It’s been quite a while since our last round-up of what’s been happening here at Gaelick Towers. (Personally, I blame the hectic madness of Pride and the Civil Partnership Bill.) Let’s remedy that, shall we?

Oh, lesbian films. How do you disappoint us, let us count the ways! Let’s think back: Go Fish, High Art, Bound, and of course the “classic” of the genre, Claire of the Moon. Thankfully with Hannah Free my fears were unfounded.

On the silver screen lesbians tend to fit into one or all of the following categories: Insane, Lonely, Trying to have a baby. Trans women can add freak to the list and bisexual women can throw a pinch of conniving into this heady mix. Even films made by women who love women very often end up putting the hom in homicidal, the bi in bizarre and the t in touched.

When I saw the trailer for this film, I was intrigued, and instantly knew I had to see it. As it turns out, the trailer was edited in a way that was somewhat misleading. My friend and I were under the illusion that it was going to be a very creepy sort [...]

I do love a good thriller where you spend most of your time wondering if people are who they seem to be. Shutter Island is one such film. Another Martin Scorsese movie filled with great atmosphere and great acting by the master’s new favourite, Leonardo DiCaprio.
This one gets the thumbs up from me.

The nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards have been announced and I have been left feeling a little flat. I always look forward to the nominations but I feel that this year the pickings are very slim indeed. There doesn’t seem to be an out and out winner and I’m not convinced that many of these films will stand the test of time, as an Oscar winner should.

One of the films of the year so far is Precious. This is a tough film by any stretch of the imagination and I just can’t do it. I can’t sit for 90 minutes and be assaulted by the violence in an emotionally gut-wrenching story. I know I’m not alone, many will stay away for the same reason. But is that selfish? Is this the type of film people should see for the very reasons we will stay away – because we don’t want to face the reality of abuse?

So, it’s that time of the year again, Halloween, one of the three gay Christmases (Halloween, AMI and Pride)! You’d better start getting those costumes ready, because there is a LOT on, and most of them are fancy dress. With prizes. And everyone loves a good prize. You have absolutely no excuse to go out and have a ball over the Halloween weekend. The only problem will be trying to decide where to go.

Those fabulous people in Enlightenment have given us some wonderful prizes especially for you, dearest Gaelicker. We have one copy of each of Shamim Sarif’s films to give away, plus one copy of her three books.
Just answer some quesitons which are an insult to your intelligence.

Last Saturday I headed out with a friend to see Watchmen, I love superhero films so I was really looking forward to this one. Without saying too much, a lesbian superhero is killed in the opening montage, and to be honest the film never recovered in my eyes.

Love a duck – March this year sees the release of UK production, Lesbian Vampire Killers. But wot’s it all about, Alfie?

Changeling is the first film in a while that I’ve really been looking forward to. It’s the true story of a woman’s courage when faced with a corrupt police force in 1920’s America.
A struggle many people throughout the world can empathise with

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My girlfriend is obsessed with disaster movies, so I have sat though quite a few in recent times. Some are ok, some are truly forgettable and apparently, some are just so bad, they are fantastically brilliant (according to her, at least).
So I wasn’t sure what to make of [...]

I have been waiting for this film to come out for ages! I saw the trailer (here) a while ago and just loved it, but then I love animated films.
The story is of a Panda, played by Jack Black, who is a fanatic for Kung Fu but finds himself working, for his Dad, in [...]

Right so, Diary of the Dead is one of those ‘If we make this film with a hand-held camera it’ll look like totally rad and it’ll be like dead cheap’ films. Let’s call it Cloverfieldesque. It does, however, manage to avoid vomit-inducing camera wibbliness (yes it’s a word).

Being a girl pubescent is a bitch. It makes you act like a bitch and it makes you amazed when your friends act like bitches. No one understands you, your body is exactly what it’s not supposed to be and you’ve just fallen in love.

So am I the only one who thinks it matters where you go see a film?
My experience is limited to Dublin I’m afraid but even with that restricted view I think that the various cinemas have different strengths and weaknesses. I mean, if I want to see a so called “arty” film I go [...]