estepheia | Jun. 27th, 2003

rachelanton73 said that because of the Supreme Court ruling we should declare today Sodomy Day. Heee. More on sodomy later in this post... well, sorta.

I went DVD shopping today. And instead of flagellating myself with denial I didn't just look at all those lovely movies, I actually bought several DVDs, namely El Dorado and The Undefeated (together for EUR 25) and Rave MacBeth (with Michael Rosenbaum - for 3 bucks) - because

thamiris kind of recommended it and because I collect Shakespeare adaptations. Lucky me.

Then I had a nice lunch that was supposed to be Egytptian (*shrug*) and went and rented The Sum of all Fears with yummie looking Ben Affleck and Das Experiment, a German movie based on an American novel called The Black Box, which supposedly is based on a real experiment:
A group of volunteers is hired to enact prison life for 2 weeks. The volunteers are arbitrarily divided into prisoners and wardens. It transpires that the 'wardens' can't handle the power and start picking on one of the more recalcitrant 'prisoners' and then the whole experiment goes kablooey. Great film!

I suppose German films don't get shown a lot in the US, but if ever you get the chance to see or rent Echte Kerle - Regular Guys - do it. It's a cute and funny and endearing movie about a macho cop who wakes up hung-over in another man's bed/arms. Lovely film about friendship and tolerance. *Sigh*

Another great German comedy is Was tun wenn's brennt - What to do in case of Fire. In 1987 a bunch of anarchists build a bomb to blow up the (deserted) American embassy but the bomb never goes off until 25 years later (nobody gets hurt). Our ex-anarchists are now respectable citizens and worried their involvement might come to light.

And the third German movie I'd like to recommend is not Lola Runs, although that is great too, but Knocking on Heaven's Door, a German road movie about two cancer patients who steal a car and rob a bank to go to Holland and watch the sun set in the North Sea before they die. Hilarious (in spite of the subject matter). Has a lovely cameo by Rutger Hauer.

*Shrug* Just felt like pimping something German for a change...

Thanks to

drcoulter I also managed to see most of The Celluloid Closet which aired on German TV tonight, a documentary on gay themes and subtext in Hollywood films. Watching all those instances of gay characters dying horrible and unhappy deaths was both revealing and depressing. It also made me quite excited about James's Italian Heat project. It seems there still aren't enough films that will deal with homosexuality sympathetically.
I'm just glad nobody ever tried to actively brainwash an anti-gay ideology into my brain.

Just wondering, do you Americans know the gay comics by Ralf König? Have a look at his site. It's fun!

Right, enough with the pro-German pimpage. *Yawn*
It's 4 am. Time to go to bed. Estepheia out.