Saturday, June 11, 2011

Zombies, Aussies, Musicals, Oh My!

Murray and Barry in Slut – The Musical
Zombies, Aussies, Musicals, Oh My!” shorts program
Mon. 6/20 9:30p @ Victoria, ZOMB20V

Cupcake: A Zombie Lesbian Musical, dir. Rebecca Thomson, 2010 Australia, 18 min. (not reviewed)
Slut – The Musical, dir. Tonnette Stanford, 2010 Australia, 16 min.
Slashed, dir. Rebecca Thomson, 2010 Australia, 11 min. 
Why Me?, dir.Victoria Stanford, 2010 Australia, 22 min. 
I was a Teenage Werebear, dir. Tim Sullivan, 2011 USA, 28 min. (not reviewed)

Barry (Lee Jones) is the school’s avant-garde dancer and token “out” gayboy; Murray (Nigel Turner-Carroll) is a prefect, near the top of the school's social hierarchy. It’s the day of the Year 12 Formal (senior prom, in American terms) and Murray doesn't have a date. Will he go with Pauline (Marianne Frith) — fellow prefect, queen bitch, and french fry fetishist — or with dear, sweet Barry? In Slut – The Musical, we find out, with a little help from some spangly gold high-heeled boots. Cute and fun; Recommended.

A space-bad space-guy in Slashed
In Slashed, Renata is a medical receptionist, writing “slash” stories (fan fiction, mostly written by women, specifically including sex between male characters who were not sexually involved in the original work) when she should be focused on her day job. Frieda is a patient and also a fan of slash stories based on the same sci-fi show, Star Police, and she also seems to be a bit of a kleptomaniac. Things get wacky from there, as Renata decides to do a bit of real-world detective work, leaping exuberantly into action. Unfortunately, I found both the outer story and the slash story within it disappointing. Not recommended.

Cheryl’s piano teacher in Why Me?
In Why Me?, we meet Cheryl, a teenager who is learning piano and practicing for the school talent show, hoping to impress the sexy, leather-clad Rrrrussian piano teacher. It's a story that could be played for drama or for comedy but that misses both targets. Cheryl’s sister and parents are cardboard cut-out characters, with neither personality nor humor, and her classmates are almost as lifeless. Worse, the performances in the outer story are almost indistinguish­able from the intentionally amateurish talent show bits. Not recommended.

[Cupcake: A Zombie Lesbian Musical and I was a Teenage Werebear were not available for review prior to the festival screening.]


Keywords: Frameline35, LGBT Film

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