Toast the Tejano superstar at this free screening of Selena.
Photo courtesy of Regent Square
UPDATE: Due to an unforeseen issue, the screening has been canceled. CultureMap will update this story should there be a new show date.
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It’s hard to fathom that legendary and iconic Tejano pop superstar Selena Quintanilla would be only 51 years old this year — so early was her life cut short.
Now, 27 years after Selena’s death, fans can celebrate her birthday on April 16 with a free screening of her biopic, Selena, which marks its 25th anniversary this year. Selena fans can gather at Regent Square Park, the lawn of Regent Square, the development located just steps from Buffalo Bayou, at W. Dallas and Dunlavy streets.
The free screening starts at 8 pm; the film will be projected on a 20-foot screen. All ages are welcome and attendees are encouraged to follow weather updates via @regentsquarehtx on social media.
Often cited as the Jennifer Lopez’s breakout role — one that showcased her singing and dance acumen — Selena won rave reviews in 1997 and after for its musically charged retelling of Selena’s life and her rapid ascension to star status before she was murdered by her friend and fan club manager Yolanda Saldívar in 1995 at a Corpus Christi hotel.
But thanks to songs such as "Dreaming of You," and "I Could Fall in Love," Selena lives on — her movie made Lopez the highest-paid Latina actress at the time and cemented Selena’s place in music history and Texans’ hearts.
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Selena screens at Regent Square Park, 3515 West Dallas St. Free. 8 pm.
As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.
Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.
Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.
Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.
Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.
Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.
Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.
