Actor-turned-filmmaker Brian J. Smith’s gently probing documentary, A House is Not a Disco, takes a loving look at the gay community on the famed Fire Island. Letting the locals do the talking, he unwraps the island’s mystique and issues with a nonjudgmental eye. Fire Island Pines is as much a self-perpetuating legend as it is... Continue Reading →
NewFest Pride summer film series lineup revealed
NewFest, New York’s leading LGBTQ+ film and media organization, has just announced the full lineup for its fourth annual NewFest Pride summer film series running May 30th to June 3rd in-person in New York, with select titles available virtually throughout the United States. A House Is Not A Disco. Courtesy of NewFest. NewFest Pride will... Continue Reading →
TV Review: Fellow Travelers ★★★★★
Created by Oscar-nominated Philadelphia screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, based on the novel by Thomas Mallon, the eight-episode Showtime miniseries Fellow Travelers is an exquisitely crafted work of queer historical fiction. With a nuanced gay love story at its centre, it is a captivating, sweeping, and deeply moving epic that takes in the Lavender Scare of the... Continue Reading →
The Queer Review 2022 – LGBTQ+ highlights of the year
As 2022 draws to a close, we ask some friends of The Queer Review, including prominent creators, performers, artists, and activists to share the LGBTQ+ culture or events that have sustained, stimulated, moved, inspired or brought them joy this year. We hope that you enjoy reading this eclectic selection of theatre, film, TV series, books,... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: the cast of Fire Island on the queer icons & LGBTQ+ culture that’s shaped them
Ahead of tonight's NewFest Pride world premiere of Fire Island, written by and starring Joel Kim Booster, and directed by Andrew Ahn, The Queer Review's editor James Kleinmann spoke exclusively with Ahn and cast members Matt Rogers, Conrad Ricamora, Bowen Yang, James Scully, Zane Phillips, Torian Miller, Tomas Matos and Nick Adams about the queer... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: filmmaker Andrew Ahn “celebrates queer joy & chosen family” with Fire Island
When stand-up comedian, writer, and actor Joel Kim Booster had the genius idea to rework Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as a modern-day rom-com set on Fire Island centering queer Asian American characters, he turned to Andrew Ahn to direct his screenplay. The queer Korean American filmmaker caught the attention of critics and the entertainment... Continue Reading →
Meat Rack cute – Film Review: Fire Island ★★★★
Jane Austen was an astute observer of human behaviour. Behaviour that's changed very little in the two hundred years or so since she wrote Pride and Prejudice, the nuances of which can just as readily be found among gay men summering on Fire Island in 2022 as they could in Austen's nineteenth century high society... Continue Reading →
Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival announces full lineup for in-person & virtual 32nd edition
The 32nd annual Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival, set to take place both in-person and virtually from May 26th to June 5th 2022, has just revealed its full film lineup showcasing 128 films from 28 countries, including 38 features, three episodic series, and seven world premieres. The festival’s opening night film will be the... Continue Reading →
Fire Island: a first look at director Andrew Ahn & writer-star Joel Kim Booster’s modern-day queer spin on Austen’s Pride & Prejudice
Dreaming of that summer vacation in the Pines? Searchlight Pictures has just released a tantalizing array of first look holiday snaps from the set of director Andrew Ahn's Fire Island, premiering on Hulu this Pride Month, on Friday, June 3rd. Written by and starring Joel Kim Booster as Noah, Fire Island, is a queer modern-day rom-com inspired... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Circle Jerk ★★★★
Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley's frequently hilarious high camp queer absurdist dark comedy Circle Jerk is very 2020. It's confronting, chaotic, unrelenting, far-fetched, deranged, and overstimulating. The theatrical equivalent of spending 100 minutes or so multi-screen doom scrolling yourself down a wormhole of alt right conspiracy theory threads punctuated with viral TikTok lip sync videos... Continue Reading →
