Despite the increased awareness of gender identities, there is one classification that has been around for over 100 years or 30 years (it’s debatable) that rarely enjoys the spotlight, intersex. An intersex person can be a broad definition for someone who is born without a number of different sexual characteristics. The U.N. has defined it as someone who does “not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies.” And yet, despite the minimal increase in trans or nonbinary characters on film and television, you rarely hear anyone who refers to themselves as intersexed.

Continue reading ‘Ponyboi’ Review: A Unique Hero In A Very Familiar Story [Sundance] at The Playlist.

Metal music, aerospace engineering, and the American dream collide in the upcoming coming-of-age drama, “Blast Beat.

And as seen in the trailer for the film, “Blast Beat” follows the story of a Columbian family that immigrates to the US to achieve the American dream. The film focuses on two brothers, one a metalhead hoping to land a career at NASA and the other a kid just trying to fit in and finding it difficult in a new country.

Continue reading ‘Blast Beat’ Trailer: The American Dream, NASA & Metal Music Collide In This Coming-Of-Age Drama at The Playlist.

In 2020, arguably, no concept is more ripe for scrutiny and interrogation than the quickly eroding and antiquated, notion, or illusion, of the American dream. These days, films focused on the plight of immigrants tend to go straight to horror—the soul-crushing dehumanizing story of being stripped of identity and being treated like garbage—and with good reason given the global climate and refugee crisis that’s rocked the planet (Fellow Sundance film “His House” goes right there, and fortunately succeeds).

Continue reading ‘Blast Beat’: Sibling Rivalries & An Interrogation Of The American Dream [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.