I had the pleasure of seeing Hocus Pocus on the big screen this year as a part of its 25th anniversary celebration. It continues to hold its place as one of my favorite Halloween films, and also one of my favorite 90s feminist representations of witches, where it joins Practical Magic and Willow from Buffy […]
#MeToo and Feminist Television
I recently saw this meme circulating on Facebook, including a request for on-line streaming films and television series which would pass all of the listed “tests.” I struggled to immediately think of any shows which would pass every test simultaneously (except perhaps The Great British Baking Show). Upon reflection, I was struck by how many […]
Uncle Howard Review – aGLIFF
What makes life meaningful? What do we leave behind? How can we make sense of a life cut short? Can we reconstruct a life from a collection of pieces and memories, and what is it that makes us want to try? These are among the questions Uncle Howard, a new documentary by Aaron Brookner, attempts […]
Check It Review – aGLIFF
When you think of a gang, what comes to mind? Guns? Handkerchiefs? What about lipstick and heels? Check It is a documentary about the first documented LGBTQ gang, located in Washington, D.C. The members of the Check It gang are all black gay or transgender youth. Many are from single parent homes, the foster system, […]
I Love You Both Review: aGLIFF
I Love You Both is like a slow motion train wreck of dysfunction, codependency, and existential crisis coupled with an unchecked white privilege festival. I have very mixed feelings about it. Watching the film made me feel very uncomfortable, but I’m not sure whether that was intentional or not on the part of the director. […]
Heartland Review: AGLIFF
I’ve seen my fair share of LGBTQ films about living in the American South. So many that at times it feels like an overdone trope – and this from a queer woman who was raised in the South and still lives there. I will admit I approached my viewing of Heartland with some skepticism, braced […]
AGLIFF Review: Une Nouvelle Amie
Une Nouvelle Amie (The New Girlfriend) is a film by French director François Ozon. It is utterly sweet and charming throughout. The film is at once very distinctly French and also approachable enough that I believe even viewers completely unacustomed to French film will be able to enjoy and appreciate it without any trouble. I […]
AGLIFF Review: Reel in the Closet
What were the lives of LGBTQ individuals like in the 1930s? The 1950s? These are questions we might normally think of as unanswerable. Dir. Stu Maddux’s new film, Reel in the Closet, shows otherwise. Reel in the Closet is an exploration of queer home movies and what they can teach us about queer history which […]
AGLIFF Review: Deep Run
Any viewers who grew up in a conservative town in the rural South will see a lot in Deep Run that is familiar. Though I am not transgender, the struggle to make ends meet, the desire for acceptance, the lack of anywhere to go to live authentically, and the pressure to go to church, repent, […]
AGLIFF Review: The Guy With the Knife
Sometimes, even people with the best of intentions can get things horribly wrong. Rather than holding on to what we think we know is true, we all need to be able to look past our preconceptions and admit our biases. As much as we would sometimes like it to be, nothing is black and white. […]