★★★★ Try to imagine the cheesiest imitation of a Bruce Willis 80s film like Die Hard, but injected with a magnum-sized dose of gay, and one will come close to picturing the delightful vibes of Cop Secret. This surprisingly great Icelandic action spoof plays up the inherent cliches of the genre to an exaggerated, preposterous … Continue reading SIFF 2022: Cop Secret
Film Review: White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch
★★★★ Growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, the thrall of stores like Abercrombie & Fitch over my childhood is impossible to deny. For a gay outsider, this store represented everything I wished I could be, as the “cool kids” were the only ones that were really allowed to shop there. I remember the … Continue reading Film Review: White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch
CIFF 2022 Wrap-Up
2022's Cleveland International Film Festival hosted a variety of excellent screenings, both in person and online. Being unavailable to go in person, we covered this one virtually. Check out our full roundup of films that screened this year, including links to those we have previously covered. 1991 Depicting a specific time period (expressly, 1991 Guatemala), … Continue reading CIFF 2022 Wrap-Up
Interview: Writer/Director Addison Heimann & Hypochondriac Cast
Ahead of their debut at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival, Allison and I got together on Zoom with the director and select cast members from the new queer horror film, Hypochondriac! In our comprehensive hour-long conversation, we cover everything from the real-life breakdown that inspired the movie, echoes of Donnie Darko, hilarious sequel prospects, and … Continue reading Interview: Writer/Director Addison Heimann & Hypochondriac Cast
SXSW 2022 Wrap-Up
As with 2021, this iteration of the South by Southwest Film Festival is wildly varied in tone and consistency, delivering what I assume will be some of our favorite movies of the entire year and we are only in March! After the jump, check out our full coverage from SXSW, including capsule reviews for the … Continue reading SXSW 2022 Wrap-Up
SXSW 2022: Hypochondriac
★★★★ Many films before this one have taken an approach to the manifestation of trauma, but none have done it with the precision and horror of Hypochondriac. Writer/director Addison Heimann, a queer filmmaker presenting an explicitly queer story, draws from an intensely personal experience: his own mental breakdown. Hypochondriac epitomizes the feeling of losing control … Continue reading SXSW 2022: Hypochondriac
SXSW 2022: Mama Bears
★★★ The intersection of religion and sexuality is more like a crayon-scribble than a seamless coexistence, and SXSW documentary Mama Bears has set out to prove that gay Christians do truly exist. This docu-drama focuses on a few different sets of parents grappling with the gender identity and sexual orientation of their children. Mama Bears … Continue reading SXSW 2022: Mama Bears
SXSW 2022: Sissy
★★★★★ Channeling excellent female-driven horror thrillers like Office Killer and Sound of Violence, Sissy delivers gory horror kills while weaving in dark humor. It delivers a pointed commentary on social media culture, as well as bullying and psychological torment. The Bold Type star Aisha Dee leads an ensemble cast, and she breaks the mold by … Continue reading SXSW 2022: Sissy
Berlinale 2022: Sublime
★★★★ Sublime exists somewhere in that special corner of adolescence, on the cusp of falling down the rabbit hole of one’s first love. What happens when those feelings that start to invade one's brain aren’t for one's girlfriend, but a member of the same sex—a close friend, to be exact? Sublime posits that these thoughts … Continue reading Berlinale 2022: Sublime
Film Review: Three Months
★★★★ Set in 2011 Hollywood, Florida, Three Months is MTV’s answer to the coming-of-age gay rom-com. Out gay actor Troye Sivan headlines the film, in addition to penning two new songs for the feature. This marks Sivan’s return to the acting sphere after leaving a mark in 2018’s powerful conversion-camp drama, Boy Erased. Joining Sivan … Continue reading Film Review: Three Months