Rating: 
Summary: Stonewall six stars!!!
Review: I thought I should own and watch this movie, since it was on the birth of equal rights for Gays (being the good little queer I am). It was so funny, and educational. I can not believe I had not heard of it until I browsed the Gay/Lesbian section of Amazon. The acting is great, and the period clothing is dead on. Don't rent it, you'll just want to go buy it afterwards, so put your rental $$ towards to purchase.
Rating:
Summary: History as it happened - well almost.
Review: Stonewall is a joy to watch on many levels. As an historical (with a liberal dose of fiction) account of the Stonewall riots it shows the horror of the hatred and oppressions gays, trannies and dykes had to endure. As a love story it celebrates diversity and shows the difficulties that occur when a relationship is not sanctioned by society. As a drag musical it rocks.As a student of gay and lesbian history and the fight for human rights it was interesting to see a film that blows away the myth that gay and lesbian rights are a white middle class issue. The Stonewall riots were about multiple layers of oppression and it is well documented that it was the latinos, blacks and transvestites who, on that night, finally said enough is enough. The contrast with the conformist white middle class push for equality on someone else's terms is handled well. As for the performances, they are uniformally excellent. Guillermo Diaz is superb as La Miranda, Fred Weller great as Matty but it is Duane Boutte who is unstoppable as Bostonia. Her role as Queen of the Scene is a showstopper. The drag musical numbers are handled simply and effectively with a great 60's girl bands soundtrack. The story involves several relationships of various people all revolving around the Stonewall Bar and leading up to the night the riots commenced. The tragic events (including wonderful footage of Judy Garland's funeral) build to boiling point with an emotional intensity. The relief and celebration once the actual riots commence are palpable. The film manages to capture the fear and pride that the rioters must have felt in actually being there. See this film for a wonderful fictional account of one of the turning points in human rights history. See it to remind yourself that it wasn't that long ago that gays and lesbians were less than citizens. See this film because it captures the way in which society can condone or not condone relationships. Above all just enjoy superb acting, wonderful music and an engrossing script.
Rating:
Summary: History as it happened - well almost.
Review: Stonewall is a joy to watch on many levels. As an historical (with a liberal dose of fiction) account of the Stonewall riots it shows the horror of the hatred and oppressions gays, trannies and dykes had to endure. As a love story it celebrates diversity and shows the difficulties that occur when a relationship is not sanctioned by society. As a drag musical it rocks. As a student of gay and lesbian history and the fight for human rights it was interesting to see a film that blows away the myth that gay and lesbian rights are a white middle class issue. The Stonewall riots were about multiple layers of oppression and it is well documented that it was the latinos, blacks and transvestites who, on that night, finally said enough is enough. The contrast with the conformist white middle class push for equality on someone else's terms is handled well. As for the performances, they are uniformally excellent. Guillermo Diaz is superb as La Miranda, Fred Weller great as Matty but it is Duane Boutte who is unstoppable as Bostonia. Her role as Queen of the Scene is a showstopper. The drag musical numbers are handled simply and effectively with a great 60's girl bands soundtrack. The story involves several relationships of various people all revolving around the Stonewall Bar and leading up to the night the riots commenced. The tragic events (including wonderful footage of Judy Garland's funeral) build to boiling point with an emotional intensity. The relief and celebration once the actual riots commence are palpable. The film manages to capture the fear and pride that the rioters must have felt in actually being there. See this film for a wonderful fictional account of one of the turning points in human rights history. See it to remind yourself that it wasn't that long ago that gays and lesbians were less than citizens. See this film because it captures the way in which society can condone or not condone relationships. Above all just enjoy superb acting, wonderful music and an engrossing script.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fictional Account of the Real Event in 1969 - STONEWALL
Review: Stonewall, the 1996 movie directed by Nigel Finch portrays a fictional account of the events surrounding the Stonewall Riots on June 28, 1969. The story follows the lives of several people: the small town young guy who arrives in New York to express his "freedom" only to find it doesn't exist; the transvestite who befriends the young guy and is rejected from the military draft as a sexual deviant; the "straight acting", but homosexual owner of the Stonewall Inn and his transvestite lover. The movie also follows a group of people that were part of very early Homosexual Rights Organizations (the word "gay" was not a common term used in the late 1960's). The movie takes us to an era not often viewed in most mainstream "gay topic" films (i.e. "In & Out", "The Birdcage") - the 60's Gay Life. Stonewall was real - oppression was real - organized groups of activists were real, so the story is clearly based on real events, but the characters and the story line are the writer's fictional account. The movie also contains real news coverage of Judy Garland's death, many of whom believe sparked the riots one week later. There is certainly humor in this movie, but I would categorize it as more of a drama - it was very emotional in some parts, as well as moving, violent and sexual. It was rated R for a reason. I particularly enjoyed the scene on the bus where marchers sang - I felt like I was there, fighting for the cause. The only downside to the film (hence our 4 star rating, not 5) was the heavy emphasis on the drag queens in the story. I find it difficult to believe they were so active in the late 60's - but I was only born in 1965, so who am I to know! The most frightening thing about this movie is that it is based on events that occurred just 30 years ago!
