Change Your Image
cginspacegw
Reviews
The Big Leap (2021)
True Representation in Casting... and addictive as heck
This show is probably the most broadly representative show on TV right now, and is an example of what diversity can be in entertainment. The show has a mix of ages, body shapes and sizes, abilities, races, genders and expressions, sexualities, experiences, economic situations... and somehowanages.to give time to all of these characters. The show is about dance, which is often associated with thin bodies and a certain aesthetic of beauty; but the crew here is beautiful in a myriad of nontraditional and atypical (for television) ways.
The story of a "reality" show putting average people together to create a performance of Swan Lake, The Big Leap is at times camp, at times hard to swallow,.often cynical as a "seen-it-all" reality producer pokes and prods his "cast" into fighting, being inappropriate with each other, revealing too much, or jumping into situations that are.likely to.turn out poorly (but entertainingly). What the show does so well is to use this poking and prodding to reveal more about the characters in a way that helps us actually ROOT for them. The more that we see the secrets and the gaffes, somehow, the more "real" these out there characters feel.
I have been bingeing for several days because these characters are so.relatable,.and also so NOT what we.often see. Yes, there are traditionally gorgeous folks (the show's cocky adult twins, who manage to also rise above stereotypes), them there are gorgeous and extremely talented folks with larger frames, unusual looks and a wide variety of race, background and ethnicity.
Young Royals (2021)
Adorable
This show is so adorable, fairly believable for such an unbelievable premise, with great chemistry between the leads. I just realized today how HUGE it is for the LGBTQIA community to have its own Prince Charming fantasy stories (though this Prince Charming is also kinda Prince Awkward).
Sobre Nós (2017)
Relationships Are Moments and This Film Captures Them Beautifully
I watched this film after watching Cousins byuch of the same team. They are such different films: one broad and one very specific. One is played for warm laughs and the other plays out in a series of moments. This one is the specific one, a series of captured little moments that had me falling on love with the young students of the film and then had my heart breaking between them as the little things pulled them apart.
The writing in this was sensitive and thoughtful,.and the direction, while sometimes too precious and reliant on music, was overall prudent and perceptive. The two leads, as has been said by other viewers, had chemistry that is off the charts and rare in ANY film (as well as life-giving in a gay film). Rodrigo Bites, especially, had such honest reactions to scenarios that I wanted to see more of him, to know where he ended up after the credits rolled.
I see that some folks found it too slow-moving and found it somewhat "boring." I, on the other hand, felt this series of.ligjt touches and captured moments to be so real and relatable that the memories almost feel like my own.
Cicada (2020)
One of My Favorite LGBT films in Years
So many gay films are too light for me. Too many films about broken souls finding each other are too heavy. I saw Cicada online through Outfest LA and found a weighty LGBT film that is also a wryly funny and engaging love story about trauma survivors.
I don't want to give too much away, but both the main characters in this film have traumatic secrets and bucket loads of hurt as potential obstacles to companionship and love. One character hides his pain by being the joker (which feels very real to this trauma survivors), while the other tends to want to walk away from painful moments. Will they make it as a couple. Will they even make it on their own? Watch and find out.
I CAN say that the film seems more interested in hearing witness than it does in tidy epiphanies or huge declarations. I can also say that that the actors are sublime and make all of it complex AND real. I found myself alternating between laughing, wanting to yell at the characters, feeling floored by the emotional honesty and crying at the tiny moments of profound hope.