Queer Cinema – February 2017

VIVA

Set in Havana Cuba the captivating new film VIVA tells the coming of age story of a young hairdresser who wishes to dress as woman to become a man. Jesus, played with an understated grace by Héctor Medina, is working as a hairdresser in drag nightclub and struggling to barely get by.  When the club finds itself in need of a new performer Jesus quietly tells the head queen Mama (Luis Alberto García) he wants to try out. Jesus is definitely not a natural drag queen even though he feels it in his heart. He continues to improve when his estranged homophobic father returns into his life forcing Jesus to give up working at the club. When his father’s falls horribly ill Jesus must choose to care for the man he barely knows or return to his old way of life. VIVA is story of family, acceptance, and digging deep inside oneself to find what really drives you.

Available on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes.

GLORY DAZE: THE LIFE AND TIMES MICHAEL ALIG

In 2003 a little film called Party Monster, starring Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green, burst on to the scene and became an instant queer film classic. This was the fictionalized story of Michael Alig—the infamous New York club kid who killed his drug dealer Angel Melendez. In the years that followed club kids have mostly faded away, the real Michael Alig has been in prison, and his friend James St. James (played by Seth Green in Party Monster) has gone on to become a World of Wonder YouTube star for his make-up web-series Transformations. The new documentary GLORY DAZE: THE LIFE AND TIMES MICHAEL ALIG is the most in-depth detailed account of Alig’s rise and fall to date. This film not only goes behind the Party Monster version to the real facts, but also brings you along first hand to Alig’s release from prison. Director Ramon Fernandez gathers interviews from not only Alig himself, but many of his friends, club promoters, police offers, attorneys, and more to paint a powerfully rounded story of how a lonely kid new to the city slapped on wild Club Kid make up and became the hottest club promoter in NYC. We then see how he became lost in a world of debauchery and drugs leading eventually to murder. GLORZY DAZE is a fast moving and engaging documentary about a subject and person many of us only think we already know.

Available on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes.

HURRICANE BIANCA

“Not today, Satan!” If you’ve watched RuPaul’s Drag Race—who are we kidding, we know you have—you know the season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio. Bianca (aka Roy Haylock) became famous for not just over-the-top drag, but also for a wicked comedic tongue skilled in the dark arts of insult comedy.  Now Haylock has taken his alter ego to the big screen in the new comedy HURRICANE BIANCA. Existing somewhere between Tootsie, Harper Valley P.T.A., and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Dangerous Minds, HURRICANE BIANCA is a wacky story of high school teacher Richard Martinez. After being transferred to a conservative small town in Texas, he is not only berated by his students but is also quickly fired when the administration discovers he’s gay. Determined not to give up with out a fight, Martinez transforms into Bianca Del Rio, the newest faculty member at Milford High. Del Rio’s sharp wit and blunt insults take the school by storm not only getting revenge but actually getting the students to learn—of course there is a sappy moral to the story. Standout performances are also given by SNL alum Rachel Dratch as the evil vice principal, and Alan Cumming as the president of the Teaching Ambassador program. HURRICANE BIANCA is lighthearted fun and must for any Drag Race fan. Watch for former Drag Racers Shangela, Willam, Alyssa Edwards, Joslyn Fox, and even Ru himself.

Available on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes.