Memoirs Of A Geisha

Arthur Golden's first novel Memoirs of a Geisha have brought a movie forth to be released December 2005.

The book and movie tells the story of a young girl sold into Geisha training in Japan. What is often misunderstood by westerners is the definition of Geisha. The word "geisha" does not mean "prostitute;" the word geisha itself literally means "person of the arts."

The earliest geisha were men, and it is as performers of dance, music and poetry that they actually spend most of their working time. Geisha's are high class of entertainers educated on a wide variety of topics from history to finances. Geisha's are trained in dance, Ikebana, calligraphy and much more with such strict training in etiquette.

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Actress, playwright, and political activist Eve Ensler was talking with a friend who was going through menopause in the 1990s when she was first struck by the way women spoke about their bodies. She believed it was a reflection of how they felt about themselves and their gender.

In turn, Eve was inspired to write a series of essays on women, their bodies, and the language they used to communicate about themselves which she adapted into a performance piece she called The Vagina Monologues.

Opening at a tiny off-off-Broadway theater, The Vagina Monologues soon became a hit in New York City which spread around the world, becoming an international phenomenon. Eve Ensler re-creates her original performance of The Vagina Monologues in this video adaptation, which was produced for the premium cable network HBO. Moving, and fun!

This three-part drama, produced for HBO, examines the changing tides of the lives of lesbians in America, both politically and personally, as we eavesdrop on three stories taking place in the same house over a span of five decades.

1961
T he house is home to Edith (Vanessa Redgrave) and Abby (Marian Seldes), an elderly lesbian couple whose lifestyle is not accepted or acknowledged by their families. When Abby suffers a serious stroke and is on the verge of death, her family rallies to her side, but not understanding the nature of her relationship with Edith, she is not included as her loved ones say their final good-byes. After Abby's death, her nephew (Paul Giamatti) and his wife (Elizabeth Perkins) arrive from out of state with plans to sell the house, without consulting Edith.

1972
The house is now home to four college students, Michelle (Amy Carlson), Linda (Michelle Williams), Karen (Nia Long), and Jeanne (Natasha Lyonne), all of whom are actively involved in the women's movement and also happen to be lesbians. The four find themselves at odds with the campus women's group when they try to promote an all-women's dance, while the other members of the group feel that feminism, not lesbianism, should be the focus of the group. Similarly, Linda faces hostility from her friends when she becomes involved with Amy (Chloe Sevigny), a very butch townie; Linda's friends see Amy's masculine attire and attitude as a form of self-loathing against being a woman, and while Linda cares deeply for Amy, she's not always comfortable with her and isn't sure that she wants to be public with their relationship.

2000
Fran (Sharon Stone) and Kal (Ellen DeGeneres), a happy and firmly committed couple, are sharing the house, and after much discussion, they decide that they want to take their relationship to the next level and have a baby. However, deciding that they want a child and dealing with the practicalities of getting pregnant are two different things; Fran and Kal first debate about going to a sperm bank as opposed to asking one of their male friends to help out, and later, either going to a doctor to perform the procedure or trying it at home.

This is a hard movie to watch, but well worth watching with a very realistic feel. Based on a true story, this drama was adapted from the life of Brandon Teena, born Teena Brandon, a woman who chose to live her life as a man and suffered tragic consequences as a result. In 1993, 20-year-old Brandon (Hilary Swank) leaves Lincoln, Nebraska for the nearby community of Falls City, where she sports a crew cut, favors jeans and boots, and is regarded as a man by most of the people in town.

While Brandon's friend Lonny (Matt McGrath) warns her that sexual outsiders aren't looked upon kindly in Falls City, she develops a reputation for being something of a ladies' man, and is soon living with a single mother named Candace (Alicia Goranson). But when Brandon meets teenage Lana (Chloe Sevigny), the two become romantically involved almost immediately. Brandon makes friends with Lana's mother (Jeanetta Arnette) and a burly ex-con named John (Peter Sarsgaard). John and his buddy Tom (Brendan Sexton) run with a rough group of men who like to drink and carouse, and they accept Brandon as one of their own. However, when Brandon ends up in jail on a traffic violation, her secret comes out, and, while Lana stands by Brandon's side, John and Tom feel betrayed -- and their anger soon boils over into violence.

