Review: The Twentieth Century

By: Patrick Gratton

Canadian history remembers William Lyon Mackenzie King as one of our most defining statesmen. King was the longest running Prime Minister to hold office in Ottawa, and a central ally to both Winston Churchill and FDR, in mobilizing Canada in World War II. Historians commend Mackenzie King as a central rallying cry for a divided country, whose skill set helped him reach across the aisle, mending multiple differences and helping grow Canada’s Independence even as it remained a British colony.

In his feature film debut The Twentieth Century, Winnipeg-born Matthew Rankin subverts this story. Set in 1899 and told in ten chapters, the film omits all of the soon-to-be Prime Minister’s triumphs, focusing instead on Mackenzie King’s (Dan Bierne) candidacy to be the country’s leader. Rankins shows a steady hand, confidently orchestrating a film that’s equal parts  German expressionism, 1920s melodrama and absurdist satire. The film unapologetically ransacks the mythos of the Canadian identity.

The future prime minister is depicted as a precious man-child, with an overbearing mother (Louis Negin, in drag)...

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Showbiz History: Skeksis & Mystics... and Judy Garland & the Supremes?

7 random things that happened on this day, December 17th, in showbiz history

1943 Now forgotten Universal B franchise "The Inner Sanctum" begins with Calling Dr Death featuring Lon Chaney Jr. Intended as a series that would be carried by Chaney and Oscar winner Gale Soondergard, only Chaney actually made it to the screen. There were six films in all. 

1965 Judy Garland and the Supremes perform at Houston's then brand new 60,000 seat Astrodome Theater. Wait, what? Judy Garland AND Diana Ross and you could attend for a single dollar...

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Gay Best Friend: Nigel in "The Devil Wears Prada"

In this series by Christopher James we investigate the 'Gay Best Friend' trope in movies.

With the release of The Prom this Friday, people have been talking about the ethics of straight men taking on gay roles. As Nathaniel noted in his review, James Corden’s limp wrist and flouncy take on Barry is a tone deaf disaster. A large part of this comes from him, a straight man, constantly feeling like he must don exaggerated gay affectations rather than actually sketching out a three dimensional character. In 2020, we are in a place where we do have big name, openly gay actors more than qualified to tackle the gay roles that Hollywood writes.

While queer people should be prioritized when telling queer stories, there are many great gay performances by straight men. Perhaps one of the strongest examples is Stanley Tucci as Nigel in The Devil Wears Prada. While it’s clear from the jump that Nigel is gay, Tucci doesn’t “play” into the stereotype. Instead, his first point of reference for Nigel is a driven professional who is comfortably hyper-confident in his field...

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The 2020 Christmas Movie Catalogue

by Tony Ruggio

It wasn’t so long ago that Christmas movies were dead and buried, outside of Hallmark’s copious output anyway. They were no longer of much interest to major Hollywood studios and inherently verboten for indie distributors. Thanks to Netflix, Hulu, and the streaming wars, the genre is back and more prolific than ever. And in a year like 2020, we might need them more than ever...

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Gay Best Friend: Wallace Wells in "Scott Pilgrim vs the World"

by Christopher James

Get your hot topic graphic tees and turn on some Clash inspired rock music, we’re going back to 2010 for this week’s installment of Gay Best Friend. Inspired by comments from readers Scott C and Jesus Alonso, we returned to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World for the first time since seeing it in theaters 10 years ago. It turned out to be a fascinating watch in more ways than one, so thank you for the suggestion!

It’s fitting we’re examining the role of Wallace Wells, played by Kieran Culkin, 10 years later. Culkin has graduated from “Maculely Culkin’s talented brother” to stardom thanks to his Emmy-nominated work in Succession. Additionally, in a movie stuffed with zaniness and stylization, Wallace’s role as the GBF is more as a stabilizing, grounding force. While it’s a small role, the film makes Wallace an interesting, modern portrait of a gay man that strays away from typical characterizations...

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