film & television reviews from Philip Bahr focusing on a gay male gaze | gay film | gay movies | gay television | LGBTQ perspective | classics | indie | television reviews
The sophisticated French film, Lie With Me (Arrête avec tes mensonges) from filmmaker Oliver Peyon and based on the novel by Philippe Besson finally lands in the U.S. Novelist Stéphane Belcourt beautifully played by actor Guillaume de Tonquédec returns to his hometown for the first time in 35 years to celebrate the town’s export, Cognac. Stéphane meets Lucas played by Victor Belmondo. Lucas turns out to be the son of Stéphane’s first love, Thomas Andrieu. Intelligent story telling as the French are known for, Lie With Me once again drives home the damage and destruction the closet can have not only on a person’s life, but of the lives of those around him. Slowly throughout the quiet film, we discover Thomas and Stéphane’s young love affair and the effect it had on Lucas and Stéphane’s life. What a huge surprise Lie With Me turned out to be. A perfect kind of gentle, wise, nostalgic film. 5 out of 5.
Lie With Me currently streams for free on various platforms with commercials including Tubi, Sling TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and PLEX. Find it on disk at your local public library.
Spoiler alert: Andrew Haigh’s (Weekend, Looking) exquisite British indie film, All of Us Strangers finally landed on streaming this weekend in the U.S. Adapted from the book, Strangers by Taichi Yamada, I knew a bit about the film going in, that on some level it’s a ghost story. It’s nothing you won’t figure out in the first 10 minutes of the film. Andrew Scott gives a stunning performance as Adam, a screenwriter living alone in a London high rise building. Andrew brings Adam’s every emotion to the surface with a quiet intensity, at times it took my breath away. He meets a neighbor, Harry played dreamily by Paul Mescal as Adam begins researching a story about his parents who died 30 years ago when he was 12 years old. Adam and Harry tentatively begin a relationship, at the same time Adam begins visiting his childhood home and spends time with his parents played by Jamie Bell and Clare Foy. Are they ghosts? Are they figments of Adam’s imagination as he writes his next screenplay? Haigh’s been continually raising the bar of what it means to create a gay film. This original work comes packed with sophistication including conversations I have thought about for years but have never seen mirrored in a work of fiction. Adam and Harry discuss the generational differences between the identifiers queer vs. gay. Harry talks to Adam about feeling on the edge of his biological family, and how discovering his queerness allowed him to put a name to that feeling. Adam tells his mother he’s not lonely because he’s gay, there are other reasons in his life for why he feels lonely. Or is it all mixed up? Haigh’s brave, fearless script never shies away from asking these important questions as the plot reveals the complexity of death and grief and how that loss colors our perception as human beings. Andrew and Paul’s languid, floaty falling in love, and the way they touch each other created an intimacy and connectedness within the film. The choice of music – all from the mid to late 80’s features Alison Moyet, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Pet Shop Boys, and even Erasure’s Circus album cover. Standout crew kudos to:
Casting by Kahleen Crawford – a quartet of perfect acting
Cinematography by Jamie Ramsay
Editing by Jonathan Alberts
Production Design by Sarah Finlay
Art Direction by Bill Brown and Luke Deering
Set Decoration by Lauren Doss and Marian Murray
Costume Design by Sarah Blenkinsop
There’s an intimacy to All of Us Strangers which invites you in, making room for you to sit amongst the flow of Adam’s life as he attempts closure with his parents death three decades in and makes room for love in his life. Thank you Andrew Haigh. The film never felt predictable including the ending which surprised and blew me away. Exquisite, brave, sophisticated. I’ve used these words already. It’s what I am left with – my memories of this gorgeous film. 5 out of 5.
Finding and watching: I’ve been chomping at the bit to see this film. It only came to one Connecticut theater for one week, an hour’s drive away. It also had a one-time screening at the Thursday evening year-round LGBTQ film festival in Hartford, CT, an hour and 20 minutes away. I jumped for joy when it showed up streaming two days ago. All of Us Strangers streams on Hulu. Be warned, using their “with commercials” tier – they are no longer showing commercials only before the movie starts. You get them throughout the movie. We were so horrified, we turned the movie off. The following day, I purchased the film from Prime. If you’ve got Hulu without commercials, you’re good to go. Obviously the film is available to digitally purchase from Prime.
