The new film ‘Emma’ – based on Jane Austen’s 1815 novel – is about a rich young woman who sees her friends all around her falling in love. But does Emma want love?
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays Emma with a spark, and lives a very comfortable life with her very rich father (Bill Nighy) – who always feels a draft in his house) much to the dismay of his butlers. But it’s Emma who rules the roost – and who plays matchmaker for her girlfriends – all hanging on her every word.
Her friends include the daughters of Miss Bates (a hilarious turn by Miranda Hart), and her friend Miss Harriet Smith (Mia Goth). But while others around her are falling in love right and left, love eludes Emma – and it’s been under her nose all along! Will her knight in shining armour be George (Johnny Flynn) or Mr Elton (Josh O’Connor) or Frank (Callum Turner)? ‘Emma’ – a story told many times in the past, is a fun film – perfect for Valentines Day. Directed by Autumn de Wilde, with sumptuous costumes and sets, and Anya Taylor-Joy is a joy!
Robert Pattinson in director Robert Eggers THE LIGHTHOUSE. Credit : A24 Pictures
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Powerful acting by both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, and superb cinematography by Oscar nominee Jarin Blaschke, are the highlights of this film about two men sent to a remote location to take care of a lighthouse in the middle of nowhere.
As boredom, heavy and continuous rain, and monstrous waves take their toll on both men, they start grating on each other after too many meals and too much time together, and it all comes to a head as Pattinson’s Ephraim Winslow starts getting annoyed as Dafoe’s bossman character Tom Wake barks one order too many.
A bit on the homoerotic side, The Lighthouse is visually so unlike any film you’ll see this year, or even this decade.
Going into this film I expected a story of the lovable Mister Rogers – the man who, for decades hosted the US children’s television show Mister Rogers Neighborhood, but it’s not a story about him.
It’s the story of writer Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) doing a magazine article about Mister Rogers.
Of course, Mister Rogers hypothetically stands in for Vogel’s father, a man he never got along with and was never able to please (played a bit over the top by Chris Cooper).
Hanks is superb as Rogers but after leaving the cinema I felt a bit ripped off as I didn’t get the film that was advertised.
Yes it’s true about all the hype surrounding the South Korean film Parasite – it’s funny, dramatic, and very very different, and it sticks to you like, well, a parasite.
Director Bong Joon-ho, who wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won, tells the tale of the Kim family, who are all unemployed (they attempt to get a job folding pizza boxes but fail miserably) and live in a ground floor basement apartment where locals relieve themselves right outside their window. They also steal Wifi connections from neighbors.
The son, Kim-woo (Choi Woo-shik) gets a job tutoring the daughter of the wealthy Park family who live in an architecturally stunning home. And soon enough, the daughter, Ki-jeong (a brilliant Park So-dam) poses as Kim-woo’s friend ‘Jessica’ who is then hired to be an art therapist for the Parks’ young son. And then eventually the father (Song Kang-ho) and the mother (Chang Hyae-jin) get jobs in the Park household as well, infiltrating the Parks’ home and their lives, like an organism (parasite). But their good luck just about comes to an end when the former Park housekeeper (whose job the mother stole) comes back to check on what she left behind (it’s quite a surprise!), and it’s then that the Kim family ruse starts to be discovered and it all slowly starts to unravel, especially when the Parks come back home early from a rained out vacation.
It’s such an extraordinary tale that could only come from the man who gave us The Host (where a monster kidnaps a young girl), and Okja (where a young girl raises a large pig).’ Joon-ho elicits great performances from all of his cast, especially the younger actors of the Kim family – they are all very dastardly in their lies, and the Park family wife (Cho Yeo-jeong), who is oblivious to what is happening in her very own home.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival as well as two BAFTA Awards (Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Not in the English Language), and nominated for 6 Academy Awards, Parasite is truly one of the best films of the year – it’s a dark comedy that’s very very dark – and delicious.
89-year old Director Clint Eastwood shows he’s still got it.
In Richard Jewell, he tells the story of the man who was initially blamed for the bomb that exploded in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Paul Walter Hauser is fine as Jewell, an overweight security’s guard who still lives with his mother (Kathy Bates in overacting mode). A back story of a reporter (Olivia Wilde) who will do anything to get her story (including sleeping with FBI agent Jon Hamm) did not happen so take this film with a grain of salt.
