Closet Monster
Closet Monster is not only another case of a filmmaker who has taken the leap to long-form filmmaking after establishing themselves with short films, but it’s also a satisfying example of a storyteller succeeding under new guidelines.
Gay
Inside Out 2016: ‘Other People’
There are different ways for a writer to tell a story while tapping into their own personal catharsis. Chris Kelly (co-writer of Saturday Night Live and Broad City making his feature filmmaking debut) has found a vessel in Other People to tell his own semi-autobiographical story by re-capturing snapshots of his ailing mother’s final months.
What an Idiot
What an Idiot brings me déjà vu. Or, to keep in touch with the film’s awful sense of humour, gayjà vu.
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: ‘Game Face’
Game Face (DIR. Michiel Thomas) By: Addison Wylie Game Face presents honest opinions and interviews from athletes who feel weighted by blanketed discrimination about their performance based on their personal lifestyle and sexuality. Determined, the jocks rise against the odds, and show their peers and LGBTQ audiences that they’re worthy contenders – not just in their sport, but in society. Michiel Thomas’ film follows two underdogs: transgener MMA fighter Fallon Fox and Terrence Clemens, an openly…
Inside Out 2015: ‘Limited Partnership’ and ‘Super Awesome!’
Limited Partnership (DIR. Thomas G. Miller) By: Addison Wylie With Limited Partnership, documentarian Thomas G. Miller shows the audience the lengthy struggle Richard Adams and Tony Sullivan faced when trying to validate their relationship through marriage. Love conquers all, but the feeling of outsider confusion and neglect suggested a hopeless future for the gay couple. Limited Partnership is the first film in a while that has really shown how raw and ill-advised the opposing side to homosexuality…
Inside Out 2015: ‘Fourth Man Out’ and ‘Nasty Baby’
Fourth Man Out (DIR. Andrew Nackman) By: Shannon Page In many ways, director Andrew Nackman’s first feature length film is a typical “bro comedy”. The central characters are a group of blue-collar men who have been friends since childhood it, and the film emphasizes the value of male friendships. Fourth Man Out focuses on a small-town car mechanic named Adam (Evan Todd) who decides on his twenty-fourth birthday to come out as gay to his three…
Inside Out 2015: ‘Everlasting Love’ and ‘Those People’
Everlasting Love (DIR. Marçal Forés) By: Addison Wylie Everlasting Love is a depressing time at the movies. It’s not scary, all the characters are unlikable, and it slowly shuffles to its grisly finale. With its familiar theme of cruising in an eerie world, I’m reminded of Stranger by the Lake. Though I didn’t particularly like Alain Guiraudie’s slow burn, his film has an edge on Everlasting Love. Stranger by the Lake had elements of conviction in a faceless…
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….