CELLULOID IN SEPTEMBER
Girls, Boys, and Pythons arrive at our favorite theaters

Two Girls and a Guy: a very mean guy, in fact, who threatens the erotic happiness of the Painter (Agathe de la Boulaye) and her lover (Claire Keim), a singer in a dream-like Paris cabaret in The Girl, an independent feature by Sande Zeig.

• The relationship between the Painter and the Girl is fraught with mystery: Will they see each other again, will they be kept apart by the menacing French guy, will they treat us to another of some of the steamiest lesbian love scenes ever shot? For once, here are two women on screen that we can believe as lesbian lovers. What happens in between their lovemaking scenes seems incidental and vague, to the characters as well as to us. The Painter obsesses over the Girl; the Girl is alternately distant and passionate as the two ill-fated lovers meander toward their (it seems) inevitable demise. • What the film lacks in story, it makes up for in atmosphere. It is, in fact, so full of atmosphere it may steam up your windows more than once in its 84-minute playing time. The director’s clear intention to make a statement about freedom and love is not nearly as much fun as the deliciously sensual cinematography. • At press time, The Girl was scheduled to start on September 1 at the Angelika Film Center, 713/225-5232. –Lauren Johnson

Big bad john? L.I.E. begins as we join a group of boys who rob houses in the middle-class comfort of Long Island.

Two of these boys, Howie (Paul Franklin Dano) and Gary (Billy Kay), are the very best of friends. It is Gary’s idea to rob the house of a guy named Big John (Brian Cox). Howie learns that Gary and Big John have been engaged in a sex-for-pay relationship, and this secret life fascinates 15-year-old Howie. Perhaps for the first time he realizes that he can truly live, like Gary, outside the bounds of school, of home, and that it may be OK that his feelings for Gary may run deeper than those for his other friends. Gary, in the meantime, has figured out how to run away, and when he leaves, it is Howie who is truly alone, until Big John steps in. • L.I.E. starts September 28 at Landmark’s Greenway Theatre, Greenway Plaza, 713/626-0402.

UNCUT. No, this is not the first word of a personals ad, nor is it the title of a porn flick. Actually, I’m sure someone has begun a personals ad with the word, and there’s bound to be a porn flick with that title, but here we’re referring to the upcoming Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The 1975 film is being presented uncut for the first time.

• So why is OutSmart, Houston’s gay, lesbian, bi, and trans magazine, even mentioning this film? For you readers who don’t keep up with gay history, you’ll be pleased to know that one of those psychotic pythons, Graham Chapman, was gay ... and openly gay at that. (I use the past tense, because Chapman died on October 4, 1989.) Not that that’s the only reason for informing you of the Grail’s upcoming premiere. It’s not like all these mirth-provoking men haven’t put on dresses, for chrissakes. You can ponder all of this as Chapman (King Arthur) crosses the Bridge of Death during the seven-second intermission which comes toward the end of the film. • September 7 is the day Python slithers into Landmark’s River Oaks Theatre, 2009 West Gray, 713/524-2175. –Blase DiStefano