I’ve lived in West Hollywood for years and the Holloway Motel sat just a few steps from me. Walking by it every day, I grew accustomed to seeing an elderly man presiding over his second floor balcony. With a little chihuahua, Sam, by his side, a laptop perched precariously on the balustrade, he served as... Continue Reading →
We’ve had our share of films about gay conversion therapy, such as the heavy dramas Boy Erased and The Miseducation Of Cameron Post, the campy But I’m A Cheerleader, and even the slasher film, They/Them, but Leviticus, the feature debut of writer-director Adrian Chiarella, finds its own lane by chillingly traversing such genres as coming... Continue Reading →
Like most good students of a certain age, I read Albert Camus’ 1947 novella, The Stranger, in high school. Considered a classic of existentialist storytelling (but don’t tell Camus that!), I felt instantly drawn to its spare, distant approach. The 1967 film adaptation by Luchino Visconti, and starring Marcello Mastroianni, didn’t quite capture Camus’ elusive... Continue Reading →
When I heard that D'Arcy Drollinger had followed up his instant classic, Shit & Champagne, with Lady Champagne, I didn’t just jump at the chance to watch it, I hacked my way through dense jungles, leapt over deep crevasses, and walked barefoot across hot coals. It’s the least one should be required to do to... Continue Reading →
As much as I’m drawn to true crime documentaries, they often let me down with their ambiguity and unresolved endings. Wait! Everything is speculative? We don’t find out who did it? Life’s complicated enough. I need closure! So consider my surprise when I watched My Brother’s Killer, which premiered at SXSW 2026. Rachel Mason’s jaw-dropping,... Continue Reading →
If you’re a fan of overly theatrical, archly campy cinema, then sit down (pun very much intended). I’ve got a film for you! Filmmaker Amanda Kramer first came to my attention with her 2022 feature, Please Baby Please, which showcased her distinctive voice as a cinematic absurdist. Combining John Waters-esque emphatic, over the top performances... Continue Reading →
It’s funny how the catchphrase “Stop the insanity!” means something so different now than when anyone of age in the 90s first heard it. Now it feels like my mantra in response to the horror show of the daily news cycle, whereas during the grunge/dot-com decade, the phrase only referred to a ubiquitous infomercial exercise... Continue Reading →
For decades now, people constantly tell me how movies just aren’t as good as in the past. To use a technical term, I “poo-poo” that sentiment and respond that great movies have been around, you just have to look a little harder. Some years yield better results than others, and for me, 2025 gave us... Continue Reading →
Fairyland, the screen adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s memoir of growing up with a gay dad in San Francisco during the 70s and 80s has finally hit theaters. I eagerly awaited this film as that time and place means a lot to me. As a kid from small town Ohio, I have vivid memories of seeing... Continue Reading →
I have a confession to make. I really didn’t like the late, great William Hurt’s performance in the 1985 film, Kiss Of The Spider Woman. I don’t care that he won the Oscar, I found him way too mannered, affected, and “playing gay” the entire time. Hurt should have won two years later for his... Continue Reading →
