My Best Films Rewatch goes Queer: Mysterious Skin and Brokeback Mountain

Even more has occurred at Venice/Toronto since I last published. "Roma" won Best Film at Venice. "Widows" premiered in Toronto. "Ben is Back" is going to give "Beautiful Boy" a run for its addiction story money. "Halloween" is probably fun, but recreating the original story in modern times...in the vein of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." In a matter of hours, the "A Star is Born" back and forth has died a bit. It's all very chaotic, at least as far as Twitter is concerned.

We are about to enter my least favorite part of the Oscar race. When the select many who attended these fests will begin prognosticating before the critics have their say as a few of us wait to see the films themselves. Will I get to see "Roma" before December 14th, or will I have to wait alongside the rest of the world? If so, that will be a long time to not have a grasp on the Best Picture race.

Maybe that's a good thing.

Today, it's LGBTQ day with the Best Film Rewatch. We are going to take a look at "Mysterious Skin" and "Brokeback Mountain."

Interestingly enough I just revisited both of these movies back in January when I was preparing to write my essay on Heartbreak and Love in Queer Cinema for Awards Daily. Not much has changed with "Mysterious Skin."

How do you say that you love a film...a brilliant film about how two young men deal with the fact that they were molested by their little league coach when they were children. Makes talking about "Call Me By Your Name" seem like a breeze.

The film is directed by Gregg Araki, who also directed "Doom Generation" (which was also on the Best Films Rewatch list) as well as "The Living End" and most recently some episodes of the amazing "American Crime." It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil and Brady Corbett (who is in this year's festival conversation as director of the Natalie Portman vehicle, "Vox Lux.") as Brian.


Neil, who is gay, whether or not he was molested or not, almost immediately began taking on similar traits of his molester, taking out the confusion on a fellow youth by putting fireworks in his mouth while "making it better" by giving him a hand job while young Wendy (later played by a young and delightfully Southern Michelle Trachenberg) looks on (friend for life!) as well as helping Couch lure other boys to their trap. Of course he is a kid, but Araki manages to show us that children, while completely non responsible for this horror experience a realm of emotions and reactions to such events...some of which make it all the more confusing when moving forward with life - hence, Neil becoming a prostitute who seems to prefer older men.

Brian on the other hand, who has completely repressed the experience, has little to no sexuality and believes he was abducted by aliens.

Both Gordon-Levitt and Corbett are brilliant and the supporting cast is top notch. Can Gregg Araki please cast Elisabeth Shue in his next project!!

The film is certainly Araki's best work, and if either of the films I watched land in my Top Films (notice I didn't say top 10. I'm leaning toward 15 at this point!!) it will be this one.

Back in 2005 I was hitting bottom for the first time. As the year was ending I was working at a restaurant in NYC and getting ready to go back on tour as an actor. I managed to see "Brokeback Mountain" for the first time right before things went to hell. I loved it, but I can't remember much about that time. I gave notice at the restaurant but somehow managed to get fired the day before my last day and went out on the road where everything was "fine."

When I got back to NYC in January I laid off the drinking/drugging for a bit. I was cast in my first feature film and began to do short films as well. It was a great, great time. I leaned into the Oscars and "Brokeback." In NYC there wasn't much talk about "Crash." It was mostly the cool kids going for "A History of Violence" and people like me waving the "Brokeback" flag.

Eventually, after seeing it so many times I wanted it to be more gay. I wanted the kisses to be more passionate. Basically, I wanted a different movie. But I was never not going to want it to win Best Picture.

Then night it lost to "Crash," I was drunk and ended up locked up in a bathroom crying. I felt in that moment that I would never ever make it in Hollywood because I was gay. If the Academy could do something like that, what I considered blatant homophobia, how could they ever accept me. (This makes the fact that the Academy gave Oxford Film Festival a grant to screen more LGBTQ films this year even more special!)

I eventually moved on...and then Heath Ledger died. It was devastating to me. It made his loss to Philip Seymour Hoffman even more painful. Although now that they are both gone, and Ledger won posthumously for "The Dark Knight"...well, I don't know what that means, to tell you the truth.

I watched "Brokeback Mountain" the day he died and didn't watch it again until January of this year. In January I was mostly glad that it held up.

Watching it yesterday, I was floored. The relationship between Ennis and Jack is exactly what it is supposed to be. The need that Jack expresses to Ennis makes more sense to me today then it did back in 2005.



The acting all around is so incredible...Jake and Heath...Anne and Michelle...all so young back then, but very good. Has Michelle Williams ever been better?

The film truly is perfect. Director Ang Lee and Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana along with composer Gustavo Santaolalla have created a masterpiece of cinema.

What's really interesting about both of these films is that the gay roles are all played by straight actors. I was recently asked on a panel what I thought about the casting of cisgender actors in LGBTQ roles. The right answer is, we should give equal opportunity to Queer people to play these roles. But can you imagine anyone else in these parts? (More to come on this front when we look at "Dallas Buyers Club."

NOW...with only 5 films left to go and 3 weeks to do it, it's almost hard to believe this rewatch is nearing its end. Makes me wonder if I have time to add "Moonstruck." Joking?