A Piece of Pie: The Queer Film Podcast

We're joined this week by writer Casey Snow, who brings her love of the lesbian spy comedy D.E.B.S. and we pair it with 2023's hit comedy, Bottoms, starring Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennot. 

We don't have many yearly traditions here at The Queer Film Podcast, but we always make time for the Academy Awards! It's our seventh annual discussion--despite what Brian says in the recording, mistakenly saying it's the sixth--and he convened with regular contributors Rob and Chris, to discuss predictions before the show and reactions after the fact. Join us as we celebrate yet another year of movies!

Is the director of The Love Witch a cult visionary, or a TERF Tommy Wiseau? This week we're joined by Raphael Martinez, programmer at Facets and host of their monthly film trivia night, to discuss that exact question. And be sure to join us on February 29, 2024 as your host Brian co-hosts the trivia with Raphael as we give away prizes before a screening of the film in question! 

With Oscar season in full swing, Brian and Chris are once again looking at the Best Actor race. This year, Bradley Cooper and Colman Domingo are nominated for playing real life queer figures , and so too are Jodie Foster and Annette Bening. In an Oscar season that's largely been defined by snubs, there's also a record number of queer characters and stories this year. 

We're revisiting our Quentin Tarantino / Paul Thomas Anderson series with two films that many would say are their respective masterpieces. After they spent the 90's being the gods of film schools everywhere, they entered the 21st century artists with something to say, each filmmaker forging seeking to forge a new path for their career. Or did they? Brian welcomes Max and Nick back to the show to discuss two modern classics, There Will Be Blood and Inglorious Basterds. 

With a new Mean Girls in theaters, what better time to revisit the 2004 film that's become a classic. It's also one of our most requested movies to cover, so for those who've asked, your wait is over! We've paired it with the cult 1988 classic Heathers, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. Is Heathers a precursor to the Lindsay Lohan film or does it have more in common with Terence Malik's Badlands?

For our final episode of 2023, Brian and Max are celebrating a Shane Black Christmas!

Two of Brian's favorite filmmakers have movies coming out in the last few months of 2023, so for this episode we put on our Film Nerd Caps to revisit their earlier works. Chris from When We Were Young joins us again as we discuss David Fincher's The Social Network and Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. 

Just in time for Halloween, Brian and Max return to discuss Stephen King adaptations! Back in 1983, when he was the hottest writer in the country, two auteurs tackled his bestselling novels! John Carpenter, fresh off a couple of commercial duds was looking to cash an easy check, while David Cronenberg was fresh off two of his biggest hits. Each filmmaker brings their unique style to King’s macabre stories in the process crafting two of his most beloved adaptations. 

When Rock Hudson died of AIDS in 1985, it shocked much of the world. In Hollywood, his homosexuality was an open secret, but to the rest of the world he was a charming, handsome leading man to the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day. This week, we're taking a look at one of the earliest face's of the AIDS epidemic and discussing the documentary, Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed and his most famous rom-com, Pillow Talk! 

For Pride month 2023, we're taking a look back at two of John Waters' later movies, Pecker & Cecil B Demented. One of our most iconic filmmakers, Waters at the end of the 20th Century had settled into a more grand statesman of cinema more than simply being a provocatuer. While he never loses his sense of humor, these two films feel more auto-biographical than his previous works, with Pecker focusing on a young photographer and Cecil B Demented following a gang of maverick filmmakers. Brian and Max discuss all this, plus a young Maggie Gylenhaal, praise for Christina Ricci and debate the term "ugly hot." 

We're kicking off Pride 2023 with a look at the ABBA-centric sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again! Host Brian had never seen the original, much-less the sequel, but over the years, it's become a beloved new classic. So, Rob and Max agreed to show him the movie for the first time ever! 

This week, we're joined by special guest Kyle Turner, writer of the new book, The Queer Film Guide. Brian and Matthew welcomed him to discuss the new book, and one of his favorite entries, 2018's Knife + Heart. 

In 1993, Hollywood adapted Super Mario Bros., then a hit Nintendo video game, into a live-action movie starring Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper. It was the first time a video game would make the leap to the big screen, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last. In 2023, Nintendo tried it again, this time teaming with Illumination for an animated take on their most famous franchise. It took the world by storm, becoming one of the biggest hits of the year. This week, Matthew and Brian discuss the new release, and are joined by Max as we take a trip down memory lane and re-examine the 1993 attempt. It’s weirder, darker and yes, gayer than you probably remember, but how do the two movies hold up? Join us as we discuss video game movies, Bob Hoskins’ mustache and much more!

We're re-visiting a project we started a couple years ago, pairing the films of auteurs Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino. We're picking up with Anderson's fourth film, the offbeat Punch-Drunk Love starring Adam Sandler and pairing it with Tarantino's third, Jackie Brown. Both films find the filmmakers in transition, dealing with critical acclaim and awards recognition by defying expectations and crafting quirky, unforgettable love stories. They're both outliers in their respective filmography's, but on this episode we suggest that maybe that needs to change.  

It’s our sixth annual Oscar episode! Brian and Chris are talking about Hollywood’s biggest night!

It's Oscar season, so we're taking a look at two controversial Academy Award winning movies! In 1993, Philadelphia was the first movie to address the ongoing AIDS crisis, winning Academy Awards and angering gay rights activists like Larry Kramer. Twenty years later, in 2013, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto each won acting's top honor in Dallas Buyers Club, while angering the entire community. Brian welcomes Chris back to discuss landmark AIDS representation, and major steps backward. 

Last year, the gay community was gifted not just one but TWO romantic comedies given release by major studios. Fire Island debuted on Hulu, while Bros was released to theaters, but both sought to bring a queer touch to the old rom-com formula. Fire Island is a modern adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" while Bros borrows from Nora Ephron and Woody Allen. We're joined by our contributors Rob and Lauren as we compare the two films and ponder why one gets so much right, while the other gets a lot wrong. 

Another year, another straight actor playing queer in a quest for Oscar gold! This year, it's Brendan Fraser, the erstwhile George of the Jungle, who turns in a rare dramatic performance in what is being billed as his big comeback vehicle. But was he ever a good actor in the first place? And why is he in a fat suit? Contributor Chris, from When We Were Young returns to continue the never-ending discussion of what happens when straight folks tell queer stories.