Cruising the Movies Cruising the Movies

This month on CRUISING THE MOVIES, Liz and KJ take you into the twilight world of men turned into women with BLACK CHRISTMAS filmmaker Bob Clark’s feature debut, SHE-MAN: A STORY OF FIXATION. Made in Florida with a cast largely drawn from the stage of New York’s legendary 82 Club, SHE-MAN tells the story of Lt. Albert Rose, a macho soldier who finds himself forced to take estrogen as part of a blackmail scheme led by the mysterious Dominita. The shocking part? He likes it. THEN, KJ speaks with Caden Mark Gardner, co-author of the upcoming book "Corpses, Fools, and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema." SHE-MAN will return to New York for the first time in decades for a rare 35mm screening with its original co-feature, the trans documentary short QUEENS AT HEART, at IFC Center on Monday, May 13th at 7pm.

In this inaugural episode of CRUISING THE MOVIES, Liz and KJ take a look at the controversial (and oft-censored) debut feature from one of queer cinema's great provocateurs: Bruce LaBruce. A loose remake of Robert Altman's THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK, LaBruce's NO SKIN OFF MY ASS tells the story of the strange love affair between a swishy gay hairdresser and a skinhead. Then, Liz and KJ speak with filmmaker Henry Hanson, whose recent short BROS BEFORE was heavily inspired by LaBruce's early work. Both NO SKIN OFF MY ASS and BROS BEFORE play at IFC Center in New York on Monday, April 29th at 7pm.

We know it's been a while since you last heard from us, so we wanted to let you know about our new project. It's a spiritual successor to ASK ANY BUDDY called Cruising the Movies: a monthly podcast and film screening series at IFC Center in New York City exploring the fringes of queer cinema history. As with ASK ANY BUDDY, each episode will provide a deeper dive into the history, production, and impact of these films and feature interviews, archival sources, and conversations with filmmakers, critics, and historians. Our first episode and screening will feature Bruce LaBruce's NO SKIN OFF MY ASS and Henry Hanson's BROS BEFORE. The episode will be on this same feed next week, with the screening occuring Monday, April 29th at 7pm. Tickets now on sale at ifccenter.com.

We're back! This week, we return from our extended summer break with a look at something that's been in the works for nearly three years: the ASK ANY BUDDY and the Golden Age of All-Male Adult Cinema series happening at New York's Anthology Film Archives beginning this Thursday, October 20th and running through the 25th. This series marks the first theatrical screenings of ASK ANY BUDDY since early 2021 and also includes seven other films from the era, including five extremely rare 16mm screenings and the world premiere of a new 2K restoration of Peter Berlin's THAT BOY. Over the course of this episode, we'll talk about each of those seven films, the challenges of programming sex films, and the historical value of seeing these films on film. 

This week on the podcast, we’re celebrating the release of Altered Innocence’s new Blu-ray release of Arthur J. Bressan, Jr.’s seminal PASSING STRANGERS and FORBIDDEN LETTERS by taking a look at his 1984 film, DADDY DEAREST. The third and final film in Bressan’s self-described ‘personal/porno trilogy,’ DADDY DEAREST tells the story of Edward Thompson, a gay porn director with artistic aspirations who finds his personal life and private fantasies bleeding into the production of his latest film. One of Bressan’s most ambitious explorations of fantasy, memory, and reality, DADDY DEAREST is a hidden gem waiting to be rediscovered and a fitting conclusion to a gay film trilogy unlike any other.
There’s a lot to talk about with this one and over the course of the episode we’ll use several early screenplay drafts to trace the development of the film and its core themes, explore the way it (perhaps misleadingly) exploits the then-nascent Daddy phenomenon, and place it in context with the rest of Bressan’s filmography.

This week on the podcast, we wrap up our month in Paris with the film that trailers described as being “the gayest… Frenchest… French gay porn film which will fill your heart’s desire,” Jean Estienne’s 1978 romantic drama, ET... DIEU CRÉA LES HOMMES ("AND... GOD CREATED MEN). The first feature-length effort by a poster artist and filmmaker whose previous film was banned for “degrading the human spirit,” ET... DIEU CRÉA LES HOMMES is an unheralded lost masterpiece of French gay cinema.  
Over the course of this episode, we’ll dig a little deeper into the French gay film scene of the late 1970s, explore the erotic possibilities of a landline phone, and celebrate an early Fistmas in April.