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posted by zavi
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Ma Vie En Rose (My Life In Pink): Young Ludovic is confident that ze was meant to be born a girl and that god just made a small mistake, but convincing hir family and community proves to be harder than anticipated.
Country: France, 1997
Original Language: French
Rating: 5/5
Zavi thinks: Though this film is overall lighthearted, it touches on many quite serious issues, such as hate crimes and class differences. As an innocent child, Ludovic simply cannot understand why others feel so threatened by hir non-binary gender, and hir struggle to be hirself brings up the issue of gender panic. Though dealing with some very adult issues, the young star of this film remains utterly endearing.
Panda thinks: Ma Vie En Rose effectively blends fantasy and reality, much in the way that I imagine a child’s mind would. The film offers a unique first person perspective on the early struggles of child questioning hir gender. I really love the color and the lighting in this movie. It is really something to …
Click to continue reading QMR: ma vie en rose
posted by zavi
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Sordid Lives: When forced to return to his small Texas hometown for a funeral, a young gay man must finally come out to his family, and the family as a whole must deal with its many secrets.
Country: USA, 2000
Original Language: English
Rating: 4/5
Zavi thinks: It takes a few minutes for this film to get rolling, but once it does, its complex layers of dry humor make it absolutely hilarious. Billed as a “black comedy about white trash,” this film perfectly captures the unique nuances of being in a large Southern family, from the idea that ‘a-statement-isn’t-judgmental-if-you-say-bless-their-heart-at-the-end’ to the concept that ‘even-though-everyone-knows-we-just-don’t-talk-about-it’. This movie isn’t just for the Southern niche, however. Anyone who has ever left a small hometown for a larger city and experienced the challenge of coming home as a different person will relate to it. This movie is endearing, silly and weird all at once and is great for group movie nights.
Panda thinks: I wasn’t sure what to think of this film when I first saw it …
Click to continue reading QMR: sordid lives
posted by zavi
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Transamerica: Weeks before her gender reassignment surgery, a tranwoman is shocked to discover that she unknowingly fathered a child. She is forced to confront a wide variety of issues from her past while on a cross-country road trip with her new found teenage son.
Country: USA, 2005
Original Language: English
Rating: 4.5/5
Zavi thinks: This movie impressed me by exploring a much broader spectrum of queer issues than I initially expected. It delves into the gender, sexuality, and secret desires of both of the lead characters and examines how these factors have made them into the people they are today. Forget cliches – this film is direct and refreshingly honest.
Panda thinks: This movie was another really pleasant surprise for me. It feels in many ways like an older film (in fact I had no idea it was released in 2005 prior to reading the IMDB information). At the beginning I was wary, certain that this film would be a stereotypical blurring of the lines between transwomen, crossdressers, and drag queens. But in …
Click to continue reading QMR: transamerica
posted by zavi
IMDB photo
Better Than Chocolate: A cast of quirky, queer characters quest for love and acceptance in this exceptionally cute movie. Great for snuggle-times or a feel-good group movie night.
Country: Canada, 1999
Original Language: English
Rating 4.5/5
Zavi thinks: One stand out feature of this otherwise lesbian rom-com movie is the inclusion of a trans female character with a realistic and 3-dimensional personality (as opposed to the typical, flat token drag queen character). Judy steps outside all stereotypes and simply leads her life.
Panda thinks: I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed this film–on the surface it looks like a somewhat saccharin sweet girl meets girl romance. In reality it is an entertaining and compelling film, full of a rich cast of characters who fall all along the spectrum of young and old, homosexual and straight (and everything in between), as well as the sexually liberated and the sexually restrained. To be honest, the love story of the main characters in my mind serves primarily as a thread that holds all the …
Click to continue reading QMR: better than chocolate
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