As my Amazon review of the Nicole Conn movie "Elena Undone" (one of the movies included in the 2012 Lesbian Film Guide) will tell you, I'm a 68 year old white heterosexual male who happens to LOVE movies about lesbians.
Am I weird, or what?
Anyway, I just received this 171 page guide to lesbian movies (by Chris Alderson), and after finding out I've seen more than 70 of the movies in the book, I discovered about 10 or 15 more that I WANT to see.
(I keep lists of EVERY movie I've ever watched, and every movie I WANT to!! The lesbian movie genre is a fast-growing one in my repertoire!!)
As I perused this slim, but well-organized, volume, I was struck by A)how complete it really is, and B) by how much MORE complete it COULD be!!
Alderson breaks it down to 7 categories: Recent Films, English Language, Foreign Language, Documentaries, Sex & Sexuality (generally, how-to's), Comedians, and TV shows.
And within each category, the titles are all alphabetized, so easy to find your favorites.
There's also 3 indexes: of titles, of directors, and of actors (actresses).
So why "just" 4 stars??
(To be honest, it's more like 3 and one-half!!)
Because, as a detail-oriented person, and one who has extensive lists of his own, I think Ms Alderson could make the next edition (She says she's putting the next--2013??--volume together!!) even MORE complete, even BETTER!!
How?
Several titles (including "Elena Undone") are repeated in more than one category. ("Elena" is in the "Recent" and "English Language" sections!)
That might not be so bad, except she repeats the review, VERBATIM, from section to section!!
That space (of the 2nd inclusion) could be better used thusly: Either eliminate the 2nd listing altogether, or limit it to something like "Elena Undone, see Recent Films".
Also, there are some movies I'd question their inclusion, such as Woody Allen's "Manhatten".
If she does this, what would she fill the extra space with?
How about a few shorter movies? (Though she says she doesn't want to include shorter films, as there're too many of them!)
One I'd STRONGLY recommend including would be "Goodbye Emma Jo", a 40 minute film from Wolfe Video!!
I'm certain there are a few others worth listing!
Alderson DOES have at least one 40 minute film, Nicole Conn's "Cynara:Poetry in Motion"!!
Also, how about lengthening the synopses?? They give you the basic ingredients, but how about allowing us to TASTE the delicacy!!
And with movies about lesbian love and SEX relationships, we want to feel ALL the senses the movie offers!
Am I right?
Or is this just a MAN speaking??