Rocketman Transcends Rock Star Biopic Homogeneity
Right from the get-go, Rocketman steps out as a musical, focusing on fun rather than facts.
Boy Erased (2018)
Boy Erased avoids the bombast and dramatisation that might be expected from its subject matter, instead opting for modest authenticity.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)
There’s much to recommend The Miseducation of Cameron Post, but on the whole it feels too dramatically inert.
Love, Simon Revitalises the Rom-Com Genre
If there’s any justice, Love, Simon will be a trailblazer. Not just for mainstream gay films, but for a rom-com revival.
BQFF Roundup: The Misandrists; Witches, Faggots, Dykes & Poofters; and My Days of Mercy
We’re past halfway through the 2018 Brisbane Queer Film Festival, and so far I’ve been lucky enough to see three films from the program – one disappointing, one decent, one exceptional.
Call Me By Your Name is a Sticky, Slick, Impossibly Sweet Masterpiece
Call Me By Your Name is less a love story than a cinema of sensation: the tenderness of touch, the sheen of sweat, the cool calm of water.
First Girl I Loved (2016)
This lesbian romance looks very ‘indie’ – gauzy light streaming into the camera, flashes of Instagram expressionism – but avoids cliché.
Do I Sound Gay? (2014)
Do I Sound Gay? is documentary by way of dinner party conversation. This largely light-hearted consideration of the stereotypically ‘gay voice’ hews closer to a chat between friends than investigative journalism. Which is fine! For about 45 minutes, the film’s frivolity is what keeps it appealing; director and ‘subject’ David Thorpe – who undergoes speech…
Freeheld (2015)
Freeheld is an uneven drama that frequently veers from tragedy to drudgery. Which is a shame, since its true story – of homosexual policewoman, Laurel Hester – is both fascinating and vital. Arriving hot on the heels of the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the US, this otherwise unremarkable film represents a missed opportunity. The film chronicles cancer-stricken Hester’s (Julianne Moore) fight…
Holding the Man: Love Meets Tragedy in 1980s Australia
Opening your tragic love story with a re-enactment of Romeo and Juliet is a bold move, but it’s the kind of decision that neatly encapsulates the strengths – and weaknesses – of Holding the Man, Neil Armfield and Tommy Murphy’s film adaptation of Timothy Conigrave’s memoir. This is a film that unashamedly tilts for the…
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