Acting luminary opens up about being ‘in love with gay people,’ the Snapchat conundrum and her beloved LGBT roles

Meryl Streep is laughing her signature laugh. You know it: Sometimes light and airy, sometimes a surge of boisterous euphoria that carries well into the next question – but always unmistakably Meryl.

Cinema’s grand dame cracks one of her warm, famous chortles during our recent interview, while entertaining the idea that her latest chameleonic role, as real-life opera diva Florence Foster Jenkins in the movie of the same name, could once again spur drag queens to emulate another one of her queer-loved characters. Then she laughs again as she fondly remembers locking lips with Allison Janney in 2002’s The Hours. Meanwhile, the mere mention of 1992’s Death Becomes Her has Meryl unleashing a hearty roar. Another laugh, too, when she ponders how sexting and Snapchat are related.

Gay audiences know this laugh because they know Meryl Streep. They also know her compassion for LGBT issues, both as an extension of her queer-inclusive acting repertoire and more explicitly, when, during her Golden Globe acceptance speech in 2004, she slammed then-president George W. Bush by condemning his anti-gay marriage stance. They’ve learned the art of shade from her sharp, searing tongue in The Devil Wears Prada, and they live for all the campy one-liners in Death Becomes Her. And during Angels in America, HBO’s 2003 watershed miniseries about the AIDS crisis, they wept.

Now, Streep, 67, sheds her skin once again to portray Jenkins, one of the worst singers in the world. In the poignant dramedy Florence Foster Jenkins from Stephen Frears, director of The Queen, the esteemed once-in-a-lifetime luminary plays a wannabe opera singer with a voice so hysterically appalling her loyal husband (Hugh Grant) bribes critics into letting her think she can sing.

Here, during this rare and revealing one-on-one conversation with Streep, the three-time Academy Award winner and record holder for most Oscar nominations discusses why she regards Angels in America as one of the most important LGBT-themed films she’s done, and how she feels about gay men performing Meryl monologues. And looking ahead, is the biopic queen ready to consider her own story becoming a feature-length film in the future? Streep laughs at the very thought, of course, but she’s not kidding when she says, “I hope I fade into oblivion.”

You’ve given the gay community a breadth of greatness over the last four decades. When you look back at your gay roles, which has been the most important to you?

Oh, gosh. To me, I mean, Angels is such an important piece of history, and I felt really lucky to be part of that because I don’t think there was anything like it before. It really felt like being at the Democratic National Convention in the moment that Hillary shattered the glass ceiling – a big deal. The Hours was important too. And of course I got to kiss Allison Janney, which was a perk! (Laughs)

Don’t tell Emma Thompson, who famously tongue-kissed you and gave you an orgasm in Angels.

(Laughs) Yeah, right! (The Hours) was nothing like that!

I remember Emma talking about that kiss in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. She’s very proud of it. She said she learned that “you have to use tongues even if you’re not a lesbian.”

Oh yeah, you really do. (Laughs)

When you look back at that moment, how does your takeaway from that kissing scene compare to Emma’s?

It’s just, you can’t take the baby from the bathwater. You can’t. It’s just the whole thing of it – that (orgasm scene) was just like the culmination of it. But what (screenwriter Tony Kushner) was doing was for a really mainstream HBO audience at that point – just groundbreaking. That hadn’t been on television. Movies, yes. But not television. So it was very cool.

You discovered you were a gay icon in 2012, when you found out about Streep Tease – gay men taking on Meryl monologues in West Hollywood. Did you ever get a chance to see it?

I didn’t. We went immediately to London to shoot something else.

How do you feel about watching other people – gay men, for instance – do Meryl?

I love it when they do other people! (Laughs) I don’t know. I’m sure it would tickle me, but I’m just not – I don’t have a distance on myself yet that I probably should have. It’s like when my kids imitate me. I laugh but I kind of don’t like it. (Laughs)

Do they imitate you often?

Oh my god, yes. Endlessly. Especially when I answer the phone and they can tell that it’s (me pretending to be), like, a Jamaican operator or something, because I sort of start talking in the accent of the person I’m talking to. Oh, they’re merciless.

Do you feel a connection to the LGBT community?

I just can’t remember when LGBT people were not in my life. You know, gosh. My piano teachers when I was 11 and 12 were two gay men in a little town in New Jersey who had a collection of Mexican art and piñatas and silver lantern covers, and their house was wonderful, not like anybody else’s house in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. And yeah, I came of age when everything was kind of opening up and that’s a good time, right like now.

