AGLIFF: Gay Choruses, Trans Athletes, and Chicken-Fried Everything

by Nathaniel R

Nathaniel and two fellow jurors (though we weren't in the same jury) at AGLIFF

Hello "y'all" (when in Texas...) writing to you from blistering hot Austin where the 32nd annual aGLIFF festival is nearing its wrap. The festival, which runs from Thursday to Sunday each year in late August is actually the oldest film festival in Texas. Yes, even older than SXSW though not as famous.

The festiviites began Thursday night with a packed house at the Alamo Drafthouse for a performance by the Austin Gay Men's Chorus followed by the opening night film, Gay Chorus Deep South (2019). It's a very moving documentary about a the iconic San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus and an all volunteer charity tour they made of the Deep South after T****'s election. The tour was an attempt to bridge divides between red and blue, and combat rising anti-LGBT sentiment within the country and specificially the ever-present anti-LGBT sentiment within our nation's churches...

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Mindhunter (S2) Pt 2: Fierce mothers and closeted sexuality

previously on Mindhunter

by Ginny O'Keefe

Episode 3
The infamous BTK killer is spending some hard time at the library sketching some things he really shouldn’t be sketching in public. Every time he comes on screen I scream, “Man, I can’t wait for them to catch this guy!” Then I remember that he doesn’t actually get caught until 2005 [spoiler]. 

Nancy is still shaken up after the dead body that was found at her open house and wants Bill to take down her information on the “For Sale” sign. Bill is reelingsince it definitely has something to do with his family. Holden will interview serial killer William “Junior” Pierce alone and tells Bill that he can handle it. But Agent Tim Barney of Atlanta will be assisting him to which Holden responds with “Oh yeah the Black guy you like!” Dear God, I know this is the early 80’s but please don’t let that be this man’s only label...

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"Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce" (with Marni Senofonte)

by Ginny O'Keefe

I got invited to Homecoming! This past Monday I had the pleasure of representing the Film Experience at the Icon Lobby in the Netflix headquarters at an event celebrating Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce. The Netflix documentary takes an in-depth look at Beyoncé’s 2018 performance at Coachella and how long she and her team had been on the creative road to make this whole iconic performance and cultural event live up to the hype. It took Beyonce and her team months to create this performance and Beyoncé would end up being the first Black woman in history to headline Coachella. Throughout the film you immediately get that Beyoncé didn’t want this to just be a concert, she wanted this to be a historical moment for her career and for her culture. She knew that she couldn’t come in with something expected to fit the Coachella vibe, so she ditched the typical flower crown aesthetic and came in with a predominately Black cast of performers and helped emphasize the importance and the richness of historically Black universities in America. Something that doesn’t get enough recognition in society.

Beyonce says it herself in the beginning of the film, she never went to college. Her college was touring and traveling. But I have a good feeling that if she had gone to college, then she would be doing exactly what these young performers are doing at their respective schools. Whether it be dance team, stepping, marching band, or Greek life. The film quotes W.E.B. Dubois who states “Education must not simply teach work, it must teach life.”...

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Breakfast with... Magic Mike

Stale pretzels only, but it looks like all the booze is used up. Sorry!

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Over & Overs: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

In this new series, members of Team Experience wax rhapsodic on films they've never been able to stop watching. Here's Lynn Lee...

Conventional wisdom holds that Raiders of the Lost Ark, the O.G. Indiana Jones, is also the best Indiana Jones.  Yet the Indy installment I love the most is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which I’ve watched more times than I can count and can practically quote from beginning to end.  It’s one of my cinematic comfort food go-tos. I can count on it to put a smile on my face and – perhaps more surprisingly – a tear in my eye.

I suspect my deep affection for The Last Crusade is at least partly rooted in the fact that it was the first Indiana Jones movie I saw, and the only one I ever saw in a theater...

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