Willow Catelyn Maclay
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willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Willow Catelyn Maclay
@willowcatelyn.bsky.social
14K followers 700 following 4.6K posts
Film Critic (Film Comment, Reverse Shot, Polygon etc). GALECA.

Co-Author of CORPSES, FOOLS AND MONSTERS: THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF TRANSNESS IN CINEMA
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willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Willow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · Oct 17
Every time there's a Twitter purge, I share the link to my book. I co-authored "Corpses, Fools and Monsters" and it is about transness in cinema. People seem to like it!

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725695...
Corpses, Fools and Monsters by Willow Maclay, Caden Gardner: 9781914420580 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A radical history of transness in cinema, and an exploration of the political possibilities of its future. In the history of cinema, trans people are usually murdered, made into a joke, or viewed as ...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
It's offensive to me that The Cure aren't in the finals
November 25, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
I wrote about DOG DAY AFTERNOON and its complicated legacy among trans viewers for my reader's choice series. My co-writer Caden Mark Gardner will be discussing many of these same topics tonight on TCM before this film is shown. Please tune in!

www.patreon.com/posts/144308...
The phone call between Sonny and Leon is so disarmingly beautiful that the context of what I know to be true about this story, and the legacy of Dog Day Afternoon within my community, momentarily fades away. Pacino has two performances in the 70s that are as strong as performances can be, and this is one of them. The other is Michael Corleone in the first two Godfather films. That performance is an internal one, with evil festering in his blossoming inhumanity, flickering out in a handful of wonderfully expressive moments of what he has chosen to become (his murder of Sterling Hayden’s character in The Godfather & Fredo’s final scene in The Godfather Part Two). Dog Day Afternoon is almost a composite opposite of what he accomplished as Michael. Everything is leaking out of him, and when they put the camera on him in that phone call he can’t hide from anyone—let alone Leon. Those big soulful, searching eyes, taking on water, looking for a way out. He’s mesmerizing in the visibility of his love for Leon that’s spilling all over the place—almost embarrassingly so. Sarandon isn’t a very good trans woman, and he doesn’t feel like the gay men of the era either. His queer creature doesn’t make any sense at all until Pacino is on the phone with her, and the cuckoo qualities of their relationship and this story cohere in a strangely magical moment. It’s fair to say that when modern queer audiences gravitate to the true story of John Wojtowicz they aren’t reacting to the man that actually robbed the bank (he was a chaser who consistently misgendered Liz. They didn’t live happily ever after.), but to Pacino’s performance, and the bare minimum facts of the reasons for the robbery. a still of Al Pacino on the phone from DOG DAY AFTERNOON
November 24, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
kjshepherd.bsky.social
Look: @schlockvalue.bsky.social and I always want to reward the trueheads who stay in town this week.

Come to @ifccenter.bsky.social Tuesday night at 7 and watch a Japanese gay pink film.

You won't be disappointed. Get out the early sunset rut and check it out. We'd love to see you there. Thanks.
IFC Center - Looking for an Angel
NYC Premiere of the 4K Restoration! Tuesday, November 25 at 7:00: Introduction by Elizabeth Purchell and KJ Shepherd Mostly seen on the gay pink circuit and recently restored by its director to its ri...
www.ifccenter.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:51 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Amoreena fucking rips
November 25, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
provolonee.bsky.social
It's Caden day on TCM!
Caden on TCM
November 25, 2025 at 1:05 AM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Caden is going to be on TCM in about 10 minutes. Let's go Caden! He's showing DOG DAY AFTERNOON first.
willowcatelyn.bsky.social Willow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · 1d
I wrote about DOG DAY AFTERNOON and its complicated legacy among trans viewers for my reader's choice series. My co-writer Caden Mark Gardner will be discussing many of these same topics tonight on TCM before this film is shown. Please tune in!

