As the youngest of eight children, I didn’t really understand my older siblings’ adolescent experiences. I was too busy being that awkward, dopey queer kid who zigged and zagged around too fast so nobody would catch onto me. In particular, I feel like I missed out on the growing pains of my two queer sisters,... Continue Reading →
Russell T Davies has been my storytelling hero ever since that infamous “salad tossing” scene during the opening moments of his 1999 breakthrough, Queer As Folk. Bold, sexy, and unapologetically in your face (literally!), he took queer storylines to a whole new level and turned me into a Davies disciple. His subsequent works like Cucumber,... Continue Reading →
Abinash Bikram Shah creates a strong sense of place and masterfully sustains the tension in his haunting feature debut as writer-director, Elephants in the Fog (तिनीहरू, Tinīharū), which made history at Cannes as the first Nepali feature to be included in the festival's official selection. Nominated for the Camera d'Or and Queer Palm, the film... Continue Reading →
Creative, and former romantic, partners Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (affectionately known as Los Javis), who you'll recognise from the judging panel if you've seen Drag Race España, proved how deftly and affectingly they could navigate multiple timelines and narrative threads with their exceptional 2020 miniseries Veneno starring Lola Rodríguez. It stands among the finest... Continue Reading →
Acclaimed Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont follows his controversial Caméra d'Or and Queer Palm-winning debut Girl, and his Oscar-nominated sophomore feature Close, with the emotionally potent Coward, which was nominated for the Palm D'Or at this year's Cannes and is receiving its North American premiere at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival. The First World War-set... Continue Reading →
The queer film event of the year has finally arrived. Following a rapturous reception at Cannes in May, and a US festival and press tour that lit up our social feeds, writer-director Jane Schoenbrun's third feature, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, opens in select theaters this Friday, August 7th before expanding nationwide on... Continue Reading →
Growing up in small town Ohio, I didn’t dare attend, let alone go anywhere near the theater, when 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show held its midnight screenings for fear of being perceived as “different”. I didn’t see the film until after moving to Los Angeles where I felt more free to be myself. That... Continue Reading →
As the series opens we meet privileged Los Angeles prep schooler Bret Ellis (Igby Rigney) as an alluring aerial shot tracks him driving his father's sporty Mercedes—"a tank" of a car, Bret scoffs—through the Hollywood hills, echoing the establishing shots of the film he is about to watch on its opening weekend, Kubrick's The Shining.... Continue Reading →
The 1970s brought about many paradigm shifts in cinema, prominent among them were those exemplified in Rocky and Saturday Night Fever. Sylvester Stallone defied the studio by insisting on starring in the little $1 million indie he wrote and, despite the prevailing wisdom, the film earned $225 million and won the Best Picture Oscar. With... Continue Reading →
I’ve always admired how filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz has dedicated much of his career to shining a light on so many untold queer stories, including I Am Divine, The Fabulous Allan Carr, Tab Hunter Confidential, and Vito. In his latest, Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders, he takes a multi-pronged approach to the real murders which inspired the... Continue Reading →
