Love, Victor, Out and A Secret Love

My Top Three This Week PRIDE EDITION

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. The winds of change are blowing. Maybe not fast enough but there is power behind it and hope for a better more equal way of life that we can be proud to share with each other.There are so many options for Pride 50. Most of them virtual. Take advantage of all the Pride programming on Apple TV+, Hulu and Netflix. One of my top favorite films is available for streaming on several platforms -Big Eden, the original Love, Simon and check out the movies and shorts for Frameline Film Festival.

1) Love , Victor a Hulu Original  from the people who brought us the classic Love, Simon is a story set at the same high school Simon attended,  Creekwood High School the setting for the Simon's love story has a new student- Victor Salazar and he is struggling with issues of self identity at school and with his chaotic family life. He becomes friends with Simon who has since moved away and they begin a correspondence that informs who Victor will become. Victor is attracted to Mia and Benji and not sure how to handle his feelings. Michael Cimino is engaging as the young Victor and his mother Ana Ortiz( Ugly Betty) is perfectly cast. Great performances from George Sear as Benji and Bebe Wood ( The Real O'Neals) and Rachel Hilson as Mia. This is a sweet story perfect for Pride Month .   

2) Out a special Pixar  animation short  on Disney + is my favorite thing I have seen this year. A nine minute short featuring a young gay man who has yet to come out to his parents and introduce them to Manuel his boyfriend. In a Freaky Friday twist Greg switches minds with his beloved dog Jim after he wishes he were a dog. Alternately funny and heartbreaking, this poignant tale is for anyone who has hidden their true selves from loved ones.  The cast includes Kyle McDaniel as Greg , Caleb Cabrera as Manuel  and Bernadette Sullivan as Mom. What made this even more special is our very own Matthew Martin as Gigi the magical cat. Matthew is a San Francisco treasure.

3)  The minute the opening credits rolled for A Secret Love, a new Netflix  Original documentary the tears started and didn't stop until after the ending credits. That is because this is a 72- year -old love story that was hidden from the world for 65 years. Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel fell in love during a time when they couldn't even go out for fear of being put in jail , living together as best friends to their mutual family members while maintaining a work/life balance only out to a select few friends. This fascinating view of two women who survived through decades of homophobia and hate to come out to their family after 60+ years is an inspiration to how far we have come and how far we have to go.

Bonus: Lazy Eye on Prime Video is a not a brand new movie but I felt it was a realistic story of dealing with an ex. Dean a graphic designer in LA finds out he is losing his eyesight and decides to take time off to drive to his place near Joshua Tree. He has just started up a correspondence with his ex of fifteen years Alex and he invites him visit him for the weekend. Rekindling and revisiting the old flame to see if it still burns proves to be harder than it should have been. Beautiful location shots and great performances from Lucas Near-Verbrugghe  as Dean and Aaron Costa Ganis as the gorgeous Alex. Bonus is hilarious Michaela Watkins in a cameo as his boss.

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