Reverend's Movies of 2021: From Confusion to Artistry

Movie-going returned to some degree of normalcy last year after coming to a COVID-related halt for most of 2020. However, confusion often reigned supreme. Has my favorite theater re-opened? Is that movie I want to see in theaters, only streaming, or both? And do I really have to wear a mask the whole time I'm in the theater??? (Answer: yes!)

Virtually every movie involving superheroes did well at the box office, while others struggled. As 2022 begins, several traditional film awards events have been postponed or cancelled. Most of these are the result of the latest COVID-19 surge.

So what movies, especially of LGBTQ interest, have emerged as awards contenders? There are at least two major entries that have already won some significant honors. The Power of the Dog is the first feature film in 12 years by celebrated writer-director Jane Campion (The Piano). It is based on an acclaimed 1967 novel by Thomas Savage, who was a closeted gay man for most of his life. The film's plot centers on Phil Burbank, a closeted gay cattle rancher in 1920's Montana. When his brother unexpectedly marries a woman with a more openly gay son, the rancher's carefully cultivated life starts to become unraveled.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in The Power of the Dog as the conflicted Phil and is already racking up Best Actor awards from critic groups. Kirsten Dunst, as the new sister-in-law Phil vindictively tortures, is in the running for Best Supporting Actress nods. The true revelation, though, is Kodi Smit-McPhee as Peter, the newly arrived object of Phil's growing affection. I expect him to be nominated as Best Supporting Actor by many organizations including the Academy. Campion and cinematographer Ari Wegner are also certain nominees.

This year's other big LGBTQ contender is Flee, a unique animated documentary about Amin Nawabi, who shares his story as a gay refugee from Afghanistan now living in Denmark. It premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Award in the World Cinema Documentary competition. It has since been honored by many critic groups as 2021's best documentary. Most significantly, it could be the first film to be nominated by the Academy for Best International Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature. It could also potentially be nominated as Best Picture. We shall see once Oscar nominations are announced on February 8th.

Which movies did this sometimes-confused critic experience as the best – and worst – artistic achievements of 2021? Ask no longer! (Note: Some award contenders including Licorice Pizza and Don't Look Up were not made available to the critics group of which I'm a member, GALECA, before press time so could not be considered here.)

The Best Films of 2021

1. The Power of the Dog (Netflix). For all the reasons mentioned above, plus its potent critique of homophobia and toxic masculinity. I also appreciated that it shows gay men in a darker but more balanced, nuanced light than we have become accustomed to in gay-themed studio films of the last decade or so.

2. Belfast (Focus Features). Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical, lovable look at his boyhood in violence-torn Ireland. Its great cast of potential Oscar nominees includes adorable newcomer Jude Hill as little Kenneth (named Buddy here), Jamie Dornan and Caitrona Balfe as his parents, and veteran actors Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench as his grandparents. The movie also features a great score and songs by veteran rocker and Belfast native Van Morrison.

3. Cyrano (United Artists), In the Heights (Warner Bros) and Tick, Tick... Boom! (Netflix). 2021 was an excellent year for live-action musicals, with one notable exception (see my worst list below). These three were the best of the crop. The first is a deeply moving, pop-inflected version of the classic play headlined by a singing Peter Dinklage. The other two are Lin-Manuel Miranda stage adaptations boasting diverse casts, including LGBTQ characters. Former (and multiversal) Spider-Man Andrew Garfield gives a terrific performance in Tick, Tick... Boom! as late Rent creator Jonathan Larson.

4. I Care a Lot (Netflix) and Red Rocket (A24). Immoral lead characters doing despicable things have rarely been so deliciously entertaining. Rosamund Pike stars in the first as a conservator who preys on wealthy elderly people. She gets her well-deserved comeuppance via the vicious gangster son of one of her victims. Meanwhile, art imitates life somewhat in Red Rocket wherein former real-life porn star Simon Rex plays a former porn star who returns to his Texas home and sparks all kinds of havoc. Both films offer smart, frequently funny takes on cynical subjects.

