Wonderfalls - The lesbian sister rocks

A 2004 TV series that went nowhere but was one of the funniest shows on the face of the earth. But when your target audience are slacker/loners, what the hell do you expect? Bitter and sarcastic and straight Jaye is the daughter of Darrin and Karen, sister of Aaron and Sharon (get it? See how different even Jaye's name is from her family's?) She tries to go through live being as uninvolved as possible, working at a Niagara Falls tourist store, Wonderfalls. But then the wax lion starts to talk to her, telling her to do things. And then other animal-things -- a puppet, the singing bass on the wall of the bar, some plastic pink flamingos -- start telling Jaye to do things too. And they keep at her until she does what she's been told: Lick the lightswitch, get her words out, break the light -- shit that makes no sense until Jaye does it. The chaos explodes around her, setting all sorts of events in motion that make good things happen to other people.

Okay, the here's the lesbian part... Sharon is a successful, closeted-from-her-family lesbian corporate laywer. In one story arch, the pink flamingo causes Jaye to run over her dad with the car, and send him to hospital. And the stuffed bear tells Jaye to set up the loser UPS guy with Sharon. Sharon and "Poor Bitch" are out for dinner (with Jaye because she tricked her sister) when Poor Bitch gets an allergic reaction to the nuts on his salad. They rush off to the hospital, where Sharon meets Beth, Poor Bitch's ex-wife, who left him for another woman.

Beth: Are you his girlfriend?
Sharon: I don't have a girlfriend. I mean...

Jaye figures it all out pretty quickly. Sharon has to turn down a date with Beth because she has to care for her dad, who is laid up with a broken leg thanks to Jaye running him down. So she puts all of his pain meds into a drink and knocks him out. Sharon invites Beth over, where they start messing around on the living room floor, and get into all sorts of drama about the fact that Beth is bisexual. Then there is a weird sound off camera, and surprise! Stoned out dad is standing there watching it all unfold before toddling off for a glass of water.

But it turns out, the broken leg was a good thing, because at the hospital they did tests that saved dad's life. Jaye picks dad up and takes him out in the car for breakfast.

Off camera...
Dad: Did you know we get lesbian porn on basic cable?
Jaye: (crashes car)

Funny as hell. Bitter, sarcastic, where our morally ambiguous heroine drinks lots, swears, and can get away with telling the bartender "your ass is ringing".

Katie Finneran plays Sharon and Caroline Dhavernas is Jaye. I saw the few episodes that aired on TV, and then bought the DVD with 9 unaired episodes. Get it, watch it, it's damn funny and bold enough to say the words "lesbian porn" on TV!

-- Sue

Bound - The Ultimate Lesbian Movie?

Two hot chicks screw over the mob and get millions of dollars, kill the bad guy, buy a cool truck and Tom Jones sings "She's A Lady". What more could you ask for? Gina's portrayal of Corky is HOT HOT HOT! Too bad she's straight in real life. Stupid tattoos though. Anyway, Jennifer is sexy with her curves and coyness and cold-bloodedness. They are the characters we all dream about being -- tough, rich, and with a hot babe on the side. It's crazy film noir.

Whether you're a dyke, or have dyke friends, doesn't matter. You need this in your DVD collection. Listen to the director's narration (which was recorded for Laser Disc). Although Jennifer and Gina arrive late (minutes before the end of the movie), Susie Bright provides absolutely excellent commentary. She pulls the Wachowski Brothers into conversation that rises above "Yeah, that's good, heh." Instead, you're engaged, and find out some very cool things. For example, Susie convinced the Wachowski Brothers (who directed the flick) to load up the lesbian bar that Corky visits, with real life lesbians!

Susie manages to put into words what you might only vaguely appreciate about your own reaction to the film. Remember the scene where Gina turns the water pipe under the sink? It becomes much more: suddenly it's a hot lesbian sex scene. The narrators talk about the shots, the angles, the actors, the script, and provide some things to consider the next time you watch the movie.

-- Certified by Sue as a 5-star film!