Month: January 2024

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Star Trek: Discovery – Season 2 (2019)

2024 Entry #30 01-31-24 The second season of the American TV series “Star Trek: Discovery” begins in the year 2257 and ends in 2258, 7 years before the beginning of “Star Trek” (The Original Series). Until Star Trek: Discovery LGTBQ+ characters in Trek were exceedingly rare and often only there via interpretation, but the first season introduced brilliant Astromycologist Paul Stamets (played by openly gay actor Anthony Rapp) & his loving physician husband Dr. Hugh Culber (played by openly gay actor Wilson Cruz). That season saw the death of the latter character, but death is often not permanent in Trek, and this was to be the case here; it’s more a wrinkle in their extended love story than an abrupt ending to one. And in the Mirror Universe we met Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo’noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius (who is pansexual, and played by Oscar Winner Michelle Yeoh).

Season 2 was released in 2019 and not only brought our gay and pansexual characters back with a vengeance, greatly expanding on them, but also brought us a widowed lesbian engineer in the form of Jett Reno (played by lesbian comedian legend Tig Notaro). If that seems like a lot of representation after barely having any, it is, but this series doesn’t rest on its laurels and the series gets more Queer as it goes – which is wonderful. Season 2, picking up right where Season 1 left off, completes a story which leads into Season 3 but also feels complete, while also launching spin-off series, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, which is currently shooting its third season and has been renewed for a fourth. If you stopped here it would be satisfying. But if you keep going, there’s so much more! And I love it all! Well worth checking out!

And for completists, the first “Short Treks” installment, titled “Runaway” fits in between episodes 2 & 3 of Season 2; that’s “New Eden” and “Point of No Return”.

I plan on re-watching Seasons 3 & 4 before watching the final season this summer. I’ll probably post a review for those 3 seasons together.

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Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives (1977)

2024 Entry #029 01-21-24“Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives” is a 1977 documentary film featuring interviews with 26 gay men and women. It was directed by six people collectively known as the Mariposa Film Group. Peter Adair conceived and produced the film, and was one of the directors. The film premiered in November 1977 at the Castro Theater in San Francisco and went into limited national release in 1978. It also aired on many PBS stations in 1978.

I’ve had this documentary for a couple of years but I finally got around to watching it and I found it quite moving. To hear an interesting variety of queer voices from the 1970s, I was again reminded of how things might have been had AIDS halted our progress for so many years. Many of the people here seem to have come to happy places in their lives, but many of them were ridiculed along the way, ostracized and / or in many instances, tortured for living honestly. To their credit, they survived and that this work allows them to be heard by all of us now…by me, is incredibly satisfying and emotional. I was 3 years old when this was released.

Highly recommended.

In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

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Of an Age (2022)

2024 Entry #028 “Of an Age” is a 2022 Australian romantic drama film by openly gay director Goran Stolevski (“You Deserve Everything”, “Housekeeping for Beginners”) who also wrote the film. The movie stars Elias Anton as Kol, a Serbian immigrant in Australia who enters a brief but intense romance with Adam (Thom Green), the brother of his ballroom dance partner Ebony (Hattie Hook).

This one broke me. Several sequences in this film mirrored experiences in my own life which I hold as sacred and so personal that I never expected to see them on screen unless I made the film myself. I wept more than once. But I also smiled and laughed. Nicely done. There are quite a few characters in this who are obnoxious (basically anyone who aren’t the main couple) but I think this was intentional. I’m glad I watched this, but I’m really not sure how others will react to it as my reactions were so heavily linked to my own experiences.

I’m curious to see more of Stolevski’s work. His follow-up film, “Housekeeping for Beginners” won the Queer Lion award and I’ve reacted to several previous winners, including “A Single Man”, “The Danish Girl” and “The Prince”.

I streamed this on Amazon Prime.

Edit 2026: I will also always remember that a friend of mine, after I posted this review, told me that they too had loved the film and found it worthwhile. He died suddenly on October 27, 2025 at the age of 40. I hope to revisit this film in his honor.

Rest in Peace Robert William Vuichard

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Teorema / Theorem (1968)

2024 Entry #027 “Teorema” (also known as “Theorem”), is a 1968 Italian allegorical film written and directed by openly gay Pier Paolo Pasolini and starring Terence Stamp (“Billy Budd”, “The Company of Wolves”, “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”), Laura Betti (“The Canterbury Tales”, “Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom”), Silvana Mangano (“Death in Venice”, “The Decameron”, “Ludwig”, “Dune”), Massimo Girotti (“Listen, Let’s Make Love”) and Anne Wiazemsky. Pasolini’s sixth film, it was apparently the first time he worked primarily with professional actors.

