Need a boost to get over Hump Day, or—this week in particular—a momentary break from the despair? The Hot Sheet is Queerty’s midweek pop culture catch-up, highlighting the entertainment stories everyone’s talking about, the ones you might’ve missed, and the notable LGBTQ+ film & TV releases in the days ahead. Here’s everything you need to stay in-the-know:
What To Watch This Week
My Old Ass — Nov. 7 (Prime Video): The summer before moving off to college, a queer teen (Maisy Stella) comes face-to-face with her older self (Aubrey Plaza), turning her life upside down.
High Tide — Nov. 8 (Select U.S. Theaters): This intimate romantic drama opens in more theaters, following a Brazilian immigrant who’s searching for purpose—and love—in Provincetown.
You may notice there are significantly less new LGBTQ+ films and TV shows this week, and that’s likely due to the fact no one could even begin to predict how to meet the moment in the aftermath of Election Day. Given the horrifying results, that’s a huge shame. While it’s easy to dismiss this nebulous thing we call “pop culture” as frivolous, we hope the work we’ve done and will continue to do at Queerty highlights just how powerful it can be to see our lives—and the beautiful diversity within our community—reflected in the media we consume. So, while we know there is much work to be done as we look for more ways to support our queer & trans siblings and begin to organize to fight for a better future, please don’t forget that joy is an essential component of activism. If a movie you watched, a song you heard, a book you read, or even a TikTok you saw brought you joy, then by all means embrace that feeling and let it propel you forward. Just like every week, we’re here with a new Hot Sheet column to round up stories from the world of pop culture—no matter how silly or inconsequential it may seem—with the humble hope that maybe it can bring you some joy today. Because you deserve it. We deserve it.
Culture Catch-Up
GET INTO IT: Our sister site INTO compiled a list of great anxiety-quelling distractions for Election Day, which now feels even more helpful—from queer comics to drag queens at the zoo to The Great British Bake-Off, give yourself a break with these lovely pick-me-ups. [INTO]
WE’RE HERE, WE’RE QUEER: In spite of everything, we do think it’s pretty cool that one of the most anticipated movies of the year, featuring one of the biggest stars on the planet is called Queer. As the press tour begins, Daniel Craig & Drew Starkey talk ABBA and the messy scene left on the edit room floor. [Queerty]
O ROMEO: Kit Connor & Rachel Zegler are currently heating up Broadway in a sexy new take on Romeo + Juliet, and their co-star Tommy Dorfman gives a peek backstage with her exclusive photo diary:
BL FTW: In a positive move, Taiwanese “Boy Love” series First Note Of Love has announced a tour across Asia where fans will have the opportunity to meet-and-greet with its stars—the event will be the first of its kind for the BL genre, a sign of real progress for LGBTQ+ representation on a global level. [Variety]
THE VOICE: Luther Vandross, one of the greatest singers of all time, is getting his long overdue flowers in the new documentary Luther: Never Too Much. While his sexuality has always been the subject of much speculation, there’s no denying what his legacy has meant for the Black, queer community. [Native Son]
IT’S TIIIIIIIIIME: We’re more ready than ever to get into the holiday spirit early, so thank goodness for Castrata—the “drag chanteuse of NYC”—who’s gearing up for her Feelin’ Festive show on Dec. 12 and 20 at Manhattan’s Red Eye, a song-and-dance-and-drag filled tribute to the Queen Of Christmas, Mariah Carey.
READY TO SHINE: From his celebrated Off-Broadway run in A Strange Loop to series like Abbott Elementary, Larry Owens is one of our favorite scene-stealers, but he’s just as brilliant behind the camera, talking about his musical short film The Gag and paving the new for a new generation of queer artists & filmmakers. [INTO]
QUEER HEROES: For the 10th year in a row, Revry—the world’s first LGBTQ+ streaming TV service—wants to hear from you, opening their call for fans to nominate the most impactful queer change-makers of the year, joining the ranks of past honored superstars like Chappell Roan & Dylan Mulvaney. [Revry]
CANDID CAMERA: Though it’s been streaming on Hulu since the spring, the upcoming U.K. release of The Contestant has put the shocking documentary back on our radar—the story of “the world’s first reality star” in Japan, and its unexpected ties to the origin of the popular eggplant emoji.
OUT & PROUD: In another bright spot of the past week, actor Chloë Grace Moretz used her plea to vote as an opportunity to officially come out “as a gay woman,” having reportedly been in a relationship with model Kate Harrison for the past six years. [LGBTQNation]
REMEMBERING AN ICON: This world also mourns the loss of music legend Quincy Jones this week, the multi-hyphenate whose work touched the lives of the LGBTQ+ community in a number of ways, from Lesley Gore, to The Wiz, to that time he gossiped about Marlon Brando & Richard Pryor‘s secret affairs. [Queerty]
A GOOD WITCH: For years now, Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang’s Las Culturistas podcast has been a joyful salve through tough times, and their latest episode is no different, welcoming their friend—and one of pop’s biggest allies to the community—Ariana Grande to the pod for a talk about Wicked, perseverance, and more.
The Final Hump
AppleTV+’s first German original series Where’s Wanda? has been one of the pleasant surprises of the season, a darkly comic crime tale about the titular teen who goes missing, setting her family off on an investigative journey of their own, digging into their neighbors lives for answers. Wanda’s tech-savvy brother Ole (Leo Simon) becomes a huge asset to his family’s search, while meanwhile coming to terms with his crush on his “all-around golden boy” classmate Alex Vinson (Frederic Balonier). In this week’s episode, their relationship builds to a sweet, pivotal moment which you can see for yourself in the Queerty exclusive clip below. The penultimate episode of Where’s Wanda? is now streaming on AppleTV+, and the finale drops next week on Nov. 13, so it’s the perfect time to get caught up!
And one more final, crucial reminder for everyone today:
