Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck kiss, In & Out Following my Valentine's Day post featuring lots of male-female kisses and embraces (and a few shapely legs, bare breasts, and sensuous lips, courtesy of, respectively, Silvana Mangano, Clara Calamai, and Jane Russell), here's the gay/lesbian version. This Gay Kiss Montage post was originally published in June 2007, when Turner Classic Movies ran a couple of dozen films featuring gay/lesbian/bi/etc. characters as part of their Screened Out series. Created in late 2006 by Robert Eldredge, the video was inspired by the finale of Giuseppe Tornatore's Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winner Cinema Paradiso, in which Jacques Perrin watches clips — kisses, hugs, embraces, nudity, sensuality, expressions of human desire — that, decades earlier, had been cut from the films screened at his Italian village's old movie house. The local Catholic priest had found those bits of celluloid harmful to the town's morals and family values.
- 2/15/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
There's a playful exuberance on display in "Better Than Chocolate", a bright, funny and sexy romp set in the heart of Vancouver's vibrant lesbian community.
Although it has a little trouble deciding what it wants to be when it grows up -- romantic comedy or full-throttle farce -- the picture's tonal ambiguity also happens to be part of its unpredictable charm.
Having already proved popular with audiences on the festival circuit, the Trimark Pictures release should find a sweet specialty market niche for itself, tickling viewers with its refreshingly angst-free, youthful energy.
Ironically, the person calling the shots is not some fresh-out-of-film-school talent but acclaimed Canadian director Anne Wheeler ("Loyalties", A&E's "The Sleep Room"), who has forged a career from effortlessly slipping in and out of genres.
Here, in collaboration with screenwriter-playwright Peggy Thompson ("The Lotus Eaters"), she again demonstrates that resiliency working with a young, promising cast in a potentially tricky milieu.
Capably serving as the film's heart and soul is Karyn Dwyer in the role of Maggie, a fresh-faced 19-year-old who has dropped out of college to embark on a writing career. Making ends meet by working at a lesbian bookstore called "Ten Percent", Maggie learns that timing isn't her forte when she meets the woman of her dreams (Christina Cox) just before her neurotic mother, Lila (Wendy Crewson), and her brother Paul Kevin Mundy) abruptly move in with her.
To add to the discomfort factor, Maggie has yet to have that little discussion with Mom, who thinks that "Ten Percent" is a discount bookstore. She also hasn't mentioned the fact that her loft is actually a furnished sublet from a woman who happens to make all kinds of latex toys that keep popping up in the darndest places.
Meanwhile, as Maggie and Kim's relationship heats up, recently separated, bonbon-popping Lila finds a sympathetic shoulder to cry on from Judy (Peter Outerbridge), a transgendered lesbian nightclub singer (although Lila has only cottoned to the nightclub singer part), who, in turn, has a big crush on Frances (Ann-Marie MacDonald), Maggie's repressed bookstore boss who apparently takes her fashion cues from Velma on "Scooby-Doo".
When not keeping an eye on inventory, Frances wages war with Canadian Customs, which is repeatedly seizing imported books at the border, deeming them obscene. Even "Little Red Riding Hood" is suspect.
For the most part, all these wacky elements manage to hold together thanks to the tender, core Maggie-Kim relationship. Relative newcomers Dwyer and Cox are terrific, lending the goings-on a heated, poignant credibility.
Good, too, is Outerbridge, who impressively resists the temptation to drag his colorful character too far over the top.
It's a tougher battle for Crewson and MacDonald, whose farcically written characters can pretty well be conveyed only with broad strokes. They make for a lively if occasionally discordant mix.
Production values are equally bright and bouncy thanks to Gregory Middleton's cheery cinematography and Alison Grace's nimble editing.
On the musical front, Graeme Coleman's contemporary romantic score is neatly complemented by a Lilith Fair-ready song list, including contributions from Sarah McLachlan and Ani DiFranco.
BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE
Trimark
Trimark Pictures presents
a Sharon McGowan and Peggy Thompson production
A film by Anne Wheeler
Director: Anne Wheeler
Producer: Sharon McGowan
Screenwriter: Peggy Thompson
Director of photography: Gregory Middleton
Production designer: David Roberts
Editor: Alison Grace
Costume designer: Brad Gough
Music: Graeme Coleman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Lila: Wendy Crewson
Maggie: Karyn Dwyer
Kim: Christina Cox
Frances: Ann-Marie MacDonald
Carla: Marya Delver
Paul: Kevin Mundy
Judy: Peter Outerbridge
Tony: Tony Nappo
Running time -- 103 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Although it has a little trouble deciding what it wants to be when it grows up -- romantic comedy or full-throttle farce -- the picture's tonal ambiguity also happens to be part of its unpredictable charm.
Having already proved popular with audiences on the festival circuit, the Trimark Pictures release should find a sweet specialty market niche for itself, tickling viewers with its refreshingly angst-free, youthful energy.
Ironically, the person calling the shots is not some fresh-out-of-film-school talent but acclaimed Canadian director Anne Wheeler ("Loyalties", A&E's "The Sleep Room"), who has forged a career from effortlessly slipping in and out of genres.
Here, in collaboration with screenwriter-playwright Peggy Thompson ("The Lotus Eaters"), she again demonstrates that resiliency working with a young, promising cast in a potentially tricky milieu.
Capably serving as the film's heart and soul is Karyn Dwyer in the role of Maggie, a fresh-faced 19-year-old who has dropped out of college to embark on a writing career. Making ends meet by working at a lesbian bookstore called "Ten Percent", Maggie learns that timing isn't her forte when she meets the woman of her dreams (Christina Cox) just before her neurotic mother, Lila (Wendy Crewson), and her brother Paul Kevin Mundy) abruptly move in with her.
To add to the discomfort factor, Maggie has yet to have that little discussion with Mom, who thinks that "Ten Percent" is a discount bookstore. She also hasn't mentioned the fact that her loft is actually a furnished sublet from a woman who happens to make all kinds of latex toys that keep popping up in the darndest places.
Meanwhile, as Maggie and Kim's relationship heats up, recently separated, bonbon-popping Lila finds a sympathetic shoulder to cry on from Judy (Peter Outerbridge), a transgendered lesbian nightclub singer (although Lila has only cottoned to the nightclub singer part), who, in turn, has a big crush on Frances (Ann-Marie MacDonald), Maggie's repressed bookstore boss who apparently takes her fashion cues from Velma on "Scooby-Doo".
When not keeping an eye on inventory, Frances wages war with Canadian Customs, which is repeatedly seizing imported books at the border, deeming them obscene. Even "Little Red Riding Hood" is suspect.
For the most part, all these wacky elements manage to hold together thanks to the tender, core Maggie-Kim relationship. Relative newcomers Dwyer and Cox are terrific, lending the goings-on a heated, poignant credibility.
Good, too, is Outerbridge, who impressively resists the temptation to drag his colorful character too far over the top.
It's a tougher battle for Crewson and MacDonald, whose farcically written characters can pretty well be conveyed only with broad strokes. They make for a lively if occasionally discordant mix.
Production values are equally bright and bouncy thanks to Gregory Middleton's cheery cinematography and Alison Grace's nimble editing.
On the musical front, Graeme Coleman's contemporary romantic score is neatly complemented by a Lilith Fair-ready song list, including contributions from Sarah McLachlan and Ani DiFranco.
BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE
Trimark
Trimark Pictures presents
a Sharon McGowan and Peggy Thompson production
A film by Anne Wheeler
Director: Anne Wheeler
Producer: Sharon McGowan
Screenwriter: Peggy Thompson
Director of photography: Gregory Middleton
Production designer: David Roberts
Editor: Alison Grace
Costume designer: Brad Gough
Music: Graeme Coleman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Lila: Wendy Crewson
Maggie: Karyn Dwyer
Kim: Christina Cox
Frances: Ann-Marie MacDonald
Carla: Marya Delver
Paul: Kevin Mundy
Judy: Peter Outerbridge
Tony: Tony Nappo
Running time -- 103 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 8/12/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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