Fire Island on Hulu

[Faulkner]

E. Alex Jung’s profile of JKB is really something:

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Faulkner

[Soapsuds]

You watched the whole thing?  It was terrible. I couldn't take it after 10 minutes.

[victoria foxton]

 

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[DRW50]

I remember Matt Rogers getting mad because of a silly  kiss between  John  Krasinski and Pete Davidson  on SNL.  It's odd he got so upset over that when this is the second project he's involved in to be heavily criticized for stereotypes and pandering and not caring about real representation. (the other was that Q-Force cartoon)

I admire Bowen Yang, he had a tough life to get where he is now, but, while he is very charismatic, he relies so much on camp cliche to the point where I don't really invest. It's telling that he loves Gays in Space, to me one of the worst SNL sketches and one which mainly relied on straight actors mincing and lisping as  viewers cheered the whole laugh-at-the-queers element. 

I also was not comfortable with how some involved with the movie dogpiled some woman on Twitter who made a stupid tweet about the  film. If your film is good enough you shouldn't have to be so desperate for clout.

Anyway, I will try it sometime, but as with Palm Springs, I may be better off just staying with the trailer.

[Noel]

For the movie, I didn't mind it. There were parts that were cute, but I also kind of feel like there were too many characters all scrammed into one. It was difficult for me to follow on who was who. However, I did like how the movie kept up with current issues in the LGBTQ community (e.g., Only Fans, racial stigma, drug/substance use). There were a couple of scenes that kind of fell flat, but I enjoyed the diversity of the cast. As far as the characters:

• Noah: I completely understood his character and where he was coming from.
• Howie: I think I understood his insecurities, but the movie was so focused on Noah that made Howie step into the shadow.
• Will: OMG. He reminds me of a friend of mine Mike. His physique, bone structure, and voice were spot on like Mike's. Does Will go to raves? Hahaha! Mike and I did that all the time. I liked the dynamic between Noah and Will and it left you feeling like something could develop between the two? I liked Will. His layers peeled off throughout the movie and I enjoyed witnessing that.
• Charlie: Poorly executed. His character could have been written better. I mean, a LOT better. The only thing I remember about him is Lyme Disease.
• Cooper: Regina George from Mean Girls. I didn't understand his character until the bathroom scene with Noah. But, I couldn't figure out as to why he kept interrupting Noah/Will but didn't he interrupt Howie and Charlie too? I thought his reasonings were mainly because he thought Noah and his friends were nothing but trash.
• Erin: She was cute and I know she wasn't written to be a degenerative type or anything, but you're as young as you feel. I get that she's older and has more life experiences, but I wish she was around more instead of hosting a party, cooking food, or passing a note from Will to Noah.
• Luke, Keegan, and Max: Want to talk about a waste of time? These three. Enough said.

All in all, it wasn't bad. Too much scramming to fit into one movie in my opinion. But, I did like how they kept up with current issues and there were some really funny moments. On the other hand, if they trimmed the cast, I probably would have liked it a lot better. Conrad Ricamora? I like this guy. I want to see more of his talent for sure. 

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Edited June 9, 2022 by Noel

[Faulkner]

His thighs during the dance-off hosted by Peppermint. It’s funny that Conrad Ricamora is a full decade older than most of the cast (43). I will say that Conrad is almost too good at playing the Darcy. I didn’t really buy Noah’s interest in him. And they lacked heat as a couple.

I agree with your assessment in general. The movie is fine if you like this sort of light brainless comedy, and it didn’t shy away from the many of the realities of gay single life (the drugs, etc.) to appeal to respectability politics. However, I have no desire to rewatch it. It just feels sort of thin, most of the characters didn’t pop, and most of the actors weren’t charismatic or distinguished enough to make much of an impression. Some of the Noah/Howie dynamic had an interesting nuance, I guess.

