Welcome to the new, updated version of Queerty’s Screening Room, our biweekly guide to all things worth watching in movie theaters and at home on cable/streaming, DVD, and VOD services.
In this edition we have Matt Damon back as reluctant super agent Jason Bourne, Queer As Folk’s Gale Harold co-stars in gay murder mystery Kiss Me, Kill Me, famed queer artist David Hockney and James Baldwin are the respective subjects of documentaries Hockney and I Am Not Your Negro (above), NYC’s Ira Sachs brings us another humane, compelling character piece in coming of age feature Little Men, while a young man falls apart in Jack Goes Home.
But wait, there’s more! So start scrolling for trailers, details, and your comments!
Theatrical Releases
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.
(Maysles Cinema NYC, Metrograph NYC, Cinemark Baldwin Hills L.A.; Magnolia Pictures)
Playing for a week in New York and Los Angeles starting December 9th to qualify for the Oscars – a larger-scale release will follow in February – director Raoul Peck’s documentary is based on, and brings to life James Baldwin’s “Remember This House,” which the iconic gay black author never completed and essentially exists as just notes. Baldwin’s own words – sometimes read by Samuel L. Jackson – guide this incredible, profound, and powerful cinematic essay, while also giving life to Baldwin himself through clips and other footage. A must.
DVD/VOD
($29.99 DVD; Embrem)
A noir-style thriller set in West Hollywood, the latest film from prolific gay director Casper Andreas () sees Queer As Folk‘s Gale Harold return as Stephen, the cheating boyfriend to Dusty, played by four-time Emmy nominee Van Hansis (As The World Turns). However, their romance is suddenly called to a halt when Dusty discovers Stephen cheating and, worse, dead! Blacked out when the crime occurred, Dusty is a main suspect, but sure enough there are a bunch of other characters with motive – played by familiar faces like Jonathan Lisecki (Gayby), Shangela (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Yolonda Ross (The Get Down) – and could be the culprit.
($34.90 Blu-ray, $29.98 DVD; Universal)
Some government agencies just don’t learn do they? Super soldier-agent Jason Bourne is provoked back into action by some diabolical, shady CIA folks determined to bury their most shadowy projects and schemes, which includes Treadstone – and Bourne. Chaos ensues as a re-awakened Bourne is chased down by a shadowy assassin, resulting in some mighty fine action like an insane, high speed flying-cars smash-em-up. Extras include a handful of featurettes.
($24.95 DVD; Wolfe)
A Sundance 2016 pick, this well-reviewed dramedy follows David, a 30-ish gay comedy writer in NYC who finds himself at a crossroads both personally and career-wise. In need of some reflection time, he heads back home to Sacramento, where his cancer-stricken mother (Molly Shannon) could use a little support since she’s about to begin chemotherapy. Awkward, uncomfortable family moments follow, and reconnecting with former school friends, and ex, and more… Funny stuff with a heart and maybe a tear or two.
($24.99 DVD; Magnolia)
Director Ira Sachs and co-writer Mauricio Zacharias follow up Love Is Strange with this nuanced coming-of-age film about a couple of teen boys, Jake and Tony, brought together when the former’s parents move into his deceased grandfather’s home, inheriting a shopkeeper tenant in the process. As with Love Is Strange, money causes the ground to shift under these characters – including Greg Kinnear as Jake’s struggling actor father, Brian, and Jennifer Ehle as his breadwinner wife, and Paulina Garcia as prickly dress maker Leona – and you end up caring about every single person so when conflict arises, it just plain hurts. A wonderful piece of cinema, and breakouts for the young stars Theo Taplitz and Michael Barbieri.
($14.99 DVD; E1 Entertainment)
Gay fave, sexually ambiguous actor Thomas Dekker (Kaboom) makes his writing/directing debut with this psychological horror film. Rory Culkin stars as Jack, a young Coloradan who goes back home after surviving a car crash that killed his father. As the movie unwinds, Jack’s mother (Lin Shaye, of Insidous) proves a perhaps sinister character, while Jack is haunted by messages from his father. Is he going nuts, or is something supernatural going on?
Cable/Streaming Services
(December 12 @ 8pm/7pmCT; Smithsonian Channel)
The U.K.-born yet quintessentially Los Angeles gay artist, David Hockney, is subject of this comprehensive, two-hour documentary that covers his life and work. A trove of his photos, personal movies and art help craft a full portrait, touching on everything from his relationships to the AIDS plague that consumed many friends and fellow artists to his continued output and success at age 79. This is your history, kids – take it in!
ALSO OUT ON DVD:
Florence Foster Jenkins
Goat
The Secret Life Of Pets
Don’t Think Twice
Don't forget to share:
Herman75
The Falls Covenant of Grace is out on DVD next week. 3rd and final chapter of a Mormon gay relationship.
Hank
I miss Queer as Folk so much.
tghost54
I miss it too.
Sadly nothing has come to take its place.
I think Showtine should make some Queer as Folk mini
Series to see what the characters are up to.