shanakins

I love drags kings. I love the fabulously campy performances and the way they challenge traditional concepts of gender and sex. Unfortunately, I did not love watching Venus Boyz, an uneven documentary on drag kings with plenty of unfilled potential. How the director managed to make a movie so boring, unfocused and self-indulgent about a field with some of the best entertainers in the country should be one of the mysteries of the modern world. Venus Boyz's structure is simple. Combine footage of performances and minimally edited interviews with drag kings in and out of drag. The resulting film contains brief moments of humor and passing insights on gender deconstruction that are never explored fully--mostly because of the absence of an overarching story structure. Instead, viewers are treated to long interviews and voice-overs with both unattractive narcissistic kings and beautifully articulate gender benders. Venus Boyz will probably be most satisfying to viewers unfamiliar with or looking for an introduction to gender theory and the drag king phenomenon. As for me, I'd rather just go see a drag king show.

Treading Water is a slow-paced movie that's really a character-driven piece, not a plot-driven story. Think "Hiroshima Mon Amour" or "Snow Falling on Cedars". Whether you like that sort of thing or not will probably depend on your tolerance for the slow plodding scenes and quiet revelations that are typical of that sort of movie.

The basic story is this: the Christmas holiday is a catalyst for a lesbian couple and their extended family to come to terms with each other. Treading Water is a meditation on the problems that arise in family and romantic relationships when your self-image conflicts with your family's expectations. If you're looking for more of a lesbian romance, look somewhere else. At its core, Treading Water is really more about dealing with your family, not so much about the central lesbian relationship.

This is definitely the best lesbian movie I've seen this year. It's witty, stylish, doesn't take itself too seriously, and refreshingly unsentimental compared to so many lesbian-themed movies. Great cinematography, cute editing and just generally high production values for what the DVD commentary said was a low-budget film.

If you have fond memories of the craziness of the roleplaying scene that was all the rage before genderqueer became the next big thing, you'll probably enjoy this movie.

If you're just tired of painfully boring lesbian movies with bad sound this will feel like a welcome vacation.

Plus, I now have a huge crush on the actress who played Lou (Shh, don't tell my girlfriend!)