farm Martha runs away from in the beginning of the movie. A fractured chronology leads us through Martha’s post-cult time as she acclimates to the real world, a place represented in an unflattering light by her yuppie sister and uptight husband. Though we are relieved she escaped the charismatic leader of the ideal-turned-scary farm commune we see in flashbacks, we don’t feel much more comfortable with the non-cult world that is her alleged haven either. Therein lies more of the twisted allure. Cults sometimes seemingly reject a world many of us might like to reject. But the utopian alternative they offer is short-lived at best, a perverse con or death sentence at worst. The sudden, uncertain conclusion to Martha Marcy May Marlene seems to question if Martha will ever really be free, her individuality and psyche ever intact. Again, this larger concern for freedom, the desire to be a self who isn’t afraid or controlled, seems to be about our freedom too.

It’s interesting to consider if the leaders of these groups believe themselves or not. The Master, directed by the brilliant Paul Thomas Anderson, has us watching the fraught and controlling, but also seemingly sincere, antics of the megalomaniac leader of the Cause. Anderson also refrains from using the word cult to discuss the dynamics in his movie, instead focusing on the larger historical and social realities of the time and why the ideas that Lancaster Dodd espouses might have held an appeal to so many. We assume it’s the vulnerable who are somehow led astray and that must often be true. Yet it’s also important to acknowledge that specific realities often create the reactions to them; in the case of The Master, a disturbed and violent post-World War II aimlessness leads Freddie to The Cause. Yet, despite all his bravado, Dodd seems vulnerable too, dependent on Freddie, if in a different way. Similarly, toward the end of The Source Family we hear Baker’s voice admitting maybe he isn’t actually a god, maybe he has no more to teach. Next we see him jumping from a cliff in a hang gliding attempt that seems an awful lot like a death wish.

I can’t help but feel viscerally drawn to these stories of cults and their members, both fictional and real. Even the leaders, those who seem most culpable, even dangerous at times, are struggling. These questions belong to all of us. What do we do with our disillusionment, with the realization of our limitations? How do we carve out an authentic life we really want to live? Cults, in all their endless variations and representations, point toward a profound human desire, one complicated, dark and endless, one full of a need for connection and meaning, one which so often goes unmet.

I’m a progressive, liberal feminist woman—I’ve lived in San Francisco’s Castro district, walking side by side with naked residents exercising their right to free expression. And I’ve been to Folsom Street Fair (strictly as an observer). What I mean to say is that it takes a lot to shock me. Yet, even I was caught off guard at the vaginas and strap-on dildos on display in in the new rock documentary Peaches Does Herself, starring electro-punk artist, Peaches.

Born Merrill Beth Niske, Peaches’ (that’s her stage name) has been called shocking, vulgar, lewd and downright nasty. She has toured with Iggy Pop, protested in the streets for the band Pussy Riot and wrote an album protesting President George Bush titled, Impeach My Bush. Her music has also been featured in several movies including the 2003 hit Lost in Translation.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of attending a Peaches concert or listening to any of her four albums… beware! They are not for the faint of heart. Expect in your face sexuality and outlandish costumes. The movie is currently on the film festival circuit, screening at the recent San Francisco International Film Festival and will be making stops in Seattle, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Copenhagen and London—just to name a few.

Here’s the trailer:

I had a chance to interview Peaches on the red carpet at the San Francisco International Film Festival screening of her film. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would she going prance down the red carpet in leather bondage? Would she even be wearing clothes? Would I need to avert my eyes? None of the above. Despite talking a mile a minute, Peaches was extremely genuine.

Here’s my interview with Peaches.

Peaches and Sandy Kane on the red carpet at the recent San Francisco International Film Festival.

KQED Pop: Peaches, it is such a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for chatting with me.
Peaches: Hellooooo radio world.

KQED Pop: Hellooooo Peaches. Your movie is a “rock-opera.” I saw the film this afternoon and noticed there wasn’t any dialogue. Can you tell me about that decision?
Peaches: Right, there isn’t dialogue. I wanted to take my four albums and create a narrative. An “anti-jukebox” musical.

KQED Pop: Are you a fan of musicals?
Peaches: I love musicals! I grew up on them.

KQED Pop: Really? What are some of your favorites?
Peaches: I love Busby Berkeley. I love Singin’ in the Rain and musicals from the 1950s.

KQED Pop: That’s surprising. What about Judy Garland? Does the infamous Peaches derive any inspiration from her work?
Peaches: I love Judy Garland, of course and the Wizard of Oz. But, I also grew up in the ’70s. At a very young age I saw things like Phantom of the Paradise, which is a Brian Depalma rocker version of Phantom of the Opera. I was also inspired by Rocky Horror Picture Show. And the 1970s British musical, Tommy, based on rock opera by The Who. Those films are embedded deep in me somewhere.

KQED Pop: Have you ever taken theater or film classes?
Peaches: I did. I actually studied theater directing. I went to college for that. Then I decided I didn’t want to do it.

KQED Pop: Why not?
Peaches: I didn’t want to have a heart attack by the time I was 30 if I had to think about all the sets and lighting and the actors. I would end up just yelling at people because I couldn’t handle everything.

KQED Pop: How did you go from theater directing to becoming the infamous, “Peaches.”
Peaches: I dropped out of college and ended up falling into music. I realized with music you can be the writer and director and do all those things I loved. I built the songs and then built the enhancement on top of it. For example, when I did Peaches Does Herself, it started as a stage show, and then became celebration of ten years of all the work I’m doing. We filmed it just to document it. Robin Thompson, who I work with, he filmed it and edited it in such a fantastic way that we realized we might actually have a film on our hands. We changed the ending to take it out of the stage and make it more like a film. That’s how it went.

KQED Pop: Watching your film reminded me very much of John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Especially because a few characters were gender ambiguous. Did that musical influence you in any way?
Peaches: Hello? (laughing) Yeah, yeah definitely. I love that you said that. It’s really cool to be associated with that movie. I just met John Cameron Mitchell. Both John and I are influenced by the same things. Hedwig definitely fits all into the same kind of genre. Another journalist said the same thing, too. He said maybe Peaches Does Herself is an exploration like Hedwig where there is a complete merge of both genders. So, maybe this is an exercise of what Hedwig is really like in practice.

KQED Pop: The movie has a shock quality to it like large vaginas on screen. Were you going for a shock quality?
Peaches: I made the decisions to put vaginas on stage because I was thinking of all the misconceptions that people see in me and think of my work. I decided I was going to go full on penis-vagina, vagina-penis. I am going to go all in it, not just break out of it. This was a celebration.

KQED Pop: Thank you so much. It’s been a pleasure.

Before Elton John, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Marilyn Manson, Lady Gaga and their epic stage and personal antics, there was Liberace, aka Mr. Showmanship, the original too-much celebrity, marinated in his own eccentricities.

Sunday, May 26 HBO premiers Behind the Candelabra (so titled because of Liberace’s trademark candelabra that he kept on his piano during shows), a film by Steven Soderbergh of Scott Thorson’s notorious, just re-released tell-all about his life as lover and plaything of the world famous pianist. The film, starring Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as Thorson, took almost half a decade to produce but looks well worth the wait. The book is so filled with weird, jaw-dropping revelations about the over-the-top celebrity lifestyle Thorson shared with Liberace (matching fur capes and gold plated Rolls Royces to start… have I piqued your interest?) it’s almost not to be believed. Thankfully, our celebrity culture has evolved since the death of Liberace in 1987 to the point where we’ll believe just about anything (thank you, TMZ). Thorson met Liberace when he was 17 and was quickly brought into the 47 year-old entertainer’s entourage and personal life. Thorson quotes Liberace as saying he wanted to be “Father, brother and lover” to the younger man… guess which one took precedent? Here are some of the things we’re most looking forward to Sunday night when Soderbergh’s film premiers.

