AndyMangels.com: JUST OUT Information

Homo Theater System Indigo Girls: Live at the Fillmore (Epic)
     The Indigo Girls, the most famous lesbian musical duo in the world, are Amy Ray (the harder-rocking Melissa Etheridge clone) and Emily Saliers (the folksy Earth Mother type). Their brand of rock is hard to classify, as the songs vary wildly both lyrically and musically.

     Much of their work is politically charged, as the selection of about 20 songs on this concert DVD shows. Shot at the December 1999 closing of a major tour, this performance intermixes live versions of songs from five albums with interview footage, recording sessions and other treats.

     Oddly enough, although the women talk about all the activist causes they are involved in, there is no mention anywhere of lesbian or gay issues, excepting a blink-and-you'll-miss-it screen shot about YouthPride. Still, for fans, this is a rocking good time.

     The DVD features allow you to watch just the concert footage or the interview footage or to watch them mixed together. It also contains a discography, photo gallery and lyrics feature so you can sing along.

Not Angels but Angels (Water Bearer Films)
     Few of us have been to the Czech Republic, and this harrowing documentary doesn't capture the Old World grandeur. Instead, it tells the story of two dozen male prostitutes who roam the bus stations and parks of Prague, searching for the male tourist trade that will provide them with their minimal fees.

     The interviewees are mostly teen-agers who have come into prostitution because of rejection from their family. Life on the streets demands some form of pay for survival, and their bodies are their currency.

     Shot in discomforting close-ups with subjects who are mostly open about their lives, Not Angels but Angels is both engrossing and disturbing. When one youth talks of charging his first trick the cost of bus fare and a pack of cigarettes, you feel extraordinarily uncomfortable; the squalor of these boys' lives is such that the bus station pimp actually seems like a protector rather than a predator.

     It is nice to see one youth who has used his earnings to better himself-and who thinks about a future-but the cumulative effect of the stories is depressing. The DVD and video of Not Angels but Angels feature the same material, in Czech with subtitles.

Boys Life 2 (Image)
     A collection of four gay short films, this DVD is a little dark and murky.

     "Must Be the Music" is a forgettable short about gay teens out for a rave-dancing night on the town in Los Angeles. Filled with stunning visuals, "Alaki, Iowa" is the story of a young gay man who discovers something about his father's secret life.

     "The Dadshuttle" is an uncomfortable ride to a train station taken by a father and son, with rather naturalistic but inane dialogue as the son tries to make a distressing revelation. But the best on the disk-worth the price alone-is "Nunzio's Second Cousin," a darkly hilarious tale about a gay cop (Vincent D'Onofrio) who takes a gay basher home to meet his dotty mother (Eileen Brennan).

     You'll definitely enjoy two of the shorts; the other two are professionally done, just not my cup of latte.

Tea with Mussolini (MGM)
     An absolutely adorable film for those who enjoy World War II stories, beautiful Italian scenery or just a great ensemble cast. Joan Plowright, Dame Judi Dench and Maggie Smith join Cher and Lily Tomlin as a collection of British women (one is from the United States) who refuse to bow to the encroaching politics of Mussolini or the coming war-and who collectively have raised a young bastard boy to be a conflicted hero. Tomlin plays an outspoken lesbian archeologist who dances and flirts with women like she'd been doing it all her life…oh wait, she has!

     Absolutely enchanting and filled with breathtaking scenery, this will satisfy fans of divas and strong-minded women alike. The DVD features both widescreen and standard versions of the film, a "making of" booklet and the trailer.

     To find these queer DVDs and others, visit Portland's Gai-Pied, 2544 N.E. Broadway, or Movie Madness, 4320 S.E. Belmont St., or order them through gay-owned Wolfe Video, 800- GET-WOLFE, or TLA Video, 800-333-8521.