I Just Watched...

[txfilmfan]

I am enclosing box-office stats for the year so you can go through the titles and judge the year yourself....

I thank you for posting that list despite the danger such things entail.

I have lived many happy years with no knowledge of the existence of: The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak (1984). Your list injected awareness of it. Such a title creates a disturbance in The Force. I can only hope that I find its title is not its only merit.

I too was blissfully ignorant. Somehow I don't remember this one crossing my path during my college years. IMDb says the original title was simply Gwendoline. Thank goodness they changed it, otherwise such a plain title might draw people in.

IMDb's plot overview says "Gwendoline, a runaway nun, arrives in Hong Kong on a mission to find her father, who was last seen in the legendary Land of the Yik Yak searching for a rare butterfly." Kind of like The Nun's Story, crossed with the Indiana Jones franchise and Barbarella, with a "fifty shades of grey" subtext thrown in, as it's based on a character found in a series of fetish comic books and magazines.

[Hibi]

CI,
I seem to remember Jagged Edge was released in early fall and had little to compete with at the BO. I think that probably helped.

[Lorna]

TEEN WOLF MADE $33 MILLION????????????

[Lorna]

CI,
I seem to remember Jagged Edge was released in early fall and had little to compete with at the BO. I think that probably helped.

ALSO, JEFF BRIDGES has- and has always had- valid appeal and about the only thing that gives the film any punch is the ending which plays on that appeal

also, OMG, THE HAIR IS ICONIC

[Lorna]

oh wow, if this trailer doesn't make you wanna check out THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE etc etc. I DUNNO WHAT WILL

THIS MOVIE LOOKS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

STAY TILL THE END, I THINK IVE FOUND THE INSPIRATION FOR THE DOMINATRAX BIKER SCENE IN "SHOWGIRLS"

ALSO, HOLY **** THE MALE LEAD IS HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lorna]

SERIOUSLY [GAYS AND STRAIGHT WOMEN AMONG THE POSTERS], PAUSE THE VIDEO ABOVE AT 51 SECONDS IN AND TELL ME THAT IS NOT ONE FINE-ASS MAN!!!!!!!!

WOW.

MIGHT HAVE TO SEE WHAT STREAMING SERVICES THIS FILM IS AVAILABLE ON.

PS- FOR YOU STRAIGHT GUYS, TAWNY KITTAEN IS IN THIS TOO. NO WORD ON WHETHER ANY CAR HOODS WERE DAMAGED

[Lorna]

so i checked out THE MAD GENIUS (1931)- which is a QUEER movie in the very traditional sense of the word meaning: EFFING ODD and UNUSUAL... and not entirely wholesome. There is really nothing gay at all about it in spite of the fact that it is set in the world of PROFESSIONAL DANCE and two characters wear these in one scene:



ah, legitimate theatre...

even though it's directed by MICHAEL CURTIZ, it's not good, and that is largely due to JOHN BARRYMORE who is not good in his part and clearly only about 30% committed to HIS EASTERN EUROPEAN "ACCENT" ...it comes off a lot like a very DARK ORIGIN STORY for COUNT VON COUNT



AND I'M not entirely mad at JOHN for not giving his all, because this movie is pretty much a shameless retread of SVENGALI without the interesting sets- and he had JUST MADE THAT MOVIE WITH THE SAME COSTAR A FEW MONTHS BEFORE.

So I get his not bringing the "A" Game, but still...it's watchable, and goofy and there is a surprising appearance early on from both a very young FRANKIE DARROW who has a real STAR QUALITY and BORIS KARLOFF in a role that I ABSOLUTELY HAD NO CLUE WAS BEING PLAYED BY HIM UNTIL I WENT TO IMDB AFTER SEEING THIS!!!! it's amazing how many times to this day I am still coming across GREAT KARLOFF PERFORMANCES I did not know about.

SPOILERISH there is also a surprise AXE MURDER in this and the obvious and blunt use of COCAINE as a plot device (we see the shadow of a character lifting his hand to his nose and see and hear the SNIFFFFFF and then he returns to work WIRED FOR SOUND, MAMA)

[Masha]

IMDb's plot overview says "Gwendoline, a runaway nun, arrives in Hong Kong on a mission to find her father, who was last seen in the legendary Land of the Yik Yak searching for a rare butterfly." Kind of like The Nun's Story, crossed with the Indiana Jones franchise and Barbarella, with a "fifty shades of grey" subtext thrown in, as it's based on a character found in a series of fetish comic books and magazines.

My first impression from reading the synopsis was that it is a mash-up of: King Solomon's Mines (1950), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) and: Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989).

[CinemaInternational]

TEEN WOLF MADE $33 MILLION????????????

The only thing I can guess is that it was residual Michael J. Fox afterglow. Family Ties had hit TV's top 10 the previous season, and while Teen Wolf was filmed before Back to the Future (the year's biggest hit), it was released almost two months after it.

[CinemaInternational]

CI,
I seem to remember Jagged Edge was released in early fall and had little to compete with at the BO. I think that probably helped.

Yes, it most likely did. The only other film released around the same time to have similar box office numbers was the Schwarzenegger film Commando.... and, uh, I just don't see those audiences being compatable.

[TikiSoo]

even though it's directed by MICHAEL CURTIZ, it's not good, and that is largely due to JOHN BARRYMORE who is not good in his part and clearly only about 30% committed
AND I'M not entirely mad at JOHN for not giving his all, because this movie is pretty much a shameless retread of SVENGALI without the interesting sets- and he had JUST MADE THAT MOVIE WITH THE SAME COSTAR A FEW MONTHS BEFORE.
(snipped)
there is a surprising appearance early on from both a very young FRANKIE DARROW who has a real STAR QUALITY

SPOILERISH there is also a surprise AXE MURDER in this and the obvious and blunt use of COCAINE as a plot device

Haha one of the reasons I love Barrymore- he is always outrageous, even when he’s pouting.

