Choke on all the great film and music releases out this week, including new work from Le1f, Angelina Jolie, and Macy Gray.
November 13 2015 3:54 PM EST
December 29 2015 7:42 AM EST
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Choke on all the great film and music releases out this week, including new work from Le1f, Angelina Jolie, and Macy Gray.
The first full album from stereotype-shattering rapper Le1f and a career-defining performance from Cynthia Nixon need to be on your entertainment radar this week.
Le1f, Riot Boi
After a much-loved mix tape (Dark York) and EP (Hey), queer rapper Le1f releases his much-anticipated first album, Riot Boi, on Friday. Look for infectious beats like those in Koi, which has an incredible Technicolor video. It's not just bangers, though -- Le1f unabashedly takes on racism, homophobia, and the "down low" on this revelatory album.
James White
The actor behind Girls' emasculated Charlie character lands his own film, out Friday -- and it's a doozy. Christopher Abbott stars as the titular character, a young New Yorker hiding behind a haze of drugs and booze to avoid his bleak reality. James White is short on prospects and long on problems, including a dead father and a dying mother, played masterfully by out actress Cynthia Nixon. Directed by Josh Mond, the film features knockout performances from both Abbott and Nixon, with the latter in the running for an Oscar nomination.
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always championed the rights of LGBT people (she's even officiated same-sex marriages) and other marginalized populations, and along the way she's inspired an Internet meme and gained fans who are a fraction of her age. Written by Shana Knizhnik, who created the "Notorious RBG" Tumblr meme, and journalist Irin Carmon, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg draws on interviews with the justice and many of her associates as well as her eloquent opinions to offer a portrait of this awesome woman. Out now; order here or visit your local bookstore.
San Francisco Transgender Film Festival
North America's first transgender filmfest, launched in 1997, continues to raise transgender visibility with a diverse annual slate of quality films. The 2015 event takes place this weekend at the Castro and Roxie theaters, featuring such films as Annalise Ophelian's documentary Major! about Stonewall vet Miss Major Griffin-Gracy; the Spanish doc El Viaje de Carla (The Life of Carla), on Carla Antonelli's rise from showgirl to politician; Technical Difficulties of Intimacy (pictured above), a twist on rom-com conventions starring Buck Angel; Passing, a Canadian documentary about three trans men of color; and much more. Find the full schedule and order tickets here.
By the Sea
Have you heard of the new movie starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt? No? Well, that's no surprise. Jolie, who also directed the pet project, titled By the Sea, intentionally obfuscated the film's marketing, with posters featuring either an unrecognizable Jolie tossing her hair in ecstasy or two hats resting on a balustrade overlooking the waves. Essentially, it's a pretentious art-house project that favors style over substance. But if you're into that sort of thing, or you're a Pitt-Jolie voyeur, don't miss viewing By the Sea, out in select theaters this weekend.
Christmas Queens
If you think you've heard every version of "Jingle Bells," well, you clearly haven't heard Sharon Needles sing it. She and many other RuPaul's Drag Race alumni -- among them Violet Chachki, Courtney Act, Jinkx Monsoon, Phi Phi O'Hara, Willam, Alaska Thunderfuck, Katya, Jiggly Caliente, Manila Luzon, and Darienne Lake -- have recorded holiday classics as well as destined-to-be classics like "Slay Bells" and "A Very Cozby Christmas" in their new album Christmas Queens. It is the perfect stocking stuffer for the Drag Race fan in your life.
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Macy Gray, "The Way"
Best remembered for her unforgettable hit "I Try," Gray has been a prolific singer and actress since her late-'90s debut, starring in films like For Colored Girls and having her tunes featured in much-loved shows like Ugly Betty. The LGBT ally returns with a video for the title single off her eighth album, as well as a North American tour that will take her from Kansas to New York.