The Projectors

Querelle (1982)

For our MOVIES ARE GAY theme this month we’re hitting up some extra Fassbinder just like Fassbinder himself hit up those extra party favors. We’re actually discussing Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final film before he left us too soon at the age of 37. His 1982 film “QUERELLE” is adapted from the Jean Genet novel “Querelle in Brest” starring Brad Davis, Franco Nero and many more. A bisexual sailor in Brest, Querelle, kills a man over an opium deal. Querelle also gets railed by the man married to the woman his brother is fucking. He will also later fuck that woman. Everyone is pretty much gay in this movie except for, maybe, Lysiane who runs the bar. There’s a gay ship Lieutenant who records his poetic lusts for Querelle and the other sailors. Even the buildings are gay. Querelle shares murderous kinship with a fellow who stabbed his bully and this guy really looks a lot like Querelle’s brother. Seems like Querelle can pass some blame onto a poor sad gay sucker. Love won’t stop Querelle from being a dirtbag. Querelle’s gonna Querelle. My grandma used to say that when she would watch gay porn in the living room. We found this link to the movie with Spanish subtitles: https://archive.org/details/QuerelleRainerWernerFassbinder
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Moonlight (2016)

For this month’s theme of MOVIES ARE GAY shit can get sad. Today we’re discussing the best picture Oscar winner from 2016. This seems like one of the few best picture winners in the last decade that make sense. The nature of suppression comes up often in LGBTQ stories, especially when things get historical, but what balances Barry Jenkins film “MOONLIGHT” a little better than most is the convincing quiet tenderness. Like its main character, Little/Chiron/Black, this movie keeps a lot to itself. It’s got to be the quietest gay movie of all time. It stars Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae and the lead crosses generations with portrayals by Alex Hilbert, Ashton Sanders & Trevante Rhodes. Growing up gay in Liberty City, Miami in the middle of the crack epidemic isn’t easy but tenderness finds its way. Mahershala is great but the third act is definitely the best part.
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Bros (2022)

For our MOVIES ARE GAY theme we like to hit up, at least, one romcom and today’s discussion had an unprecedented major studio presence for a gay film with a majority LGBTQ cast but it seemed to come and go fairly quietly. The Judd Apatow produced film directed by Nicholas Stoller, written by Billy Eichner and starring Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane may have had an uphill battle within an era where romantic comedies in general have become more and more rare. We’re talking about the movie “BROS” from 2022 in which Bobby, a neurotic and loud NYC gay man with a podcast, gradually falls for a beefcake “bro-type” named Aaron. It’s a lot like many romantic comedies in some ways while showing what is different about queer relationships. Very adult but seems like decent fodder for the romcom crowd. This didn’t blow up the box office but perhaps this movie will linger over time with a gradual shift in overall perception? We will see. We’re talking waaaaay deeper cuts than “BROS” this month but the future of gay romantic comedies may have been unfairly hoisted up “BROS” shoulders in today’s shaky moviegoing landscape. Hear us tell of it.
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The Old Dark House (1932)

MOVIES ARE GAY all month long and how could we go through Mondays of classic cinema subtext without another selection from the one and only James Whale? This 1932 film was very underrated in its time and fairly lost until it was risen from the grave for a new appreciation by modern cinephiles and James Whale fandom. “THE OLD DARK HOUSE” seems to lampoon tropes as it appears to create them. Genuinely unsettling and strangely comical, this film features a group of strangers stranded in a storm that have to contend with the dangerous legacy of a mansion’s inhabitants. It stars Boris Karloff, Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton (gay) and Ernest Thesiger (very gay) and it’s all directed by the iconic pioneer in queer film history, James Whale (super queen supreme). Will these guests survive the turmoil of the Old Dark House? Perhaps they will come out of the closet? Not Horace. He’s never been anywhere near a closet. God bless him. God bless this family. Here’s the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnpbcUfmzkc
 
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The Watermelon Woman (1996)

We keep on trucking’ for this month’s theme of MOVIES ARE GAY and you can call this “LOW BUDGET WEEK”. We got one movie made on about 22 grand and this one was made from a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. That’s right. We paid for this one. So you’re welcome for the sex scene. It also happens to be the first film by a black lesbian. Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film “THE WATERMELON WOMAN” has a lot of issues stemming from low budget. You get what you get when you need some pals, who have no acting ability or experience, to help you hold down a few scenes. But the layered story of a woman seeking a long lost black lesbian thespian manages to push beyond its surface and show interesting personal relationships with a nice amount of black film history to boot. Did we mention the sex scene? It’s the best scene in the movie in terms of pure execution. This sex scene could win a contest. It could be it’s own short film. See for yourself. Minute 41: https://archive.org/details/the.watermelon.woman.1996.webdl.720p.h264.aac-deep
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The Living End (1992)

