Arts & Culture :: Movies

Lil Nas X's 'Long Live Montero' - documentary follows the musician's life and tour

Lil Nas X's 'Long Live Montero' - documentary follows the musician's life and tour

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Mar 12, 2024

"Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero," details the gay singer-songwriter's first-ever headlining U.S. tour. The occasionally compelling film follows him performing on stage during his tour, but also behind-the-scenes as he adjusts to fame.

'Carol Doda Topless at the Condor' - new doc recalls the '60s trailblazing stripper

'Carol Doda Topless at the Condor' - new doc recalls the '60s trailblazing stripper

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Mar 12, 2024

"The only way to get into show business was to show my business," says the late Carol Doda in "Carol Doda Topless at the Condor," a new feature length documentary by Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker.

'Frida' magical new documentary on the life of artist Frida Kahlo

'Frida' magical new documentary on the life of artist Frida Kahlo

  • by Laura Moreno
  • Mar 4, 2024

The incredible true story of 20th-century Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, "Frida" is told from the artist's own perspective. The film is based on primary sources including Kahlo's illustrated diaries, essays and interviews.

'Drifter' — Pat Rocco's 1974 bisexual hustler film rereleased

'Drifter' — Pat Rocco's 1974 bisexual hustler film rereleased

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Feb 27, 2024

Newly available on Blu-ray and including special features such as four of Pat Rocco's short films, as well as audio commentary by film historian Finley Freibert, the classically low-budget "Drifter" may finally find an audience.

'Drive-Away Dolls' — queer comical road trip has drive

'Drive-Away Dolls' — queer comical road trip has drive

  • by Kyle Amato
  • Feb 20, 2024

Written by Ethan Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke, "Drive-Away Dolls" is reminiscent of the gonzo "Raising Arizona" or "The Hudsucker Proxy," with an unabashedly queer sentiment.

'Michael' — early gay film was ahead of its time

'Michael' — early gay film was ahead of its time

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Feb 20, 2024

Originally released in 1924, Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Michael" was a film that was quite different from what audiences of the time were used to. "Michael" is about a gay artist who loses his young male lover to a gold-digging woman.

'I.S.S.' - In space no one can hear you scream

'I.S.S.' - In space no one can hear you scream

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Feb 13, 2024

Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Nick Shafir's screenplay is set in the near (and not totally improbable) future. "I.S.S." takes place aboard the International Space Station research facility.

'Hundreds of Beavers' — slapstick comedy's snowy silliness

'Hundreds of Beavers' — slapstick comedy's snowy silliness

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Feb 13, 2024

Set in the wintry Wisconsin wilderness, "Hundreds of Beavers" recalls the early silent film comedies of Buster Keaton with a hint of Wile E. Coyote. Amid its national tour, the wacky film screens at the Balboa Theatre beginning February 23.

Mostly British Filmfest at The Vogue

Mostly British Filmfest at The Vogue

  • by Joel Shepard, Jim Provenzano
  • Feb 5, 2024

For some jolly good cinema, the Mostly British Film Festival returns on February 15 to 22, at the Vogue Theatre. The 16th annual tribute to English language films from the former Commonwealth screens 26 movies, some with queer themes.

'Mean Girls' hits & misses

'Mean Girls' hits & misses

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Jan 30, 2024

The trend of adapting films into stage musicals and then movie musicals has produced hits such as "Hairspray," and misses including "The Producers." "Mean Girls" (Paramount), falls somewhere in between, although it leans closer to a miss.

'Good Grief' — Dan Levy's journey down a dark tunnel

'Good Grief' — Dan Levy's journey down a dark tunnel

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Jan 23, 2024

Dan Levy's follow-up to his smash streaming TV series "Schitt's Creek," a romantic comedy/drama about a man processing the sudden death of his husband.

'Fireworks' — true-life story packs an emotional wallop

'Fireworks' — true-life story packs an emotional wallop

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Jan 16, 2024

Giuseppe Fiorello makes his debut as a director with "Fireworks," ("Stranizza d'amuri") a bittersweet tale of young gay love in a small, homophobic town. The film is set in Sicily in the early 1980s.

'Masc' film series at BAM/PFA

'Masc' film series at BAM/PFA

  • by Laura Moreno
  • Jan 16, 2024

A new film series at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, "Masc: Trans Men, Butch Dykes, and Gender Nonconforming Heroes in Cinema," celebrates the rarely depicted masculine identities of queer and gender non-conforming trailblazers.

'American Fiction' — Cord Jefferson's performative racial hijinks

'American Fiction' — Cord Jefferson's performative racial hijinks

  • by Brian Brmberger
  • Jan 9, 2024

In Cord Jefferson's debut film "American Fiction," a Black professional is forced to reexamine his integrity as he concocts a fictional book about racial stereotypes. Is he a sellout or mocking the shibboleths that surround the politics of race?