She Dies Tomorrow is hypnotic and unsettling —

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I was hypnotized by SHE DIES TOMORROW, a brilliantly unsettling horror movie that perfectly distills the potent mix of abject fear and resigned exhaustion that defines so much of modern life. See. This. Movie.

Full Review Here

Yes, God, Yes

- A surprisingly sweet comedy about sex, religion, and the internet in the early 00s!

This film made me wonder what the function of nostalgia is, when it’s for a time I don’t particularly have any urge to revisit!

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Cursed is a confounding retelling of Arthurian legend... —

punctuated by moments of brilliance

I did love a lot about Netflix’s CURSED. It has excellent performances across the board, gripping and emotional action sequences, and some really stunning imagery that almost (almost!) makes the whole thing worthwhile. But it’s also just… kind of boring…?

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In The Grip of Powerful Rage — —

on rape-revenge and on-screen trauma in JU-ON: ORIGINS

A review of Netflix’s supremely-upsetting, graphic prequel series to The Grudge, available worldwide on July 3rd.

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Outside of Laramie

Joy Ride (2001) as gay panic horror

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always loved road horror movies. It seems to me to be the most quintessentially American horror genre, our obsession with manifest destiny and westward expansion come back to haunt us, to punish us for thinking we deserve to drive at will across vast expanses of barren desert, to speed toward the ever-distant horizon in our gas-guzzling automobiles, without a care in the world. Who do we think we are? What hubris.

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Unsolved Mysteries returns to Netflix

and it’s... complicated!

The true-crime landscape has shifted drastically since Unsolved Mysteries was last on the air. The new reboot, out July 1st, is an attempt to use Netflix’s complicated true-crime fandom for good. Let’s hope it works!

Wasp Network

new Netflix spy thriller directed by Olivier Assayas

Olivier Assayas' confounding new spy thriller WASP NETWORK is on Netflix now. It's an unwieldy, misshapen thing that seems to want to convey on a formal level the futility of trying to understand international relations.

But: what a CAST.

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Pier Kids —

streaming now at Outfest!

‘Pier Kids’ is an intimate look at the lives of the black trans and queer youth who congregate on the Christopher Street Pier in NYC. Especially now, as the country grapples with the biggest Civil Rights demonstrations in a generation, it’s a vital documentary.

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INFAMOUS starring Bella Thorne

It’s time I admit it: I think Bella Thorne is Good.

Bella Thorne is a fascinating screen presence, and she's quietly assembling a list of roles through which she investigates the intersections of the Internet with Gen-Z's sense of self.

PRIDELAND on PBS

⭐️⭐️⭐️

While Prideland is very much a documentary about queer people made for straight audiences, there are lessons here for queer people, too.

Josef Salvat - ‘modern anxiety’ —

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Listening to it now, amidst… *gestures at the last few months*… the album feels like a salve, like a soothing reminder that I’m not the only one struggling to process the world outside my door, or inside my phone.

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The Vast of Night and the memory of wonder

On Amazon Prime now!

I know these things happened, but for a very long time, I did not really remember how they felt. And then I watched Andrew Patterson’s poetic, touching debut film, The Vast of Night. And it all came back.

‘Climate of the Hunter’ Review

At the Chattanooga Film Festival!

‘Climate of the Hunter’ is a sumptuous, high-camp domestic melodrama horror about vampires. It’s brilliant.

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The Pandemic Anthology

At the Chattanooga Film Fest

This is the rare anthology where every segment is worthwhile. Taken together, this collection of horror shorts filmed in quarantine provides a kaleidoscopic look at a world trying to grapple with something unimaginable.

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The VICE Guide to Bigfoot is funny, but safe

at the Chattanooga Film Festival now!

‘The VICE Guide to Bigfoot’ is very funny when it’s taking aim at VICE culture, but unfortunately falls a bit flat on the horror side of the horror-comedy equation. It mostly just reminded me of other, better movies that cover similar ground.

Full Review

The Beach House is eerie, disgusting, and fantastic

at the Chattanooga Film Festival!

Part pandemic horror, part sci-fi invasion film, part gross-out body-horror flick, part zombie movie, part cosmic-horror wonder… it’s none of those and all of them minute-to-minute.