Sam Rockwell is very good as usual as the man who never doubted Jewell’s innocence.
An Adam Sandler movie connotes bad acting and a stupid plot. Not ‘Uncut Gems’ – it’s fast, furious, heart-pounding and brilliant. Shockingly and shamelessly ‘Uncut Gems’ has been ignored by the people who give out film awards – its Sandlers’ best film ever as well as one of the years top movies.
The action and plot in ‘Uncut Gems’ builds and accelerates into hyperdrive – a feeling probably akin to being on meth with the high becoming more and more intense until an explosive ending.
Sandler plays Manhattan gem dealer Harold Ratner, a man known to place a few bets in his time. He comes across a rare black opal which he wants to sell for a big score. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. Other people (criminals) also want their hands on the opal, meanwhile, Ratner owes money to loan sharks, he’s been cheating on his wife (Idina Menzel) with his sexy and saucy mistress who is his assistant in the jewellery shop (Julia Fox). Also involved is a professional basketball player dangling lots of money in his face to spend on jewellery. Combining all this and what you have is a man whose life is spiralling out of control to a point where it’s do or die for Ratner.
To say Sandler is brilliant is an understatement. I saw this film last year at the BFI London Film Festival and didn’t know what to expect going in. When I left the cinema 135 minutes later, my head was spinning and my mind took hours to process what I had just seen. The ending is such a crescendo it’s so unlike anything you’d expect from a Sandler movie.
Directors (and brothers) Benny and Josh Safdie (who did the award-winning 2017 film Good Time starring Robert Pattison), with a script by both of them (and Ronald Bronstein), bring us a superb film that’s thrilling, intense, and will have you on the edge of your seat. And while all the cast is brilliant, Uncut Gems is Sandlers’ movie.
Go see it just for him, and expect the ending to just blow your mind.
‘Uncut Gems’ is on Netflix but is also currently playing in cinemas.
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, comprised of 260 mainly U.S. journalists covering film and television, has named its final-round choics for 2019’s finest movies, performances and more across a host of mainstream and LGBTQ-focused categories.
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite gobbled up five wins, including Film of the Year, Director and Screenplay. Renée Zellweger took Performance of the Year—Actress for Judy), with Antonio Banderas the top choice in the Actor race. The Society’s Rising Star of the year: Florence Pugh (Little Women).
“GALECA members strive to determine the best cinematic experiences through the distinct LGBTQ lens, and this year was particularly rich in options,” said GALECA President Diane Anderson-Minshall, Editorial Director of The Advocate. “Yet when director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite practically swept our awards roster with five wins, I was not surprised. The dynamic, darkly comic drama about a poor family conniving to live the good lifespeaks to the times we live in, with vivid commentary on class, inequity and even climate change. Parasite is a perfect film for the Trump era.”
Among the professional LGBTQ journalists group’s trademark categories, Booksmart scored as Unsung Film of the Year, while Cats took the group’s semi-dubious, if affectionate, Campy Flick of the Year category.
With the Society’s recent move to spin off its television categories with a separate ceremony starting this August, the Dorians’ TV categories came with a somewhat truncated eligibility window of January 1 through November 1.
FX’s Pose again won TV Drama of the Year and LGBTQ TV Drama for the second year—and its star Billy Porter took another Dorian win as well—while Comedy Central’s The Other Two was named best Unsung TV Show. Amazon’s Fleabag was anointed TV Comedy of the Year, with star-creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge reigning as TV Performance of the Year—Actress and Wilde Wit of the Year.
Lady Gaga wowed GALECA’s members in a special vote as Wilde Artist of the Decade. Gaga’s duet with Bradley Cooper on “Shallow” at last year’s Oscars also counted with the group as the TV Musical Performance of the Year.
As previously announced, Olivia Wilde, the first-time director of Booksmart, will be receiving a special honor at the group’s Dorian Awards Winners Toast, which will be held brunchtime Sunday, February 2, in Los Angeles, before football fever kicks in. The invitation-only event will include a raise of the glass to Wilde, named GALECA’s Wilde Artist of the Year.
