The A-Z of IDAHO

Today is IDAHO - International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, don't ask me why they changed T and O in the acronym, okay? - and it's such a valuable day that will sadly no unrecognised in mainstream media. Tell that gay man or woman in your life, or the transgendered friend or family member, that they're important and valued.

Living in Australia right now can be quite sad for GLBT people since we have a Prime Minister and an opposition leader who seem to be battling each other to make the most homophobic statements possible. Hell, our PM is an athiest who "lives in sin" with her boyfriend, and yet she comes out saying that she doesn't believe in gay marriage because Australia has deep Christian roots. To Prime Minister Gillard I say "fuck off!"

I don't really have much to say on the matter because, well, I talk about gay issues quite a lot. Instead of making you read a whole lot of blather about what it means to be gay, I have collected a bunch of film trailers for films that deal with GLBT issues and that have personally affected me in some way. Some of these movies are tough and tragic, others are sweet and magic. So, just like the real world, I suppose. I recommend all of them and if you haven't sought out much in the way of gay cinema then I suggest you avoid the lame comedies that fill the "specialty interest" section of your local DVD retailer (Another Gay Movie, The Fluffer, Eating Out 7), but instead look at some of the daring, groundbreaking, thrilling, funny, touching and wonderfully made movies that have been made by some fabulous talent. The films below aren't necessarily my favourites, but they are great films, some of which don't get discussed enough in this world where A Single Man is the new go-to movie for gay cinema watchers.


The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | Bear Cub


The Celluloid Closet | The Deep End


The Edge of Seventeen | Far from Heaven


Gypsy '83 | Heartbeats


I'm the One that I Want | Just a Question of Love


Kaboom! | Last Exit to Brooklyn


My Beautiful Laundrette | Newcastle


Orlando | Paris is Burning


Querelle | The Rocky Horror Picture Show


Shortbus | The Times of Harvey Milk


Urbania | Velvet Goldmine


Welcome to the Dollhouse | X2


Yossi & Jagger | Zus & Zo

Fresh Rabbit Hole Poster

A while ago I mused on Twitter that I suspected the poster for John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole would be nothing more than this film still of stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart in the bottom right corner, surrounded by empty black space and the title written using a very bland typeface. The fact that distributor Lionsgate had such a limited time to come up with the marketing for this film (it's US release is December 17 and was only acquired last month if I remember correctly) only made my hunch stronger. These days not much thought goes into the posters, especially for a film such as Rabbit Hole, which is hardly the sort of film that can be sold to mass audiences on inventive posters and nontraditional trailers.

Turns out I was wrong for the most part.


Via HitFix, click to embiggen.

Yes, the font is simple, but it's subtle and elegant. I like how it's as if we're seeing the sky through a misty windscreen and through the title it is clearer, where we can see through to a deeper hue of blue. And that image of Kidman is lovely. As for the O made from a child's backyard swing? Well, it's a bit precious, and the tagline is on the nose, but a movie like this has got to sell tickets and you don't do that by appearing to be 120 minutes of miserablism. Precious (also from Lionsgate) new that last year; you gotta sell the happy. So, again, I can forgive it.

Also, I just think the movie looks incredible so I don't care. 99% of the internet didn't seem to care that the Inception posters were rubbish, so why should I care about this? I shan't. Click the "Rabbit Hole" tag below to read more about my anticipation for this film if you don't believe me.

Rabbit Hole Trailer

As anybody who follows this blog will know that I have been awaiting Rabbit Hole with very high anticipation. I think it's quite obvious what I think of Nicole Kidman (just the way she goes "hmmm" after her angel speech at the start of the trailer fills me with love for that woman), but my appreciation for the likes of John Cameron Mitchell, Dianne Wiest, Aaron Eckhart, Sandra Oh and so on is so strong that their presence on any film will instantly make me sit up and pay attention. Now comes the trailer for Rabbit Hole and it looks good! I have to wait until February to see it as that's when it is receiving a local release, but you Americans out there get it in December. I've included some of my favourite shots, taken from the HQ Apple version, beneath.









And please bear in mind that I will reject any comment that even mentions Nicole's botox. Really. That discussion is over.

Tim Burton Wouldn't Know a Proper Rabbit Hole if He Fell in One

If you asked me right here on the spot what my most anticipated upcoming movie was I'd say it's a even split between Scream 4 (because of Scream, duh!), The Tree of Life (because of Malick, duh!) and Rabbit Hole (because of Nicole Kidman, duh). The film has premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to some really glowing praise (although, also some not-so-glowing as will always be the case) and Kidman has received her fair share of it. Time will tell whether people are willing to "forgive" Nicole for not making the right kind of arthouse movies or the right kind of mainstream movies, but these two clips below that have recently been released online show she is, yet again, working on a completely higher level than most actors.

Below them is a clip of Kidman, Aaron Eckhart and John Cameron Mitchell at the TIFF premiere discussing the film. I wanted to include this clip because it's all about Eckhart and Mitchell talking about how amazing Nicole is and, being the sucker for Kidman praise that I am, I loved it. Alas, "Embedding disabled by request" is one of the true evils of the online age.




Rabbit Hole will most likely be out in 2011 since it's surely too late in the "Oscar season" to be picked up by a distributor and released, especially in a year that sees the Best Actress category already so stacked.