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I couldn't help but thinking about John Schlesinger's 1969 iconic film, 'Midnight Cowboy' while watching this Australian production. A cowboy comes from the rural part of Australia to the big City, in this case, Sydney. He meets and ends up falling in love with one of the first men he meets. There are many differences between both movies for sure, but similar threads do exist as well. The Cowboy does get to see the seedy part of life in Sydney, as did Joe Buck experience in New York in 'Cowboy'. Both characters are damaged from their pasts but trying to make do despite seemingly impossible circumstances in what is often a heartless urban landscape. The acting of the two leads is excellent, even better than the script from which they're both working. The peaks and valleys both cowboys go through in part define their characters, relationships with others, and the film itself. There is a lot of male nudity throughout 'Lonesome' that the viewer should be made aware of beforehand. I don't think it hampered the overall arc of the movie, in some instances it might have even enhanced it. I recommend 'Lonesome' to open minded adults who might want to learn a little bit about how life affects many of those unlike themselves. The LGBTQ + community should be proud of this cinematic achievement.

It's hard to understand why classic films, such as Ang Lee's 1993 classic, 'The Wedding Banquet' need to be reimagined or updated. More times than not, the second attempts don't even come close to the original. The 2025 version of this film is no exception. First of all, they put a west coast spin on what was a quintessential New York picture. That was the first mistake. Secondly, the actors were lame compared to those in the '93 film. The screenplay and direction were awful as well. This is a film that should never have been remade. When you have a perfect product, such as Ang Lee's masterpiece, don't tamper with perfection. This newer picture does nothing to advance the LGBTQ+ agenda in a positive way, unlike its predecessor which was bold, poignant and a major contribution to our community.

'Film Geek' tells the story, first hand, of Richard Shepard's memories growing up in NYC in the 70s, developing a fanatical attachment to cinema in the process. Shepard details his numerous experiences as a child and teen trying to live his life vicariously through the moving pic, and through the lens of a NYC young denizen. Some of it was interesting, some not so much. He tends to pontificate periodically. I grew up in NYC during that time as well and though my movie watching wasn't as frequent as was his, I felt he left a lot out that dealt directly with the Big Apple. Shepard gets lost in himself, his subject and his experiences fairly often, much to the distress of some of his audience. I'm not sure why TCM aired this picture, especially during the coveted 8:00 pm Sunday night time frame. Go figure ! 'The Letter' was being shown simultaneously on another movie channel, so I was crisscrossing between both. In the end, 'The Letter' triumphed. I also read that Shepard now lives in LaLa land. That kind of made me scratch my head and laugh at this self-described New Yorker.