5. Flee (Neon) and Fauci (National Geographic). The aforementioned Flee deserves its accolades as one of the best documentaries of the year. Also important and timely is Fauci, an insightful look at the National Institutes of Health czar who first steered the US through the AIDS crisis and is now trying his best to get us through COVID-19.

6. Moffie (IFC Films) and Swan Song (Magnolia Pictures). The two best gay-themed narrative films of the year. Moffie is a heart-rending, beautifully shot exploration of a young gay man's coming of age during the persecution of South Africa's apartheid era. Out director Todd Stephens' delightful Swan Song (not to be confused with another 2021 release titled Swan Song that stars Mahershala Ali) features a career-best turn by Udo Kier as a fabled hairstylist lured out of retirement for one last job, plus a supporting cast that includes Jennifer Coolidge, Michael Urie and Linda Evans.

7. The Humans (A24) and Mass (Bleecker Street). Two dramas that continue to haunt me long after I finished watching them. The Humans is Stephen Karam's adaptation of his Tony Award-winning play about a troubled family confronting figurative and literal ghosts in one member's rundown apartment. Mass depicts a fraught but ultimately redemptive encounter between the parents of a school shooting's perpetrator and the parents of one of his victims. Both films boast great ensemble work from their numerous stars.

8. Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (both Marvel/Disney). The best comic book-inspired adventures out of a crowded field of blockbusters. Asian-American filmmakers brought a welcome maturity and inclusiveness to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Eternals featuring its first openly gay (and married!) superhero. Their special effects are spectacular and the casting of both movies is inspired, most winningly Shang-Chi's Simu Liu and Awkwafina.

9. The Green Knight (A24). An unusual but memorable take on an Arthurian legend by gifted filmmaker David Lowery. Poetic, unsettling, funny and visually ravishing, it also marks lead actor Dev Patel's best work to date.

10. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (Sony Pictures Animation/Netflix) and Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney). 2021 was also an excellent year for animated movies but these two struck me as the most unique. Both are led by strong female characters and Katie, the main protagonist in The Mitchells vs. the Machines, is queer. They are also bold creative visions that truly offer something for everyone.

The Worst Films of 2021

1. Army of the Dead (Netflix). Pregnant zombies? That's only one of the baffling excesses to be found in Zach Snyder's ridiculous wannabe epic of the undead. (Ironically, its 2021 prequel entitled Army of Thieves narrowly missed being included among my best film picks.)

2. Dear Evan Hansen (Universal). Definitely not one of the year's best musicals. Ben Platt may have won the Tony Award for his performance of the title character on Broadway, but he is visibly too old to play the role on the screen. Ditto Julianne Moore as his mother. The film's more straightforward approach also unconsciously heightens Evan's unhealthy behavior to an unappealing degree.

3. The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros). A needless, graphically violent reboot/sequel to 2016's more entertaining Suicide Squad. Not even Margot Robbie's vivacious Harley Quinn could save it.

4. Dune (Warner Bros). I'm a decades-long fan of the sci-fi novel and was greatly disappointed by this adaptation's glacial pace and dull characterizations. David Lynch's much-maligned 1984 version covered the whole book in less time and was decidedly more energetic. (It is also gayer.)

5. The Lost Daughter (Netflix). Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut has been widely acclaimed but I found it baffling, although Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are great as usual. Sorry Maggie, yours is the most overrated movie of 2021.

Here's to a happy, healthy and cinematic 2022 for all of us!

By Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film and stage critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reverend's Interview: Getting Merry with Michael Urie

The Hallmark Channel, Lifetime and other networks are awash in holiday-themed movies this month, pretty much running them 24/7. Too many of them share boringly similar storylines with nary an LGBTQ character in sight.

Thankfully, this trend is slowly starting to change. Last holiday season featured the premieres of three groundbreaking films with LGBTQ characters front and center: Dashing in December (Paramount Network), The Christmas Setup (Lifetime) and Happiest Season (Hulu). This year, we can add Netflix's new Single All the Way (debuting today on the streaming service) to this growing subgenre.

Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about his perpetual single status, openly gay Peter, played by Michael Urie, convinces his best friend Nick (sexy Philemon Chambers) to join him in going home for the holidays and pretending they're now in a relationship. But when Peter’s mother (Kathy Najimy of Sister Act plus Hocus Pocus and its upcoming sequel) sets him up on a blind date with her handsome trainer James (the hot Luke Macfarlane, himself a veteran of several Hallmark Channel Christmas offerings), the plan goes awry. Despite this, Peter and Nick gradually draw closer to each other. The movie co-stars the one and only Jennifer Coolidge, Barry Bostwick of The Rocky Horror Picture Show fame, and Schitt's Creek's Jennifer Robertson. It is directed by out Tony Award-winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening).

Single All the Way is Netflix’s first gay holiday rom-com. “That’s a very special feeling; I’m not going to lie and pretend that’s not a big deal,” said Chad Hodge, the festive film's screenwriter. Hodge previously created the TV series Wayward Pines and The Playboy Club. He also wrote the book for the stage adaptation of Irving Berlin's musical Holiday Inn. “I’m lucky, and the experience I’ve had making this movie with Netflix has been very rewarding," Hodge continued. "But there are so many LGBTQ storytellers, so many brilliant writers and directors, so let this be just the beginning."

As star Michael Urie adds in the movie's press notes: “It’s the perfect Christmas movie because it’s a love story between queer people surrounded by a cast of queer icons who are doing everything they can to get these two friends to fall in love with each other.” Urie is well known to both LGBTQ and mainstream viewers. The out actor rose to prominence on TV's award-winning Ugly Betty as Marc St. James, personal assistant and "seeing-eye gay" to the bitchy Wilhelmina (played by Vanessa Williams). Since then, Urie has gravitated easily between TV, film, and the stage. He has also moved into producing and directing.

The ever-effervescent Urie recently spoke with reverend via Zoom from New York City, where he was appearing in the Broadway comedy Chicken & Biscuits.

REV: Congratulations on Single All the Way as well as one of my favorite movies of the year, Swan Song!
MU: Oh, thank you so much! Also a Jennifer Coolidge film. We didn't have any scenes together but when I arrived all of Sandusky, Ohio was abuzz that she had been there. And I have to say working with (cult movie star) Udo Kier and working with Jennifer Coolidge was everything you'd want it to be.

REV: That's quite the combo! So tell me, how did Single All the Way come your way? How did you get involved with it?
MU: Well, that's an interesting question actually. I guess it's OK if I tell the story. So, I received a request to make a self-tape audition for the role of Nick, the hot, rugged handyman (ultimately played by co-star Chambers). And I was like, "Guys, are you sure about this? Are you sure this is what you want? Because I see in the script there's this adorable, neurotic, gregarious Peter and I'm a Peter, not a Nick." And they said, "OK, yeah, let us look at the clips." Also, I know the writer, I knew Chad Hodge socially and I loved his work and we'd met a few times so I said, "You know, Chad knows me so if you just float this by him I think he'd be more interested in seeing me for this role." And they're like, "OK, don't make a tape; hold on." I told them I loved this script and I love this idea, and I would love to be in this movie, so just let me know. And so a few days go by and they're like, "OK, don't make a tape, I think they're going to just ask you to do it." And I said fine and it turned out that they just offered me the part. It's one of those weird things where like if I had made a tape for Nick, I'm not sure I'd be in the movie.

REV: Interesting! Now, had you worked with Michael Mayer before as a director?
MU: I don't think so... (pauses for a moment) No, we never had. We knew each other, we'd been around each other a few times and we may have done a reading together at some point or another. In the theater, there's lots of one-day gigs where you cross paths for a day and you stand at music stands and read a play. That may have happened at some point, and I know there was a thing in development that we were trying to get going. But I knew him and really liked him. I loved his work and we had a really great time together in Montreal.

REV: Awesome! I read you had worked with Kathy Najimy before but you hadn't worked with Jennifer Coolidge and how about Barry Bostwick?
MU: So, Kathy and Barry were both on Ugly Betty and Kathy and I were both on (the TV series) Younger, and Jennifer and I were both in Swan Song but I don't believe any of us had actually shared the screen before. I was very familiar with their work; it's hard not to be if you love actors. And if you're gay, they're even more important.

REV: I agree. They are god and goddesses. I've interviewed Barry Bostwick before and he's delightful just to talk to, very open and he was great.
MU: Oh my gosh, he's so charming and even though one would think he doesn't want to talk about Rocky Horror anymore, he still does! He's so proud of the legacy.

REV: Do I understand correctly that you filmed Single All the Way at the height of COVID? What was that experience like?
MU: Yep, we shot last year in Montreal and Quebec while both cities were shut down. There were curfews the entire time. Friends would recommend restaurants I should check out while I was there and I was like, "Guys, everything's shut down!" We had to carry letters with us saying we were essential workers, because Christmas movies are essential (laughs). We all had to stay six feet apart, and there was a COVID monitor on set to make sure no one was with anyone else for more than 15 minutes. It's amazing that, in the movie, it looks like we're all together and hugging and everything is perfectly normal. But that is a testament to Michael Mayer, because when 15 minutes were up and he yelled "Cut!", everyone scattered!

REV: Wow! You're right, everything looks totally normal in the finished film. Are there any moments in the film that parallel your personal holiday experiences or that you drew from?
MU: Hmm, that's a good question. My partner Ryan Spahn and I have been together 13 years. Ryan's family all live in the same town, while my family is more scattered. We alternate each year. The holiday dinners with Ryan's family are massive, like in the movie, and it's really easy for everyone to gang up on one person. Alliances change very easily. I also remember everyone in my family going to separate rooms to wrap gifts, like they do in the movie. I think Single All the Way reflects a lot of universal truths about the holidays. There is Christmas magic, and I find it interesting that traditions for every family are so unique while relatable. Christmas is unique. I mean, what other holiday has its own genre of music?

REV: I think that's the perfect way to end this interview. Thank you, Michael, and happy holidays!
MU: Happy holidays!

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film and stage critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

MD Review: Gods and Monsters

Leave it to Marvel to take a group of obscure comic book characters and build a whole big budget sub-franchise around them. But what worked for the Guardians of the Galaxy does not for Eternals, no matter how much the studio pushes it as their next awards-baiting break out, à la Black Panther. Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao tries, but it's hard to care much about a bunch of angsty, super-powered immortals you've never heard of before.

MD Rating: 6/10

Eternals is now playing in theaters.

Reverend's Reviews: Back to Broadway

With proof of COVID-19 vaccination and photo ID in hand, Reverend recently made his first trip back to NYC and Broadway since December 2019. Ah, how I longed for those carefree days when one could attend subsequent Best Musical Tony Award winner Moulin Rouge! (which we earlier honored as our pick for 2019's Best Stage Show) without fearing for one's life! But I'm happy to report that both Broadway and Off-Broadway are in healthy shape at present.

My intrepid theatre chums Joe, Zoe, David and I first paid homage to the gods of NYC theatre by taking in Off-Broadway's Fairycakes. It is playing at the Greenwich House Theater in Greenwich Village (duh). Written and directed by the acclaimed and often hilarious Douglas Carter Beane (The Little Dog Laughed, the stage adaptation of Xanadu and the LGBTQ film classic To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar), the comedy is something of a mashup of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Pinocchio and Cinderella. It's first act is too long and convoluted, but things pay off nicely in the tighter second act. The play's main selling point is its big name cast currently consisting of comedian/CBS news correspondent Mo Rocca, Avenue Q veteran Ann Harada (who is also a regular on Apple TV+'s Schmigadoon!), Charles Busch's frequent sidekick Julie Halston and the one and only Jackie Hoffman. An enchanting musical score by Beane's husband Lewis Flinn as well as Gregory Gale's extravagant costumes also deserve special mention.

Disney is back on Broadway, not only with the return of long-running hits Aladdin and The Lion King but with their brand-new Winnie the Pooh. At 75 minutes, it is an adorable family-friendly delight. Sure, the simplistic plot consists of little more than honey-loving Pooh bear and his stalwart friends Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet and Rabbit getting into various kinds of trouble while their human pal Christopher Robin is away at school. But the overall look of the production, supervised by Jonathan Rockefeller, is amazing. The various non-human characters are larger-than-life puppets visibly operated and voiced by Jake Bazel (Pooh), Chris Palmieri (Tigger), Kirsty Moon (Piglet and Roo), Emmanuel Elpenord (Eeyore, Rabbit and Owl), and Kristina Dizon as Kanga and various natural elements. Bazel, in particular, does a great job channeling the unforgettable voice of the late Sterling Holloway; he even looks like a young Holloway! Numerous songs by the Sherman Brothers from the classic animated films as well as tunes from more recent Pooh-related projects like Piglet's Big Movie (2003) and The Tigger Movie (2000) are incorporated. Both the kids and adults in attendance loved it. Trust me, there are way worse ways to spend a Saturday morning.

My Connecticut friends and I went our separate ways the afternoon of Saturday, October 30th. Reverend took in my #1 choice, which was Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, now playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. An import from London that originally opened on Broadway shortly before the COVID-related shutdown, it starred newly-minted Tony Award winner Adrienne Warren as the rock & roll goddess. Unfortunately, Reverend learned just a few days before the performance and months after buying my tickets that Warren was leaving the production last weekend so I didn't get to see her. On the plus side, her understudy and new successor Nkeki Obi-Melekwe was fantastic and I'm sure she would have won the Tony if she had originated the role. I also preferred Obi-Melekwe's vocal performance over Warren's more affected, gravelly singing (which I had heard multiple times beforehand via Sirius XM's On Broadway channel).

The book of Tina, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, is a fairly straightforward account of Turner's rise to stardom despite her abusive marriage to Ike Turner (very well-played with just enough sympathetic insight by Tony nominee Daniel J. Watts). I appreciated that the show, directed by Mamma Mia's Phyllida Lloyd, is bookended with references to Turner's longtime devotion to Buddhism. Many songs from the diva's five-decade career are successfully incorporated into the show, although some (notably "Better Be Good To Me" and the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome theme "We Don't Need Another Hero") feel somewhat shoehorned in. To call Anthony Van Laast's choreography energetic would be an understatement, and Obi-Melekwe impressed me even more with her post-curtain call mini-concert of three more Turner songs! Whether on Broadway or eventually on tour, Tina is a must see!

My theatre-loving pals and I closed out our 4-shows-in-24-hours NYC weekend together with a preview performance of Mrs. Doubtfire at the Stephen Sondheim. Adapted from the beloved 1993 movie that starred the late, great Robin Williams, the musical was in previews and primed to open before last year's Broadway shutdown. Our reaction to it was decidedly mixed but revisions may yet be made prior to it's official December opening.

I haven't actually watched the film since seeing it in a movie theater nearly 30 years ago. I enjoyed it but can't remember the plot with complete accuracy. That being said, the musical (written by Wayne Kirkpatrick, Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell, who previously collaborated on the delightful Something Rotten!) recreates all the story's major points including "It was a run-by fruiting!" I do wish there had been a full musical number of this, though, in addition to a pair of terrific songs inspired by the movie's "Easy Peasy" and "Make Me a Woman."

The primary attribute of the stage version, which is directed by Broadway legend Jerry Zaks, is lead actor Rob McClure. He gives an amazing performance as Daniel Hillard/Euphegenia Doubtfire, aided and abetted by Catherine Zuber's quick-change costumes and Tommy Kurzman's makeup and prosthetics. McClure is hilarious and moving in equal shares, and I totally expect him to win next year's Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Mrs. Doubtfire: The New Musical Comedy is well worth seeing for McClure alone.

As I wrap up this article, I was just informed of the long-awaited casting of the two leads in the upcoming Wicked movie! Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo will play Elphaba while pop superstar Ariana Grande will be Glinda. The film starts filming next summer under the guidance of director John M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights). Reverend is already polishing his ruby slippers!

Reverend's Ratings:
Fairycakes: B-
Winnie the Pooh: B+
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical: A-
Mrs. Doubtfire: B

Reviews by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film and stage critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.