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MOVIES Siskel films include 'The Power of the Dog,' 'Flee'
The Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., has current and upcoming movie slates that include everything from older classics to current award-festival favorites. On the more contemporary side, the Jane Campion film The Power ...
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Revry's Black History Month of LGBTQ-First Films and Series celebrates Black stories
-- From a press release
Los Angeles - This Black History Month, Revry is programming LGBTQ-first Black stories with themes from the differently-abled, LGBTQ athletes, activists and the lesbian, trans and the cis-gender lesbian community. Over 35% of Revry's audience is ...
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Billy Masters: Colton Underwood, Golden Globes and more
"I was not prepared to receive death threats over a fictional character's fictional relationship choices that are fictional which means not real."—A writer on the Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That describes feedback ...
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SHOWBIZ Music festivals, Murray Bartlett, Reese Witherspoon, author David Sedaris
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival revealed the lineup for this year's festival, taking place June 16-19 on the Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee, a press release noted. Highlights will include performances by Tool, J. Cole, Stevie ...
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SAG nominees include 'Gucci,' 'Power of the Dog,' 'Squid Game'
Nominees for the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards honoring outstanding individual, cast and ensemble performances for the past year were announced Jan. 12 by actors Rosario Dawson and Vanessa Hudgens via Instagram Live, according to ...
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NBJC celebrates Mj Rodriguez on Golden Globes win
—From a press release
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) congratulates Michaela Jae "Mj" Rodriguez on earning the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Drama during the 2022 Golden Globe Awards. Rodriguez won for her role as Blanca ...
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Billy Masters: Andy Cohen, SJP and more
The virus hit us both like a freight train. Thankfully, we were both triple vaccinated and the vaccinations did their job, which kept us out of real danger and out of the hospital… [We're] still isolating and waiting to see until we test ...
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Trans actress Rodriguez makes history at quiet Golden Globes
On Jan. 9, Michaela Jae "Mj" Rodriguez won a Golden Globe for best actress in a TV drama for her role as Blanca on the FX show Pose, according to media reports. The awards were announced on social media, as the Globes were not broadcast or live-streamed ...
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Chicago's first-ever Festival au Cinema to take place Aug. 26-28
Haven Chicago has announced its first-ever Festival au Cinema, described as "the company's new platform for visionary and innovative filmmakers and media artists staking their claim in the future of digital storytelling." Festival au Cinema will ...
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SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Jeopardy! champ, director dies, Frank Ocean
TikTok fans of LGBTQ entertainer Jojo Siwa said her new teenage girlfriend, Katie Mills, is a supporter of anti-LGBTQ Republican former President Donald Trump, per LGBTQ Nation. Mills also once questioned if transgender women are "actually" ...
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SHOWBIZ The film 'Licorice Pizza,' Aaron Sorkin, WNBA player, Mariah Carey
Alana Haim, who stars in the film Licorice Pizza (now out in theaters), talked with out.com about how the movie incorporates queer representation by including unsung queer political figure Joel Wachs. "Joel Wachs was such an ...
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'Real Housewife' Julia Lemigova talks about Miami Housewives, miniature cattle
The Real Housewives of Miami finally has an out and proud member of the LGBTQ+ in the main cast with Julia Lemigova. (She's the franchise's second such cast member, following The Real Housewives of Orange County's ...
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Filmmaker B. Danielle Watkins discusses her 'Higher Spirit'
Although lesbian filmmaker/screenwriter/author B. Danielle Watkins has now made two films about Christmas, she admitted she really doesn't like movies that center on the holiday. "My best friend and business partner, Onyx Keesha, loves them," Watkins ...
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MOVIES Twenty years after the premiere of 'Kevin's Room,' the film still resonates
Walking down a Chicago street in 2021, actor Keith Butler said a man recognized him from a character that he played in a film two decades ago: Kevin, from the local production Kevin's Room. "The fact ...
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Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building launches new website, ticketing for spring productions
Chicago's Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., launched its new look and a website with centralized ticketing and rental platforms that encompass all of the landmark building's spaces: artists' studios, offices, rehearsal halls and two ...
