NOW IN ITS 13TH YEAR, the Portland Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (PLGFF) continues its tradition of bringing queer-tastic films to the masses. Taking over Cinema 21 all this week, this year's PLGFF boasts 16 screenings and an opening-night party at Crush (1400 SE Morrison). Our picks for the fest are below; for more info, see Film Shorts, My, What a Busy Week! and plgff.org.
Patrik, Age 1.5 (Fri Oct 2)—Göran (Gustaf Skarsgård) and Sven (Torkel Petersson) are an attractive, successful gay couple who've just moved into a colorful Swedish suburb, where they hope to start a family. They're eventually cleared to adopt—but due to a typo, they end up with a 15-year-old boy rather than the 1.5-year-old they expected. What's worse, the kid's a homophobe with a criminal history. Predictability dictates that Patrik, Age 1.5 should dedicate itself to finding a happily unconventional resolution, and after a fashion, it does, with the likeability of the characters ultimately carrying the film to its foreseeable conclusion. MARJORIE SKINNER
Pornography (Sat Oct 3)—With a title this provocative, one can't help but pay attention—and you'll want to pay attention to this schizophrenic thrill ride, for all the good it'll do you. Calling to mind Mulholland Drive and 8mm, Pornography's connecting narrative involves the murder of a '90s gay porn star. While not without its flaws, Pornography blurs the lines between viewer and voyeur, performer and person, and observance and obsession. Kicking at that fourth wall with its self-referential indulgences, it asks an obvious question, one that goes mostly unspoken in an information age where anything is literally at your fingertips: "Is this what you wanted to see?" BRAD BUCKNER
Out Late (Sun Oct 4)—An engaging, frank, and poignant documentary about the lives of queer senior citizens who came out after middle age. Between the story of the Canadian man who fell in love with his quilting circle partner and came out in church at age 60 and scenes of an 81-year-old Florida lesbian getting down at the gay disco, Out Late finds a refreshing sense of humor in its subjects' sexual and emotional honesty. SARAH MIRK
Out of the Blue (Mon Oct 5)—I was secretly hoping this was the third Into the Blue flick, this time with the bikini'd Jessica Alba diving for lesbian booty. Alas, no. Out of the Blue is a subdued French film about Marion (Mireille Perrier), a fortysomething mother who realizes that she needs to leave her dickish husband and her obnoxious teenage daughter. It's the sort of fresh start, coming-of-middle-age film that you've seen a dozen times, but it has good performances and a sweet lesbian love story. But no Jessica Alba in a swimsuit. Sorry. COURTNEY FERGUSON
An Englishman in New York (Thurs Oct 8)—There are two lives of importance in An Englishman in New York. The more important is the life of Quentin Crisp, likely the last true British wit since Oscar Wilde. The other life of interest is that of actor John Hurt, who played Crisp in the 1975 television adaptation of Crisp's classic book The Naked Civil Servant. Here, a matronly Hurt reprises his role as Crisp, and the resultant film is fantastic not only for Hurt's superb performance as the aging Crisp—he delivers razor-sharp bon mots in a voice both grave and wistful—but also for its loving look at New York's gay renaissance where Crisp became an icon. PATRICK ALAN COLEMAN