GALECA, formed in 2009, aims to generate camaraderie and solidarity in an unsettling media environment, champion constructive film and television criticism and elevate the craft of entertainment journalism. Via panels, screenings and our annual Dorian Awards, GALECA also strives to remind at-risk youth, bullies and bigots that the world looks to the Q eye for leads on great, unique movies and TV. And how would the world fare without knowing what’s campy?
GALECA is a proud core member of CGEM: Critics Groups for Equality in Media.
FULL LIST OF 11TH DORIAN AWARD WINNERS (noted in bold and with an asterisk)
Film of the Year
Hustlers Little Women Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood Pain and Glory *Parasite Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Director of the Year
Pedro Almodovar, Pain and Glory Greta Gerwig, Little Women *Bong Joon-ho, Parasite Sam Mendes, 1917 Celine Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Film Performance of the Year — Actress
Awkwafina, The Farewell Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story Lupita Nyong’o, Us Alfre Woodard, Clemency *Renée Zellweger, Judy
Film Performance of the Year — Actor
*Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory Adam Driver, Marriage Story Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems Joaquin Phoenix, Joker Taron Egerton, Rocketman
Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actress
Laura Dern, Marriage Story Florence Pugh, Little Women *Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers Margot Robbie, Bombshell Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Al Pacino, The Irishman Joe Pesci, The Irishman Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood *Song Kang-ho, Parasite
LGBTQ Film of the Year
Booksmart End of the Century Pain and Glory *Portrait of a Lady on Fire Rocketman
Foreign Language Film of the Year
The Atlantics Pain and Glory *Parasite Portrait of a Lady on Fire The Farewell
Screenplay of the Year
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story *Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin-won, Parasite Greta Gerwig, Little Women Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Documentary of the Year
American Factory Apollo 11 For Sama *Honeyland One Child Nation
LGBTQ Documentary of the Year
Circus of Books Gay Chorus Deep South The Gospel of Eureka 5B *Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street
Visually Striking Film of the Year ** TIE
Midsommar 1917 The Lighthouse Parasite Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Unsung Film of the Year
*Booksmart Her Smell Gloria Bell The Last Black Man in San Francisco Waves
Campy Flick of the Year
*Cats Greta Knives Out Ma Serenity
TV Drama of the Year
Chernobyl Euphoria *Pose Succession Unbelievable
TV Comedy of the Year
*Fleabag The Other Two PEN15 Russian Doll Schitt’s Creek
TV Performance of the Year — Actor
Bill Hader, Barry Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us *Billy Porter, Pose Jeremy Strong, Succession
Euphoria The Other Two *Pose Schitt’s Creek Tales of the City
Unsung TV Show of the Year
Gentleman Jack On Becoming a God in Central Florida *The Other Two PEN15 Years and Years
TV Current Affairs Show of the Year
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee The Rachel Maddow Show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver The Late Show with Stephen Colbert *Leaving Neverland
TV Musical Performance of the Year
*Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, “Shallow,” The 91st Academy Awards Lizzo, “Truth Hurts,” VMAs 2019 Megan Mullally, “The Man That Got Way,” Will & Grace Annie Murphy, “A Little Bit Alexis,” Schitt’s Creek Michelle Williams, “Who’s Got the Pain?,” Fosse/Verdon
Campy TV Show of the Year
American Horror Story 1984 Big Little Lies RuPaul’s Drag Race *The Politician Riverdale
The “We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award
Roman Griffin Davis Kaitlyn Dever Beanie Feldstein *Florence Pugh Hunter Schafer
Wilde Wit of the Year (Honoring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)
Dan Levy Billy Porter Randy Rainbow Taika Waititi *Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Wilde Artist of the Decade (Special Accolade)
*Lady Gaga Greta Gerwig Ryan Murphy Billy Porter Phoebe Waller-Bridge
In past years, the Oscars have come under fire for being too white with the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag trending to blast the organisation for its lack of diversity. This year people are saying it’s too white, too male and too straight.
#OscarSoWhite became a headlining story in 2015.
This year, it seems is the LGBT+ community’s time to shout about how undiverse the nominations are, along with how male and white the nominations appear to be.
Across Twitter people have been blasting the Oscars for the lack of LGBT+ (or more specifically how cis and heteronormative the award nominations are in 2020.
“Boycotting”
Fans of the show have sworn off this year’s show, with some suggesting that the organisation hadn’t learned from previous years.
