Senior Year (2009)

'The Mad Woman and the Feminist': This Spanish entry for the MiamisFF directed by Sandra Gallego handles a difficult conversation in a smart, memorable way.

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.

White audiences saw Peola’s mixed-race passing as a Black woman’s struggle to be white. Black audiences saw it as the rebellion of a Black woman trying to gain privileges only given to white people.

"Beef" is a new dark comedy with a near entire Asian-American cast

A lonely little Hawaiian girl and her mischievous blue alien friend form a bond that heals both of their hearts, as well as ours. This live action version adds emotional nuances—notably in the sisters’ dynamic—while preserving the charm of the original.