Episode 80: Elisa & Marcela   Happy new year, lovely queers! To kick off the 2023 movie-watching season, this month Alicia and Sarah go back in time to turn-of-the-20th-century Spain, where these two teenage schoolgirls get really into towel play (i.e. they fall in love at school), and spend the rest of their lives either together or trying to be together. Elisa and Marcela's story is based on a true one which is pretty fascinating; they are known as the first same-sex marriage in Spain,...

Episode 79: Under the Christmas Tree Happy holigays everyone! This year for our December episode we are talking about the very Lifetime Lifetime movie Under the Christmas Tree, which is the first Lifetime lesbian Christmas romcom (say it five times fast!). It stars queer lady darling Elise Bauman and Ricki Lake it takes place in Sarah’s home state of Maine, which is kind of exciting and makes it so that we can clear up some misconceptions about, for example, how far Augusta is from Camden...

Episode 78: Erin's Guide to Kissing GirlsHiiii lovely queers! Welcome to a very special episode of Gal Pals Watch: a live recording at the Seattle Queer Film Festival! We are talking about one of their 2022 youth features, the Canadian film Erin’s Guide to Kissing Girls. Listen to Alicia and Sarah discuss positive and nuanced youth representation, how much Erin’s clothes are fashun, and then the writer and director Julianna Notten joins us for a conversation about making the movie and some...

Episode 77: My Name is Pauli Murray   Hi queeros! Welcome to an episode about a movie we love! It's a documentary about Pauli Murray, who was a truly amazing nonbinary lawyer, civil rights activist, priest, and all-around human being. You should watch this movie and learn even more reasons we owe Pauli every progressive legal precedent we hope we can keep!   Further reading: Pauli Murray Wikipedia page Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice

Episode 76: Crush   Hey queeros! Welcome back to our little lesbian-ish show, where this week Alicia and Sarah dig into a movie without much substance but a lot of charm -- Crush! This 2022 film is on Hulu and stars Rowan Blanchard and Auli'i Cravalho (who played Moana), and also Megan Mullally which is fun too. It's a ridiculous teen movie about art and romance and high school and sports and obvious mysteries, but you know what, the queers need that kind of fluff too. So join us as we...

Episode 75: Nowhere Inn   Hey hi hello! Remember a while back when the gay girl internet got really excited for a second about Dakota Johnson playing a version of Kristin Stewart in a movie with and by Annie Clark/St. Vincent and Carrie Brownstein? This is that movie, and it's on Hulu! It is... weird! Join Alicia and Sarah as they try to work through their confusion and their feelings, which are mainly neutral, spoiler alert. Also, happy Pride to all who celebrate!   Further Reading: Nowhere...

Episode 74: Baka Bukas Good day, fair queers! Today on the pod we're discussing a film out of the Phillipines, 2016's Baka Bukas! This is billed as a romantic drama, and that's pretty accurate. It follows two early-20s friends working in the entertainment industry in different roles, one of whom is out as lesbian to everyone but this friend. Who then becomes the love interest. As you do. There's a lot of stereotypes in here, including a vapid GBF and some fashun, but Alicia and Sarah think...

Episode 73: The Fallout Hello queeros, this month Alicia and Sarah are delving into a movie that will hit you in the absolute feels, fyi. The movie is The Fallout, starring the dancing Sia girl (sorry, that was reductive) Maddie Ziegler and the most amazing Jenna Ortega, and a lot of other really great people, about how a few teens cope after a school shooting. This one is heavy y'all, but the movie itself is more character-study-as-microcosm-of-this-truly-horrible-world-we-live-in-for-real...

Episode 72: So My Grandma's a Lesbian!   Hi loves! This month, after a brief hiatus due to cHaOs, we are back and discussing a movie that requires very little brainpower to sit through! Titled So My Grandma's a Lesbian exclamation point, this Spanish movie follows some sweet older women who love each other in a very healthy way, in contrast to the shitshow of their surroundings, which include many people who are younger than them and yet much more Homophobic TM and/or wayyy to concerned...

Episode 71: Hello beautiful queeros and happy Valentine's Day! (we hate it, but we also love it) Unfortunately (for some of us, like Sarah) KStew is off the market, but that won't stop us from talking about her, and today we are discussing her latest gay Christmas movie, Spencer! It is not exactly an upbeat film, and is also not that gay, but it's gayer than you might think, both explicitly and subtextually (because KStew brings gay energy to everything she does, in a good way). Also, Diana...

Episode 70: The Party   Good evening, happy new year, and welcome to our Bougie and Pretentious evening soirée, with a side of gay. Tonight we will be discussing the 2017 Art Haus Film The Party. Topics include mortality, cocaine, cultural appropriation, academia, The Men, dated lesbian culture, Cherry Jones, Kristen Scott Thomas, murder, and plot twists! Pull up a reading chair and listen in, love ya!   Further reading: The Party Wikipedia page "Sally Potter: 'The Party is the opposite of...

Episode 69: The Novice   Happy 69, queerz! This month we watch the new psychological sports thriller, The Novice, in which a college freshman is ~*very obsessed*~ with getting onto her school's varsity crew team. Some very disturbing obsessive thoughts and self harm in this one, so take care of yourselves if you watch it, but also it's pretty absorbing even if it's literally and figuratively dark as hell. There is a cute queer TA who we love (the main character is queer too btw), and Sarah...

