Was there ever a better time than the '70s for intelligent, daring adult sitcoms? From “All in the Family” and beyond, prime-time television during 1970s seems light years removed from the safe and family-friendly fare of the '50s and '60s. In fact, this season's DVD releases offer a virtual catalog of apoplexy-inducing social issues popular among the radical right, all beautifully packaged and ready for curious gay consumers to enjoy. 

“Maude—The Complete First Season:” During the second season of “All in the Family,” America's favorite bigot Archie Bunker met his match in Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur), Edith Bunker's liberal, equally ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2007/3-30/arts/dvd/10310.cfm Fri, 30 Mar 2007 05:00:00 EST Rocking the jailhouse
Jean Genet's 'Chant D'amour' still challenging and sexy after 60 years
By GREG MARZULLO
Friday, March 16, 2007

Dark, obsessive longing mingled with the stark walls of a French prison sounds like the set-up for any number of porno films, and in 1950, French authorities thought so, too, banning Jean Genet's only attempt at film directing. The famed gay writer and dramatist's film “Un Chant D'amour” was denounced upon its release and only found its way to the U.S. by bootleg means.

Although the silent, 25-minute, black-and-white film was not surprisingly banned, “Chant” would never make it in today's movie houses either. MPAA raters would recoil from all that quivering man flesh, not to mention full-frontal male nudity. (Gotta love the French.)

The film, newly ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2007/3-16/arts/dvd/10194.cfm Fri, 16 Mar 2007 05:00:00 EST Exploring colorful 'Gardens'
Pay a visit to Big and Little Edie with the double disk 'Grey Gardens' DVD

By
Friday, February 09, 2007
Entering the twilight world of the documentary 'Grey Gardens' seems to have a particularly gay appeal.

“It's like buying a season pass to a movie ... If you get to see it once, you see it over and over and over. And it's like a new movie each time. I still learn something,” says gay designer Todd Oldham, interviewed on Criterion Collection's new two-disc DVD edition of “Grey Gardens.”

For years, it seemed this odd, endearing cult film might lapse into obscurity. Despite a scant home video release, “Grey Gardens” was kept alive through midnight screenings and bootleg tapes shared by transvestites, fashion designers and gay movi ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2007/2-9/arts/dvd/9990.cfm Fri, 9 Feb 2007 05:00:00 EST Sparkle, Neely, sparkle!
The year's best DVDs offer classics, cult and a dash of kitsch
By MATTHEW FORKE
Friday, December 29, 2006

Missed out on the 10 best DVD releases of the year?  No worries, here's a quick recap.  And who knows — after viewing one of these selections, you might share Little Edie Beale's enthusiasm and remark, “I'm just pulverized by this latest thing!”

trong>“Valley of the Dolls/Beyond the Valley of the Dolls:” Whether or not fans prefer the trashy 1967 adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's bestseller over its bosomy non-sequel depends largely on one's taste in camp: the unintentional variety (as in “Valley”) or the deliberate (Russ Meyer's satirical &l ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/12-29/arts/dvd/dvd.cfm Fri, 29 Dec 2006 05:00:00 EST Bringing the blockbusters home
With the end of summer movie season, here are some old hits and TV shows to catch up on
By MATTHEW FORKE
Friday, September 15, 2006

SUMMER IS OVER, the holidays are still months away and the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season is in full swing. What better time to update that Netflix queue and check out what busy gay bees have been missing on DVD?  For those in the mood to stay home, here's a quick snapshot of new and (mostly) worthwhile viewing.

trong>“Third Man Out: A Donald Strachey Mystery”: A queer neo-noir detective thriller? That ought to be reason enough for checking Here! TV on your digital cable's on demand. For those without the capability, the channel's original film is now on DVD.

Adapted from Richa ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/9-15/arts/dvd/dvd.cfm Fri, 15 Sep 2006 05:00:00 EST Hollywood's trans problem
With 'Transamerica' and older trans films now on DVD, it's clear that times have changed for the bette
By MATTHEW FORKE
Friday, August 11, 2006

Think depictions of gay characters are few and far between on screen? Even more under represented is the population that puts the “T” in GLBT. Depictions of trans characters and themes have improved with movies like “Boys Don't Cry” and the new-to-DVD “Transamerica,” but Hollywood wasn't always so kind to its trans audience in the past. One new gem and several older movies new to DVD show just how far the movies have come.

trong>“Transamerica”: Bree Osbourne (Oscar-nominee Felicity Huffman), a conservative pre-op male-to-female transsexual, begins an unwelcome adventure upon learning of the son she never knew ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/8-11/arts/dvd/trans.cfm Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:00:00 EST Southern royalty
'Dixie Queen,' a documentary about N.C. drag queens, is a royal good time
By GREG MARZULLO
Friday, June 16, 2006

Working as a drag queen is a fierce occupation wherever you might live, but being a drag queen in the South requires a thick-skinned bitchiness that is not easily achieved or maintained.

