Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, Tim Curry and Dolly Parton — Plus more Tim Curry and Dolly Parton

Buffy. The Moderna vaccine. Multiple songs that you could easily argue are the greatest ever written.

I could fill a thousand newsletters with everything Dolly Parton accomplished across her long, extraordinary life (which was nowhere near long enough still).

She gave us so much, yet what matters most are the things we can't easily list or count.

It's in the smile that Dolly's sunshine laugh brought on tough days. It's in the way she taught us to take things a little less seriously. It's in the love of reading she helped instil in millions of children who discovered books through her philanthropy.

Dolly taught me how to survive a break-up that nearly killed me. She taught me how to be kind to myself, how to stop policing my own queerness in fear that I might come across as "too feminine" or "too much" somehow.

Whether she was ecstatically happy, beaming like sunshine, or heartbroken, begging someone to please not take her man, the Queen of Country always felt every feeling more than anyone has ever felt a feeling before. And there's something so very brave about that, even if Dolly herself would humbly deny such plaudits.

I wrote more about that break-up here a few years back. It's probably the most personal thing I've ever written in my entire life.

Maybe that's why I can't stop crying still.

In life, Dolly moved us with storytelling that felt like it was written specifically for every person who heard her, the kind of writing that hit harder than her goddaughter’s wrecking ball.

Yet, beyond all this, beyond every record she broke, it's her kindness that Dolly will be remembered for above all else.

Isn't that incredible? To be one of the brightest stars this world has ever seen, but shine even brighter still as a beacon of joy above all else? Please carry that thought with you into this weekend and join me in celebrating a woman who did that rarest of things, who changed our world for the better.

You could even say she saved the world. A lot.

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Queer and Now

Everything new in the world of queer TV and film

— I Want Your Sex isn't just what I scream at Jonathan Bailey when I lurk outside his bedroom window in the dead of night. It's also the name of Gregg Araki's triumphant return to cinemas. Yes, THE Gregg Araki, one of the greatest gay filmmakers to ever grace us with his genius.

I Want Your Sex It stars Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman in a sex comedy that parodies crime and BDSM sexual practices alike. So just a normal Wednesday for your average gay then. Watch it now in UK cinemas!

— Drag Race UK is back for season EIGHT on September 3rd, bringing a new gaggle of queens and some fantastic guest judges too including Cat Burns and Layton Williams (not to mention the incomparable Michelle de Swarte who deserves a crown all of her own).

— It's not enough that the Los Javis are unbearably attractive. They've also crafted some of the greatest queer storytelling in Spanish (or any language for that matter).

Following Veneno and ahead of their Cannes best-director winning La bola negra, the lads are releasing their extraordinary 2023 series La mesías worldwide via MUBI on September 3rd.

Watch the trailer and then rewatch Veneno because Jesus Christ that show is special.

— When Leviticus debuted in the US a few months back, I said it's "the culmination of indie horror this summer because it's about two obsessed boys who want to explore each other's backrooms."

"Ok, no, it's actually about two gays who are tormented by a violent supernatural entity that takes the form of whoever they desire the most — namely, each other."

Well, guess what. This surprisingly moving story of Twinks and Demon Twinks alike is FINALLY arriving in UK cinemas from September 2nd. Easily one of my faves this year. Scroll down and see where it ranks in my best LGBTQ+ films of the year so far...

— Sometimes I miss when queer cinema lurked on the fringes more, pushing boundaries with a queerness that strives not to fit in.

Enter the succinctly titled Castration Movie Chapter iii.ii Junior Ghosts—Premorphic Drift; a fragmentary passage, out now in UK cinemas.

Louise Weard's ongoing series currently runs at 11-plus hours of radical strangeness, lo-fi and semi-improvised storytelling, focusing this time on Vancouver couple Izzy and Trent who struggles when the latter comes out as trans

43 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of 2026 Ranked (so far)

Plus where to watch them

In need of something new and extremely gay to watch? Look no further than my ranking of the 43 best LGBTQ+ movies released this year so far.

Check out the link below to see where your faves end up.

Queer Awakenings

You know, the hotties who "turned" you gay.

Being gay is NOT a choice. How do I know? Because I was always going to be gay after seeing this as a kid.

And for that, I thank you Tim Curry.

Reading the news of his death through tears spurred on by the loss of Dolly is not how any of us pictured this week going.

In little over 24 hours, the LGBTQ+ community lost two titans who helped us figure out who we are and gave us the strength to live that truth in the face of hate.

Just like Dolly, Tim gifted us with so much, too many pockets of joy to count. Choosing just one to celebrate is like asking me to pick a favourite Dolly song, but I've got a very special place in my black, twisted heart for The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The film did exactly what fear-mongering bigots feared it would, which is to say it made a bunch of people queer. Well, no. That's not technically true. What it did do, however, is give people who were already queer a chance to see themselves reflected on screen at last.

Tim Curry’s Frank-N-Furter doesn’t appear until about 25 minutes into the movie, but when he does, it's like that moment in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy opens the farmhouse door and Technicolor Oz washes Kansas away.

Except, Curry's arrival is far more disruptive. In all his alien glamour, Frank-N-Furter smashes the banality of everyday existence into a billion pieces as normality is shoved aside in favour of something fabulously freaky.

Seeing this delightfully odd, defiantly strange creature dressed in lingerie, makeup, and impressive platform shoes didn't just give us permission to be weird. It gave us permission to feel sexy in our weirdness, to own our perversities with relish.

There is "Before Frank-N-Furter" and there is "After Frank-N-Furter." But even more crucially than that, there is "Before Tim Curry" and there is "After Tim Curry."

Thank you Tim for giving horny queerdo's a place to feel special and wanted and POWERFUL.

In the velvet darkness of the blackest night, there's a guiding star, no matter what or who you are. And that star is where you'll find Curry glistening in the sky above us all.

Out Takes

Queer hidden gems you need to see

It's not a hidden gem, but there has never been a better time to lose yourself again in Steel Magnolias.

9 to 5 is probably Dolly's magnum opus as far as cinema is concerned, but Steel Magnolias makes me cry more than perhaps any other film, and I think we're all in need of a good sob right now.

The 1989 adaptation of Robert Harling’s play, about six small-town Louisiana women, is just as comforting as it is heartbreaking. Everyone gives career-best work in this one, from Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine to Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts.

Yet among all these titans of cinema, of MOTHERhood, Dolly's kind-hearted hairdresser Truvy more than holds her own. With an undeniable sweetness and purity, Dolly's character excelled at teasing hair to the heavens, and that's where Dolly herself is now.

"I have a strict policy that no one cries alone in my presence," says Truvy at one point, and it's hard not to imagine this being a mantra of sorts for Dolly herself. Most of us didn't know her personally, but she brought us comfort just the same.

I know it's been a tough week. Just know that you're not alone in your sadness though. The entire world mourns Dolly's passing in a way I don't think we will ever see again, not in this lifetime. So join me as I shed another thousand tears and celebrate the life of someone we should all strive to be more like in the days and years to come.

44 Best LGBTQ+ TV Shows of 2026 Ranked (so far)

Plus where to watch them

Do you want gay shit? Of course you do. Do you want to spend hours looking for it? Obviously not. Thankfully, I'm here to help with this ranking of the 44 best LGBTQ+ shows I've seen so far this year.

Check out the link below to see where your faves end up.

And just like that, we've come to the end of Cruising Cinema today. As a thank you for making it this far, here's Jonathan Bailey with a reminder to drink your milk. See you next Tuesday!

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