I am also a big Frankie Darro fan and saw how he enraptured my teen girl when we watched Wild Boys Of The Road together. I love Darro’s facial expressions &how he uses his whole body to convey emotion. Acrobatic. Cagney also had that quality.

Love to see drug use in classic film-so demonized! OTOH, I never find sloppy drunks comic relief in a movie-too tragic really.

[CinemaInternational]

even though it's directed by MICHAEL CURTIZ, it's not good, and that is largely due to JOHN BARRYMORE who is not good in his part and clearly only about 30% committed
AND I'M not entirely mad at JOHN for not giving his all, because this movie is pretty much a shameless retread of SVENGALI without the interesting sets- and he had JUST MADE THAT MOVIE WITH THE SAME COSTAR A FEW MONTHS BEFORE.
(snipped)
there is a surprising appearance early on from both a very young FRANKIE DARROW who has a real STAR QUALITY

SPOILERISH there is also a surprise AXE MURDER in this and the obvious and blunt use of COCAINE as a plot device

Haha one of the reasons I love Barrymore- he is always outrageous, even when he’s pouting.

I am also a big Frankie Darro fan and saw how he enraptured my teen girl when we watched Wild Boys Of The Road together. I love Darro’s facial expressions &how he uses his whole body to convey emotion. Acrobatic. Cagney also had that quality.

Love to see drug use in classic film-so demonized! OTOH, I never find sloppy drunks comic relief in a movie-too tragic really.

There was one film in the classic era where drug use was used for comic effect: 1932's Jewel Robbery where William Powell played a thief who gave the guards what seem to be marijuana cigarettes. It's a very odd scene for 1932.

[Masha]

Love to see drug use in classic film-so demonized!

Are you familiar with: The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)? I feel that it falls a little short of demonizing drugs. It stars Douglas Fairbanks as Coke Ennyday. Hint: The 'Coke' did not refer to a soft drink.

I am sorry to say that the only decent print I can find of it is on: YouTube. It has been restored but they added a godawful soundtrack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8-LPlN4kcU

[HoldenIsHere]

As an older gay man, I use the word "queer" in the way that African Americans may use the "N" word. I'm on the alumni committee of my university and also work with young actors and find the word "queer" is used by younger men almost as much as they use the word "gay." I don't think straight people would be comfortable using it.

I don't think the word "pansy" is used anymore. The gay lyricist Lorenz Hart used it in one of his best songs, ca. 1930:

"Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys, tough guys who tear my gown..."

"Sometimes I think, I found my hero, but it's a queer romance..."

The song "Ten Cents A Dance" is featured in the third season episode of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW "Rhoda The Beautiful," written by Treva Silverman.
Rhoda has entered the Ms. Hempel Contest, a beauty contest for employees at the department store where she works.
As Mary and Phyllis are helping Rhoda pick out dresses, Phyllis reveals that she was once in a beauty contest and won the talent portion.
She then proceeds to reprise her winning performance of "Ten Cents A Dance" in Rhoda's apartment.

"Pansies" in the lyrics was changed to "softies," but "queer romance" was retained.

I love the look on Rhoda's face during one of Phyllis's moments!

[HoldenIsHere]

Holden, I think it's fair to say that some older gay men still find the word "queer" extremely offensive if applied to them. The assumption that "queer" is an acceptable substitute for, say, "LGBT," is ageist, in my opinion.

I have asked other people what the "new improved" meaning of "queer" is, but everyone else seems as mystified as I am. A few years ago a new city council member mentioned twelve times in a brief article that she was a "queer woman." In context, this seemed to mean either "a lesbian who's too cool for school" or "a bisexual whose **** doesn't stink." That may not be the official meaning, however.

kingrat, this goes to show that the notion that “words can never hurt us” is false. Words can hurt and have been used to hurt and mock. I like the idea of taking power away from those who have used the word “queer” to demean people and make them feel “less than” so I do use it as a neutral self-identifier. But I know that some people have a hard time separating “queer” from its history as a weaponized pejorative so I would never use it in the presence of someone if I’m aware they can’t accept the neutral meaning.

I admit that I prefer “queer” to LGBT as an umbrella term. I actually find the alphabet soup offensive. To me LGBT sounds like a disease or a syndrome and has the same clinical connotation as “homosexual.” Queer, on the other hand, connotes uniqueness in a positive way, at least to me it does.

Growing up in the 1990s, “gay” actually had more negative associations than “queer.” In elementary school and junior high, “gay” was used to mean “lame.” So, if you called something “gay” (as in “That’s so gay!”), it meant it was dumb or pathetic. I’m sure most kids who used the word in that way didn’t connect it to “sexual orientation,” but someone (or multiple someones) consciously decided to start using “gay” as a term for something that was “not cool.” I’m fairly confident that the people who started that trend chose “gay” because of its association with people with same-sex romantic attractions not because of the original “happy” meaning of the word. As a kid, I never heard “queer” used as an insult in real-life although I heard it a lot in mainstream movies from the 1980s, where it was presented as okay for the “good guys” to use “queer” (as well as “fag”) as a pejorative. The term “new queer cinema” was coined by critic B. Ruby Rich (who’s the current editor of FILM QUARTERLY) in the 1990s with “queer” used unapologetically as a positive term for the movies that she considered part of that movement.