Lady
Valor: The Kristin Beck Story
(2014/CNN Films/Wolfe DVD)/Tru
Love (2014/Wolfe
DVD)/What's The T?
(2013/MVD Visual DVD)
Picture:
C+/C/C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+/C/D Main Programs: B-/C+/C+
Here
are three new releases dealing with transgendered situations, plus a
lesbian drama...
Sadrine
Orabona & Mark Herzog have co-directed Lady
Valor: The Kristin Beck Story
(2014), about a Navy SEAL who served for 20 years, yet concealed that
he was not only gay, but a transgendered, now becoming Kristin Beck.
Originally shown on CNN, the program is a biography of the honorably
discharged soldier who is now trying to reach out to others who feel
the same way and live the same way.
Ms.
Beck is outspoken about how things could and should be, the lack of
rights, support and the like for persons like her, et al. Turns out
that in the military, the fighting abilities and service were
exemplary and that alone breaks so many stereotypes, many of which
are designed to keep minorities down. Running a decent 84 minutes,
no stone is left unturned throughout and presents a well-defined
portrait of the real life situation Beck faced and still faces. This
is someone who deserves our thanks and congratulations, deserving
happiness as much as anyone, even if no military service record was
there.
Extras
includes an Original Theatrical Trailer, segment of Anderson
Cooper 360 with Beck and a look at where Beck is since this
documentary was released.
Kate
Johnston & Shauna MacDonald co-directed the drama Tru
Love
(2014), the latter of whom plays the title character named Tru, a
middle-aged lesbian who surprisingly falls for an attractive woman
(Kate Trotter) who happens to be 60 years old. It is enough having
any such relationship out in the open, but the age difference causes
additional ridicule, scrutiny and issues that make both question if
they are on track to a real relationship or not.
Though
I thought the script and directing was a bit inconsistent, this was
very smoothly, professionally done and is one of the most
professionally made films of its kind with its narrative that I have
seen in many years. Performances are good, locations nice and
certain points very observant and believable. Maybe co-directing
threw this one off a bit, but it is not bad overall.
Deleted
Scenes, an Original Theatrical Trailer and the short film Stormcloud
are the extras.
Last
but not least is the short documentary What's
The T?
(2013), directed by Cecilio Asuncion, covers the world of glamourous
models who happens to be men who dress as women. These transvestites
(some of whom are having sexual reassignment) are modeling and are in
full swing with that world of clothes, hair and luxury that is
chi-chi and expected when you open up the kinds of fashion magazines
many read.
Several
are interviewed and this runs a short-but-effective 65 minutes. I
knew such persons existed, but this shows us what a permanent
community this has become and how they take the fashion world and
industry as seriously as anyone, participating in it with as much
love, enthusiasm and vigor as any of their counterparts. Good for
them!
There
are no extras.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on all three DVDs are not bad,
but oddly, Tru
is the softest despite being the drama and having a consistent shoot
and look. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on Lady
and Tru
are not bad, but the former can have some rough archival audio, while
the latter is softer than expected. That leaves the lossy Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo on T
a little better despite some minor location audio issues.
-
Nicholas Sheffo