I am delighted to welcome back a friend of the Sewers, film critic and holiday aficionado, Linoleum Knife’s Alonso Duralde. His book, Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, is now out in a revised and updated edition, gathering even more expert recommendations for holiday films to enjoy this season and year-round. We chatted about how Christmas movies have changed since he wrote the first edition of his book, fifteen years ago, and what the future of holiday films might be. And also why he’s been baking Christmas cookies all year long.

And before we get to that, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video coming at the end of this month about the powerful gay magic behind The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and much more.

The second of the Wicked films comes out later this month, and so for this week’s episode we’re jumping into the Sewers archives to hear my 2017 chat with Tony winner Stephen Oremus, who was the music director for Wicked on Broadway and conducted the orchestras for the two Wicked films. He was also music director for the Academy Awards, taught Idina Menzel how to sing “Let it Go,” and worked on everything from Book of Mormon to Avenue Q to 9 to 5. Not bad for a kid who started his musical career by sneaking out of the house to sing showtunes at his best friend’s piano.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale. And I have a new video coming later this month about The Wizard of Oz. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And throughout November, join us for Wizard of Oz themed livestreams over at http://twitch.tv/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and much more.

My guest this week is Trung Le Nguyen, author of the new graphic novel Angelica and the Bear Prince. Trung’s books emerge from his lifelong love of fairy tales, some of them quite dark, and also his fascination with people figuring out how to take care of each other. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume. And throughout November, join us for a week of Wizard of Oz themed livestreams over at http://twitch.tv/mattbaume — leading up to a new video at the end of the month about why that film has always held particular importance for the gays.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and more.

My guest this week has been giving a lot of thought lately to what he was born to do. Wellington Love is one of the producers of the new documentary I Was Born This Way, which tells the story of Archbishop Carl Bean. That might not be a household name, but you’re certainly familiar with his work and the people he’s influenced — from his pioneering activism around HIV/AIDS, and also his musical career and the disco anthem that inspired Lady Gaga’s Born this Way. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a heads up that I have a new YouTube video out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And to celebrate the occasion, we’ll be watching the 1970s parody, Young Frankenstein, on Twitch — and following along with the screenplay, comparing the very funny script to what made it to the screen. Join me for that this Saturday and Sunday at noon pacific at Twitch.tv/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and more.

My guest this week is Jim Farmer, festival director of Atlanta’s Out on Film fest. Jim’s a longtime arts reporter in Atlanta, though he got his start in journalism doing just-the-facts newsgathering — a beat that bored him to tears, until he decided to take the reins and create his own career doing what he loved.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a reminder that for the entire month of October I’m hosting livestreams of films by and about James Whale, the iconic director behind many classic Universal horror films. This weekend we’re watching Whale’s Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. That’s at Twitch.tv/mattbaume this Saturday and Sunday.

And also a reminder that I have a new YouTube video out about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. And I have a new video coming later this month about James Whale and Frankenstein. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume. 

Now that we’re in October already, it’s a fine time to reflect on the uncanny grasp that horror has in the hearts of so many queer people. So for this week’s episode, we’re heading into the Sewers archives for a chat with director Jeffrey Schwarz, for whom horror is just one small slice of the story. Jeffrey’s made a lifelong study of film, starting with an early job editing the documentary The Celluloid Closet, right up to today with documentaries about people like Divine, Vito Russo, and horror icon William Castle. I chatted with Jeffrey back in 2017, when he was about to debut a documentary about the flamboyant producer Alan Carr — a fitting subject, since as a young gay man, Jeffrey found kindred spirits in people who, like him, reveled in intensity and excess. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a reminder that I have a new YouTube videos out about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. That’s available now at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And also! For the entire month of October I’m hosting livestreams of films by and about James Whale, the iconic director behind 1931’s Frankenstein and many other classics. Join me every Saturday and Sunday on Twitch for movies like The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, and of course Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein. This weekend we’ll be watching clips from the 1994 film Gods & Monsters, and examining how closely that fictional account of Whale’s life follows the reality. That’s at Twitch.tv/mattbaume this Saturday and Sunday.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume.

My guest this week is writer Mark Waddell. His novel, Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World, comes out next week on October 7 — a queer story about an office worker whose career advancement involves world-ending consequences. There’s an autobiographical edge to the story, since in his real life Mark had a dream job going back to childhood… and it was only after he achieved it that he realized just how harmful his dreams were, and decided to leave it all behind to become a writer.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a few announcements: As I’m sure you know, I make YouTube videos about iconic movies and TV shows, and I have a brand new video out now about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman — and how it was made in defiance of the film industry, in defiance of Ronald Reagan, and in defiance of multiple fascist dictators. That’s available now at youtube.com/mattbaume.

The topic of next month’s video is the iconic 1931 Frankenstein film and its maker, James Whale — and in his honor, for the entire month of October I’m hosting livestreams of films by and about James Whale. Join me every Saturday and Sunday on Twitch for movies like The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, Gods and Monsters starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser, and of course Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein. These films helped define a century of scary movies, and they are incredibly queer. It all starts this Saturday October 4 at noon pacific at Twitch.tv/mattbaume.

As you may have seen, I have a new video premiering this weekend about the 1985 film Kiss of the Spider Woman, which features an iconic performance from a then-obscure actor named Raul Julia. Thanks to my research into Raul’s career, I’ve had another of his iconic roles on my mind lately — that of Gomez Addams in the Addams Family films. 

So for this week’s Sewers of Paris, we’re diving into the archives to hear from someone whose creative work was heavily inspired by the Addamses. Back in 2020, I spoke with Hamish Steele, whose graphic novel Deadendia had just been adapted into an animated series at Netflix. Drawing from his love of Dr Who, The Addams Family Values, and other queer-ish ensembles, Hamish’s work in print and in animation has its own devoted cult following.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos about the making of iconic movies and TV shows. I have a new video premiering this weekend about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch; also check out my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo!; and my email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com.

My guest this week is David Secter. As a student in the 1960s, David bluffed his way into getting equipment, money, and crew to make a groundbreaking queer film called Winter Kept us Warm. And despite the fact that he went in with zero filmmaking experience, the movie wound up becoming the first English-language Canadian film to screen at Cannes … and went on to inspire the work of many other filmmakers, including David’s classmate David Cronenberg. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos about the making of iconic movies and TV shows. I have a new one coming up about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch where we’ll be watching the behind-the-scenes commentary on Victor/Victoria this weekend; also check out my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo!; and my email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com.

I’m chatting this week with two guests: TV producer David Moor and historian Dr. Lee Arnott of the delightful podcast The Problematic Gaze — that’s “gaze” as in an intent stare, though they’re the other kind of gays as well. David and Lee both grew up in small towns where it felt like life would never begin, but the lure of London called them to greater, gayer things…as did their passionate fandom for a show about a strange man who suddenly appears to rescue humans from their mundane lives.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos about the making of iconic movies and TV shows. I have a new one out about why the X-Men are so very gay. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch where we’re halfway through our watch-along of Victor/Victoria, starring Julie Andrews; also check out my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo!; and my email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com.