Here Comes a 'Spirited' Christmas
Spirited inverts the tropes of the holiday musical genre to update an age-old tale for 2022. It's a paean to those who make grand spectacles possible.

If you were a gay man in the 1980s, an apocalypse raged. The deadly HIV/AIDS pandemic was devastating the gay community, and with no cure, no vaccine and no treatment in sight, gay men had to watch helplessly while a generation of precious human beings was lost. Despite the horror of these deaths, the dominant feelings in straight society were indifference and contempt. Despite all this, David Shannon, a real gay man, was moved to help out as best he could. Many HIV/AIDS patients were completely abandoned by family and friends and left to die alone. David would sit with these ostracized men, and while he couldn't cure their illness he could at least comfort them and keep them company in their final. David never talked about it; his friends only found out after he passed away in 2018. This film encapsulates David's silent crusade, portraying him caring for one fictional patient as he dies.
Spirited inverts the tropes of the holiday musical genre to update an age-old tale for 2022. It's a paean to those who make grand spectacles possible.
Middle school best friends reunite in middle age - Magalie is a chaotic free spirit “freeloader”, Blandine is a divorcée “sourpuss” with severe depression. The Palm Beach Film Festival opening night was glamorous for “Two Tickets to Greece”, the first screening of the French film in the United States.
Perhaps the most amazing and groundbreaking quality about The Birdcage is how removed it is from both illness and insensitivity. Whereas films preceding it were often somber stories about the tribulations of being gay in a conservatively straight world, Nichols and screenwriter Elaine May expose the fallacies of conservatism as traditional values are thrown into a more open-minded space. They don’t care how far the community has fallen so much as how high they can rebuild themselves.
Overall, Matthias & Maxime doesn't reinvent this romantic concept. But it also doesn't need to. Dolan weaves a story of love, friendship, and life that is both realistic and bittersweet. The film is nuanced and sensual in a way we don't get to see often with LGBTQ characters. It's a film that we can celebrate.
This Nickelodeon live-action TV series features strong Black representation.
We're in the midst of July, the month in which Americans are supposed to be at their most patriotic! With barbecues, beach trips, and fireworks galore, this is the month where we celebrate our country. For Incluvie, that primarily means diving into the wonderful "melting pot" of the diversity of American film! In between celebrating and feasting, it's important to remember the very basis this country is founded on: "liberty and justice for all."