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MOVIES/TV Former Bryan Singer assistant details alleged abuse
In a first-person account in Variety entitled "My Traumatizing Years with Bryan Singer," Blake Stuerman, 30, detailed his what he said were his experiences over his four years with out filmmaker Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects; ...
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Billy Masters: Rex Smith, 'West Side Story' and more
"It was pretty damn good!"—Rex Smith's response when Billy showed a risqué photo of Rex at his most beautiful and asked, "What was it like walking around looking like that?" I love when someone that gorgeous ...
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Actor, poet, arts activist Jerrie Johnson talks new Amazon show 'Harlem,' other work
Jerrie Johnson's mission to book a series regular role six months after finishing graduate school came to fruition when they (Johnson uses they/them pronouns) were cast as Tye, a lesbian dating app creator/CEO (who uses she/her ...
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SHOWBIZ 'Drag Race' judges, 'Nash Bridges,' Dolly Parton, J.K. Rowling, Britney
The guest judges for the 14th season of RuPaul's Drag Race have been revealed, according to out.com. Lizzo, Alicia Keys, Taraji P. Henson, Andra Day, Loni Love, Christine Chiu, Ava Max, Nicole Byer, Ts Madison, Alec ...
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MOVIES/MUSIC Director Julia Nash keeps legacy of gay deceased father alive with Wax Trax! film
Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records is a documentary telling the story of two gay men who created a music empire in the '80s. Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher were a couple who made ...
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Golden Globe nominations unveiled in low-key event
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA)—which has taken a critical drubbing over its lack of diverse membership as well as its questionable standards and conduct—announced nominations for its 2022 Golden ...
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Billy Masters: Jussie Smollett, Bob Mackie, Luke Evans and more
Billy Masters: Jussie Smollett, Bob Mackie, Luke Evans and more "It's the Mariah Menu. It's not just the Mariah Meal. It's a whole menu."—Mariah Carey explains her deal with McDonald's. Sure, you could say, "I'll have ...
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WORLD Conversion therapy, Tunisia attack, Bolsonaro, 'West Side Story'
In Mexico, LGBTQ activists in Sonora are spearheading a call for a national ban on so-called conversion therapy, Fronteras reported. The Coalicion Mexicana LGBTTTI+ Sonora gathered more than 18,000 signatures for a petition demanding the Mexican ...
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Latine queer filmmaker Rios never saw himself in shows, so created his own
In the new web series Self Ctrl, it's 29-year-old Nicky's birthday—and he'll cry, laugh and fall apart if he wants to. Self Ctrl spans seven episodes, and the finale dropped Nov. 29. But the entire show ...
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Billy Masters
"I would literally walk around naked in public all the time, at least for that day. …. I just wouldn't wear clothes. I wouldn't care how cold it would be."—Dustin Lance Black reveals what he would ...
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SHOWBIZ Gaga/Bennett, 'House of Gucci,' Leslie Jordan, Murray Hill, Lil Nas X
Videos below
MTV announced that the special MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga will air on the music network Thursday, Dec. 16, according to out.com. The performance, which was filmed in New York earlier this year, features ...
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Trans-focused documentary part of South Side Film Festival
The documentary Mama Gloria—which features Chicago transgender icon Gloria Allen—was part of the South Side Film Festival line-up on Nov. 28. Born in 1945, Allen grew up amid the celebrated Black "sissy" balls on Chicago's South ...
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SHOWBIZ Netflix, Kal Penn, Dennis Rodman, 'The Voice,' 'Euphoria'
Video below
Terra Field—one of the Netflix employees who organized the walkout around Dave Chappelle's comedy special The Closer—has resigned from the streamer, Deadline reported. Field, along with B. Pagels-Minor, organized an ...
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SHOWBIZ '9-1-1,' Billie Jean King, Lena Waithe, singer Mary Lambert, White Party
Actor Rockmond Dunbar left the Fox show 9-1-1 after four seasons over a vaccine mandate, Deadline noted. His gay character, Michael Grant, was abruptly written off in the Nov. 15 episode, leaving fans of the first-responder ...
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Activist projects names of trans dead on Netflix HQ
--From a press release
LOS GATOS — On the Trans Day of Remembrance, the names of trans people who died this year were projected onto Netflix's Silicon Valley headquarters. The words of light were visible from Winchester Boulevard, over the ...
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MOVIES 'Dante and Beatrice in Florence' Nov. 28-Dec. 5
Porchlight Music Theatre is partnering with Hershey Felder Presents: Live from Florence and its second season of productions. The launch of this new season from Hershey Felder is the new musical film Dante and Beatrice in ...
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SHOWBIZ Theater items, Lady Gaga, 'Justice League Queer,' Tom of Finland
Eighteen months after he died of COVID, the life of playwright Terrence McNally was celebrated in a packed house Nov. 1 at the Schoenfeld Theatre, Gay City News noted. Tributes poured in from theater artists, while ...
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Actor Kal Penn discusses coming out, acting journey, systemic racism during tour
Following the publishing of actor Kal Penn's memoir You Can't Be Serious, he stopped in Chicago on Nov. 6 to discuss his Hollywood and White House careers—and the news of his coming out. Co-founder of Vice ...
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Billy Masters
"Of course I have. I'm an actor, for f**k's sake!"—Tom Hardy, when asked if he's had sex with men. Good to know. Sherri Shepherd is having a busy fall. She kicked off October by returning to ...
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SHOWBIZ Gay men's chorus, upcoming films, 'Tiger King,' Mariah Carey
Video below
The New York City Gay Men's Chorus announced its return to the rehearsal room, per a press release. On Nov. 1, 51 members gathered at P.S. 11 in Chelsea, Manhattan, to sing for the first time ...
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MOVIES 'Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol' Nov. 26-Jan. 3
Chicago's interdisciplinary performance collective Manual Cinema is ready to virtually broadcast Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol, its inventive mixed-media adaptation of the most famous holiday tale of all time. Tickets, on ...
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Actress Kristen Stewart announces engagement
Actress Kristen Stewart announced she and actress/screenwriter Dylan Meyer are engaged in an interview with Howard Stern, CNN.com noted. "We're marrying, we're totally gonna do it," Stewart said. "I wanted to be proposed to, so I ...
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Black Harvest awards to go to directors of 'Dionne Warwick,' 'Reopening'
The Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago announced the 2021 winners of the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Black Harvest Film Festival Prize—a cash award given to both the ...
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Trans Netflix employees file labor suit
Two transgender Netflix employees have filed labor charges against the streaming giant in the wake of the Dave Chappelle controversy concerning his special The Closer, alleging the company retaliated against them for speaking out against the ...
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Actor Kal Penn announces engagement to boyfriend
Actor Kal Penn (TV's House and Clarice; the Harold & Kumar films) revealed to People that he is engaged to marry his longtime partner, Josh, The Hollywood Reporter noted. The couple, who have been together for ...
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SHOWBIZ Non-binary actor, holiday TV specials, John Waters, Grammys
Video below
Non-binary actor E.R. Fightmaster (TV's Shrill and Work in Progress) is joining the cast of ABC's long-running medical drama series Grey's Anatomy as a recurring member: Dr. Kai Bartley, the show's first non-binary doctor, out.com. ...
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Chicago International Film Festival screens messages of diversity, inclusion at 57
The International Film Festival turned 57 in 2021. While it was scaled down from previous years, much of the festivities seemed just like old times. On Oct. 13-24, North Americans longest-running competitive film festival held screenings ...
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SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Haring/Ortiz mural, Jamie Lee Curtis, Billy Porter
Dancing the foxtrot alongside partner Jenna Johnson to Olivia Newton John's "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)" for Dancing with the Stars' Grease night, 18-year-old social-media star JoJo Siwa received the season's first perfec ...
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MOVIES 'Bolshoi Ballet' series to start locally Nov. 7
The "2021-2022 Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema" series is set to begin Sunday, Nov. 7 with Bolshoi Ballet: Spartacus—LIVE. Spartacus is considered a ballet tour de force, set to Aram Khachaturian's score. Bolshoi Ballet: Spartacus—LIVE is set t ...
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Reeling: Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Fest names winners
--From a press release
CHICAGO, Illinois — The 39th Reeling: Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival today announced the winning films from its 2021 program, which included 33 feature films and 54 short films curated in nine programs. This year's submissions ...
