• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • New Yorkers gather to watch ‘Manhattanhenge’
  • Covid lockdowns fogged our memories of big events, study shows
  • ‘This is Disgusting and Wrong’: Disney Blasted by Conservative Critics After Male Disneyland Employee Dons Dress and Makeup

LGBT Movies Galore: Moonlight, The Handmaiden, and NewFest

Nathaniel Rogers October 20, 2016 Leave a Comment

gayoct202016
Don’t call me son, the pass, the handmaiden, and moonlight. So many lgbt films this week!

Sing the following to the tune of Kylie Minogue’s “Your Disco Needs You”:

♫ Queer movies, Queer movies, Queer movies need you!
Queer movies, Queer movies, Queer movies need you!♫

If there was ever a weekend to get your gay ass to the movie theaters it’s this one. The choices are suddenly abundant and very pleasurable… at least on the coasts (consider this a November preview if you’re further inland).

This is a crucial moment because we get not one but two new must-see art films, Moonlight and The Handmaiden, which couldn’t be more different but for their immense quality. Together they remind us of the range and diversity and aesthetic power that queer cinema is capable of. They’re also both platform releases and how well such releases do and how many cities they expand to always comes down to us; if we don’t support LGBT cinema we eventually get much less of it.

On top of these two arguably masterworks, those near New York City have even more options because NewFest opens today and runs through the 25th.

moonlight-beforekiss
Chiron’s first gay experience in “moonlight”

Must See #1 Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight
We’ve already warned you that Moonlight is an Oscar contender (see our Best Picture preview) but the excitement is growing as more people get a chance to see this remarkable picture. Even the queen herself, Madonna, was just raving about it on Instagram! Critics are saying it’s a rich original film about growing up gay and black. That’s true. The film will provoke many identity politics discussions, but it’s so much more than that. The director Barry Jenkins’ artistry is so strong that the film is universally relatable to the gay experience.

moonlight-hallwaymonster
Expect an oscar nomination for naomie harris

Moonlight, which is told in three acts, has a stunning bruised beauty throughout. We watch, aching, as “Chiron,” a black boy with a homophobic addict mother (Naomie Harris, ferocious and revelatory) struggles to grow up and come to grips with his sexuality at different stages in his life. It’s one of the first “coming of age” films to understand that coming of age isn’t as automatic as the term applies. You don’t just arrive there through the passage of time, you actually have to decide who you are.

web_654773827_8ee81430_thehandmaiden-23233-original-000_zpsihriqpjf
The incredibly twisty tale of two girls in love (and lust) in the handmaiden

Must See #2  Park Chan Wook’s The Handmaiden
Park Chan Wook is best known in the States for the ultra violent cult hit Old Boy. The one thing that unites all of his outre films, though, is that they’re ravishingly sensual experiences. You can practically taste, smell, and hear every last inch of them.

thehandmaiden-posterThe director has really outdone himself with The Handmaiden, a superb, funny, and strange adaptation of the Victorian lesbian novel “Fingersmith.” He reworks the story into a crazily erotic stylized costume drama set in 1930s Korea in which a thief masquerading as a ladies maid falls in love with her mark, the fragile wealthy Lady Hideko. Lady Hideko can drive men wild merely by reading to them (the reading sequences in something like a library/dungeon are out of this world amazing).

I don’t want to spoil a single wonderfully odd moment but you may never hear bells, see octopuses, or think of personal libraries in quite the same way again after this unforgettable movie.

screen-shot-2016-10-20-at-6-51-57-pm
A still from the film “retake”, one of dozens of new gay features playing at newfest

Must See #3 NEW FEST
New York City’s LGBT film festival NewFest just opened with a Voice & Visibility Award for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burgess and the Opening Night Film The Pass starring out hunk Russell Tovey. Also among this year’s entrants is the film Retake, produced by Towleroad’s own Sean Mandell. The festival runs through October 25th – you can see the full lineup here. A wide variety of wonderful LGBT films awaits you!

