In 2023, Alexander Payne redefined and reinvigorated the modern Christmas movie by taking us back to the 1970s with his Oscar-winning dramedy “The Holdovers.” With the humorous and poignant “The Baltimorons” (IFC), director and co-writer Jay Duplass (Josh from “Transparent”) does something very similar.
Just a few years after Austin Butler became a household name in Baz Luhrmann’s meh “Elvis,” he’s finally been given a lead role in a movie worthy of his gifts. Darren Aronofsky’s “Caught Stealing” (Sony/Columbia), with its double-meaning title (baseball and theft), flashbacks, ultra-violence, and tangled twists, appears to be the one.
As late-summer thriller “Relay” (Bleecker Street) opens, whistle-blower Hoffman (Matthew Maher) is meeting in an NYC diner with pharma bigwig McVie (out actor Victor Garber) for a transaction arranged by fixer Ash (Riz Ahmed).
While it wouldn’t be unreasonable to dismiss gay filmmaker and co-writer Samuel Van Grinsven’s “Went Up the Hill” (Greenwich Entertainment) as style over substance, there are still enough elements, including the performance of Dacre Montgomery (of “Stranger Things” fame), to make it worth watching.
Earlier in 2025, moviegoers were treated to the wonderful gay Indian feature “A Nice Indian Boy,” directed by queer filmmaker Roshan Sethi, and starring out actors Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff. Now, neighboring Pakistan is represented in lesbian writer/director Fawzia Mirza’s nearly equally good “The Queen of My Dreams” (WILLA/Cineplex).
For countless movie fans, Marlee Matlin’s name will always be synonymous with her Oscar-winning portrayal of Sarah, a young, deaf woman, in Randa Haines’ acclaimed film adaptation of Mark Medoff’s Tony Award-winning play “Children of A Lesser God.”
Expectations were low for the fourth attempt at bringing Marvel’s Fantastic Four to the big screen, but somehow director Matt Shakman, who is mostly known for his TV series work, makes us forget about the abysmal 2015, 2007, and 1994 renditions. His “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (Marvel Studios), in IMAX, benefits from the combination of heroics, humanity, and humor.
When I tell you that Krypto, the CGI version of dog-actor Jolene, the foster-dog of Superman (breathtakingly handsome David Corenswet), is the best part of James Gunn’s insanely OTT reboot of “Superman” (DC Studios), in IMAX no less, I’m not just throwing you a bone.
Calling “Jurassic World Rebirth” (Universal) an unnecessary installment in a franchise that should, pardon the expression, go the way of the dinosaurs, might be a bit extreme.
As you can tell from the title, “Big Easy Queens” (Advocate Originals), now streaming on Hulu, is set in New Orleans, specifically in the French Quarter, known to be an exciting, but dangerous, place. “Big Easy Queens” drives home the point by opening with the murders of a trio of men.
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