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'Out of the Shadows, Into the Streets' LGBTQ+ Representation in the Media' panel Nov. 4
--From a press release
In recent years LGBTQ+ people have increasingly seen representations of themselves, celebrations of their lives and stories, and coverage of LGBTQ+ issues across media channels. This has led to a worldwide rise in understanding, cultural acceptance, ...
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Black Alphabet returns to host annual film festival in November
The Black Alphabet Film Festival (BAFF) is returning to Chicago after the pandemic forced the organization to cancel last year's event. On Nov. 5-7, BAFF will showcase 21 films and shorts about the Black queer experience ...
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SHOWBIZ Superman, TheWrap, Oscar Wilde, Billy Porter, Cher, 'Dragula'
The ongoing comic Superman: Son of Kal-El, by writer Tom Taylor and artist John Timms, launched in July and saw Jon Kent officially take up the mantle of the Man of Steel now that his father, ...
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Wizard World Comic Con returns to Chicago
After being canceled last year because of the COVID pandemic, Wizard World Comic Con Chicago returned to Rosemont's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on Oct. 15-17—and thousands of people attended. People ranging from attendees to vendors ...
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CIFF, featuring LGBTQ+ films, running through Oct. 24
North America's longest-running competitive film festival, this year's event expands throughout Chicago with presentations at venues across the city, including at AMC River East 21; the Music Box Theatre; the Gene Siskel Film Center; special drive ...
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MOVIES Holiday comedy short centers on Muslim family and BIPOC queer relationship
The short film The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night follows Noor, a Muslim queer woman, and her experience with bringing her Puerto Rican partner home to meet her family for the first time. When Noor's ...
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THEATER 'A Rocky Horror Picture Party' at The Den on Oct. 30-31
Haven is presenting Science Fiction / Double Feature: A Rocky Horror Picture Party—an immersive Halloween experience that brings to life in vivid technicolor the world of the cult-classic film—directed by ...
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Madonna's latest concert film, Madame X, now out
The concept film to Madonna's acclaimed Madame X Tour has debuted in the United States Latin America, Australia, the Nordics and Canada exclusively on Paramount+, the streaming service from ViacomCBS. Fans outside these markets can watch ...
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MOVIES Colman Domingo to star in Bayard Rustin biopic
LGBTQ+ actor Colman Domingo—who has been in movies such as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Candyman, and TV shows ranging from Fear the Walking Dead to The Big Gay Sketch Show—has landed the lead role the ...
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Filmmakers Bennett Singer, Patrick Sammon talk new documentary Cured
Producer-directors Bennett Singer and Patrick Sammon have created a new LGBTQ documentary: Cured. The film tells the story of the LGBTQ activists, allies and events surrounding the American Psychiatric Association's ...
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Sisters in Cinema, DocuClub providing consulting opportunities to filmmakers
Sisters in Cinema—a Chicago-based 501(C)3 that aims to center and celebrate Black girls, women and gender non-conforming media makers—and DocuClub, a work-in-progress screening series, have entered into a strategic partnership ...
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Int'l Film Fest to premiere queer Muslim film directed by Chicagoan Fawzia Mirza
--From a press release
LOS ANGELES CA - THE SYED FAMILY XMAS EVE GAME NIGHT will have its U.S. premiere at the 57th edition of the Chicago International Film Festival running October 13 - 24, 2021. This comes on the ...
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SHOWBIZ 'Queer/Art,' sports items, Kevin Bacon, Indya Moore
Queer|Art—New York City's home for the creative and professional development of LGBTQ+ artists—announced the fall season of Queer|Art|Film, returning in person through Dec. 13, a press release noted. The line-up ...
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WORLD Movie items, tennis survey, German politics, Thai court
Kenya's Film Censorship Board (KFCB) banned I Am Samuel, claiming the documentary—which has a gay protagonist—contravenes Kenyan values, Human Rights Watch noted. In a statement, the KFCB denounced the film ...
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Pritzker Military Museum, Library to screen TransMilitary doc, Q&A with special guests
--From a press release
CHICAGO, IL (September 27, 2021) On Thursday, Sept. 30, at 5:30 p.m., the Pritzker Military Museum & Library will host the screening of the 2018 SXSW Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary TransMilitary. The program will ...
