Originally published in the St. Louis Riverfront Times. With the rush of awards season still a few weeks away, the art-house-lite attractions begin to blur together into a vaguely familiar mix of modest period settings and upper-middle-class drama, set to a chamber orchestra and with just enough feminism and gender issues to seem reassuringly (yet…
Music and Romance Hit Emotional High Notes in ‘A Star Is Born’
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Three-time Academy Award-nominated actor Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) makes a mostly convincing, albeit imperfect, directorial debut with A Star Is Born, the third reimagining of the film since the original version hit the silver screen more than 80 years ago. In this newest reiteration, six-time Grammy-award-winning singer Lady…
Revisionist ‘Lizzie’ a Memorable Effort but Fails to Reach Full Potential
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. While it has sustained a strong interest among American folk historians and true-crime enthusiasts for decades, the story of Lizzie Borden, a young woman suspected of murdering her father and stepmother with an ax in 1892, has never received the cinematic attention that a crime of its notoriety…
Austin’s All Genders, Lifestyles and Identities Film Festival Begins September 6
Queer film aficionados will be burning rubber on IH-35 heading to Austin for the 31st annual All Genders, Lifestyles and Identities Film Festival (formerly known as the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival), which runs from September 6 to 9. Since its inception, aGLIFF has screened the best and most recent international, national and…
New Documentary is Fascinating Tribute to Late Fashion Designer Alexander McQueen
During a scene in the 2009 dramedy The Devil Wears Prada, an inexperienced fashion magazine assistant played by Anne Hathaway complains to her boyfriend about the pretentious nature of the fashion world. The magazine’s callous editor had berated her for an innocent, albeit clueless, remark she made about accessories. “They all act like they’re curing…
Raúl Castillo of HBO’s ‘Looking’ is Featured in Three Films at SA’s CineFestival
Raúl Castillo, who rose to prominence with gay audiences after appearing in the Home Box Office series, Looking, will be in San Antonio for the opening of CineFestival where he will be featured in three films. Castillo, who hails from McAllen, Texas, was mostly a stage actor prior to appearing in films and starring in…
San Antonio Filmmaker Maria Galindo Shoots Life’s a Bitch! in Barcelona
When punk-rock musician Maria Galindo made Barcelona her home in 2011, she never planned to shoot a film there. Galindo, who is originally from San Antonio, moved to Spain for a change of scenery and to do something different with herself, but said she woke up hungover one morning on her couch and realized she…
SA Filmmaker Premiers First Feature ‘Life’s a Bitch!’
Local filmmaker Maria Galindo will premier her first feature, “Life’s a Bitch!” at the San Antonio Horrific Film Fest on October 21, where the film is being nominated for Best Feature and Best Director. Galindo describes the movie, which she shot in Barcelona, Spain, as a “fast paced drama with dark comical overtones.” The plot…
SA’s QFest 2016 Films Reflect the Spectrum of LGBT Life
When QFest 2016, San Antonio’s LGBT International Film Festival, opens on October 13, it will present four days of features and short films which reflect the unique diversity of LGBT life. First started in 2013, QFest is produced by Pride San Antonio. Organizers says the festival is held during LGBT History Month “in order to…
Gemini Ink explores the work of James Franco
Gemini Ink 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, 78205 (210) 734-9673, geminiink.org Ongoing at Gemini Ink is “Poetry, Film, and James Franco,” a workshop led by San Antonio playwright and poet Gregg Barrios. It is the first course of its kind to examine the experimental films of James Franco and the works of poetry that inspired…