Out Takes

For this Out Takes, we turned the spotlight on to a new gay romantic comedy that follows a gay Indian man who both dreams of – and fears – the big Indian wedding of their dreams with the love of his life and his journey to get there with Jonathan Groff by his side, plus we welcomed back the creative force behind ‘Girls’ who has teamed up with one of the standout performers...

For this program, we started off by welcoming back the 2025 Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival this July and August which once again presents the best new cinema from the Nordic region . One highlight in the program that we were excited to review was ‘Odd Fish’ , a tale of dreams, identity, and acceptance. This feel-good film follows childhood friends Hjalti and Björn, who run a se...

The cold weather has well and truly settled in down under so for this Out Takes we presented a Winter Warmer edition of recommendations and reviews to get you through  the next few motnhs of this chilly Melbourne winter.  We started off by looking at ‘We Were Liars’ , a new TV series streaming on Prime Video that brings a much loved book from E. Lockhart to our screens that explores re...

As you know, Out Takes is the home of queer cinema and television on JOY 94.9 but for this show, we dived into the world of gay literary fiction to spotlight an Aussie author who is doing great things on the page that has also been making waves on our screens. When we heard Holden Sheppard had a new book out and was available for interviews, we jumped at the chance to speak with him. From the auth...

For this Out Takes we celebrated Pride Month with the return of a special selection of queer films from MQFF, a new short film showcase coming to Melbourne’s west, and a review of a classic stage play that is returning to cinemas for a limited season this June. Our first guest was the recently appointed MQFF Program Director Ro Bright to discuss the upcoming selection of films for Pride Month from...

For this Out Takes, we welcomed the return of two of our favourite film festivals that will be entertaining us in cinemas over the winter months here in Melbourne. We started with looking at one of the many fantastic films on offer at this year’s Spanish Film Festival which will be bringing the fiesta to cities around Australia this June and July with a curated selection of thirty films from Spain...

On our June 2 nd program, we reviewed ‘The Karamazovs’ , a US independent film that is available to view via VOD now which updates Dostoevsky’s final novel into a contemporary queer tale of family drama that is part murder mystery, part spiritual quest. Queer writer/director Anna Brenner , well established in the world of theatre, makes her feature film debut, working with a primarily LGBTQ+ team...

On our June 2 nd episode, we reviewed ‘Number 96’, the trailblazing soap opera from the 70’s that peeled back the walls of suburbia to reveal a bold and unfiltered look at Australian life, introducing shocked audiences to taboo subjects that had never been on TV before including lots of sex, nudity, and queerness. Thanks to local streaming service Brollie , all of the available episodes are going...

In early February of this year, we reviewed ‘Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story’ which was screening at the Queer Screen Film Festival and is streaming now on DocPlay . This incredible film is a dazzling profile of an enduring gay icon and Hollywood survivor that was brought to the screen by David Bruce Klein, an Emmy-nominated producer, director, and writer of television, fi...

For this Out Takes, we looked at a new television show and two films that explore the process of coming out, homophobia, toxic masculinity and accepting who you really are. First up, we looked at ‘Overcompensating’ which is streaming now on Prime Video and is a college-set ensemble comedy about the wild, chaotic journey of Benny (Benito Skinner), a closeted former football player and h...

Every year, JOY 94.9’s Radiothon brings us together to celebrate, support, and sustain LGBTQIA+ voices in media. This year’s theme, ‘Stronger Together’, is a rallying call: in a world of daily challenges, unity empowers us to amplify our voices and build a brighter, more inclusive future. This year, the Geeks Out and Out Takes teams joined forces for a 2 hour live radio-crossover-extra...

For this Out Takes, we reviewed three films that explore very different themes including chosen family, intergenerational relationships, artistic redemption, persecution, and propaganda.  First up was ‘The Wedding Banquet’ , the highly anticipated remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 classic which updates the original with a fresh take on the romantic comedy genre featuring an acclaimed and hilari...

For this Out Takes, we literally have something for everyone with three interviews and six reviews of queer films from around the globe.  First up we looked at ‘Daughters of Darkness’ from 1971 which is appearing at this year’s Cinema Reborn Film Festival and is described as a surreal, stylish take on the vampire myth that blends gothic horror and psychological drama with camp eroticis...

For this Out Takes, we celebrated the return of ‘Hacks’ as it comes back with season 4 on Stan and which has featured fabulous queer characters and storylines plus tons of cutting comedy throughout its run and delivers even more this season. We also looked at the highly anticipated return of ‘The Last of Us’ which is back for season 2 on Max with some new characters, a majo...

With the return of ‘The Handmaids Tale’ this April and as it concludes with its sixth season, we took this opportunity to look back at the first five seasons and the origin story of this hugely successful, influential and critically acclaimed series and highlight the queer characters and storylines throughout its time on our small screens.  We were also fortunate to have access to adva...

For this Out Takes, we looked at ‘Mid-Century Modern’ whose first season is streaming now and is definitely one of the gayest sitcoms you’ll see in 2025. It also shares a lot of DNA with one of the biggest gay comedy series of all time ‘Will & Grace’ . Both are created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan and explore the concepts of chosen families, friendship, and cohabita...

For this Out Takes we looked at two new films and TV shows are available to watch now on your big and small screens that feature queer stories and creators at the forefront. Our feature review was ‘Bob Trevino Likes It’ , a beautiful and bittersweet debut feature film written and directed by Tracie Laymon that stars Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo and centres around a young woman wh...

For this Out Takes, we looked at some of the films on offer in this years Melbourne Women in Film Festival including the opening night film ‘We Were Dangerous’ , a powerful story of hope, rebellion and the celebration of female friendships; and ‘Artrageous’ , a collection of experimental and avant-garde shorts from the 1990s and early 2000s that explore the era of Australia...

We love celebrating local films that highlight diversity and representation and ‘My Melbourne’ is one worth celebrating. Themed around four pillars – sexuality, gender, disability, and race – the anthology film ‘My Melbourne’ features four unique stories that celebrate diverse voices and talents from four Indian filmmakers who worked with emerging creatives from...

For this Out Takes Extra, Demetra spoke to Tara Thorne, the writer / director of ‘Lakeview’ which is screening as part of the QueerScreen Mardis Gras FIlm Festival On Demand program until March 10 . ‘Lakeview’ is about a queer friend group that unites for a girls’ weekend. Packed with delicious Sapphic drama and plenty of wine drunk antics, ‘Lakeview’ is an unfo...

For this Out Takes, we dedicated the entire show to the 97 th Academy Awards a.k.a. the 2025 Oscars! It’s no secret that we love the international film award season and it was another interesting take on the ‘best’ in cinema over the past 12 months and recognising what that means in the film industry but as always, we had our favourites and so it was great to take the time to dissect and discuss w...

The on demand program kicks off soon for the 2025 Mardi Gras Film Festival so we looked at two of the fabulous films on offer that will be available to stream nationally from February 28 to March 10 . First up was ‘Unusually Normal’ , a heartwarming documentary spanning eight decades that follows the lives of two lesbian grandmothers, four lesbian mothers and one lesbian granddaughter,...

For this Out Takes it was a mixed bag of reviews and interviews to celebrate the arrival of a new Aussie series based on a much loved queer coming of age novel, the latest release from Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino and the return of the Australian International Documentary Conference. First up we reviewed ‘Invisible Boys’ , the new LGBTQ coming-of-age Australian series set in the unfo...

For this Out Takes, we’re going back to the Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival to look at ‘I’m Your Venus’ , a powerful film from the U.S. that is described as a vital companion piece to Jennie Livingston’s legendary 1990 ballroom documentary ‘Paris Is Burning’ . One of the iconic trans stars of that seminal film, Venus Xtravaganza, was murdered before its release and th...

It’s no secret that we love highlighting local film festivals and the talent behind it and for this Out Takes we were delighted to welcome back Artistic Director Spiro Economopoulos to tell us about the 2025 Europa Europa Film Festival which is returning for its 4th year in Melbourne and Sydney from February 12 to March 12. Spiro shared many of the program highlights including three queer fi...