Back in the summer of 2008 just before graduating high school, one of my closest friends suggested we go to an amazing Broadway show together from which she had heard rave reviews. Knowing little about said show before actually taking our seats at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, Spring Awakening completely blew me away (and I … Continue reading TV Review: Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known
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
SBIFF 2022 Wrap-Up
We covered the Santa Barbara International Film Festival last year for the site, so we were thrilled to virtually return this year to cover round two! This year's SBIFF was wildly varied, but brought about some exceptional movies capturing the power of the human spirit and emotionality. Check out our full coverage for the fest … Continue reading SBIFF 2022 Wrap-Up
SXSW 2022: Spaz
★★★★ It takes a truly great documentary to interest me, and Spaz is definitely one of the better ones I have seen recently. For any voracious lover of cinema—especially Terminator 2: Judgement Day or Jurassic Park—this one is for you! Ever wonder how on earth we made the transition from the practical effects of the … Continue reading SXSW 2022: Spaz
SXSW 2022: Still Working 9 to 5
★★★★ (Written by Allison Brown) Although I am not exactly a Dolly Parton fan, I always found the song, 9 to 5, to be catchy. I was not familiar with the film of the same title until discovering Still Working 9 to 5 from SXSW. Once I saw it starred the two leads, Jane Fonda … Continue reading SXSW 2022: Still Working 9 to 5
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: Clean
★★★ (Written by Allison Brown) Clean, directed by Lachlan Mcleod, is a singular look into the niche industry of trauma cleaning services, as well as a deep dive into the life of its most notable success story, Sandra Pankhurst. Sandra defines trauma as “an incident that happens out of the blue;” her service covers cleaning … Continue reading SXSW 2022: Clean
SXSW 2022: Nothing Lasts Forever
★★★ (Written by Allison Brown) Nothing Lasts Forever is conclusively tiresome, bizarre, and comedic all at once. Director Jason Kohn has a clear vendetta against the diamond industry, as well as De Beers in particular, and is surely trying to bring it all down in this documentary. After ten years of working on it, the … Continue reading SXSW 2022: Nothing Lasts Forever
Sundance 2022: TikTok, Boom.
★★★ (Written by Allison Brown) Throughout the festival, I noticed Shalini Kantayya’s TikTok, Boom. was heavily panned by critics. I still wanted to give it a chance, as I tend to enjoy tech related documentaries. The film explores TikTok’s influence on several hand-selected influencers, as well as on the political landscape. TikTok founder Zhang Yiming’s … Continue reading Sundance 2022: TikTok, Boom.
Sundance 2022: Framing Agnes
★★★ Framing Agnes is all about the reclamation of a divisive figure in transgender history: Agnes, who took part in Harold Garfinkel’s UCLA gender studies program in the 1960s. In a rather unconventional style, this film (which only clocks in at just over an hour) intersperses vintage reenactments of never-before-seen Garfinkel transcripts amongst present-day interviews … Continue reading Sundance 2022: Framing Agnes