Tag: queer cinema

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Trailer: “Call Me By Your Name”

When the film adaptation of André Aciman’s acclaimed book, Call Me by Your Name, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the response was immediate rapturous, critical approval.

The flick was a strong presence at several other major film festivals including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival.

Vulture declared the film “feels like a landmark.”

Directed by Luca Guadagnino (A Bigger Splash, I Am Love) and set in the Italian region of Lombardy during the early 1980s, Call Me by Your Name follows young Elio (breakout Timothée Chalamet), on the cusp of college and the child of two brainy aesthetes. During the summer we meet Elio, he finds himself bewitched by Oliver (Armie Hammer), a strapping American student who has come to assist Elio’s professor father (Michael Stuhlbarg) for several weeks.

At first, Elio doesn’t quite know what to make of Oliver: Though Elio offers to show the older man around, he lightly mocks Oliver’s casual brashness behind his back. Book-smart and steeped in culture, Elio thinks he knows just about everything already, but as he finds himself increasingly drawn to Oliver — culminating in a romance that’s teased in this trailer — he soon finds out how much there is to learn about love, sex, and the life he’s going to lead.

In addition to the top-shelf work of the two leads, the film’s romantic cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom has been hailed by many as a sure Oscar contender.

Due in theaters November 24.

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Animated Queer Short: “In A Heartbeat”

This adorable animated short follows a closeted school boy named Sherwin who runs the risk of being outed by his own heart after it pops out of his chest to follow the boy of his dreams, Jonathan.

The project was funded via Kickstarter. The project is the senior thesis of two students at Ringling College of Art and Design.

The duo originally sought $3,000 in funding but received $15,000!

Lots of “heart” in this story about love and acceptance of LGBTQ youth. I think it’s pretty much a perfect gem of a moment. The pace, the expert use of music, the artful expressions…

Just, watch below – you’ll be glad you did 🙂

Over 560,000 views in less than a day.

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Queer Film: “Beach Rats”

I’ll be curious to see if Barry Jenkins’ Oscar winning Moonlight might open the door for more queer-themed indie films.

The film I have in mind right now is Eliza Hittman’s new flick, Beach Rats, which just dropped a full-length trailer.

Synopsis:

On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie, an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends.

Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men. When his chatting and webcamming intensify, he begins meeting men at a nearby cruising beach while simultaneously entering into a cautious relationship with a young woman.

As Frankie struggles to reconcile his competing desires, his decisions leave him hurtling toward irreparable consequences.

Eliza Hittman won at Sundance for her direction this year; and the film also won at the Montclair Film Festival and the Independent Film Festival of Boston.

Critics have called the film a powerful character study that is as visually stunning as it is evocative.

The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the flick thusly:

The film brews a potent cocktail of bristling male aggression and inarticulate sexual longing mixed with fear, as Frankie’s burgeoning identity becomes irreconcilably distant from his native habitat. That makes for a tense and unsettling final section, with a conclusion that leaves Frankie reeling at an ambiguous crossroads.

English actor Dickinson stands to make a significant leap on the casting radar with his work here, playing a character floating through his impulsive sexual exploration, seemingly in total denial that any of it involves conscious choices. It’s a characterization that might easily have read as weak, unfeeling, even remote, and yet despite the refusal of both actor and filmmaker to signal Frankie’s vulnerability, his lost quality keeps us in a melancholy grip.

In select theaters August 25th. Watch the trailer below.

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Out Short Film: “No Place Like Home”

I encourage you to stop for just a few minutes and watch the captivating 7 minute short film, No Place Like Home by David Velduque, starring Marius Praniauskas.

The official synopsis:

No Place Like Home is the story of Niko, a guy who enjoys his life and his sexuality at it’s full potential.

Suddenly he will have to go back home to his country in eastern Europe to take care of his ill mother.

Nothing is what it seems and soon he will realize what is really going on.

A breathtaking roadtrip about the discrimination and violence against the LGTBIQ community around the world.

As World Pride begins in Madrid, Spain, it’s important to remember LGBTs around the world face terrible violence and discrimination.

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Out Film: “God’s Own Country”

One of the most talked about film’s at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was God’s Own Country, the debut feature film from director Francis Lee which chronicles the story of a rural romance set in the lonesome hills of West Yorkshire.

The film has been compared to Brokeback Mountain, but that’s neither a fair nor accurate oversimplification.

“I love Brokeback Mountain,” Lee tells Empire. “The comparison feels like an honour, but they are very different. Brokeback is of a particular time and place – its two central characters can’t be together because of society’s attitudes. In God’s Own Country, it’s all to do with the central character’s inability to open up.”

The film follows Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Connor), a young farmer who is joined on his West Yorkshire farm by a gentle Romanian migrant worker, Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), when Johnny’s father suffers a stroke. Working the farmlands, the two men find a quiet intimacy.

Due for release September 1st.

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Out Film: “Handsome Devil”

From Breaking Glass Pictures, be sure to check out queer film, Handsome Devil, in limited release today in New York City and Los Angeles, and available OnDemand June 6.

Set in a boy’s boarding school, the earnest characters deliver a charming and charismatic coming-of-age story that’s reminiscent of Dead Poets Society.

Synopsis:

Ned, the bullied outsider, and Conor, the new boy and star athlete, are forced to room together at their boarding school. The boys take an instant dislike to each other, and seem destined to remain enemies until an English teacher, Mr. Sherry, begins to drill into them the value of finding one’s own voice.

This lesson, however, isn’t appreciated by everyone, particularly rugby coach Pascal, who has his own agenda and harbors some deep suspicions about the boys’ teacher.

HANDSOME DEVIL was written and directed by John Butler (The Bachelor Weekend​) ​and stars Andrew Scott (Spectre, “Sherlock”​),​ Fionn O’Shea​ (The Siege of Jadotville​, ​The Aftermath​)​​,​ ​Nicholas Galitzine​​ (High Strung, The Beat Beneath My Feet​)​, Michael McElhatton​ (The Zookeeper’s Wife, “Game of Thrones”​), ​and ​Moe Dunford​ (​​”Vikings”)​.​

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Podcast: The Best Of LGBTQ Entertainment In 2016

Tune in as I share my “Top 5” lists of the best in LGBTQ music, film, theater and more from the year that was 2016. • Top 5 songs from out musicians Ty Herndon, David Hernandez, Jeb Havens, Halsey and Tegan & Sara • Top 5 LGBT themed movies: Moonlight, Retake, Other People, First Girl I Loved and King Kobra • Highlights from Broadway including The Color Purple, Falsettos and Dear Evan Hansen All that and much more. Hit the play button and enjoy!