“’I didn’t know you were gay,’ and I’m like, ‘Why did that make me feel good?’” So sayeth the great comedian David Sedaris in one part of the simple, but compelling documentary from Sundance Selects and IFC, Do I Sound Gay? A festival success from a Kickstarter campaign, the film follows Brooklyn journalist and activist David Thorpe after a break-up with his most recent boyfriend that sends him off on an investigation of the “gay voice” he hears from his own mouth, but feels increasingly disconnected from. With famous interviewees including Tom Gunn, Margaret Cho, and George Takei, the film thankfully relies more heavily on the filmmaker’s friends and family, giving the film a strong personal touch that isn’t lost in celebrity appearances.
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- 1/16/2016
- by Kyle North
- JustPressPlay.net
Reviews How 'Miss Sharon Jones!' Turns a Musical Icon Into a Documentary Crowdpleaser Filmmaker Toolkit Attention, Documentarians: 8 Essential First-Time Filmmaking Tips From Kirby Dick, David Thorpe and More Analysis Podcast: Which Documentaries Stand the Best Shot in Oscar Season? Reality Checks: Doc NYC Lifts Oscar Contenders, But Why So Many Films? Interviews This British Documentary Filmmaker is Having a Moment 'Missing People' Is an Award-Winning Documentary That's Impossible to Pitch News Doc NYC Announces Surprise World Premiere of Bruce Springsteen's ‘The Ties That Bind’ Doc NYC Announces Full 2015 Lineup Doc NYC Announces 'Short List' Program of 15 Documentaries, Including 'Going Clear' and 'Amy' Clips/Trailers/Posters Watch: The Legacy of Environmentalism Comes Alive in Exclusive 'The Anthropologist' Trailer Watch: Morgan Freeman Whispers Stressful Somethings in Exclusive 'The C Word' Clip Watch: Cuba's Blind Community Goes to Bat in Exclusive 'Tocando la...
- 11/13/2015
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Amour Fou (Jessica Hausner)
An ecstatically original work of film-history-philosophy with a digital-cinema palette of acutely crafted compositions. Amour Fou seamlessly blends together the paintings of Vermeer, the acting of Bresson, and the psychological undercurrents of a Dostoevsky novel. It is an intensely thrilling and often slyly comic work that manages to combine a passionately dispassionate love story of the highest order with a larger socio-historical...
Amour Fou (Jessica Hausner)
An ecstatically original work of film-history-philosophy with a digital-cinema palette of acutely crafted compositions. Amour Fou seamlessly blends together the paintings of Vermeer, the acting of Bresson, and the psychological undercurrents of a Dostoevsky novel. It is an intensely thrilling and often slyly comic work that manages to combine a passionately dispassionate love story of the highest order with a larger socio-historical...
- 11/6/2015
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
★★★☆☆ The 'gay voice' is a superficial character trait that can have serious implications for the men who possess it. Do I Sound Gay? (2014) director David Thorpe believes this personally. His speech patterns include the sibilant 'esses' and elongated vowels that immediately out him to any savvy listeners, and the framing device of Do I Sound Gay? centres around his mission to erase the aspects of his voice that he admits himself to finding irritating. His distaste for his own voice stems from internalised homophobia and gay shame.
- 11/4/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
David Thorpe’s cultural exploration of the ‘gay voice’ makes cheerful viewing
A cheerful, highly personal investigation into queer cultural identity, Do I Sound Gay? begins with Us film-maker David Thorpe guiltily confessing that he’s never been comfortable with the inflections of his voice. He asks assorted friends, experts and entertainers for their take on the meaning and origins of what we think of as the modern “gay voice”, while warily taking a course of speech training to learn to “code-switch, but volitionally” (I’m not sure what it means, but it involves him walking around New York muttering “tilapia, tilapia”).
Among the interviewees are the inimitably voiced humorist David Sedaris (“Do I really sound like a woman? I sound like a very small man”). Thorpe’s exploration ultimately shines as much light on Us homophobia as it does on gay identity itself, and he ends up, as you might expect,...
A cheerful, highly personal investigation into queer cultural identity, Do I Sound Gay? begins with Us film-maker David Thorpe guiltily confessing that he’s never been comfortable with the inflections of his voice. He asks assorted friends, experts and entertainers for their take on the meaning and origins of what we think of as the modern “gay voice”, while warily taking a course of speech training to learn to “code-switch, but volitionally” (I’m not sure what it means, but it involves him walking around New York muttering “tilapia, tilapia”).
