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The Queer Agenda: February 2025

Welcome to The Queer Review’s new monthly guide to LGBTQ+ cultural happenings in New York City and beyond. Feb 4-15 – Isaac Mizrahi: I Know Everybody – Café Carlyle, New York Isaac Mizrahi returns for his ninth winter engagement at Café Carlyle with his signature blend of humor, storytelling, and song. Beyond his shows at the Carlyle, Mizrahi has made an indelible mark on the entertainment…

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Sundance Film Review: Heightened Scrutiny ★★★★

A few days before this year’s Sundance Film Festival began, the President declared in his inaugural address that “it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female”. As Sundance 2025 takes place, five anti-trans bills continue to advance in the legislature of the festival’s home state of Utah. These are among the 245…

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Sundance 2025 Film Review: Sauna ★★★★

Mathias Broe’s seductive debut feature Sauna, which just world premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance, is both super sexy and has something to say. Based on Mads Ananda Lodahl’s novel of the same name, adapted for the screen by Broe and William Lippert, this contemporary queer story of love and self-discovery set in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, has a fresh, distinctive…

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Sundance 2025 Film Review: GEN_ ★★★1/2

Gianluca Matarrese’s GEN_, which just premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance, employs an absorbingly intimate vérité style to explore the fascinating work of Dr. Maurizio Bini. On the cusp of retirement, Bini runs a department in Milan’s publicly-funded Niguarda hospital which offers both fertility and gender-affirming care treatments free of charge. Matarrese, and his…

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Theatre Review: Sunset Blvd. (St. James Theatre, Broadway) ★★★★★

In a stark and arresting opening scene we see a man unzip himself from the body bag he is in, climb out and move centre stage to directly address the audience. It is typical of the searing boldness and dark humour of director Jamie Lloyd’s Olivier Award-winning revival production of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Blvd., with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton based on…

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Film Review: Liza - A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story ★★★★

“They wanted her”, performer Jim Caruso—who made his Broadway debut in Liza’s At The Palace! alongside Liza Minnelli—recalls his friend having observed after spending an evening at a party where she could tell that those gathered wanted to be around Liza! the effervescent red sequined star, not simply Liza the person. Director Bruce David Klein’s feature documentary Liza: A Truly Terrific…

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Photography book preview: Joee Vee's All Day I Dream About Cake

Photographer Joee Vee’s playful and sultry All Day I Dream About series focuses on “scrumptious men and a yearning for decadent New York City goodies”. All Day I Dream About Cake, the second volume in the coffee table book series which began with All Day I Dream About Pizza, is about men from all over the world passionately consuming their favorite cake from some of the city’s most famous…

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LGBTQ Entertainment Critics reveal 16th Annual Dorian Film Awards nominations

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics have announced the nominees for its 16th Dorian Film Awards voted for by its more than 500 members. Jane Schoenbrun’s sophomore feature I Saw the TV Glow leads with nine nominations, followed by Coralie Fargeat The Substance which eight nods. Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez and Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers each earned six nominations, Brady…

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Exclusive Interview: Oscar-nominee Arthur Dong reflects on his five-decade filmmaking career "a more equitable society has always been my goal"

Following the Criterion Channel’s 2021 Arthur Dong retrospective, ten films by the Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker have just been released by Kino Lorber with the three-disc Blu-ray Arthur Dong Collection, along with four hours of bonus features. The set includes Dong’s first independently made and previously unavailable film, Public from 1970, in a 2K restoration with a new score…

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Exclusive trailer reveal: queer comedy series Settle Down created by & starring Alexander Nunez

Exclusive trailer launch! Watch the trailer for queer comedy series Settle Down below ahead of the show’s premiere on OUTtv and the OUTtv channels on Prime Video and AppleTV+ this Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2025. The cast of Settle Down. Courtesy of Border2Border Entertainment. What happens when a matchmaker and podcast host who knows everything about love can’t seem to save his own…

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Exclusive Interview: Drag Race winner Monét X Change on touring her one-woman show Life Be Lifin' "drag was my lifeline"

As RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season four winner Monét X Change takes her poignant and hilarious one-woman show Life Be Lifin’ on a North American tour this month, she speaks exclusively with The Queer Review’s editor James Kleinmann about creating the show with the guidance of fellow Drag Race alum BenDeLaCreme, what drag means to her in her life, her latest music, and her favourite LGBTQ+…

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Film Review: Better Man ★★★★★

Just when I thought I’d seen enough biopics about musical artists in recent years to last me a lifetime, The Greatest Showman filmmaker Michael Gracey’s remarkable Better Man brings us the story of Robbie Williams and thrillingly breathes new life into the genre. All of the ingredients are there for a compelling narrative. A self-absorbed father largely absent during adolescence; burning…

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Exclusive Interviews: the queens of RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 make a splash at New York premiere

The time has come for you to meet the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17: Acacia Forgot, Arrietty, Crystal Envy, Hormona Lisa, Jewels Sparkles, Joella, Kori King, Lana Ja’Rae, Lexi Love, Lucky Starzzz, Lydia B Kollins, Onya Nurve, Sam Star, and Suzie Toot. Sam Star, Jewels Sparkles, Lydia Kollins, Crystal Envy and Acacia Forgot attend RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 Red Carpet and Premiere…

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Theatre Review: Cult of Love (Second Stage's Hayes Theater, Broadway) ★★★★

After encountering several stark, minimalist stagings on Broadway of late, however effective they might be, it is refreshing to be presented with such a realistic, detail-rich set at the Hayes Theater. Beautifully designed by John Lee Beatty, with enchanting lighting by Heather Gilbert, we are drawn into a spacious yet cozy and inviting open-plan living room and dining area in a Connecticut…

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Exclusive Interview: Drew Droege on playing a "judgy drunk queen" opposite Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagnino's Queer

With Luca Guadagnino’s intoxicating 1950s Mexico City-set feature Queer, based on the cult novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs, now playing in US theaters nationwide from A24, writer, actor, and comedian Drew Droege speaks exclusively with The Queer Review’s editor James Kleinmann about taking on the role of “judgy drunk queen” John Dumé. During the conversation, Droege shares his…

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Theatre Review: The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show 2024 (Kings Theatre, Brooklyn) ★★★★★

While the Mother of Christmas might be, well, Mary, and the Queen of Christmas might be Mariah, proving themselves once more to be the undeniable Drag Queens of Christmas are Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme who are back with their seventh annual The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show. In the midst of a 33-city, 38-show tour to some of North America’s most iconic venues, December 5th saw the drag duo…

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Exclusive Interview: Jonathan Anderson on his costume design inspirations for Luca Guadagnino's Queer

On the red carpet at the 62nd New York Film Festival’s North American premiere of Luca Guadignino’s Queer, adapted from William S. Burrough’s cult novel, fashion designer Jonathan Anderson spoke with The Queer Review about reuniting with the filmmaker following their collaboration on Challengers and his costume design inspirations for the 1950s Mexico City set feature. Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino…