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SOUTHERN VOICE • DECEMBER 29/1994 MCUST-fitET flTLflNTQ T^84[ PUC4IWU pMCT mi • Q7^.|qOC • 0 MN m POUWIKTTI Good 'flun is jfever Out of Season TrolleY square APARTMFVTS Screen picks big and small Throughout 1994, queer im ages hit the big and small screen in record numbers. Here are my picks for the best of the year. TV 1. Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City: Adapted from the first of Maupin's six-volume series, this loving portrait of les bian and gay life in 1970s San Fran cisco was so far ahead of its time, PBS canceled funding for a sequel. Guinevere Turner and VS. Brodie do the wild thing in "Go Fish." 2. The Real World III: With cast member Pedro Zamora, who died of AIDS in- November, and companion Sean Sasser (who is also HIV-positive), MTV's hit docu-soap presented to viewers TV's most honest and unapolo- getic portrait of gay life in the '90s. 3. My So-Called Life: This follow-up from "thirtysomething" producers Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz is most no table for its inclusion of TV's first gay teen—Ricky Vasquez (Wilson Cruz), a sweet and streetwise ne'er-do-well whose unabashed effeminacy is the year's most in triguing development. Catch Cruz while you can, though. ABC puts the show on hiatus come January. 4. Roseanne: From the show's much-hyped "lesbian kiss" epi sode in March, which featured ac tress Mariel Hemingway, to Leon's (Martin Mull) "Life Is a Drag" party at Halloween, Roseanne con tinues to forge an ongoing alliance with the queer community. Per haps the only gay plot line left for her to conquer is Darlene's (Sarah Gilbert) coming out. 5. Frasier: In a now-classic epi sode, Seattle's eminent psychiatrist sets up his gay station manager (Eric Lutes) with housekeeper Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves), but he thinks the date is with Frasier. FILM 1. Savage Nights: Cyril Collard's brutal testament to hope and despair in the age of AIDS. Against the backdrop of Paris night life, Collard plays in irre sponsible, HIV-positive bisexual, and newcomer Romane Bohringer turns in a stunning performance as his obsessive teenage girlfriend. 2. Heavenly Creatures: A chilling look at the world-famous murder case involving a pair of ob sessive, fantasy-prone teen killers. Whether they were, in fact, lesbi ans is a question that's never an swered. But the presumption that they were, and their subsequent separation, led them toward their crime. 3. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: Not just "the feel good movie of the year." Terence Stamp's moving portrayal of the film's transsexual, Bernadette, is a virtuosic perfor mance. And Hugo Weaving (who plays Mitzi, Australia's premier drag artist) provides the film's highest moment of comedy, when he steps out of drag and tries to spit. 4. Go Fish: Rose Troche's lighthearted look at a group of young lesbians in Chicago's Wicker Park. Combining low-bud get effects with a loosely knit nar rative, this funny film also includes a spellbinding indictment of the so- called "lesbian mafia," and a witty discourse on female genitalia. 5. Interview With the Vam pire: Tom Cruise turns in a sur prisingly agile performance as the vampire Lestat. At turns sensual and effete, Cruise is indeed faith ful to the Anne Rice character. • Swimming Pool/Fitness Center • Washer & Dryer in each apartment • Free 24-hour monitored intrusion alarm • Outside storage 609 Virginia Avenue • 404/874-5512 on \(m FILM, VIDEO & TV REVIEWS by ALAN FRUTKIN