Homo Heights (1998)

Sara Moore made her directorial debut with this campy comedy, issuing a barrage of bitchy bits in a surreal send-up of homosexual histrionics, starring noted activist-author-actor Quentin Crisp, who previously portrayed Queen Elizabeth in Orlando. The aging, gay guru Malcolm (Crisp), aka the "Greta Garbo of Queerdom," has a cinema memorabilia collection (Vivien Leigh's pillbox, Gloria Swanson's false teeth, Nancy Sinatra's boot trinkets) given him by Homo Heights gay mafia head, the exuberant, ebullient drag queen Maria Callous (Stephen Sorrentino), a media manipulator who keeps tab on the public pulse by bugging apartment complexes. Stifled by the controlling Callous, Malcolm wants out and plots an escape with his friend, gay gal cabdriver Clementine (Lea DeLaria). The outrageous and furious Callous, however, intends to make Malcolm happy again with "an icon for an icon," and she gathers a gang of gay ghetto leaders for a meeting. They reject Hayley and Juliet Mills, and Grace Jones, before choosing the perfect icon -- Carol Channing (seen in a brief cameo). As for Clementine's lost love Stella (Lynn Sain), the lesbian said the better, since Stella left Clementine for the alcoholic Blanche (Michelle Hutchinson), and Clementine would like to pour Blanche back into the bottle to win back Stella. Further, Stella is now pregnant by tomcat Cruise (Tim Tucker), whose boyfriend, journalistic jackdaw Tootsie (Grant Richey), is hatching a plan to outline Malcolm's escape attempts in an investigative exposé that could soon spur Callous into fierce fulminations. Drag queens Queenie (Emil Herrera) and Paprika (Daniel Alexander Jones) spice up the subplots. Shown at the 1998 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Film Festival.