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SHOWBIZ Transgender Talent, celebrity deaths, film festival, Whitney Houston
Transgender Talent—the trans-owned and operated management and production company—is looking to help Hollywood get better at portraying transgender and non-binary characters on screen with the launch of a new consulting ...
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MOVIES 24-hour horror marathon at Music Box on Oct. 23-24
"The Music Box of Horrors," sponsored by CreepyCo., will return to the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., from noon on Saturday, Oct. 23 through noon on Sunday, Oct. 24. The event will include special ...
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'Firebird' opens Reeling Chicago LGBTQ+ Internat'l Film Fest tonight
--From a press release
CHICAGO, Illinois — Tonight, the 39th annual Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival invites audiences to enjoy an in-person pre-party and theater screening of 'Firebird' for Opening Night at the Music Box Theater. Director P ...
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REVIEWS: Movies of Reeling 2021
Reeling: The 39th Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival will take place Friday, Sept. 23-Thursday, Oct. 7. After a virtual edition in 2020, Reeling returns with in-person screenings this year, kicking off with the Estonian romantic drama ...
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MOVIES 'Shang-Chi' actor in anti-gay controversy
Actor Simu Liu—the star of the latest Marvel action movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings—is embroiled in controversy over alleged Reddit comments he made about how pedophilia is "no different from being gay," ...
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FILM REVIEW Chastain mesmerizes in 'Tammy Faye,' but bio offers few surprises
Televangelists featured in some of the of the most spectacular falls from grace in the '80s. Television preachers who'd spent the better part of the '70s and the '80s insinuating themselves into pocketbooks, not to mention ...
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8th Annual Black Alphabet Film Festival on Nov. 5-7
The 8th Annual Black Alphabet Film Festival (BAFF) will take place Nov. 5-7 at the University of Chicago's Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. One of the longest running Black ...
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Brittany Devon meets a 'Platonic Girlfriend'
Queer, genderfluid actor Brittany Devon has created a brand new project to explore with Platonic Girlfriend. It is the story of a relationship between straight woman Alice and a queer, nonbinary person named Dev. Devon stars ...
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SHOWBIZ 'Boy Meets Boy,' Jennifer Hudson, 'SVU,' tennis honor, ABBA
Ariztical Entertainment is releasing the German movie Boy Meets Boy on DVD and VOD on Oct. 26. According to a press release, the plot of the 70-minute movie is as follows: "Harry has been partying for ...
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MOVES Talking about 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie'
The new movie Everybody's Talking About Jamie tells the inspiring story of Jamie New, a young drag artist who overcomes hardship and homophobia in Sheffield, England. Out actor Max Harwood stars as New, who gets by ...
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Survivor shares the story of trauma and thriving in 'Untold'
WARNING: This article contains material of a graphic nature. Gina M. Garcia is finally sharing her story of thriving after trauma in her new docu-drama biography, Untold: This is My Story, which premieres Sept. 6 at ...
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MOVIES Fall films harvest famous names for LGBTQ+ stories
The film industry is featuring world-renowned names like Lady Gaga, Truman Capote and Tammy Faye on the big screen this fall season. Award-winning musicals, true-life stories and far-out fiction are all part of the fun in ...
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MOVIES 'On Broadway' to open Sept. 10 in Highland Park
As theatergoers prepare for the return of Broadway after an unprecedented absence of 18 months, Kino Lorber is releasing Academy Award nominee Oren Jacoby's documentary On Broadway. The tribute to one of the most vibrant ...
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SHOWBIZ Billy Porter, 'Death Drop,' Brandi Carlile, vintage films, Gaga
Billy Porter will direct a queer teen comedy feature titled To Be Real for Amazon Studios, which is being helmed by Gabrielle Union's I'll Have Another Productions, NME.com noted. Porter, who is currently working on his ...
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EVENTS Celebrity attendees named for Wizard World Chicago
William Shatner (Star Trek; TV's Boston Legal), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy, TV's The Walking Dead), Matthew Lewis (All Creatures Great and Small), James Marsters (TV series Buffy the ...
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