Review – We Were Here

by James Olsen for FILMbutton We Were Here Director: David Weissman Cast: Eileen Glutzer, Paul Boneberg, Guy Clark, Daniel Goldstein, Ed Wolf In We Were Here, Weissman introduces us to five people who were in San Francisco when the AIDS epidemic began. In one way or another, each was affected with the changes to the […]

Review – Together

by James Olsen for FILMbutton Together Director: Zhao Liang Cast: Gu Changwei While filming Till Death Do Us Part, director Gu Changwei decided that he was going to include people with HIV/AIDS among his cast and crew in an effort to show to the general Chinese population that there is nothing to fear from knowing, […]

Review – What’s the Name of the Dame?

by James Olsen for FILMbutton What’s the Name of the Dame? Director: Allan Neuwirth Cast: Betzy with a Z, Cashetta, Connie Cat, Edie, Hedda Lettuce, Joie Starr, June Bug, Sade Pendarvis, Yolanda In 2004, Figjam Records brought together nine of New York City’s top drag queens to re-imagine fourteen classic ABBA songs. With this film, […]

Review – Miss Tacuarembó

by James Olsen for FILMbutton Miss Tacuarembó Director: Martín Sastre Cast: Natalia Oreiro, Sofia Silvera, Diego Reinhold, Mateo Capo As children and teenagers, Natalia and Carlos (Silvera and Oreiro, and Capo and Reinhold, respectively) were best friends living in Tacuarembó, Uruguay with dreams of getting out of their overly-religious confines and making names for themselves […]

Review – Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

by James Olsen for FILMbutton Detailing a year in her life, the audience follows Joan Rivers through a tumultuous time in her personal life, a downtime in her popularity as a stand-up comic, and into the stressful times of Celebrity Apprentice and putting on a play in the UK. As a workaholic, Joan is nothing, […]

Review – And Then Came Lola

by James Olsen for FILMbutton.com Co-Directed by Ellen Seidler and Megan Siler the film is about Lola (Ashleigh Sumner), who has a great job as a photographer and a beautiful girlfriend in Casey (Jill Bennett). She also has the inability to get anywhere on time. One day, Lola is woken from a nap by a […]

Review – Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride

by James Olsen for FILMbutton.com Starting and ending with Vancouver Pride, the audience is taken on a journey to Zurich for InterPride Conference; and to Warsaw, Sao Paolo, Moscow, and New York for in-depth looks at their Pride parades. The elaborate parties and parades of Vancouver, Sao Paolo, and New York City are a sharp […]

Review – Madchen in Uniform

by James Olsen for FILMbutton.com This film tells the story of Manuela von Meinhardis (Romy Schneider) who has lost her mother and is sent to a girls’ school run by the strict Sr. Superior (Therese Giehse) who is determined to ensure all the young women in her care learn how to follow orders: “Obedient women […]

Review – Howl

Review – <em>Howl</em>

by James Olsen for FILMbutton In 1956, Allen Ginsberg wrote his poem Howl. In 1957, City Light Books, the company that published it in book form, was taken to court over the perceived indecency of the work. Over the course of 90 minutes, the audience is introduced to the poem in three formats. First, we […]