Miles Christian Daniels? film ?Dixie Queen,? a documentary about the delicately balanced lives of drag queens in Wilmington, N.C., was acquired by the National Film Network distribution company and released on DVD in April. The movie premiered in 2004 at the New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and subsequently toured the gay film festival circuit.

One of the main subjects in the film is Eddie, whose drag name is Tara Nichole. Eddie grew up on a tobacco farm in rural Beulaville, N.C., and ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/6-16/arts/dvd/royalty.cfm Fri, 16 Jun 2006 05:00:00 EST It's the summer for camp
Gay fans will wig out for new deluxe editions of 'Mommie Dearest,' 'Valley of the Dolls'
By MATTHEW FORKE
Thursday, June 08, 2006

Calling all camp film enthusiasts!  Get ready for new special edition DVDs of “Valley of the Dolls” and “Mommie Dearest,” two lurid cult classics long embraced by legions of gay fans.  Both films are based on bestselling books — the former a trashy novel, the latter a trashy biography — and both were intended as serious, expensively produced exposés of Tinseltown life behind-the-scenes. 

However inadvertent, the results have left many a homosexual viewer rolling on the floor in hysterics.  Like so many other camp classics, subtlety and good taste are not among their virtues (thank goodness).  ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/6-8/arts/dvd/mommy.cfm Thu, 8 Jun 2006 05:00:00 EST Top 10
DVD's
By KATHERINE VOLIN
Friday, May 05, 2006

Each week the Washington Blade compiles Top 10s from different entertainment categories of interest to gay men and lesbians. This week, we feature the hottest DVDs (tabulated from the top rentals and sales at gay video retailers across the country) with two countdowns of music popular with gay listeners: Radio with a Twist's "Big Gay Top 5" and Logo TV's "Click List" Top 10.

Next week: Books

pan class="a ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/5-5/arts/dvd/top10.cfm Fri, 5 May 2006 05:00:00 EST Top 10 DVDs

By KATHERINE VOLIN
Friday, April 07, 2006

Each week the Washington Blade compiles Top 10s from different entertainment categories of interest to gay men and lesbians. This week, we feature the hottest DVDs (tabulated from the top rentals and sales at gay video retailers across the country) with two countdowns of music popular with gay listeners: Radio with a Twist's "Big Gay Top 5" and Logo TV's "Click List" Top 10.    trong> Next week: Books

Ah, Angie, how we love thee. Throughout her long career, actress Angie Dickinson has projected a cool, knowing and often gutsy allure. From swinging Rat Packer to gun-toting "Big Bad Mama" to ill-fated elevator occupant in "Dressed to Kill" to sexy California avocado spokeswoman ("Only 17 calories per slice"), Dickinson appealed to straights and gays, men and women, and young and old alike.

Nowhere is this better evidenced than in NBC's gritty and glorious "Police Woman" series for which Dickinson is probably best remembered. As Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson, the LAPD's top undercover agent, Dickinson wor ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/3-24/arts/dvd/girlpower.cfm Fri, 24 Mar 2006 05:00:00 EST 'Making Love' '80s style
Just in time to cash in on 'Brokeback' fever, '80s movie 'Making Love,' starring Kate Jackson and Harry Hamlin, hits DVD.
By MATTHEW FORKE
Friday, March 03, 2006

LAST YEAR WILL BE REMEMBERED as a banner year for gay cinema. With "Brokeback Mountain" nominated for a mountain of Oscars, there couldn't be a better opportunity to re-examine the landmark 1982 coming-out drama "Making Love," which many say is the first mainstream movie to deal honestly with homosexuality.

Starring Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson and Harry Hamlin, the film offers an absorbing glimpse into the era of Izod shirts and top-loading VCRs just before AIDS would ravage the gay community.

Though it received mixed reviews and struggled at the box office, "Love" was pretty hot stuff in anothe ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/3-3/arts/dvd/arts1.cfm Fri, 3 Mar 2006 05:00:00 EST For the love of Judy
Friends of Dorothy new and old will delight at the recently released episodes of  'The Judy Garland Show' and its celeb guests.
By
Friday, February 10, 2006
SINCE THE LATE 1970s, the rainbow has been universally recognized as an emblem of the gay community. For many, its meaning was cemented much earlier, in 1939 when Judy Garland dreamed of traveling to an all-inclusive and magical land "somewhere over" the fabled arc.

