Bay Area Reporter :: Dvd News

Frameline47: film faves & fails

June 6, 2023 | by Brian Bromberger

Frameline47 will host 47 screenings at the Castro Theatre, currently in controversy as to what its future might bring. This will entail half of the nearly 90 film screenings during the June 14-24 runtime, including streaming encores June 24-July 2.

June bugs: The Lavender Tube on Pride programs, pickets & comedies

by Victoria A. Brownworth
May 30, 2023

It's Pride Month! Happy 'What has the GOP done to take away more of our rights' month! Fortunately, some LGBTQ shows finished shooting before the Writers Guild strike.

'The Little Mermaid' - Disney's 'meh-made' remake

by Gregg Shapiro
May 30, 2023

Disney's Oscar-winning 1989 animated adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" launched a whole new era for the studio. But the live-action remake seems like just more vault-raiding.

SF DocFest's cinematic statements

by Brian Bromberger
May 23, 2023

The 22nd San Francisco DocFest will be held June 1-11 with 39 features and 47 shorts at the Roxie Theater. DocFest always offers a smattering of LGBTQ-related films this year with six features plus nine short films.

Camera Obscura's 'Virtue' — rarely-seen cautionary tale at the Roxie

by Michael Flanagan
May 23, 2023

Filmmaker Camera Obscura's tech-dystopian "Virtue" comes to us like a latter day version of James Whale's "Frankenstein" to assure us that indeed, "Fire bad!" It also features a bevy of 1990s SF luminaries.

'Everything Went Fine's family entanglements

by Gregg Shapiro
May 16, 2023

Anyone with aging parents knows the fear of answering the kind of dreaded phone call that novelist Emmanuèle (Sophie Marceau) receives at the beginning of queer filmmaker François Ozon's "Everything Went Fine."

'Joyland' — queer Pakistani film is transcendent

by Joshua Polanski
May 9, 2023

Saim Sadiq delivers a remarkable directorial debut in "Joyland," the first Pakistani film to premiere at Cannes Film Festival. It's also the first major Pakistani motion picture to feature a trans actor in a lead role.

'Mama's Boy' - Dustin Lance Black's personal cinematic family memoir

by Brian Bromberger
May 2, 2023

The new HBO Max documentary "Mama's Boy," based on screenwriter and director Dustin Lance Black's 2019 bestselling memoir, aims to tell you much more than what it shows you, yet remains touchingly personal.

Seeing and being seen: The Lavender Tube on 'Law & Order' and lesbian optics

by Victoria A. Brownworth
May 2, 2023

Our intrepid TV columnist compares 'Law & Order' episodes then and now, Lesbian Visibility Week guests at The White House, and politics on the tube.

'The Doom Generation' 2.0 Gregg Araki's indie cult classic, restored

by Brian Bromberger
Apr 25, 2023

Gregg Araki's "The Doom Generation" has been called the alienated teen pic to end all alienated teen pics, "a zany, violent, and erotically charged depiction of Gen-X malaise." The director discussed the restoration of his film ahead of local screenings.

The art of 'Showing Up'

by Gregg Shapiro
Apr 25, 2023

Kelly Reichardt's "Showing Up" (A24), her fourth collaboration with Michelle Williams, is about a Portland-based artist who supports herself by working at a local art school, and the various eccentric people in her frazzled life.

Couples therapy: The Lavender Tube on Margaret Cho, 'Not Dead Yet,' 'Shark Tank' & more

by Victoria A. Brownworth
Apr 18, 2023

Married couples in sitcoms and competition shows, plus Margaret Cho, Ali Wong and Elliot Page get a nod in our TV columnist's latest roundup.

'Summoning Sylvia' — ghosts, laughs and a witch

by David-Elijah Nahmod
Apr 11, 2023

"Summoning Sylvia" is a new, independently produced horror comedy that's currently available via Video on Demand. It's a zany laugh fest that offers ghosts, a self-professed witch, and even a little social commentary about homophobia.

'Little Richard: I Am Everything' - documentary of the rock music icon tells all

by Cornelius Washington
Apr 10, 2023

In the new documentary, "Little Richard: I Am Everything," the truth that the pioneering rock musician had always proclaimed is made staggeringly clear. He was one of the most influential people of the 20th century.

SF Filmfest's faves

by Brian Bromberger
Apr 4, 2023

The 66th San Francisco International Film Festival includes a wealth of Bay Area filmmakers across all sections. Stories from 37 countries will be featured.

Arts & Culture :: DVD