[Noel]

I thought Will/Noah had some potential and I'm glad that there wasn't this "insta-pairing" like Days of Our Lives like Decaf Taster's Choice. But, god damn. They were always getting interrupted, lol! Yeah, I really like Conrad Ricamora. OMG. He so reminds me of my friend Mike except Mike was straight, but we didn't look at sexuality and how sexuality should define who we are as human beings. In fact, one's sexual orientation, creed, gender, ethnicity, class, etc. is only a small part of who we are as we're all made up into many things collectively as we're all a part of the human race. I miss my Mikey! I want to see more of Conrad Ricamora so bad! 

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Edited June 9, 2022 by Noel

[Faulkner]

Did you watch How to Get Away with Murder? Awful show IMO lol but he’s on it and featured a good bit as one-half of the show’s main gay male couple.

[Noel]

I don't watch ABC shows, but now, you are guilty of me downloading the series. VPN, check. Hahaha!

[Soapsuds]

I thought season 1 was good but after that the show went to hell.

[Taoboi]

 

 

Still love you all though.

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[Vee]

So I finally got to watch this and I gotta say, I really liked it. Fluffy? Yes. Was the voice-over a bit too much at some unnecessary moments? Yes, but that exposition plays better for a general audience sometimes. It's not gonna win an Oscar. But I really liked Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang, and Conrad Ricamora was giving some serious smoldering energy I'd never seen him put out from his overly broad 'nerd' role on How to Get Away with Murder - he was channeling Benedict Cumberbatch, Harrison Ford in Working Girl, you name it, to say nothing of Colin Firth. It was a cute Austen adaptation in a gay universe and that will play really well for young people going forward, and that's important. I know Andrew Ahn did the well-received Spa Night which I have yet to see, but now I want to.

I consume so much queer cinema and media that is either coded in a variety of ways, using a lot of gritty genre trappings or whatever else, and that's my own choice. I watch a lot of weird queer shít from all over the world too. But sometimes you just want to see an American-made, sweet gay romantic comedy with a degree of artistry along with humor and heartfelt performances. They're still pretty rare over here without looking like they were made for a grand tops. This gave me that and it was well-made, so I didn't find it as disposable as I expected. It's not the comic equivalent of, say, Bridesmaids, but the emotional content got me in the same way. There's stuff a lot of us can relate to, especially as we get older or don't fit into this or that ethnic or abled or body type. I was pleased with it. A solid, sweet piece of work.

[Faulkner]

Thank you for sharing that. I wish I enjoyed it more, but it wasn’t as dire as I was expecting. A lot of times we hold films that represent “us” (whatever that may be) to a higher standard. It was never gonna be some revelatory work like, say, Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together, which was such a milestone for Asian gay men on film (and one of my favorite movies). But I wish Fire Island were about 50-60 percent funnier. (Plus the treatment of the black characters worked my nerves.)

I liked Conrad a lot, and his performance here hints at potential (and sex appeal) I hadn’t really seen from him before. An actor like him may not have had many opportunities to show his stuff in years past. He’d almost certainly been relegated to roles as a glorified extra or two lines as a computer hacker in some CBS procedural. 

Edited June 20, 2022 by Faulkner

[Vee]

He played a glorified version of the latter on HTGAWM after a certain point, IMO. His character there was often too broad and weak for me, but I also tuned out on that show after Season 3 when they pinned literally everything on one of the students' fathers or something. I'll finish it at some point because I loved Viola Davis' performance and some of the others like Liza Weil, and loved looking at Matt McGorry and Jack Falahee. Anyway, that's way off.

I thought Fire Island was a lot funnier than I've frankly come to expect from a lot of supposedly groundbreaking LGBT comedy especially. It could've been a bit sharper, sure. And no, nothing is on par with Happy Together. I do think it could've done more with the Black friend, but I did like that the white guy in the group was relegated to a minor role as well, and I can't fault them for centering the AAPL experience.

Edited June 20, 2022 by Vee