Film-Forward

GLBT

The Case Against 8

Produced and Directed by Ben Cotner and Ryan White Released by HBO Documentary Films USA. 112 min. Not rated In comparison to some of the acute, trenchant social issues currently informing U.S. political discourse—racial injustice, police brutality, biased judicial systems, third-wave feminism—the dialogue concerning same-sex marriage may now seem, to some, to be a bit […]

The Imitation Game

Directed by Morten Tyldum Produced by Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, and Teddy Schwarzman Written by Graham Moore, based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. Released by the Weinstein Company USA/UK. 114 min. Rated R With Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, and Mark […]

The Circle

Directed by Stefan Haupt Written by Stefan Haupt Distributor Released by Wolfe Releasing Swiss German with English subtitles Switzerland. 100 min. Not rated With Matthias Hungerbühler, Sven Schelker, Ernst Ostertag, and Röbi Rapp For a film that chronicles the climactic peak and dismaying decline of Der Kreis, one of the pioneering gay rights organizations of […]

The Way He Looks

Written and Directed by Daniel Ribeiro Released by Strand Releasing Portuguese with English subtitles Brazil. 96 min. Not rated With Ghilherme Lobo, Fabio Audi, Tess Amorim, and Isabela Guasco Stories of sexual awakening are abundant, but by creating a blind protagonist, writer/director Daniel Ribeiro has added a thought-provoking twist. Concerning desire, Ribeiro asks, in an […]

Lilting

Written and Directed by Hong Khaou Produced by Dominic Buchanan Released by Strand Releasing English and Mandarin with English subtitles UK. 91 min. Not rated With Ben Whishaw, Cheng Pei Pei, Andrew Leung, Naomi Christie and Peter Bowles The story here is simple enough, but the telling is artful. Ben Whishaw plays Richard, a young […]

Pride

Directed by Matthew Warchus Written by Stephen Beresford Produced by David Livingstone Released by CBS Films UK. 120 min. Rated R With Bill Nighy, Imelda Stanton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine, George MacKay, Joseph Gilgun, Andrew Scott, Ben Schnetzer, Faye Marsay, Liz White, Menna Trussler, Lisa Palfrey, Freddie Fox, and Jessica Gunning With each passing year, […]

Love Is Strange

Directed by Ira Sachs Written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias Produced by Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Jayne Baron Sherman, Lars Knudsen and Sachs Released by Sony Pictures Classics USA. 98 min. Rated R With John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Darren Burrows, Charlie Tahan, Cheyenne Jackson, Manny Perez and Eric Tabach In last year’s […]

The Dog

Produced and Directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren Directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren Released by Drafthouse Films USA. 110 min. Not rated In August 1972, John Wojtowicz robbed a bank in Brooklyn, taking hostages and enduring a 13-hour standoff with the police. The unsuccessful heist granted Wojtowicz 15 minutes of fame, which […]

Mr. Turner/Saint Laurent | Cannes Biopics

In the awards competition at the Cannes Film Festival, two films rejuvenated the often clunky genre of the biopic. Mike Leigh, whose films have won many honors here, offered something of a departure from his previous output. Mr. Turner, appropriately his most picturesque film yet, explores the later years of pre-Impressionistic, pre-rebel chic painter J.M.W. […]