Activist & Political · Documentaries · Reviews
Post-apartheid South Africa’s rituals of admission and absolution Civilized societies, an oxymoronic phrase to some observers, choose to deal with the aftermath of large-scale violence in different ways. Sometimes there[…]
Asian · LGBT & Queer · Reviews
Stereotypes and social critique spar in this culture-clash dramedy East Is East, based on Ayub Khan-Din’s play and directed by Damien O’Donnell, is a huge hit in England but has[…]
Asian · Music & Musicals · Reviews
If “Asian face” isn’t bad enough, how about names like Nanki-Poo and Yum Yum? Mike Leigh’s 1999 film Topsy-Turvy reenacts Gilbert and Sullivan’s staging of The Mikado, the 1885 comic[…]
Gay werewolves, the Marquis De Sade, and a mean one-legged nun: The tortured queens and killer dykes of yesteryear make way for more rarified queer types this season. Queer and[…]
Historical & Epic · Reviews · SF & Fantasy · Writers & Critics
Who knew that Crusoe and Friday would be resurrected daily for service to western culture’s nefarious needs? While we are waiting for Dreamworks’ The Legend of Bagger Vance (starring Matt[…]
Documentaries · Music & Musicals · Reviews
Rock’s aging bad boys finally give it up The 25-year hissy fit between Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols continues to rage in Julian Temple’s engaging documentary about everybody’s favorite[…]
Actors & Personalities · Music & Musicals · Reviews
“Heaven rest us, I’m not asbestos” Roberta is one of the least known,1 and one of the very best, of the films that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers did together. It features some of[…]
Activist & Political · Reviews
A crash course in Anglo/Irish politics and America/Hollywood’s transformation of “the Troubles” for its own dubious purposes Part One The last decade has witnessed the emergence in Ireland of what[…]
Directors · Exploitation & Erotica · Interviews
SuperRuss speaks! I interviewed Russ Meyer in 1974 at his office in Los Angeles. He answered the door himself, dressed in red jockey shorts with a strip of film dangling over his[…]
Noir · Reviews · Uncategorized
Jacques Tourneur’s riveting 1947 film noir, usually ranked as one of the best of the genre, was adapted from Daniel Mainwaring’s evocatively titled novel Build My Gallows High (published under the name Geoffrey[…]
Directors · Experimental & Underground
Western Civ gets a brutal debunking courtesy of this South African expat auteur The titles of Ian Kerkhof’s films are both seduction and warning about what to expect from the[…]
Actors & Personalities · Directors · Experimental & Underground · LGBT & Queer
New York’s pioneering campmeister’s flame still sears Not long ago, Fran Lebowitz invoked the sad-comic image of a sailor disembarking in New York, heading to Times Square, and experiencing total[…]
Directors · Experimental & Underground · LGBT & Queer
The master of Super-8 radical cinema takes us into the cave of the unknown, with extraordinary results The Super-8 camera and projector were once the beloved means by which postwar[…]
Documentaries · Festivals & Awards · LGBT & Queer
Friendly Christians, bitter rent boys, and South Africa’s liberated queens are part of this year’s queer reality parade To some jaundiced eyes, documentaries have an inherent fascination and gravitas lacking[…]
Experimental & Underground · Reviews
Wilde’s infamous letter from prison becomes a springboard for a surreal queer experience De Profundis was the closest Oscar Wilde ever came to a queer apologia and defense, written as a[…]
LGBT & Queer · Reviews · Uncategorized
The 1960s brought back Hellman’s lesbian who vanished three decades earlier. But why does she die? “She found the lie with the ounce of truth.” – The Children’s Hour, film[…]
Actors & Personalities · Documentaries · Exploitation & Erotica · Reviews
Liberated porn queen or psychological wreck? You be the judge. In a demimonde as duplicitous as the porn world, it shouldn’t be too surprising to find that some of its players[…]
In spite of what you’ve heard, abortion was not an option in that decade’s mainstream Hollywood cinema Ah, movie magic. Hollywood always manages to make difficult situations turn out well after two[…]
Fred and Ginger get continental on your ass The Gay Divorcee1 is the quintessential Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie. It’s not their best – largely because Ginger’s dancing skills[…]
Going down in San Francisco’s street-kid heroin underground Behind the image of San Francisco as a creative epicenter and ultimate party town drawing talented, disaffected kids from around the country[…]
