Hot Dates: Williamstown Film Festival Oct. 30-Nov. 1

Ethel, the string quartet has created a high octane score to the sci fi film Ship of Monsters
Coming up for the second weekend are several more great films of interest. The first weekend was a bang up success. It featured the touching Handsome Harry, the teen sexual explorations of Dare and all those great shorts, not to mention the documentary Beyond Greenaway and the more mainstream Against the Current.

Friday night 10/30 is going to be an adventure as Mass MoCA hosts LA NAVE DE LOS MONSTRUOS. The screening also features Ethel – America's leading rock-infused string quartet in an original score to the Mexican '50s sci-fi classic The Ship of Monsters. Two hot Venusian babes target Earth on a quest to find men for their planet. Ethel's electrifying new original score will be performed live. Previewing Halloween, a costume contest will precede the film.

To get a taste of the wierdness in store go here:



Also on the docket on Saturday 10/31 at 10:00am

ALL-SHORTS Slot II: A provocative spectrum of shorts – an entirely different program from Weekend I. Artists from the films will be on hand to discuss their work.


Then at 2:45pm is a screening of MAKING THE BOYS. When it opened off-Broadway in 1968, Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band jolted audiences and revolutionized the stage's treatment of homosexuality. Months later, the Stonewall riots signaled a landmark sea change in gay attitudes toward repression. How much have things changed since? A fascinating study of art and morality in modern America.A Work in Progress.


Saturday at 8:00pm is POLIWOOD. A documentary by Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man,Wag the Dog, Bugsy) about the collision and collusion between politics and Hollywood. Grab a frontrow seat to the 2008 presidential campaign . . . and the ever-thinning line between actors and politicians, news and entertainment. A sizzling look at the roles media and celebrities play in society. New England Premiere, followed by the annual champagne/desserts party at the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute.


Finally, on Sunday 11/1 at 11:00am (Bagels and coffee served at 10:30) is the comedy, HUMPDAY. The male ego comes in for a shellacking in Lynn Shelton's bubbling Sundance award-winner. When best friends (and straight guys) Ben and Andrew reunite, they find themselves dared into entering an amateur porn contest. The plan: to create a "work of art"by having sex together. But will they go through with the scheme – and who's going to tell Ben's wife? A buddy movie gone hilariously haywire.

"It's our most diverse lineup yet," says WFF executive director Steve Lawson. "Drama, comedy, animation, documentaries, and world-class acting and direction. In addition to the features and seminars, the 30 shorts on tap this season cover an amazing range of material. And - as always - everything screens just once to maximize personal contact between artists and audiences." 

To order tickets (or discount Passes at 10% off), visit Williamstown Film Festival or call the Ticket Line at (413) 458-9900.

"Dare" at the Williamstown Film Festival is a must-see

Dare at will soon be out on DVD.
The Williamstown Film Festival this weekend and next has more films of interest to the LBGT community than we normally see offered in the Berkshires all year. Of course it is nice to see films that have real depth and resonance as well. If Sunday's film Dare is half as good as the opening film was we are in for a treat.

Handsome Harry opened the Williamstown Film Festival.
Friday's film debut was Handsome Harry about two sailors in love, a gay bashing, and a reunion decades later. We all have memories of relationships that almost were fulfilled, and that is what that film was about, though it reveals its secrets, and horrors, a bit at a time building to the inevitable reunion.

Director Adam Salky
At breakfast Saturday morning, we had a chance to speak briefly to Adam Salky, director of Sunday's much anticipated film Dare, which arrives via the Sundance Festival. He describes the film as one in which high school students attempt to define their sexuality when a typical m/f couple are both after the school's hottest and most popular guy. You can get a taste of it on their film website.

The single Berkshires screening - in fact the first East Coast screening is at Images Cinema in Williamstown and starts with bagels, coffee and OJ at 10:30. Slated for national release next month, here is a chance to not only see a hot new film, but speak with the director afterwards. He originally created this movie as a short, and it won prizes at Outfest among other places. miss it. It's a great chance to check out this great festival, too. Next weekend there are even more don't miss films of interest to the LGBT community. (See last paragraph.)

Dare is about teens who experiment with relationships.
Emmy Rossum (The Day After Tomorrow), Zach Gilford (TV's Friday Night Lights) and Ashley Springer (Teeth) head up a stellar cast including Ana Gasteyer (Mean Girls), Rooney Mara (A Nightmare on Elm Street), comedienne Sandra Bernhard (TV's Roseanne) and Alan Cumming (X2: X-Men United) in this captivating story of high school seniors at the crossroads of their adult lives.

When a pompous actor tells good girl Alexa (Rossum) that she hasn't lived, she embarks on a bold journey that takes her to mysterious bad boy Johnny (Gilford). Envious, her shy best friend Ben (Springer) also dares to pursue Johnny, complicating Alexa's romance and pushing the boundaries among the three friends.

Have a Bagel and OJ with Dare Sunday morning
And next weekend, the second and last, you absolutely must consider seeing Making the Boys and Humpday at Images, not to mention the spectacular appearance of Ethel for their live music score to La Nave de los Monstruos. We are fortunate to host one of the finest film festivals in America, right here in the Berkshires.

it is such a pleasure to have an alternative to those lowest-common-denominator Hollywood films that play gay characters for laughs, like Sacha Baron Cohen's despicable Bruno. And it is great to have Images in operation for those of us who love film. See the article above for my view of the Berkshire Mall and its lackluster Regal Cinemas.