FOURTH ANNUAL GAY GUIDE TO THE OSCARS.BEAUTY, BOYS, AND PEDRO'S MOTHER--YOU'VE HEARD SOME OF THE REASONS THIS YEAR'S ACADEMY AWARDS MATTER TO THE AVERAGE GAY AND LESBIAN MOVIEGOER mov·ie·go·er n. One who goes to see movies. mov  ie·go ing adj. . NOW LISTEN UP AS THE ADVOCATE RUNS DOWN ALL THE GAY ANGLES ON THE OSCAR (Open System for CommunicAtion in Realtime) AOL's internal project name for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). The core functions of OSCAR, known as the Basic OSCAR Services (BOS), include Login/Logoff, Locate (find out about other AIM users), Instant Message RACE * AMERICAN BEAUTY Why it's here: Everything's coming up roses for gay writer Alan Ball's mordant mordant (môr`dənt) [Fr.,=biting], substance used in dyeing to fix certain dyes (mordant dyes) in cloth. Either the mordant (if it is colloidal) or a colloid produced by the mordant adheres to the fiber, attracting and fixing the colloidal satire of suburbia and its discontents, With a commanding eight nominations, it's the stylish front-runner, poised to score both a Best Picture win and a trophy for first-time film director Sam Mendes (who directed Broadway's recent Cabaret revival). Why we care: Beauty acknowledges homosexuality as part of the warp and weave of American life, celebrating its nice gay-couple-next-door (happy joggers Scott Bakula and Sam Robards) while casting a chilling light on homophobia and its murderous consequences. On the lighter side, we loved Best Actress nominee Annette Bening's turn as a Martha Stewart wanna-be going bonkers, Beauty's victory would also mark the coming-of-age of gay Hollywood heavyweight David Geffen's fledgling studio, DreamWorks SKG SKG Stichting Kwaliteit Gevelbouw (Dutch) SKG Spielberg, Katzenberg,and Geffen (DreamWorks Studios) SKG Thessaloniki, Greece - Thessaloniki (Airport Code) SKG Smith and Kraus Global . Plus we can't wait to see who Best Actor nominee and self-styled babe magnet Kevin Spacey spac·ey adj. Slang Variant of spacy. Adj. 1. spacey - stupefied by (or as if by) some narcotic drug spaced-out, spacy unconventional - not conventional or conformist; "unconventional life styles" brings as his date on March 26. * BOYS DON'T CRY Why it's here: Who would have ever predicted that this hardscrabble hard·scrab·ble adj. Earning a bare subsistence, as on the land; marginal: the sharecropper's hardscrabble life. n. Barren or marginal farmland. Adj. 1. , true-life account of the life, love, and death of Brandon Teena, a young no-op transsexual trans·sex·u·al n. A person who strongly identifies with the opposite gender and who chooses to live as a member of the opposite gender or to become one by surgery. adj. 1. Of or relating to such a person. 2. , would seduce the oft-stuffy academy? Anyone who's surrendered to director Kimberly Peirce's heartbreaking drama, that's who. Why we care: Hilary Swank's a-star-is-born, cross-gender performance as the quixotic quix·ot·ic also quix·ot·i·cal adj. 1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality. 2. Brandon makes her the favorite to win the best actress heat--and a tip of the hat to the academy for including her costar and on-screen love interest Chloe Sevigny among the supporting players. (For added proof of Sevigny's talent, check out HBO's If These Walls Could Talk 2 this month, in which she moves on effortlessly from Boys' femme straight girl to embody a butchette lesbian.) * THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY Why it's here: A lot of academy voters just didn't get it, and that prevented Anthony Minghella's glamorous and seductive adaptation of lesbian author Patricia Highsmith's wicked novel from copping either Best Director or Best Picture consideration, It also left pretty boy Matt Damon, so subtly convincing as the duplicitous, closeted Ripley, out in the cold. Still, the film got five nods: sets, cinematography cinematography: see motion picture photography. cinematography Art and technology of motion-picture photography. It involves the composition of a scene, lighting of the set and actors, choice of cameras, camera angle, and integration of special , music, script, and a supporting nomination for easy-on-the-eyes Jude Law. Why we care: Forget those knee-jerk naysayers who insist Ripley's just another gay serial killer. Minghella lavishes sympathy on his plight: He's a seriously conflicted pretender, trapped in a closet of his own making, and that's a big part of his tragedy. Plus--call us shallow--but the only words for the intoxicating in·tox·i·cate v. in·tox·i·cat·ed, in·tox·i·cat·ing, in·tox·i·cates v.tr. 1. To stupefy or excite by the action of a chemical substance such as alcohol. 2. Law's star turn as spoiled playboy Dickie Greenleaf are those with which Barbra Streisand accepted her Funny Girl Oscar 31 years ago: Hello, gorgeous! * BEING JOHN MALKOVICH Why it's here: Talk about gender-bending! Charlie Kaufman's audaciously postmodern script--in which people of both sexes take turns looking at life through Malkovich's eyes--will be battling it out with Ball's Beauty for top original screenplay honors, And this Mobius strip of a movie also earned mentions for director Spike Jonze and supporting actress Catherine Keener. Why we care: Indie film queen Keener is no stranger to affairs sapphic--in last year's Your Friends and Neighbors, she paired off with Nastassja Kinski--but there's no precedent for her courtship of an out-of-body (or, more properly, in-John-Malkovich's-body) Cameron Diaz in this Film. Very trippy, indeed. * ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER Why it's here: Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's masterful melodrama--a paean Paean (pē`ən), Paean was an epithet for Apollo, the healer. The paean, a hymn of praise to Apollo and often to other gods, was sung as a prayer for safety or deliverance at battles and other important occasions. to women, mothers, actresses, and transsexuals--is the best known among the foreign film nominees and, barring a major upset, should win its category handily hand·i·ly adv. 1. In an easy manner. 