Was Salvador Dali Gay?: "Little Ashes" (New Film)

The controversial question has been asked before over and over again. Was the avart garde painter, Salvador Dali, whose museum is in St Petersburg, Florida (see HERE for museum's location, hours, and current exhibits), gay? A new film in English, "Little Ashes," makes this argument even though many historians and critics argue it is an audacious and baseless claim. And Dali himself has denied that claim, though he admits that Frederico Garcia Lorna, the well-known Spanish writer and close friend, was drawn to him. Read HERE for the movie's website. To get to the right page, click at the very below, where is says "Reeltime Creative." Then click the name of the movie, and you will see a trailer for it. Below is a synopsis of the film taken from the website. This film is scheduled for worldwide release in 2009.

SYNOPSIS

Romantic story about the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dali, filmmaker Luis Buñuel and writer Federico Garcia Lorca.

In 1922, Madrid is wavering on the edge of change as traditional values are challenged by the dangerous new influences of Jazz, Freud and the avant-garde. Salvador Dali arrives at the university; 18 years old and determined to become a great artist. His bizarre blend of shyness and rampant exhibitionism attracts the attention of two of the university's social elite - Federico Garcia Lorca and Luis Buñuel. Salvador is absorbed into their decadent group and for a time Salvador, Luis and Federico become a formidable trio, the most ultra-modern group in Madrid. However as time passes, Salvador feels an increasingly strong pull towards the charismatic Federico - who is himself oblivious of the attentions he is getting from his beautiful writer friend, Margarita. Finally, in the face of his friends' preoccupations - and Federico's growing renown as a poet - Luis sets off for Paris in search of his own artistic success. Federico and Salvador spend the holiday in the sea-side town of Cadaques. Both the idyllic surroundings and the warmth of the Dali family sweep Federico off his feet. Salvador and he draw closer, sharing their deepest beliefs, inspirations and secrets, convinced that they have found a kind of friendship undreamt of by others. It is more that a meeting of the minds; it is a fusion of souls. And then one night, in the phosphorescent water, it becomes something else.

RT: 112 - 35mm film, color, English
Rated R for sexual content, language and a brief disturbing image

"Clampham Junction" (Film Review)

"Clapham Junction", which originally aired on British television in 2007, is undoubtedly a provocative and disturbing drama about the lives of some gay men during less than two days in London. It traces the tragic consequences that ensued when their lives collide by design but also by happenstance.

Written by the acclaimed playwright Kevin Elyot, the approximately 100-minute film is unrelenting in its intensity of human entanglements, though it has some brief moments of comic relief. From a deceptive civil partnership ceremony to a heated dinner party, from gritty restrooms to raunchy clubs, five separate stories, embracing all generations and sexual maturity, are intricately woven into the complex fabric of modern day London. And the diversity of gay characters with unresolved fears--a closeted married man, a cynical writer, a naive teenager, two incommunicative newly weds, one unloved psychopath, just to name a few--reminds us that quiet desire, regardless of one's station in life, is often just a breath away from uncontrolled passion.

The film maintains a delicate, tense balance between the growing acceptance of gays in the larger society, as witnessed in political equality, consent, and civil partnerships, and higher media visibility—and the persistency of homophobia, particularly the more virulent strain of violence. The persistency of bigotry, the main theme of this film, is in turn, echoed by the secondary theme of internalized homophobia. Some gay men remain wedded to the past, unable to throw off the shackles of self-hatred that find their expression in horrific violence. The tight editing--cutting back and forth between middle-class pretensions and raw human emotions--heightens the horror of unspoken truths that runs throughout the film.

Viewers should be warned that "Clapham Junction" features graphic acts of criminality and aggressive sexual gratification. But that graphicness and displaced machismo just goes to show that intolerance breeds an unbroken cycle of unremitting hatred.

I recommend highly this film for mature audiences looking for a thought provoking experience that stimulates the senses and enrich the mind. Below is a brief trailer for this film. This trailer is suitable for all audiences.

New Poll Shows Floridians Still Oppose Amendment 2

The latest poll from Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, taken in early October, shows that current support still falls short of the 60 percent majority needed for the passage of Amendment 2. That in itself is good news, especially if one keeps in mind the earlier Quinnipiac poll taken in early September, which also shows less than 60 percent support for the amendment. But a rise in undecideds from 7 to 11 percent is troubling, and suggests that they might break for supporting the amendment.  The article below is from seaqwa, a gay online newspaper in Seattle.

Wednesday, October 08
Poll: Anti-gay Florida amendment still trails, but close to passage
Source: Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald
TALLAHASSEE -- Support for Florida's anti-gay "marriage protection" amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot continues to fall short of the 60 percent needed for passage, a new poll shows today, but may be poised for approval.

Support for Amendment 2, which limits civil marriage to one man and one woman only, dropped from 57 percent in August to 55 percent in early October, according to Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.

But the difference falls within the 4 percentage point margin of error for the poll; meanwhile, the number of voters who remain undecided on Amendment 2 rose from 7 percent to 11 percent. All told, the results remain comparable to the outcome of Mason-Dixon's August survey, Tampa Tribune reports.

Of the 625 registered voters surveyed Saturday through Monday, 55 percent supported the anti-gay marriage amendment, while 34 percent were against it.

It takes a 60 percent vote to approve a constitutional amendment in Florida.

But Mason-Dixon polling director Brad Coker warned the the number of undecided voters in the survey might indicate problems for opponents of the amendment, Orlando Sentinel reports.

Undecided voters made up 11 percent in the poll, and Coker said experiences in other states that have considered the issue suggest that undecided group is more likely to back the ban.

"There just seems to be the trend where the undecided voters just sort of fall down on the anti-gay side," said Coker.

The measure is the only one of six proposed constitutional changes headed to voters Nov.4 that is close the 60 percent threshold needed to pass, an Orlando Sentinel poll shows.

Coker said that undecided voters casting a ballot in favor of the marriage amendment would probably give it with the additional 5 percentage points it needs to pass.

But not if Florida Red & Blue can help it. The group plans to run an ad painting the amendment as ''vague'' and a threat to domestic-partner benefits, even for heterosexual seniors. Supporters of Amendment 2 say that's a scare tactic.

Gov. Charlie Crist said he supports defining marriage ''between one man and one woman.'' Yet Crist said he's staying out of all the amendment fights because "I've got my hands pretty full as it is," Miami Herald reports.

Pollster Coker observed that voters considering the crowded Florida ballot have clear opinions about those amendments that are relatively easy to understand or that have simple titles or buzzwords, but are less likely to support complex measures. Large numbers of voters remained undecided on the other questions appearing on the presidential election ballot.

So the ''Florida Marriage Protection Amendment'' garners wide support -- 55 percent in support; 34 percent opposed. And a complicated amendment that would allow local communities to raise the sales tax to help pay for community college is losing by a 37 to 40 percent margin, Miami Herald reports.