A Secret Love
Chris Bolan’s documentary A Secret Love is a sweet tearjerker that explores the nearly 70-year relationship between ex-All American Girls Professional Baseball League player Terry Donahue and her loyal partner Pat Henschel.
Lesbian
Inside Out 2015: ‘Sand Dollars’
Sand Dollars (DIR. Israel Cárdenas, Laura Amelia Guzmán) By: Shannon Page Like the Dominican Republic of its setting, Sand Dollars is both ugly and beautiful; it is complex and often overwhelming in its starkness, yet showcases a landscape that most would equate with paradise. Written and directed by Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán, Sand Dollars stars Geraldine Chaplin (daughter of the legendary Charlie Chaplin) as an aging European woman who falls in love with a much…
Inside Out 2015: ‘Grandma’
By: Shannon Page Paul Weitz’s Grandma manages to cover a lot of emotional territory in its short run-time without feeling rushed or over-reaching itself. Lily Tomlin plays lesbian poet Elle Reid who is still mourning the recent death of her life-partner Violet when her teenage granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner), arrives at her door pregnant. Together, the two women embark on a day-long quest to find the money for Sage’s abortion. It has been twenty-seven years since…
Tru Talk: A Two-On-One With Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald
Tru Love hits Toronto’s Carlton Cinema today, and it’s a wise choice to support it. While it occasionally dabbles as a soap opera, I found its romantic intimacy lovely. The characters are innocent when facing the premise, which makes their maturity manifest naturally. Recently, I talked Tru Love shop with the film’s co-directors, Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald. We discussed the film’s snowcapped Toronto setting, the importance of setting a general tone, and if post-production altered that original mood….
The Case Against 8
By: Addison Wylie The Case Against 8 takes you right to the very beginning of the scandalous, distressing times involving California’s passing of Proposition 8. Watching clips of Prop 8 propaganda and observing professionals talking in all seriousness about the benefits of the amendment is like falling through the looking glass. It’s hard to believe that this period existed and that 18,000 couples with different sexual orientations were told their marriages were voided. Shooting and…
Wylie Writes @ Inside Out 2014: Oddball Comedy is Merkin Me Laugh
The Foxy Merkins (DIR. Madeleine Olnek) By: Addison Wylie Margaret (played by Lisa Haas) has taken on the life of prostitution and homelessness. Being that she’s a lesbian, her clients are all high end females looking for a good, undisclosed time. While on her way to find a place to sleep, she meets Jo (played by Jackie Monahan). The two hit it off almost instantly, and Jo – who’s also homeless – soon starts to show Margaret…
Blue Is the Warmest Colour
By: Addison Wylie Palme d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Colour is an intellectual work about observing and defining sexuality. It’s a raw look allowing the viewer to be in clear view of everything, but by no means presents itself as indecent. In fact, those graphic scenes of sexual content that seem to be flooding the media surrounding Blue Is the Warmest Colour with controversy are represented this way because there is no other way…
Inside Out 2013: I Am Divine
By: Addison Wylie If you think you know Divine, think again. At least, that was the thought swimming through my head as I discovered new information about the drag queen turned actor turned musician turned superstar. As a high school movie fanatic eager to watch anything and everything, I thought I had found the ultimate lost artifact when I picked up a copy of John Waters’ Pink Flamingos. When I saw Divine’s Babs Johnson compete…
Inside Out 2013: G.B.F.
By: Addison Wylie I haven’t seen it in a good long while, but I was surprised by Darren Stein’s 1999 dark comedy Jawbreaker. It brought that same guilty satisfaction you get when you eat peanut butter out of the container with a giant spoon. You shouldn’t be enjoying it, it’s probably bad for you, but you can’t stop soaking in the indulgence. Since Stein’s latest film G.B.F. deals with this same visual style and the…
Inside Out 2013: In The Name Of
By: Addison Wylie The quiet character study In The Name Of is driven by a superb performance by Andrzej Chyra. His character of Father Adam is mesmerizing to watch. Chyra handles the subtleties that lie within his role and Adams’ motives so carefully. His readings and lines are filled with sincerity, subdued frustration, and hurt, but Chyra is able to tell all of this with a single hopeful glance. I really liked Malgorzata Szumowska’s film….