Home entertainment is keepin’ it real gay this week, and showcases a group of seriously talented international filmmakers.
We’ve got a Chilean boy-meets-boy drama (In The Grayscale, above), a documentary on Gore Vidal’s war of wits with William F. Buckley Jr., a Venezuelan lesbian drama, the second season of a Silver Lake-set gay series, and a brilliant and amusing Mexican (albeit non-gay) nod to French New Wave cinema.
Let’s dig into the trailers and details, yes?
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.
($29.98 Blu-ray; Magnolia)
Gay author/politico Gore Vidal enjoyed a delicious series of scathing TV debates with conservative William F. Buckley Jr. in 1968, which is subject of this documentary by directors Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville. The debates, devised by ABC to hopefully boost ratings during that year’s presidential election cycle, led to some infamous squabbles (clips are seen in the brilliant Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia, which you can watch on Netflix). Oh, if only we had intellectuals like this today going head-to-head… Extras include an interview with the directors and additional interviews with subjects like Andrew Sullivan and Dick Cavett.
($24.99 DVD; Wolfe)
Eva is married and mourning her son’s death, but when she meets Liz, a lesbian staying at a Sapphic seaside resort, her world is turned topsy-turvy. Liz, a serial heartbreaker, seems determined to seduce and bed down the “straight” Eva, yet she’s keeping a secret from her friends: she’s dying from cancer. Of course, fate has a few curveballs in store for these two, and some dramatic fireworks from their respective friends (and exes)… Winner of several LGBT film festival awards, writer/director Fina Torres’ adaptation of Jane Chambers’ play Last Summer at Bluefish Cove is probably the strongest lesbian entry to come down the pike in some time.
($24.95 DVD; Wolfe)
This gay Chilean drama has been likened to Andrew Haigh’s Weekend for what Variety described as its “whispery tone… soft, sunlit textures… (and) delicate dramatic friction in the contrasting temperaments of two men in love.” Indeed, director Claudio Marcone’s debut tracks the unlikely and unexpected connection that grows between a 35-year-old married-with-child architect, Bruno, and openly gay history teacher, Fernando. As things get sexual, Bruno begins to question his identity, which also begins to affect his work and family… A naturalistic, beautiful work that deserves a spot on your shelf or digital library.
($24.95 DVD; Wolfe)
Created by Mad Men‘s Kit Williamson and As The World Turns‘ Van Hansis, this popular and sexy webseries, set in Los Angeles’ hipster Silver Lake neighborhood, stars the pair as boyfriends Cal and Thom. In this compiled second season (funded via a Kickstarter campaign that raised $153k), the pair dip their collective toe into open relationship territory, with an ex tossed in for good and drama-stirring measure. The acting is superb and the wit sharp, with turns this season from Stephen Guarino, Constance Wu, Willam Belli (yes, of RuPaul’s Drag Race), and Drew Droege, among many others. Extras include a behind the scenes featurette.
($34.95 Blu-ray, $29.95 DVD; Fox Lorber)
A prizewinner at international film festivals including Berlin, Tribeca and AFI, plus five Ariels (Mexico’s Oscar equivalent), Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios’s homage to French New Wave cinema follows a group of university students. School’s out due to a strike, so they drift about aimlessly until one of their younger brothers, Tomas, shows up with a mission of tracking down an ailing rock-and-roll legend… Dryly humorous like early Jim Jarmusch and shot in black and white, this signals the start of a major filmmaker’s career. Extras include deleted scenes, an interview with the director, two of Ruizpalacios’s short films, and essay booklet.
ALSO OUT
Do I Sound Gay?
Vacation
The End Of The Tour
Inside Out