Listen to Alison Moyet’s Is This Love? from her debut solo album, Raindancing (1986) Moyet’s song plays a pivotal role in the film:
Spoiler Alerts: Back to Skeldale for another feel-good season of All Creatures Great and Small. World War II is underway. Tristan’s off to war and missing for the entire season, replaced by the nerdy and nervous Richard Carmody. Helen’s pregnant and James is off to train to be a fighter pilot, one of the most dangerous jobs (46% death rate) in the military. The seven episode season sees Mrs. Hall making plans with Gerald, Mrs. Pumphrey taking in another dog for the war effort, a new bookkeeper, and several stubborn farmers getting the help they need to assist in feeding the nation, or at least the county. Never anything earth-shattering, the series vacillates between being slightly boring and sincerely charming. Isn’t that the way it is with regular life? When all else fails, there’s always Tricki Woo. Oh wait, he’s as sedate as a, well he’s not a particularly vivacious creature, but Mrs. P sure does love him. The home dogs sharing a bed together are wonderful. By the final Christmas episode, there’s a new addition to the Veterinary practice. And a lot of possibilities for the next season. No clear indication if the series has been picked up yet. If they do, I hope they do a time jump to get James and Tristan back home. 3.5 out of 5.
Welcome. You’re listening to Reel Charlie Speaks, an LGBTQ podcast spin-off of the film and television review blog, Reel Charlie looking at movies and TV from a gay male perspective since 2009.
I’m your host, Philip Bahr. Each month I select a classic queer film, television series, or creator. I talk about how the subject spoke to me when I first discovered it years ago, and how its stood the test of time. Spoilers ahead.
In episode 21 I explore Beautiful Thing (1996). I didn’t plan this, but both January and February 2024 are 1996 films.
Listen to the podcast at Spotify for Podcasters
or find it on your favorite podcast platform.
Read Beautiful Thing review on Reel Charlie. Beautiful Thing (1996) currently streams on various platforms for a rental fee (Amazon’s got it for less than a dollar) and is available on disk from your public library.
Husbands, wives, partners, lovers, soulmates, best friends, copains, companions, comrades, amis, dates, valentines, live-ins, the greatest loves of all. There are so many words to define a relationship between two humans. The previous sentence merely scratches at the surface.
Here are Reel Charlie’s 2024 favorite LGBTQ+ love stories in film:
And if you want a lot of pain and heartache in your long-term relationship, along with understanding how destructive homophobia and the closet are to humans, check out the incredibly brilliant, must-see limited series, and yes there is a mountain of love between these two men: Fellow Travelers
I am so glad I decided to see American Fiction in the theater. Not sure if I would have made the trek, but my dear friend Barbara rated it her favorite film of the year, so off my partner Dennis and I went. Truth be told, it’s only the second time I’ve been to a theater since COVID. We went to see Downton Abbey: A New Era, and now American Fiction – in the same theater, an indie theater about 30 minutes from home. So worth the drive. Directed by Cord Jefferson and based on the novel, Erasure by Percival Everett, American Fiction stars Jeffrey Wright as lead Thelonius “Monk” Ellison, an academic and fiction writer whose novels have not garnered the mass appeal other less talented writers embrace. Joining Wright are Erika Alexander as love-interest Coraline, Sterling K. Brown as recently out brother Clifford, Leslie Uggams as Mom Agnes, Issa Rae as uber-successful novelist Sintara, Myra Lucretia Taylor as housekeeper Lorraine, Raymond Anthony Thomas as Lorraine’s love interest Maynard, everyone’s favorite character actor, Michael Cyril Creighton as a marketing rep, and Tracee Ellis Ross as sister Lisa. I went into the film thinking it was going to be about the fucked up world of publishing and in particular publishing black authors. It is certainly about that. But along the way I kept getting surprised by the depth and expansiveness of American Fiction‘s stories including family secrets, elder parents, grief, new lives, new loves, and a whole lot of trying to find meaning within our lives from Wright’s main character Monk. It’s funny, it’s tragic, it’s warm and cozy, it’s gut wrenchingly honest, it’s messy real life. And just when you think you’ve figured it out, the film continues to surprise you up to the very end. Bravo to director Cord Jefferson (from my friend Barbara: director Cord Jefferson has an impressive career. Master of None, The Good Place, Watchmen in his recent past), the cast and crew, and congrats on the 5 Oscar noms. Yes I think Wright deserves major accolades, but I have to admit this year I’m rooting for Colman Domingo in Rustin. That said, Sterling K. Brown should walk away with Best Supporting Actor. His role was smooth perfection, and finally a movie where no one judges acting out behavior. Love it when a film gives more than you ever expected. 5 out of 5 for the incredible American Fiction.
American Fiction currently plays only in theaters. It’s produced by Amazon, so eventually it will make its way streaming on Prime. It’s so worth a visit to a quiet, respectful theater.
Part of NYC Quad Cinema’s retrospective of Christian Carion’s canon, both the writer/director and star Diane Krüger appear in-person on Wednesday, January 10 for the screening of Joyeux Noël. I should be going in for this, but I have a crazy day scheduled on Thursday and so I have to blog about it instead. If you are in the metro area and have time Wednesday evening, you are in for a rare treat. Joyeux Noel entered my flock of perfect films years ago. From Quad Cinema,
Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominee for Best Foreign Film, Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas) tells the true-life story of the spontaneous Christmas Eve truce declared by Scottish, French, and German troops in the trenches of World War I. Enemies leave their weapons behind for one night as they band together in brotherhood and forget about the brutalities of war. Diane Krger, Daniel Brühl, and Benno Fürmann head a first-rate international cast in a truly powerful, must-see film.
The promising and ultimately uneven rom-com accidental murder mash-up, Down Low starts out like a delightful gay grandchild of John Waters, then goes a little dull, then comes back, and finally gets too gross and violent for my taste. Leads Zachary Quinto and Lukas Gage (White LotusS1) do a stellar job. Gage in particular keeps the pitch fevered channeling a queer potty-mouthed version of a Gilmore Girl, while Quinto plays the straight man – pun definitely intended since his character’s having gay male sex for the first time since divorcing his wife. Judith Light and Simon Rex also show up. Down Low was packed with promise and maybe you can breeze through the second murder better than I could. Truth be told, sometimes I am ok, and sometimes I am delicate, sensitive, queasy. Just couldn’t get past it. 2.5 out of 5. Next.
Down Low is currently available for rent on various streaming platforms, or free on disc from your local public library.
White Christmas take 9 for Reel Charlie. I can’t even imagine how often I’ve seen this glorious film from birth to now. 30? 40? 50? So amazing. Even better on Blu-ray. This year I did a comparison to streaming. No contest. Blu-ray is crisper, brighter, clearer. It makes the film sing. Cried a lot more this year. Love, love, love this classic film. My favorite holiday film of all-time. Click here or on the images of Rosemary Clooney to read all 9 of my reviews since beginning this blog.
White Christmas currently streams on Philo, Netflix, and Sling TV.
The sophisticated French film, Lie With Me (Arrête avec tes mensonges) from filmmaker Oliver Peyon and based on the novel by Philippe Besson finally lands in the U.S. Novelist Stéphane Belcourt beautifully played by actor Guillaume de Tonquédec returns to his hometown for the first time in 35 years to celebrate the town’s export, Cognac. Stéphane meets Lucas played by Victor Belmondo. Lucas turns out to be the son of Stéphane’s first love, Thomas Andrieu. Intelligent story telling as the French are known for, Lie With Me once again drives home the damage and destruction the closet can have not only on a person’s life, but of the lives of those around him. Slowly throughout the quiet film, we discover Thomas and Stéphane’s young love affair and the effect it had on Lucas and Stéphane’s life. What a huge surprise Lie With Me turned out to be. A perfect kind of gentle, wise, nostalgic film. 5 out of 5.
Spoiler Alerts: Back to Skeldale for another feel-good season of All Creatures Great and Small. World War II is underway. Tristan’s off to war and missing for the entire season, replaced by the nerdy and nervous Richard Carmody. Helen’s pregnant and James is off to train to be a fighter pilot, one of the most dangerous jobs (46% death rate) in the military. The seven episode season sees Mrs. Hall making plans with Gerald, Mrs. Pumphrey taking in another dog for the war effort, a new bookkeeper, and several stubborn farmers getting the help they need to assist in feeding the nation, or at least the county. Never anything earth-shattering, the series vacillates between being slightly boring and sincerely charming. Isn’t that the way it is with regular life? When all else fails, there’s always Tricki Woo. Oh wait, he’s as sedate as a, well he’s not a particularly vivacious creature, but Mrs. P sure does love him. The home dogs sharing a bed together are wonderful. By the final Christmas episode, there’s a new addition to the Veterinary practice. And a lot of possibilities for the next season. No clear indication if the series has been picked up yet. If they do, I hope they do a time jump to get James and Tristan back home. 3.5 out of 5.
Husbands, wives, partners, lovers, soulmates, best friends, copains, companions, comrades, amis, dates, valentines, live-ins, the greatest loves of all. There are so many words to define a relationship between two humans. The previous sentence merely scratches at the surface.
I am so glad I decided to see American Fiction in the theater. Not sure if I would have made the trek, but my dear friend Barbara rated it her favorite film of the year, so off my partner Dennis and I went. Truth be told, it’s only the second time I’ve been to a theater since COVID. We went to see 
The promising and ultimately uneven rom-com accidental murder mash-up, Down Low starts out like a delightful gay grandchild of John Waters, then goes a little dull, then comes back, and finally gets too gross and violent for my taste. Leads Zachary Quinto and Lukas Gage (
Reel Charlie 