Rating:
Summary: Watch it for the Drag Queens
Review: The amazing thing about the Stonewall riots is that while they happened only 31 years ago, no one really knows what happened. The press coverage was completely inaccurate and homophobic, and if everyone who said they were there actually was, Manhattan would have crumbled under the weight. With that said, this is a very warm rendition of what could have happened. In some places the story is right on accurate (the drag queens and their can-can lines are fact, that is one thing that historians are pretty sure about, and at least one drag queen showed up at the daft board in full drag). In other places the movie presents a plausible idea of what might have happened (no one knows what sparked the riots, but a drag queen who was being arrested and who resisted is one of the theories). Not that the whole movie is fact, obviously the characters were made up, and in some areas the film takes poetic license with history (the final bar that the Village Voice reporter ended up in was a gay bar, but it was not the Stonewall). What is more disturbing is that the film compressed the decades of struggle by the homophile movement into one year, portrayed NYC as the only place where homophile activism was going on, and presented the movement a monolithic as opposed to multi-fractioned. In the end though, the story is sweet, even if the dialogue is laughable at times. It's a great way to get a first taste of the riots and an idea of what was going on at the time. Guillermo Diaz was amazing as La Miranda, and I loved all of the drag queens in the film who were wonderful. If nothing else, see this film so that you can see those fabulous queens lip sink to the amazing soundtrack.
Rating:
Summary: Watch it for the Drag Queens
Review: The amazing thing about the Stonewall riots is that while they happened only 31 years ago, no one really knows what happened. The press coverage was completely inaccurate and homophobic, and if everyone who said they were there actually was, Manhattan would have crumbled under the weight. With that said, this is a very warm rendition of what could have happened. In some places the story is right on accurate (the drag queens and their can-can lines are fact, that is one thing that historians are pretty sure about, and at least one drag queen showed up at the daft board in full drag). In other places the movie presents a plausible idea of what might have happened (no one knows what sparked the riots, but a drag queen who was being arrested and who resisted is one of the theories). Not that the whole movie is fact, obviously the characters were made up, and in some areas the film takes poetic license with history (the final bar that the Village Voice reporter ended up in was a gay bar, but it was not the Stonewall). What is more disturbing is that the film compressed the decades of struggle by the homophile movement into one year, portrayed NYC as the only place where homophile activism was going on, and presented the movement a monolithic as opposed to multi-fractioned. In the end though, the story is sweet, even if the dialogue is laughable at times. It's a great way to get a first taste of the riots and an idea of what was going on at the time. Guillermo Diaz was amazing as La Miranda, and I loved all of the drag queens in the film who were wonderful. If nothing else, see this film so that you can see those fabulous queens lip sink to the amazing soundtrack.
Rating:
Summary: if only all history lessons could be like this!
Review: The riots at the Stonewall bar are still remembered yearly during the Gay Pride/Mardi Gras events all over the world, although I don't think everyone realises this. It shows how much things have changed since then. This movie tells the story of transvestite Miranda (Guillermo Diaz, who also plays in the wonderful I Think I Do), and how she experienced the events leading up to the riots. Even though the story is serious, the film deals with it in a very light way with many funny moments. The scenes with some of the transvestites miming to songs fit in very well with the rest. A great film that makes you realise how difficult it must have been (and even now I recognise people who think gays and lesbians should adjust to whatever the straight world wants us to be in order to be accepted, whereas I believe everyone should be able to be whatever they want to be (without hurting anyone else)), but leaving you with a very good feeling afterwards.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie sucked!
Review: There really isn't much more to say, but I'm sure I can find something... Let's see, the acting was next to terrible, the plot lacked anything dynamic, and for the most part it was just boring. It did have it's good points though (the most important one being that it eventually ended). There were some nice butt shots, unfortunately they weren't of very nice butts. There were some ok drag numbers. The only decent part of this movie was the riot scene, and that doesn't happen untill the end (hope I'm not giving away the ending!) Anyway, I would not reccomend this movie to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: This movie sucked!
Review: There really isn't much more to say, but I'm sure I can find something... Let's see, the acting was next to terrible, the plot lacked anything dynamic, and for the most part it was just boring. It did have it's good points though (the most important one being that it eventually ended). There were some nice butt shots, unfortunately they weren't of very nice butts. There were some ok drag numbers. The only decent part of this movie was the riot scene, and that doesn't happen untill the end (hope I'm not giving away the ending!) Anyway, I would not reccomend this movie to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: The gay chapter of the 60'revolution and dreams
Review: This is a very personal way of telling the stonewall history.
Many will learn about the "revolution" that changed and marked the gay lifestyle, perception, and rights as we know them today. This movie shows the evolution of the gay movement through clandestine groups who published news papers, and had meetings that later developed in marches. It shows a very different fire island , the "gay paradise" with the same restrictions that gays suffered all over the nation. The main character is involved in the meetings, in the marches, in the gay bars, and finally in the riot.
We see that words and peace are not enough for others to hear and respect, finally the riot breaks out for several days in which this "unknown heroes" fight back and don't give up. The stonewall revolution is seen through these characters, which are all entertwined in different personal stories, We learn to admire and feel proud for this group of people who fought back and made a difference in the society we currently live in; in a very same fashion this movie is very well balanced with actors and characters that work like a group and enable the audience to see this film as a sum of all parts.
| 
