All My Friends: Millennium Mambo, Take 3: Mike Hassler

For something like three years, Mike Hassler and I suffered working for the same horrible company, which is where we met and where my first impressions of him were from another co-worker who informed me that Mike really liked the movie Electra. Thankfully, I soon learned that his admiration for the Daredevil spin-off was neither a fluke nor indicative of his taste on a larger scale (thankfully). Shortly afterward, we would spend most of our time on the clock creating a real-time commentary for the Sister Act saga, throwing themed music nights (the soundtrack night/weekend was the highlight of which), making up elaborately perverse fantasy lives for the motley crew of customers we had to encounter every week and occasionally convincing one another to take home DVDs we wouldn't give a second look (sometimes out of curiosity, other times out of malice, often just to fuck with one another). Mike occasionally updates his blog Heteroerotica with film and music write-ups (and, yes, he was the one who chose his Amy Winehouse Halloween costume photo). Thanks, Mike.

On Film: I like to think I hit middle ground -- not too snobby, but people can point fingers. I haven’t had the time to watch or rewatch all that I would like to, but I’m happy enough with my list. I know I’ve forgotten things, and I’m positive I’ve jumbled the order so many times that they’re probably not in any particular order outside of the first few. Congrats to Greengrass for making it twice. [Editors note: Quentin Tarantino only made the list twice due to Mike including a 1999 film in the 25th spot.]

01. Oldboy, 2003, d. Park Chan-wook, South Korea
02. The Piano Teacher [La pianiste], 2001, d. Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany/Poland
03. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, 2001, d. John Cameron Mitchell, USA
04. The Squid and the Whale, 2005, d. Noah Baumbach, USA
05. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [Le scaphandre et le papillon], d. Julian Schnabel, France/USA
06. The Shape of Things, 2003, d. Neil LaBute, USA/France/UK
07. Fat Girl [À ma sœur!], 2001, d. Catherine Breillat, France/Italy
08. The Beat My Heart Skipped [De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté], 2005, d. Jacques Audiard, France
09. Inside [À l'intérieur], 2007, d. Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury, France
10. Rachel Getting Married, 2008, d. Jonathan Demme, USA
11. OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies [OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d'espions], 2006, d. Michel Hazanavicius, France
12. Once, 2006, d. John Carney, Ireland
13. Bloody Sunday, 2002, d. Paul Greengrass, Ireland/UK
14. A Bittersweet Life, 2005, d. Kim Ji-woon, South Korea
15. Inglourious Basterds, 2009, d. Quentin Tarantino, USA/Germany
16. The Incredibles, 2004, d. Brad Bird, USA
17. Chopper, 2000, d. Andrew Dominik, Australia
18. Murder on a Sunday Morning [Un couple idéal], 2001, d. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, France/USA
19. Ip Man, 2008, d. Wilson Yip, Hong Kong
20. Love Exposure, 2008, d. Sion Sono, Japan
21. House of Sand and Fog, 2003, d. Vadim Perelman, USA
22. Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, France/USA
23. There Will Be Blood, 2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA
24. The Bourne Supremacy, 2004, d. Paul Greengrass, USA/Germany
25. Grindhouse, 2007, d. Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, Eli Roth


On Music: Likewise here, I'm positive I've missed things, but decided to go with what I believe have had the most spins.

01. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)
02. Kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood (2003)
03. Lupe Fiasco - The Cool (2007)
04. Portishead - Third (2008)
05. Clipse - Lord Willin’ (2002)
06. Muse - Origin of Symmetry (2001)
07. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (2006)
08. Coldplay - X & Y (2005)
09. PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her (2004)
10. Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R (2000)
11. Thrice - Vheissu (2005)
12. The Damnwells - Air Stereo (2006)
13. Kanye West - College Dropout (2004)
14. Espers - II (2006)
15. Sigur Rós - Takk... (2005)
16. Louis XIV - The Best Little Secrets Are Kept (2005)
17. Doves - Lost Souls (2000)
18. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple (2008)
19. The Strokes - Room on Fire (2003)
20. Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)
21. Ray LaMontagne - Trouble (2004)
22. The Roots - Rising Down (2008)
23. Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights (2002)
24. The Darkness - Permission to Land (2003)
25. Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe (2009)

The Decade List: Shortbus (2006)

Shortbus - dir. John Cameron Mitchell

Oh, Shortbus. A mere three years later, it seems such a distant relic of a time hauntingly familiar. George W. Bush was in his second term. Gay marriage seemed (and, well, yeah, still seems) like a pipe dream. Like Woody Allen's Manhattan, Shortbus was a love-letter to New York City more than anything else, but thirty years later, it was a New York City as part of what Dan Savage called the archipelago chain of islands where American lefties, artists and queers could find some form of solace. It was a portrait of the politically sane, emotionally fatuous urban bohemians, searching (hard) for a way to identify themselves in a country they weren't sure they still recognized.

Of course, Shortbus' greatest flaw is that the characters within the film ARE already identified, mainly by their own sexual hang-ups. Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) is pre-orgasmic, James (Paul Dawson) won't let his boyfriend Jamie (PJ DeBoy) fuck him, Severin (Lindsay Beamish) has to spank rich boys in order to stay in New York. It stands as a minor setback ultimately, as the struggles to break these concrete identities is where the characters attempt to actually find themselves and each other.