This film harkens back to the ’40s when communities were kind of cloaked and undercover, and yet in Greenwich Village and just communities of people in the artistic world, they were always embracing of people, every kind. That freedom – very staid people were drawn to that world because of its imagination and exoticism and willingness to embrace life in a different way.

How do you think the message of Florence – doing something you love because you love it and not because of what other people think – will resonate with the LGBT community?

Well, to the extent that anybody tells you that you can’t be a certain way or you shouldn’t be a certain way. You know, I think the limits other people put on you are the least valuable. A child announces who they are and people who encourage them are the ones to be around… and you have to get rid of everybody else who doesn’t help! (Laughs) I feel that way about everything, but certainly LGBT audiences will understand that.

In 1979, when you played a lesbian in Manhattan, being LGBT wasn’t cool. Why did you take on a role that might’ve been deemed “too much” during that time period?

I didn’t think of it that way. I mean, I was coming to movies sort of sideways from the theater. I got an early movie and I thought, “Well, this is a one-off; they’ll never ask me again.” I was fine with that. I was happy in the theater. And in the theater I had lots of gay friends and my longtime collaborator Roy Helland is gay. I’ve grown up with gay people and been in love with gay people.

Romantic love?

Oh no, not that kind!

I mean, I know women who’ve had gay boyfriends and gay husbands.

No, no. Well… not that I know of! (Laughs)

If you were to play another lesbian role, who would be your dream co-star?

Oh, well, someone younger, clearly. (Laughs)

But who? I mean, you and Sandra Bullock have already had practice making out at the 2010 Critics Choice Movie Awards.

Yeah! That was famous. But I don’t know! I can’t pick! There are so many. One thing I think is, there are so many young talented actresses and actors. I grew up in a time when people emerged – like, there were a handful of people. Now, there’s like 35, 40 people who are just beyond talented, and because of the opening up of long-form television and all the other platforms – webisodes and things like that – I think there are more opportunities for people to demonstrate their talent. There are so many talented people.

And streaming – I heard you say you’re learning about it.

Getting on that, yes. Not really. (Laughs) Somebody told me that I Snapchatted but I don’t know how to Snapchat and I thought it was the thing that you do when you’re sexting sort of and then you want it to be erased. I didn’t know what they were talking about!

It’s very confusing out there, Meryl. Stay in your bubble.

OK, fine! (Laughs)

Emily Blunt said she’s interested in doing another Devil Wears Prada if everybody else returns. Would you be interested in doing a sequel?

In theory. But the heart sinks until you read the script. It’s like, somebody said (they want a) Mamma Mia 2! and it just – _ack_! I thought, Gram-Mamma Mia!? Really? No. (Laughs) So it would depend on the script; the script is everything. If somebody has the imagination and wit to apply and has an interesting story, yeah, sure. But absent that, no.

Your gay fans wouldn’t mind, I’ll tell you that – as long there’s a solid script, of course.

No, I wouldn’t mind either if the script were good.

Your Death Becomes Her co-star Isabella Rossellini said that she didn’t know she was making what became a gay cult film until after some market research. When did you realize Death Becomes Her would become a gay cult classic?

I knew when I met the writer! (Laughs) When I met Martin (Donovan), I thought, “OK, here we go.” And then (when I sang) my first number, I thought, “Oh, all right, I’ll see this in a club somewhere.” I mean, with lines like, “Now a warning?!” – I mean, come on! It was so much fun, and it’s sort of a documentary on aging in Los Angeles now, it seems to me.

For years, you’ve been playing real-life people: Julia Child, Margaret Thatcher, now Florence Foster Jenkins. If one day there’s a Meryl Streep biopic, what do you hope it captures about your life and career?

I hope that doesn’t happen! You know, I treasure my life and the fact that it’s not on Facebook, and I really love my solitude and privacy – all these old-fashioned concepts. In a job where I’m with hundreds of people all the time and going on these press things, I just really love to get away and not be in the chattering world. That’s really important to me. So, I hope I fade into oblivion.

We rode in from the airport and Roy – my hair and makeup guy – pointed out the Will Rogers museum here in LA that’s closing and I said, “Why?” He said because nobody knows who he was and nobody cares, and there was no more central figure in his time that could sort of translate the best of the wit and charm of his era. So, you know, then it’s over. He’s gone. Nobody cares.

And you’re OK with that happening to you?

Yeah, I’m fine with that! (Laughs) I seriously feel like you can only speak to your moment, and right now your work should reflect it. Your work has to just be important right now. And in 10 years, if it looks obsolete or like you were overdoing it, that’s fine, because for that time you were.

Chris Azzopardi is the editor of Q Syndicate, the international LGBT wire service. He can proudly say Mariah Carey once called him a “daaahhhling.” Reach him via his website at www.chris-azzopardi.com and on Twitter (@chrisazzopardi).

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Dark, moody and mysterious, L’Atessa/The Wait (Oscilliscope), plays like a modern horror story, but the shock is of a more subtle nature. Jeanne (Lou de Laâge) arrives at the home of her Italian boyfriend Giuseppe at a time when the household, including his mother Anna (Juliette Binoche), are deep in a period of bereavement. However, it’s not made clear for whom they are mourning.

Meanwhile, Jeanne, who argued with Giuseppe before her arrival, can’t figure out why he’s not returning the messages she’s leaving on his mobile. The messages, which range from seductive to apologetic to frustration and anger, are being listened to by Anna who has Giuseppe’s phone with the cracked screen.

Come to find out the screen isn’t the only thing cracked. Anna is well-aware that Giuseppe is dead, and so is the audience, for that matter. She’s simply unable to break the news to Jeanne. As the women become better acquainted and Anna warms to her dead son’s girlfriend, people come and go from the house, including best friends Giorgio (Domenico Diele) and gay Paolo (Antonio Folletto).

In a matter of just a few days, Jeanne evolves from being a timid and overly polite girl to a woman before Anna’s eyes. But Anna, so torn apart by grief, keeps the mind games going, including telling Jeanne a hateful lie about Giuseppe. Visually captivating, but slow, The Wait is almost pulled under by its own weightiness.

If you miss the Rob Reiner of old, the one who directed classic comedies such as This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally…, as well as acclaimed dramas such as A Few Good Men, Misery, Ghosts of Mississippi and Stand By Me, you won’t find him in Being Charlie (Defiant). Basically a glorified advert for sobriety and recovery, Being Charlie can’t seem to make up its mind about what kind of movie it wants to be and ends up a confusing muddle. If you don’t do hard drugs, you might want to start after watching it.

On his 18^th birthday, Charlie (Nick Robinson) is also marking six months of sobriety. Both anniversaries are observed at a “recovery ranch” in Utah. But Charlie has other plans, beginning with leaving the facility before his time is up, but not before he shatters a stained glass window on the premises first.

After hitching a ride in the direction of L.A., Charlie calls home and leaves his mother a message to the effect that “things will be different this time.” Of course they won’t, as we see when Charlie steals Oxy from the people who offered him the ride. Dumped by the roadside, Charlie calls drug buddy Adam (Devon Bostick) who picks him up in Barstow.

Contrary to his plan to stay at home after Adam drops him off, Charlie discovers that his parents, former actor turned gubernatorial candidate David (an almost ageless Cary Elwes) and Liseanne (Susan Misner) have staged yet another intervention. Charlie refuses, but Adam intervenes getting Charlie to agree to check into another facility for 30 days. This is where Being Charlie basically becomes an extended recovery program advert. There’s a group session led by Drake (Ricardo Chavira), talk of someone’s relapse and departure, and the acceptance and commitment mantra. To be fair, Charlie does let Drake have it, slamming the program.

Ultimately, it’s fellow addict Eva (Morgan Saylor) who convinces Charlie to stick around. Soon, Charlie has 60 days of sobriety. Moving to a less restrictive outpatient facility, run by Travis (Common), as part of his recovery, Charlie is nevertheless still a rule breaker, seeing Eva on the sly. Obsessed with vintage comedians and stand-up comedy, Charlie performs at the facility’s talent show; an act that will eventually backfire on him when a video of it hits the internet.

After Charlie and Eva’s clandestine visit to his parents’ beach house while on a weekend pass, it doesn’t take long for everything to unravel. Eva makes a hasty exit from the recovery facility, Charlie starts using again, Adam ODs and David’s political future hangs in the balance. It’s almost as if the story of Charlie’s recovery isn’t an interesting enough subject to sustain the movie. All of these other distractions are layered on so as not to lose anyone’s attention. Additionally, some of the homophobic dialogue is made all the more shocking because of Reiner’s well-known liberal-leaning politics and support of the community. That’s too bad, because like the main character, Being Charlie definitely had potential.

So far, 2016 has been a good year for femmes d’une certaine age, with decent movies starring Sally Field and Helen Mirren, among others. Susan Sarandon (of questionable politics fame) can add her name to the list with writer/director Lorene Scafaria’s The Meddler (Sony Pictures Classics/Stage 6). Not a perfect movie, it nevertheless gives Sarandon, and co-stars Rose Byrne (as daughter Lori) and J.K. Simmons (as possible love interest Zipper), the chance to shine.

Marnie (Sarandon), a bored but well-provided for widow, has moved to L.A. to be closer to screenwriter daughter Lori (Byrne). Neither woman has fully processed the loss of Joe, husband and father, respectively, although Lori is seeing therapist Diane (Amy Landecker). Marnie appears to think that all she and Lori needs is constant communication – by phone, by text and in person. Lori disagrees.

Marnie doesn’t limit her meddling to Lori. She also offers unsolicited advice to Apple Store employee Freddy (Jerrod Carmichael, who also plays twin brother Fredo), retired police officer Zipper (who has taken a strong liking to Marnie), Lori’s ex, action movie star Jacob (Jason Ritter) and Lori’s lesbian friend Jillian (Cecily Strong).

Comedic situations aplenty arise, along with some that also tug heavily on the heartstrings. Sarandon is fabulous as Brooklyn transplant Marnie, and despite the movie’s flaws, is the main reason to see The Meddler.

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Irish writer/director John Carney has stumbled on his own niche. Seemingly inspired by the 1991 hit movie The Commitments, Carney has crafted his own cottage industry of films about unlikely musicians who team up to make beautiful music together (see 2007’s Oscar-winning Once and 2013’s Begin Again).

Set in Dublin in 1985, at a time when Irish immigrants were flocking to London for work, Sing Street (The Weinstein Company) centers around a family coming apart at the seams. In an effort to make ends meet, broke and bickering parents Robert (Aiden Gillen) and Penny (Maria Doyle Kennedy, who appeared in The Commitments!) decide to send musically-inclined Conor (newcomer Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), 15, the third of their three offspring, to the Christian Brothers school on Synge Street. Immediately zoomed in on for being “too posh” for the school, Conor is abused by principal Brother Baxter (Don Wycherly) and relentless school bully Barry (Ian Kenny).

However, Conor finds new purpose in life when he meets Raphina (Lucy Boynton), who lives across from the school in a girls’ home. Raphina, not much older than Conor, has a much older boyfriend and big dreams of a modeling career in London. But that doesn’t deter Conor, whom Raphina has nicknamed Cosmo, in his pursuit of her.

With the aid of smooth-mumbling classmate Darren (Ben Carolan), as well as fellow student musicians Eamon (Mark McKenna), Ngig (Percy Chamburuka) and others, Conor forms a band, inspired by the popularity of music videos and encouraged by stoner older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor). Brendan, who in taking control of Conor’s musical education, watches his own failed music dreams coming alive.

As the band, named Sing Street, evolves, so does Conor and his appearance. He incorporates visual influences ranging from Duran Duran to the Cure to Spandau Ballet and other superstar acts of the era. Conor and Eamon also become something of a powerhouse songwriting duo and the results are heard throughout the film. Where Carney’s Once was a far more serious and heartbreaking musical saga, Sing Street goes for a lighter touch. That doesn’t make its message of following your dream any less enjoyable or melodic.

It’s hard to imagine that a film set in 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War, featuring a pre-resignation Richard Nixon, could provide viewers with enough comedic material to elicit laughter, but Liza Johnson’s lighthearted trifle Elvis and Nixon (Amazon Studios) does just that. Based on the Oval Office meeting between Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) and Nixon (Kevin Spacey), immortalized in the famous photograph, the film brings some levity to an otherwise dire time in history.

Responding to the unrest Elvis sees on the multiple screens in his Graceland TV room (leading him to draw his pistol and fire at the offending idiot box), he pens a letter to then President Nixon, offering his services (including his karate skills) in exchange for an official badge and title (all undercover, of course). Calling on longtime associate Jerry (Alex Pettyfer), Elvis leaves Memphis and heads to Washington DC to hand-deliver his missive and then checks into a hotel awaiting word from the President.

Eventually, the letter makes its way to Nixon, and with eager aides Krogh (Colin Hanks) and Chapin (Evan Peters) nearby, a meeting is arranged. There are several humorous moments leading up to the meeting. The meeting itself, in which Elvis violates practically everything he agreed to prior to entering the Oval Office, is very funny. But there’s something slightly off about the whole venture. Of the two, Shannon earns Elvis’ top billing, owning every scene in which he appears, and narrowly avoiding making the King the caricature he had become. Spacey’s Nixon, however, is unnecessarily wacky, slithery and ghoulish. Physically and socially awkward, Nixon comes off as more of a desperate buffoon than ever before.

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The Miami portion of the 2016 MiFo Film Festival continues at various venues through May 1. Below are reviews of selected titles, including two dramas and a documentary. (Advance tickets are available at mifofilm.com).

Those People (Little Big Horn), the feature film debut by out director and co-screenwriter Joey Kuhn, feels like one of those LGBT film festival flicks that could easily crossover to a wider ranging audience. That’s mainly because almost everyone, gay or straight, can relate to the story of one person being in love with someone who is too self-absorbed to notice or care.

Spanning a three month period, from September through December, the people in Those People include Charlie (Jonathan Gordon), a gay MFA student in painting with “Jewish stomach” issues, and his childhood best friend Sebastian (Jason Ralph), a spoiled gay Upper East Side rich kid, whose family name has been destroyed by his imprisoned financial swindler father. There is also Ursula (Britt Lower), who is an underling at Vogue and a part-time waitress, straight bartender Wyatt (Chris Conroy) and London (Meghann Fahey), who used to be employed by Sebastian’s father.

A night out at a piano bar for Charlie’s birthday results in a flirtation between Charlie and experienced piano man Tim (Haaz Sleiman), who also happens to be an accomplished chamber musician. A street confrontation with paparazzi also hastens Sebastian’s downward spiral. Caught between his unrequited love for Sebastian and the promise of a new and thrilling romance with Tim, Charlie is forced to make difficult decisions about himself and his future.

Those People has a lot going for it, including strong performances from lead actors Gordon, Ralph and Sleiman and a solid supporting cast. Kuhn also proves his mettle as a writer and director, one who shows great promise. (Screening at Wolfsonian-FIU on April 28.)

In the Vermont-set indie Fair Haven (The Little Film Company), James (Michael Grant), who has deferred his first year at Berklee College of Music, returns home to his widowed father Ricky (Broadway and TV star Tom Wopat) after being sent to a conversion therapy program. James, 19, tells his father he thinks he’s “better now.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Initially James avoids Charlie (Josh Green), with whom he had been in a relationship. He even tries going out with Suzy (Lily Anne Harrison), the perky and virginal minister’s daughter. But the flashbacks to his de-gaying sessions with Dr. Gallagher (Gregory Harrison) provide little help. When James finally admits that he’s still in love with Charlie, who also feels the same for him, he must confront his father and his future.  (Screening at Colony Theater on Apr. 30.)

Narrated by gay writer Christopher Rice, Upstairs Inferno (Camina Entertainment) is a doc about the tragic and devastating 1973 fire in the New Orleans gay bar the Up Stairs Lounge, which resulted in 32 deaths and multiple injuries. With anti-gay hate crimes and other such activities on the rise in the heated political climate leading up to the November 2016 Presidential election, this film is extremely timely.

Featuring interviews with survivors, historians, reporters, patrons, and an extremely emotional Reverend Troy Perry, Upstairs Inferno provides a detailed history of the “off the beaten path” bar, which opened on Halloween 1970, including descriptions of the décor. One of the few non-segregated bars, it was a “gathering place of friends.” The bar was also known for its shows – “Nellydramas” – as well as being an early home for Rev. Perry’s Metropolitan Community Church.

The January 1973 fire, said to be set by disgruntled patron Roger Dale Nunez, tore through the bar resulting in numerous casualties and the film includes graphic images from the disaster. The losses and the lack of appropriate response from politicians and law enforcement, as well as some members of the clergy, served to strengthen the now visible community and prepared them for the unforeseen fights that lay ahead. But more than 40 years later, the outcome of the tragedy is that it has had an irreversible effect on the survivors. (Screening at Miami Beach Cinematheque on May 1.)

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The programmers of the Miami portion of the 2016 MiFo Film Festival, running from April 22–May 1, have stumbled upon an interesting cinematic trend. At least four of the best films showing during the first week deal with queer teens and the coming out process in various parts of the world. Below are reviews of two films, one set in the South of France and one set in Cuba. (Advance tickets are available at mifofilm.com).

Departure (BFI), the feature length debut from writer/director Andrew Steggall,  in English and French with English subtitles, poses an interesting question. Can you know something, good or bad, before you know it? It’s not clear whether or not it answers the questions, but most of it is worth watching to find out.

Beatrice (the amazing Juliet Stephenson) and her son Elliott (Alex Lawther, young Alan Turing in The Imitation Game) are driving to their holiday home when they hit something. It’s dark, and there’s nothing in the road, but Elliott is convinced it was a deer. In fact, he spends much of the rest of the movie dwelling on that fact.

When he’s not worrying about the possibly wounded deer in the woods, he’s jerking off to his image in a mirror, writing poetry and plays in his journal at a café, helping his mother pack up the house because it is being sold, or pining over stunningly beautiful Clement (Phénix Brossard), a perfect specimen of modern day old-school rough trade. The kind of guy who thinks nothing of skinny dipping, at a moment’s notice, in the questionable reservoir.

After pursuing Clement, Elliott is thrilled that he doesn’t mind hanging out, helping him and his mother pack up the house. It also does Beatrice some good to get some attention from hot Clement as she senses that the sale of the house is another loose thread in her unraveling marriage to Philip (Finbar Lynch). Clearly Clement doesn’t mind being fawned over either, which includes a kiss from Beatrice and a hand job from Elliott. But Clement is a complicated guy, ill at ease dealing with feelings, and struggles to cope with his mother in hospice in Paris.

Volatility is the name of the game and dishes are being broke, punches are being thrown and memorabilia is being burned. The problem is that everything is too drawn out – we already feel their pain, we don’t need to drown in it. Still, Stephenson and Lawther are a convincing mother/son duo and Brossard is simply a delight to observe. (Screening on 4/26 at Regal Cinemas South Beach.)

Set in the slums of Havana, a region we will no doubt be seeing more of onscreen and elsewhere with the change in U.S./Cuban relations, Viva (Magnolia) is a touching film about Jesus (Héctor Medina), a young gay man just trying to survive. Jesus does hair and has a variety of regular clients. There’s elderly Nita (Paula Andrea Ali Rivera), who promised Jesus’ late grandmother and late mother that she’d look after him. Jesus also does the hair and wigs for Mama (Luis Alberto García) and his drag troupe of performers including Pamela (Renata Maikel Machin Blanco) and Cindy (Luis Manuel Alvarez).

Jesus’ father Angel (Jorge Perugorría), a boxer whose glory days are behind him, isn’t dead, but according to Nita, he “might as well be.” Nita’s granddaughter Cecilia (Laura Alemán), Jesus’ best friend, is dating rising boxer Javier (Oscar Ibarra Napoles) and occasionally borrows Jesus’ apartment for their amorous rendezvous.

Jesus, who has “no one, nothing,” and “wants something for himself,” asks Mama if he can audition for the troupe. Mama agrees to let him audition, on the condition that he still has to do Mama’s wigs. Choosing the name Viva, Jesus shakily passes the audition. The night of Viva’s debut performance, Jesus didn’t tuck properly, and Cindy and Pamela observe that “they can see her cock from Cienfuegos.”

Everything changes on the night of Viva’s second performance. Angel, who has been missing since Jesus was three, has returned to town and is in the audience. He assaults Viva during her number as a way of reintroducing himself to his son. With nowhere to go, he not only insinuates himself into Jesus’ apartment, but also forbids his son from performing. This leads Jesus to hustling as an alternate means of making money.

From here on, Viva, which could also be called The Cuban Girl, becomes an intimate examination of the father/son dynamic. The two men struggle to find a way to accommodate each other while also continuing to stake out their own territory and identities. There is tragedy and triumph throughout and Medina, who makes his feature length debut in Viva, portrays Jesus with sensitivity and authenticity, bringing him vividly to life. (Screening on 4/27 at Regal Cinemas South Beach.)

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The late country music legend Hank Williams deserves much better than he gets in writer/director Marc Abraham’s dim and dull biopic I Saw The Light (Sony Pictures Classics). Thankfully, actor Tom Hiddleston, plays Williams (and does the singing) with all of the luminescence he can muster, outshining his director’s lazy and low-lit screenplay to turn in a radiant, almost Oscar-caliber performance.

A co-mingling of “vintage” interviews (shot in black and white), performance footage, and biography, for being a movie about someone as decisive as Williams, who “didn’t give a damn if you liked him,” I Saw The Light is decidedly wishy-washy. Williams was already a serious drinker by the time he got married to the questionably talented Audrey (Elizabeth Olsen) by a justice of the peace in an Alabama service station in 1944. So you couldn’t say she drove him to drink, but she certainly didn’t do much to make his life easier.

Williams, a popular radio and roadhouse performer with lifelong back trouble (he was born with a mild case of spina bifida) and an irresistible stage presence, was also under the thumb of his mother Lillie (out actress Cherry Jones) who took an immediate dislike to Audrey. This was probably because she saw that while Audrey loved Hank, she also saw him as her ticket to fame as a singer/songwriter in her own right.

The Williams had the kind of rocky marriage (including more than one divorce threat) about which country songs are written. Nevertheless, Hank’s undeniable talent took him many places (often without Audrey) including the top of the Billboard chart and the stage of the Grand Ole Opy in Nashville. But his ongoing and debilitating health issues, heavy drinking and abuse of other substances, causing him to cancel concert dates and lose jobs, didn’t help his case or his career for that matter. Williams’ early death at 29, while undeniably tragic, was not all that surprising.

When compared to, say, Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk The Line, Hiddleston stands “hat” and shoulders above Phoenix. Jones, who isn’t onscreen near enough, also does a relatively decent job of playing a pushy and controlling mother type. However, the rest of the cast seems aimless and Abraham’s lackluster direction and screenplay don’t help matters.

Hush Up Sweet Charlotte (Here!), a super-gay Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte drag parody/homage about the wacky Southern belle who became a “living mystery,” is an idea that probably looks better on paper than it does in reality. For years, theater companies such as Ryan Landry’s Gold Dust Orphans and David Cerda’s Hell In A Handbag, have been doing these kinds of spoof productions with far better and funnier results.

It’s not a total loss. Jeffery Robertson (a.k.a. Varla Jean Merman) as bosomy and conniving cousin Melanie brings a kind of exaggerated old Hollywood femininity to the character, intentionally crossing over into caricature. Also worth mentioning are stand-up-comedian-turned-actor Jason Stuart as journalist Mills and John Waters regular Mink Stole as rancid housekeeper Velma, both of whom do admirable jobs of keeping the camp coming. But the movie, written and directed by William Clift, is overly long and more than a little self-indulgent. The low-budget effects end up working against the movie as a whole and turn out to be more than a little distracting.

After making the rounds of the LGBT film festival circuit in 2015, this cramped camp production is now showing on Vimeo. If you missed it the first time around, you can see it now and decide for yourself if Hush Up Sweet Charlotte should stay quiet.

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Co-writer/director Michael Showalter’s Hello, My Name Is Doris (Roadside Attractions), based on Laura Terruso’s Doris & the Intern short, is that rare Sally Field movie in which the two-time Oscar-winning actress gets to bring her full-range of acting skills to the fore. Field calls on her comedic chops from Soapdish and Mrs. Doubtfire and combines them with her proven dramatic abilities from Sybil through Steel Magnolias for a performance that is as multi-layered as it is admirable.

As the film opens, spinster Doris (Sally Field) attends her mother’s funeral. Her insensitive brother Todd (Stephen Root) and even more tactless sister-in-law Cynthia (Wendi McLendon-Covey) want Doris to move out of the Staten Island home she has lived in all her life, and in which she cared for her mother at the end of her life. The house, a hoarder’s paradise, is a sticking point with the siblings. So much so that Todd insists that Doris meets regularly with a therapist (Elizabeth Reaser) who specializes in hoarding.

Of course, Doris sees nothing wrong with the house and doesn’t want to move. She works as a bookkeeper at a fashion firm in Manhattan and is one of the holdovers from the early days of the company. Oddly enough, her hoarding and eccentric personal style, which is just this side of Little Edie from Grey Gardens, has kept her in the loop enough that her vintage skirts, blouses and ensembles are chic again.

Doris’ mundane life, which includes attending lectures and playing cards with pals Roz (Tyne Daly) and Val (Caroline Aaron), is turned upside down by the arrival of model-handsome John (Max Greenfield) at her office. Suddenly, Doris’ over-active imagination comes out of hibernation and fills her days with outrageous fantasies. Unfortunately, the sheltered Doris begins to have trouble separating fantasy from reality.

This character flaw leads to some hilarious situations, including Doris attending a concert by EDM act Baby Goya (led by Jack Antonoff) and being recruited as an album cover model, attending an LGBT knitting circle with John’s girlfriend Brooklyn (Two Broke Girls’ Beth Behrs) and seeking loving advice from Roz’s teenage granddaughter Vivian (Isabella Acres). However, it also results in several scenes of high drama and conflict, such as a massive blowout between Doris and Roz, an embarrassing Thanksgiving situation and a massive meltdown during an intervention.

One of the first movies to appeal to senior citizens and hipsters, as well as queer folks, in equal measure, you can’t go wrong by saying hello to Hello, My Name Is Doris.

Doc filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum (A Dog’s Life) knows just how to tug at our heartstrings and continues to do so with her latest feature Look At Us Now, Mother! (Kirschenbaum Productions). A story about forgiveness that Kirschenbaum was “driven to tell” before time runs out, the doc is technically an intimate portrait of a mother/daughter relationship. However, there are numerous elements of the film that are sure to resonate with queer viewers, regardless of Kirschenbaum being straight.

