Costumes by Cr

Linser Creative 200

10% Cinema

Continued from facing page

brother Todd, who hasn't been dating much since his divorce. Todd's online meeting with Kelly leads to a date at the coffee shop where he discovers, much to his dismay, that the girl he had so much in common with by e-mail is a guy. Wilson Cruz from My SoCalled Life, in fact, giving this movie a 10 for eye candy.

To get revenge on his brother, who has been sleeping on his couch for an undisclosed period of time, Todd and Kelly walk into the apartment after their "date" and head straight to the bedroom, leading Barry

Film Festival's 10% Cinema has a film that just strikes a chord-it's edgy, funny, or just a rollicking good yarn. Let's call it the "Nine Dead Gay Guys Award," after the film in 2003's festival that made it all worthwhile. (It just edged out 2005's Eating Out and the 2006 film Race You to the Bottom.)

This year, however, there is a tie for the 9DGG Award: Russell P. Marleau's The Curiosity of Chance and Q. Allen Brocka's Boy Culture.

The Curiosity of Chance is a 1980s John Hughes high school film gone slightly astray. A comedy with some of the stereotypes of the genre (dumb jock, soulful jock, scary girl, oddball kid, overly strict administrator), the film centers around Chance Marquis, a foppish transfer student just starting at Brickland Interna-

Wy pin Thy Emmure tional High School.

HER PAR

An artistic soul, Chance is, of course, immediately targeted by the school bully, the captain of the soccer team. He develops a crush on his next-door neighbor, another soccer player who is also very into music, and gathers around him his core of weirdos (tough girl and oddball guy).

However, Chance's amateur appearance at a drag

March 9, 2007 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Eman's chomis

richard coli, music director

PRESENTS A

ON THE RADIO

Saturday

Sanday

March 20, 2007

to call their mother to tell her that Todd is gay.

Things then get really out of control when just about everyone but Todd and Kelly believes that he is a shirtlifter. Todd even goes as far as sleeping with Kelly to find out if maybe he's in denial.

Meanwhile, when

Barry realizes that he is Coffee Date

the one who is gay, their

mother (Sally Kirkland)

refuses to believe him, thinking he is simply jealous of the attention being lavished on Todd.

It's difficult to determine whether the presence of comedian Jason Stuart as Todd's coworker Clayton makes this film more or less trite and hackneyed, and Debbie Gibson's unremarked-upon appearance in the film is just strange. Had Todd told Kelly, who was wearing an "Electric Youth Live" sweatshirt, that he had a coworker who looked like Deborah Gibson, her casting would have been at least a source of amusement, instead of something to find out when the ending credits were running.

A harmless film, but if the schedule gets tight, it can be missed. [Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25]

East Side Story is a little better, but still a bit lackluster.

Carlos Portugal's film is a fluffy tale of the culture clash between Mexicans in East Los Angeles and the gay men moving into the neighborhood because of rising property values.

Caught in between the two camps is Diego, a gay Mexican-American living with his grandmother and dating a closeted real estate agent. When the agent breaks it off and starts dating Diego's aunt, he decides it's time to move to Phoenix, where he can get away from the family restaurant and start working towards opening his own haute cuisine establishment.

Unfortunately, he falls for one of his new neighbors, Wesley, whose boyfriend Nicholas is so flamingly racist that he is nothing more than a caricature.

If this story sounds familiar it's because last year's Quinceañera had a very similar plot. It was also a grittier, more emotionally impacting film.

Which is not to say East Side Story isn't a cute movie, or is not enjoyable. It is both of those things, it just seems a little too... light, for lack of a better word.

Members of the Cleveland LGBT Center can get a discounted admission to the two screenings of East Side Story with their Pride Card. If purchasing tickets online or by phone, enter the code "LGBT" for the discount, then show your card when you pick up the tickets. [Friday and Saturday, March 23 and 24]

Every year, the Cleveland International

club blows up in his face when the soccer captain's girlfriend gets hold of one of the photos, and seemingly nothing will enable Chance to peacefully attend school again. Unless, of course, the Battle of the High School Bands has some impact...

There is exactly one thing wrong with this film: the dumb jock. He is incredibly annoying, but that makes watching him get his comeuppance even more gratifying. The cast is great, the humor is broad but not as

much as Another Gay Movie. At heart, it's a serious coming of age story couched in a slightly slapstick comedy. [Thursday and Friday, March 22 and 23]

Q. Allen Brocka's Boy Culture, on the other hand, is not so easily described. It's funny, it's sexy, it's clever, and it's got Darryl Stephens of Noah's Arc, so it wins the "Oh my gosh, look at that hunk of man" award hands down.

Derek Magyar plays X, a high-priced hustler with an elite clientele. He has two roommates, Joey and Andrew (Stephens). Joey has no visible source of income and pays no rent, while Andrew is a clerk at a video store. However, X needs them to hide his income from the IRS.

X takes on a new client, Gregory, who wants to wait to have sex until X desires him as much as he desires X. The two discuss their lives, working through their emotional issues, one of which is that X is in love with Andrew but cannot admit it. He cannot leave himself vulnerable.

However, as Andrew later points out, he can only push him away so many times before Andrew stops trying, and at that point, a visit from Gregory dropping all his own deceptions might not even help.

Had Queer as Folk's American version been done as well as this film, it would be considered a television classic by people who aren't gay. It's sexy without being smutty, clever without being smug, and the cast makes a great ensemble. Brocka, the director of Eating Out, should be proud. [Friday and Saturday, March 16 and 17]

Of course, there will also be the popular 10% Shorts program, almost two hours of queer short films from the U.S. and Spain this year. Showings are on Saturday, March 17 and Thursday, March 22.

For more information, go to www.clevelandfilm.org or call 866865-3456 (865-FILM).

A

Sonte Dawerally CampA3

farver Building & 2001 BucEd Avenue

CONTACT INFORMATION

Tickets available at www.hamchorus.org and the following locations: Fut Daher & 792 West Market Street * Akron, Ohio

1827 Coventry Road A Cleveland, Ohio

12017 Detroit Road & Lakewood, Ohio 11424 Lorain Avenue * Cleveland, Ohio

Hasan Tera

STIMES

1049

Cleveland

STOP HATE! END VIOLENCE!

Are you a victim of violence? Do you know someone who is? The Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization is your helping hand in the fight against anti-LGBT violence.

Do you need assistance? Do you know someone who does? BRAVO offers a comprehensive approach to hate crimes and intimate partner violence. Log on to www.BRAVO-OHIO.org for a list of services BRAVO has to offer.

We are here to help.

BRA O

BUCKEYE REGION ANTI-VIOLENCE

866 86 BRAVO TOLL-FREE

ORGANIZATION

• WWW.BRAVO-OHIO.ORG

WEB

THIS PROJECT PRESENTATION, TRAINING, AND/OR DOCUMENT IS SUPPORTED BY A GRANT FROM THE OFFICE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE GRANT NO. 2005-VF-GX-80321 POINTS OF VIEW IN THIS PROJECT PRESENTATION, TRAINING ANG-OR DOCUMENT ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE OFFICIAL POSITION OR POLICIES OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE