The 44th annual edition of Chicago’s Reeling International LGBTQ+ Film Festival is now in the books, having featured an array of narrative, documentary and short films. The festival’s lineup was a big improvement over 2025, bringing in a slate of better programing compared to last year. In all, I managed to catch 13 films during the festival’s 11-day run, nine of which I rated good to excellent. So, with that said, here’s my take on what I watched and what I thought. Enjoy! “Montreal, My Beautiful” (“Montréal, ma belle”) (Canada) (5/5); Letterboxd (4.5/5), Imdb.com (9/10), TMDB.com (9/10), Imdb.com critics review; Web site, Trailer Being trapped in a bad marriage or relationship is one of the worst scenarios that anyone can endure, no matter what one’s sexual orientation might be. Just ask Feng Xia (a.k.a. Ping) (Joan Chen), a middle-aged immigrant from China who resettled with her overbearing, inconsiderate husband, Wang Jun (John Xu), in Montreal 14 years earlier. As a prototypical subservient housewife, she tends to the household, cares for their two children and helps run her husband’s convenience store. She also struggles to cope with Wang Jun’s career dissatisfaction, having once served as a road construction engineer back in ...

Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio — featuring three new films — beginning Tuesday September 22 at 2 pm ET, available by clicking here. You can also catch it later on demand on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Podchaser, Audible, Deezer, Podcast Addict and Jiosaavn ...

It’s that time of year again — the return of film festival season. And, if you live in the Chicago area, you may want to check out one of this year’s first featured events: Reeling 2026 — The 44th Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, September 17-27 at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema and Chicago Filmmakers. The annual event features a variety of narrative and documentary features, along with an extensive program of film shorts. Check out the program guide and schedule for details. And, as a longtime attendee of the festival, I’ll be there, covering the event again this year, so stop by and say hello. A full report on my screenings will appear after the event on my web site. Happy viewing! ...

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Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, beginning Tuesday September 8, 2 pm ET, available by clicking here. You can also catch it later on demand on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Podchaser, Audible, Deezer, Podcast Addict and Jiosaavn ...

“Late Fame” (2025 production/2026 release) (USA/France). Cast: Willem Dafoe, Greta Lee, Edmund Donovan, Clay Singer, Arthur Langlie, Graham Campbell, Luca Padovan, Tony Torn, Clark Johnson, Jake Lacy. Director: Kent Jones. Screenplay: Samy Burch. Novella: Arthur Schnitzler, Late Fame (written 1894-95, published 2014). Web site. Trailer. Well-meaning optimists often nudge us to believe that it’s never too late to discover (or rediscover) our respective callings in life (and sometimes they’re right). At a time when many of us may have given up on our dreams or settled for a less complicated way of life, there are those who may nevertheless eagerly follow such inspirational advice and find the experience refreshingly rejuvenating. But, even with the best of hopes and intentions, what’s the guarantee, if any, of success at such undertakings? Those are among the themes explored in the new dramatic character study, “Late Fame.” In many regards, the foregoing aptly describes the life of Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe), a longtime postal worker nearing retirement who, at one time in his youth, was admired as a gifted aspiring poet in the 1970s New York arts scene. The 17-year-old high school dropout from western Pennsylvania moved to the Big Apple in 1979 to ...