1. Matt Damon in a Speedo

The books details quite a lot of Thorson and Liberace’s sexual relationship; a more accurate title might actually be Beneath the Candelabra if you get my hint. The preview includes a few shots of Matt Damon, towheaded like we haven’t seen him since Good Will Hunting, getting out of one of Liberace’s Roman-bath-by-way-of-Palm-Springs pools in a very tiny speedo. So, clearly, let’s get more of that and I predict Emmy!

2. Debbie, Dearest

Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds (Singin’ in the Rain and mother of Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher) was a friend of Liberace’s in real life (they shared an agent for their Vegas engagements) and now plays his domineering, religious mother Frances in the film. The icon of old show business razzle dazzle is dramatically unrecognizable in the role sporting a frumpy gray wig, glasses and not a sequin in sight (we assume all sequins in North America were diverted to Douglas’s wardrobe). If Reynold’s role is anything like Mama Liberace is portrayed in the book the 81 year-old glamour girl has a great Faye Dunaway opportunity to chew scenery. As Thorson says of Mrs. Liberace: “when she died, Lee (Liberace) didn’t shed a single tear but went to pieces a few months later at the death of one of his many poodles.” Don’t even bother chewing, Debbie: just swallow the scenery whole.

3. Speaking of Sequins

No movie about Liberace would be complete without recreations of some of those famously understated costumes from his stage wardrobe (see also his collection of hairpieces). Beads, ruffles, feathers, velvet, satin, sequins, furs, jewels: the man made Cher look like a Shinto nun by comparison. Also, apparently the rule for men wearing capes is as follows: capes are only allowable if you are a superhero or a world famous concert pianist. Here’s the best part of the Liberace wardrobe: in a head-to-toe white satin and ermine ensemble bedecked with more mirrors than the a NASA telescope, the man insisted on publicly playing it straight until the day he died from AIDS complications. I fear that for an entire generation of women over 80 this movie will be a rude awakening about the private life of a man they may still be holding torches for.

4. Making an Entrance

Liberace was just as famous for his elaborate entrances (like the one above where he’s driven onstage by the real Scott Thorson in a rhinestone studded Rolls Royce) as he was for his befurred and bejeweled wardrobe. Also, we hear he played the piano! We’ve never exactly been sure what all this has to do with Chopin and Beethoven but we’re excited to find out!

5. Michael Douglas As We’ve Never Seen Him Before

The Academy Award winning actor hasn’t had a role this good in years (thanks for trying, team behind Wall Street sequel but no thanks) and has never played so far against type. Over-the-top antics aside, Liberace was an enormously talented musician and captivating personality and we’re looking forward to seeing how Douglass channels his own brand of charisma into the role. We’re also seriously hoping his wife, fellow Academy Award winner Catherine Zeta Jones, gave him some pointers on just how to do that diva strut across the stage to his piano bench.

6. The Soundtrack

Like I said, somewhere in all of this is the story of a gifted musician. For proof of the talent behind the tacky, listen to Liberace playing the “14th Hungarian Rhapsody” by Liszt; he never would have had the opportunity to get that tacky if he hadn’t been that talented.

7. Rob Lowe Unable to Blink

HBO/Behind the Candelabra screen grab of Rob Lowe

The very handsome Rob Lowe underwent migraine inducing makeup (lots of pulling and scotch tape, we imagine) for his role as plastic surgeon to the stars, Dr. Jack Startz. Seriously, take a look, that’s Rob Lowe in there. Startz plays an important role in the book and we hope to see a lot of him in the film version. Well, maybe not see… don’t look directly at him, children. Startz allegedly told a young Thorson that cocaine was not addictive and allowed him to trade expensive pieces of jewelry for painkillers. And you thought your prescription drug plan was bad.

8. The Couple that Facelifts Together…

Well, in the case of Liberace and Thorson they do not actually stay together. Apparently, the relationship went sour around the time Thorson underwent some surgery by Dr. Startz at Liberace’s insistence that was supposed to make Thorson more closely resemble a young Liberace. I’m just going to repeat that so it can sink in: Liberace made his lover get plastic surgery on his face so he would look like him. I know, it doesn’t get any less weird the more you say it. Terrible to live through (I can only imagine) but fabulous to read about and hopefully see on screen! How fame and wealth corrupt and pervert even the gentlest of souls; and how the scorned heart seeks vengance, especially when the scorned is half of a celebrity coupling. Let’s just hope that Soderbergh’s film takes us on as wild a ride as its source material. I’ve got my sequined cape all ready for Sunday night!

