In 1990, Ian Charleson was the highest-profile British actor to die of AIDS and the first to publicly state that AIDS was his cause of death. Before that, he was one of the most acclaimed stage and film actors of the 1970s and ’80s, starring in the Oscar-winning films “Chariots of Fire” and “Gandhi,” and his now-legendary final stage role in “Hamlet,” weeks before his death, has become British theater lore. That’s the subject of “Elsinore,” from filmmaker Simon Stone (“The Dig”) and writer Stephen Beresford (“Pride”), that stars Andrew Scott (“All of Us Strangers”) as Charleson. The film covers those final months of Charleson’s life as he prepares for the Shakespearean role and faces his own mortality. Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) co-stars, along with Billie Piper (“Doctor Who”), Luke Thompson (“Bridgerton”) and Juliet Stevenson (“Truly Madly Deeply”). The film just took its premiere bow at the Telluride Film Festival, where it received glowing reviews, and its U.S. opening date of Nov. 20 is forthcoming from Focus Features, who will certainly launch and awards campaign.
‘Honeymoon/Funeral’ means love for Rebecca Ferguson and Greta Lee
Two women meet on a flight from Los Angeles to London and the sparks fly in the upcoming film “Honeymoon/Funeral,” from director Nahnatchka Khan (“Always Be My Maybe”) and screenwriter Julia Bicknell (“Yellowjackets”). Rebecca Ferguson (“Silo,” the “Dune” franchise) and Greta Lee (“Past Lives,” “Toy Story 5”) are the women, one taking a solo honeymoon after a wedding day breakup with her girlfriend, the other traveling to her mother’s funeral. They wind up spending the week together. It’s shooting now in London, so expect it sometime in 2027, most likely at festivals before theatrical or streaming. And we’re always holding out hope for that higher profile theatrical run. We want a lesbian romance, starring high profile actors, at the local AMC theater, introduced by Nicole Kidman, and not just during June. It’s what we all deserve.
Inde Navarrette weathers the ‘Waffle House Index’
The Waffle House Index is not formal meteorology, but it does let you know how bad a hurricane might be. It’s based on the service of any given Waffle House restaurant during a serious weather event. Green? Open and making waffles. Yellow means limited service. Red means closed. In other words, the perfect place for a movie, “The Waffle House Index,” about a wild night at the most tormented Waffle House on earth. It stars newly minted queer star Inde Navarrette (critically acclaimed for “Obsession,” cast as Rogue in the upcoming “X-Men” installment) as a waitress whose shift goes from bad to worse when the storm hits; a man with a gun arrives, the flood waters rise, crocodiles appear, and that’s just for starters. Apple Original Films is producing with direction by Louis Paxton (“The Incomer”) and a screenplay by up-and-comer Andrew Nunnelly, a Black List script with more weird, high-concept surprises — aliens, nuclear blasts — than “Snakes on a Plane.” Quite the menu.
‘Queer Edward II’ looks back at Derek Jarman’s ’90s classic
First-time filmmaker Theo Rollason found the footage “just sitting in a cupboard for 35 years.” That footage was the behind-the-scenes camera roll shot by cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, from Derek Jarman’s 1991 film “Edward II,” and it has formed the basis for Rollason’s documentary, “Queer Edward II,” which recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Jarman’s politically rousing and romantic, gay take on Christopher Marlow’s classic play, one that co-starred Jarman collaborator Tilda Swinton, was a critical and commercial success in the early ’90s, and it fit in well with the U.S. New Queer Cinema movement. “Queer Edward II” — among its producers Swinton, Christine Vachon, and Russell Tovey — follows Jarman during the production of the original film and is an affectionate remembrance of the director’s working style and the atmosphere that informed the AIDS era’s queer politics. Sure to be hitting more festivals soon, look for this one to hit an arthouse near you.