I just finished watching Queerstralia , which is a three-part documentary about the hidden history of LGBTQIA+ people in Australia. It’s hosted by a comedian named Zoe Coombs Marr. To be honest, I didn't know who she was before this, so it took me a little while to get used to her specific style of joking around. The show covers a huge amount of time, starting from when Australia was a prison colony for the British all the way to famous movies like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert . It looks at how being gay was treated as a crime, the stories of trans pioneers, and even "bushrangers" (outlaws) who dressed in clothes of the opposite sex. It also goes into the history of the Mardi Gras festival, drag culture, and how gay marriage finally became legal there. The host starts the show by jokingly saying, "I’m a comedian, I’m not qualified," which tells you right away it's not going to be a stiff or boring history lesson. Over three episodes that are an hour long...
A mainstream hollywood movie coming up with such a film is definitely good to see with some leading men playing the main protagonists. The story is simple and not too complicated but by the way Robert Di Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman have acted, it makes the whole difference.The story is simple. Rusty (Philip Seymour) is a female impersonator who lives in the same apartment building as Walt (DeNiro), a retired policeman who works as a security guard. During a robbery of a drug dealer, one of Rusty's fellow drag performer Amber is killed and DeNiro suffers a stroke trying to prevent the crime. The drug dealers are looking for their money and they keep finding different ways to harass the trannies to get the money back but that money is not found. The doctor suggests that Walt shold take singing classes and that will help in his stroke. He decides to take classes with Rusty. They have nothing in common except both of them are alone. They get along with each other and on one such nights sharing secrets, Rusty tells Walt that he (she) has money that Amber had of the drug dealers. The dealers later find out about it and the movie ends with a fantastic climax where Rusty and Walt work a s a team to save money and fight with the drug dealers.
Like I said, he move is simple but what makes special are the performances. The movie otherwise looks very low budget. The name comes from the drag contest called Flawless that is won by this girl who has a crush for Walt even after he has had a stroke.
Watch it for performances for DeNiro and Seymour. (6/10)
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