Friday night saw the opening of NewFest's 33rd New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival with Jesse Moss' up close and personal chronicle of LGBTQ+ history in the making, Mayor Pete, at Manhattan's SVA Theatre. Before Pete Buttigieg had officially thrown his hat into the ring as a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Moss began capturing footage of... Continue Reading →
I’ve always had a soft spot for immigration stories, especially considering both sets of my grandparents came to America from Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th century. By escaping the oppression they faced as Jews, my grandparents traveled to a new world rife with problems of its own. They struggled to fit in... Continue Reading →
Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer's riveting feature documentary Cured, which opens the fall season of PBS' Independent Lens on Monday October 11th, examines the fascinating chapter in queer history that saw gay liberation activists successfully overturn the US psychiatric profession's classification of homosexuality as a mental illness. Using archive photographs and video footage, recently discovered... Continue Reading →
Slam it to the left, if you're having a good time. Shake it to the right, if you know that you feel fine. Chicas to the front. From Spice Up Your Life, written by Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Matt Rowe, Melanie C, Richard "Biff" Stannard, and Victoria Adams This Spice Girls hit does not feature... Continue Reading →
Daddy Bond, we've been expecting you. And I'm not just thinking about the way that bespoke slim-fit Tom Ford tux clings to those biceps and quads, or the way that wet white shirt shows off his pecs towards the film's epic climax, that salt and pepper hair, those characterfully creased chiseled features, or Bond sitting... Continue Reading →
The reliably uplifting GALECA Dorian Award and Emmy-nominated unscripted series We're Here, created by Steve Warren and Johnnie Ingram, returns to HBO on Monday October 11th at 9pm ET/PT, streaming on HBO Max. It works within the same proven framework as season one, but enriches and deepens its storytelling and finds more time for some... Continue Reading →
For me, good art is pretty, but great art is confrontational, forcing the viewer to reflect upon the human condition and reveal truths, however inspiring or ugly. The 2021 Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Titane, writer-director Julia Ducournau’s sophomore effort, definitely veers towards the latter type of confrontation. With enough brutal violence to fill all of... Continue Reading →
Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta, which receives its North American premiere at the 59th New York Film Festival this weekend, is a delectable cloak-and-dagger queer period drama. Inspired by real events and based on the 1986 book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown, David Birke (Elle) and Verhoeven's... Continue Reading →
As another Outfest draws to a close, I can honestly say this has been a pretty incredible program of films. I’ve seen such growth in filmmaking styles, narrative experimentation, and a great amount of diverse stories and voices on display. So many films featured characters who just happened to be LGBTQ+ without it being the... Continue Reading →
Queer cinema history is littered with enough coming out stories, hot shirtless guys, and campy comedies that they’ve been labeled “Bad Gay Films” as if that’s the norm. For sure, filmmakers have stepped up their game and have produced artistic, challenging, cinematic masterpieces, but often it’s been at the expense of dismissing, sometimes rightfully so,... Continue Reading →