Gayle and her mother Mildred have never gotten along, never agreed on anything. The youngest of three, Gayle was the only daughter. Beginning fairly early, Mildred was critical of Gayle. As she grew older, Gayle was attacked by Mildred about her nose, her hair, her clothing and makeup. Gayle’s brother Irwin recalls going off on Mildred for the way she treated her daughter.

Alternately described as “a piece of work,” “the life of the party,” “effervescent,” “outspoken and politically incorrect” and someone who should be “muzzled,” Mildred’s difficult personality could be traced to her own painful childhood which included a depressed and suicidal father, as well as the death of a younger sister. When asked about her childhood, her marriage and the way she treated her children, Mildred often responds by saying “I don’t remember.” Whether or not she does is another matter altogether.

Kirschenbaum does a commendable job of painting her mother in the most flattering light possible. She also deserves to be applauded for not giving up on her quest for some sort of reconciliation with Mildred. There is also an even balance between sadness (Gayle’s father’s stroke and passing, the death of Gayle’s beloved dog Chelsea) and humor (the Craigslist ad placed by Gayle and Mildred, the trip the two took to India), all done in an effort by the filmmaker to better understand and come to terms with her mother.

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Filmmaker Atom Egoyan is well-known for making films that aren’t easy to watch (see The Sweet Hereafter) and Remember (A24) is no exception. Oscar winners Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Martin Landau (Ed Wood) play Zev and Max, respectively, two Jewish residents of a senior housing community facility.

Zev, still observing the mourning period following his wife Ruth’s passing, suffers from dementia. Max is confined to a wheelchair and on oxygen from COPD. However, he still has his wits about him and sends Zev on a mission of great importance to both men. Max tells Zev that they are the last living survivors of their Auschwitz prison block, and Zev is the only man who can still recognize the face of Otto Wallisch, who goes by the alias Rudy Kurlander, the block fuhrer who killed their families.

Zev slips out of the senior community and into a taxi with only an envelope containing a multi-page precise instructional letter from Max, a train ticket to Cleveland and a few hundred dollars in cash. After a stop at a pawn shop to purchase a gun, Zev begins his incredible journey by train and bus in which he meets a series of men named Rudy Kulander. Some of the men still live with family members; others are nearing the ends of their lives in long-term care facilities. One, who was a gay concentration camp survivor, elicits an unexpected response from Zev.

In his search to find Otto/Rudy, Zev has an especially terrifying encounter in Boise, Idaho (so much for Silver Alerts, right?) with John (Dean Norris), the anti-Semitic sheriff son of a deceased Nazi memorabilia collector. The confrontation results in Zev wetting his pants, a reaction that could easily occur amongst audience members. Nevertheless, Zev perseveres until he comes face to face with the one Rudy who reveals an utterly shocking and surprising secret about Zev and his quest. Calling Remember, a film you will not soon forget, riveting is an understatement.

With his Oscar-nominated screenplay for Nebraska as well as The Confirmation (Saban Films), the latest film based on one of his screenplays (and the first he has directed), Bob Nelson is becoming the white trash bard. The Confirmation, like Nebraska, involves an odyssey taken by a father and son in order to claim a treasure of sorts, giving it a mythological bent, as well.

The treasure in question is a set of expensive and old tools stolen out of the back of a pick-up truck owned by Walt (Clive Owen). Walt, a down-on-his-luck carpenter doing everything within his power to remain sober, is watching his son Anthony (Jaeden Lieberher) for a couple of days while his devout ex-wife Bonnie (queer actress Maria Bello) and her second husband Kyle (Matthew Modine) attend a church-sanctioned couples’ weekend.

Anthony, on the verge of his first communion and confirmation, is conflicted and has lots of questions about life and religion. As the father and son follow various leads to retrieve the stolen tools, including interactions with gun-toting dad Vaughn (Tim Blake Nelson), former meth-head Drake (Patton Oswalt) and assorted denizens of the Pacific Northwest, they begin to repair the damage done to their relationship.

More than anything, The Confirmation confirms the acting skills of both Owen and Lieberher. It also shows great promise for Nelson as a filmmaker.

If you didn’t get enough extreme drama with Remember or The Confirmation, be sure to gird your loins for Macbeth (The Weinstein Company Home Entertainment), now on DVD. Driven husband and soldier Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) and his equally ambitious wife Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard), as well as assorted royal families, and a trio of “weird sisters,” populate the latest film version of the violent Shakespeare tragedy, directed by Justin Kurzel with a screenplay by Jacob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie and Todd Louiso. DVD bonus features include a “making of” featurette and Fassbender Q&A.

Photo Credit: trailers.apple.com

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