2. In a convenient manner. Adv. 1. handily - in a convenient manner; "the switch was conveniently located" conveniently 2. . Why we care: Ever since 1987's Law of Desire--starring a young Antonio Banderas as a hunky boy toy--we've been rooting for the openly gay Almodovar, and he has indeed emerged as one of his generation's preeminent filmmakers, Who else would dare to borrow from both All About Eve and A Streetcar Named Desire A Streetcar Named Desire may refer to:
* THE SIXTH SENSE Why it's here: It was a lot spookier than that other summer horror show, The Blair Witch Project, and it scared up six noms: best film, original screenplay, editing, and directing as well as acting kudos for 11-year-old Haley Joel Osment as a haunted boy and Toni Collette as his perplexed mom. Why we care: We've been waiting for the talented Collette to get her due reward ever since she lip-synched ABBA tunes with Rachel Griffiths in Muriel's Wedding. * THE INSIDER * THE CIDER HOUSE RULES Why they're here: Between them, these two earnest dramas earned 14 nominations. Why we care: We don't, really, but these are the films with the best shot at wilting American Beauty's Best Picture bouquet, so we need to pay attention. We're happy that Cider House dramatizes the pro-choice case--a political cause so often tied to our own--but its understated story hardly qualifies as an impassioned plea for individual rights. As for The Insider, Michael Mann's inflated, overlong o·ver·long adj. Excessively long: an overlong play. adv. For too long: talked overlong. expose on Big Tobacco just made us want to slip out for a smoke. * THE GREEN MILE Why it's here: At more than three hours, director Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's serial tale tested the patience of some viewers, but the mystical prison drama still copped a Best Picture nomination, along with mentions for its screenplay, sound, and imposing supporting actor, Michael Clarke Duncan. Why we care: We were very happy to see openly HIV-positive actor Michael Jeter given the opportunity for a meaty character turn as mouse-loving Cajun Eduard Delacroix--even if the big guy did overshadow him come nomination time. * GIRL, INTERRUPTED Why it's here: Yeah, it does play like the Junior Miss version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or a Seven Sisters remake of The Snake Pit. But it gave the mercurial Angelina Jolie another smashing showcase and a ticket to the Oscars as the front-runner for the supporting actress trophy. Why we care: Ever since she played a reckless, drug-addicted lesbian in the HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy film Gia, we've been a sucker for the luxuriously lipped Jolie. She's got great genes from her dad, Jon Voight--who first made his name as hustler Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy [see page 71)--and she knows what to do with them. In Girl, when butch adolescent Cynthia (Jillian Armenante) says mousily, "I'm a sociopath so·ci·o·path n. A person affected with an antisocial personality disorder. so ci·o·path ," and Jolie's dangerously outspoken Lisa snaps, "No, you're a dyke," there's no judgment, only truth. * THE HURRICANE Why it's here: Accused of distorting the facts, director Norman Jewison's account of the incarceration Confinement in a jail or prison; imprisonment. Police officers and other law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter emerged with just one nomination: a best acting slot for the always commanding Denzel Washington. Why we care: The facts we found fuzzy in The Hurricane were the sleeping arrangements for that menage a trois ménage à trois n. A relationship in which three people, such as a married couple and a lover, live together and have sexual relations. [French : ménage, household + à, for of cohabiting Canadian do-gooders (two men, one woman) who work for Hurricane's release. Perhaps when Washington delivers the KO to Kevin Spacey's Best Actor hopes, he'll clear it up for us. * TOPSY-TURVY Why it's here: Writer-director Mike Leigh cracks open a Victorian music box to deliver a valentine to life in the theater, His affectionate portrait of how a battling Gilbert and Sullivan 1. William Schwenk Gilbert erson> and Sir Arthur Sullivan erson>, who collaborated on a number of light operas. See Gilbert. Noun 1. Gilbert and Sullivan - the music of Gilbert and Sullivan; "he could sing all of Gilbert and Sullivan" came together to create The Mikado mikado (mĭkä`dō), a former title of the emperor of Japan used chiefly in the English language. was nominated for its screenplay, sets, costumes, and makeup. Why we care: What's not to like about Topsy-Turvy's lavish use of those always hummable Mikado show tunes? And as the sybaritic syb·a·rit·ic adj. 1. Devoted to or marked by pleasure and luxury. 2. Sybaritic Of or relating to Sybaris or its people. Syb Arthur Sullivan, gay actor Allan Corduner strikes just the right notes. * MAGNOLIA Why it's here: Not resting on his Boogie Nights laurels, whiz kid writer-director P.T. Anderson crafted this dark, gay-inclusive vision of life, love, and the apocalypse in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . It may have broken a lot of the rules--like that moment when all the characters join in to sing Aimee Mann's "Wise Up"--but it still garnered nominations for Mann's song, for Anderson's original screenplay, and for supporting actor Tom Cruise, playing a vulgar cheerleader for heterosexist male predators. Why we care: The movie doesn't shortchange short·change tr.v. short·changed, short·chang·ing, short·chang·es 1. To give (someone) less change than is due in a transaction. 2. its gay characters, including William H. Macy's unrequited loser and Henry Gibson's barfly bar·fly n. pl. bar·flies Slang One who frequents drinking establishments. ; it treats us to the sight of Cruise in tighty whiteys; and it provides just deserts to those annoying Budweiser frogs. * ELECTION Why it's here: Alexander Payne's wickedly funny take on the dirty tricks surrounding a student council campaign--Reese Witherspoon shines as a veritable Nixon-in-training--was one of the year's wittiest novelties, justifiably earning its inclusion among the best adapted screenplays (written by Payne and Jim Taylor). It faces tough going, though, against the much weightier (and much lo-o-onger) The Insider. Why we care: We cast our vote for Jessica Campbell's acerbic high school lesbian, just about the only voice of reason amid the surrounding madness. * THE RED VIOLIN Why it's here: This anthology film-- which follows a fiddle from the 17th century to a New York auction house--yielded a surprise nomination for its score by gay classical composer John Corigliano. Why we care: Corigliano is no stranger to film--he earned a nomination in 1980 for Altered States. But he's best known for his celebrated opera, The Ghosts of Versailles, and his 1990 Symphony No. 1, a haunting response to the AIDS epidemic. He'll give the proceedings class. * SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER, AND UNCUT * TOY STORY 2 Why they're here: For their songs: South Park's loopy protest anthem, "Blame Canada," was cowritten by Trey Parker and gay tunesmith tune·smith n. One who composes melodies, especially for popular songs. (and four-times-previous Oscar nominee) Marc Shaiman, while Randy Newman's "When She Loved Me" for Toy Story 2 has Sarah McLachlan crooning what may be the first Oscar-nominated girl-girl love song (OK, girl-doll love song). Why we care: The Toy Story tune makes us weep, but Shaiman is 0-4, and the academy deserves the tweak that a South Park win would represent for having eliminated the comedy-and-musical score category. Besides, since Oscar show producers Richard and Lili Zanuck have banned the traditional dance numbers from this year's ceremony, it'll be up to the song performances to keep academy camp alive. The bleepworthy "Blame Canada" number should be irresistible. * ANNA AND THE KING * TITUS Why they're here: Two movies that the academy decided were better seen than heard: Though they struck out in the major categories, Anna's lavish costumes and sets and Titus' eclectic clothes caught the voters' eye. Why we care: We agree: Jodie Foster's Anna was no King and I, and though we're always eager to see ambisexual ambisexual /am·bi·sex·u·al/ (am?bi-sek´shoo-al) 1. bisexual. 2. pertaining to or characterized by hermaphroditism. 3. denoting sexual characteristics common to both sexes, e.g., pubic hair. Alan Cumming on-screen, his decadent Saturninus in Titus wasn't much of a stretch after his leering leer intr.v. leered, leer·ing, leers To look with a sidelong glance, indicative especially of sexual desire or sly and malicious intent. n. A desirous, sly, or knowing look. emcee onstage in Broadway's recent revival of Cabaret (directed, we recall, by American Beauty's Sam Mendes). But by the time Halloween rolls around, either film could inspire some outrageous outfits. * FIGHT CLUB Why it's here: It sneaked in on a technicality. Hollywood hated it, but it still got a consolation mention for its punchy punch·y adj. punch·i·er, punch·i·est 1. Characterized by vigor or drive: "He speaks in short, punchy sentences, using plain, populist words that excite" sound effects editing. Why we care; We didn't buy its Gen-X ennui either, but we did love when its barely closeted gay subtext came spilling out as a jealous Edward Norton beats pretty Jared Leto to a pulp because Brad Pitt is paying the boy too much attention. And there's something about the (Oscar-nominated) sound of beautiful boys beating up on each other that gets our attention. * THE STRAIGHT STORY Why it's here: The 79-year-old Richard Farnsworth is the oldest Best Actor nominee ever. Playing a sweet old codger--call him the Sunshine Boy--he anchors David Lynch's surprisingly sweet movie. Why we care: Hey, some of our best friends are straight. We're always interested in learning how the other nine tenths live. Kilday is a freelance entertainment reporter who contributes to Variety and TV Guide. |
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