I’ve had this film described to me many times over the years. What I was told was that a stranger, a “visitor” comes into the lives of a family and that he seduces all the members of the household, including the maid, the father, the mother, the son and the daughter. Then the possibly otherworldly visitor leaves and we see how his departure impacts the various characters. I had also heard (correctly) that on its release, the religious right and the Vatican criticized the sexual content in the film and that the film won a special award at the Venice Film Festival from the International Catholic Film Office, only for the award to be withdrawn later when the Vatican protested. That sounds like fun, right? I mean, look at the exclamations and the sexy artwork on the film poster! It’s been on my to watch list since I even had a list.

Right. Now forget all of that, because this film is shit. It’s dull, sexless, poorly acted and disconnected from anything resembling storytelling. At the very least, the plot that was described to me (and which I have now confirmed is repeated in sources across the web) is wholly inaccurate – unless I saw a highly edited version? According to the runtime on my copy that doesn’t seem possible. The Visitor, as he is called, doesn’t actually “arrive” in the film; he’s just there and everyone seems to know him. He’s seen making out with the maid (who behaves like she’s in a much better David Lynch film, which sadly, she’s not), he comforts the seemingly gay son and on and on, but there’s no sex. And the way the characters behave feels totally unnatural – it feels forced and pointless and amateurish. And it’s not that the film needs sex but what the fuck was the Catholic church objecting to? And the description of the movie does not fit the actual events of the film. It can surely be interpreted that the Visitor has relations with everyone…but it also can be interpreted that he didn’t. I wanted to slap everyone involved in the film. I hated it. I hope to never see it again.

Although, Bruce LaBruce is currently releasing a sort-of remake of the film, titled “The Visitor”, which I’m curious to see.

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Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

2024 Entry #026 “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is a 2008 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film stars Javier Bardem (“Not Love, Just Frenzy”, “Second Skin”, “Before Night Falls”, “Skyfall”), Penélope Cruz (“Not Love, Just Frenzy”, “Head in the Clouds”, “Sex and the City 2”), Rebecca Hall (“Dorian Gray”) and Scarlett Johansson (“The Black Dahlia”, “Avengers: Endgame”) in lead roles. The plot centers on two American women, Vicky (Hall) and Cristina (Johansson), who spend a summer in Barcelona, where they meet an artist, Juan Antonio (Bardem), who is attracted to both of them, while still enamored of his mentally and emotionally unstable ex-wife María Elena (Cruz). The film was shot in Spain in Barcelona, Avilés, and Oviedo, and was Allen’s fourth consecutive film shot outside the United States.

I don’t generally enjoy Woody Allen movies. There are actually quite a few celebrated directors that I don’t enjoy. Examples: I mostly dislike the works of Brian De Palma (as I mentioned a few weeks ago) & Stanley Kubrick, and I think that most of Steven Spielberg’s films feel too “plastic” to be truly effective, though there are a few exceptions. Woody Allen is the same for me. I’ve not seen a lot of his work, but what I have seen, I haven’t loved or cared to revisit. It doesn’t help that he married his partner’s adopted daughter (which I have always found creepy) or that later evidence convinced me that he’s a pedophile – and I highly recommend watching Kirby Dick’s and Amy Ziering’s four-part documentary “Allen v. Farrow”. So why would I want to watch his work? That’s a fair question, and all I can say is that I’ve heard about this movie for years and I wanted to see it. I heard that it was inclusive. I love the cast. And a couple of years ago, I spent a few days in Barcelona, where the film is set. I have also previously reviewed films from convicted criminals and others whose views are directly opposed to mine. Sometimes I can pay more attention to the art than the artist, and other times I can’t. And I can’t explain why that is because I honestly don’t know. For instance, I have no problem re-watching the Wizarding World movies despite J.K. Rowling being a transphobe, yet I find the idea of re-reading her books (even though I already own them) difficult – and maybe that will change, or maybe it won’t. I just go with what my conscience will allow.

But what did I think of the movie? I liked it. I actually really liked it. I thought Scarlett Johansson’s performance was a little weak, but not horrible. I thought everyone else was fantastic. There were many times that I recognized different locations that I’d been to on my Barcelona trip, which was fun for me. And I honestly felt that while some of the situations seemed a little over the top, that the basic messages of the film were worth exploring and were honest in a way that over the top stories often aren’t. The inclusiveness involves Cristina forming a 3 way relationship with both Juan Antonio and María Elena, with the former spouses both finding value in featuring a third partner – both believing that Cristina is the ingredient that they lacked when they used to be a couple. I’ve known people who have experienced this. I’ve been involved with people experiencing this. And this is something that I’ve seldom if ever seen explored on screen. So that was one aspect I really enjoyed. But overall, while there was drama, I just liked that the movie was fun. The movie is light, while also exploring other facets of relationships that many will likely relate to. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece or anything, but it was a good time. And that’s far more than what I was expecting.