Its second, nearly damning flaw is that the characters' struggles demand so much empathy from the audience that the film's power risks evaporating in the hands of the sexually well-adjusted and romantically satisfied. It perhaps says quite a bit about me and my friends that Shortbus resonated so deeply. Not to call anyone's personal insecurities out, but the parallels were astounding. He won't let his boyfriend fuck him for whatever reason, she's been faking her orgasms for years, he's whoring himself in some way in order not to have to return to the Midwest. The sentiments were certainly shared by many, but I wonder about the rest of the people who saw the film, the individuals who might have been unable to give a shit about other people's sex problems or, contrarily, might have been, if timed properly, one of the film's many "sextras."

Despite its flaws, Shortbus does capture a sentiment more universal that being unable to make your lover cum. Though I don't recall gay marriage ever directly referenced, Shortbus' pansexual collective strives for something greater: the recognition of the failures in heteronormatively structured relationships and the (often failed, but still admirable) attempts to contest those tired notions. Unfortunately, there arises a third flaw, all of which surrounds the unnecessary Caleb (Peter Stickles), the only central person in the film whose purpose beyond directly affecting another character is nil.

Mitchell makes the mistake of allowing easy resolutions for all the fags, which, whether it's a change of pace or not, still feels cheap. He leaves the more confounding emotions to the two (kinda) straight women who find a temporary emotional and sexual balance during the film's closing blackout. For all the problems I address with Shortbus, you might ask why I've even included it on the Decade List. Shortbus succeeds in a way most films don't, and that's in capturing that tiny window of feelings, ambitions, anxieties within its geographical and generational boundaries. I'll never deny that my feelings toward Shortbus are extremely selfish, but seeing the film in the city it so endearingly illustrated, in pastel model form with Animal Collective and The Hidden Cameras whirling with the camera, Shortbus is by equal measure a relic of myself.

With: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Jay Brannon, Raphael Barker, Justin Bond, Peter Stickles, Adam Hardman, Alan Mandell, Bitch, Shanti Carson, Jan Hilmer, Miriam Shor, Justin Hagan, Ray Rivas, Stephen Kent Justick, Yolonda Ross, JD Samson, Daniela Sea, Rachael Cyna Smith, Scott Matthew, Reg Vermue, Jonathan Caouette, Murray Hill, The World Famous *BoB*
Screenplay: John Cameron Mitchell
Cinematographer: Frank G. DeMarco
Music: Yo La Tengo
Country of Origin: USA
US Distributor: ThinkFilm

Premiere: 20 May 2006 (Cannes Film Festival)
US Premiere: 15 September 2006 (Milwaukee LGBT Film and Video Festival)

Awards: Producers Award - Howard Gertler, Tim Perell (Independent Spirit Awards)

The Decade List: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch - dir. John Cameron Mitchell

As fictional rock n roll films go, there's no beating Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which blows its competition away (pun probably intended) in both music and depth. Hedwig and the Angry Inch is consistently surprising on both levels. Compared to any film to tackle the issue of gender directly, the film's nuances and thoughtfulness are refreshing, but that it handles everything it puts on its plate with the same sort of freshness is all the more worthy of praise. Adapted by John Cameron Mitchell from his stage musical, its comparisons to Rocky Horror Picture Show are pure surface, as Rocky revels in its "camp" transvestitism while Hedwig does not. Its comments about gender, lost love and fame come from something organic. Mitchell's strength (and maybe his weakness, too) derive from humanism, but in both this and the later Shortbus, it's hard to imagine having a better time watching a film about the tribulations of being displaced.

Also of interest is the cover album Wig in a Box, which features a bunch of awesome musicians doing their own versions of the film's incredible soundtrack. Some of the highlights include Frank Black doing "Sugar Daddy," Yoko Ono and Yo La Tengo doing "Hedwig's Lament/Exquisite Corpse" and The Polyphonic Spree doing "Wig in a Box." Sleater-Kinney, Rufus Wainwright, Fred Schneider, Robyn Hitchcock, The Breeders, Spoon, Ben Kweller, Ben Folds, Ben Lee, Cyndi Lauper, the Minus 5 and even Stephen Colbert also show up. Like the soundtrack to most any musical (except, maybe, Xanadu), the songs are better suited inside of the film, but Wig in a Box is certainly worth a listen or two.

With: John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, Michael Pitt, Andrea Martin, Alberta Watson, Stephen Trask, Maurice Dean Wint, Sook Yin-Lee
Screenplay: John Cameron Mitchell, based on the play by Mitchell and Stephen Trask
Cinematography: Frank G. DeMarco
Music: Stephen Trask, John Cameron Mitchell
Country of Origin: USA
US Distributor: Fine Line Features

Premiere: 19 January 2001 (Sundance)

Awards: Directing Award, Audience Award: Dramatic (Sundance); Teddy: Best Feature Film (Berlin); Outstanding Film: Limited Release (GLAAD Media Awards); Actor in a Leading Role - John Cameron Mitchell, Actress in a Supporting Role - Miriam Shor (LA Outfest); Audience Award (San Francisco International Film Festival); Best First Feature (San Francisco International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival)