★★★★★
US: 94 min • TLA Releasing • DVD

Teen angst, self-discovery and homosexuality with a love of Stevie Nicks thrown in.

Even though at times the film gets rather clumsy, jumping from one encounter to the next with often predictable results, it is an engaging film due to some very good performances from the central and supporting cast.

★★★★★ (ironically scattered stars)
US: 152 min • TLA Releasing • DVD (2 Disc)

If Sunset Beach was over-run with sex-crazed ineffectual vampires with a penchant for same sex proclivities, you would have The Lair. What’s not to like?

It’s a ‘Class A’ Guilty Pleasure which is incredibly addictive and has scene after scene of ‘wtf?’ moments such as the Sheriff’s reaction to the discovery of yet another dead body in the ongoing murder case. His deadpan assessment of the situation is, “We got a young John Doe. Naked… Dead… Makes a good looking corpse”.

★★★★★
US: 88 min • TLA Releasing • DVD

A coming of age film that is well-scripted and dodges sentimentality.

Dorian Blues has won to date fourteen Film Festival Awards, and deservedly so. It is a beautifully scripted and shot movie. Every beat of the dialogue rings with a truth, which often leads the story and characters in a direction that other directors wouldn’t have the courage to go..

★★★★★
US: 83 min • Verve Pictures • DVD

25 years after it was first released, this documentary remains fascinating, compelling, as well as being essential viewing.

The Times of Harvey Milk is an honourable and fitting tribute; and not just to the man, but the very idea of him and what he stood for. It is about his part in a movement, a candidacy. If every movement needs a martyr to remind it of its ideals, and what it can be, such a figure is to be found in Harvey Milk.

★★★★★
US: 85 min • TLA Releasing • DVD

An endearing tale of political and emotional awakening .

The sexy and punky Sadie inducts Anna into the world of her activist group C(i)A, Clits in Action, whose guerrilla actions are designed to inspire women to follow their lead and fight the system. The group is made up of three other young women and one trans man, but that does not mean the story is weighed down by abstract issues of sexuality and race.

★★★★★
SP: 93 min • TLA Releasing • DVD

A refeshing comedy that owes a debt to Almodovar whilst remaining very much its own thing.

Chuecatown is populated with some of Spain’s finest actors, whose performances enhance an already rich script of feisty one liners and laugh-out-loud “I can’t believe they just said that” moments.

★★★★★
Fr: 109 min • Verve Pictures • DVD

A fascinating insight into the life and work of Patti Smith.

Icons tend to be cold, distant things and if Dream Of Life achieves one thing it’s to show a Patti few outside of her immediate circle would ever have imagined existed. Indeed, the most revealing moments of the film occur when we see her doing the most ordinary, un-iconic things.