Among the interviewees are the inimitably voiced humorist David Sedaris (“Do I really sound like a woman? I sound like a very small man”). Thorpe’s exploration ultimately shines as much light on Us homophobia as it does on gay identity itself, and he ends up, as you might expect,...
- 11/1/2015
- by Jonathan Romney
- The Guardian - Film News
Gayness is under the microscope, or rather in front of the microphone, in David Thorpe’s engaging autobiographical documentary
American writer-director David Thorpe turns the camera – or more importantly the microphone – on himself to create this engaging, lively documentary about gay identity. It starts with Thorpe explaining how, following a break up with a boyfriend, he comes to hate the way he talks and decides to see if he can eradicate all the up notes, longer vowels, and overenunciated consonants that mark out his voice as gay sounding.
In his quest to find out what it means to “sound gay”, Thorpe meets speech therapists, psychologists and experts in linguistics as well as various random famous people (Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, the writer-broadcaster and humourist David Sedaris, the comedian Margaret Cho and actor George Takei, among others) who all have, of course, wildly different opinions on the subject. But the point is inclusiveness,...
American writer-director David Thorpe turns the camera – or more importantly the microphone – on himself to create this engaging, lively documentary about gay identity. It starts with Thorpe explaining how, following a break up with a boyfriend, he comes to hate the way he talks and decides to see if he can eradicate all the up notes, longer vowels, and overenunciated consonants that mark out his voice as gay sounding.
In his quest to find out what it means to “sound gay”, Thorpe meets speech therapists, psychologists and experts in linguistics as well as various random famous people (Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, the writer-broadcaster and humourist David Sedaris, the comedian Margaret Cho and actor George Takei, among others) who all have, of course, wildly different opinions on the subject. But the point is inclusiveness,...
- 10/29/2015
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
David Thorpe was at a low point when he decided to make the documentary Do I Sound Gay? Coming off a breakup, he found himself increasingly disgusted with not only his own voice, but the way other gay men spoke, and set out to try to change the way he sounded. The effort might have seemed simple enough at the outset, but as David met with speech therapists and spoke to friends and strangers about how they perceived the "gay voice," he uncovered a minefield of new questions - questions about identity, self-acceptance, and his own place in not just the gay community, but the human one. Catch Do I Sound Gay? in select theaters and On Demand now.
- 7/30/2015
- by Lindsay-Miller
- Popsugar.com
Do I Sound Gay?
Directed by David Thorpe
USA, 2014
The director (and star) of the new documentary Do I Sound Gay? isn’t comfortable with his voice anymore. Not only does David Thorpe want to jettison his “braying ninny” speech patterns, he wants to deconstruct the ‘gay voice’ and figure out where the hell it comes from. His endlessly-entertaining search takes him to speech therapists, linguists, and veterans of the Gay Rights Movement. This hilarious peek into the gay psyche proves that identity and voice are inseparable, regardless of your sexual orientation.
Thorpe is the perfect guide for such a circuitous journey. He engages with his wit and sarcasm, yet remains completely serious about his inquiry. Coming on the heels of a bad break-up with his lover, 40-something Thorpe is adrift and vulnerable. “I feel out of synch with my voice,” he confesses. In fact, he finds a gay man...
Directed by David Thorpe
USA, 2014
The director (and star) of the new documentary Do I Sound Gay? isn’t comfortable with his voice anymore. Not only does David Thorpe want to jettison his “braying ninny” speech patterns, he wants to deconstruct the ‘gay voice’ and figure out where the hell it comes from. His endlessly-entertaining search takes him to speech therapists, linguists, and veterans of the Gay Rights Movement. This hilarious peek into the gay psyche proves that identity and voice are inseparable, regardless of your sexual orientation.
Thorpe is the perfect guide for such a circuitous journey. He engages with his wit and sarcasm, yet remains completely serious about his inquiry. Coming on the heels of a bad break-up with his lover, 40-something Thorpe is adrift and vulnerable. “I feel out of synch with my voice,” he confesses. In fact, he finds a gay man...
- 7/24/2015
- by J.R. Kinnard
- SoundOnSight
Every day, more and more films are added to the various streaming services out there, ranging from Netflix to YouTube, and are hitting the airwaves via movie-centric networks like TCM. Therefore, sifting through all of these pictures can be a tedious and often times confounding or difficult ordeal. But, that’s why we’re here. Every week, Joshua brings you five films to put at the top of your queue, add to your playlist, or grab off of VOD to make your weekend a little more eventful. Here is this week’s top five, in this week’s Armchair Vacation.
5. Do I Sound Gay? (VOD)
The first of two documentaries included on this week’s list, this film comes from filmmaker David Thorpe, and covers a rather interesting subject. Coming out of a breakup with his boyfriend, Thorpe decides to go on a journey of self-discovery, through an outlet we...
5. Do I Sound Gay? (VOD)
The first of two documentaries included on this week’s list, this film comes from filmmaker David Thorpe, and covers a rather interesting subject. Coming out of a breakup with his boyfriend, Thorpe decides to go on a journey of self-discovery, through an outlet we...
- 7/17/2015
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Of the many stereotypes used to "identify" gay men, one of the most common is "sounding gay." To put what that means into words would be silly and reductive, but for David Thorpe, the sound of his voice meshes with preconceived notions of his identity and sexuality, and he channels his concerns into the documentary "Do I Sound Gay?" Read More: 'To Be Takei' Explores the Personal And Political Side Of The 'Star Trek' Icon Featuring David Sedaris, Dan Savage, Margaret Cho, George Takei and Don Lemon, the doc follows Thorpe who after a breakup with his boyfriend consults with acting coaches, linguists, friends, family, total strangers and celebrities to get the bottom of his feelings about his voice. In this clip, he learns about the modulations of his speaking tone. "Do I Sound Gay?" is now playing in limited release and is available on VOD.
- 7/15/2015
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Writer David Sedaris has been with his partner Hugh Hamrick for well over two decades, but he admits, "Hugh does not sound like anything I wanted my fantasy boyfriend to sound like." In Do I Sound Gay? documentarian David Thorpe explores the relationship gay men have with their voices and, consequently, one another. Thorpe is feeling insecure about his voice after a breakup leaves him low, which leads him to interview speech pathologists and gay celebrities, as he does in this exclusive clip featuring David and Hugh. Spoiler alert: Even though Hugh might not have the gruff baritone of a lumberjack, David Sedaris is never going to leave him.
- 7/14/2015
- by E. Alex Jung
- Vulture
Lisping, camp and effeminate … do gay men really talk in a certain way? One film-maker investigated the phenomenon – and came to terms with his own voice
There’s an old expression in the gay community about a macho-looking man who opens his mouth and “a purse falls out”. This sort of “looks Tarzan, sounds Jane” is particular to the gay male community where a high-pitched, lisping voice has been a huge part of the stereotype of what gay men were like ever since Charles Nelson Riley delivered saucy double entendres on The Match Game (or his UK equivalent Larry Grayson exclaimed “Shut that door!” on The Generation Game).
Usually this “gay voice” isn’t regarded as a positive, either by homophobes making fun of the lisp (usually accompanied by a wrist limper than day-old pasta) or the gay men who notice effeminate tones coming from the mouth of a potential suitor.
There’s an old expression in the gay community about a macho-looking man who opens his mouth and “a purse falls out”. This sort of “looks Tarzan, sounds Jane” is particular to the gay male community where a high-pitched, lisping voice has been a huge part of the stereotype of what gay men were like ever since Charles Nelson Riley delivered saucy double entendres on The Match Game (or his UK equivalent Larry Grayson exclaimed “Shut that door!” on The Generation Game).
Usually this “gay voice” isn’t regarded as a positive, either by homophobes making fun of the lisp (usually accompanied by a wrist limper than day-old pasta) or the gay men who notice effeminate tones coming from the mouth of a potential suitor.
- 7/10/2015
- by Brian Moylan
- The Guardian - Film News
Peter Labuza is celebrating the third anniversary of the launch of his excellent podcast, The Cinephiliacs, with a conversation with one of cinema's great talkers, James Gray, director of, for example, We Own the Night (2007), Two Lovers (2008) and The Immigrant (2013). Among the many topics covered in 85'44" is Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria (1957). More interviews: Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, Bruno Dumont, Craig Baldwin, Debra Granik, Carolee Schneemann, Mia Hansen-Løve, Frank V. Ross, David Thorpe and Ana Lily Amirpour. » - David Hudson...
- 7/10/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Peter Labuza is celebrating the third anniversary of the launch of his excellent podcast, The Cinephiliacs, with a conversation with one of cinema's great talkers, James Gray, director of, for example, We Own the Night (2007), Two Lovers (2008) and The Immigrant (2013). Among the many topics covered in 85'44" is Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria (1957). More interviews: Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, Bruno Dumont, Craig Baldwin, Debra Granik, Carolee Schneemann, Mia Hansen-Løve, Frank V. Ross, David Thorpe and Ana Lily Amirpour. » - David Hudson...
- 7/10/2015
- Keyframe
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