Best LGBTQ Movies - Nathaniel's List

by Nathaniel R

At the beginning of the month we shared a collection of disparate lists from various websites on the "best LGBTQ films ever" and since that got such a good response let's return to the well for something more personal as Pride month winds down. Naturally when you make personal lists the order can be justifiably odd, even to your own eyes, so we must acknowledge first and foremost that this is by no means definitive: I haven't seen every queer movie ever made, and were the list to have been made on a different day or perhaps a different hour, it might be noticeably different, at least in ranking.

Nevertheless here's to hoping you enjoy this imperfect list of... 

Nathaniel's 125 Favourite Queer Movies

1. Cabaret (Fosse, 1972) 8 OSCAR WINS INCLUDING BEST DIRECTOR
2. Carol (Haynes, 2015)

Click to read more ...

Poison, But Literally

How does a legal drama about environmental malfeasance a la Eric Brokovich but starring Mark Ruffalo and directed by Todd Haynes (!!!) sound to y'all today? I'd say it sounds pretty fine, pretty fine indeed, and it's not just noise apparently - this is really happening!

Based on a 2016 article in the New York Times about a corporate defense attorney who took on the gigantic DuPont corporation (what is it with Ruffalo and the DuPonts?) and exposed decades worth of criminal pollutive behavior, the project - once called Dry Run but now called we don't know - is set to shoot next year.

This will be Haynes first project to get off the ground since Wonderstruck hit last year, and this feels, on the surface, like kind of a big departure for him, doesn't it? For one he hasn't really directed a movie with a true leading man - if you don't count the dozen Bob Dylans in I'm Not There as leads, anyway - in twenty years with Velvet Goldmine.

FYC: Ed Lachman for Best Cinematography and Carter Burwell for Best Score in Wonderstruck

By Salim Garami

What's good? It's quite frankly a hell of a shame how little attention and love Todd Haynes' adaptation of young fiction book Wonderstruck has received during this awards season, after its Cannes premiere elicited high hopes about its Oscar chances. Ignoring the unfortunate lack of marketing or campaigning from Amazon Studios (opting instead to push Last Flag Flying and Wonder Wheel -- a decision which didn't do them much good), Wonderstruck's main crime doesn't seem to be any true flaw in its material but the fact that it's such a quiet and small movie. Even its champions give it muted praise rather than rapturous acclaim...

Click to read more ...

Exploring the Humanity of Deafness in "Wonderstruck"

By Spencer Coile  

At my showing for Wonderstruck this week, there were only six other people in the audience: a young couple and a gaggle of older ladies who felt comfortable talking their way through the whole movie. And while I was initially annoyed at this inconvenience, I was instantly sucked into the world Todd Haynes assembled in his period piece about loss, life, and the family we seek comfort in. Something was especially strange about my experience, though -- the entire film played with subtitles. Was this intentional and I just didn't know it was supposed to be shown this way? Was this a mistake by the theater? Or did one of my fellow moviegovers request this specifically? 

These questions were never answered, but it didn't matter. I personally consume all my media with the subtitles on, so this was a total delight. But how perfect it was to sit back and enjoy a film that celebrates our differences (one of which being the characters' deafness) while also incorporating a feature that is used to help enhance movie watching for those who are visually impaired. And so it began: Wonderstruck, another story suitable for Haynes' illustrious career. 

Click to read more ...

"Wonderstruck" and "Mudbound"

Lynn Lee continuing our Middleburg Film Festival adventure

Dee Rees and Mudbound cast earlier this year. © Daniel Bergeron

It’s always a little weird to attend a talk with a director before seeing the film they’re being interviewed about.  That’s what happened with Mudbound, which concluded a day that began with a very engaging conversation between director Dee Rees and Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday and festival founder Sheila Johnson’s presentation of the 2017 “Visionary” award to Rees.  Rees was charming, articulate, and impressively self-possessed, and had many interesting comments on the directorial choices she made in Mudbound, which I wasn’t sure whether I should keep in mind or set aside while watching the film that night.  Rees made clear that she resists being pigeonholed as a director of color, female director, or female director of color, an aversion reflected in her somewhat bland mantra “let excellence be the standard.”  At the same time, she agreed that the current system is structurally biased against prioritizing excellence and needs to be opened up...

Click to read more ...