Arts & Culture :: Movies

Lyric legend: Howard Ashman and Disney musicals' connection in documentary

Lyric legend: Howard Ashman and Disney musicals' connection in documentary

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Aug 25, 2020

Howard, the new documentary on the life and career of gay lyricist Howard Ashman, encompasses the joy of creating now-classic musical animated features, and his tragic decline and death from AIDS.

'The Boys in the Band' new film adaptation sets Sept. release

'The Boys in the Band' new film adaptation sets Sept. release

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Aug 25, 2020

Ryan Murphy's film adaptation of the star-filled 2018 Broadway revival of Mart Crowley's historic play, The Boys in the Band, will be released online September 30.

Movie stars in bondage: 'Hollywood Bound's all tied up

Movie stars in bondage: 'Hollywood Bound's all tied up

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Aug 25, 2020

'Hollywood Bound,' a coffee table book published by Reel Art Press, isn't about starstruck kids heading to Tinseltown in search of stardom. Rather, it's a picture book featuring black and white photos of movie stars either tied up or in chains.

OutFest 2020: Films online bring diversity to your screen

OutFest 2020: Films online bring diversity to your screen

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Aug 21, 2020

The annual Los Angeles OutFest LGBT film festival screens a diverse array of narrative, documentary and short films, all online, through August 30.

Monstrous: scary but offensive

Monstrous: scary but offensive

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Aug 18, 2020

'Monstrous,' the new chiller available on DVD and on-demand August 11, is a film which claims to be a Bigfoot movie. Actually, the legendary monster makes but a few brief cameos in the film.

Home movies: late summer cinema selections

Home movies: late summer cinema selections

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Aug 18, 2020

Dark drama, enlightening documentary and a psychedelic romp: 'The Prince/El Principe,' 'For They Know Not What They Do' and 'Holy Trinity' are reviewed.

Besties forever: Jack & Yaya's true love story

Besties forever: Jack & Yaya's true love story

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Aug 4, 2020

Seeing as how 'Jack & Yaya' is first-time co-directors Jen Bagley and Mary Hewey's full-length documentary debut, Bagley and Hewey get more right than wrong in their rendering of this touching true story.

Remembering John Lewis: 'Good Trouble' documentary recounts a life of activism

Remembering John Lewis: 'Good Trouble' documentary recounts a life of activism

  • by Victoria A. Brownworth
  • Jul 28, 2020

The new documentary by Dawn Porter, 'John Lewis: Good Trouble,' makes no pretense of being anything but a paean to Lewis's life and activist work.

All God's children get off - 'Yes, God, Yes' reveals Catholic school kinks

All God's children get off - 'Yes, God, Yes' reveals Catholic school kinks

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Jul 28, 2020

For her feature-length directorial debut, Karen Maine doesn't shy away from subject matter that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. In the case of 'Yes, God, Yes,' the hot button topic (so to speak) is female masturbation.

Burning love: 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire's voluptuous affair

Burning love: 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire's voluptuous affair

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Jul 21, 2020

Portrait of a Lady on Fire, just released on Blu-ray DVD, is one of the best lesbian films ever made, nominated for nine Cesar Awards. A sensual dreamy romance about forbidden love and the healing potentiality of art, it also analyzes how desire works.

Arthur Bresson, Jr.'s early erotic films stream on PinkLabel.TV

Arthur Bresson, Jr.'s early erotic films stream on PinkLabel.TV

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Jul 20, 2020

Before he directed 'Buddies,' the first AIDS-themed gay feature film, filmmaker Arthur Bresson, Jr.'s early films documented Gay Freedom Day parades and idealized sexuality in San Francisco's 1970s.

Frameline44 announces 11-day film festival Sept. 17-27

Frameline44 announces 11-day film festival Sept. 17-27

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Jul 19, 2020

The world's longest-running and largest showcase of queer cinema announced that the Frameline44 Festival, previously postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held virtually September 17—27, 2020.

Welcome to Chechnya: searing documentary exposes violent homophobia

Welcome to Chechnya: searing documentary exposes violent homophobia

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Jul 14, 2020

David France's searing new, brutal chilling exposé documentary, 'Welcome to Chechnya' is the harrowing saga of the purging war, via torture, beatings, and executions of LGBTQ people in Chechnya spearheaded by its Putin puppet leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Twin Peaks Tavern documentary's benefit screening July 10

Twin Peaks Tavern documentary's benefit screening July 10

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Jul 8, 2020

A Castro district institution for decades, the historic Twin Peaks Tavern is the subject of a 2019 documentary, to be screened as an online fundraiser July 10.