For those of you who don't already know, the new movie Kinsey is now in theaters portraying the life of sexologist Professor Alfred Kinsey.

Alfred Kinsey was a zoologist turned sexpert who published two major studies- "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" in 1948 and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female" in 1953. To this day they are still considered by some to be the foundation of human sexuality research.

There are those of course that are outraged that a movie about Kinsey has been made, but I wanted to provide a more insightful look into the film for those who wish to see it.

Having studied Kinsey myself, I felt that the historical accuracy of him was well done. I believe that it does encapsulate the true life of Kinsey.

In addition, I feel that this movie is not only entertaining, but it will assist the viewer in better understanding the evolution of our sexual enlightenment in our society and how Kinsey's work impacts our lives to this day.

I think it is shocking to watch it and remember that it was not that long ago that we were rather ignorant when it came to sexual matters. The pioneering efforts of people like Kinsey and Masters & Johnson whose work we base much of our research on today has allowed us to better understand our bodies and sexuality.

Not to say that many people today aren't still misinformed about their sexuality from crazy notions of douching with Coca Cola after sex as a birth control method to the sheer insanity of penis enlargement products that don't work and aren't typically safe.

But to recall when people thought that masturbation was unhealthy or that oral sex on a woman would cause infertility is quite humorous and sad. If it weren't for sexual pioneers like Kinsey, we would probably still think these things.

While they are funny to think about, I say they are sad because I don't think many people really think about the mental anguish people have gone through when it comes to embracing their sexuality and still continue to. I should know, I get hundreds of eMails everyday with stories from individuals and couples pouring out their hearts about the worry, shame, and loss of self esteem and relationships that come from sexual ignorance and repression. It is a rather good reason for a film like this to have been made and I hope to see more like it!

Because Kinsey was originally trained as a zoologist, he made no moral judgments on those that he interviewed and that is why is study was profoundly accurate at the time. Kinsey based his work on interviews with 5,300 white men and 5,940 white women. These interviews serve as the foundation for his published works. Each interview comprised up to 521 questions that touched on anything and everything sexual including bestiality, pedophilia, extramarital sexuality, homosexual tendencies, masturbation, and penis size.

As a result of these interviews, Kinsey promoted a seven-point scale of normal human sexuality, with bisexuality the most "balanced" state. Kinsey said that 37 percent of adult males had had at least one homosexual experience. Critics of Kinsey insist that Kinsey was the originator of the homosexual movement, when in reality he simply brought attention to the truth about it.

The most controversy surrounding his research and his one greatest mistakes in my opinion was when he once incorrectly used data from prisoners, prostitutes, pedophiles, and other sexually promiscuous people to explain the behavior of all Americans. This is one of the main reasons that abstinence supporters are planning to protest the movie.

When his books were first published, many critics immediately ridiculed his methods. Many did not believe the people interviewed were telling the truth or they called his work obscene. What is sad is that many of his extreme critics try to tear down his work by making up a lot of "what ifs" as their arguments against his information. I mean what moron bases a review on presumptions rather than fact. I will tell you who, those who are terrified of their own sexuality.

We seem to be going into a time of sexual repression again with the Christian Right (which is in my onion... is neither) who often advocate fear and shame based attitudes and laws against sexuality. The truth is that we need to learn about our sexuality for so many reasons. To help us prevent disease, improve self esteem, improve relationships, and to understand how our bodies work to name a few.

Kinsey is by no means to be held high by people as the greatest researcher of sexuality as he was human and I believe like all of us had room for improvement. What I will say is that his pioneering efforts should be celebrated and this movie does that well.

Kinsey did have a way about him that allowed people to be relaxed and so perhaps it was not that people were dishonest in their replies, but rather more honest then ever before. Perhaps the truth was disturbing to his critics rather than inaccurate.

