Results tagged “gay”

Well, this is it: the last day of this year's Inside Out festival, and consequently, the last day of our extensive coverage. It's been a gay, gay blast, but some of us are about ready for a nap. If you haven't caught any screenings so far, this is your last chance for a whole year, and there are still a few cool things to catch. You'll be happy to know that seminal gay Aussie movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (pictured) is just as funny today as it was 14 years ago when it was released and not only introduced us to Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving, but also resuscitated Terence Stamp's career. If you haven't seen the movie (or if by some terrible mistake you thought To Wong Foo... was the great drag queen road movie of the mid-90s), now is your chance to catch it in all of its sparkling, glittery glory on the big screen. And if you are already one of the initiated, even better. Put on your best wig and brush up on your ABBA lyrics so you can take full advantage of the "sing-and-drag-along" screening. We're not saying going will necessarily bring you to Paradise, but it might just bring you to you.

Inside Out film goers who had their hearts set on seeing With Gilbert and George, a documentary about the lives of the European "living sculpture" artists are in for something of a disappointment as the screening has been cancelled. In its place, the festival will be showing Shelter for a second time. If you can stand a complete change of mood, the film really is charming and worth a look. Another screening of interest is the Queer Youth Digital Video Project, an initiative started by Inside Out which will consist of 14 short films made on the cheap by queer youth specifically for the festival.

It's closing weekend for Inside Out, but there are still a bunch of interesting films left to see. One of the most exciting screenings today is The Witnesses (pictured), the new film from acclaimed French writer-director André Téchiné, who also made the queer-themed The Wild Reeds. Set in and around Paris in 1984, the film follows a small and rather incestuous group of friends who all become affected by the onset of the AIDS epedemic. The arrival of beautiful teenager Manu shakes up the lives of promiscuous couple Sarah and Medhi, as well as their gay friend Adrien, especially when both other men fall in love with the charismatic Manu. Things go from messy to messier when Manu is diagnosed as HIV positive. At once charming and heartbreaking, this beautifully made film is both a detailed character study and a fascinating look at the early years of the AIDS crisis. All of the cast are excellent, particularly Johan Libéreau as Manu and the always-fabulous Emmanuelle Béart as Sarah.

It's a pretty quiet day at Inside Out, with only six screenings. Fans of European movies/men might take interest in Italy's Saturn in Opposition, and the artfag must-see of the day is definitely the doc Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff + Robert Mapplethorpe. If you're feeling in the mood for something South American, Argentina's La León (pictured) is the clear choice. Set in a small and remote rural community in northern Argentina's Paraná Delta, this strikingly photographed black-and-white film tells the story of Alvaro, the only gay in the village. Most of the community's fishers and workers are content to let the private Alvaro be, but alpha male Turu considers Alvaro to be a threat and tries to turn the community against him. There is so little dialogue in the film that when characters do speak, it's often something of a surprise. The tone is so sleepy and the pacing so slow and restive that you couldn't necessarily be blamed for drifting off in the middle of the movie. But if you've just had a coffee and are ready to really focus on something, you might find La León very rewarding. Plus, think about all the jokes you can make to your friends afterwards about "Gay Pride."

Inside Out rages on. One of the biggest-name movies of the festival screens tonight: Paul Schrader's The Walker. The film stars Woody Harrelson as a "Walker," a well-to-do gay man who "walks" wealthy women around to society events their husbands are too busy for (interestingly enough, this "profession" also came up in Sunday's Savage Grace). These women include the always-fabulous Lily Tomlin and Lauren Bacall. But things get complicated when Harrelson's character gets drawn into a messy murder mystery after his best friend (played by Kristen Scott Thomas) discovers her lover has been killed. Willem Dafoe also has a small role as Thomas' politician husband. A gay-themed murder mystery with a cast that awesome sounds like a really good time, but unfortunately, The Walker never really lives up to its potential. Sloppy editing really upsets the film's pace and makes the story hard to follow, and for a film being screened at Inside Out, the gay storyline is underdeveloped and unbelievably castrated. Harrelson and his boyfriend (played by Run Lola Run's sexy Moritz Bleibtreu) are about as affectionate to each other as a couple of maiden aunts.

