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For years now, television has been somewhat of a safe haven for gay actors and characters. From Ellen Degeneres in The Ellen Show and Sean Hayes in Will & Grace, Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Modern Family to Chris Colfer in Glee, gay actors have represented gay characters with depth and honesty. There have also been a number of gay actors playing straight characters without anyone batting an eyelash, like Neil Patrick Harris in How I Met Your Mother, Jim Parsons in The Big Bang Theory, and Zachary Quinto in American Horror Story. So, what about the movies? I’m afraid things aren’t so easy in Hollywood. Think about it. How many out...
“In classical narrative cinema, to see is to desire.” Linda Williams Back in the 1930s, the Hollywood studio system standardized the way movies were produced. Film workers, including actors and directors, were all employees of a particular film studio. The nation’s religious leaders began forming local censorship boards and chopping up movies every which way to suit the standards of their communities. The studios responded with the Hays Production Code in 1934. Its goal was to put a lid on immoral imagery and maintain control over censorship of their films. Mocking religion and the depiction of illegal drug use were prohibited, as was interracial romance, ...
The romantic comedy has been dead for a long time. Numerous autopsies – most recently, Christopher Orr’s much discussed piece in The Atlantic – have provided a range of theories speculating the cause of the rom-com’s creative rigor mortis. Blame is assigned to a lack of willing (or good) stars, the decline of the genre’s box-office potential, problematic representations of women, or screenwriters’ increasingly inane plot conceits. Those factors do bear responsibility, but I’ve always felt the malignancy is something far more fundamental: romantic comedies have inexplicably forgotten about the romance. Filmmakers no longer bother to invest any time in...
Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal. And spring in Toronto, as it turns out, is also the time for film festivals. Commonly referred to as Inside Out, it is also known as the Toronto LGBT Film Festival. The festival runs from Thursday, May 23 to Sunday, June 2, 2013 and this year marks their 23rd installment. To learn more about the festival, I spoke with Executive Director, Scott Ferguson, about all things Inside Out. The Inside Out Festival began in 1991, as a community festival. It was started by artists and activists. In the 22 years since, the...
Trying to come up with a list of LGBT characters who aren’t solely defined by being the “catty, gay best friend” (think My Best Friend’s Wedding)–or whatever other stereotype a screenwriter can dredge up–is not the easiest thing in the world. Sadly, there aren’t all that many to choose from and even films that do feature LGBT characters as leads don’t always portray them as much more than a label. However, I’ve spun the invisible spinning wheel in my mind all day to try and create a list of some of the more well-rounded LGBT characters in film or, characters...
What’s acquisitions you ask? Well, it’s a very important part of what makes it possible for you to sit down in a theatre and watch what may very well be your new favourite movie. In fact, it sort of sounds like a dream job for a film geek since acquisitions involves scouring the globe (from film festivals to book stores to anywhere someone with a great undeveloped screenplay might be hiding) to find projects to distribute to the movie ticket-buying public. Caroline Habib has been with Mongrel Media–one of Canada’s leading film distribution companies specializing in art house, foreign and...
Since it’s documentary month here at TFS, we thought we’d look at A Married Couple, the classic Canadian doc by Allan King. Is it indeed a “classic” worth putting on our essential viewing list? Liam Volke and Harry Cepka discuss. Liam: A Married Couple is an “actuality drama” directed by Allan King about a young married couple living their day to day lives while raising their 3-year old son and trying to keep their marriage from falling apart, and the simple idea of filming their lives seems strangely familiar in our reality-TV culture. The irony is how this 44-year-old documentary...
Oh Ken Burns, how I loathe, ye. For over 30 years, you’ve been painting American history with a saccharine brush and I’m beginning to wonder when our collective teeth are finally going to rot and fall out from the over-consumption of your sugar. You, sir, are just as toxic as high-fructose corn syrup and making our brains as obese as our bodies. If you, Canadian reader, think that seems a little harsh, I urge you to stop and think about it for a moment. Did you see The Civil War? I did. As an adolescent in the American South at...
With Hot Docs quickly approaching, the TFS List is taking a look at the history of documentary filmmaking in this country, and a look at the NFB. As Canadians, we love our documentaries. As early back as 1922′s Nanook From of North, filmed in Northern Quebec, we have always supported this type of filmmaking. Despite being an American production, this early doc showed the world that our Home Land is the perfect place to showcase. Even though many of these scenes in Robert J. Flaherty’s film are now known to be staged, that particular form of filmmaking seemed to have...
Since the 1930s, classical Hollywood cinema had been highly censored, and predominantly escapist. The 1960s were about to change all of that, at least as far as documentaries were concerned. Enter Robert Drew, a Life magazine photojournalist, whose goal was to adapt methods of photojournalism to filmmaking. With technological advancements allowing for lighter sound and camera equipment, filmmakers were now able to get up close and personal with their subjects like never before. In his quest to “capture real life without intruding,” Drew founded Drew Associates, a group of filmmakers meant to pursue this quest for truth, which included Richard...
It’s April, and before you know it The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival will soon be upon us again! So to make sure we’re ready for it when it comes, let’s take a look at one of Hot Docs’ awesome online services: Doc Ignite. Ever thought about producing a documentary, but didn’t know where to start? Or perhaps you are a documentary filmmaker looking to give your project an extra boost in funding? Thanks to Hot Docs, and the mysterious powers of the internet, getting involved (or getting that boost) has never been easier. One of the most exciting...
Getting a visit from Aunt Flo, that time of the month, riding the crimson wave: you’d think that something experienced monthly by 53% of the world population would be something that’s more openly talked about. Unfortunately, menstruation–the experience of it, the tools related to it and stories that happen as a result of it–continue to be a bit of a taboo subject in the mainstream media. Hell, there may actually be a whole segment of the population who believe women excrete blue liquid each month thanks to the way maxi pad commercials depict it. Luckily for ladies everywhere, three Canadian...