Although younger generations my not be as familiar with Garland's work beyond "The Wizard of Oz," the magnitude of Garland's impact on gay culture cannot be overstated. In fact, the devastation caused by her death (of an accidental drug overdose at 47) is often cited as a watershed moment for the gay rights movement and one of a number of aggravating factors that led to the Stonewall Rio ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2006/2-10/arts/dvd/d1.cfm Fri, 10 Feb 2006 05:00:00 EST Old is new again
From 'My Own Private Idaho' to 'The Wizard of Oz' friends of Dorothy had plenty of classics to add to their DVD collections in '05.
By MATTHEW FORKE
Friday, December 30, 2005

WHETHER IT'S AS classic as James Dean's white T-shirt and jeans or as campy as a torn Southern belle's dress, there was something for everyone's fashion sense on DVD this year. Here are some of the top picks that will be sure to have gay video fans over the rainbow with delight.

pan class="subheader">Rebel Without a Cause: Arguably the best examination of misunderstood youth on film, “Rebel” resonates well with gay audiences who identify with the “surrogate” family formed by troubled teenagers James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo (one of the first major actors to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality). 

Although Dean was kil ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2005/12-30/arts/dvd/dvd-favorites.cfm Fri, 30 Dec 2005 05:00:00 EST A meal worth skipping
Your mother said it is the most important meal of the day, but drag drama 'Breakfast On Pluto' doesn't have any nutritional value.
By TONY PHILLIPS
Friday, December 23, 2005

CONFLATE IRISH POLITICAL strife and gender identity once, shame on me; conflate Irish political strife and gender-identity expression twice, shame on Neil Jordan.

Whatever your take on the “surprise” contained in the director's Oscar-winning 1992 film “The Crying Game,” at least it unleashed the legendary, Harley-riding monster Jaye Davidson on Hollywood for a spell.

Not so in “Breakfast on Pluto,” which opens in D.C. on Friday, Dec. 23, with its publicist-approved star turn by the suddenly ubiquitous Cillian Murphy, who follows in the footsteps of “Bad Education's” Gael Garcia Bernal and dons a dress as—if showy trans ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2005/12-23/arts/dvd/meal.cfm Fri, 23 Dec 2005 05:00:00 EST Successful 'Formula'
A surprise hit in its native Taiwan, 'Formula 17' finally comes to DVD to show audiences that gay men really behave the same way around the world.
By BRIAN MOYLAN
Friday, December 02, 2005

IT'S A LITTLE ANNOYING when people complain that “gay men in New York are all snobs,” or “the queers in Chicago are so much nicer than anywhere else.” It's as if geography predetermines your personality.

Some will learn through experience and travel that gay men are gay men the world over and — given some allowance for cultural difference — act and behave the same no matter where they are.

That's the biggest lesson from “Formula 17,” a gay movie that was a huge hit in its native Taiwan and was released on DVD earlier this week after a very limited theatrical run earlier this year. In the movie we encounter a bunch of ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2005/12-2/arts/dvd/dvd-formula.cfm Fri, 2 Dec 2005 05:00:00 EST The secret stash
From clean guilty pleasures to dirty delights, here are a few new DVDs that you may not want to admit to owning.
By MATTHEW FORKE
Friday, November 25, 2005

THINK “SINGIN' IN the Rain” looks a little peculiar sitting on the shelf next to “Slutty Summer”?  No need to feel embarrassed, we all have that secret stash of DVDs we'd never admit to owning. In a tribute to those naughty and campy films we reluctantly love, here are a few new DVDs you might want to add to your sock drawer. 

The Hole: Watch the videotape, and moments later an anonymous caller delivers the warning, “In seven days, you will be gay.” Those are chilling words heard by a throng of muscle-bound (and supposedly straight) men, several with eyebrows that defy the laws of nature, in this soft-core parody of “T ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2005/11-25/arts/dvd/secret-stash.cfm Fri, 25 Nov 2005 05:00:00 EST It's a real scream
A new DVD set including 14 of the best films from Alfred Hitchcock's career includes some serious gay subtext.
By MATTHEW FORKE
Friday, October 28, 2005

WHEN VIEWING ALFRED Hitchcock's “Rope” today, is there any doubt that Nietzche-obsessed college students Brandon Shaw (John Dahl) and Phillip Morgan (Farley Granger) are lovers? Though based on notorious thrill killers Leopold and Loeb, it seems impossible that this important detail about the pair of murders flew right over the heads of moviegoers in 1948.

Were gay themes simply invisible? More likely they were unspeakable. In the DVD documentary “Rope Unleashed,” gay screenwriter Arthur Laurents recalls the filmmakers' position on the subject. “What was curious to me was 'Rope' is obviously about homosexuals, [although] the word was never mentioned ... ]]> http://washblade.com/2005/10-28/arts/dvd/dvd-scream.cfm Fri, 28 Oct 2005 05:00:00 EST