Twinless 💖, dir. James Sweeney, 2025, USA, 100 min.
Saturday, June 28, 2025, 8:30 pm, Herbst Theatre
🏳️🌈 Queer Premiere
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| Twinless |
Showing posts with label coming to theaters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coming to theaters. Show all posts
Saturday, June 28, 2025
Twinless
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Diciannove
Diciannove 😐, dir. Giovanni Tortorici, 2024, Italy/UK, 108 min., in Italian with English subtitles, some parts in English without subtitles
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 7:45 pm, Roxie Theater
⚠️ content advisory: flashing lights, drug/alcohol abuse, talk of self-harm
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| Diciannove |
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story,
dir. Michael Mabbott & Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, 2024 Canada, 99 min. 💖
Sunday, June 23, 2024, 6:00 PM, Palace of Fine Arts Theatre •
West Coast premiere
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| Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story |
not available in the Digital Screening Room streaming encore
Update: Due to a technical mixup, I was not able to see this documentary during the festival, but I’m still going to review it. At the Frameline screening, Any Other Way was presented the Out in the Silence Award, given to “an outstanding film project that highlights brave acts of LGBTQ+ visibility in places where such acts are not common.”
Monday, June 24, 2024
Good One
Good One, dir. India Donaldson, 2024 USA, 89 min. 😑
Monday, June 24, 2024, 8:30 PM, Roxie
not available in the Digital Screening Room streaming encore
⚠️Content advisory: contains themes of abuse
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| Good One |
Sam and her father Chris go on a hiking/camping trip to bond. It was supposed to be a foursome, with Chris’s best friend Matt and Matt’s son Dylan, but Dylan bailed for reasons having something to do with his parents’ recent divorce, so Sam is stuck with two little boys with dad bods telling dad jokes. The scenery they’re hiking through is beautiful, but that’s about all this film has going for it. Matt is a mess and Chris is in a little world of his own, leaving Sam to be the adult. The only LGBTQ+ content is a few brief texts and video calls with Sam’s new girlfriend Jessie. In all, there was just far too little story for a feature-length film, with another group of campers thrown in for no apparent reason, and some vague hints of past problems between some of our trio, surfacing in an unpleasant interaction that they struggle to deal with appropriately. I was underwhelmed. Neutral recommendation. Of course, the critics are raving about it, and it has won several awards, and is coming out in theaters in August.
Sunday, June 23, 2024
National Anthem
National Anthem, dir. Luke Gilford, 2023 USA, 99 min. 💖
21-year-old Dylan (Charlie Plummer) still lives at home in rural New Mexico with his mother (remarkably irresponsible even when she’s not drinking) and his pre-teen younger brother Cassidy (because somebody has to take care of the kid). Dylan works odd jobs as a day laborer, until one day Pepe shows up, looking for people to do some work on his ranch, The House of Splendor. It gradually becomes clear that House of Splendor is not your average ranch, with people of various gender identities living together as a chosen family, occasionally going off to a queer rodeo. For the first time in his life, Dylan feels like he can be himself and explore parts of himself he had never acknowledged.
Sunday, June 23, 2024, 6:00 PM, Roxie
not available in the Digital Screening Room streaming encore
⚠️Content advisory: rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, language, and some drug use
🏆 Frameline48 Jury Award: Outstanding First Narrative Feature
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| National Anthem |
It’s a subtle film, insinuating itself and its message into you without the need for clumsy clue-by-fours. It affirms the beauty of being yourself with people who accept you as-is, with some laughs and some sexy time to bridge the serious moments that tug at your heartstrings. It also actively reclaims the United States flag as a symbol for everyone, not just the far right. In particular, it affirms that you can do that even in a place like rural New Mexico. Definitely a MUST SEE.
• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • preview • Wikipedia • Rotten Tomatoes: 95% • in theaters Friday, July 12, 2024 • the book National Anthem by Luke Gilford •
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Theater Camp
Theater Camp, dir. Molly Gordon & Nick Lieberman, 2023, USA, 94 min. 💖
Wednesday, June 21, 6:00 pm, Castro • not streaming • coming to theaters
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| Theater Camp |
Amy Sedaris has a brief but pivotal role as the founder of Adirond Acts, a summer theater camp in upstate New York. When she is suddenly unable to run the camp, her clueless son steps in, having no idea what he’s getting into, either in terms of the business side or the theater side of the camp — but the show must go on. I lost count of how many musical theater, coming-of-age, and general summer camp tropes got skewered, but I also lost count of how many times I laughed out loud. Indeed, it was the rare film that had me laughing so hard it literally brought tears to my eyes. Definitely, definitely a MUST SEE, even if (like me) you never even acted in a class play and contribute to the world of music mostly by not singing in public.
Note: the printed festival guide shows Theater Camp as available in the streaming encore, but the Frameline website says it is not. However, it will be coming to theaters July 14, 2023.
