When the credits roll on respected Haitian filmmaker Raul Peck’s powerful new documentary you will notice that the screenwriter listed is in fact the late author and social critic James Baldwin himself. This memoir/semi-biography of this great African/American man of letters which links the ideas of three assassinated leaders uses only prose lifted from directly from Baldwin’s texts or letters which are read with a mixture of passion and dignity by the actor Samuel L Jackson.
queerguru reviews for P.T.V. the documentary that the NY Times declared was one of the best movies of the year, and we kind of agree.
It’s quite extraordinary that acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín known mainly for his generally aggressive dramas interspersed with violence about his own country, should choose such a quintessential American story as Jackie for his first English speaking movie. The fact that he succeeds so well with his version of the accounts in the week that immediately followed the tragic assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 as seen through the eyes of his grieving widow is due mainly to Natalie Portman’s powerhouse performance as one of this country’s most iconic First Ladies.
queerguru reviews Turkish filmmaker Ceyda Torun wonderful new documentary on the street cats of Istanbul. What had originally enticed Torun, a native of the city, was that for the largely Muslim population, the uniqueness of how street cats are treated is in fact not too dissimilar to how cows are honored in India. Certainly what she showed was a seemingly universal love of these feline creatures from the city’s residents and a compassionate understanding and acceptance of all the cat’s rather touching eccentricities, the like of which we have never witnessed on such a large scale.
This queerguru reports was filmed by Roger Walker-Dackfor P.T.V.
The wonderful astonishing opening sequence of a full scale choreographed musical number on a flyover in the middle of an L.A. traffic jam sets the pace for what is clearly one of the most exhilarating movie musicals for years. La La Land is only the third film helmed by 31 year old Damien Chazelle (he picked up an Oscar nomination for Whiplash his last movie) and he successfully creates a contemporary musical that is obviously inspired by all the classic ones of the genre with it’s romantic story full of hope and love.
queerguru reviews La La Land for P.T.V. as the movie arrives at the Waters Edge Cinema in P.Town.