While Reverend has interviewed many filmmakers, actors, writers and other creatives during the past 30 years, I've only been on the other end of the mic, camera or email a handful of times. Therefore, I was delighted when the magazine I've contributed to for the past 14 years recently decided to spotlight me! Here is a link to their October 5th website posting of it:
30 Years, Countless Stories and One Very Good Plot Twist - Rage Monthly Magazine
And here is the interview as initially conducted via email:
Q: This summer marks 30 years since you became a consistently published critic and entertainment writer. What first drew you to this work, and do you remember the first piece you saw published in print?
REV: Thank you so much for recognizing my anniversary! It has been a journey, to be sure. I actually started out to be a filmmaker. When I was in the 6th grade in Phoenix, Arizona, I discovered my late grandfather’s Super 8 movie camera and made a Superman movie with several of my classmates. In high school and college, I studied film and theater and eventually earned an Associate’s degree in Motion Picture/TV production and my Bachelor’s in Communications. I even won some student filmmaker awards. I was all set to move to LA/Hollywood in 1988 when God called with a different plan.
I entered seminary and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1995. The editor of Arizona’s bi-weekly Catholic newspaper, The Catholic Sun, was aware of my background and asked me if I would start writing movie reviews for them. I agreed to do so in 1996 and my first published review was a favorable one of Disney’s animated The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It sparked a debate via letters to the editor that ran for three issues over the merits of the movie as well as whether a priest should be reviewing movies in the first place. One reader accused me of doing “a great disservice to Catholic children,” lol. But the controversy made me a local celebrity virtually overnight.
Q: How has your voice as a critic evolved over those three decades, and what do you understand about the job today that you didn’t when you started?
REV: While I wasn’t exactly closeted when I first started reviewing, my departure from the Roman Catholic church 10 years later allowed me to be completely out as an openly gay critic and focus more on movies with overtly LGBTQ content. Becoming more comfortable in this regard was an evolution as well as adapting to the internet, which was pretty new to me. Streaming movies and TV shows is an even more recent development, and trying to keep up with all the new offerings is the biggest challenge for me nowadays. But between my print and online presence today, I have a broader and even more international readership than I ever imagined.
Q: Fourteen of those years have been spent writing for The RAGE Monthly. What have you enjoyed most about covering film for our readers, and are there any RAGE assignments that hold a special place in your memory?
REV: I am so grateful to RAGE for your support over the years. When I first moved to Long Beach in 2006, I was invited to write for the late Blade magazine. I did so for 6 years, but then Blade was sold and other circumstances led me to RAGE in 2012. I certainly feel it has been a happy collaboration, and I appreciate that RAGE has allowed me to not only write about film and TV but theater, opera and music as well. You’ve definitely helped broaden my critical horizons!
Q: You’ve interviewed such notable figures as Alfred Molina, Dakota Fanning, Charles Busch, Bebe Neuwirth, Alex Newell, Bryan Fuller and the late Ray Liotta. Which interview has stayed with you the most, whether because of something the person said or something unexpected that happened?
REV: I’m honored to have interviewed LGBTQ icons like Busch, Newell and Fuller. Out Broadway director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who founded the annual Broadway Bares fundraiser in NYC for people living with HIV/AIDS, was another fave interview who sticks out in my mind. I’ve been privileged to interview the delightful Michael Urie twice. Alfred Molina and I had an unexpectedly funny rapport, and Ray Liotta’s sensitivity impressed me.
I have to say though that the strongest celebrity/artist connection I’ve made over the years was someone I never actually interviewed. Soon after relocating to Southern California, I crossed paths with actor Barry Dennen. Barry was the original Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar on LP, stage and film. He also played the Emcee in the original London production of Cabaret (opposite Judi Dench as Sally Bowles) and memorably voiced the sniveling Chancellor in Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. We often joked about Pontius Pilate and the Priest being friends, lol. He even introduced me to his friends, including the fabulous Jo Anne Worley, as “my priest.” Barry was culturally Jewish. Sadly, he died in 2017. I had the honor of officiating his funeral at Hollywood Forever cemetery.
