Mean Girls has gone from page to screen to stage to screen again. Tina Fey’s classic has gained songs (by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin) and lost venom. Transfer student Cady Haron is mentored by the wealthy and vain Regina … Continue reading Movie Review: Mean Girls (2024)
A shy writer (Andrew Scott) is propositioned by a drunken neighbor (Paul Mescal). He’s too guarded to respond. The next day he visits his hometown and stumbles across his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy). They’re eager to learn about … Continue reading LGBT Movies: All of Us Strangers (2023)
Everyone’s out to get Willy Wonka. The gullible chocolatiers’ business is sabotaged by con artists, killers and thieves. Yet he retains his optimistic nature. He brings joy to customers and empowers his new friends. This is not the story of … Continue reading Movie Review: Wonka (2023)
Friends & Family Christmas is Hallmarks’ first lesbian romance. An artist and a lawyer fake date to pacify meddling parents. Laughs are few, plot is minimal and sexual desire is nonexistent. A social media influencer (Boo! Hiss!) provides some flimsy … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Friends & Family Christmas (2023)
Fellow Travelers follows the romance of two gay state department officials during the Lavender Scare. President Eisenhower and Senator Joseph McCarthy are purging homosexual employees from the U.S. government. The ruthless Hawkins Fuller survives by marrying a woman and betraying … Continue reading LGBT Media: Fellow Travelers (2023)
Hallmark’s Christmas on Cherry Lane follows three families on Christmas Day. An expectant mother and her husband (Erin Cahill and John Brotherton) are bullied by her parents. A widow (Catherine Bell) has a surprise for her bratty children (Matthias Falvai … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Christmas on Cherry Lane (2023)
In the 1932 short film Betty Boop for President Ms. Boop runs her campaign against the terrifying Mr. Nobody. “When you’re hungry, who feeds you? Mr. Nobody.Who cares what becomes of you? Mr. Nobody.Should you wake some early dawnFind a … Continue reading The Night Thread of Mr. Nobody (12/11/23)
Rob Williams has devoted his career to producing indie gay romcoms. Shared Rooms was his stab at the Love Actually formula. Three gay couples meet on Christmas to discuss adoption, art and hook up culture respectively. The tropes of bad … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Shared Rooms (2016)
All are welcome. (Except the ios WordPress editor. You know what you did.) Continue reading Weekly LGBT+ Discussion
This fall Netflix premiered two queer biopics. Rustin focuses on the year 1963 as Bayard Rustin co-organizes the March on Washington. Maestro follows the three-decade romance of Leonard and Felicia Montealegre Bernstein. The history is important. The people are interesting. … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Rustin & Maestro (2023)
Lots to unpack here. I see heavy Fallout 3 influences in the opening images. I’m not seeing the off-kilter humor and the 1950’s nostalgia. What do you most want to see in this series? Share your thoughts below. Continue reading Fallout Teaser Trailer Reaction Thread
Oliver (Barry Keoghan) is a scholarship student at Oxford. He befriends Felix (Jacob Elordi), a wealthy Adonis. Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at his estate with his shallow family (led by Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant). The … Continue reading Movie Review: Saltburn (2023)
King Magnifico (hammy Chris Pine) asks his subjects to trade their “wishes” for “security.” A spunky teen named Asha (earnest Ariana DeBose) demands the wishes be returned. Disney’s Wish features a malleable premise. The concept of surrendering your “wishes” can … Continue reading Movie Review: Wish (2023)
Gracie (Julianne Moore) molested a 7th grade boy, had his baby in prison, then married him. Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is an actress preparing to play Gracie in a biopic. They spend a fraught week studying each other. Director Todd Haynes … Continue reading Movie Review: May December (2023)
Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim graphic novels followed the exploits of a Canadian slacker in love with the mysterious Ramona Flowers. He was forced to duel her seven evil exes. Scott lived in a magical Toronto full of quirky hipsters, … Continue reading Spoil Sports: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023)
This weekend Saturday Night Live produced a skit about pop singer Troye Sivan. Bowen Yang told the audience that Sivan was “gay famous.” This inspired me to revisit the glam era. These rock stars achieved mainstream success by hiding their … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Velvet Goldmine (1998)
Oscar Wilde first published The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890. Dorian has youth, beauty and wealth. A lovelorn artist gives him a cursed portrait that reflects his soul. It ages and rots while Dorian remains spotless. This gives him … Continue reading LGBT Movies: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1976)
A gay professor visits his creepy hometown for a funeral. He assumes the sketchy locals are homophobic. He’s not wrong, but there’s more going on. It’s a horror movie so he’ll ignore every red flag the town waves. Cthulhu is … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Cthulhu (2007)
Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal play ex-lovers on opposite sides of the law. Hawke is the sheriff of a small Western town. He’s vowed to arrest Pascal’s fugitive son. Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life is his second English language … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Strange Way of Life (2023)
LGBT History Month was founded in 1994. In the U.S. and Canada it takes place in October and coincides with National Coming Out Day on October 11. All are welcome! Continue reading LGBT+ History Month Discussion
Chicago’s 41st Reeling Festival showcased LGBTQ+ cinema from around the world. I reviewed several of these films at Frameline. But here are some additional highlights. Fireworks (2023, Italy). A tragedy inspired by an infamous murder case. Two bullied boys fall … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Reeling Festival 2023