I guess the Oscars haven't learned any lessons from their past decisions. I'm boycotting this year's #OscarsSoStraight
However, Antonio Banderas is up for Leading Actor for his performance in Pain And Glory. And Rocketman receives one nomination for Best Original Song.
No Nomination for Rocketman
Taron Egerton as Elton John in Rocketman from Paramount Pictures.
One of the biggest omissions from this year’s “big category” nominations was the widely acclaimed Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton.
The Dorian Award from the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has shortlisted 6 LGBT+ films for its awards including, Booksmart, End of the Century, Pain and Glory, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Rocketman.
The FBI investigation of actress Jean Seberg is told in the new film Seberg.
Kristen Stewart, who plays Seberg, is fine in this film of Seberg’s life which was filled with glamour and controversy. Director
Benedict Andrews, who directs with little enthusiasm, and the writers focus on the years in Seberg’s life when she was being investigated for her ties to the Black Panther party in the 1960’s. This is told through the fictional eyes of FBI investigator Jack Solomon (a very good Jack O’connell). Seberg, an American born in 1938, was most famous for her performance in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film Breathless which immortalized her as an icon of French New Wave cinema, donated lots of money and time to the Black Panther Party. She also had an extramarital affair with Black activist Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie), which led to a baby being born prematurely, due, according to Seberg, the stress of the FBI investigation, and her rocky marriage to her husband Romain Gary (Yvan Attal).
Solomon, ever increasingly, gets more involved in the case, taking him away from his frustrated wife Linette (Margaret Qualley). Vincent Vaughan plays his partner, who knows not to get too close to the case. But we really don’t get to understand why Seberg wanted to support the Black Panthers. She was sympathetic and wanted them to have opportunities? And if so why?
Seberg died at the age of 40 in Paris, with police ruling her death a probable suicide, after having disappeared for ten days. Her life was anything but boring, yet Seberg doesn’t quite get to the heart of who she was and why she was involved.
Her life was fascinating and glamorous, but her story needs to be told again.
Taron Egerton as Elton John in Rocketman from Paramount Pictures.
The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, comprised of 260 mainly US journalists covering film and television, has named its nominees for 2019’s finest movies, performances and more across a host of mainstream and LGBTQ-focused categories.
“International” films lead the pack: South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite—the left-field hit satire comparing the lives of the rich and the poor—and the French lesbian romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire each counts 6 nominations, while director Pedro Almodovar’s semi-autobiographical opus Pain and Glory has 5 nods. Those films join Hustlers, Little Women and director Quentin Tarantino’s florid alternate-reality trip Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood on the group’s eclectic, diverse Film of the Year short list.
For Director of the Year, Bong competes with the likes of Sam Mendes, helmer of the stunning World War I epic 1917, and Women director Greta Gerwig, a previous Dorian winner in the category for Lady Bird.
Renée Zellweger (Judy), Lupita Nyong’o (Us) and Alfre Woodard (Clemency) add excitement to the award season race with their nominations for Film Performance of the Year—Actress nominations, while fresh faces Florence Pugh (Little Women) and Zhao Shuzen (The Farewell) perk up the respective Supporting category. As for the Actor categories, they’re peppered with notable surnames: Banderas, Driver and Sandler; Pitt, Pesci and Pacino.
Among the professional LGBTQ journalists group’s trademark categories, Booksmart and The Last Black Man in San Francisco are among the contenders for Unsung Film of the Year, while Cats and the cheeky, crazy-popular murder mystery Knives Out duke it out for Campy Flick of the Year
With the Society’s recent move to spin off its television categories with a separate ceremony starting this August, the Dorians’ TV categories came with a somewhat truncated eligibility window of January 1 through November 1.
HBO’s acerbic rich-family soap Succession, Netflix’s searing and female-centric mystery Unbelievable and last year’s multi-winner Pose, all up for TV Drama of the Year, with Hulu’s high-school friendship spoof PEN15 and Comedy Central’s tart The Other Two making nice-surprise showings in the comedy arena. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, star-creator of the also-nominated comedy Fleabag star-creator, is up for three Dorians, including TV Performance of the Year—Actress and Wilde Wit of the Year.
All Dorian Award Winners, including the recipient of the Society’s annual Timeless career-achievement award, will be revealed Wednesday, January 8.
