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We will be taking a break during the summer, and returning September 15th The TransMovie Matinee is brought to you by The Pride Center of Edmonton. It is held on Saturdays, at 2:00, and there is no admission charge. This is not meant to be a major public performance -- just a private gathering among friends with a common interest. There will be some munchies and drinks (pop, coffee -- no alcohol) provided, and you are invited (but not required) to bring some as well. This is mainly meant to provide an extra outing for some of the main trans groups, and a chance to meet people from other groups, as all are invited. Schedule:
If you're interested in suggesting other films not in our current library, or reviewing some of the possibilities being looked at, let Mercy know. If you'd like to suggest films for off-nights, please also do the same. Current Video Library: The Badge (2002): Billy Bob Thornton / Patricia Arquette -- originally a made-for-TV movie about a fictional murder of a transwoman in a Southern town, during an election year. Beautiful Boxer: Inspired by a true story, this drama from Thailand tells the story of Nong Toom (Asanee Suwan), who was born in a small community where his family struggled with poverty, and Nong Toom himself was the target of bullies who made fun of his delicate nature. From his early childhood, Nong Toom felt more like a girl than a boy, and when he encounters a transsexual for the first time, he comes to the realization that he also is a woman trapped in a man's body. While Nong Toom is not by his nature aggressive, one day he is forced to fight a bully to defend one of his friends, and he discovers he has a natural talent for kickboxing. Nong Toom begins training with a skilled kickboxing coach, Pi Chart (Sorapong Chatri), but despite the best efforts of Nong Toom and his best friend Pi Bua (Natcha Bootsri), the secret of his unorthodox sexuality leaks out. To his surprise, Pi Chart accepts Nong Toom as he is, and boxing promoter Pi Mo (Somsak Tuangmukda) embraces his lifestyle as a marketable gimmick, as the fighter now battles his opponents while wearing makeup -- and wins more often than not; however, Nong Toom begins to alienate his new following when he declares that his embrace of women's clothing and makeup is not a joke and that he's saving his prize money to one day have a sex-change operation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide The Birdcage (La Cage Aux Folles) 1996: Armand Goldman (Robin Williams) owns a popular drag nightclub in South Miami Beach. His long-time lover Albert (Nathan Lane) stars there as Starina. "Their" son Val (actually Armand's by his one heterosexual fling, twenty years before) comes home to announce his engagement to Barbara Keely, daughter of Kevin Keely (Gene Hackman), US Senator, and vice president of the Committee for Moral Order. The Senator and family descend upon South Beach to meet Val and his father and "mother..." and what ensues is comic chaos. Boys Don't Cry: A true story about hope, fear, and the courage it takes to be yourself, "Boys Don't Cry" is "One of the 10 best films of 1999" (National Board of Review). When Brandon Teena, a young man with an infectious, aw-shucks grin and an angelic face that's all angles, wanders into Falls City, Nebraska, he takes to the town like it's a second skin. In little time he's fallen in with a gang of goofy if temperamental redneck boys, found himself a girlfriend, and befriended enough people to form something of a small family. In fact, it's the best time Brandon's ever had. However, there are shadows looming over Brandon's life: a court date for grand theft auto, a checkered criminal record, and a seemingly innocuous speeding ticket that could prove to be his undoing. Why? Because as it turns out, Brandon Teena is actually Teena Brandon, a woman -- Mark Englehart, Amazon.com (edit) Breakfast On Pluto: A film by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Pat McCabe. Who does not want to be loved? Not many of us, and Kitten wants it more than most. As foster kid Patrick "Kitten" Braden grows up, he leaves behind his small-town life in Ireland for London, where he's reborn as a transvestite cabaret singer in the 1960s and 70s. Her journey to find love in whatever form it may take is both touching and harrowing at times. While this story features the good, the bad and the ugly of the transvestite lifestyle, there is no judgment being made, it is presented as a simple fact of Kitten's life from nearly the first time you see her. Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: Five women reunite in 1975 to hold a 20-year reunion of their James Dean fan club. But when a mysterious woman arrives, a series of shocking revelations threatens to ruin the reunion. This early Robert Altman film was based on the stage play, features Cher in her very first film role, and Karen Black does a surprisingly capable job of playing a transgender woman -- despite the fact that the film dates back to 1982. Cruel And Unusual: The stories of several male-to-female transsexuals who were placed in men's facilities even though they identify themselves -- and often have most of the outward appearances of -- women. Even worse for some inmates than being placed with men is that most prisons don't consider hormone treatments necessary medication. Thus the transsexuals are forced to suffer the withdrawals of being without something that their bodies have come to depend on. When a man starts taking estrogen, his body stops producing hormones naturally. Taking him off the medication, then, is like denying hormones to a woman after she's had a hysterectomy. Crying Game, The: The film is an unclassifiable original that surprises, intrigues, confounds, and delights you with its freshness, humor, and honesty from beginning to end. It starts as a psychological thriller, as IRA foot soldier Fergus (the incomparable Stephen Rea) kidnaps a British soldier (Forest Whitaker) and waits for the news that will determine whether he executes his victim or sets him free. As the night wears on, a peculiar bond begins to form between the two men. Later, the movie shifts tone and morphs into something of a romantic comedy as Fergus unexpectedly becomes involved with the soldier's girlfriend Dil (Jaye Davidson) and discovers more about himself, and human nature in general, than he ever dreamed possible. -- Jim Emerson, Amazon.com Flawless: Walt Koontz (Robert DeNiro), a homophobic cop, ends up with paralyzed vocal cords because of an unfortunate stroke. His therapy includes receiving singing lessons from a neighbor who is not only openly flamboyant but also a pre-op transgenderist, Rusty (Philip Seymour Hoffman). -- Rob Reser, IMDB Hedwig And the Angry Inch: Hedwig, born a boy named Hansel in East Berlin, fell in love with an American G.I. and underwent a sex-change operation in order to marry him and flee to the West. Unfortunately, nothing worked out quite as it was supposed to - years later, Hedwig is leading her rock band on a tour of the U.S., telling her life story through a series of concerts at Bilgewater Inn seafood restaurants. Her tour dates coincide with those of arena-rock star Tommy Gnosis, a wide-eyed boy who once loved Hedwig... but then left with all her songs. Kinky Boots: Charles Price may have grown up with his father in the family shoe business, but he never thought that he would take his father's place. Yet, the untimely death of his father places him in that position, only to learn that Price & Sons Shoes is failing. While in despair at his failed attempts to save the business, Charles has a chance encounter with the flamboyant drag queen cabaret singer, Lola. Her complaints about the inadequate footwear for her work combine with one of Charles' ex-employee's, Lauren, suggestion to change the product to create a desperate chance to save the business; make men's fetish footwear. Lola is convinced to be their footwear designer and the transition begins. Now this disparate lot must struggle at this unorthodox idea while dealing both the prejudice of the staff, Lola's discomfort in the small town and the selfish manipulation of Charles' greedy fiancé who cannot see the greater good in Charles' dream. -- Kenneth Chisholm, IMDB. Ma Vie En Rose (subtitled): One of the sweetest films to emerge from Europe in the 1990s, Alain Berliner's Ma Vie en Rose is the story of an innocent little boy, Ludovic (played with noncloying directness by Georges Du Fresne), who wants to be a girl. Convinced that he's the product of misplaced chromosomes (he imagines the mix-up in one of many delightful daydream sequences), he sets about righting the mistake by wearing dresses and high heels and experimenting with lipstick and makeup. The otherwise friendly suburban neighborhood becomes horrified by the gender confusion, though tellingly the cruelest blows come not from the teasing classmates but intolerant adults: one scene recalls the torch-and-pitchfork angry villagers from a Frankenstein movie. Ludo tries hard to be butch, but he can't deny his nature, especially when he meets a kindred spirit: a little girl who gladly trades her dress for his pants and shirt. This bittersweet mix of innocent fantasy and childhood cruelty has its moments of sadness and crushing misunderstandings, but the overall tone is loving, filled with tenderness and culminating in acceptance and togetherness. As the family stumbles and struggles to come to terms with Ludo, they find something special within him, an innocent conviction so powerful and pure that it's infectious. Ludo may not grow up to become a girl as he hopes, but his belief is so strong it's hard to deny him the possibility. -- Amazon.com Normal: As Roy (Tom Wilkinson) and Irma (Jessica Lange) celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, Roy passes out. While meeting with their pastor, Roy reveals that he's a woman trapped in a man's body, and he wants to get a sex change--setting in motion a complex and emotionally fraught conflict between husband and wife, individual and community, and parent and child. Normal explores Roy's gender dysphoria with empathy, but also has an eye for the social and familial absurdities that come up. The humor, far from trivializing the issue, steers it away from cloying sentiment or politically correct sanctimony. The movie captures the confusion of Roy's friends and coworkers with realism and without judgment, and the stressful changes of Roy and Irma's relationship aren't sugarcoated or made into a moral lesson. Both Lange and Wilkinson are superb, as are the skillful script and direction. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com Paris Is Burning: An unblinking behind the scenes story of fashion-obsessed New Yorkers who created "voguing" and drag balls, and turned these raucous celebrations into a powerful expression pf personal pride. The world within a world is instantly familiar, filled with ambitions, desires and yearnings that reflect America itself. "Paris Is Burning" is an intimate portrait of one urban community, a world in which the allure of high fashion, status and wealth becomes an affirmation of love, acceptance and joy. -- Dream LLC (Adventures of) Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: In Stephan Elliott's delirious exercise in ultra-camp meets outback macho, Terrence Stamp plays an aging trans-sexual who, with two of his equally high-glossed pals, heads off for a cabaret engagement in Alice Springs. Priscilla is their chosen vehicle, a school bus painted an outrageous purple. The culture-clash comedy that ensues is none too unpredictable: the local Ockers, initially contemptuous, soon find the spangled and bewigged trio can out-talk, out-drink and if necessary, out-punch them. It's impossible not to be swept along by the sheer brash energy of the film. The bitchy dialogue snaps and crackles, the costumes and Fellini-esque dance numbers are to die for, and Stamp and Co.--enjoying themselves no end--play the whole thing to the hilt and some way beyond it. -- Philip Kemp, Amazon.co.uk (edit) Rent: Musical. Based on Puccini's 'La Boheme', 'Rent' tells the story of one year in the life of friends living the Bohemian life in modern day East Village, New York City, 1989-1990. Among the group are our narrator, nerdy love-struck filmmaker Mark Cohen (Anthony Rapp); his former girlfriend, Maureen Johnson (Idina Menzel); Maureen's Harvard-educated public interest lawyer and lesbian lover Joanne Jefferson (Traci Thoms); Mark's roommate, HIV-positive musician and former junkie, Roger Davis (Adam Pascal); Roger's new girlfriend, dancer, Mimi Marquez (Rosario Dawson); their former roommate, computer genius Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin); Collins' transsexual street musician/lover Angel (Wilson Jermain Heredia); and Benjamin Coffin III (Taye Diggs) a former member of the group who married for money and has since become their landlord and the opposite of everything they stand for. Rocky Horror Picture Show, The: After Janet accepts Brad's marriage proposal, the happy couple drive away from Denton, Ohio, only to get lost in the rain. They stumble upon the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite who is holding the annual convention of visitors from the planet Transsexual. Frank-N-Furter unveils his creation, a young man named Rocky Horror, who fears the doctor and rejects his sexual advances. When Frank-N-Furter announces that he is returning to the galaxy Transylvania, Riff Raff the butler and Magenta the maid declare that they have plans of their own. (An audience participation film) Soldier's Girl: A group of soldiers in the deep South take vengeance against one of their own when word circulates that he's become involved with a transgendered nightclub performer in this drama based on a true story. Barry Winchell (Troy Garity) was a young man who volunteered for the United States Army and found himself stationed in Tennessee, where he soon struck up a friendship with Justin Fisher (Shawn Hatosy), a high-strung fellow GI with a drug problem. Tagging along with a group of soldiers who ended up taking in a drag show at a bar in Nashville, Winchell meets performer Calpernia Addams (Lee Pace), a transsexual and former combat medic in the Navy who was a veteran of the Gulf War before taking the first steps towards sexual reassignment. While Winchell, who was straight, was aware that Addams was at least partially still male, he found himself attracted to her for her intelligence and sensitivity, while she found herself similarly drawn to him. As Winchell and Addams' mutual attraction grew into a romance, the unstable Fisher found himself increasingly confused and angry with Winchell.... Directed by Frank Pierson, Soldier's Girl premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ All Movie Guide (edit) Southern Comfort (1999): As Robert Eads puts it in one of the first scenes of this remarkable documentary, he lives in "Bubba-land"--which wouldn't be unusual if Robert weren't a female-to-male transsexual. Southern Comfort chronicles the last year of Robert's life, as he succumbed to, ironically, cervical cancer; over that year, documentarian Kate Davis developed an amazing intimacy with Robert and his adopted family of other transsexuals living in the depths of Georgia, including his vivacious male-to-female transsexual girlfriend Lola. The film's title comes from an annual gathering that Robert describes as "the cotillion of the trans