Ultimately, this is the meaning and legacy of Kinsey - the person and the movie. The 'religious right' is probably going to be very upset about Kinsey. They may traipse out a lot of old, unproven rumors about how Kinsey obtained his information regarding childhood sexuality. They will probably claim that Kinsey used information from shady characters, criminals, Nazis, pedophiles, or other unsavory people. The truth of the matter is that, as a scientist, Kinsey was willing to accept written and oral data from anyone willing to reveal that private aspect of their lives.

What Kinsey did was point out that we need to learn about our sexuality from an open state of mind, by using science and not moral judgment which can only cloud the truth about what people really think, feel and experience.

In addition to the new film on Kinsey, his work is also the basis of a new fictionalized novel by T.C. Boyle called "The Inner Circle," a musical that is Broadway-bound, and two television documentaries.

We hope that this movie and other work will inspire people to think about sexuality in terms of it's reality... the beautiful, complex and sometimes challenging part of who we are. We should embrace all that it is just as we should embrace all of who we are, for without all the pieces of the puzzle we will never be fully able to see it for what it is, what it is not and for the beauty that it's positive and negative influence create in us.

 

Starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney

Our Rating Out Of Four Stars-

Alfred Charles Kinsey

Laura Berman, PhD, LCSW

Clinical assistant professor of obstetrics-gynecology and psychiatry at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University in Chicago, and director of the Berman Center in Chicago

Laura Berman, PhD, LCSW said this of Kinsey "He set the foundation for taking human sexuality out of the realm of morality." Before his work, "the only discussion was what sex should be or is supposed to be, not what actually happened." In a nutshell, Kinsey said there was a wide gap between what people thought was normal and what they actually did in the privacy of their own bedrooms.

So much sexuality research is going on now, she says. "One of the goals that I have that is similar to Kinsey is to demystify elements of sexuality as well as to remove taboos and misunderstandings around sexuality."

Berman is currently working on a national study of women looking at the health and sexual benefits of sexual aids and devices. "We want to get the conversation started that this is not dirty and embarrassing and that 30 percent of women are using these devices," she says. According to her work, women who use such aids report higher levels of sexual function and overall quality of life.

The best message that the movie and the man makes is that knowledge is power. Dr. Ruth said of the movie "I think we have to be grateful to Kinsey because 50 years ago, he was willing to talk about a subject matter that was really taboo."

Based On A True Story

A touching story based on the life of C.S. Lewis played by Sir Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger as Joy, his love interest. Shadowlands is set in the early '50s when Lewis was a middle-aged bachelor and finds that being a philosopher does not make you an expert at the experiences of life. This is a tear jerker and I challenge anyone to see it without a box of tissues as it will certainly touch you!

Based On A True Story-

We rated this movie (now available on video) with four stars for the sheer message that it provides. Providing a real look inside a twisted world, which unfortunately is very real.

Yet no one from the Catholic Church has ever been prosecuted or held accountable for these atrocities. Events depicted in The Magdalene Sisters are completely true. Many of the survivors are still alive to tell their stories, and have already done so in the riveting documentary Love in a Cold Climate, and a special report on CBS’s 60 Minutes, both of which inspired Mr. Mullan to make this film.

The film captures Ireland in the sixties where four women are given into the custody of the Madgalene sisterhood asylum to correct their more or less "sinful" behavior: Crispina and Rose have given birth to a child out of wedlock, Margaret was raped by her cousin and the orphan Bernadette had been repeatedly caught flirting with the boys. All have to work in a laundry under the strict supervision of the nuns, who break their wills through sadistic punishments. Some of the girls ironically were sexually abused by the Catholic Priests that governed the work house. Some of the inmates develop countermeasures, while others perish under the treatment.

 

Buy On Amazon.com

Our Rating Out Of Four Stars-

The true story reviews the lives of four young Irish
women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum. Thousands of Irish women per year were in custody in workhouses like the Magdalene convent, until these hellholes were finally closed down in 1996!