As previously announced, Olivia Wilde, the first-time director of Booksmart, will be receiving a special honor at the group’s Dorian Awards Winners Toast, which will be held on Sunday, February 2, in Los Angeles, before football fever kicks in. The invitation-only event will include a raise of the glass to Wilde, named GALECA’s Wilde Artist of the Year. It bears noting that the acclaimed Booksmart’s stars, Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, each hold a Dorian nomination for GALECA’s “We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star award.
GALECA, a member of CGEM: Critics Groups for Equality in Media, aims to generate camaraderie and solidarity in an unsettling media environment, champion constructive film and television criticism and elevate the craft of entertainment journalism. Via panels, screenings and our annual Dorian Awards, GALECA also strives to remind at-risk youth, bullies and bigots that the world looks to the Q eye for leads on great, unique movies and TV. And how would the world fare without knowing what’s campy?
FULL LIST OF 11TH DORIAN AWARDS NOMINATIONS
(Note: Categories with six or more contenders involve a tie)
Film of the Year
Hustlers
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood
Pain and Glory
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Director of the Year
Pedro Almodovar, Pain and Glory
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Celine Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Film Performance of the Year — Actress
Awkwafina, The Farewell
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Alfre Woodard, Clemency
Renée Zellweger, Judy
Film Performance of the Year — Actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Taron Egerton, Rocketman
Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actress Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actor Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood
Song Kang-ho, Parasite
LGBTQ Film of the Year
Booksmart
End of the Century
Pain and Glory
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Rocketman
Foreign Language Film of the Year
The Atlantics
Pain and Glory
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Farewell
Screenplay of the Year Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin-won, Parasite
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Documentary of the Year American Factory
Apollo 11
For Sama
Honeyland
One Child Nation
LGBTQ Documentary of the Year
Circus of Books
Gay Chorus Deep South
The Gospel of Eureka
5B
Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street
Visually Striking Film of the Year Midsommar
1917
The Lighthouse
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Unsung Film of the Year
Booksmart
Her Smell
Gloria Bell
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Waves
Campy Flick of the Year
Cats
Greta
Knives Out
Ma
Serenity
TV Drama of the Year
Chernobyl
Euphoria
Pose
Succession
Unbelievable
TV Comedy of the Year
Fleabag
The Other Two
PEN15
Russian Doll
Schitt’s Creek
TV Performance of the Year — Actor
Bill Hader, Barry
Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession
TV Performance of the Year — Actress Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Mj Rodriguez, Pose
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon
LGBTQ TV Show of the Year
Euphoria
The Other Two
Pose
Schitt’s Creek
Tales of the City
Unsung TV Show of the Year
Gentleman Jack
On Becoming a God in Central Florida
The Other Two
PEN15
Years and Years
TV Current Affairs Show of the Year
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
The Rachel Maddow Show
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Leaving Neverland
TV Musical Performance of the Year
Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, “Shallow,” The 91st Academy Awards
Lizzo, “Truth Hurts,” VMAs 2019
Megan Mullally, “The Man That Got Way,” Will & Grace
Annie Murphy, “A Little Bit Alexis,” Schitt’s Creek
Michelle Williams, “Who’s Got the Pain?,” Fosse/Verdon
Campy TV Show of the Year
American Horror Story 1984
Big Little Lies
RuPaul’s Drag Race
The Politician
Riverdale
The “We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award
Roman Griffin Davis
Kaitlyn Dever
Beanie Feldstein
Florence Pugh
Hunter Schafer
Wilde Wit of the Year
(Honoring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)
Dan Levy
Billy Porter
Randy Rainbow
Taika Waititi
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Wilde Artist of the Decade (Special Accolade)
Lady Gaga
Greta Gerwig
Ryan Murphy
Billy Porter
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Looking for the best LGBT+ / gay-themed films Amazon has to offer with your Prime account, look no further. Here’s a list of THEGAYUK’s favourites including some incredible biopics and dramas.
Updated: November 2019
Green book (Biopic)
To be gay in America in the early 1960s was not easy. But to also be black, and discriminated against on every level, was an entirely different thing, no matter how famous you were.
