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Author: B.L. Panther

Reeling 2020: “Gracefully” finds queer pastoral bliss in Iran

Gracefully (Reeling 2020)
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Arash Es’haghi celebrates an unnamed farmer dancing his way to self-love in Iran.

B.L. Panther Posted on September 29, 2020September 28, 2020

Reeling 2020: “Pier Kids” puts a lens on queer homelessness

Pier Kids (Reeling 2020)
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Elegance Bratton’s documentary is a kaleidoscopic view of the unhoused queer youth of Chelsea Pier.

B.L. Panther Posted on September 28, 2020September 28, 2020

Reeling 2020: “The Whistle” sings loud about New Mexico’s queer culture

The Whistle (Reeling 2020)
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Stormmiguel Florez searches for queer folk in 1980s Albuquerque, and highlights the invisibility of queer Latinx culture.

B.L. Panther Posted on September 28, 2020September 28, 2020

Reeling 2020: “Give or Take” buries its gays under suffocating tidiness

Give or Take (Reeling 2020)
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This queer drama is rife with potential and strong performances, but squashes its promise with too-neat storytelling.

B.L. Panther Posted on September 27, 2020September 30, 2020

Reeling 2020: “Keyboard Fantasies” plays the song of a Black trans musician

Keyboard Fantasies (Reeling 2020)
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Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s life and music come to light in this illuminating doc about the cult avant-garde musician.

B.L. Panther Posted on September 27, 2020September 26, 2020

Reeling 2020: “These Thems” is an accessible Queer 101 comedy

These Thems (Reeling 2020)
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The queer-centered YouTube series gets compiled into a winsome feature that works best as a Queer Culture primer.

B.L. Panther Posted on September 25, 2020September 26, 2020

Reeling 2020: “Breaking Fast” delivers the Muslim queer stories we’ve been starving for

Breaking Fast (Reeling 2020)
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Mike Mossalam’s debut feature is a vibrant mosaic of Queer Arab Muslim-American life.

B.L. Panther Posted on September 24, 2020September 24, 2020

“I Am Woman” is a paper-thin biopic that can’t find its roar

I Am Woman
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The story behind one of the most powerful feminist anthems of the ’70s gets a glossy treatment that ignores its grittier reality.

B.L. Panther Posted on September 10, 2020September 10, 2020

20 years on, “Bring It On” scores high on spirit and voice

Bring It On
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Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union’s cheerful high-school comedy finds ways to pepper charming rivalry with digs at cultural theft.

B.L. Panther Posted on August 25, 2020August 24, 2020

Park Chan-wook gets silly but sweet with “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK”

I'm a Cyborg But That's OK
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Park chan-wook breaks up his tales of blood and vengeance with a bittersweet tale of the thin, romantic line between compassion and delusion.

B.L. Panther Posted on August 20, 2020August 20, 2020

“The Secret Garden” is just lively enough

The Secret Garden
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Marc Munden’s adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel is too myopic to fully bloom, but it has just enough flourishes to work.

B.L. Panther Posted on August 5, 2020August 4, 2020

“Olympia” pulls back the curtain on screen legend Olympia Dukakis

Olympia
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Olympia Dukakis is given a warts-and-all portrait that highlights her tremendous power and the foibles of “no bullshit” Method acting.

B.L. Panther Posted on July 31, 2020July 28, 2020

“The Number 23” is a summation of Joel Schumacher’s filmography

The Number 23
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With loss of control dressed up in nutty numerology, Joel Schumacher’s 2007 thriller is a flawed thematic tie-in to his other work.

B.L. Panther Posted on July 23, 2020July 22, 2020

No way, Nimue: “Cursed” only sword-of revitalizes the King Arthur legends

cursed
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Frank Miller’s adaptation of Arthurian legend is filled with sumptuous fantasy visuals, but there are gaps in the girl-power twist on the myth.

B.L. Panther Posted on July 17, 2020July 17, 2020

“Brave New World” offers plenty of new, but not enough brave

Brave New World
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Peacock’s loose adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s classic looks nice, but is empty under the surface.

B.L. Panther Posted on July 14, 2020July 14, 2020

TV spinoff “Love, Victor” complicates its squeaky-clean queerness

Love, Victor
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Hulu’s spinoff of Love, Simon has a shaky start, but ultimately offers value to queer youth searching for guidance.

B.L. Panther Posted on June 19, 2020June 19, 2020

Reclaiming the queerness of “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
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Gus Van Sant’s queer Western was received with scorn by critics when it first came out, but its celebration of the abject deserves reconsideration.

B.L. Panther Posted on June 12, 2020June 18, 2020

Stop by “The Dinner Party”, but don’t stay for dessert

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Miles Dolec’s low-budget thriller offers a horrifying dish to pass, but the ingredients are richer than the result.

B.L. Panther Posted on June 6, 2020June 5, 2020

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