Behind the Candelabra premiers Sunday, May 26 on HBO

Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace by Scott Thorson is available through Tantor Media online and in stores now

The third annual San Francisco Green Film Festival, which starts May 30 and ends June 5 this year, will be presenting a series of environmentally-conscious films, mostly at the New People Cinema in Japantown. Here is a selection of pretty stunning trailers for films being screened at the festival this year:

1. The Ruffalo-studded Dear Governor Cuomo, directed by Jon Bowermaster. Man, turns out “fracking” does not mean the same thing in real life as it does on Battlestar Galactica:

2. & 3. Breathing Earth and Garden in the Sea, both directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer, who also made Rivers and Tides, a hypnotic documentary on the artist Andy Goldsworthy:

Here is a link to Garden in the Sea, because it can’t be embedded.

4. Markus Imhoof’s film on the mysterious and terrifying decline of the bee population, More Than Honey:

5. And finally, Andrew Garrison’s film Trash Dance, which probably needs no explanation:

Tickets to the festival are on sale now. See you there?

Paramount Pictures

Post by contributor Gina Scialabba

I saw Iron Man 3 this weekend. I wasn’t disappointed. Despite my outward journalist appearance, I secretly wish I had a superhero cape. Yes, I love highbrow art house films like the rest of San Francisco. I’ve spent my share of Saturday nights at the Sundance Kabuki viewing foreign language movies and later contemplating the meaning behind Pedro Almodóvar films over a bottle of Napa Valley’s finest red. But I love superhero movies. I always have.

So, what is it about Clark Kent, Peter Parker and Tony Stark that lures armies of audiences to the movie house? Superheroes hold the pantheon of American cultural iconography. Social psychologists study it. Scholars write articles, critical analyses and books on the subject. I am no expert. I can only report what I observe

1. Escapism

Simply put, these films are fun. They’re exciting. It’s 120+ minutes of pure transcendental escapism — a mini-vacation from your life. With so much going on in the world — acts of terrorism home and abroad, immigration reform, wide-spread poverty and global climate change — superhero movies provide a utopian script for life. You can sit back, kick your feet up, eat a $25 small bucket of popcorn and experience a feeling of security, knowing you are in good hands. You can’t control what is going on in the world. Few really can. But, rest assured, Batman can and will.

 2. Reflection of Ourselves

I think deep down, in that little corner of our minds that only we have access to, we all want to be a superhero. The archetypical superhero is symbolic of near-perfection. They are a manifestation of what we wish we had, however unattainable — a perfect body, perfect teeth, never a hair out of place. I believe it was Shakespeare’s Macbeth who said, “Clothes make the man.” Indeed, superheroes are always fashionable. Billionaire Bruce Wayne is a masked vigilante with serious style wearing perfectly tailored Armani suits. Wonder Woman’s outfit was never an ill-fitting Halloween getup. And caped crusaders also have incredible abilities — invisibility, x-ray vision, healing power, memory manipulation. Ever had a day you wish you could simply vanish from your office cubicle? Maybe slip out after lunch to catch a 1:05pm ballgame and then simply erase your boss’s memory of your absence? We all have.

3. Reflection of our Secret Desire to be Saved

Perhaps Bonnie Tyler, 1980s semi-diva, was onto something. As she runs out of a burning building, she cries out, “I need a hero.” At first, we may not want to take ownership of our desire to be saved every once and a while. Me? Be in a subordinate position? Just hear me out. We play so many roles in real life — parent, partner, worker, student, caretaker, bread-winner — wouldn’t it be nice to let someone else steer the automobile called your life? Even for a day? What if Superman could swoop in and pull you out of rush hour traffic when you are late to work? Or, if Bruce Wayne could fight all your petty quarrels with your in-laws?