Green Book is a true story, and directed by a subdued Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber) it’s as slow as molasses on a hot day – but Mortensen lightens up the screen in every scene he is in – he’s fantastic and is the take away of this film. Ali, while good, seems a bit stiff throughout, and I don’t understand why he is winning all the awards (Richard E. Grant is so much better in Can You Ever Forgive Me.) Nevertheless, Green Book is a good study in race relations in America at that time when JFK was President and Marilyn Monroe was the star of the moment. (Tim Baros)
Blanchett is magnificent as Carol, who risks losing her daughter yet has strong feelings for a much younger woman. Mara is even more superb as Therese, her innocence and naivete in full display. Both actresses are excellent, yet it’s Mara who ups Blanchette in the acting arena. The movie basically revolves around Therese and her coming of age not just with her career but with her sexuality as well.
Chandler is also excellent as Carol’s husband – he’s got an ideal 1950’s look about him.
Carol, based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, was written at a time when it’s subject was considered scandalous, which Haynes truly captures. (Tim Baros)
Based on the real-life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, The Imitation Game portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain’s top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
With such a fascinating story and a stellar cast (Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Mark Strong, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance) this is a film that is destined to be a major success. Already garnering critical acclaim, it’s not hard to see why.
The script, period detail and performances are all exemplary. Cumberbatch is pitch-perfect in his portrayal as Turing, portraying the strengths and vulnerabilities of a man with little social skills who is driven by his passion for his work and his intellect. He’s ably supported by Keira Knightley as the feisty Joan Clarke; a woman of great intellect who has to fight to the constraints of a society that devalues and oppresses women.
Mark Strong as a particularly dashing MI6 agent and Matthew Goode as a fellow code-breaker, are equally strong. (Chris Bridges)
Stonewall is a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent’s home and flees to New York. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends Ray (Jonny Beauchamp) and a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn; however, this shady, mafia-run club is far from a safe-haven. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, we see a rage begin to build.
This emotion runs through the entire community of young gays, lesbians, drag queens and trans people who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger.
With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born. Directed by Roland Emmerich.
So, here’s the thing, I can be an old, hard cynical fart when I want to be – but occasionally, just occasionally along comes something that makes me weep like a baby. This film is one of those things.
What starts out as a simple story of love and acceptance quickly turns into one of bigotry and spite – leading to an unexpected ending. Based on a true story, this is one emotional roller-coaster.
A strong cast and crew make this one of the best films of its kind in a long time with Travis Fine doing a great job as director, writer and producer. (Chris Jones)
In filmmaker Jeffrey Schwartz’s very upbeat documentary into this unique entertainer and character, we learn that Divine had always dreamt of being a movie star since he was a kid who had been picked in and bullied at school as being both effeminate and fat. And he did deservedly become one and was just about to parlay his major underground success into the mainstream with a (non-drag) part in a nationally syndicated TV sitcom when he dropped down dead in Hollywood after a massive heart attack the very day before filming was due to start. He was just 42 years old. Manager, Bernard Jay poignantly claimed that as Divine was at the peak of his career, he had at least died happily.
Schwartz beautifully captures both the joyous nature of Divine’s flamboyant life and also the great sense of sheer enjoyment he had. He includes the completely tasteless clip from Eat Your Makeup in which Divine played Jacqueline Kennedy in a grotesquely amusing re-creation of the Kennedy assassination just two years after the event. But he also shows the scene from Multiple Maniacs where Divine’s character is raped by a giant lobster! A perfect epitaph. (Roger Walker-Dack)
Beautiful Something beautifully explores the need for us gay men to seek out romance and adventure in the hopes of finding something, anything, meaningful. Director and writer Joseph Graham successfully captures a night these men, nor us, won’t forget.
Four gay men, all with issues in their lives, experience a night of mystery and sex in the beautifully told Beautiful Something. (Tim Baros)
Thorpe’s somewhat light-hearted investigation starts with him accepting that he dislikes gay-sounding voices, especially his own and he wonders if with professional help it can, in fact, be changed.
A very pushy speech therapist has him working on his ‘nasality’ and long vowels to get a ‘go-too’ voice whatever that maybe. She, thank goodness, is not the only figure that Thorpe seeks advice from and his interviews with some legendary gay figures make both sound, and also hilarious, contributions to his quest. (Roger Walker-Dack)
For three weeks in the summer of 2012 filmmakers, Cory James Krueckeberg and Tom Gustafson (the producer/director behind the cute Mariachi Gringo and the gay cult film Were the World Mine) followed two guys all over New York with a camera and a script and nothing else.
