Dragula: Titans S1. E3 "Science Fiction (Horror) Double Feature"

by Nick Taylor

Alaska, Dracmorda, Swanthula, and David Dastmalchian on the judge's panel
Dragula: Titans gives us the first of the series’ traditional floorshows, allowing its creatures to strut their stuff on the main stage with smoke and strobe lights dancing in their ears as the horror-techno score plays on. Asking the queens for their interpretation of science fiction horror results is a wildly broad prompt, and the results range from cosmic horror to space aliens to robot monstrosities. There’s no lip syncing, no acting, no other requirement but owning that stage the way only they can. And boy, did they deliver...

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Ranking "Dragula: Titans" S1.E1 (and learning to love Horror)

by Nathaniel R

The Boulet Brothers, hosts of Dragula

Do any of you readers watch the Shudder drag competition Dragula? Though horror has never been the most natural fit for yours truly, other members of Team Experience are much more into the genre. That said I have grown more fond of the spooky stuff over the years, largely due to recommendations from my teammates. There's also the not so small matter of my own actressexuality that has converted me; It's hard to stay averse to Horror when great actresses keep delivering in transcendent ways within the genre. In the past ten years alone the Film Bitch Awards right here (my own annual prizes) have thrown three medals to such performances: Toni Collette in Hereditary and Lupita Nyong'o in Us both won Gold and Essie Davis took silver for The Babadook. Through careful exposure therapy (ha) I've learned which kinds of horror films are absolutely not for me without having to risk visual trauma. So the rest I can sample freely and enjoy!

So it was that last year I subscribed to Shudder where I ended up watching season four of the drag competition Dragula.  This week the new sidebar season (essentially "All Stars") Dragula Titans began. All drag or lipsynch competitions will of course be endlessly compared to the phenomenally successful  RuPaul's Drag Race. That's unavoidable...

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Baby Clyde's TIFF Diary #1: "Bros" First!

Editor's Note: We will have some reviews at TIFF from Abe and Matt. Meanwhile Baby Clyde will be offering daily diaries. Hope you enjoy!

En route to TIFF!It’s a long-accepted fact in my office that for the first two weeks of September I will be away. No phone calls. No emails. No invoices. I’ll be travelling to Canada to spend 10 days in dark theatres watching the newest Oscar Bait all by myself and doing my very best to avoid speaking to anyone else whilst I’m there. Only this time I'm skipping the last bit as I'll be taking directly to you beloved readers. Nathanial has persuaded me to keep a TIFF diary to keep you abreast of all my festival adventures; He may regret it. 

So here I am back for the first time since 2019. It was of course Covid-19 that kept me away for the last couple of years, but it was only on planning this trip that I remembered the Coronavirus was nothing compared to the travails of the TIFF ticketing system...

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"Bros" and Colman Domingo at the 35th annual Out on Film festival

by Nathaniel R

Shout out to any of our readers in Atlanta or thereabouts! Atlanta's premiere LGBTQ film festival Out on Film is kicking off its 35th anniversary edition on September 22nd with the Bily Eichner romantic comedy Bros as its opening night film. The festival closes on October 2nd with a movie about a double drag queen act Chrissy Judy. The festival's longtime director Jim Farmer has built it up for years into a must attend for LGBTQ films, a chance to showcase local filmmaking talent, AND an Oscar qualifying event...

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Venice Diary #5 - L'Immensità, Other People's Children, Padre Pio, Love Life

by Elisa Giudici

Today we have on our menù four movies so different one for the other there's no point in trying to find common ground or a theme. Let’s begin with the surprising and very good Penélope Cruz film... 

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