Sorry, people who like things to go boom. Character-driven stories dominate this week’s home entertainment line-up… although there are certainly some emotional fireworks to behold!
Cate Blanchett provides another awards-worthy turn as a woman fallen from grace in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, while a clique of Quebec queers experience serious ups and downs in Coming Out: Season 1 (above).
Los Angeles is setting for both a new gay indie drama, Apart, and 1993’s I’ll Love You Forever… Tonight, which finally surfaces on DVD.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
($35.99 Blu-ray, $30.99 DVD; Sony)
Cate Blanchett plays the title character in Woody Allen’s Oscar-baiting dramedy about a woman whose privileged life comes to an end when her Bernie Madoff-esque husband’s financial schemes land him in prison. While attempting to start over, living with her middle class sister (Sally Hawkins) on a whole new economic level, Jasmine wrestles with mental issues, flashbacks of her 1 percent existence, dating, employment, and a lecherous boss. Blanchett delivers an incredible performance, while also coaxing dramatic turns from comics Louis C.K.. and Andrew Dice Clay. Extras include a cast press conference and “Notes From The Red Carpet” featurette.
I’ll Love You Forever… Tonight
($24.99 DVD; No Restriction Entertainment)
A quintessential New Queer Cinema title, Edgar Michael Bravo’s 1993 feature – co-starring Thomas Jane as a hustler — has finally resurfaced for a new generation of queer cinephiles on DVD and streaming. Set during the late 1980s, this low-fi black and white indie (Bravo’s UCLA thesis project) charts the exploits of a 27-year-old Los Angeles photographer, Ethan, during a tense, lurid, even destructive weekend in Palm Springs.
($14.99 DVD; Oracle Releasing)
This week sees the digital and DVD release of several films by Somali-American indie filmmaker Afdhere Jama, including 2009’s Rebound, the short “Carlita” on compilation Over The Rainbow, and this 2010 feature, Apart, which juggles a handful of characters (refreshingly, of diverse ethnic backgrounds) and stories in L.A.
($24.99 DVD; Border2Border Entertainment)
A web series produced by gay jack of all trades Charlie David (Dante’s Cove, Judas Kiss), Coming Out stars writer/director Mathieu Blanchard as Mat, a queer fashion photographer. Amongst the central characters and relationships is Mat’s dealing with the reappearance of his ex; Olivier, a closeted married-with-children sort having a gay affair; and teenage Téo, who’s developed some dangerous habits and needs help ASAP. Extras include bloopers and cast interviews.
ALSO OUT:
Captain Phillips
Charlie Countryman
Bad Milo
In A World
Cat People
