A Piece of Pie: The Queer Film Podcast

Brian welcomes filmmaker Sav Rodgers to discuss his documentary Chasing Chasing Amy. The documentary investigates his own complicated feelings with Kevin Smith's 1997 hit, Chasing Amy in which Ben Affleck falls for a lesbian. Revolutionary at the time, its now seen as a problematic attempt from a straight white guy to tell a queer story. Or maybe it's an empathetic queer coming of age tale that was accidentally written by a cis white man. Sav's movie asks that question head-on. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

With Disclosure Day , legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg returns to the alien invasion genre he's defined for generations. So this week we took a look back at where he started, with just his third theatrical release, Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

After 5 and half years, Brian and Max finally wrap up their series on filmmakers Quentin Tarantino & Paul Thomas Anderson. Since mid-2020 they’ve been pairing off the works of the two Gen X auteurs. Chris joins them to discuss Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood , his favorite Tarantino, paired off with PTA’s own Los Angeles love letter, Licorice Pizza. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week we're taking a look at one of the year's biggest movies, and one of its gayest, The Devil Wears Prada 2 . And we take a look back at the 2006 original, discussing it's status in the queer canon. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week Brian and Keegon take a look at two tales of the search for eternal youth. A campy, laugh filled Death Becomes Her and the dark body horror Oscar nominated The Substance. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

Paul and Chris return to the pod to bring their expertise on classic Hollywood. In 1934, Will Hays, then the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, began strenuously enforcing the Production Code. This code was a guideline used to determine what films could depict on screen and the behavior of characters. These included drug use, promiscuity, and yes, homosexuality. Despite limiting these things, it inspired creative filmmakers to work around the code and find new and clever ways to challenge it. The films we chose, She Done Him Wrong and Baby Face were each released in 1933, and a case could be made that they led to stricter enforcement of the code. Baby Face stars Barbara Stanwyck as Lily, a woman who escapes her evil father and makes her way in the city, quite literally sleeping her way to the top of high society. She Done Him Wrong is based on Mae West's own play, and she plays a nightclub owner who must contend with a jealous ex who escapes from prison, and a young Cary Grant, a police captain. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

Brian welcomes back Keegon and Chris as they discuss this year's Oscar night. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

We’re continuing our series examining the films of 90’s auteurs, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson! This time Brian and Max are joined by playwright and our newest contributor, Keegon Schuett. We discuss the legacy of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams’ questionable handjobs and, as always, the problematic behavior of Quentin Tarantino. Is this his most relaxed film, or his most baldly depraved? Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week, Raina Deerwater from GLAAD returns to the pod to discuss two nominees of the 2026 GLAAD Media Awards. On Swift Horses and Hedda were nominated for Outstanding Film (Wide release). Each film tackles queer characters in mid-century America. On Swift Horses is about a war veteran returning to the states where he reunites with his brother, while Hedda is a queer adaptation of the play, "Hedda Gabler" starring Tessa Thompson. Raina and Brian discuss queer representation in films, then and now, and take a look at two different films taking place in similar eras examining queer lives in a time when it was a secret to be hidden. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

For our 150th Episode, Brian decided to highlight one of his favorite films, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week our friend Keegon Schuett returns to the show to continue gushing about Diane Keaton as a mother to queer people. In The First Wives Club it’s a token lesbian, while she’s best friends with fellow icons Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler. We paired it with the modern classic Bridesmaids and spend more time quoting it than discussing it. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

We're commemorating the Christmas season by taking a look at two Nicole Kidman films. First up, the final film from Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut, co-starring her then-husband Tom Cruise. And we pair it with Babygirl, co-starring Harris Dickinson and Antonio Banderas. We're joined once again by Alonso Duralde, writer of the recently revised Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas. He brings his Christmas-movie expertise to these two films, and we discuss what makes them both quintessential Christmas classics. Click here for your copy of Alonso’s book, Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week we're celebrating the late, great Diane Keaton. Contributor and playwright Keegon Schuett returns to the pod with one of his favorite warm blanket movies, Something's Gotta Give co-starring Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves. And tis the season for Holiday movies, so we pair it with Keaton's turn as the matriarch of a chaotic family Christmas in The Family Stone. For details and to buy's Keegon's new play, click the link below! https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300282764/this-dry-spell/ Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

With Paul Thomas Anderson's newest One Battle After Another in theaters and heavily favored in the Awards conversation, Brian and Max return to their project pairing off his films with the work of fellow American master, Quentin Tarantino. This time it's a bloody revenge fantasy paired with an Altman-esque stoner comedy that refuses to be understood. Give a listen as we continue to examine two modern day auteurs who are still changing Hollywood, 30 years after their game changing debuts. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week we're discussing two of cinema's most celebrated queer filmmakers, Luca Guadagnino and Andrew Haigh. Within the last few years, they've each given us deeply personal stories about love, loneliness, grief and the disconnect of growing up queer in a straight world. Through different eras and wildly different tones, each film grapples with queer life in stunning and heart wrenching detail. Chris is back as we discuss the two newest editions to the Queer Film Canon. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

Just in time for Halloween, we're revisiting two of our favorite classic 90's horror flicks. Fresh off an Academy Award for Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino teamed with director Robert Rodriguez for From Dusk Till Dawn, starring Tarantino and George Clooney. Rodriguez would follow that up with The Faculty , from writer Kevin Williamson. With sprawling casts and self-referential scripts, these films still hold up among the best horror of the 1990's. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week we’re joined by Raina Deerwater, Associate Director and Research Analysis at GLAAD! She joins to discuss their Studio Responsibility Index, and recent findings that LBGTQIA+ representation in film is on the decline. We discuss what that means, and what can be done about it. And then we talk about the sapphic crime drama, Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart one of a few queer centered films from 2024. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week we're finally discussing Tony Kushner's masterpiece, Angels in America. As Chicago's own Invictus Theater Company stages a new production, we welcome two actors from the show, Miguel Long and Ryan Hake, to discuss the 2004 HBO adaptation. They offer insight into playing these challenging roles, as we discuss the differences between the play and the movie, and how the play remains as relevant as ever. Click here for information about the Invictus Theater’s production, running through September 7, 2025. Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

This week, Brian is joined by writer Sezin Devi Koehler, who quite literally wrote the book on Keanu Reeves. Her book, Much Ado About Keanu: A Critical Reeves Theory highlights the actor’s legendary career. We take a specific look at The Matrix , a franchise created by trans women, and John Wick, an iconic character that, according to Sezin’s theory, is very likely transgender himself. You can find a copy of her book here https://tinyurl.com/2tbpyex6 Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!

Questions or comments about what we talked about? Click here to let us know!