Gay zombies in Berlin — what’s not to love? Expect this freak fest from avant director Bruce LaBruce (Skin Flick, Super 8 1/2 ) to achieve cult film status. Katharina Klewinghaus and newcomer Jey Crisfar star in this 2008 Best Picture winner of Milan’s International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Strand Releasing Home Entertainment (strandreleasing.com). – by Nancy Ford
What’s harder: telling your conservative Southern family you’re gay, or telling them you’re straight but engaged to a Jewish African American? Veteran of many a John Waters film, Mink Stole is a featured player in this romantic romp directed by Lee Friedlander (Exes and Ohs). Winner of the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the 2007 Newfest New York LGBT Film Festival. Paramount Home Entertainment (logoonline.com). – by Nancy Ford
Young gay and lesbian comedians strut their punch lines and share private moments in director Andrea Meyerson’s latest tribute to queer stand-up. Features Edison Apple, Gloria Bigelow, Ryan Hill, Daniel Leary, Bridget McManus, and Amy Bee. March 17. Ariztical Entertainment (ariztical.com). – by Nancy Ford
What could be funnier than Sam Rockwell (Frost/Nixon) starring as a colonial theme park employee as he struggles with sexual addiction? Angelica Huston costars; bonus features include a gag reel. (Ha — get it?) Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Clark Gregg. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (foxhome.com). – by Nancy Ford
Fans of the popular Logo series flocked in record numbers to this big-screen treatment of the wedding-day saga of four gay African-American friends. The double disc DVD includes soundtrack, out-takes, and “making of” bonus features. Nominated for two NAACP Image Awards. Directed by Patrick-Ian Polk (Punks). Paramount Home Entertainment (logoonline.com). – by Nancy Ford
Rent, the Broadway phenomenon and winner of four Tony awards as well as a Pulitzer, began its National Theater Tour last month after 12 years playing to SRO audiences in New York. In expectation of the enormous marketing opportunities presented by the Rent tour, Sony Pictures managed to film the very last Broadway performance of the original run. Now you can not only see Rent over and over again, but you can watch a charming special feature wherein several thousand die-hard Rent fans vie for seats in the first two rows in a special Rent version of The Amazing Lottery. Rent, Sony would have us believe, is the sort of theater (and Blu-ray digital experience) that comes along once in a generation. “Rent can change your life,” the myriad bonus features (some of which are only available on Sony Blu-ray) veritably shout from the back cover. But as I remarked to a friend pressing me to join him on a “life-changing” spiritual retreat, I like my life just fine the way it is, thank you.
When most people think of Colorado, laid-back Boulder, snowy Aspen, and cosmopolitan Denver are the go-to’s. But when thousands of others ponder the Centennial State, the little town of Trinidad comes to mind—and its reputation as the “sex change capitol of the world.”
Described as “a cross between The Sixth Sense and Blue Velvet,” this erotic drama focuses on police officer/psychic Cameron in his quest for the abuser of a young gay man. Laura Reilly and Steven Vasquez direct. February 10. Ariztical (ariztical.com). Preview: Nancy Ford
Writer/director Anne Norda’s quirky winner of best feature film at Los Angeles’ La Femme Film Festival explores what happens between a painter and his wife when a nude model takes on new significance in their lives. February 24. Ariztical (ariztical.com). Preview: Nancy Ford
Gay Adam is murdered by young religious fanatics, and his closeted detective lover must bring his killers to justice. But things really get weird in this dramatic thriller when a straight couple rents the lovers’ former cabin that Adam now haunts. Ariztical (ariztical.com). — Preview: Nancy Ford
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