The review is in...and it's a rave! Set over one evening in a single location and unfurling in real time, Richard Linklater's Blue Moon is a riveting chamber piece powered by an impeccable, tour-de-force lead performance. Lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) arrives at famed Broadway restaurant Sardi's for the opening night party of Oklahomo!—sorry, that's... Continue Reading →
In my lifetime of loving movies, a few come to mind as ones I considered fantastic but that I’d never want to see again. Requiem For A Dream, Irreversible, American History X, and The Last King of Scotland count among them, mostly for their graphic brutality. I now can add The Long Walk to that... Continue Reading →
James Sweeney made an auspicious feature filmmaking debut in 2019 with his snappy, dialogue-packed Straight Up. This hilarious and touching story of a gay man who decides he wants to date women out of sheer loneliness showcased a bold and original cinematic voice. He established a distinct visual style of negative space framing and surreal... Continue Reading →
Nothing gives me more cinematic pleasure than when John Waters characters shout their lines. Every booming rant seems like something I’d never say myself, but wished that I had. Can you imagine Divine whispering, “If I don’t get those cha-cha heels for Christmas, Mom and Dad are dead”? It doesn’t work. It MUST be loud... Continue Reading →
Where have you seen this one before? A grizzled, graying gay filmmaker fixates on a past relationship which prevents him from moving forward in present day. If Pedro Almodóvar’s wonderful Pain And Glory comes to mind, you have just won the trivia contest, but not so fast, as Before We Forget, co-written and directed by... Continue Reading →
schnook: noun - informal - def: a person easily duped, a fool - “Don’t be a schnook! It’s a scam!” I love comedies about schnooks. From the intrepid duo at the heart of American Movie, Beavis And Butt-head, Dumb And Dumber and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, I’ve always had a soft spot in my... Continue Reading →
The discussion around sex on screen and the role of intimacy coordinators is the central topic of Kate Blackmore’s smart and enlightening debut documentary Make It Look Real. The film demystifies the process by following intimacy coordinator Claire Warden—whose credits include TV shows such as Gossip Girl and Billions, and films like Steven Spielberg’s West... Continue Reading →
I love dark comedies and big swings. They’re among my favorite movie flavors. With such titles as Dr. Strangelove, Heathers, War Of The Roses, and Fargo offering us peak form, I found myself studying their mastery of tone and ability to somehow make us care about a gallery of unsavory characters. It’s an exceedingly fine... Continue Reading →
Assembly is a breathtaking feat that weaves the fascinating life, inspirations and creative process of interdisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome into the thrilling story of the build-up to his landmark exhibition of the same name at New York's Park Avenue Armory in 2022. Co-directed by Newsome and Johnny Symons, this feature documentary is a monumental, profoundly... Continue Reading →
Humanizing the submissive: a kinky, brilliant, bittersweet Cannes award-winning feature debut In recent years, there has been a perplexing pushback against sex in film. Whether it be on social media or in general conversation, it seems like sex, and especially kink, has been relegated into being taboo. Regressive to say the least. To combat this,... Continue Reading →