Q: You serve as editor and chief contributor of Movie Dearest, a website offering reviews and cinematic perspectives for gay and gay-friendly audiences. How did you become involved with the site, and what role has it played in your writing career?
REV: Movie Dearest was developed in 2007 by Kirby Holt, one of my best friends since high school, and he invited me to contribute. Wow, I just realized Movie Dearest is nearly 20 years old! The blog gave me the opportunity to share “Reverend’s Reviews” and interviews I had done for other publications as well as post new ones, notably my theater reviews. Kirby stepped down as editor/administrator a year or so ago and I took over. I am in the early stages of developing a podcast as part of Movie Dearest, so stay tuned!
Q: You were also a founding member and former Vice President of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. Why was it important to create a professional organization specifically for LGBTQ+ critics, and how have you seen its influence grow?
REV: In 2008 or 2009, I crossed paths with fellow critic John Griffiths. We got to talking and both thought a group of specifically LGBTQ critics who could give annual film awards a la the African American Film Critics Association and Women Film Critics Circle was needed in Hollywood and beyond. John ran with it and we formed with approximately 30 members. Today, GALECA has over 500! Some studios were wary of us at first and it took a few years to establish relations with them. Today we present our annual Dorian Awards (named after Oscar Wilde’s timeless The Picture of Dorian Grey) not only to movies but to TV shows and Broadway/Off-Broadway productions! Now that I live NYC-adjacent in Connecticut, I’m a member of our Theater Wing and love it.
Q: You have spent 31 years as a priest, 15 years as an openly gay Reformed Catholic bishop and nearly 20 years as a hospice chaplain. How has each of these callings shaped you, and what have they taught you about faith, identity and service to others?
REV: They say the Lord works in mysterious ways and I can testify to this! If you had told me back in the 1980’s that I would one day be any one of these things, I would not have believed you. I had a rocky relationship with God after my parents divorced when I was 9. Things got rockier when I was a teenager figuring out my sexuality. In hindsight, I can see God had faith in me when I didn’t have faith in God. I tried to remain open, however, and that ultimately allowed God to break through.
I am so grateful for all the opportunities and hats—some literal—that God has given me. I affiliated with the Reformed Catholic Church in 2009 and they consecrated me as a bishop a few years later. Hospice ministry in particular has given me so much insight into the human condition and a greater appreciation of life. I pretty much fell into it after moving to Long Beach. Wells House Hospice was still operating there and provided a final home to many people with end stage AIDS and nowhere else to go. They hired me as a chaplain in January 2007 and I have continued to serve in that role with other hospice agencies ever since. I became board certified in 2023.
Q: After 30 years of reviews, interviews and memorable encounters, what still excites you about the work—and is there someone you would still love the opportunity to interview?
REV: It’s been interesting and exciting, but sometimes frustrating, to watch how the film industry and theater-going have changed, especially post-COVID 19. There are definitely more “hoops” one has to jump through on one hand, while Zoom and online opportunities have made artist/celebrity access easier in other ways. I’m happy that seeing movies on the big screen has become popular again, as evidenced by the massive international success of The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day this summer.
I would love to interview Lady Gaga one of these days and discuss her vibrant career as well as her Catholic background. A newer singer-actress I’ve been impressed by is Amber Iman. San Diego audiences may recall her from Lempicka at La Jolla Playhouse a few years ago. I saw her in it on Broadway (for which she was Tony Award nominated) and recently saw her in the world premiere of the musical Black Swan in Boston. She is now appearing in Hadestown on Broadway. I’d love to chat with her one of these days.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share?
REV: One of the most unanticipated developments in my life was that of marriage. I met my now-husband, James, in Long Beach in 2007 when same-sex marriage wasn’t even legal. Neither of us could have predicted then we would one day be legally married and living together in his home state of Connecticut. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last year. Yet another example of God’s unpredictable ways, lol.
The Most Reverend Chris Carpenter is editor of Movie Dearest and chief contributor. He has been reviewing movies and theatre since 1996 and also contributes to Rage Monthly magazine (ragemonthly.com). He is a founding member and former Vice President of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Critics (galeca.com) and currently serves as a nominating/voting member of its New York-based Theatre Wing. Reverend Carpenter has been an ordained minister since 1995.
