“I loved Clueless,” director Jamie Babbit told Variety recently. I wanted to make a gay Clueless.” And so But I’m a Cheerleader was born. It’s the story of teenage Megan (Natasha Lyonne in a breakthrough role), sent to the True Directions conversion camp by her concerned, conservative parents to straighten her out. But hanging out with a bunch of queers for two months does not have the intended effect…
Decked out in Barbie pinks and blues, and saddled with a blatantly homophobic R rating, But I’m a Cheerleader didn’t get a lot of love from film critics in 1999 but has since become a treasured gay classic, not least for the iconic casting RuPaul as one of the reparative counsellors. You might also spot Michelle Williams and Julie Delpy in small roles.
Staff Pick: Eirinn, Gemma, Jana & Perry
That this doesn’t feel like the gender studies lesson it is, is mostly down to the tone of intelligent mischief, punctuated by tender moments when illicit romance beckons. First rate performances all round.
Sue Sharpe, Time Out
Media Partner
Jamie Babbit
Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Michelle Williams, Ru Paul, Bud Cort, Mink Stole, Melanie Lynskey, Cahty Moriarty
USA
1999
English
Book Tickets
Tuesday August 25
Thursday August 27
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits
Screenwriter
Brian Peterson
Cinematography
Jules Labarthe
Editor
Cecily Rhett
Original Music
Pat Irwin
Production Design
Rachel Kamerman
Art Director
Macie Vener
90s, Baby!
Ten years. 11 weeks. 90 films from the 1990s. This summer, 90’s Baby! takes a deep dive into a defining decade of cinema.
Lessons of Darkness
Werner Herzog's unforgettable documentary reveals the unfolding disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames in 1991 as a sweeping inferno of mesmerizing power.
Beau Travail
Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Claire Denis' transfixing Beau Travail is set in East Africa. Sgt Galoup (Denis Lavant) reflects on his time in the French Foreign Legion, and the impact of the handsome Sentain (Gregoire Colin).
Three Kings
George Clooney headlines David O Russell's bold, brazen attempt to get to grips with the immediate aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, as 4 US soldiers try to liberate a missing shipment of gold amidst the chaos and carnage.
But I'm a Cheerleader
Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is the perfect All-American Girl, or so she thinks. That is until she’s shipped off to conversion therapy. This pitch black comedy is wrapped in a saccharine bow, featuring the icon herself, RuPaul, as a conversion counsellor.
Magnolia
This deeply personal 1999 California opus is ripe for rediscovery. Mapping the emotional traumas of half-a-dozen major characters as they crisscross the San Fernando Valley in search of either recognition or reconciliation, it's PTA's riskiest gamble.
Election
Tracy Flick (Reece Witherspoon) is running for Student President, but Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) has other ideas... This remarkably sour millennial comedy from Alexander Payne (The Holdovers; Sideways; The Descendents) hits twice as hard today.
Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai
Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is an assassin, but he's also an existential loner who adheres to his personal code. Despite the thriller trappings, this is really a lampoon of that genre, and a melancholy reverie for the cultural melting pot we call home.
The Straight Story
David Lynch goes a different direction in this linear Midwestern about a septuagenarian (Richard Farnsworth) who drives nearly 400km on a lawnmower to visit his ailing brother (Harry Dean Stanton).
90s Surprise Film
The 90s movie we have all been missing... Join us for a celebratory wake for this year's 90s, Baby series! What you will be seeing is top secret (no, not Top Secret!, that was 1984) but it will be at least 26 years old and it will be new to this series.
The Wind Will Carry Us
Kiarostami's dry comic masterpiece follows a Tehrani film team's thwarted attempts to document a traditional Kurdish funeral... Trouble being, there's no one to bury, and, worse, virtually no cell service...
Fight Club
1999 was a very good year for movies, but nothing captured millennial angst quite so vividly as David Fincher's bruising black comedy about what it means to be a man today. This modern classic does everything short of rattling your seat to get a reaction.