4. Empowerment

Anyone who feels disenfranchised can look to superheroes for inspiration and hope. Take bullying. It’s been reported that 6 out of 10 American youth witness bullying every day. Superheroes serve as defenders of the less fortunate, vulnerable, innocent, powerless, weak, and oppressed. They defend fair play, truth, justice, law, and order. In a nutshell, superheroes are defenders of right against wrong. We gravitate towards the superhero genre because it gives us hope that things could get better.

5. Hero’s Journey

The myth of the hero’s journey is familiar. It all started with the Greeks and their stories of heroes like Hercules and Achilles. In the Middle Ages, Germanic audiences cheered in the mead halls, pounding their bier steins on the table as Beowulf slayed Grendel. Frodo saved Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Luke Skywalker used the force to battle Darth Vader and the Emperor. These tales are pervasive in our culture. We all love a good hero’s story…over and over again. Watching the good guy win never gets repetitive. We are drawn to a hero who achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.

The bottom line is that superhero movies serve a purpose. They have much more than mere video game depth. They help us cope with the external world. They provide hope to people of any age, race and gender. They are stories of empowerment.

So, this summer head out to the theater knowing you can reveal your hidden geek. Watch Iron Man save the world. See Superman once again duck into a phone booth in Man of Steel. Marvel at the teeny, tiny leaf people in the animated movie, Epic. Just go and enjoy. You can watch Ingmar Bergman movies another night.

Chris Meloni as Elliot Stabler in Law & Order: SVU

It seems to me that just about everyone has a little crush on Christopher Meloni. Maybe it’s his unique body of work that sets him apart. Or maybe it’s his intense, searing stare. Sure, he might not have strong name recognition like our old standbys George Clooney and Brad Pitt, but that’s not stopping boys and girls everywhere from loving Meloni. I’ve done some field research on the subject including but not limited to performing my own Law and Order: SVU marathon(s) and having several lengthy conversations with friends on the subject. More than one of us has stayed home on a weekend night just to watch SVU, due in no small part to needing a heavy dose of lead Detective Elliot Stabler, played by the charming Christopher Meloni. But his years cleaning up the mean streets of NYC alongside Mariska Hargitay–sadly, now over–are not the only reason we keep coming back for more. If you can’t handle the wait until his next movie, Man of Steel, comes out (June 14), here is a collection of some of Chris’ most dynamic and compelling roles to help fill the gap in your heart.

 1. Chris Keller: Oz

As Chris Keller in Oz, Meloni isn’t afraid to tackle serious subjects. Brooding, maniacal yet somehow enchanting, Chris Keller is a role Meloni really sinks his teeth into. Keller explores his sexuality and self-loathing in equal measure and Meloni’s performance throughout the HBO series is mesmerizing. He beautifully and effortlessly depicts Keller’s complex torment. The kid’s got chops.

2. Sven: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas & 3. Gene: Wet Hot American Summer

It’s not always the leading men that steal the scene. In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Meloni plays long-haired sass-pot Sven, the Flamingo Hotel desk clerk though his role is uncredited.  While in Wet Hot American Summer, he plays Gene, camp cook and strange habit having Vietnam vet. I had the privilege of seeing this performance happen live at last year’s SF Sketchfest and I can personally attest to Meloni’s brilliant comic timing. Gene the cook and his oddball one-liners have helped Wet Hot American Summer secure its forever place in cult movie heaven.

4. Johnny Gunn; 1st & Ten: The Championship

In 1984, years before hitting the cell-block in Oz, Chris Meloni starred alongside OJ Simpson as Johnny Gunn in 1st & Ten: The Championship, a sports comedy about a fictional California football team. Here, while wearing a gold chain and sans shirt, he defends the honor of the King, Elvis Presley. It’s this kind of shirtless acting that really allows us to follow in love with Chris and all of his skills. What range!

5. Guy in a McDonald’s Ad

Like most actors, Christopher Meloni has had to pay his dues. That means acting in commercials during the early stages of his career. Luckily for us (and for him) he found a way to make the most odd McDonald’s campaign in the ’80s endearing. Listen as he explains all the reasons why this woman shouldn’t date him just to get her to practically beg for a date. Oh that Chris, always get them eating out of his hand.