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L.A. Confidential (1997)

2024 Entry #025 01-18-24 “L.A. Confidential” is a 1997 American neo-noir crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Curtis Hanson (“Wonder Boys”, “8 Mile”). The screenplay by Hanson and Brian Helgeland is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by James Ellroy (“The Black Dahlia”), the third book in his L.A. Quartet series. The film tells the story of a group of LAPD officers in 1953, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity. The title refers to the 1950s scandal magazine Confidential, portrayed in the film as Hush-Hush.

After watching the film adaptation of “The Black Dahlia”, I had originally planned to watch this adaptation directly after, but I hated that one so much that it put me off this one for a while. But I’m glad I finally saw this. I can see why it was so beloved at the time and the film’s cast and direction are impressive. But for my purposes, what’s interesting here is that had this film been released in my childhood, it is unlikely that there would be any queer characters in it at all – we likely would have been ignored and completely silent, but this film features queer characters woven throughout the film – none of whom are main characters, but as a kid this wouldn’t have mattered to me. What mattered to me was representation. So often our existence was either completely denied, or we were portrayed as villains and / or victims – and usually even then the roles were only coded to be interpreted as gay. Here this is still true – most of the queer characters are victims or villains – however, that’s true of nearly ALL of the characters in this film, which is about the darkness that pervades through the lives of the characters. At least one of the gay characters makes it out of the film with most of his power intact, and a few of the straight (but severely compromised) heroes also get happy endings. It is kind of the best you can hope for in this kind of story.

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Sebastiane (1976)

2024 Entry #024 01-18-24 “Sebastiane” is a 1976 Latin-language British historical film by openly gay director Derek Jarman (“The Angelic Conversation”, “Caravaggio”, “The Garden”, “Edward II”). Many members of the cast were gay and the film is famous (even notorious) for its controversially direct homoeroticism.

The film begins in Rome, AD 303, where Emperor Diocletian demotes Sebastian, his favorite captain of the palace guard to the rank of common soldier – Sebastian intervenes when the Emperor orders one of his male slaves to be strangled during a highly sexualized celebration of the sun. Sebastian is banished to a remote coastal outpost with his fellow soldiers. Sebastian is an early Christian who sublimates his desire for his male companions into worship of his deity and pacifism – which again, is also eroticized; Sebastian isn’t preaching the gospel so much as pining for his God; with his every breath he speaks of his God in sexy love poetry. Sebastian doesn’t go unnoticed though. Justin, one of his comrades in arms, is also in love with Sebastian, albeit necessarily unrequited, but he forms a friendship with the stubborn celibate pacifist. All of his comrades note his Christianity and castigate him for his faith. Indeed, his commanding officer, Severus, becomes increasingly obsessed with Sebastian, tries to assault him as he begs Sebastian to love him, and ultimately presides over his summary execution for refusing to take up arms in defense of the Roman Empire.

I had never seen this film before, though I’ve been aware of it for decades. I have seen two other Derek Jarman films, “Caravaggio” once, and “Edward II” many times over. If I have any excuse at all for skipping this film until now, it’s simply that there are now so many LGBTQ+ inclusive titles that I just haven’t had the time to get around to watching it – I mean, since 2020 and I actually devoted time to this subject matter, I’ve seen over 800 films, and I’m just now getting around to this one!

Having said that, I found this one quite entertaining – and quite daring, beyond what most creatives release today. The opening dancing ritual, which features men circled around a garishly painted man with his tongue constantly lashing, sees each of the circled men waving gigantic faux phalluses, who then pretend to penetrate the tongue lasher, and then finally splashing his face with what I assume is fake sperm. And by the time we get to the soldiers in the outpost male nudity is nearly constant. Among the men, Adrian and Anthony, two of Sebastian’s fellow soldiers, are gay and obviously in love with one another, which serves as somewhat of a balm after the orgiastic but ugly opening of the film and the equal hatred and lust thrust on the film’s hero.

Although it is far from an original thought, I was reminded that Christians were once the persecuted, but they are so often now the persecutors. Perhaps anyone in power is destined to persecute others? It’s really quite sad and upsetting. And I was also moved by homosexuality being portrayed so graphically in the 1970s, and that were it not for the AIDS crisis that followed, which, for example, ravaged several of the cast members and the film’s director, that this exploration might have continued and queer cinema might be something quite different today.

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In from the Side (2022)

2024 Entry #022 01-17-24 “In from the Side” is a 2022 British romantic drama film from Matt Carter (“Jayson Bend: Queen and Country”, “Falling”) who directed it and also co-wrote it with Adam Silver. The film tells the story of Mark Newton (played by “not straight” Alexander Lincoln) and Warren Hunt (Alexander King), two players from a cash-strapped, divided gay rugby club, who embark on a romantic affair they struggle to hide from their partners and teammates.

