A few days ago, I had the pleasure of appearing on the radio program Frameline to talk about a few of the titles playing the Inside Out Film Festival. Hosted by Barbara Goslawski, Frameline airs on Regent Radio, a local station in Toronto, most Thursday evenings from 6 PM to 7 PM. Below you can […]
Category Archives: Inside Out
May
28
Inside Out 2017: Picture This
posted by Courtney Small
Andrew Gurza and Stella Palikarova may be in wheelchairs, but they refuse to be confined. The brains behind Deliciously Disabled, a company designed to breakdown the traditional stereotypes of disability in pop culture, the pair gained international attention when they decided to throw the world’s first sex-positive party for people with disabilities. Though their intent […]
May
28
Inside Out 2017: I Like Girls
posted by Courtney Small
Diane Obomsawin’s delightful short film I Like Girls finds four women sharing their experiences around when they first discovered that, as the title suggests, they liked girls. Ranging from funny to sad to whimsical, and conveyed through colourful animation, the tales offer an intimate portrait of key moments in each woman’s life. Whether it is […]
May
26
Inside Out 2017: Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall
posted by Courtney Small
James Brown once carried the moniker of being the hardest working man in show business, however Katherine Fairfax Wright’s Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall makes a convincing case for Todrick Hall being the heir to that mantle. Driven by his passion to express himself creatively, and unafraid to tackle serious issues, Hall has become a […]
May
26
Inside Out 207: Hold Me Like Before (Abrazame Como Antes)
posted by Courtney Small
Verónica (Jimena Franco) and Greta (Natalia Porras) are transgendered sex workers and roommates living in Costa Rica. Spending their evenings working on street corners and hanging out in clubs, their peaceful existence is disturbed by the presence of Tato (Camilo Regueyra). Tato is a homeless teenager who they literally run into, when the car they […]
May
25
Inside Out 2017: The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin
posted by Courtney Small
Listening to Armistead Maupin recount prominent moments in his life, it quickly becomes clear that he is a natural storyteller. Achieving fame for his celebrated column Tales of the City in the San Francisco Chronicle, Maupin has been a key documentarian of life in San Francisco and the changing face of America’s political climate for […]
May
25
Inside Out 2017: A Date for Mad Mary
posted by Plot and Theme
Darren Thornton’s A Date for Mad Mary is a charming coming-of-age romance featuring incredible performances, unpredictable plot turns, and immense directorial skill. Thornton co-wrote the film with his brother Colin, based off of a play written by Yamine Akram that Darren also directed. A Date for Mad Mary appears to be your standard young adult […]
May
24
Inside Out 2017: Bad Girl
posted by Jay
Amy (Sara West) is a teenager, a “bad girl” who’s just returned home after some shadowy shenanigans to her adoptive parents who are willing to give her “one last chance.” They’re pretty sure she’s going to hate the new home they’ve bought in rural Australia and they’re right; she’s out the door and doing a […]
May
24
Inside Out 2017: Signature Move
posted by Jay
Zaynab is a Pakistani-American immigration lawyer who is: a) learning wrestling moves from a former pro wrestler who went by the name Jolt; and b) keeping a new relationship with Alma secret from her conservative Muslim mother who doesn’t know she’s gay. “Mothers and daughters aren’t friends in our culture,” Zaynab tells Alma. “That’s a […]
May
24
Inside Out 2017: Mansfield 66/67
posted by Plot and Theme
The documentary Mansfield 66/67 trades in the same camp as its iconic subject: “Blonde Bombshell” Jayne Mansfield. The film focuses on the last two years of the starlet’s life, reveling in the rumors that swirled and the legends that the papers saw fit to print. The film is built from celebrity interviews, discussions with cultural […]
May
23
Inside Out 2017: Free Cece
posted by Courtney Small
On one horrific night in June 2011, Cece McDonald was violently attacked while walking with her friends. Attempting to defend herself, Cece, a transgendered woman, accidentally stabbed one of her attackers. Her incarceration sparked an international outcry as it once again highlighted the injustice that the transgender community endure when it comes to the criminal […]
May
23
Inside Out 2017: Sebastian
posted by Jay
James Fanizza writes, directs and stars in Sebastian but does not in fact play him. He plays Alex, the guy who meets Sebastian (Alex House) and initiates a fling – this despite that he has a boyfriend, a boyfriend who just happens to be Sebastian’s cousin. They both agree to feel bad about what they’re […]
May
23
Inside Out 2017: Handsome Devil
posted by Plot and Theme
Writer-director John Butler’s Handsome Devil favorably compares to other boarding school coming-of-age dramas like School Ties and Dead Poet’s Society. Butler’s film packs more irreverence than those films, and has a kind of tongue-in-cheek sensibility, but a lot of the elements are the same. Much of the drama is focuses on a pair of roommates, […]
June
04
Inside Out 2016: Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things
posted by Plot and Theme
In the northeastern Canadian territory of Nunavut, homosexuality is a contentious subject. In fact, Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things essentially goes right down the list of homosexual persecution that we have seen, and continue to see, throughout the world. LGBTQ people in Nunavut either keep their sexual orientation secret, leave, or commit suicide. The […]
June
03
Inside Out 2016: Girls Lost
posted by Matt
After drinking from a mysterious (and apparently magical) plant, three bullied adolescent girls are transformed into boys. First let me address my-and possibly your-initial concern. Writer-director Alexandra-Therese Keining thankfully has no interest in broad comedy and doesn’t waste even a moment of precious screen time with it. No dick jokes or double entendres here. Keining […]
June
02
Inside Out 2016: I Promise You Anarchy (Te Prometo Anarquia)
posted by Plot and Theme
I Promise You Anarchy (Te Prometo Anarquia) meanders through the seamy underbelly of Mexico City with the feel of a modern crime drama coupled with gay romance and skateboarding. Miguel (Diego Calva Hernández), the main protagonist, wears a necklace looped through plastic vampire teeth which signifies both his exploitative nature and uncontrollable hunger for sex. […]
June
01
Inside Out 2016: I Love You Both
posted by Jay
Krystal and Donny are super twins and super friends. They live together, they hang out together, and they even date the same guy. Wait – what? Only in 2016? Even in 2016? Somehow they’ve met this supercool dude named Andy (Lucas Neff), and he’s everything either of them could hope for. He’s interesting and charming. […]
May
31
Inside Out 2016: Hurricane Bianca
posted by Courtney Small
Continuing the long cinematic tradition of men dressing in drag to better advance their personal situation, Hurricane Bianca travels down a very familiar path. All the tropes of one would expect from this type of film are on display, right down to the seemingly straight man who is inexplicably unable to see that the woman […]
May
30
Inside Out 2016: The Slippers
posted by Matt
I love this movie! I love this movie! I love this movie! How many words is that? Damn. Okay, I’ll elaborate. For anyone who really loves movies- American movies in particular- it’s easy to be almost immediately won over by this documentary about Hollywood nostalgia. Specifically, the legacy of Victor Fleming’s Wizard of Oz and- […]
May
30
Inside Out 2016: Strike A Pose
posted by Jay
In 1990, an ad went out for FIERCE male dancers; 7 men were picked from obscurity and within months were surfing the zenith of fame alongside Madonna in her Blonde Ambition tour and Truth or Dare documentary. All but one were gay, and Madonna, having recently lost friends to AIDS, was outspoken about gay rights […]