Episode 68: Addicted to Fresno   Helloooo lovely listeners! This month we're headed to Cali, but it's the part of Cali people like to dump on, aka Fresno! In this 2015 film, Natasha Lyonne and Aubrey Plaza are gay for each other but not enough. A bunch of other stuff happens including Sister Drama and Murder, but you'll have to listen (and watch the movie, you could do that too if you want) to find out what. Enjoy!   Further reading: Addicted to Fresno Wikipedia page Addicted to Fresno...

Episode 67: A Date for Mad Mary   Hiya queeros! This month we are watching an actually pretty good movie! The 2016 Irish film A Date for Mad Mary is a surprisingly great example of nuanced and bittersweet storytelling based on a one-woman play, and it is way better than its title. Tune in to hear us talk about ambiguity, love, and ~personal growth~ involving dancing and learning to show up and move on. Happy listening y'all!   Further reading: A Date for Mad Mary Wikipedia page Variety review

Sarah Neilson 5:25 PM (2 hours ago)     to me           Episode 66: See You Then   Hey lovely queers! It's us, Alicia and Sarah! This month, we bought tickets to virtual screenings of some movies at LA's Outfest, and we love virtual screenings because we can "go to" tons of different festivals! This movie is one we saw via Outfest, and it stars Lynn Chen of Saving Face fame, which is tbh 99% of the reason we wanted to see it. This movie takes place over the course of one...

Episode 65: Set It Off   Hi queeros! This month we're taking it back to 1996, to a movie that is not very gay but it does feature Queen Latifah in a queer role which is why we wanted to watch it! Tune in to hear Alicia and Sarah's thoughts about why this movie sad heist rather than fun heist, and how gay the character of Cleo is/is not?! In all seriousness, this film is not exactly fun to watch but remains timely (unfortunately) in its portrayal of police brutality and centers stories of...

Episode 64: Dating Amber   Hello beautiful queers! This month we’ve got a treat for all you 90s gays and everyone else too. We watched the cute little beard movie Dating Amber, which is set in Ireland in 1995. Tune in to listen to Alicia and Sarah talk about complicated romantic-ish relationships, cute gay kids, peer bullying, gay bars, the military, and that adorable lesbian sunset montage. It’s a really fun ride this month, enjoy!!   Further reading: Final Draft blog...

Episode 63: The World to Come   Hello lovely queers of the world! Happy pride month and all that. This month, Alicia and Sarah are talking about the Late 2020 Lesbian Period Drama (vol. 783 in the Lesbian Period Drama canon), The World to Come. It is winter in here, it's bleak! Get in but also stay away if you don't like Sadness! There are some redeeming qualities to this film for sure, but tune in to hear why it mainly threw us for a loop. Enjoy!   Further reading:  The World to...

Episode 62: The Half of It   Hello lovelies! It is us, your forever gay aunts! This month we are talking about the movie that got us all through that early lil bit of the pan pizza in May 2020, The Half of It! In case for some unfathomable reason you don't know about this adorable movie, it is the long-awaited sophomore venture from ultimate fave Alice Wu (check out our episode on her first film, 2004's Saving Face). The movie is almost about sophomores but is actually about seniors in high...

Episode 61: Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)   Howdy, beautiful listeners! We are back from a winter spent in survival mode, hbu? Shooting for the stars that we will be on a monthly recording schedule from here on out :) Today we start out with a lil update, including a discussion of our tagline and why we decided to change it. Then we get into the ~*cute*~ Australian film, Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)! Which Sarah can only think of as Ellie & Abbie (&...

Episode 59: Wild Nights With Emily   Hey all you beautifuls! We hope you are weathering this really wild and not great time. We're here this week with a movie that's the good kind of wild, Wild Nights With Emily. If you're stuck at home, which at this point I'm pretty sure we all are, and you can stream stuff, watch this!! It's so good! And then listen to us gush about how the oddball workings of Madeleine Olnek's (of Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same fame) mind worked wonders on...

Episode 58: Tell it to The Bees   Hi, 1950s lesbians! This movie is real bad but we watched it for you anyway! Taking place in postwar Britain and involving a lot of Lesbian Staring, a precocious skinny white kid, rape, racism, senseless magical realism, and weird CGI bees, this movie is not our favorite. But you can listen us get mad/laugh at it, and talk about how boring straights are!    Further reading: Tell it to The Bees Wikipedia page Fiona Shaw's article on how they made her gay...

Episode 57: Princess Cyd   Have you ever found yourself daydreaming about wandering around the lush north side of Chicago in summer while your writerly aunt hosts literary soirées and a cute andro barista dances with you on a rooftop? Well then this movie is for you. We're talking about cute queer summer flings and annoying teens on this episode, enjoy!   Further reading: Princess Cyd Wikipedia page

Episode 56: Sighted Eyes, Feeling Heart   Helloooo literary lez's and otherwise identified queers! Have you read the book Looking for Lorraine by Imani Perry? Because you should. But you can also watch this pretty good, very PBS style doc about Lorraine Hansberry, aka one of the baddest/best humans ever to be too good for America. If you don't know, Hansberry wrote the 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, which you probably read in high school, and was a huge hit and made into a movie. But tbh that...