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, et al.
Director: Nick Cassavetes

New Line Cinema presents a film directed by Nick Cassavetes. Written by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. Running time: 120 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for some sexuality).

This is wonderful, romantic, bitter sweet movie but not your typical sappy fluff. Here we have a beautiful story about love at its most enduring and indomitable, with some truly wonderful performances.

A bonus to the film was that the author of the book based the inspiration in this novel on his wife's grandparents love for one another, and so it is even more amazing that this story carries a true story behind it.

One of our readers wanted us to mention this movie as they felt it was a great one and we agree.

This superior, made-for-cable film in 1993, this Home Box Office adaptation of Randy Shilts' chronicle detailing the emergence of AIDS in America and the fight against bureaucracy and society for a cure is a taut, outrageous, and affecting true-life drama.

Matthew Modine (Birdy, Married to the Mob) is featured as a doctor with the Centers for Disease Control at the time when the first reports of a disease plaguing the gay community were heard. Modine and his colleagues embark on an investigation that resembles a compelling detective story as they try to track the source of the disease and discover a cure. Their efforts are thwarted by an ambivalent government and a turf war between French physicians and a celebrated American researcher (Alan Alda) who seems to place his own glory above the dead and the dying. Featuring heartfelt performances from a stellar cast including Richard Gere, Glenne Headly, Anjelica Huston, Steve Martin, Ian McKellen, Saul Rubinek, and Lily Tomlin, this impassioned film stands as an impressive and important document of one of the darkest eras in modern human history, and a tribute to the spirit of those who sought to save lives.
--Robert Lane

Drew Barrymore's character Lucy loses her short-term memory every night when she goes to sleep from a car accident, and Adam Sandler - who has fallen in love with her - must win Lucy's heart anew every day. This situation makes for some funny moments, but it also makes for some sensitive moments and some very bittersweet ones. How can they live happily ever after when she has to start over every day? Romantic comedies usually have happy endings, but how can the writers end this one? By giving Lucy a miracle cure? Or do they foresake the expected happy ending? The result may well surprise you and is why we recommend this in addition to the truly funny and tenderhearted movie that it is.

Monster

Based On A True Story

Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron) was a woman who survived a brutal and abusive childhood in Michigan to become a thick-skinned but emotionally damaged adult. Homeless most of her life, Wuornos subsisted by working as a street prostitute; later, when she was in Florida, down to her last five dollars and pondering suicide, she stopped into a bar for a beer. There, Aileen met Selby Wall (Christina Ricci), a woman in her early twenties who had been sent to live with relatives after her Christian parents became aware of her lesbian lifestyle.

Selby is immediately attracted to Aileen, and while Aileen tells Selby she's never been in a lesbian relationship, she soon finds herself equally infatuated with her. Selby runs away from her family and moves into a cheap hotel with Aileen, who initially pays the bills by hooking. One night, after a john attacks her, Aileen pulls a gun and kills the man. Although her first murder can be categorized as self-defense, Aileen's loathing for the men who pay her for sex becomes so extreme that she begins killing her customers regardless of their behavior. Meanwhile, Selby slowly becomes aware of the full extent of her lover's instability and the bloody consequences of her actions.

Monster was inspired by the true story of Aileen Wuornos, whose life and death was chronicled in two documentaries by filmmaker Nick Broomfield, Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, and Aileen: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer by Mark Deming.

RuPaul narrates this affectionate look at everyone's favorite televangelist/living cosmetic display: Tammy Faye Bakker.

The eldest of eight children in rural Minnesota, Tammy Faye married Jim Bakker in 1960, and soon they found a following on the gospel circuit. This eventually led to a gig on Christian media mogul Pat Robertson's first television shows, including the ever-popular 700 Club. Perhaps jealous of their rising profile, Robertson soon usurped the show for himself.

