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“Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” Spoiler: More Old Stars Were Queer Than You Thought
Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood follows Scotty Bowers, a World War II veteran (now 95) who, after he was discharged, became a sex worker and pimp. Cary Grant, Walter Pidgeon, Randolph Scott, and Tom Ewell were among the famous clients Scotty calls “tricks” in the same charmingly anachronistic way he […]
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“Interstate” Is a Glorious ‘Pop-Rock Musical’ About Inclusivity, Queer and Trans Community, and the Open Road
For every contemporary-spirited Hamilton, Broadway stages numerous revivals of musicals from half-centuries ago, few of which have books, lyrics, or music by women or people of color. Even those productions with relatively diverse casting are unlikely to involve queer or trans characters. Meanwhile, Broadway’s tendency to latch onto franchise properties that audiences have experienced countless […]
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Like Most Films, “Hearts Beat Loud” Should Focus More on Its Women
Director Brett Haley’s new film, Hearts Beat Loud, is something of a Trojan horse. The first scenes give every indication that we’re going to see a lackluster update of High Fidelity. The main character, this time named Frank (Nick Offerman), like Fidelity‘s Rob, owns a record store and lectures women about music as if they don’t […]
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Four Movies at the Tribeca Film Festival That Don’t Pretend
A film-within-a-film is a well-worn narrative conceit, but one that seems more complicated in the context of a documentary. Madeleine Sackler’s extraordinary It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It was shot entirely at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security state prison near Indianapolis. (The occasional animated interludes were done by Yoni Goodman, of Waltz With Bashir.) […]
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Film Poll: What Viewers May Have Missed From the Year in Queer Cinema
2017 was a great year for queer films and queer filmmakers: Out queer directors helmed nearly half of my favorite films and are at the top of my ten-best list. But thanks to the homophobic notion (and self-fulfilling prophecy) that audiences will support only one queer film (you know which one) at a time, most […]
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The Past Is Present at the 29th NewFest, New York’s LGBTQ Film Festival
With the unexpectedly deep and moving Professor Marston and the Wonder Women in theaters and the excellent and uncannily accurate BPM (Beats Per Minute) opening this week, audiences no longer have to go to queer film festivals to see good films about queer people created by queer filmmakers. But NewFest, the New York LGBTQ film festival that begins its […]
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Ratso in Love
Early in By Hook or by Crook, the 2002 film written and directed by Harry Dodge and Silas Howard, the main character, Shy (played by Howard), contemplates in voiceover the possibility of becoming a petty criminal: “I started thinking about all the crooks in the world, like presidents, senators, and cops.” That line, as well […]
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“The Ornithologist” Director João Pedro Rodrigues: ‘You Have to Choose the Moment’
Portuguese writer-director João Pedro Rodrigues’s The Ornithologist starts out as a study of wild birds, becomes a man-lost-in-the-wilderness tale, has a gay erotic interlude and at least one killing, and is also the story of Saint Anthony of Padua. But this well-paced, beautifully shot film doesn’t have any hint of confusion — or camp. I […]
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This Boy’s Life: “Elián” Is a Time Capsule of Bad Behavior
The documentary Elián posits the story of five-year-old Elián González, rescued off the coast of Florida in 1999 after attempting to leave Cuba with his mother (who drowned) — along with its aftermath — as the birth of the 24-hour news cycle. But what’s most striking here is how the story, in vintage clips, suggests […]
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Tribeca: Behind-The-Scenes Doc “Whitney: Can I Be Me?” Asks How Well We Know Whitney Houston
This documentary on the life of Whitney Houston, directed by Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney) and Rudi Dolezal, centers on Houston’s 1999 world tour. In extended clips from her concerts, Houston sounds spectacular as she sings — though one backing musician tells us that she lost her voice later on in the tour. In between […]