Hamish Downie’s Playlist for April
Hamish Downie has a new type of column that started backing December as his Holiday playlist. It was so popular that he decided to make it a monthly recurring column with a movie playlist for each month. Thanks, Hamish, for creating a new concept for TG Geeks.
If you have seen any of these films, let us know your thoughts.
Let us know what you think in the comments section below. As always, we welcome your feedback and input on all of our published content. Thank you for stopping by and spending time with us.
I recently started subscribing to LesFlicks (with my own money, no-one is paying me to do this), an independent streaming platform for WLW (women love women) content. I actually have a short film up there myself, “Silence”, and hopefully more in the future. I plan on highlighting the films I’ve watched on the service that I’ve enjoyed.
A quick review of the platform itself: it’s on par with Amazon Prime with usability. I’ve gotten used to being able to stop and start a show in the middle of watching it and come back to it later on Netflixs, but as with Prime, if you don’t come back within a certain window, you’ll either be transported a minute into the future, or back to the beginning. It is also difficult to find other works by the same creator or the same actors… unless –
What I like about the platform is the curated playlists. It’s a great way to explore what’s available from popular actors, what’s popular on the platform itself, themes, and countries where the films have been made. So far, I’ve been looking at Australia, Canada, and Japan. Through these playlists, I’ve found some great films, and I look forward to watching more of them this way. They also do playlists based on popular shows on other platforms, for example, “if you like Heartstopper, then you will love these”. I tend to watch these on my iPad, and sometimes these playlists aren’t mobile friendly, so I haven’t explored these as much.
Overall, this platform has been made with a lot of love and care for its audience, and has some great films. The downsides can be overlooked as it is an independent platform which only started four years ago. It’s well worth supporting.
Now, let’s get to the films.
JANE (2012)
JANE is about a young woman who is in love with her Best Friend from childhood, the titular Jane. The main character, Imogen, a young bisexual girl in Australia, must deal with unrequited love when Jane gets a boyfriend who looks like a male version of her. While not made with the best camera, or lighting, it still manages to be charming and worth the watch.
https://www.lesflicks.com/programs/australia?cid=2788546&permalink=jane-2012
POPPING THE QUESTION (2021)
Nina plans to propose to Lizzie on Valentine’s Day. Only thing is, Lizzie’s got a surprise of her own. It doesn’t have to be Valentine’s Day to enjoy this wonderful little film. The film is well made and well acted. It’s a simple story, but with all the tension and buildup that a major life event such as proposing would suggest. This follows on from Shawna’s wonderful debut, “Lovergirl” which is also on the platform for free.
Hamish Downie Has Five More Questions for Shawna Khorasani
STRANGE FRAME (2013)
Our story begins 200 years after the Great Earth Exodus: Parker (Claudia Black from Farscape), a saxophonist, leaves the comforts of her previous life to go to Ganymede City. During a riot against debt slavery, Naia (legendary voice actress Tara Strong, Batman: The Killing Joke), one of these slaves, escapes and rescues Parker from one of the oppressive regime’s thugs. They fall fast in love. These two beautiful musicians play center stage. Naia is about to be discovered by Mig (Tim Curry of Rocky Horror fame), an unscrupulous entertainment agent, who sees her as the perfect exploitable combination of talent and naivete.
Very much a film festival film or I could even see this as a fringe play, this is not going to appeal to everyone, but I salute its courage and is worth supporting.
https://www.lesflicks.com/programs/strange-frame-2013?category_id=66432
PEACH (2020)
This delightful short film from Australia. It’s about a socially anxious girl who has a hot date with a girl, but isn’t sure if it is a date or not. It’s a very cute film, and surprisingly politically neutral.
https://www.lesflicks.com/programs/australian-films?cid=2787601&permalink=peach-2020
Young Liberal doesn’t mean what you think it means. The US equivalent would be Young Republican, and the UK equivalent would be Young Tory.
STARTING FROM NOW (SEASON ONE)
“Starting from Now” is a delightful web series for anyone wishing to get their L-Word fix with an Australian twist. A bit like its Gay cousin series, HORIZON, this series was wildly popular and went for many seasons, but I’m only just discovering it now. It follows the story of a cute girl moving to the city for a new job (like Horizon), and we follow her navigating work and relationships. It gets messy very fast, and our main character doesn’t always make great decisions, but the
You can catch the first episode on YouTube:
I’ve been watching much more, like “Avocado Toast” from Canada, and “Keepsake” from Japan, but I’ll save those for another day.
Finally…
IN FROM THE SIDE (2022)
This isn’t a LesFlicks film, as it’s a Gay Rugby movie we bought on DVD recently. Like “Starting from Now” the film is very messy, and also centers around a main character who is cheating on their long term partners. Again, all the characters in the film are likable, even if they don’t make decisions I particularly approve of. There is a touch of the Romeo and Juliet as a Gay Rugby Club in the UK sets up competing A and B teams. Our main character is the star player of the B team, and he falls for a member of the A team (not that A team) who is in a relationship with another member of the A team. To even out the square, one of the members of the B team is in love with our main character (despite our main character also being in a long term relationship). See? Messy. But, what makes this so good is the window it shows into the world of Gay Rugby teams. I hear fans are already asking for a sequel. What I would like is a TV series, as I’d like to know more about the side characters, who all manage to be very interesting in their own right.
https://www.lesflicks.com/programs/silence-2021
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