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    Five Questions

    John Cameron Mitchell & friends bring epic Mattachine dance party to Houston

    Whitney Radley
    Mar 13, 2012 | 3:41 pm
    • John Cameron Mitchell as Matchhead
      Courtesy Photo
    • Mattachine comes to Houston for one night only.
      Photo by Danny Fields
    • Beaumont-bred Amber Martin as bar singer Brenda Snell
      Courtesy Photo

    John Cameron Mitchell is a writer, actor and director, best known for his Off Broadway musical-turned-film​Hedwig and the Angry Inch​ and the sexually explicit Shortbus. He recently added "DJ" to his extensive curriculum vitae, joining up with PJ DeBoy, Paul Dawson and performance artist Amber Martin for a dance party: Mattachine. He's bringing the whole gang and the party to Houston Thursday night, at The Flat.

    CultureMap caught up with Mitchell while he was on the road in New Orleans.

    CultureMap: So what exactly is this "Mattachine?" How did this get started?

    John Cameron Mitchell: We're doing a tour of our party, Mattachine, which is a lot of dancing and a little performance. PJ DeBoy, Paul Dawson, Amber Martin and I have been hosting these monthly in New York for four years. It's predominantly gay and queer, but it also draws a mixed alternative crowd, people who want to dance. For this tour, we're playing in New Orleans, Houston and Austin. We're looking at a return trip to the West Coast this summer, and we're looking internationally as well.

    It's predominantly gay and queer, but it also draws a mixed alternative crowd, people who want to dance.

    It actually started because we kind of got bored with the nightlife scene. It was kind of a sameness, a chain store feeling about bars. A lot of it was technology, everyone always checking their phones and thinking about where else they need to be, an attention-span issue. . . So we kind of decided that it was a fast world, and it was time for a slow dance.

    We first took over Julius, which is actually the oldest gay bar in New York City, where the Mattachine Society — our namesake — had a famous action in the '60s. . . Last April was our first out-of-town thing, at a sort of queer Burning Man at a commune called Short Mountain in Tennessee. It was so much fun that we decided to set up a West Coast tour right away.

    CM: What sort of music do you all play?

    JCM: We play punk, classic rock, disco, soul, with a cut off of about 1995 — with the exception of LCD Soundsystem. I specialize in slow dances in between songs. You know, it's a very friendly vibe. It makes you remember what it was like at high school dances. We also talk a lot, and do some comedy and singing.

    We often DJ simultaneously, the four of us. We tag-team it, so we never know what's going to happen. It keeps it from becoming too formulaic — sometimes DJs get caught up in beat matching, but not us. We sometimes have skipped records, because we use a lot of vinyl, but we celebrate in our non-professionalism.

    CM: What can we expect for your Houston show?

    JCM: For this show in Houston, we're going to rent a tent and have it set up outside of The Flat. I'm planning to sing a few songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch with a local guitarist [Erin Fisher Wright], and Amber Martin does this naked Reba McEntire impression that has to be seen to be believed. [Martin is a Beaumont native, and her mom may join her for a duet performance on Thursday.]

    This is our first time doing it in Houston. The party went on until about 6 o'clock in the morning in New Orleans, so . . .

    I actually see this as an antidote for Hollywood, a back-to-the-streets sort of thing. I feel more comfortable with this, to be honest.

    CM: This project seems like a very different tempo and scene than your filmmaking — you go from working with Nicole Kidman to hosting a $10 dance party at a bar in Houston. How do you reconcile the two different lives?

    JCM: I actually see this as an antidote for Hollywood, a back-to-the-streets sort of thing. I feel more comfortable with this, to be honest — Rabbit Hole was a great film to work on, but it was out of my marrow, especially since it was a different writer's work that I just directed. It felt good, but it's good to be back to my people.

    CM: What's next for you, film-wise?

    JCM: I am producing an animated feature by a graphic novelist, Dash Shaw. It's kind of a sci-fi meets The Simpsons. I'm also directing an adaptation for Neil Gaiman — who wrote the Sandman series and Coraline — I'm adapting a short story that's about punk rockers and aliens in London.

    I'm also working on some commercials for Dior that are more like short films than commercials, starring Marion Cotillard. I've done two of those so far. And I'm also thinking about a theater piece.

    ​Dance along to the tunes of yesteryear on Thursday at The Flat in Houston. Admission is $10. More information here. Mattachine will wrap up the tour in Austin with a show at Barbarella and another at GAYBIGAYGAY.

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    Movie Review

    Heartfelt movie The Life of Chuck adapts optimistic Stephen King story

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 13, 2025 | 5:30 pm
    Tom Hiddleston in The Life of Chuck
    Photo courtesy of NEON
    Tom Hiddleston in The Life of Chuck.

    Just like actors, once a filmmaker becomes known for a certain genre, it can be difficult to escape that pigeonholing. Writer/director Mike Flanagan has worked for 20 years in both film and television, and literally every project he’s done has been related to horror. He’s finally breaking out with The Life of Chuck, which is ironically based on a short story of the same name by Stephen King.



    Told in three chapters in reverse order, the film is almost impossible to describe without giving away its magic. The first section centers on Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a teacher grappling, like everyone around him, with what seems to be the world falling apart. He’s comforted to a degree by reuniting with his ex-wife, Felicia (Karen Gillan), but is also baffled by multiple ads touting the retirement of Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) after “39 great years.”

    The second section consists of little more than a slightly younger Chuck happening upon Taylor (The Pocket Queen), a drummer busking on a street corner, giving Chuck and a younger woman, Janice (Annalise Basso), the inspiration to start dancing. The final section goes back to the childhood of Chuck (Benjamin Pajak), where he’s raised by his grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara), discovers dance as an outlet, and wonders about various small mysteries.

    Flanagan finds a way to deliver a lot of story with relatively little effort. Using a wry narrator (Nick Offerman), a limited number of locations, and a series of great small performances, he creates an intriguing premise with few straightforward answers. The structure of the film is designed to confuse the viewer until just the right moment, and the revelation forces you to reexamine everything that came before.

    The biggest accomplishment by Flanagan is making what are essentially three short films and having each of them resonate equally. The film contains elements of science fiction, although the first section may hit a bit too close to home for some of those watching. All three sections, though, have a heartwarming bent to them that sells their central idea without becoming overly saccharine.

    To do so, each of the characters have to connect in a short amount of time. The casting of the film is crucial, and not only does that department succeed with the main roles, but a series of small roles are filled expertly as well. Carl Lumbly as a funeral home owner, David Dastmalchian and Harvey Guillen as parents of students, Matthew Lillard as Marty’s neighbor, Q’orianka Kilcher as Chuck’s wife, and Jacob Tremblay as a teenage Chuck are just a few of the recognizable actors that do yeoman’s work in their brief time on screen.

    Hiddleston is only prominently featured in the second chapter, but his performance there and in small glimpses throughout makes a big impression. Ejiofor is given the star turn in the first chapter and he absolutely kills, both in moments by himself and in scenes with Gillan, with whom he has great chemistry. Hamill, making a rare non-voiceover appearance outside of the Star Wars universe, and Sara, in her first notable role in 11 years, are also very memorable in the final chapter.

    The Life of Chuck is a film that’s filled with emotion, but the full impact of the story is not felt until the final moments. It has a mysterious journey that is initially frustrating, but the performances keep the film going until it gets to its satisfying payoff.

    ---

    The Life of Chuck is now playing in theaters.

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