The long weekend may be over, but Inside Out is still going strong. Tonight the festival will be presenting its Centrepiece Gala: a screening of Australian gay surfer movie Newcastle. It seems worth noting that this is the second gay surfer movie of the festival, following the much-buzzed Shelter, which played last Friday. But despite obvious superficial similarities, the two films are actually quite different. Newcastle is about three brothers, for all of whom surfing has been a major presence in their lives. Oldest brother Victor is a never-was surf star, bitter about his life's disappointments. Younger brother Jesse is an up-and-comer who might be surfing's Next Big Thing. Fergus, on the other hand, is pasty, kind of emo, and never touched a surfboard until he laid eyes on Andy, one of Jesse's dreamy surf buddies. As these things tend to do, the whole plot culminates in a tragic camping trip (what's up with that trend?). Perhaps Newcastle doesn't benefit from comparisons to Shelter, which is a better film. It's also not quite so much a gay movie as a movie with gay characters. Although Fergus's sexuality and attraction to Andy is important, it never becomes the focus of the film, which is definitely the relationship the brothers have with each other and with surfing. On the other hand, most of the film is crammed full of beautifully photographed nude and semi-nude Aussie hunks, which is hard to complain about.

It's Victoria Day Monday, and what better way to celebrate that old queen's birthday than by watching a bunch of gay movies at Inside Out? Things kick off at noon with a gay daddy doc double-bill at the ROM. We didn't get a chance to check out Fatherhood Dreams, a Canadian film about four gay men who are all fathers in different ways, but we did see Daddy's Love, a film about a Norwegian single gay man and the American woman who agrees to be the surrogate for his child. It's interesting to see how someone without a partner goes through the process of becoming a parent (especially the bits that involve his adorable and supportive mom). Another doc worth catching is The Beirut Apt, which shows interviews with various gay people living in Lebanon, a country rife with contradictory cultural identities and institutional homophobia. Shot only a year ago, the film also serves as an interesting chronicle of local citizens' reactions to the recent Hezbollah-Israeli conflict.

The Inside Out festival continues today with ten different screenings. One of the more high-profile films in the festival is Savage Grace, the new film from Tom Kalin starring Julianne Moore. Kalin is probably best known for is 1992 film Swoon, based on the infamous Leopold and Loeb murder case. So it should come as no surprise that Savage Grace is based on the real life murder of Barbara Daly Baekeland by her son Antony. Julianne Moore plays the doomed heiress whose increasingly codependent and unhealthy relationship with her gay son culminates in incest and eventually her own death. Moore is outstanding as Barabara, devouring every piece of celluloid she touches and Eddie Redmayne is eerily compelling as her creepy son. The whole piece is quite beautifully shot and well-made in general, but the subject matter has a certain Ick Factor which means the film is definitely not for everyone.

It's Day 3 at the excellently-programmed Inside Out festival. One of the more interesting films to catch this afternoon is It's Still Elementary: The Movie and the Movement (pictured) over at the National Film Board. It's actually a documentary about another documentary, 1996's It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School, a groundbreaking film that showed elementary school teachers discussing homosexuality with children. But don't worry if you haven't seen its predecessor: It's Still Elementary is still a really fascinating doc exploring the controversy and the impact of the earlier film. It's also evidence that arguments that younger children "won't understand" these kinds of conversations are entirely bogus, and the now-grown-up kids from It's Elementary have only good things to say about being involved in the project.

Officially, this is Day Two of the 18th annual Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, but it's the first fully programmed day, with 8 different screenings happening. And things are starting off with a bang! There are so many cool screenings going on today, you're actually spoiled for choice.

Renda Abdo knew that she'd have some explaining to do about calling her boutique nightclub, located in the north end of the Village, "Straight." The name was ambiguous. Was Straight exclusive to straights? (Imagine if "Gay" opened in the middle of club district.) Or did it mock them? Straight was a response, Abdo explains, to the attitude that the Village had become irrelevant, a view laid out in a front page Star article with a bold headline: "Goodbye Gaytown?"

Canada's first same-sex marriage was performed here, and according to 2006 census data released today, nearly a quarter of same-sex common law couples in Toronto have officially tied the knot. Strangely enough, hetero marriages haven't crumbled en masse since the unions became legal country-wide in 2005, nor have people started lobbying to marry their pets. Someone should tell the Americans.

Lit lovers should head over to Church Street today for the Writing Outside The Margins festival of queer literature, the first of its kind in Toronto. The Gay Village stretch of Church Street will be closed from 11:00 a.m. to 7 p.m. to accommodate stands selling everything from children's books, fiction and poetry to sci-fi, erotica and comic arts. There will also be two stages for readings and performances, where you'll get to participate in an open mic or sign up for a poetry slam competition.