6. As Himself

An successful actor must also learn to navigate the media. Press junkets and the like can be tedious but Christopher Meloni always seems to be a good sport. Even when interviewed/attempted seduced by known frog-lover Miss Piggy, Meloni keeps his cool. I also like to imagine that his cell phone really does have a Law and Order style “dun-dun” as it’s custom ring tone. That notion helps me sleep at night.

It’s this kind of light-hearted approach to ordinary life that makes Meloni so magnetic. He’s the man we want to be or want to be with, on some level. He’s strong, he’s handsome, he’s not afraid to kiss a man on screen. He’s the best, and we love him. What’s your favorite Meloni moment?

Sometimes, when I’m on public transportation, I see someone intriguing and think of what could be. We would at first engage in small talk, which would lead to flaking on our plans to visit a record store together and steal glances when the other isn’t looking and eventually argue over a street poet’s sincerity and hang out in a cemetery. I do this partly because being on public transportation is super boring, but mostly because of Richard Linklater’s 1995 film Before Sunrise, starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. It’s everything we hopeless romantics cling to: the possibility that serendipity is on our sides and we will meet beautiful strangers throughout our lives and fall in love for a single day or a lifetime.

Because the original struck such a chord with people, there was a follow-up in 2004, Before Sunset, set in the city of love itself, Paris! That was such an unexpected gift that fans were too grateful to wish for anything more. And yet, here we are almost a decade later, with another offering, Before Midnight, set in Greece. Luckily for us San Franciscans, the film is being screened tonight as a part of the closing night of the SF International Film Festival! Sure, it’s short notice, but whatever else you have planned can be rescheduled or cancelled. To remind you of that wistful feeling these movies can give you and all the reasons why you must see this latest installment, I present you with these beautiful moments from the past two films.

I was one of those hordes of admirers. I read Gatsby in many English classes, throughout my many years of school. But when I was 17, I read it in an English class in South Africa, where I was an exchange student. While I have always had a penchant for fan fiction (I did a pretty reasonable rewrite of the end of Little Women when I was about 12, in which Laurie and Jo end up together AND EVERYTHING IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD), on the occasion of my second reading of Gatsby, during the turmoil of 8 months in one of the scariest, loneliest places I had ever been, I was moved to write a super dramatic love letter in place of an essay for class. I’ve saved the letter because a) I love The Great Gatsby and b) it’s interesting to see what I thought about love back before I’d ever been in love. Spoiler: pretty much the same way I do now. Double spoiler: I’m into nautical metaphors.

What follows is my letter from Gatsby to Daisy, written sometime in 1999 or 2000. Dear Baz Luhrmann: Do not let this precious 17-year-old down.

Daisy, my darling                                                                          February 14, 1922

Last night I stood out side in my yard staring intently at the green beacon across the bay that distinguishes your dock from the countless others that make up the East Egg shoreline. For a moment I felt a quiet calm, as the passengers of a dingy in tumoltues [sic] waters might feel when  the swinging arm of a lighthouse passes over their sodden vessel.

But as the glow rests only momentarily on the boat, so did the peace rest on me and suddenly I realized that a near-impassible reef lay between the dreary ship of my love and the warm, sparkeling [sic] bay of yours.

The terror then was almost unbearable and I began to wish that I had never heard that paltry word that has come to represent you, the parigon [sic] of magnificent human beings. But again I thought of the afor mentioned sailors in [the] tempest. Would it be fair for them to perish without knowing how close they were to the continuation of their lives? Or would it be better for them to die with the hopeful shine of the lighthouse reflected in their eyes? Daisy, I do not know. In my soul I wish the reef would vanish and the weatherworn men would find a warm drink and a soft bed in which to spend the night. I know, though, that this is not reality and that the impossibility of our situation only makes me more determined to aspire to that which I quite probably will never attain. And my life has at least been real because if your small yet immeasurable contribution. If it hurts to breath, at least I can feel pain. Thank you Daisy, for surviving childhood to make my life live. I love you.

Gatsby