Challenging films coming this fall to Pride at FilmScene include Cruising with Al Pacino, Young Soul Rebels, Drop Dead Gorgeous
Four “challenging” films are part of Iowa City’s Pride at FilmScene this fall: “Jimmy in Saigon,” Drop Dead Gorgeous,” “Young Soul Rebels” and “Cruising” with Al Pacino.
Barbie movie is for all women, trans women included
“I cried.” LIke so many, Aime Wichtendahl was moved to tears by America Ferrara’s speech as Barbie’s mom, in the blockbuster Barbie film.
“The Way of Water” is stunning, important and helps redeem the original “Avatar”
Like many, Aime Wichtendahl was initially a skeptic about “The Way of Water,” James Cameron’s massive and much-anticipated sequel to the original “Avatar” film.
But after taking in the three-hour film, Wichtendahl is a fan of the new “Avatar 2” and gained a renewed appreciation of the original “Avatar” released in 2009.
“James Cameron is trying to help us learn. By tapping into the universal nostalgia we all feel – that once there was a time everything was perfect before someone screwed it up – he’s trying to tell us something. He’s trying to wake us up to how we’re impacting the world around us. ‘The Way of Water’ illustrates that despite our best efforts, humanity remains incapable of change.“
Read Wichtendahl’s review of this blockbuster film here.
“House of the Dragon” continues “bury your gays” TV trope
Like so many, every Sunday I sit down on the couch to watch the newest episode of House of the Dragon. I am a big fan of the original series except for, of course, that oh so unfortunate final season. Yet I returned to Westeros—the fictional continent where most of...
‘Storyteller’ reveals regular guy Grohl
Dave Grohl never felt as though he fit in. Even around kids with which he grew up, Grohl recalls, he felt an “otherness” and wondered what was wrong with him.
‘Heartstopper’ warmed and destroyed me”
“Heartstopper” is an uplifting story of queer love that can also be heartbreaking for many LGBTQ+ people who were not able to love openly, writes Tyler Mitchell in his review.
“Stranger Things” and Will Byers’ understated “coming out”
When Will Byers of “Stranger Things” came out, “t was unsafe for white cisgender gay men,and even more dangerous for marginalized identities. Will is undoubtedly living in a reality where both his physical and emotional safety could be at risk if anyone found out he was gay,” writes Tyler Mitchell.
For the late-blooming love of RuPaul’s Drag Race
CW: The following article makes a brief mention of SA, racism, and transphobia. A love for RuPaul’s Drag Race is often assumed to exist within every gay man. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to name my favorite queen or most adored lip sync. For so...
“American Dirt:” Who’s entitled to tell the stories of the marginalized?
Who is “entitled” to tell the stories, asks Cathy Chavez in her review of the controversial book “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins.
Latest Matrix film evolves from revolution to breaking the binary
What makes Matrix Resurrections stand out above its predecessors, and most of today’s films, is its critique of the technological world we’ve created in the 20 years since the last Matrix film was released in 2003.
Revisit assumptions, could haves and should haves in “The Midnight Library”
Many of us humans, flawed and egotistical as we are, believe our own interpretations are the only correct or accurate ones. “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig helps readers recognize that they might be looking at things too narrowly.
Are any lies kind? Worthy questions in Nancy Johnson’s first-time novel
Nancy Johnson’s first novel raises a worthy question about lies, despite leaving characters unexplored, writes Cathy Chavez in her new “Off the Shelf” book review.
“The Way of Water” is stunning, important and helps redeem the original “Avatar”
Like many, Aime Wichtendahl was initially a skeptic about “The Way of Water,” James Cameron’s massive and much-anticipated sequel to the original “Avatar” film.
But after taking in the three-hour film, Wichtendahl is a fan of the new “Avatar 2” and gained a renewed appreciation of the original “Avatar” released in 2009.
“James Cameron is trying to help us learn. By tapping into the universal nostalgia we all feel – that once there was a time everything was perfect before someone screwed it up – he’s trying to tell us something. He’s trying to wake us up to how we’re impacting the world around us. ‘The Way of Water’ illustrates that despite our best efforts, humanity remains incapable of change.“
Read Wichtendahl’s review of this blockbuster film here.
“House of the Dragon” continues “bury your gays” TV trope
Like so many, every Sunday I sit down on the couch to watch the newest episode of House of the Dragon. I am a big fan of the original series except for, of course, that oh so unfortunate final season. Yet I returned to Westeros—the fictional continent where most of...
‘Storyteller’ reveals regular guy Grohl
Dave Grohl never felt as though he fit in. Even around kids with which he grew up, Grohl recalls, he felt an “otherness” and wondered what was wrong with him.
‘Heartstopper’ warmed and destroyed me”
“Heartstopper” is an uplifting story of queer love that can also be heartbreaking for many LGBTQ+ people who were not able to love openly, writes Tyler Mitchell in his review.
“Stranger Things” and Will Byers’ understated “coming out”
When Will Byers of “Stranger Things” came out, “t was unsafe for white cisgender gay men,and even more dangerous for marginalized identities. Will is undoubtedly living in a reality where both his physical and emotional safety could be at risk if anyone found out he was gay,” writes Tyler Mitchell.