I actually saw this film last March when I thought I’d be doing queer film reactions in 2023 as well, but I changed my mind about that and decided to take the year off. Now that I’m back I wanted to revisit what I had seen last year and this was the first entry I got back to. Honestly, the first time I saw this movie, I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. I kind of went in expecting one thing and got something very, very different – and there were a lot of things there that I wasn’t sure how I felt about. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time. It’s not a perfect film; it drags a bit at times, but it has a lot to say about honesty, dishonesty, infidelity, respect, self respect, decency, joy, life, relationships, heartbreak, friendship, team spirit and fellowship. It’s worth a look.

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Fireworks (1947)

This is the 800th title I’ve watched as part of this project I started in 2020; I’d have watched more but I took 2023 off. Still, I wanted to note the progress with something special and this is what I chose and why.

2024 Entry #021 01-16-24 “Fireworks” is a 20 minute 1947 homoerotic experimental short by gay filmmaker Kenneth Anger, who also stars, in what is reportedly the first known gay narrative film in the United States. While quite tame by today’s standards, it was quite daring for the time, featuring themes of homosexuality and sadomasochism. The film was perceived by some as obscene and a screening of the film led to a case that made it all the way to the California Supreme Court, which ruled that homosexuality was a valid subject of artistic expression and that overt reference to it could not be considered obscenity. This ruling became a landmark decision for freedom of speech in the United States.

So, a very important little film which expresses a lot while saying very little. Indeed, most of the film is silent. The film contains no nudity but when the film was attacked, the prosecution persistently referred to “the penis scene”, which famously features a sailor unbuttoning the crotch of his pants to reveal a Roman candle, which shoots sparks into the air. I’d heard much about this title over the years as it is mentioned in several documentaries that I’ve enjoyed, but before today I’d never had access to it. It is fascinating that this seemingly harmless footage was once cause for such alarm. I honestly didn’t think much of it on its own, but its historical significance can’t be underestimated and thus, I’m extremely grateful the film was made.

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Atomic Blonde (2017)

2024 Entry #021 01-16-24 “Atomic Blonde” is a 2017 American action thriller film directed by David Leitch (in his feature directorial debut – he later directed “Deadpool 2” and performed in “V for Vendetta”) from a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad (“300”), based on the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. The film was co-produced by the film’s star Charlize Theron (“Sweet November”, “Monster”, “Head in the Clouds”, “The Old Guard”, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”), and also features James McAvoy (“Bright Young Things”, “Wimbledon”, “Deadpool 2”, “It Chapter Two”), John Goodman (“Revenge of the Nerds”, “Roseanne”, “ParaNorman”, “Love the Coopers”, “The Conners”), Til Schweiger (“Intimate Affairs”), Eddie Marsan (“EastEnders”, “V for Vendetta”, “Deadpool 2”), Sofia Boutella (“Star Trek Beyond”, “Modern Love”, “Rebel Moon”), and Toby Jones (“Orlando”, “Mrs. Henderson Presents”, “Infamous”, “Doctor Who”, “Christopher and His Kind”, & the Harry Potter films as Dobby). The story revolves around an undercover MI6 agent who is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

I really like Charlize Theron and she’s incredible here as Lorraine Broughton, the film’s central character. I wasn’t sure I was into this movie when it started but I got much more into it as it continued – until something happened that spoiled that for me. Spoilers follow. The film features a lesbian subplot that was not in the original book. This reportedly came from writer Kurt Johnstad, who suggested it after Theron was “thinking about how do you make this different from other spy movies”. Leitch has insisted that the scenes are not there to be “provocative”, but “more about if you are a spy you will do whatever it takes to get information” and how the main character “find[s] her intimacies and her friendships in small doses”. All of that is fine – it’s welcome, until the film’s villain murders the undercover French agent lesbian love interest, played by Sofia Boutella. The kill happens relatively late in the film and I kept hoping the character wasn’t dead, and while the dangers of their jobs make the death a likely outcome and we have Theron’s character avenging her lover, the ick of another lesbian character dead hurt my enjoyment of the movie and took a film that I initially thought I’d be recommending to friends and turned it into something I will likely never view again.

On the flip side, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the film’s excellent soundtrack which features: David Bowie, Siouxsie and the Banshees, A Flock of Seagulls, ‘Til Tuesday, The Clash, Peter Schilling, HEALTHY, Tyler Bates, Nena, Ryal, Robert Ponger & Falco, Re-Flex, Kaleida & Marilyn Manson.

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