Sunday, June 18, 2023
Mutt
Mutt, dir. Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, 2023, USA, 85 min., in English and in Spanish with English subtitles 💖
Sunday, June 18, 8:45 pm, Castro • not streaming • coming to theaters
UPDATE: now available on Netflix!
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| Mutt |
Feña (one of the few Chilean names that is considered gender neutral) is having a tough day, with one thing after another piling on. His cishet ex-boyfriend reappears, his younger sister skips school to make an unannounced visit, and he has to pick up his father, who is flying in from Chile. The events of the day force Feña to confront some of the emotional baggage he had hoped to leave behind when he transitioned. It’s a compelling story, with the clear authenticity of a transmasculine filmmaker and a transmasculine star (Lío Mehiel, pictured) in the lead role. The script, the acting, and all of the behind-the-camera work, all blend seamlessly into a film that is clearly a MUST SEE for transmasculine audiences, but I would also say a MUST SEE for general audiences. Go see this film. It will have a limited theatrical release beginning in August, after which look for it to be available for streaming.
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Aristotle and Dante
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, dir. Aitch Alberto, 2022, USA, 96 min. 💖
Saturday, June 17, 6:00 pm, Castro • not streaming • coming to theatres
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| Aristotle and Dante |
Adapted from Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s YA novel. Two Mexican American teenage boys growing up in El Paso become close friends, building an intense bond between them, but then Dante’s family leaves for a year in Chicago. Will their relationship survive the separation? It’s a beautiful story, with beautiful actors who are perfect for their roles. There is one scene of graphic violence, but it is related to the plot. Definitely a MUST SEE.
The novel has a sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World. Here’s hoping that this film makes a big enough splash to carry on to the sequel.
Friday, June 16, 2023
Rotting in the Sun
Rotting in the Sun, dir. Sebastián Silva, 2023, USA/Mexico, 109 min., in Spanish and English with partial subtitles 💩💩💩🔞
Friday, June 16, 8:30 pm, Castro • not streaming • coming to theatres
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| Rotting in the Sun |
Filmmaker Sebastián Silva (Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus) plays a version of himself as a washed-up, ketamine-addicted, suicide-obsessed artist (filmmaker and wannabe painter) who rescues a social media “influencer” (Jordan Firstman, pictured right, also playing a version of himself) from drowning at a gay nude beach. Jordan proposes a collaboration on a new project, but then Seb isn’t home when Jordan arrives at Seb’s home. Things get weirder and weirder, compounded by the sketchy behavior of Seb’s housekeeper Vero. There is lots of gratuitous nudity and some gratuitous sex, lots of on-screen drug use, and quite a bit of discussion of suicide.
The fundamental problem is that I did not relate to, empathize with, sympathize with, or even care about, any of the characters. As I said, the nudity and sex felt thoroughly gratuitous, and, as a dedicated ketamine non-user, I found the centrality of that drug (along with the assertion that “All gay men use ketamine”) quite off-putting, and that’s even before we get to the obsession with suicide. The Frameline program refers to Rotting in the Sun as Silva’s “latest provocation,” but it provoked only disdain and disgust, not thought or engagement with the characters. I enjoyed Crystal Fairy, although I understand that the real-life person (and a personal acquaintance) on whom the title character is based, did not appreciate the depiction of her story. I will definitely not be following Jordan on social media, either. Definitely, definitely NOT RECOMMENDED.
Special note regarding subtitles: the dialogue is in English (without subtitles), in Spanish (with subtitles), and in English and Spanish with iPhone translation (without subtitles).
Bottoms
Bottoms, dir. Emma Seligman, 2023, USA, 92 min. 💖
Friday, June 16, 6:00 pm, Castro • not streaming • coming to theaters
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| Bottoms |
First things first: the title Bottoms might suggest that this is a film centered on gay men, but don’t be fooled! Think Not Another Teen Movie meets Lesbian Fight Club, with more than a few unique twists. In essence, Josie (Ayo Edebiri, pictured left) and PJ (Rachel Sennott, 2nd from left) start a girls’ fight club at their football-obsessed high school. Their pretenses of learning self-defense, empowering women, and building female solidarity, mask the true purpose: to get hot cheerleaders to go out with them. To say “hilarity ensues” is beyond understatement; there were more “laugh out loud” moments than I could count, and I’m sure I missed a few of the punchlines because I was still laughing from the last one. Just one pull quote: “Nobody hates us because we’re gay. They hate us because we’re gay, untalented, and ugly.”
Rachel Sennott was in Shiva Baby (Frameline44), which I didn’t like, so I was a bit wary going in, but by the end I was definitely putting this in the “Must See” category. Luckily, it’s from MGM and Orion Pictures, so a theatrical release will come in late August. The sheer number of “f bombs” in the dialogue and the bloody slapstick violence mean that it will be saddled with an R rating, but find it and go see it.
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