Topics: Politics, Theater More Posts About: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight, movies, New York, NewFest, Retake, The Handmaiden

Related Posts
  • HRC Fires President Alphonso David Over Alleged Connections to Cuomo Sexual Harassment Scandal; David Promises Legal Action
  • The “Inner Circle” That Kept Andrew Cuomo Governor Faces Scrutiny: HRC Investigates Leader’s Involvement; Roberta Kaplan Resigns From ‘Time’s Up’
  • NY AG Details HRC Leader Alphonso David’s Roles in Cuomo Scandal; Sparks Scrutiny By Staff, Partners, Press And Calls To Resign
  • Covid lockdowns fogged our memories of big events, study shows

    Covid lockdowns fogged our memories of big events, study shows

    Published by DPA Our memory of events during lockdown is on a similar level to prison inmates, according to new reseach showing that many who stayed at home during the pandemic struggle to recall the timing …Read More »
  • ‘This is Disgusting and Wrong’: Disney Blasted by Conservative Critics After Male Disneyland Employee Dons Dress and Makeup

    ‘This is Disgusting and Wrong’: Disney Blasted by Conservative Critics After Male Disneyland Employee Dons Dress and Makeup

    Published by Radar Online @KourtniFaber/TikTok; Mega Disney came under fire this week from conservative critics after a male employee donned a dress and makeup, RadarOnline.com has learned. The uproar first started when a Disneyland employee, identified …Read More »
  • Trump captured on tape acknowledging he kept a classified document on Iran -CNN

    Trump captured on tape acknowledging he kept a classified document on Iran -CNN

    Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal prosecutors have a 2021 audio recording of former President Donald Trump acknowledging he kept a classified Pentagon document about a possible attack on Iran after leaving the White House, …Read More »
  • Amazon’s Ring used to spy on customers, FTC says in privacy settlement

    Amazon’s Ring used to spy on customers, FTC says in privacy settlement

    Published by Reuters By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A former employee of Amazon.com’s Ring doorbell camera unit spied for months on female customers in 2017 with cameras placed in bedrooms and bathrooms, the Federal Trade Commission …Read More »
Previous Post: « Jake Dalton, Jeff Flake, Gloria Allred, Iraq, Hugh Jackman, Tom Daley: HOT LINKS
Next Post: Donald Trump Booed for Caustic ‘Jokes’ about Hillary Clinton at Al Smith Dinner: WATCH »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • onePULSE Foundation says it’s time to shrink down plans for Pulse museum and memorial

    onePULSE Foundation says it’s time to shrink down plans for Pulse museum and memorial

  • Raven-Symoné Admits She Makes All Her Dates Sign NDAs ‘Before the Naughty Time Comes’

    Raven-Symoné Admits She Makes All Her Dates Sign NDAs ‘Before the Naughty Time Comes’

  • Gun-worshiping pastor starts releasing MAGA rap videos under name ‘King Bullethead’

    Gun-worshiping pastor starts releasing MAGA rap videos under name ‘King Bullethead’

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Neil Patrick Harris feels excited to turn 50

    Neil Patrick Harris feels excited to turn 50

  • Ben Platt engaged to fiancé Noah Galvin – again!

    Ben Platt engaged to fiancé Noah Galvin – again!

  • Chick-fil-A on the Chopping Block: Conservatives Call for Boycott Over Fast Food Restaurant’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy

    Chick-fil-A on the Chopping Block: Conservatives Call for Boycott Over Fast Food Restaurant’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Partner Links

  • Kroy Biermann Allegedly Locked Kim Zolciak Out Of Her Online Business, And The Police Were Called To Their Home Twice Last Month
  • Is There a 'Spider-Man 2: Across the Spider-Verse' End Credits Scene? Details Revealed
  • Jenna Ortega’s Mom Posted About The Dangers Of Smoking After Pictures Of Jenna Puffing On A Cigarette Went Viral
  • Wanda Sykes has LGBTQ+ Pride kickoff message: “The best thing you can do today is get educated”
  • Meme Spirited

Most Recent

  • New Yorkers gather to watch ‘Manhattanhenge’

    New Yorkers gather to watch ‘Manhattanhenge’

  • Covid lockdowns fogged our memories of big events, study shows

    Covid lockdowns fogged our memories of big events, study shows

  • ‘This is Disgusting and Wrong’: Disney Blasted by Conservative Critics After Male Disneyland Employee Dons Dress and Makeup

    ‘This is Disgusting and Wrong’: Disney Blasted by Conservative Critics After Male Disneyland Employee Dons Dress and Makeup

  • Trump captured on tape acknowledging he kept a classified document on Iran -CNN

    Trump captured on tape acknowledging he kept a classified document on Iran -CNN

  • Amazon’s Ring used to spy on customers, FTC says in privacy settlement

    Amazon’s Ring used to spy on customers, FTC says in privacy settlement

  • Queer Eye Star Tan France Welcomes Second Child with Husband Rob France

    Queer Eye Star Tan France Welcomes Second Child with Husband Rob France

  • Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Leon starts her day with spliff and cup of tea

    Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Leon starts her day with spliff and cup of tea

  • How Margaret Cho walks the line between comedy and outrage

    How Margaret Cho walks the line between comedy and outrage

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×