The Bakkers went on to co-found the Trinity Broadcasting Network, until that too was wrestled away from them by investors. Riding a tide of religious fundamentalism, the Bakkers reached their gaudy heights with the PTL Network and the spinoff Christian theme park Heritage USA.

Then the roof caved in. Jim was forced to pay hush money to future Playboy centerfold model Jessica Hahn and then was submitted to rival Jerry Falwell's hostile take-over of the network. Soon Jim was in jail for fraud, and Tammy was at Betty Ford for addiction to prescription drugs. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival.

Why Does The Gay Community Tend To Like Tammy Faye?

Tammy Faye was one of the very few to insist on reaching out to AIDS victims with genuine compassion. She stressed that believers needed to embrace and love the gay community rather than condemn them. But more to the point, Tammy Faye practiced this sermon. She visited AIDS victims and spent valuable time with them. For this reason many in the gay community have grown to respect Tammy Faye. This is perhaps the one quality that makes her different from others of her ilk, and it is a quality worthy of both recognition and respect.

Tammy Faye however tends to preach of God in a performance oriented way. Seems that many are drawn to the less cerebral way of approaching spirituality and are led by flash and entertainment.

In fact, it seems that the film reminded me of how too often, like sheep most people accept such preaching as fact rather than doing their own soul searching. While the film holds positive aspects of Tammy and how to live comppasionatly it also reminds one of the ridiculous ways people have used religion to cause harm instead of using the spirituality of man to simply show love, compassion and the golden rule of helping others for the simple way it nourishes our soul. Tammy Faye shows these as universal traits not through religion, but through a pure heart.

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 with an educational disability 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.

One night with nothing to do, Winchell and Fisher tagged along with a group of soldiers who ended up taking in a drag show at a bar in Nashville. One of the performers on the bill that night was 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, and he struck back by spreading rumors that one of the men in their company was gay, with fingers soon pointing towards Winchell.

Despite the Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the company's drill sergeant (Barclay Hope) took it upon himself to find and remove the gay soldier in his ranks, while the increasingly vicious Fisher aligned himself with Calvin Glover (Philip Eddolls), a young and narrow minded recruit eager to strike out with violence against those different from himself. Directed by veteran filmmaker Frank Pierson, Soldier's Girl premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.

Set in England during the 1950s, this movie revolves around Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton), whose unrelenting dedication to her family is well known throughout her blue-collar town.

However, there are more people than her rapidly aging mother and ill neighbor who depend on Vera's care. Though abortion was illegal and, of course, widely frowned upon in the '50s, Vera sees women going through unwanted pregnancies the same as she would anyone else -- human beings deserving of treatment. With this in mind, she regularly induces miscarriages for those who need them, and her patients are consistently grateful for her gentleness and understanding.

Unfortunately for Vera, the law doesn't see her as aiding those in need; they interpret the abortions as murder, as do most of the other people in her life. When Vera's activities are revealed, her family life and relationships with those around her -- including the ones she helped nurse back to health -- are put in jeopardy. Vera Drake also features performances from Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, and Philip Davis. The movie is a bit long in parts, but the acting is very good and the story is compelling. A good movie.

In 1994, this drama starring Brad Pitt as Tristan--the rebellious middle son of a fiercely independent Montana rancher and military veteran (Anthony Hopkins)--who is routinely at odds with his more responsible older brother, Alfred (Aidan Quinn), and younger brother, Samuel (Henry Thomas).

From the battlefields of World War I to his adventures as an oceangoing sailor, Tristan's life is full of personal torment, especially when he returns to Montana and finds himself competing with Alfred over Samuel's beautiful widow (Julia Ormond), whose passion for Tristan disrupts the already turbulent Ludlow clan.

Under the wide-open canopy of Big Sky country, this operatic tale unfolds with all the bloodlust, tragedy, and scenery-chewing performances you'd expect to find in a best-selling novel (in fact, it's based on the acclaimed novella by Jim Harrison), but it's a potent mix that's highly entertaining. Not surprisingly, John Toll won an Academy Award for his breathtaking outdoor cinematography.