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A Piece of Pie: The Queer Film Podcast
A Piece of Pie: The Queer Film Podcast
Author: Brian Rowe
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© 2026 A Piece of Pie: The Queer Film Podcast
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Welcome to A Piece of Pie: the Queer Film Podcast. Creator and host Brian Rowe welcomes a rotating cast of contributors to discuss/ review movies both new and old; giving them their own unique queer perspective. Podcasts will post bi-weekly.
150 Episodes
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For our 150th Episode, Brian decided to highlight one of his favorite films, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
This week our friend Keegon Schuett returns to the show to continue gushing about Diane Keaton as a mother to queer people. In The First Wives Club it’s a token lesbian, while she’s best friends with fellow icons Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler. We paired it with the modern classic Bridesmaids and spend more time quoting it than discussing it. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
We're commemorating the Christmas season by taking a look at two Nicole Kidman films. First up, the final film from Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut, co-starring her then-husband Tom Cruise. And we pair it with Babygirl, co-starring Harris Dickinson and Antonio Banderas. We're joined once again by Alonso Duralde, writer of the recently revised Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas. He brings his Christmas-movie expertise to these two films, and we discuss what makes them both quintessential C...
This week we're celebrating the late, great Diane Keaton. Contributor and playwright Keegon Schuett returns to the pod with one of his favorite warm blanket movies, Something's Gotta Give co-starring Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves. And tis the season for Holiday movies, so we pair it with Keaton's turn as the matriarch of a chaotic family Christmas in The Family Stone. For details and to buy's Keegon's new play, click the link below! https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300282764/this-dry-s...
With Paul Thomas Anderson's newest One Battle After Another in theaters and heavily favored in the Awards conversation, Brian and Max return to their project pairing off his films with the work of fellow American master, Quentin Tarantino. This time it's a bloody revenge fantasy paired with an Altman-esque stoner comedy that refuses to be understood. Give a listen as we continue to examine two modern day auteurs who are still changing Hollywood, 30 years after their game changing debuts. ...
This week we're discussing two of cinema's most celebrated queer filmmakers, Luca Guadagnino and Andrew Haigh. Within the last few years, they've each given us deeply personal stories about love, loneliness, grief and the disconnect of growing up queer in a straight world. Through different eras and wildly different tones, each film grapples with queer life in stunning and heart wrenching detail. Chris is back as we discuss the two newest editions to the Queer Film Canon. Questions or c...
Just in time for Halloween, we're revisiting two of our favorite classic 90's horror flicks. Fresh off an Academy Award for Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino teamed with director Robert Rodriguez for From Dusk Till Dawn, starring Tarantino and George Clooney. Rodriguez would follow that up with The Faculty, from writer Kevin Williamson. With sprawling casts and self-referential scripts, these films still hold up among the best horror of the 1990's. Questions or comments about what we talk...
This week we’re joined by Raina Deerwater, Associate Director and Research Analysis at GLAAD! She joins to discuss their Studio Responsibility Index, and recent findings that LBGTQIA+ representation in film is on the decline. We discuss what that means, and what can be done about it. And then we talk about the sapphic crime drama, Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart one of a few queer centered films from 2024. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
This week we're finally discussing Tony Kushner's masterpiece, Angels in America. As Chicago's own Invictus Theater Company stages a new production, we welcome two actors from the show, Miguel Long and Ryan Hake, to discuss the 2004 HBO adaptation. They offer insight into playing these challenging roles, as we discuss the differences between the play and the movie, and how the play remains as relevant as ever. Click here for information about the Invictus Theater’s production, running...
This week, Brian is joined by writer Sezin Devi Koehler, who quite literally wrote the book on Keanu Reeves. Her book, Much Ado About Keanu: A Critical Reeves Theory highlights the actor’s legendary career. We take a specific look at The Matrix, a franchise created by trans women, and John Wick, an iconic character that, according to Sezin’s theory, is very likely transgender himself. You can find a copy of her book here https://tinyurl.com/2tbpyex6 Questions or comments about wha...
Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
This week we’re taking a look at two very different queer icons. Musical geniuses Freddie Mercury and Liberace each got the biopic treatment in the 2010’s, and they each got very different movies. Behind the Candelabra starred Oscar winners Michael Douglas and Matt Damon and was directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh. Despite the pedigree, only HBO would release it. Bohemian Rhapsody, by contrast, despite a troubled production and a problematic filmmaker, somehow won four Academy Awards i...
This week we’re joined by film scholar Syd Wrigley, who joins the podcast to discuss Gregg Araki’s famed Teen Apocalypse Trilogy. Starting with Totally Fucked Up in 1993, he followed it with The Doom Generationin 1995 and finally Nowhere in 1997, the trilogy that would define a generation and stands at the center of the New Queer Cinema movement. Recently re-released via Criterion, these films are being discovered by a brand new generation, and Araki is only now finding auteur status. Q...
This week we have an interview with director Dana Flor discussing her new documentary, 1-800-ON-HER-OWN, an intimate look at singer songwriter Ani DiFranco ! And we’re excited to announce a partnership with the filmmakers to bring the movie to Chicago! On April 13 at the #Music Box Chicago to catch the Chicago premiere in person! Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
This week we're joined by writer Alonso Duralde, author of Hollywood Pride to discuss Barbra Streisand's directorial debut, Yentl. The story of a young woman who bucked convention, and gender norms, to follow her dreams. Progressive for 1983, the film was ahead of it's time, and is undergoing a queer reappraisal. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
We only have one tradition here at Piece of Pie, and that's our annual Oscar episode. We started this little podcast discussing the Oscars, and ever since we've made sure to cover them. This year Paul Klein and Chris Alexander join Brian to discuss queer representation at the yearly show, Conan O'Brien and more! Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
This week we're joined by Chicago's Joan Waters, local drag queen and John Waters super fan, and we're taking a look at Polyester, John Waters' first studio film. With his biggest budget to date, Waters paid tribute to William Castle, and Douglas Sirk, two of his favorite filmmakers. Sirk directed the Rock Hudson classic All That Heaven Allows, a clear influence on queer filmmakers like Todd Haynes and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. So we paired it with Polyester as we take a look at the similarit...
Brian interviews filmmaker, writer and actor Vera Drew about her debut film, The People's Joker. Produced on a shoestring budget and released in secret while Warner Bros waged a legal battle, The People's Joker uses popular DC Comics characters to tell a truly unforgettable coming age of story. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
We're saying goodbye to a tumultuous 2024 by discussing one of the year's biggest, and arguably gayest, box office hits. From bookshelves, to Broadway and now to movie theaters, Wicked is a superhero tentpole movie for theatre kids, but is it any good? And how does it hold up taken next to the beloved stage play? Rob and Max join Brian to discuss all that and more! Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!
We’re closing out spooky season with a couple of tear-jerkers. In one of our most poignant episodes, Brian opens up about the loss of his mother and how it affected watching these two films, one an Oscar powerhouse the other something of an Oscar also-ran, each of them with passionate queer followings given their stacked casts. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!