www.patreon.com/posts/144308...
The phone call between Sonny and Leon is so disarmingly beautiful that the context of what I know to be true about this story, and the legacy of Dog Day Afternoon within my community, momentarily fades away. Pacino has two performances in the 70s that are as strong as performances can be, and this is one of them. The other is Michael Corleone in the first two Godfather films. That performance is an internal one, with evil festering in his blossoming inhumanity, flickering out in a handful of wonderfully expressive moments of what he has chosen to become (his murder of Sterling Hayden’s character in The Godfather & Fredo’s final scene in The Godfather Part Two). Dog Day Afternoon is almost a composite opposite of what he accomplished as Michael. Everything is leaking out of him, and when they put the camera on him in that phone call he can’t hide from anyone—let alone Leon. Those big soulful, searching eyes, taking on water, looking for a way out. He’s mesmerizing in the visibility of his love for Leon that’s spilling all over the place—almost embarrassingly so. Sarandon isn’t a very good trans woman, and he doesn’t feel like the gay men of the era either. His queer creature doesn’t make any sense at all until Pacino is on the phone with her, and the cuckoo qualities of their relationship and this story cohere in a strangely magical moment. It’s fair to say that when modern queer audiences gravitate to the true story of John Wojtowicz they aren’t reacting to the man that actually robbed the bank (he was a chaser who consistently misgendered Liz. They didn’t live happily ever after.), but to Pacino’s performance, and the bare minimum facts of the reasons for the robbery. a still of Al Pacino on the phone from DOG DAY AFTERNOON
November 25, 2025 at 12:52 AM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
I am not going to get into the weeds of that Best Comedies of all time list and I will just say that The Palm Beach Story and Police Story make me laugh very hard and they were not on the list.
November 24, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
cadenmgardner.bsky.social
This is tonight 🫣
November 24, 2025 at 6:18 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
I wrote about DOG DAY AFTERNOON and its complicated legacy among trans viewers for my reader's choice series. My co-writer Caden Mark Gardner will be discussing many of these same topics tonight on TCM before this film is shown. Please tune in!

www.patreon.com/posts/144308...
The phone call between Sonny and Leon is so disarmingly beautiful that the context of what I know to be true about this story, and the legacy of Dog Day Afternoon within my community, momentarily fades away. Pacino has two performances in the 70s that are as strong as performances can be, and this is one of them. The other is Michael Corleone in the first two Godfather films. That performance is an internal one, with evil festering in his blossoming inhumanity, flickering out in a handful of wonderfully expressive moments of what he has chosen to become (his murder of Sterling Hayden’s character in The Godfather & Fredo’s final scene in The Godfather Part Two). Dog Day Afternoon is almost a composite opposite of what he accomplished as Michael. Everything is leaking out of him, and when they put the camera on him in that phone call he can’t hide from anyone—let alone Leon. Those big soulful, searching eyes, taking on water, looking for a way out. He’s mesmerizing in the visibility of his love for Leon that’s spilling all over the place—almost embarrassingly so. Sarandon isn’t a very good trans woman, and he doesn’t feel like the gay men of the era either. His queer creature doesn’t make any sense at all until Pacino is on the phone with her, and the cuckoo qualities of their relationship and this story cohere in a strangely magical moment. It’s fair to say that when modern queer audiences gravitate to the true story of John Wojtowicz they aren’t reacting to the man that actually robbed the bank (he was a chaser who consistently misgendered Liz. They didn’t live happily ever after.), but to Pacino’s performance, and the bare minimum facts of the reasons for the robbery. a still of Al Pacino on the phone from DOG DAY AFTERNOON
November 24, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
kcfennessy.bsky.social
So great to see Bill Ackerman back in action. The podcast initially ended in 2022, but I see that he started up again this month with Erica Schultz, followed by Willow. I recommend every single episode; a really great lineup of film writers, programmers, podcasters, and others.
November 24, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
I was thrilled to be invited onto the SUPPORTING CHARACTERS podcast to talk about numerous topics including Trans film images, Corpses, Fools and Monsters and our appearance on TCM. Tune in tonight for @cadenmgardner.bsky.social 's program!

www.nowplayingnetwork.net/supportingch...
Episode 70: Willow Catelyn Maclay
Bill talks to author and podcaster Erica Shultz about her endeavors in film culture, from creating shows like Unsung Horrors to writing and publishing her book THE SWEETEST TABOO and contributing spec...
www.nowplayingnetwork.net
November 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Caden will be co-hosting TCM tonight for an evening of movies. His interview covers DOG DAY AFTERNOON and MA VIE EN ROSE. Later in the night there will be showings of THE CHRISTINE JORGENSEN STORY, PARIS IS BURNING and the TCM debut of DRESSED IN BLUE.
November 24, 2025 at 3:27 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
I was thrilled to be invited onto the SUPPORTING CHARACTERS podcast to talk about numerous topics including Trans film images, Corpses, Fools and Monsters and our appearance on TCM. Tune in tonight for @cadenmgardner.bsky.social 's program!