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Ben Platt Live at Radio City Music Hall

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I find that it’s impossible for me to be cynical while listening to Ben Platt sing. He has an earnestness in his voice that resists all attempts at reading his performance as anything less than genuine.

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Review of pregnancy-themed chiller ‘Delivered’

on Hulu now!

‘Delivered’ isn’t just a movie about a woman kidnapping an expectant mother; it’s a movie about a black woman lured to a farmhouse by an evil white woman, where she’s shackled and chained. And the film doesn’t seem to want to explore those optics whatsoever.

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Clementine Movie Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Available on Virtual Cinemas 5/8

Clementine is languorously paced, full of longing looks, hesitant touches, and afternoons spent relaxing by the lake. It’s about the moment before the kiss, that sharp intake of breath when you realize you’re being looked at the same way you are looking. It’s about feeling like you’re drowning and reaching up for a hand, and finding one, even though it may not be one that really saves you.

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I tweeted about new incel documentary TFW NO GF...

...and got homophobic abuse online all day!

The anime avatars are mad.

My interview with director Rachel Mason on her new Netflix doc, Circus of Books

“Gay history is just an underground, uncovered, still-unearthed history. And it’s because this was a population that was under siege.”

My interview with filmmaker Rachel Mason, about her new Netflix documentary Circus of Books — named after the gay porn shop owned by her conservative, elderly parents!

‘In Broad Daylight’ features a chilling, timeless Brian Dennehy performance

It’s on YouTube!

This weekend many people will be revisiting Dennehy’s movies to honor and remember the actor; instead of only reaching for his more famous films, I highly recommend checking out a made-for-TV thriller he did in 1991 called In Broad Daylight. The film boasts a fantastic cast, all of whom give excellent performances, and several truly chilling sequences that hammer home a timely message, even today.

'Pooka Lives!' cements the evil toy's future as a horror icon —

on Hulu now!

Pooka Lives!, a horror-comedy sequel to 2018's deeply strange Pooka!, is on Hulu now! Check out my review!

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Quibi Quick Review Roundup: Dramas and Documentaries!

Bite-sized reviews of Quibi’s scripted dramas (Survive, When the Streetlights Go On, and Most Dangerous Game) and docuseries (Run This City and Sasha Velour’s NightGowns). Check it out!

Quibi Quick Review Roundup: Comedy Edition!

Bite-sized reviews of the comedies on new mobile-only streaming service Quibi!

Almost Love —

on The Queer Review!

Looking for a delightful rom-com for your quarantine viewing? Check out my review of Almost Love, a great ensemble comedy, on VOD now!

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Mass Hysteria is a fun horror comedy about a witchy plague —

Premiering Wednesday on Facebook!

With blockbusters being yanked from the release schedule and currently-running films slapped online for rental months ahead of time, smaller films have been turning to the web to innovate new release strategies at a time when more people are at home, consuming entertainment through the Internet, than ever before.

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"Why Do Animals Die in Cages?" — —

Considering Justice in Netflix's Tiger King

I've spent the last week mulling over the final twist in Tiger King, so I wrote about how the show seems to be interested in a different kind of "justice" than most true-crime shows!

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'The End of the World Will Come at Dawn — on Miracle Mile and moving to Los Angeles at the End of America —

on BrightWall/DarkRoom

An essay I wrote last year about Miracle Mile, depression, and what it's like to make a big life change when you feel like the world might be ending.

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New! Interview with the director and the star of new horror film 'M.O.M. (Mothers of Monsters)' —

on TheQueerReview.com!

Had a great chat with director Tucia Lyman and star Bailey Edwards about their new found-footage horror film 'M.O.M.' We talked about the power of horror movies to spur social change, bonding on set over being queer, and the history of queers in horror film!

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Review of 'Breaking Fast' —

on TheQueerReview.com!

A review of the new gay romantic comedy 'Breaking Fast,' which premiered at OutFest Fusion last weekend! Spoilers: it's lovely, full of warm, heartfelt performances.

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OH HEY, FOR BEST VIEWING, YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR PHONE