It only took 3 seasons, but the Netflix smash-hit Stranger Things finally delivered to us its first openly queer character. While Maya Hawke’s character Robin was clearly being set up as a foil for her Scoops Ahoy co-worker Steve Harrington, it’s not until near the end of the short season that we learn the truth: she’s a lesbian.
Two erotic film societies – the Seattle Erotic Cinema Society (SECS) and New York’s Cinekink – joined forces last weekend to bring Seattle a selection of sexy shorts – a micro-film-festival if you will.
From the continuing plight of trans people serving in the military, to a film that was banned in its home country of Kenya, these three films are but a part of this year’s lineup at the 2018 Twist Seattle Queer Film Festival.
The SIFF VR Zone is a pop-up virtual reality installation living, for now, on the first floor of Pacific Place Mall. It’s the most intriguing thing the 44th Annual Seattle International Film Festival has had going on all season – or for even the last two SIFF seasons. Maybe three.
To call out the obvious lip service that the entertainment industry pays to its desperate need for more representative inclusion seems redundant, and yet, the more things change, the more they stay the same. When it comes to inclusion, Hollywood still has a homophobia problem.
While Call Me By Your Name is a beautifully crafted piece of cinema, its story is ultimately empty and unfulfilling, and would’ve better served as a 20 minute video tour of Northern Italy. Combined with such problematic casting, it makes for a story that just didn’t need to be told.
If you’ve a fan of Seattle’s amazing queer comedy scene, then you owe it to yourself to check out Hot Takes With Hot Dykes, self-described as Seattle’s premiere lesbian talk radio show. The gay baby of Seattle comedy couple Clara Pluton and Val Nigro airs on Hollow Earth Radio every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, as well as in podcast form (for those who aren’t radio wave inclined) on Soundcloud and iTunes.
Seattle filmmaker Wes Hurley recently debuted his newest project, Little Potato, to cheering audiences at SXSW. Metaphorically, the movie (co-directed by Nathan Miller) is a story about suffering repression and experiencing relief. Literally, though, the story is about Hurley and his mother leaving a dangerous and corrupt Russia to find freedom in America.
I was left with a strange feeling yesterday after watching the replay of last weekend’s Saturday Night Live. Part of it was from the fact that Chris Pine had to sing almost every time we saw him in the episode, which was weird. But it was mostly due to the sketch where a group of tough, masculine auto mechanics all came out to each other as closet RuPaul’s Drag Race fans.
Frankly, it’s hard to look through the festival schedule without seeing something worth attending or watching. But, for those who can’t commit to attending 10 days worth of films and activities, we’ve put together a Totally Unofficial Guide of our picks.
Between Gary from Chicago and Warren Beatty’s Steve Harvey moment, the 2017 Academy Awards will be remembered forever. But more importantly, this year’s Oscars made history with the first ever LGBTQ film achieving the Academy’s highest honor: Best Picture!
Before the Oscars are distributed, before the Tony Awards, before the Grammys and the Emmys and whatever Nickelodeon does, there is an award ceremony commemorating the best in television and film: the Golden Globes.