WATCH LIST: Ellen Page’s “The Umbrella Academy” and Matt Bomer Enters the DC Universe
In Theaters
Openly gay writer-director Christophe Honore's Sorry Angel is an outstanding queer drama worthy of post-screening conversations. Set in early ’90s France, young would-be filmmaker Arthur (Vincent Lacoste) falls for Jacques (Pierre Deladonchamps), an accomplished HIV-positive writer and father, despite major differences in their respective realities, friends, and ideas of love. (February 15, Strand)
DVD/Blu-Ray/Video on Demand
The iconic 1971 Luchino Visconti film, based on Thomas Mann’s famed novella about a composer (Dirk Bogarde) smitten by an adolescent boy (Bjorn Andresen) while convalescing in plague-stricken Venice, gets a pristine Criterion Collection restoration with loads of extras. (DVD, Criterion)
Acclaimed but controversial queer Thai photographer Ohm Phanphiroj brings us four of his artful, sexually explicit gay short film works in this DVD anthology. (DVD, TLA)
Dying from a brain tumor, Morgan (Adriana Mather) suddenly finds a new reason to live when she unexpectedly meets gender non-conforming artist Jordan (Zach Villa). Can they make the most of the time they have despite Morgan’s less-than-enlightened father (Christopher Heyerdahl) and Jordan’s difficult mother (Amanda Plummer)? (DVD, Breaking Glass Pictures)
Their relationship falling apart, a gay couple (Hermes Pittakos and Sanuye Shoteka) visit a secluded beach to reconnect and consider whether they will be able to mend things. (DVD, TLA)
A Russian Jewish American lesbian living in Boston with aspirations of being a stand-up comic, Sophia (co-writer Rebecca Karpovsky) loses her girlfriend and grandfather in the same day. When she moves in with her overbearing grandmother (Larisa Popova), she’s soon under pressure to marry a nice Jewish boy (Jacob Brandt), leading to a war of the wills. (VOD, Breaking Glass Pictures)
TV/Streaming
Ellen Page heads up this adaptation of Gerard Way (of the band My Chemical Romance) and artist Gabriel Ba’s deliciously offbeat superhero comic book series about a group of seven young gifted individuals—all mysteriously born on the same day to parents who weren’t pregnant before that morning—trained by a billionaire (Colm Feore). Oh, and Mary J. Blige plays a time-traveling assassin! (February 15, Netflix)
Matt Bomer co-stars as a bandaged-up, radioactive superhero possessed by an outer space entity, Larry Trainor aka Negative Man, in this off-kilter, third original series for DC Comics’ streaming service. Details are still under wraps, but a casting announcement suggested a gay character may also be in store this season. (February 15, DC Universe)
Thirty-something bisexual Mel (Madeleine Sami) and bestie Jen (Jackie van Beek) run a highly successful business breaking up couples—of all sexual orientations—in this New Zealand Netflix comedy series. Fun fact: In real life, Sami is married to and raising a child with queer New Zealand musician Ladyhawke! (February 15, Netflix)
