Shushan, Mister? Shushan?

(click here for my interview with Yun Suh, director of  CITY OF BORDERS, or watch the podcast embedded below)

An Israeli, a Palestinian and a South Korean walk into a gay bar in Jerusalem and… nothing happens. That is the beauty of Shushan, the LGBQT dance club situated in the heart of the traditionally intolerant city. (Heck, when two peanuts walk down Jaffa Street, one is usually a-salted!)  CITY OF BORDERS is a testament to this Mid-East oasis, a place where Arabs and Israelis reveal(ed) their identities without fear of fallout, payback or hatred. However, beyond Shushan’s walls, the orthodoxy of ignorance remains and the threat of prejudicial violence reigns.

Director Yun Suh fashions a compassionate and compelling documentary by graciously and inconspicuously providing camera-time to some of the club’s most arresting patrons, the opportunity to share their stories of faith, fatalism and flamboyance in the face of grave danger. Adam, an Israeli, bears his scars as a survivor of a brutal hate crime. Boody, a Palestinian, masks his fears, illegally crossing the border nightly just so he can cross-dress.…

Death be proud?

A slew of celebrities died over the last ten days, but no true movie stars… unless you count Robert McNamara.* Granted, the erstwhile Secretary of Defense only appeared in one film, but in Errol Morris‘ THE FOG OF WAR, McNamara was brilliant portraying a Cabinet member so skilled at political rationalization he is almost oblivious to his own soul’s non-partisan torment. Of course, he was just playing himself, but in the poignant documentary’s climactic moments, you’d swear you were watching Lord Olivier’s HAMLET instead, prepared to hear McNamara (m)utter: To die, to sleep… No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to… ’tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. Wish granted, Bobby. Good night and good luck.

THE FOG OF WAR is Shakespeare-verite, the tragedy of an internally-conflicted power-broker whose best intentions are undone by his protracted and pernicious decision-making. If you have yet to see the movie, please, rent it and revisit history learning lessons both from America’s involvement in Vietnam and the architect of…

TWILIGHT’s last dreaming? (video blog)

Some young starlets get better reviews for their sex tapes than their movies. Others are better received stepping panty-less from their limos than when baring their souls at auditions. Some young stars succumb to the illicit lures of celebrity, the magnetic attraction of idol worship. But one Teen Beat poster-boy refuses to succumb to Hollywood’s madness. One tousled-hair hero refuses to sacrifice his soul while breaking others’ hearts. Who is this selfless slice of beefcake? Watch today’s THINK! piece for a taste. Then, draw your own conclusions. Is the sequel-shooting stud a model of virtue, honestly foregoing all the fish in the sea or just a finicky angler hoping to winnow the minnows before dipping his ten-foot pole in the waters?