Originally published in the San Antonio Current. If you grew up watching late Puerto Rican astrologer Walter Mercado entertain viewers on Univision, you’ll want to make sure you have a Netflix membership by Friday, July 10. The flamboyant, legendary TV personality will be featured in the new documentary Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter…
San Antonio Gay, Black Filmmaker Cedric Thomas Smith Speaks To the Human Experience
San Antonio-based filmmaker Cedric Thomas Smith thought he wanted to be an actor when he graduated from Judson High School in 1991 and relocated to San Francisco. “I told myself I was going to move to California to be the next Tom Cruise,” said Smith, now 46. “But Will Smith beat me to it.” Along…
New San Antonio Theater Company Kicks Off First Season with ‘Golden Girls’ Parody
Originally published in the San Antonio Current A new theater company called The Players at the Pointe will premiere its first season of LGBT-focused programming February 20 at Woodlawn Pointe. The season opens with “Thank You for Being a Friend,” a parody of the popular 1980s sitcom “The Golden Girls” with actors in drag playing…
‘Boy Erased’ Exposes Harmful Effects of Gay Conversion Therapy
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Australian actor-turned-director Joel Edgerton (The Gift) steps behind the camera for only the second time in his career with Boy Erased, a compassionate and, at times, upsetting account of a young man’s forced participation in a conversion-therapy program at the hands of his Baptist pastor father and devout…
‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ is the Best Performance of Melissa McCarthy’s Career
When she’s not trying to act like the female version of Kevin James by using physical comedy as a crutch, actress Melissa McCarthy has made some satisfying inroads as a comedian in flicks like 2015’s Spy and her Academy Award-nominated turn in 2011’s Bridesmaids. This year, unfortunately, she struck out big with The Happytime Murders…
Rami Malek Anchors ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ with Oscar-Worthy Performance
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. From a cinematic standpoint, there is something deeply fulfilling about witnessing the creation of a song — from the seedling of an idea inside a musician’s head to the concept taking shape to form the perfect harmony or poetry or beat. Whether it’s in a makeshift studio in…
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…
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…
A Kid Like Jake: A Sensitive, But Safe Story About a Gender-Expansive Child and His Parents
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Alex and Greg Wheeler (Claire Danes and Jim Parsons) are like any other parents of a four-year-old child. They want their son Jake (Leo James Davis) to get a good education, have friends, be happy and express himself creatively in any way he sees fit. They come to…