This really is guerrilla filmmaking at its best. No crew, a Kickstarter budget of $10K, one actor and one real-life go-go boy in an innovative hybrid of documentary, narrative and art film that is such a delight. Following hot on the heels of movies such as Weekend, Keep The Lights On and Hors Les Murs this wee drama is part of a very welcome new movement of edgy queer cinema. (Roger Walker-Dack)
P. David Ebersole’s documentary Hit So Hard tells the story of former Hole drummer Patty Schemel’s rise from working-class kid in Marysville, Washington to the drummer for one of the biggest grunge bands of the nineties.
Arguably because of its low budget, the film has a student-like feel to its production, although most technical faults are forgotten when viewers get the chance to see the never before seen tour footage that was shot by Schemel on Hi-8 while in the band.
Despite, its faults Hit So Hard is a time capsule of nineties nostalgia and ultimately it is the raw and deeply personal footage that makes this film a must-see for fans of Hole or Nirvana. (Domenico Sansalone)
This screwball comedy follows a young couple who discover a secret room filled with cash while house-sitting for celebrity friends who die under mysterious circumstances while overseas… but can they make a clean getaway with the money? Featuring an all-star cast of fan favourites, including Queer As Folk USA‘s Randy Harrison and Ugly Betty‘s Michael Urie.
When Tanner is accidentally outed in school, whilst the other boys in his class may resort to taunting and bullying him, the girls start to seriously compete for his attention.
It’s all very cute, has a few really good one-liner’s like the one on Mormon’s ‘they smile to your face, then Prop 8 you in the back,’ but it is a squeaky clean teen-movie that is meant to be for the young… or at least the young at heart. (Roger Walker-Dack)
It’s the late 1950s and ageing Hollywood director, James Whale, best known for his iconic Frankenstein films, is languishing in his Los Angeles house.
Whale is incapacitated by a series of strokes that have left him frail and prone to crippling headaches, dark moods and memory lapses. In spite of his infirmity, he hasn’t lost any of his impish ways with young men, persuading them to swim in his pool or pose naked for portraits. Old habits die hard. Unashamedly gay in an era of repression, Whale is a singular and striking personality. Enter pneumatically muscular new gardener, Clayton Boone who becomes the object of Whale’s lust and an unlikely player in the final drama of his life. Starring Ian McKellen (Chris Bridges)
The cinematic fascination with The Beat Generation continues regardless, following on the heels of Walter Salles’ take on Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, which the critics were quick to dismiss. We now have this new movie which, set in the mid-1940s, is essentially a prequel to the movement that was about to begin. It’s Lucian Carr’s story, a central figure in Allen Ginsberg’s coming out, and the wittiest member of their clique at university, who ended up killing his obsessed older ex-lover David Kammerer who just wouldn’t leave him alone. Starring Daniel Radcliffe. (Roger Walker-Dack)
Joe Meek was a pioneer of the 60’s music landscape. Joe Meek was a gay producer and songwriter, who wrote the hit “Telstar.”
Set in homophobic 60’s Britain, where to be gay was still illegal, the film delivers a powerful marker to how far the gay movement has come.
The casting for this film is very strong, Con O’Neill plays a magnificently, out of control Meek, delivering a truly brilliant performance of a tone-deaf musical genius. The film’s strengths are it’s brilliantly comic (albeit all true) characters and its thought-provoking end – the demise of Joe Meek. (Jake Hook)
Five stories are interlinked in this film by Kevin Elyot and Adrian Shergold. It centres on the life and experiences of gay men during a 36-hour period in the Clapham area of London.
Sean Penn, plays the central role of Harvey Milk and putting aside the hotly debated discussion of whether LGBT people should fill the roles of LGBT character’s in the films, Penn does a brilliant job.
No ham involved. A remarkably sensitive portrayal of this pioneer in a backwards, gay loathing, backstabbing system. Of course, there is a certain bit of eye candy – that being one Mr James Franco.
It is easy for us of a certain age, to forget or not to acknowledge those who went before in the equal rights cause and I say films like this need to be produced more and more, so that we never forget, how and why we are able to live in the western world freer than we’ve ever been able to. (Jake Hook)
