A Queer Review of the Austin Film Festival (2023)
Highlighting the many ways in which AFF 2023 illustrated that the queer experience is not a monolithic one.

One of the greatest landscape painters of all time, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) rendered the subtle effects of light and atmosphere in revolutionary ways. This documentary chronicles the rise of Turner, a barber's son who entered the Royal Academy art school at age fourteen to become, over the course of six decades, Britain's most renowned painter. It includes footage of locations important to Turner in Wales, England, Switzerland, and readings from writers and artists of the era, including John Ruskin and Lord Byron.
Highlighting the many ways in which AFF 2023 illustrated that the queer experience is not a monolithic one.
'The Menu' has a strong story. The 5 acts, which are defined by the courses, are an excellent subversion of the classic 5-act film structure.
Happy Halloween! If you were debating capping off Spooky Season with a viewing of Hocus Pocus 2, it is just very clear that this is more for the younger audience as opposed to people who grew up with the original.
A direct fall into the white savior narrative
Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing is a gritty, darkly funny thrill ride through 1998 New York, with Austin Butler delivering a raw, magnetic turn as Hank Thompson—a washed-up ex-ballplayer turned bartender whose life implodes after cat-sitting for his punk neighbor drags him into a violent underworld of gangsters, crooked cops, and chaos. Brutal yet unexpectedly hilarious, the film blends noir grit with midnight-movie absurdity, proving Aronofsky can reinvent himself while Butler cements his status as a true movie star.
Based on the fairy character from previous movies, this fantasy movie gives viewers magic.