community, the coming-out party"--an event part convention, part high school prom. Every scene testifies to both the enormous difficulties they face and the grace, humor, and sheer will with which they take it all on. It's not surprising Southern Comfort has won numerous awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com Tipping The Velvet: Dramatised from Sarah Waters' acclaimed debut novel, "Tipping the Velvet" tells the story of Nancy Astley (Rachael Stirling), a young girl who works as cook and waitress in her Father's seaside restaurant - that is until she witnesses the extraordinary performance of a new-to-town male impersonator - Kitty Butler (Keeley Hawes) - and begins to undergo a complete life transformation. Suddenly whipped up - and quickly flung down - by her love affair with Kitty, she experiences both euphoria and deep disillusion as she embarks on a seven-year journey of self-discovery - finally realizing that a life of sensation just isn't enough. To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! -- Julie Newmar: After Vida Boheme (Patrick Swayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) win a major New York drag contest and a trip to Hollywood, they are persuaded to take the inexperienced drag princess Chi-Chi (John Leguizamo) with them. They hire a beat-up old Cadillac and set off for Los Angeles, but their car breaks down in a small town in the middle of nowhere. With just their wits and an endless supply of garish costumes, they transform the town and everyone who lives there--until homophobic cop Sheriff Dollard catches up with them... Tootsie: Michael Dorsey is desperate; he can't find a job. That is, until he gets a female role in a soap opera and becomes very famous. Of course, nobody knows that this new television star is a man... But, after a while, he falls in love with the leading actress of the series, and here is the big problem: how can he express his feelings, since she thinks that Michael is a woman? Transamerica: Bree is days away from a dream she has focused on for years - the completion of her gender reassignment surgery. Her plans come to grinding halt when she receives a call from New York and discovers she has a son and that he has been picked up by the police. Bree's closest friend and therapist, Margaret, tells Bree she has to deal with her past before she can move into her future. Reluctantly, Bree springs Toby from jail under the pretense that she's a missionary worker. Toby begs Bree to take him with her to Los Angeles, and so they set out, each hiding their true motives and identities. -- Amazon.com Venus Boyz: Gabriel Baur directs the documentary Venus Boyz, an intimate look at drag king culture and female masculinity in various parts of the world. Starting out on Drag King Night in New York City, the film introduces the lives of several women who discuss their fascination with dressing up like men. Mildred Gerestant is a data processor who performs in the evenings as a male rapper named Dred. Dressed as businessman Danny King, Diane Torr runs workshops to show other women the fine art of drag king-dom. Other subjects include Bridge Markland from Germany, Del LaGrace Volcano from London, and several others. After opening to festival acclaim throughout Europe, Venus Boyz won an honorable mention at the New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide Wigstock: The Movie: Documentary/Concert film covering the annual Drag festival in New York City. Highlights include a performance by drag diva, Ru Paul, and the infamous Lypsinca. Other film possibilities (seeking more information and / or reviews, or awaiting addition): Let Me Die A Woman: a 1978 film providing some psychological and medical information about transsexuals. This is a horrible mix of B-movie schlock shock with a Director's strangely sincere but restrained effort to understand transsexuality. It is offensive at times, and will be kept off the regular movie schedule, but the interviews with Leslie are interesting. It might be possible to view, if there are special requests. Just
Like A Woman: Gerald (Adrian Pasdar) is a yuppie-like transvestite
in his thirties. His wife (Julie Walters) arrives home earlier than
expected and discovers female attire spread over their apartment.
Not knowing anything about his habit, she misinterprets this and
throws him (and the attire) out of their home and marriage. He rents
a room in Monica's house, recently divorced and around 50. Their
relation- ship evolves from landlady/tenant over friends to lovers.
Monica learns about, begins to understand and finally appreciates
and supports Gerald- ine, Gerald's alter ego. Better
Than Chocolate: Two attractive young lesbians, Maggie and
Kim, meet in Vancouver, develop a passionate romance, and move in
together. Meanwhile, Maggie's well-meaning but naive mother Lila
gets divorced and decides to move to Vancouver and join the household.
Soon after, Lila is befriended by Judy, a transsexual about to undergo
a sex-change operation. Complications ensue as the conservative
Lila learns the truth about Maggie, Judy, and their diverse group
of friends.
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