Tag: Queer Cinema: 2020

Posted on

The Craft: Legacy (2020)

2024 Entry #55 07-21-24 “The Craft: Legacy” is a 2020 American supernatural horror film, written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, who is openly queer. A legacy sequel to 1996’s “The Craft”, the film stars Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon (“When We Rise”), Lovie Simone (“Orange is the New Black”), and openly trans Zoey Luna as four teenage girls who practice witchcraft as a coven. Additional cast members include Nicholas Galitzine (“Handsome Devil”, “Bottoms”, “Red, White & Royal Blue”, “Mary & George”), Michelle Monaghan (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”), and David Duchovny (“Twin Peaks”, “Sex and the City”, “Queer Duck: The Movie”), with Fairuza Balk (from the original film) making a cameo appearance as her character, Nancy.

This was a disappointment. The first film is a guilty pleasure of mine; a cute teenybopper horror flick with enough style to get by and enough fun performances to remain entertaining long after the fact. But this sequel lacks most of what made the original worthwhile. The performances are all over the place and most of the characters are either annoying or extremely underdeveloped, often both. The movie gets points for featuring a transgender witch and a male bisexual character but the former is one of those underdeveloped characters and the latter is murdered, so was it really worth it in the end? Lead actor Cailee Spaeny comes off the best and Nicholas Galitzine is fun while he’s around, but nearly everyone else is either totally wasted or feel like they might be in an entirely different film. Fairuza Balk has more charisma in her single scene than many of the main characters.

Posted on

The Prom (2020)

2024 Entry #43 04-15-24 “The Prom” is a 2020 American musical comedy film directed by out creative Ryan Murphy from a screenplay by out writer Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, based on the 2018 Broadway musical of the same name by Martin, Beguelin, and Matthew Sklar. The film stars Meryl Streep (“Silkwood”, “Angels in America”, “The Hours”, “Evening”, “Mamma Mia!” / “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”), James Corden (“The History Boys”, “Lesbian Vampire Killers”, “Doctor Who”), Nicole Kidman (“The Hours”, “The Stepford Wives”, “Boy Erased”), Keegan-Michael Key (“Modern Family”, Schmigadoon!”), out actor Andrew Rannells (“Sex and the City 2”, “The New Normal”, “Will & Grace”, “Big Mouth”, RuPaul’s Drag Race”, “The Boys in the Band”, “Our Son”), openly queer Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”, “Schmigadoon!”), Tracey Ullman (“Ally McBeal”, “Will & Grace”), openly gay Kevin Chamberlin (“In & Out”, “Trick”, “Queer Duck: The Movie”, “Taking Woodstock”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “Nip/Tuck”, “Modern Family”), Mary Kay Place (“All in the Family”, “MAS*H”, “Thirtysomething”, “Tales of the City”, “My So-Called Life”, “Further Tales of the City”, “Being John Malkovich”, “Latter Days”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “Jack & Bobby”, “Pushing Daisies”, “Looking”, “Grace & Frankie”, “Shameless”), and Kerry Washington (“She Hate Me”, “Scandal”, “How to Get Away with Murder”), openly queer Nico Greetham (“Glee”, “American Horror Story: Double Feature”, “Love, Victor”), and introduces openly queer Jo Ellen Pellman in her film debut as Emma Nolan.

I saw the musical on Broadway and didn’t think much of it. It was cute but felt like it didn’t quite hit the mark. One of my friends left during the intermission because they didn’t enjoy it. I listened to the soundtrack for maybe a week? When the movie was released I thought it was too soon for me to dive in, which was my reaction again when it popped up in my queue, only then I realized it’s been out for 4 years and I gave it a watch. Through the first half I felt like I’d given it a bad wrap, but I could also see how it was working better as a film than a stage show in countless ways! However, the latter half of the movie did seem to drag quite a bit. And like the Broadway production, there were times when it didn’t quite hit as well as I felt it should, but in the end, it’s pretty entertaining. It will never be a favorite of mine but it doesn’t have to be. It’s just a bit of fluff. Gay fluff. And sometimes that’s what you need.

Posted on

Eden (2020)

2024 Entry #37 04-12-24 “Eden” is a 17 minute nearly silent 2020 short film which was written and directed by Sven Spur (“Tom and Niel”, “Hot Water”, “Follow Me”, “Burn”). The film follows a central character played by Mustaf Ahmeti, who is credited as “Wolf” in the film, though this name is never said. He spends time hooking up with several men in several different places.

I thought this was a bit disappointing. I had seen the poster before seeing the film and though it was obviously sexy, I had thought it rather evocative of several possible avenues for exploration, but it ended up being mainly just some sex scenes strewn together – which may have well been the point, but it is a point that may have been achieved various other ways which I would have found far more interesting. As it stands, I like the poster far more than I like the film, which isn’t good.

This short is available in the 2023 gay short film collection “Boys on Film 23: Dangerous to Know”.

Posted on

Cicada (2020)

2022 Entry #026 02-08-22 “Cicada” is a 2020 American romantic drama film directed by Matthew Fifer and Kieran Mulcare. Fifer co-wrote the film with Sheldon D. Brown, both of whom starred in leading roles. A New York love story that toes the line between narrative and doc with two actors reliving parts of their own experiences. The film follows the relationship between Ben (Fifer) & Sam (Brown). Both have troubled pasts which complicate their possible romantic future together.

I loved most of this. The leads are great. The direction is assured with some fun flourishes. The New York setting is beautiful as always. The only quibble I had was with Cobie Smulders as a quirky therapist whose methods just felt a bit over the top, while nearly everything else in the film felt very grounded. Now, she does have a fantastic moment in the film, so she’s not completely without value, but every other time we came back to that character, the film lost its focus and started feeling a little too unbelievable. Thankfully, that’s a relatively minor flaw in what is, overall, a very good movie.

Posted on

As I Am (2020)

2022 Entry #025 02-02-22 “As I Am” is essentially an extended short at just 1 hour and 2 minutes long, which was written & directed by Anthony Bawn (“District”, “The Catharsis Project”). The story concerns an awkward and deeply troubled young man named Emmanuel (Andre Myers) who must come to terms with both his sexual identity and the emotional scars he’s suffered through years of abuse.

I wanted to enjoy this and there are pieces of this that work, but those pieces don’t actually seem to fit together. This feels very much like a rough draft, but it is not as well planned as similar shorts that feel this way. The length itself speaks to this: it’s not exactly a short but it’s not exactly a feature either and the story that’s told doesn’t seem to justify the length; it just feels like a storyteller with no discipline. I wouldn’t say any of the performers are necessarily bad because each one seems to rise to the occasion throughout the production…they just never rise at the same time, which was off-putting and frustrating. Some of them also feel like they should be starring in completely different films. And then there are several clumsy production choices which either made no sense or were not well executed. One example involves the lead character, who wears his glasses all the time, even in the shower or when he’s supposed to be asleep. Do people do that? Or there is a scene in a club where the soundtrack features the sounds of a busy nightclub with lots of people, despite the fact that the two characters in the scene are mostly alone. Maybe this was filmed during Covid-19 restrictions? But if so, then change the location. Don’t contradict the truth and undermine the scene.

I’d recommend skipping this. The story is worthwhile but the execution of that story is flawed

error: Content is protected !!