Shout! Factory, the film distribution company that specializes in newly gussied-up releases for cult films, will celebrate Pride Month in June with the release of four beloved gay-theme films on special edition Blu-ray.
Here's the lineup:
-- The definitive release of the drag classic To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (PG-13, 1 hour, 49 minutes). It's a 1995 movie that took a big chance by casting mainstream action stars Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes as drag queens on a cross-country road trip though, at the time, our critic allowed that while the film was "not without some merit," with Swayze and Snipes "playing gay without winking to the camera," in the end it amounted to "a sanitized and uncredited remake of a much braver and more honest Australian film, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
Priscilla, he continued "manages to be wackier and more poignant than Wong Foo; it goes farther over the top in articulating a drag queen's sensibility, while still managing to deal with serious issues of responsibility and sex. By comparison, Wong Foo represents the kind of sexless, sanitized gay men that Hollywood thinks the multiplex theaters can handle. Poorly written and unsubtle, but still restrained, it wastes the genuine efforts of its actors. Wong Foo treats homophobia the way The Parent Trap treated divorce -- as a darned inconvenience.''
In addition to deleted scenes from the archives, the film will feature a new retrospective mini-doc with actor John Leguizamo, director Beeban Kidron and screenwriter Douglas Carter Beane.
Boom! (PG, 1 hour, 50 minutes) -- a 1968 Tennessee Williams adaptation of The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore that stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton along with Noel Coward. Ridiculed on its original release for its story of a promiscuous woman (a miscast Taylor) flirting with a handsome man who may or may not be Death himself (an enjoyably miscast Burton), the premise has earned the film an enduring campiness legacy. John Waters provides commentary for this new release.
Jeffrey ( R, 1 hour, 32 minutes) -- this seminal classic of '90s Queer Cinema receives a highly accessorized re-release, with new in-depth interviews and commentary from star Steven Weber. Paul Rudnick wrote the script about a man trying to cope with dating at the height of the AIDS crisis. His quandary: Can he swear off sex forever, even if he falls in love with Steve (Michael T. Weiss)? Jeffrey also features one of Patrick Stewart's best performances as the obnoxious aging queen Sterling. His performance is probably the main attraction here.
Can't Stop the Music (PG, 2 hours, 4 minutes) -- the critically abused 1980 Village People musical gets an impressive restoration treatment, complete with new interviews with band member Randy Jones. Writer Bruce Vilanch and filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz (a vocal fan of the film) provide audio commentary to one of the strangest movies ever made. Set to the tunes of the Village People (including "YMCA"), the film also stars Valerie Perrine, Steve Gutenberg and a pre-transition Caitlyn Jenner, then widely considered the world's greatest athlete, and known as Bruce. Directed by Nancy (Rhoda) Walker.
To Wong Foo and Boom! will be released Tuesday. Jeffrey and Can't Stop the Music will be available June 7.
MovieStyle on 05/24/2019