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| Director Mike Ruiz and RuPaul are behind ‘Starrbooty,’ a mock blaxploitation film playing at Philadelphia’s 13th annual International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of PGLFF) |
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HOME > ENTERTAINMENT > FEATURE
By: GREG MARZULLO COMMENTS
 
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Gal Uchovsky rely on violent stereotypes at the film’s conclusion, choosing to perpetuate a narrow-minded story instead of making courageous choices for cultural change.
“A Four Letter Word”
July 12, 7:30 p.m.
July 14, 2:45 p.m.
Prince Music Theater
The festival’s opening night film tracks the vagaries of desire versus personal authenticity in ways that are amusing yet sometimes hackneyed.
Citywide slut Luke (Jesse Archer, the cute columnist at Out magazine) has his day of reckoning when he (horror of horrors!) begins having feelings for a guy who had the audacity to call him a “gay cliché.” This rude sex-kitten, Stephen, (Charlie David, whose acting leads one to wonder why he’s getting a Rising-anything Award) turns out to be a lying prostitute, and Luke has to come to terms with what it means to be honest in love and sex.
In a movie full of types, there are surprisingly touching moments, and overall it’s an enjoyable popcorn flick. However, if you’re looking for anything new or artistically revelatory, take a pass and just go to the post-screening party.
“Itty Bitty Titty Committee”
July 14, 7:15 p.m.
July 15, 2:15 p.m.
Prince Music Theater
Jamie Babbit’s feminist cri de coeur manages to be radical, anti-patriarchy and self-satirizing, which is a delightful surprise for a genre that often gets mired in its own heavy-handed rhetoric.
Anna (Melonie Diaz) works at a plastic surgeon’s office, but her status-quo world is thrown out of whack when she falls in with a bunch of radical feminists known as the C(I)A, Clits in Action. She takes to creatively protesting patriarchal monuments, but she’s also in love with the group’s emotionally unavailable leader, Sadie (Nicole Vicius).
A tightly written script and creative camerawork make “Itty Bitty” a total joy and a powerful assessment of the delights and challenges of overthrowing the dominant culture.
“Kiss the Bride”
July 24, 7:30 p.m.
Prince Music Theater
“Latter Days” director C. Jay Cox returns to the screen with the festival closing “Kiss the Bride,” a story of lost opportunities and the difficulties of growing up gay. That’s not to say this is the typical twink flick. Fortunately, the characters are adults when we meet them.
Matt (the gorgeous Philipp Karner) is invited to his high school boyfriend’s marriage — to a woman, and although the two haven’t spo
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