This month, MOVIES ARE GAY and we’re hitting up our second ever Gregg Araki movie with his groundbreaking 1992 film “THE LIVING END” starring Craig Gilmore and Mike Dytri. This low budget feature is considered ground floor for what was dubbed a “New Queer Cinema Movement” in which LGBTQ creators were looking to push boundaries within a world of social and political marginalization during a time in which the AIDS epidemic was thoroughly embedded into the queer culture scene. This new movement did not seek safety in the sentimental but presented queer characters struggling in a world they didn’t make. Luke, a nihilistic vagabond who has killed a few people, meets movie critic Jon. Jon has just been diagnosed with HIV. Luke already has it. In many ways they are different but their situation brings them closer together in backlash to a fatalistic world that wants nothing to do with them. They may not make it to the 21st century. A lot of low budget acting tropes get balanced out nicely here in a well executed ground floor film that shines in the context of its time. Last we checked, we found the film right here: https://archive.org/details/this-is-how-the-world-ends-gregg-araki-2000 and you should be able to find out more by looking up “Strand Releasing”. Fuck the world in the most gay 90s way possible.
 
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Strangers on a Train (1951)

It’s time for a bit more classic film gay subtext of a varying degree of obviousness. It’s one of our favorite things to see in this month’s theme we’re calling MOVIES ARE GAY and we say that because they are. We like Pro Wrestling too and that is also gay. So many gay things all around us. You step on a train full of strangers and surely one of them will be gay. Maybe they can tell that you’re at least kinda gay and they got some great ideas they want to share. Like killing your wife in exchange for you killing their homophobe dad. Are we speaking the same language? Hitchcock seems particularly sad of the classic closeted Hollywood. The repression maybe didn’t make him very nice to Tippi Hedren but the rumors still live on after pushing that “wife guy” image so hard. I’m sure Alma had a deep understanding. Maybe it was a Charles Laughton/Elsa Lancaster situation? We’re discussing Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 film “STRANGERS ON A TRAIN” and here we star Farley Granger (gay) as “Guy” who has a chance encounter and candid conversations on a train with “Bruno” as played by Robert Walker (mormon). Bruno leans in a little too much and kills Guy’s no good wife and insists that Guy kill his father. It’s all a big mess that leads to tons of that Hitchcock tension your grandma loved. Including a killer carousel at the end that has a fatal design flaw. Good thing pappy was there. Stay gay, true believers. Here’s the movie: https://archive.org/details/strangers-on-a-train-720p Excelsior!
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Cruising (1980)

We’re week one into MOVIES ARE GAY 2 and we’re still glad to no longer be in outer space. Queer film history has its controversies when it comes to representation and this notorious feature film feels like an outsider work by critically acclaimed director William Friedkin. One that feels observationally curious on the part of the director. We’re discussing his 1980 film “CRUISING” starring Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino & Richard Cox. It’s about an undercover cop who goes into the very specific world of gay leather/S&M clubs to find a killer who cruises for his victims. Activists at the time were critical of more depictions of the gay underbelly and the self loathing often at the center of such representation. On the other hand, the actual New York gay S&M scene at the time was very on hand for the project representing a sub-culture of a sexuality that would be drastically changed by the end of the 80s. Modern takes have seemed more objective and slightly less charged with “Cruising” finding its place in LGBTQ history for good or bad. It’s fairly open ended ending still raising conversations to this day. We just so happened to have found a link to the film right here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8dmb7g
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The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)

Let me tell you something about movies…MOVIES ARE GAY. They are definitely gay for this month’s theme and how can we do a month like this without some Rainer Werner Fassbinder? We’re discussing what some may consider his masterpiece in this romantic drama from 1972 about a sadist fashion designer and her relationships with the women in her lives. Lovers. Mothers. Daughters. Subs. Based on a play he wrote, Fassbinder’s “THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT” strikes a tone that few movies do and lingers in a way you wish more movies would. Starring Margit Carstensen, Irm Hermann, Katrin Schaake, Eva Mattes and the absolutely stunning Fassbinder muse Hanna Schygulla. Seriously, what a babe. She’s the old woman on the ship deck hanging out with Jerrod Carmichael in “Poor Things”. It’s still a “would” for any self respecting film nerd. Now go get me some goddamn tea.
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Bringing Up Baby (1938)

We’ve finally left a galaxy far far away for more domestic fare and it’s time for us to revisit one of our most eye opening annual themes. Its MOVIES ARE GAY 2 in which we discuss films made by, and adjacent to, LGBTQ culture. Classic subtext and modern gay classics all month long and we ease in to the month with a screwball classic that flopped in its time but became beloved as a standout amongst its long lost comedic genre. It also stars Carey Grant (gay) who becomes the first person in a feature film to use a common terminology in a very specific way. We’re talking about the wacky Howard Hawks rom-com “BRINGING UP BABY” from 1938 and starring Katherine Hepburn as a wise cracking heiress and Carey Grant as an archaeologist who just wants to get his bone. Also, there is a Leopard involved and it likes dogs. Whattayaknow you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE1O9SwwB1c  and there’s a cleaner version of it on Tubi as of this writing.
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