www.nowplayingnetwork.net/supportingch...
Episode 70: Willow Catelyn Maclay
Bill talks to author and podcaster Erica Shultz about her endeavors in film culture, from creating shows like Unsung Horrors to writing and publishing her book THE SWEETEST TABOO and contributing spec...
www.nowplayingnetwork.net
November 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Live the sort of life that has everyone saying "that guy was weird and awesome" when you pass away.
November 24, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
mattlyon.bsky.social
Udo Kier's first and only post on Twitter 💯
Udo Kier on Twitter: "film should not be streamed on netflix. envelop yourself in the darkness of the movie hall and submit to the artist's visioon."
March 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
walrusmaster.bsky.social
R.I.P. Udo Kier, star of one of the greatest music videos ever made: youtu.be/sJV29ZQIUhs?...
Madonna - Deeper And Deeper (Official Video) [HD]
YouTube video by Madonna
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 1:25 AM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Udo Kier was in everything and I always happy to see him
November 24, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
willsloanesq.bsky.social
The Q&A went long and the theatre eventually cut Udo’s mic, so I also got to see him yell at the staff. “I COME a LONG WAY to talk to MY FANS… and this is DISRESPECT!” R.I.P. to a real one.
November 24, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
willsloanesq.bsky.social
RIP Udo Kier. Had an incredible evening circa 2009 seeing him interviewed by Bruce LaBruce onstage in Toronto. “So you were roommates with Fassbinder?” asked LaBruce. “AH YES!” replied Udo. “Vee vere… ‘room mates’!”
November 24, 2025 at 12:36 AM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
IMO They should have re-released THE WIZARD OF OZ a week before Wicked because I am sure there are tons of people who have never seen it in a cinema and would like to do so. Especially young people who like the musical.
November 23, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
The second in my four part series covering the great dramatic performances of Diane Keaton is live. In this one I look at her work in Gillian Armstrong's illicit romance MRS. SOFFEL.

www.patreon.com/posts/144104...
Diane Keaton took a huge performance risk as Kate Soffel, and it could have sunk the film in its discordancy to the genre and period. Set in 1901, she plays a frigid woman in a fuckless marriage, and she’s introduced to us in bed suffering from an undisclosed illness that could reasonably be chalked up to a malaise brought on by the punishing boredom of her lifestyle. Gillian Armstrong’s true-crime fable captures bible-thumping moralist Pittsburgh beset by dreamy, beautiful, snowy landscapes, and the billowing factory smoke of the soon-coming industrial revolution. Kate is married to the local warden Peter Soffel (Edward Herrmann), and when she’s healthy she fills her days at the prison, giving testimony to the condemned, and sliding pocket-sized Bibles through the metal bars. She’s a true believer, but there’s something nagging inside of her that feels just as trapped by scripture, as her marriage, her role as a mother, and the make of society. Keaton opted to play the role with modern tics, and neglected any notion of realism indebted to the stuffier socialization inherent to the women normally in pictures such as these. At first, it clangs against Armstrong’s austere images, and one wonders if the mighty Keaton had finally made a wrong step, but when she makes her escape—following her heart with the promise of a fling with accused murderer Ed Biddle (played by Mel Gibson, during the era when he was marketed as a hunk)--the performance reveals itself as one characterized by her out-of-time personality. When the film was released, many critics referred to it as a half-baked Bonnie and Clyde, but Mrs. Soffel was opting for something more distinctly middle-aged and riddled with the crisis of a woman’s growing realization of stagnation and invisibility, and cannot imagine a scenario that may unleash her free-spirit, let alone, her childish screwball memories of adolescence. Keaton chose to play the character as if Kate were post-women’s lib, and was transported... a still from MRS. SOFFEL featuring Diane Keaton in close-up framed in front of prison bars
November 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
truthdig.com
“Castration Movie” was born out of a distinct combination of success and anxiety.
Castration Movie: A Twisted Love Letter from the Cinematic Underground
Louise Weard’s trans cinema opus is subversive, underground cinema at its finest.
www.truthdig.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
I'm a little late getting to this, but this is a must read for anyone who loves EYES WIDE SHUT

thefilmstage.com/that-cut-is-...
“That Cut Is Stanley’s Cut”: Nigel Galt on Editing Eyes Wide Shut with Kubrick
What is it to spend 15 months in a room with—let's just speculate—the most influential filmmaker of all-time on his final project, a work for which they did not survive to elaborate upon and left in a...
thefilmstage.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
pogform.bsky.social
My wife @thelicoricekid.bsky.social is streaming UFO 50 all day to raise money for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and she’s still got hours to go! Come hang out at twitch.tv/thelicoricekid and donate if you can!
Twitch
Twitch is the world
twitch.tv
November 22, 2025 at 10:23 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Caden will be on TCM this Monday for Part Two of our series. He will be on to discuss DOG DAY AFTERNOON and MA VIE EN ROSE. Later in the evening the great trans doc DRESSED IN BLUE will be receiving its TCM debut (perhaps its English language TV debut as well?). Make sure to watch or set your DVRs
cadenmgardner.bsky.social Caden Mark Gardner @cadenmgardner.bsky.social · 23d
On November 17 and 24, @willowcatelyn.bsky.social and I will be on TCM talking about films featured in our book. More details to come.
November 22, 2025 at 10:53 PM