Some years have two films! 2016 gave me both "La La Land" and "Moonlight" and 2010 was the year of "Black Swan" and "The Social Network."
There are years like 2015 when I picked "Max Max: Fury Road," a film I loved, watched twice and put down. And then you have years like 2014 where I chose "Inherent Vice" as my #1 film. I couldn't tell you a thing about that movie today other than it starred Joaquin Phoenix and was directed by PTA.
Don't get me wrong. I love the films that I will be honoring, but in thinking about this year's Honor Roll I realized that the majority of this year's entertainment influences and joys have come from sources other than film.
My Honor Roll is an opportunity to award some of those favorites in television, podcasts, music, film and anything else pop culture.
It also gives me an opportunity to look at something that has been troubling me for the past couple of years, hopefully adding some much needed nuance to a conversation that deserves much more than a series of threads.
Let's get started.
1. Schitt's Creek - David, Patrick and the whole lot
Before this year the only thing I new about the show was that it starred Christopher Guest ("Best in Show," "Waiting for Guffman," "For Your Consideration") regulars Eugene Levy and Catharine O'Hara.
I enjoyed "Waiting For Guffman," a film every acting student in the 90s was practically required to watch...same with "Best in Show," but for some reason I just never really hooked into that type of comedy and therefore assumed "Schitt's Creek" wouldn't be for me.
Then in early 2018 I started to see postings from my friend Dan (Ducky, for those of you who might have listened to the much missed GMMR and Ducky podcast) about David and Patrick. I knew about David, played by co-creator (with his Dad) Dan Levy...the pansexual son of Moira and Johnny Rose (O'Hara and Levy) but this Patrick character was new. A little digging and I discovered that all the new buzz surrounded this new gay relationship was about a serenade of "Simply the Best" by Noah Reid's Patrick to Dan Levy's David in an episode called, "Open Mic."
Still...I didn't watch it. I was coming off the Oscars, directing a play, and planning a summer series on my favorite films of all time. Excuses, excuses....
Finally a month or so ago a fellow GALECAn, Kirby Holt posted something on our members page that made me finally perk up...along with the realization that I had barely watched any TV, much less TV with queer characters...and that if I was going to be a responsible Dorian Awards voter, I needed to watch this show.
I started at the top (which you should as well if you haven't seen it). The story is this...rich family loses their money, their possessions (minus what they can grab in 30 minutes) their assets--other than a town they purchased as a joke by the name of, you guessed it, Schitt's Creek. With nowhere else to go, they head to Schitt's Creek where they move into a run down motel, where hilarity ensues.
After a few episodes in and being disappointed that pansexual David had his first encounter with a woman (ugh...I know...in retrospect I sound so closed minded) I did something that is pretty typical me and found the "Simply the Best" number on the internet and watched it. Even out of context I was moved beyond expectation. I stopped, returned to the show and watched it from start to finish. I then watched all of season 3 and 4 again...and then watched all of David and Patrick's scenes again and then started from the beginning and finished yet again.
If that's not love, I don't know what is.
I haven't even mentioned Ted and Alexis (David's sister played by the hilarious Annie Murphy), Ronnie, the Jazzagals and the Town Council, Jocelyn and Roland...the wonderful Stevie played by Emily Hampshire...or the perfect combo that is Eugene Levy and Catharine O'Hara.
Schitt's Creek a place where homophobia doesn't exist. It's a place where a guy like Patrick can safely come out of the closet, fall in love with a hot fashionisto pansexual like David and no one bats an eye. Oh, and that Open Mic night where "Simply the Best" is performed? Well, it happens to take place in the most amazing general store not in existence.
I've seen the first 5 episodes of Season 5...and as much as I want to, I can't say much. What I will say is this. I love it and can't wait to see what comes next.
2. Someone Knows Something, Awards Chatter and Screen Talk
Podcasts continue to play a major role in my daily life. All three on this year's Honor Roll choices have been there before.
I posted recently on Facebook that I loved the latest season of "Someone Knows Something" a CBC (hmmm...CBC again...maybe I should just move to Canada, eh?!) which revisited the cold case disappearance/murder of teenager Kerrie Brown, and discovered to my delight, that many of my friends were also listening to it. I would love to think I played some part in that. But, I have to give credit to Dan again for introducing me to it in the first place.
Someone Knows Something
Scott Feinberg continues to get better and better as the Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter host, this year having talked to Oprah, Julia Roberts and Spike Lee amongst many more. Feinberg is one of the absolute best interviewers out there...prepared beyond belief, knows how to ask the right questions, and most importantly, incredibly sincere.
Awards Chatter
And then you have Indiewire's Screen Talk with Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn. Anne and Eric continue to be the perfect team to discuss the Oscars. They aren't afraid to disagree, which is key for me...otherwise you delve into Oscar progging hive mind...something I find myself much less interested in as time goes by.
Screen Talk
3. Robyn's "Missing U"
With no album in site, Robyn collaborated on a few songs here and there, but they were, to me at least, incredible disappointments. Little did I know she had lost her collaborator and friend, Christian Falk...which played a part in her hiatus. She returned in 2017 with a new song, "Honey" which was featured on an episode of "Girls" and then came the new album this year. It's been described as an album we didn't know we needed, and I agree.
My favorite single, "Missing U," a tribute to Falk is an anthem that belongs up there with her other classics. I have listened to it on repeat, many, many times, and if you haven't heard it, check it out!
4. New York City in film
In addition to "Can You Ever Forgive Me" we had "Private Life" starring Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn, written and directed by the incredible Tamara Jenkins about a couple trying to get pregnant and "A Kid Like Jake" starring Claire Danes and Jim Parsons, a husband and wife who are raising a transgendered daughter and navigating that process. In both of these stories, middle class NYC practically plays its own character, and it is very interesting. We also have "Can You Ever Forgive Me" which shows us a lower class...the struggling queer artist (been there!). And then you have "You Were Never Really Here," which digs into the city's underbelly (been there as well!) Finally we get a more inclusive view of the city in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," one of the best films of the year.
All of these stories show a truth about the greatest city in the world. Maybe you had to be there...but for me, it was like going home.
5. Pose
After the first episode I found myself heading to Metacritic to see what I expected to be a raucous agreement of the show's importance and quality. What I discovered was a lack of queer voice, and with that lacking comes a misrepresentation of representation. Since the show premiered, Rotten Tomatoes has made an effort to add more LGBTQ voices to the mix, but we are not done by a long shot.
Which brings me to....
The compartmentalization of art - casting, points of view and the rights to storytelling
When I was living in NYC and trying to make it as an actor, I was told to be myself. Casting directors can sense inauthenticity before you walk in the door. OH...but don't be gay...or don't be TOO gay.. You're actually playing two parts. The actor you (who isn't gay) and the part you are playing when you start the scene. Confusing? You bet...imagine doing that multiple times a day, every day. It got so exhausting, I just stopped.
The truth of the matter was I didn't know who the hell I was. I was doing everything I could to fit into a box I thought they wanted me in. Early on I played mostly straight characters. Romeo in R&J, Tony in West Side Story or characters whose sexuality didn't play a factor. Although if I had to venture a guess 20 years later, my Simon in "Hay Fever" might have been sexually fluid.
Even recently the majority of the characters I have played have been straight character parts. Not counting the Bellhop in "Lend Me a Tenor." Bellhop = probably gay.
Don't get me wrong...I would love the opportunity to portray a gay character on stage or film...but the opportunity hasn't presented itself, certainly not since I returned to Mississippi.
I did land an agent at one point and managed to get some really good auditions (that I blew, sadly) but the majority of those doors that were opened, were opened by me. Had I walked in the door as ME, would things have been different? I don't know.
Without having the necessary conversations about the real issue at hand when it comes to casting LGBTQ roles and LGBTQ actors, I think we are headed for trouble. Could it be possible that one day I will only be considered for gay parts?
Is the solution that we check all the inclusion boxes for every film, every casting process? I don't think so. Even that won't satisfy Film Twitter...or what I would like to properly deem it, Outrage Twitter. And when that doesn't work, what happens next?
The solution I see is more nuance to this conversation. Get off Twitter and open your minds, have actual conversations. Otherwise, we are headed into dangerous territory.
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