QNews.com.au contributor Peter Gray takes a look back at four of last year’s cinema outings that honoured the queer community in their own unique way.
Booksmart
The ad campaign for Olivia Wilde’s debut feature Booksmart indicated this would be a gender-swapped take on Seth Rogen’s cult 2007 comedy Superbad, however it is so much more!
Yes, there’s the usual swarm of crude jokes and sex humour. But Wilde’s penchant for finding the truth within the outlandish situations is what elevates this warm, hilarious queer movie above its peers.
Throw in a respectful representation of queer teenage youth and a live-wire performance from Billie Lourd (aka Carrie Fisher’s daughter) and you have not only one of the greatest movies of 2019, but a classic for the ages.
Available to rent/buy on physical and digital.
Rocketman
Though Elton John is still alive and kicking, Rocketman is nonetheless an engaging and oft-tragic biopic that celebrates his life, warts and all.
Taron Egerton brings the legendary entertainer’s story to life with a wild, organic performance.
Egerton keeps his performance grounded amidst the fantastical sequences that honour Elton’s impressive back catalogue of music.
Available to rent/buy on physical and digital.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a love story whose tragic finale is conveyed in the film’s opening shot. And yet when it’s ultimately conjured, the finale is still utterly painful.
Portrait is a beautiful, masterfully still film.
Celine Sciamma’s dramatic romance is a period piece that details the lives of two 18th century women over the course of one fateful week. The film feels modern as its narrative transcends its timely trappings.
In select Australian cinemas now.
Velvet Buzzsaw
What a bizarre little film Velvet Buzzsaw is.
At times it’s a nasty, satirical look at the pretentious art scene of Los Angeles. At others, its also a supernatural horror film.
Buzzsaw delights in expelling its aesthetically beautiful but spiritually unattractive cast.
All we really care about though is the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal plays a bisexual art critic who enjoys disrobing on the regular. You’re welcome!
Velvet Buzzsaw is now streaming on Netflix.
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