Today Masaryk-Cowan Park will host the third annual Parkdale Festival, rain or shine. Set to kick off at 12 p.m., the festival is going to have a smorgasbord of activities.

Canadian Bar Association demands that Stephen Harper negotiate with the United States to return Omar Khadr to Canada. The country's largest legal organization (and Khadr's own American military lawyer, for that matter) states that Khadr will not get a fair trial in the United States, which is obvious. Also obvious: the likelihood of Harper doing exactly dick about it.

Torontoist has had a long history of critiquing Tourism Toronto's lackluster ad campaigns. Remember Toronto Unlimited? We had a field day with that one. And those awful Live With Culture ads? Yuck.

This is Corky and the Juice Pigs performing their song "Eskimo." If you're not familiar with the song, or if you haven't heard it in a while, then Torontoist should warn you: this clip may be offensive to the Inuit, gays, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Ric Ocasek, seals, and anyone without a sense of humour.

It's the last day of Inside Out, and this afternoon, the gay and lesbian film fest presented a pretty exciting Q&A session with director Laurie Lynd. Lynd directed, among other things, gay-friendly fare like the film version of Torontoist-fave Daniel MacIvor's House as well as episodes of Queer As Folk, Degrassi: The Next Generation and Noah's Arc. But it was his latest project that brought him to the immediate attention of Inside Out. Lynd directed the upcoming film Breakfast With Scot, which is that "gay Maple Leafs movie" you may have been hearing so much about. The afternoon began, however, with a screening of two of Lynd's earlier short films, RSVP and The Fairy Who Didn't Want to be a Fairy. The former is a sad short about a man grieving for his partner who has died of AIDS and the latter is a musical fantasy with Holly Cole about (literally) a fairy who decides that he wants to have his wings surgically removed. Both star Daniel MacIvor, at his loveable, charming best. Torontoist gives him a hug!

Only three days left in the 17th Annual Inside Out Gay and Lesbian Film and Video Festival! Last night, Eleven Men Out screened at the Bader; an Icelandic comedy with a reasonably original premise: a soccer player named Ottar being interviewed by a reporter in the locker room after a game while the rest of his team is changing decides, for the benefit of appearing on the magazine's cover, to come out of the closet at that exact moment. As a result, he is thrown off the team and becomes the pariah of his family, including an alkie former-Miss Iceland ex-wife, a biggoted soccer-exec father, a video-store managing brother with a penchant for shemale pornography and a moody tweenage son who would rather play Counter-Strike than have a conversation with his father.

The 17th Annual Inside Out Gay and Lesbian Film and Video Festival Continues! Last night, the festival presented its centrepiece gala screening at the Isabelle Bader Theatre of King and Clown (reviewed by Torontoist at last year's TIFF), a movie about a Korean monarch who falls in love with his cross-dressing jester that also happens to be the top-grossing Korean film of all time (OK, so at least it was until this happened).

“What’s going on this week in cinema, Torontoist?” you might be asking, as you normally would when faced with another Film Friday column. “Well,” we'll respond, “If you want to know what is hot, you only have to look at a couple of earlier posts this week.”

The 17th Annual Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival had its official launch earlier this week at the Gladstone (following a recent fundraiser) where it announced its lineup to the public.

Inside Out is gearing up for its seventeenth annual celebration of Gay and Lesbian video and film, and they need your help to ensure another successful year.

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week.

With the end of the academic year looming, Three Ring Paper Productions and the Transgendered, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay Association at York University (TBLGAY) invite you to put down your books on Wednesday evening and make your way to Study Hall: A Night of Queer Readings. The event features new and previously published works from authors Derek McCormack, Debra Anderson, R.M. Vaughan, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.

Hey, it's snowing. Crazy!

In the second of this series, we've picked another five "must see" events -- this time from Nuit Blanche's Zone B. All these activities are happening in and around the OCAD building. Unless specified, the events we've picked run for the full 12 hours, so you can visit them at any point in the night.

After a week of pridelicious events, it's now time to take over downtown Toronto, drink a lot of beer, make some noise, wear colourful threads.... wait, is this a post about The World Cup or Pride Toronto?

San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called "How to Get the Guy" that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing.