The ninth edition in this series comes in with a very interesting title. Most of the shorts in this series focus on youth in various stages of emotional crisis. Unfortunately, the previous series have all been a lot of fun and interest but somehow this one lacks a punch. Barring just a few, most of them somehow did not manage to hold my attention.

Deep End (Canada)

When Dane's older brother comes out, Dane doesn't react very well. But soon after he has to choose between siding with his homophobic classmates or fighting to support his brother. The film has very few dialogues but I think it was very realistic. One of the better ones in the series.

Family Affair (Brazil)

The short shows a young man briefly escaping the masculine energy of his father and brother for a smoke-infused dalliance with one of his brother’s friends. The smoke ends up in a very passionate kiss followed by one of the best reactions that i have seen by a guy after his first kiss. The mix of pleasure, happiness, cockiness and everything else. This short film was priceless just for the guys reaction of "I did it".

Together (UK)

One month after moving in together David and Mark come home to find a key in the lock of their front door. They check the house and it all seems clear, until they slowly start to realise that they are not alone. After a rosy, fresh beginning, the shades of horror film mutate the story. Definitely not my kinda short.

Easy Money (Spain)

When a handsome rent boy shows up at a mysterious client's hotel room, the boy quickly learns that sex appears to be the last thing on his clients mind. It’s an interesting glimpse of the entanglement of prostitution and violence, both involving payment for a very physical act. Brilliantly acted and directed. This one also has a very interesting twist.

The Wilding (Australia)

Juvenile inmate Malcolm is in love with his cellmate Tye, but their relationship is confined within their cell. When Malcolm is offered a shot at parole, he finds himself torn between his rare chance for freedom and protecting the one he loves. I just did not get the film much. It was too abstract for me.

Colonial Gods (UK)

A complicated friendship between a Somali man and Nigerian man unfolds against the chaos of gentrification and displacement in the small immigrant community in Cardiff known as Tiger Bay. This film just does not fit into a gay short series film. I still don't know why this was put in.

It's Not A Cowboy (France)

Last night, Brokeback Mountain aired on TV. Vincent watched it and found himself emotionally compelled by the story. Whilst chatting with a classmate in the school toilets, he takes advantage of the break to describe the film as only an adolescent can. This was a very good short. Highly recommended.

Prora (Switzerland/Germany)

In this deserted former Nazi holiday camp and communist military complex, teenagers Jan and Matthieu embark on an adventure that could change everything. Whilst exploring their surroundings they confront their identities and ultimately put their friendship at risk. But the ending is thankfully friendly and positive. Just a decent flick.

Like I said before, I was a little disappointed by the odd mix because generally they are all very good in this series. (5/10)

Lovebirds (Filipino/Tagalog/English)

Thankfully, Lovebirds doesn't fall in the category of of your atypical, sexually explicit skin flicks whose purpose is to entice men and get them sexually charged. Now, there is nothing wrong with it but once in a while it is good to watch a different film.

Mario lives in Philippines and has been chatting on internet with Alexis, a Spanish guy. When Alexis decides to visit, as per Philipino culture, Alexis is thrown a big bash. But there is a surprise. Mario's mother so far thought that Alexis is a girl and gets shocked to see that he is a man. She fabricates a story that he is Alexis' brother Alex in front of everyone in the family. Fearig that Mario is gay, his mother, who is very dominating, asks him to ask Alexis to leave the next day and that Mario should meet a girl and get married soon. Mario's father on the other hand tries to be friendly. Bt in between this, Mario and Alexis are struggling. They have just chatted on internet a few times and are not getting any time to get to know each other because of the mother. They finally manage to spend sometime together but get lost of their way back and causes a tiff between them. Following which Mario confesses his love for Alexis but falls sick. When they come home, Alexis takes care of Mario, which his mother likes. Even Mario's father tries to put some sense into her. Alexis tells her that he really likes Mario and wants to be with him for good. When Mario's father finally explains his mother, she finally sees that Mario really needs to go out. In a tender moment, Mario comes out officially to his mother and explains how he will be always her son and some things will never change. Mario and Alexis finally manage to go to Manilla for a vacation.

The film had some stereotypes about traditional Filipino culture but that made the film little funny. The mother specially added to the humor when she would say "Not in my home". Mario, as the confused mama's boy acted really well, who didn't want to upset his parents. There is a very touching scene when Alexis and Mario are having a fight and Mario just starts saying in Filipino how much he loves Alexis. Alexis can't understand a word, but you realize, the inner turmoil that Mario is going through because he is so happy when he is with Alexis but he just doesn't want to think what will happen to his mother when she finds out the truth. Surely, it is a little hard to believe how 2 strangers on internet can fall in love totally but you never know. Things can happen. Alexis also acted very well. The scene where he tells Mario's mother that he loves Mario is interesting. Also when Mario's father explains to Alexis how Mario really needs to get out of here. There were funny scenes when the whole extended family is involved. If this film could have been a little more polished, it would have been really good. It was just with low production values and very simple.

A story of a foreigner in another country, different culture, and acceptance of love, this film will not bore you. Plus it has a happy ending. (5.5/10)

Hors Les Murs (Canadian French) [Beyond The Walls]

Now this was a very interesting film. The last film of the OIA film festival in Johannesburg, I saw a lot of people getting uncomfortable in their seats. The film was slow and when you have bunch of gays in an almost house full show, they expect something light, fast and sexy. This film was all opposite. So was it good or bad, lets try and analyze.

One night at a bar Paulo gets very drunk. During the night he kept checking out the bartender Ilir, originally an Albanian guy. Ilir ends up taking Paulo to his apartment when Paulo gets wasted and passes out. Ilir is attracted to him but doesn't do anything. In the morning Paulo confesses that he has a girlfriend and he is questioning himself. Unable to control himself, Paulo goes to meet ilid again, and they have a quick affair which Paulo's girlfriend soon finds him. She throws him out of the house. Having no place to go, he ends up going to Ilir's house who is schooled to see him. He says that he wanted only fun but Paulo's insistence changes his mind and he lets him stay. The 2 guys start to get along well with each other. They are both into music. One day Ilir, is leaving for a show and promises to be back in a couple of days but many days pass and now Paulo is getting restless. He soon finds out that Ilir is in jail but illegal smuggling of drugs. Ilir asks Paulo to help him in various ways and thus begins the journey beyond the walls. Paulo meets another guy and moves in with him for stability and help but his heart is still cry much with Ilir and the 3rd guy knows it. This goes on for a while until one day Ilir decides that it is getting very difficult for him to keep meeting paulo because it hurts so bad. He requests Paulo to not visits him anymore. When Paulo refuses, he ruffles up so that authorities can ban all his visitors. Time flies and Ilir is finally released. But things have now changed. Paulo is settled with his new guy and is content. Is he happy? We don't know but Ilir does come out of jail lonely and lost the only love he ever had.

Most people in this film got so bored but I can sort of understand why that would be! It is a very slow mvid and you really don't wanna watch this film in theatre, with subtitles that too the last show of the night. When you add up these factors, I can understand why people won't like it but at the same time I would like to give credit where it is due. The ice and plot behind the film was very very nice and I loved it a lot. Sadly, the execution left a lot to be desired. If the pace of the film could have been a little faster, I am sure this film will gain even bigger audience. Th elope that eventually grows between the 2 men is shown in a very subtle way. Sex, music, love, alcohol etc, brings them together. They won't say they love but they do and things becomes much more evident in the whole prison episode where Paulo would o any lengths to save Ilir. Also because Ilir is the only man that paulo has ever loved. You can see what confusions and frustrations, he is going through to figure out how to get Ilir out of jail. Acting wise everyone did a good job. The raw rugged look of Ilir was hot but the straight ruffled Paulo was also cute in a nerdy sorta way. This film will need your patience but if you can manage it, you might actually end up seeing positive things about the film.

A heart-breaking journey of two lovers who embark on a journey together but can't stay together for long. (6/10)

Four

It is 4th of July and a young teenager June who lives in a small town is looking to meet his internet date. The date turns out to be a middle aged black man Joe. Joe takes him out and they stat talking about random things. Mostly including why June is not comfortable in his own skin and can't come out to his family. June is an awkward teenager, who is not very sure what he wants from life and tries to push back on things he doesn't want to deal with. He doesn't even know why he is meeting Joe in the first place. Just to get out of house, for sex, for companionship or something totally different. We also meet Dexter and Abigayle. Turns out Abigayle is Joe's daughter who is staying in for the evening to take care of her mother because Joe is "out of town". Their relationship is fragile because Dexter thinks, she thinks of him as idiotic and cocky. Bored at home, she takes up Dexter's offer to meet for 15 minutes which turns out to be date where they even get sexual at one point. There is still an awkwardness. I am not sure why because it seems Dexter was pretty confident of himself. Joe and June eventually go to  motel and have sex and June still doesn't know what to think of everything. On this date night between the 2 couples, Abigayle accidentally sees his date in the same town and with someone and is shocked and can't understand what to think of it. Both the dates finally end when Dexter unexpectedly enter's Abigayle's mothers room and Joe drops off June to his house. The ending was as unexpected as the beginning.

One thing that was interesting about the evening was that whenever I have reviewed movies here, I have never discussed them or taken opinions. So it was interesting to hear what my 2 friends who went with me had to say. We shared few thoughts and disagreed on other. In my opinion the film could have been a good 15 minute short story. Joe's acting was weakest of all IMO. He was really irritating when initially he goes all about 'America'. I was like, just shut the fuck up. Specially because it seemed so fake. June was alright as the awkward teenager who doesn't know what to do with  life. I also felt wrong for Joe to pressure June into doing things he doesn't wanna do. The whole monologue from Joe on AIDS while June is showering was totally unnecessary, unless he was talking about himself in third person. Every individual has the right to plan his/her own life. I am not very sure what to think of the other couple. What was the point. Dexter stays in his room smoking and getting drugged up and we don't know whats wrong with Abigayle's mother and why does she get so upset when Dexter sees her. Was the film supposed to show the vulnerability on the people and the confusion and arrogance that we all have in bits and pieces? If the film-maker really water to make a difference, cut it down to a short film and think of a better subject for the next feature.

The only reason the film stays with me is because it was pretty bad. (3/10)

Love Or Whatever

My first movie in Johannesburg 'Out In Africa' film festival and I was so excited watching this with my new friends. I had my inhibitions for watching an American gay film in theatre because lets face it, US gay themed films have disappointed us much more than they have made us happy. This film thankfully did not fall in the former category. If, the film did not make me cringe and I didn't realize how soon the movie ended, I would say that the film did a pretty decent job of keeping the audience's attention.

Corey, soon to be 30, has a successful career as a psychiatrist and lives with his boyfriend Jon. The night Corey is about to propose to him, Jon finds out and freaks out completely. To the extent hat he ends up sleeping with a woman, who happens to be Corey's patient. He comes back home to tell Corey that he might be bi and Corey completely flips out. They break-up. Corey's sister, Kelsey, moves in. She is lesbian and runs a neighborhood coffee shop where queer community can be themselves. She introduces Corey to the world of Grindr, where he finds Pete, who delivered him pizza twice. They go on couple of dates but Jon re-enters Corey's life. But it is pure physical pleasure for both of them. Corey is going through emotional turmoil. He fails to see the true love that Pete has for him because he is not very confident about himself. Meanwhile, Kelsey is having award time keeping the cafe safe, since she is losing money but she gets no help from Corey. Finally sense prevails and Corey realizes all the mistakes he has been doing of sleeping with an ex, not recognizing love when it finally knocks your door and helping out his lovely sister. He amends his mistakes and takes some hard but life-changing decisions that are good for him and people around him.

The best thing about this movie was that everyone who sees it will be able to identify with something or the other in the film. The feelings of all the characters have been nicely captured. We see Corey in love, gets his heart-broken, the excitement of finding love again, precious moments with his sister and he does a pretty well job of it. The films beginning was a little cheesy with the lovers playing out their fantasy but ultimately it was ok when it dealt on the real subject. The film thankfully doesn't stereotype anything, even when Corey screams surprised why someone so hot like Pete would be interested in Corey. Apparently hot or not, everyone ultimately is looking for love or whatever. Everyone else acted pretty well too. Kelsey provides enough reasons to laugh in the film. She was my favorite, slightly over the top, but it worked for the film. Jon was total eye candy with muscle body and good looks. Pete was the right combination of sensual looks and guy next door attitude.

As I said before, I went with very low expectations and was actually quite pleasantly surprised with the final product. Not bad at all. (6.5/10)

Gay Short Films : 15

These are some really really short films that I saw (less than 5 minutes in duration)

It's Consuming Me (Germany)
A wonderful 3 minute video of a boy obsessing with a guy and his traits and things he does. "I can’t move on. I wish I could. But I’m caught in the thought of what could have been, losing my grip on reality." A little weird ending by still pretty good just for the dialogues.

OK (Brazil)
Two friends in a public restroom talk about and actually do experiment with their sexuality. Starts with jerking off, fingering and finally gets sealed with a kiss. Very innocent and sweet story.

Noturno (Argentina)
Desire runs out through between a couple since they met. A very quick overview of how they met, got passionate and within a short time, how the passion fizzled out completely.

Make Homosexuals Marry (US)
If you disagree with the homosexual lifestyle, why not overturn Prop 8 and make them get married, like the rest of us? A quite funny story showing a gay couple getting married and getting caught up in a boring monotonous life.

The Piece of Furniture (Spain)
Our protagonist shows us the piece of furniture in their parents house which keeps everyone's pictures except them since they are a gay couple. They come up with an interesting idea to gain a spot there through other's weddings.

Everyone Is Different (Netherlands)
A short video which shows how every individual is different and how being different makes everyone get along very well with each other. Nice.

Overall ratings given for such short films. (6/10)

My Brother The Devil (UK)

Delivering an alternately striking and realistic vision of gangland London, My Brother the Devil, is an excellent film.  A coming-of-age journey with bold, memorable characters, vision and style, the film leaves you wanting more. Gay story set in a Muslim context is not always to depict and very few film makers have been successfully able to do that. This film is definitely a step ahead in that regard.

Rashid and Mohammed are of Egypt origin and are brothers living in London now. Elder brother Rashid (Rash) is on streets and deals with drugs etc. to make extra cash. The brothers are pretty close and Mohamed (or Mo) knows about it. They both hang out with street boys. In a gang war, Rashid's best buddy Izzy gets killed. Izzy was very close to Rashid and Rash is now forced to reevaluate egis life and wonder if what his father and mother always said was true or not. Mo is slowly growing up and wants to be exactly like his brother. But the change in hi brother's attitude stars bothering him a lot. Rash meets Sayeed, a photographer whom he had visited with Izzy once. Sayeed was a former gang member and has now cleaned up his life. Izzy always wanted tp get out of streets and loo for decent job and now Rash wants out and get a job. Sayeed gives him a job and they slowly become friends. Rash even invites him home for dinner. Mo doesn't like him at all. In a chance encounter Sayeed kisses Rash and he completely freaks out. He sleeps with his girlfriend but can't get Sayeed out of his mind. He finally gives in and they both start hanging out a lot more. Mo doesn't like this one bit. He meets the other gang members and starts ealing drugs himself for extra money. One day he follows Rashid and finds out about him and Sayeed. He is shocked and disgusted and starts spreading rumor of how Rash may be involved in terrorism because he can't tell them the real story. When Rashid finds out about Mo in the gang, he orders him to stay away and also warns the gang to keep his brother out of it. Complications arise and when news spread that Mo is gay, his gang members wanna kill him but accidentally they shoot Mo. While in hospital, Rashid's parents want him to come back home saying they can him 'fixed' but he refuses. Finally he comes back home to visit Mo, who is now cool and ok with Rash being gay and he knows better to not get involved with the gangs anymore.

The accent in the film was so strong that many a times it was very difficult to understand what they were talking. I could beta hang of few words here and there and make out the rest. The story is interesting and very relevant since it is set in an Arabic setting in UK. The gangs and the living conditions of people are very real IMO and the production quality and the direction is very good. Rashid and Mo act really really well. The bonding that the 2 brothers share and slowly, the same brother, whom Mo idolizes starts disgusting him; the build up is really well done. Both the brothers have acted superbly. Rashid looks really really handsome too. His character of a man struggling internally and with the world around him has been portrayed with utmost conviction. Mo's character is also real but not cowardly. His actions and decisions, though not the best are understandable given the situation he puts himself in. Even the gay angle has been handled very sensitively. It is never used to tiilate the audience and everything is left to viewer's imagination.

This movie will hold your attention and its characters your sympathy from the opening scene to the last blackout. (7/10)

Common Ground

This movie spans across almost 50 decades of life in a small town in Homer, Connecticut. Actually the film could easily have been 3 major episodes, which are not really related to each other except the location but yet all share the common ground. They fall in the category of queer (lesbian or gay, in this specific case). I wonder when this was shown on TV, whether it was shown as one long film or as three different episodes.

The film is narrated through the eyes of a character, whose job is to raise the town's flag every day. In 1954, when he is 6 year old, he witnesses the arrival of Dorothy from navy, one of the first woman veteran in town. When she is out looking for job, rumor soon spreads out that she was dismissed by the army on charges of sexual deviance. There is only one woman in the town who comes out to support her and even listen to her version of the story. Dorothy is confused about her sexuality and while her visits to a gay bar with one of her gay friends from navy, she gets caught. The lady who supports her helps and advices her to go to New York to discover herself. In the second segment, the time period os 1974 but setting is the same. A young 18 year old teenager is being bullied and harassed in school for suspects of being gay. His only support is his teacher who is in contender for being the school principal. The kid that the teacher is gay but the teacher doesn't have the balls to come out. When he finally witnesses how badly the other students have treated the kid, his patience breaks barrier and he finally comes out as well and reports the matter to the school authorities and the police. The segment ends with the teacher fighting against discrimination for his job but he is a happy man now. The final segment is et in 2000 when the gay marriage has become legal. A gay couple who has been together for 15 years decide to get married but the focus of the film is on one the grooms who is having wedding jitters and his father, a former veteran, who is part of the group who is in town to protest the wedding. The whole section focusses on their discussion of being gay, whats right and whats wrong, about marriage and everything. and magically both father and son are finally ok with going through the wedding where the son gives an emotional speech on how their predecessors have probably had a rough time before them and they need to set an example for their future generations.

The first segment is definitely the best of all three. It is more streamlined, very novel idea and has been executed and acted very well. The girl who plays Dorothy does a great job of displaying a touching range of emotions from wonder and excitement when she first visits a gay bar, to sadness and shame as the town folks make it clear she is no longer welcome in their midst. The second segment is also interesting with good performances both from the student and the teacher. I know bullying even today isa big issue in the gay community and teenage school going kids so this was a good way of showing stuff that is necessary. The final segment unfortunately is a little boring. The whole father - son shpeel, the stereotypical gay jokes and lesbian stereotypes, it was all a little too much. Also I am not sure if I believe that way back in 2000, a small town would still be liberal enough for a gay wedding to happen in town hall. I hope I am wrong.

Despite all this, the film is a noble, well-intentioned and worthwhile effort. (6/10)

The Outs (Web Series)

Another web series that I just chanced to watch and OMG! was I impressed or what ! The 6 part series is a story about big relationships, the ones that really define people, and what happens when they fall apart, and how that can change someone. I can't believe how good the series was. I loved every bit of it and you know you love it when the series leaves you wanting more. So I am so anxiously waiting for next seasons (I hope there are more seasons) that should be broadcast soon.

The series follows mainly 3 characters. Mitchell, James and Oona. Mitchell is 20 something gay man who is trying to find love in the city. His best friend is Oona, who is a budding writer but really can't write anything and finally James, who is Mitchell's ex and is sleeping with anyone around. Basically he is in his slutty phase. The story unfolds at a very good pace where we see James in his slutty phase but basically very very unhappy. Mitchell, obsessed about cardigans (that was so cute) trying to find a suitable date for himself is trying to balance his work life with his katty boss and his friend Oona who soon meets a new man in a party. James and Mitchell had a bad break-up, the details of which we find out later. They were basically both not the happiest people in their relationship but both too afraid to break up. James end up cheating on Mitchell's with Oona's then boyfriend but doesn't hide it because it will help them to break up. Thankfully, he meets Scruffy, initially only as a trick but Scruffy helps James come out of his she'll and unhappiness and re-introduce James to the nice, kind and happy man that he is. Mitchell and Oona also re-evaluate their friendship and what is it that they are looking for in their lives. Yes, Mitchell has been more bitter towards James for the break-up but we clearly see that he was equally at fault. By the time the series ends, we see that James is trying to restart his life by getting a new job and trying to possibly be cordial with James.

I can't believe that this was a web-series. The production quality, camera work and direction are top notch. Almost to what a big TV network would offer. Not to mention the acting. The acting is simply superb by pretty much everyone in the series. My favorite is James, who does a flawless job of his character. Mitchell is very likable with his cardigan fixation and his quirkiness, specially in his interactions with Oona. Oona is also very good. Her character was a little confusing for me specially when she just wants to break-up with her boyfriend just because he is too nice. That doesn't make much sense to me. Another character that might not have had a big role per say, but leaves an impression is Scruffy. As the genuinely nice guy, who becomes James' new love and reason for change is really good in his role. The fact that he is super cute and has a nice smile helps too. I must also give a shout out to the dialogue writers of the series. The dialogues are genuinely real, funny, realistic and not OTT at all. The chemistry between all actors is very real. You don't feel or look at them as actors. It feels something real is happening and you are just being part of their lives. Being a New Yorker myself, I was able to relate to the story much better. The storytelling is totally real, grounded and so so so so so good.  Strong and sincere appeal to the director/writer to please make more of these TV and watchable gay cinema and save us from the atrocities of bad gay cinema world.

I am so glad that I saw this TV show. Yeah the story might hit a little to close to home at a personal front for me but even if it didn't, I am sure I would have loved it equally strongly. Splendid (8.5/10)

Kaboom

I think this was my first sci-fi gay themed movie. This film could have been so much more entertaining and fulfilling but alas!! the promise that the film builds up in first half come s crashing down towards the final reels of the film. Laced with overall pretty scent performances, the film's screenplay in the end is a huge let down.

Smith is a 18 year old college student who lives in a dorm with his straight room-mate Thor, on whom he totally has a crush on. His all time best friend is Stella, who we find out is lesbian. Smith has been having this weird dream for a week. The mysterious dream has people in it that are extremely vivid that he's never met and it instantly gets our minds to spinning as to what the hell is going on. It gets weirder from there. At a party Smith meets two of those girls whom he saw in the dream. One of them turns out to be Stella's new girlfriend and the other one is just some random girl. Smith also meets London, who ends up being his first sexual experience with a girl. Smith and London start becoming friends and the films keep getting weirder. Both Stella and Smith keep getting these weird hallucinations. Stella is totally weird out by her girlfriend whom she thinks has some special psychic powers. Smith continues to have visions which now involve men in masks trying to get him or something. In between Smith has his birthday and London treats him to a 3some with Thor's best friend. Smith also has a brief encounter with a guy on a nude beach. All this while, both him and Stella are trying to figure out what the reality is. The truth slowly starts to unfold when Smith turns 19. He finds out a website where he sees and reads about this underground cult, which is headed by his supposedly dead father and that now everyone is out to get Smith to be the new leader because the world is gonna come to an end. Last 15 minutes of the film, most secrets are revealed about all the people in Smith's life and what do they have to do with this whole cult and underground order or whatever.

Made at very high production values, the film is very very engaging because you are yourself intrigued by all thats happening in and around Smith, but by the time the movie is in final moments, it is such a huge letdown. I can't believe that the writers thought the audiences will buy this bullshit. When you have created such suspenses, drama and thrill, you should always back it up with substance but this was clearly missing. The whole explanation, nuclear weapons and the true identity of everyone around Smith was a little too much and too dumb. C'mmon as an audience we deserve better. The acting was exceptionally well fem pretty much everyone. It looked like a very polished campus drama for a long time and in fact very well done. Alas! the climax ruins it all. But in all fairness, the thrill as well could have been done so cheaply and badly. It was so easy to do all that was shown in this film as cheap thrills but thankfully the director did not resort to that.

A decent movie with some genuine moments and then it goes into a strange transformation of ridiculousness and the paranormal. (5.5/10)

Bear Nation (Documentary)

So I had loves the bear city movies; both parts, in fact. Hence, I was very curious to know what this documentary will offer. As most documentaries, this doesn't offer entertainment but then it does give you a lot of information about the bear community.

The film is sorta divided into various sections. We start with definition and origin of the term 'bear' in the gay community. Everyone thinks different but the general consensus is big hairy gay guys are considered bears. The director interviews various peoples who share their stories of coming out as gay and then their second coming out on how they were more attracted to bears. Everyone has something similar to share from their lives and how it is ok to be fat and hairy and you will still find men who will be into you and would want you for who you are. We then follow a group of bears who meet every year in Chicago for the bear weekend. A weekend where all bears get together, various events happen, drinking, games, excursions etc. Story how about this event grew bigger over a period of time is also shared. The stage then moves to London and we are shown various clubs and attitude of people towards bears in UK. Finally the segments end in New York where we meet the director of Bear City and how and why he made the film.

Overall, though the film might not have been entertaining , it was very watchabale. One of the few documentaries that don't drag just for the sake of filling time. The people being interviewed were charming and funny and so they kept the audience's interest alive. It is nice to see and hear different stories and experiences of various men. As much as personally I may not get the whole bear thing, but I can appreciate that yes, there is a section of gay guys out there who have a very strong community and who really are not all about twinks, clean shaven etc etc. I would recommend this if you are into documentaries and all. This will for surely not bore you. (6/10)

En Soap (Danish) [A Soap]

This was a very very odd film. It was like a cross between a film and a soap opera. It was shot like a soap, with 10 min incidents which would be followed by a quick summary by a narrator (just like it happens in a daily soap). Unfortunately, the movie was s lethargic as would be a daytime soap, with no direction as to whatever. And then the movie abruptly ends, just like  a daily soap would end when sponsors would have no more money to pump in.

Charlotte decides to randomly move out of her husband's house because she in unhappy. We don't know the real reason. She moves to a shitty neighborhood and even as the husband tries to find out what went wrong, she is too busy thinking just about herself. She just wants to be alone. One day she meets Veronica, who lives one floor below her. Veronica is MTF and is waiting for a letter from the authorities to get her operation done. Initially Charlotte mocks her but slowly they start becoming cordial with each other. They keep going back and forth between friends, cordial acquaintances and outright rude to each other. There comes a point where Veronica tries to attempt suicide and Charlotte takes care of her dog. Charlotte indulges in random sex with strangers and one night when her husband comes, he gets so agitated by his wife's behavior that he beats her. Veronica saves Charlotte and takes care of her for next few days. A strange sexual tension starts developing between the 2 (which was very disturbing for me). The sexual tension also goes through awkwardness, weird reactions. Once Charlotte reacts badly and other time Veronica pulls back. Charlotte then decides to go back to her husband but within few minutes again changes her mind and goes to visit Veronica and they just smile.

Yeah! thats how this movie ends. My reaction was also wtf!! The story was interesting and could have been so much better with proper direction but it failed bad. Charlotte pretty much 2 expressions throughout the film. Either that of boredom and disgust and one where she smiles every time she sees Veronica and has this wicked 'I am gonna judge you' smile. In my opinion, Charlotte's character was that of a total bitch. She didn't know what she wanted from life, for love, for friends or whatever. She says some of the meanest things to pretty much everyone around her. On the other hand Veronica is a case of absolute depression and self-loathing individual. A little more background on both of these individuals would have helped. The movie is also very dark sine it is primarily shot in 2 apartments. I bet it was made on a low budget but at least the production values do not look tacky. Acting by Veronica was also ok. Nothing extra-ordinary IMO.

A below average movie for me. The film maker has tried a different way of story telling which definitely did not work for me. (4/10)

Leaving Metropolis (Canada)

We have seen so many films about gay-straight love and how ultimately the straight guy figures out he is gay and all that with regular cliches. Thankfully this is a film that doesn't follow regular cliches. In the backdrop of love and art, we also do get to see friends dealing with Aids and loneliness. Overall a very impressive movie considering I had no expectations from it. Also, just as an aside, the poster of the movie needs to be changed. It gives the impression that it is a bad cheesy c-grade film, which it is so not.

David is a famous artist who finds himself in a artist block. To get more inspired, he decides that he needs to get a job and since he has waiting experience, he decide to join a not so famous diner, so that no one recognizes him. The diner is owned by Matt and Violet, a loving couple. The 3 of them become friends and are having a good time, until David starts having feelings for Matt. Surprisingly, Matt looks in David a friend, whom he can hang out with. One day when David shows Matt his painting of Matt, he can't hold back anymore and gives himself to David. They have pure passion. But things start becoming awkward at diner and so David quits. Matt misses him and visits him again and then they start having an affair, while Violet is totally clueless. On a parallel side, we also see Shannon, David's transgendered friend who lives with him and wants to get a sex change operation but it keeps getting postponed because of her HIV status. Things keep worsening with her. She ends up in hospital really bad and finally decides that she can't take it anymore and would like to end her life. When another friend of David's sees David and Matt together, she is utterly shocked and threatens to tell Violet about everything. Eventually when David is about to do his portraits exhibition about Matt, Matt comes clean to his wife, who throws him out of the house. The film ends with all 3 principal characters being left alone to deal the realities of life.

Interestingly the film has  lot of reference to Superman, which I found oddly fascinating considering the target audience was primary gay. I have to point out here that every single acorn in this film does a brilliant job. My fav scene is when Matt calls David as buddy and he exclaims to Violet that "Did you hear that your husband just called me buddy. You know I am a fag, right?" The scene was fantastic and it sort of establishes the character that David is. The guy Matt was very believable as the loving husband, who for some reason could not help himself falling in love with another man while loving his wife equally strong. I for once was never bored in the film and was curious to see what would happen next. I don't think the side story of the transgendered girl was a drag to the film. The film very subtly focusses on crisis and epidemic that AIDS and HIV is bringing. Sure the film doesn't have a happy ending but then at least it is more realistic and believable.

I liked it a lot and I think most people would. (7/10)

Luna Park

Films or stories based on ancestual relationships can always be tricky ones. There is always this think line where you want to be a keep a balance between possible reality and making sure the audience doesn't completely dismiss the idea. The story of this film was decent but the direction was so so so bad, I couldn't believe. This film is a very good example of the self indulgence by a director, who probably thought he is making a classic and meanwhile what comes out is pure torture.

Alexia is an ex-actress turned movie producer in New York who now produces gay cinema. She owns Luna apartment building in california where she puts up all her actors. She has amuse brother Christopher, who supposedly takes care of the apartments but is not doing too well. She sends her right hand man Max, to take care of Christopher and the apartments. Christopher is a troubled 18 year individual who spends all his time inside the apartment. Max starts taking care of Christopher but soon enough they fall in love. At the same time Ma discovers some hidden secrets of Alexia's past life when she was Rose. How she was raped as a teenager, and then was in an incest relationship with her brother. It turns out that Christopher is actually her son and not brother. When She asks Max to come back to New York, he refuses and says he wants to stay and take care of Christopher. She gets really angry and reveals the final secret of her past life which Max is shocked to find. It turns out that Max is actually Alexia's first child from the rape, who her brother told her had died. And when Max finds out the truth, he promises to love Christopher (who is actually his brother) forever.

Like I mentioned earlier, the direction of the film is really poor. Half of the film is in black and white when we are shown secrets of Rose's life, but the placement of the scenes is so poor. The scenes keep going back and forth, such that afar a while, you are like what the hell is going on. Some scenes are shown multiple times and it just adds to the confusion. All these back story scenes are the times where the director shows his self indulgence. My reactions were frustration, wtf and finally just laughter. The story had potential, lot of it. The acting by most actors is also sub par. There is lot of nudity in the film , most of which is forced.

You seriously will have to watch this film to see how bad it really has been directed. I wish some sensible director attempts to make this film again with sensitivity because it definitely has potential. (2.5/10)

Gone, But Not Forgotten

This is one of those movies, which I would have tremendously enjoyed, had I seen few years ago and rated it very high. Nevertheless, it is still a very decent movie about falling in love, doing the right thing in your life and not lying to anyone or yourself about anything. Follow your dreams. Made very simplistically with bare minimum characters needed, the film goes right on what it wants to show and then it goes form there.

Drew and his brother Paul work as forest ranger officers. Drew saves life of a man who is now in a hospital. When he wakes up, he realizes that he has amnesia and can't remember anything. Drew pulls some strings to visit him and while introducing himself, The guy suddenly remembers his name as Mark. They get along very well and Drew starts paying him regular visits to the displeasure of his older brother. They share real chemistry. Realizing how bored Mark would be in the hospital, Drew requests to bring Mark to his home so that he can recover better. Paul reluctantly gives the permission and Mark moves in with Drew. One thing leads to another and we soon see that they are falling in love and ultimately they get into physical intimacy. Things are all going good until Mark starts freaking out a little that they are becoming too much obvious as a couple. At the same time, Paul is trying to figure out what mark's background is and that he might have a family to go back. When Drew and mark get into a fight, Mark leaves home and goes back to the hospital, where paul tells him that they have found who he is. Apparently Mark is married and his wife picks him up. Back to his original life, Mark doesn't feel good and he sees a weird hostility from his wife. When prodded upon further, Mark remembers that how his wife had him followed and found out that Mark was gay. Thats when mark had gone to the forest to take his own life in depression where Drew had saved him. When the reality hits all, Mark decides to take the right step and go back to his real love Drew to stat a new fresh life together.

The movie looks like you are watching a soap-opera. Thats probably because of the production standards. Even the acting seems like for a made for TV film and not really good. That doesn't mean that it was bad or anything but it was quite raw. Filmed in a small town setting, with probably a handy cam, the film is shot in real, picturesque locations which I really would not mind going to for a vacation. There are moments in the film that feel real and at the same time, some scenes feel a liftle OTT and unbelievable. The good thing is that the chemistry between Drew and mark is totally believable. The whole episode with Mark going back to his wife was like, 'Really?'. Couldn't you have thought of a better twist. Given that this was an independent film almost 10 years back, I would definitely not shot this movie down completely.

This is not a high end, well made movie but if you are looking for a decent simple straightforward movie, this is for you. It for sure doesn't bore you, even though the pace is very relaxed and slow just like the surroundings in the film. (6/10)

Hustling: Season 1 (Web series)

This is a 8 part original web series of about 8-10 minutes duration each episode. I had no idea what to expect but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the contents. Each episode though distinct, showed us the life of main protagonist and what he is going through.

Rod Driver has been a very famous gay porn star because of his huge asset and an escort since his twenties. But things are not the same when he is now 40. As his original self Ryan Crosby, he gets odd jobs here and there but he wants to change his life around. Suddenly he is worried as to what he is doing with his life and where is it going. Everytime, he wants to do something new and different, he gets pulled back in the word of escort and porn, because he needs money. No one lets him move on with his life, because he is known of sex and his appeal and no one would let him do anything except that. He ultimately discovers that cooking is his passion and he would like to pursue that further. But even in that, he has to compromise with his body and his porn star image in return to learn something. He also meets a girl who he gets along very well and thats when we find that Ryan is actually straight but he has been doing gay porn and escort job since that is big money for a straight guy in gay porn world.

Both as an actor and director, I think Sebastian La Cause, playing the title role, does a fantastic job. I mean, yeah he is great looking with an awesome smile. But that is not the only focus, when you realize that he is a pretty good actor too. He does complete justice to his role of an aging porn start trying to turn his life around. Did I already say that his smile is very infectious. He sinks in his character and does justice to all scenarios, be it dealing with his chef, his councelor, the threesome with a straight couple or shooting for a porn film. There are a lot of actors who keep featuring in every episode because every episode deals with different things that Ryan (Rod) is dealing with. They all fit well and I think I have seen most of them in their earlier works. Now I just wished that the episodes were not so short. I wanna see more. I guess I am gonna spend some time watching season 2 soon. (6/10)

Zurück auf Los! (German) [Return To Go!]

This film is not just a story about friends and friendship. Rather the film focuses on deeper issues of living with HIV, alcohol issues among gay youth and finally the challenges and insecurities that most people have in relationships, be it gay or straight. The film primarily focuses on these different aspects throughout the film where the central characters in my opinion are 2 friends.

Sam and Bastl are very close friends. After having diagnosed with HIV, Sam goes into depression and alcohol. Sam is an afro-german wannabe singer. He leaves his boyfriends house and find another place to live which is completely run-down. His friend Bastl deeply cares for him. We see that Sam meets another guy Rainer and completely falls in love with him because this guy likes him despite his HIV status. They break-up because Sam finds him cheating with another guy and throws him out of the aptt. He is trying to get his life back together and move on without the fear of Aids. Meanwhile, both Bastl and Sam are dealing with alcohol issues and dealing with hardships of live where they are short of every single penny. Enter Mike, who tally i sin love with Bastl and soon he moves in with them. They are all happy but poor. One day Rainer comes back to meet Sam. Unfortunately they get into an accident and Rainer gets blind for life. Sam takes him back home. In the meantime Bastl meets a hunky Arab guy in a club. As much as he loves Mike, he can't help get attracted to this guy and dumps Mike, despite Sam trying to reason him. Sam, Rainer, Bastl and Mike had a vacation planned which now the 3 of them go for minus Mike. This vacation time is the best time which brings the 3 guys more closer and the film ends with hope and positive spirit.

There are many good things about this film. Though initially I thought it was just an average film, but by the time it ended, I liked it. The core issue that it starts off with is HIV but we don't get to finally see the depressing side of it. Instead we see hope and positive attitude. I loved the fact the film was very realistic. The living conditions of the guys, the choice of actors, their interactions. WHen Rainer gets blind, I liked that the others still treated him norma and made him do work. It was weirdly funny.
Bastl's and Sam's friendship was also nice. They were straight with each other and what they felt and how they did things, which included all funny stuff, clubbing, and also serious talks. Acting wise it is a pretty good ensemble cast. All actors are on par withe act other and the requirement of the story.

You will not regret spending your time on this film. Just be patient initially and u will get into it. (6.5/10)

Kanrei Zensen Conductor (Japanese) [Cold Front Conductor]

This film was an odd mix of good and bad acting and a good and bad story. There were points in the film where I started to like the film and there would be times that I would think wtf! The movie apparently is a film adaptation of Fujimi Orchestra series. I don't know anything at all about it, so my views are solely based on this as a film and nothing else.

Morimura Yuuki heads a music orchestra as the concert master and he is the leader of the grip. The group consists of all oddballs and they all play for fun. Morimura Yuuki has a crush on this girl in the class. Enter Tonoin Kei as the conductor of the group. Tonoin Kei is supposed to be a very gifted young man fro a very known instate and everyone is surprised to see him as their conductor. Slowly under his guidance, the class' music starts improving. This girl is now interested in Tonoin Kei and asks him out for a drink. Tonoin Kei comes out to her that he is gay and is interested in men and that in fact he is interested in Morimura Yuuki. She tells him which he finds odd because he is straight. One day when Morimura Yuuki visits the conductor's home, he gets so bestowed that he ends up raping Morimura Yuuki. He is shocked and heart broken and doesn't know what to do. The girl keeps telling him that he should be happy that someone love him with all his heart but Morimura Yuuki keeps saying that it was a rape and that he can never be in love with a man. Their only connection is love for music and nothing else. No one understands the pain that he going through as a rape victim. He then decides to quit the company but before h can give his papers, the conductor quits. Morimura Yuuki feels bad and he goes to his place to coerce him to not quit and tell him that he can never fall for him. But Tonoin Kei loves him so much, that he can't take it and he decides to just leave the city. In the end we find out how Tonoin Kei had seen Morimura Yuuki one day playing his violin in a park and ever since then he had been looking for him all over. And the only reason he joined the orchestra was for him.

The film sounds interesting and thank god it doesn't end up with Morimura Yuuki suddenly becoming gay. I am glad, the film makers stayed on their grounds to not turn a straight man to gay even though he was raped. As much as it was hard for Morimura Yuuki to face the man he was raped by, he tries his best because music binds them together. I felt bad for the girl who doesn't get anything from anyone. Tonoin Kei did a good job portraying an arrogant conductor but it was not believable even for a moment that he was in love with Morimura Yuuki. This was not shown very clearly in the film. Morimura Yuuki tries too hard to be funny and other things. I think he was over doing his part which he really didn't have to. As I mentioned before the 2 guys do not end up together. Its just their music, that they both live for.

The film definitely has a potential for a sequel but I am not sure if I am looking for it. Better actors and a little tighter direction would definitely help. (4.5/10)

Les amitiés particulières (French) [This Special Friendship]

It was so refreshing to see a black and white film with an underlying gay theme, with such old world charm. Released way back in 60s, this film felt so much ahead of item time but then, I dunno at all what France was like way back in 60s. All I want to do is salute the producer/director for taking up the challenge of such a bold subject and treating it with respect, empathy and tenderness that it deserves. The film will be as relevant in today's time as it was probably when it released.

Georges, a 15 year old boy begins his boarding education in a catholic school. He is from an aristocratic background. He strikes up an immediate friendship with a fellow student of his own age, Lucien. On discovering that Lucien already has a close relationship with another boy, André, Georges contrives to get the latter expelled from the school. I am not very sure whether it is out of jealousy or whether Georges dislikes the idea of 2 men being so close.  One day Georges sees Alexandre, a young boy (probably around 11 years or so) at the prayer in school and he gets totally enamored and struct by his beauty and purity. To Georges’s delight, Alexandre enjoys his company, and the two boys become good friends. They exchange love poems and meet in secret; they can hardly bear to be apart. His friend Lucien knows about everything that is going on and is in full support since he knows what true "friendship" or love feels like. When one of the priests finds out about them, Georges uses his intellect to get he priest fired instead. Free from the fear of discovery, Georges and Alexandre pursue their perfect friendship, growing ever closer. But not for long. Another priest sons finds out about them and forces the yes of love for both of them. He forces explosion of Alexandre unless Georges returns back all his letters. In a sudden twist of events, Georges just goes back home for his summer break and Alexandre is so heart broken that he ends up taking his own life.

The love between the 2 souls is accompanied with lot of poetry and believability, something that you would expect from a regular male-female love story. There is no physical intimacy of any sorts that is portrayed and all is left on our own imagination. As viewers, you get totally involved with both the characters and we believe in their love and purity for each other. The scenes where they hide from everyone and exchange notes, meet in the greenhouse and protect each other was truly heartwarming. The acting by both principal actors is so real hat it brings the film to a raw and spiritual intensity. Agreed the subject line where an older boy falls for a younger big is very debatable, but I loved the fact it has been dealt with purity and lot of heart. The ending of the film comes as a shock and is so powerful, you almost cry. The beauty of the boarding school and its functioning is also captured beautifuly.

I strongly recommend this film. The joy and experience to watch a pure love grow between 2  boys in 60s is pure magical. (8.5/10)

Bite Marks

There are gay movies, there are comedy movies and there are horror/vampire movies. Now you just mix all these genres, and what you get is a miss-mash called Bite Marks. This film was so bad on so many levels. It is one of those films which are so so so bad that by the end they seem not so bad, if you know what I mean. The film is cheesy to the core, very low production values and overall a trash film.

Truck driver Brewster has to take up delivering a loa dog coffins to a funeral home because suddenly his brother goes missing. We also see a gay couple who are walking along the road, trying to make their relationship work. They hitch-hike with Brewster and some silly scenes follow, just involving the buildup, which includes a sex scene between the couple that Brewster watches and gets excited. The wrong feed in the GPS of the truck leaves them stranded in the middle of nowhere around a deserted junkyard. And then make the appearances by so called vampires and the silly fight the 3 of them out up against them. Of course, in the process, one of the guys of the couple ends up sucking off Brewster. Ultimately Brewster also end up becoming vampire. Finally good wins over evil. The couple comes out winner after successfully fighting over the evils.

Made probably on a small budget, the film is supposed to be comedy but one-dimensional expressions , specially by Brewster make the film fall flat. The gay couple were just cute and nothing more. Most of the jokes were bland and would not evoke a laughter even though you can se how hard probably the dialogue writer tried. The try to see some f the cliches of the typical vampire films and sometimes not do it. The director introduces a new facet of seeing what you wanna see etc. which after a while gets boring. Its a silly nonsensical movie, which believe it or not, I can actually see some people enjoying.

It wasn't for me, and if you don't like things of this type, i'd suggest you miss it. (3/10)

El Sexo De Los ángeles (Spanish) [The Sex Of The Angels]

I absolutely loved this film. It was fantastic. Agreed, some aspects of it were a little unbelievable but still the story, the direction, the actors were just spot on. As a subject, the film is not easy to digest by everyone but I have reviewed a couple of film here on my blog before which talk about relationships between 3 people and not necessarily two. This film also explores a similar theme and the director does do the job with flying colors.

Bruno and Carla have been together for a long time. Bruno loves with Carla in Barcelona, whose parents gave her the apartment. A chance meeting with Rai changes Bruno's life. Bruno feels this instant connection towards Kai who is a karate teacher and a dancer. Starting of as a friendship, Bruno, can't control himself for long before he gives into Rai's seduction. But very soon we find out that it i snot about just seduction. The 2 men feel much more for each other. At the same time Bruno is very much in love with Carla. One day at gym, Carla sees the 2 men together and is heart broken and asks Bruno to leave. Rai can't bear to see Bruno like this and convinces Carla to take him back. They have an agreement that Bruno will live with Carla like before but he will keep meeting Rai occasionally. That way nothing will change. But things do change. Initially Carla hated Rai but soon they start becoming friends and before you know, they fall for each other too. Rai and carla are now having an affair and both feel guilty of not telling Bruno. Bruno is shocked and reacts strongly when he finds out about them but soon, sense prevails and all three of them realize that they all love each other. Their love for one person is no less or no more than the love for the other person.

There are a lot of side characters in the film, specially at the magazine office where carla works. They end up bringing a light feel to the film. They are all very good and the film shows some aspects of them as well. I loved all the scenes when Carla would think she is talking in private to her girlfriend at work and meanwhile the 3 guys in the office would always sneak up to hear hat's going on. Carla, Bruno and Rai are all great actors. When Bruno stars falling for Rai, his confusion is so evident and so is the fact that he is struggling but happy at the same time. Bruno does a marvelous job. Rai plays his part good with his moldering looks and his eyes. His character is quite lovable. Carla fits very well and does a decent job too. There were quite a few scenes in the film that I loved, specially the opening dancing sequence. All the moments when Bruno and Rai meet and are hanging, you can feel a weird sexual tension and finally when they do it, it is awesome. I liked that although Rai like Bruno, he did not want to take away the fact that Bruno was still in love with carla. It was interesting to hear that why do we have to live by social rules. We should do what we feel is the right thing to do. Bruno's smile is still etched in my mind. He was so cute.

I think the film was fantastic. If a film manages to keep my attention and don't let me get bored with good looks and acting, the job is done. Highly recommended. (8.5/10)

Faustrecht der Freiheit (German) [Fox And His Friends]

This movie shows a facet of life, which is raw and true. This film shows how people manipulate each other for personal gains. The film explores how this can affect individuals and how greed has no end. Made in 70s , this film also shows german gay subculture.

Everyone knows franz as Fox. He is a lower class gay kid who works in street fairs. He is addicted to lottery hoping to win day and win he does. Handsome rich Max just randomly meets him outside a public bathroom and introduces him to the rich gay culture. Max;'s friends initially despise him for his earthy looks, for his low class upbringing but when they find out that Fox has just won a lot of money in lottery, their outlook completely changes. One of the friends is Eugen who takes Fox as his lover hoping to get money out of him. He talks naive Fox into sponsoring his father's business, buying I'm a new house and a car. Eugen's parents tolerate their son's life with a low class fellow and ridicule his mannerisms but are more than happy to just take his money. Fox thinks he is being a part of the rich circle but he is never happy. Eugen is always pointing to his mistakes but Fox loves him dearly. Its only the shady bar/club where Fox frequently used to vista before he was rich, that he finds true friends and some peace of mind. When the business starts going down, Fox is blamed and more money is taken out of him. Self-centered Eugen makes sure that he has taken every single penny that he can from Fox and his friends are his partners in crime for this. When they break-up, Fox realizes that now without money he has no 'fancy friends', no lover, no security and his life becomes unbearable, forcing Eugen to take his own life.

The end of the film is tragic where in it is shown that even after dying, everyone just wants to take something from Fox. People just want him to pay whereas he just wants to go back to his old simple life where at least he had peace. Fox acts his part very very convincingly. It is difficult to imagine that there are people like Eugen in real life who will do anything for money. I am also glad that being gay is not made a big deal of in this film, considering it came out in 70s. They are gay, but lets just move on. There i smote to the story. One man falls in love and the other just sees an opportunity to make more money. There are not any love making or kissing scenes which makes this film very watchable even for straight folks. I just wish the length of the film was a little shorter.

Money can corrupts the chances of meaningful human interaction and this movie shows how that can happen. (6.5/10)

Sassy Pants

I was looking forward to this movie for 2 reasons: the  title and i heard that the kid from sixth sense film was playing a major role as a gay man. I missed watching it when it was premiered at QFest last year but now I finally got time to catch up. The writing though smart and funny is a little unbelievable in today's time. Although we have seen stranger things happen in today's world. This is also not exactly a gay film. It's more about this girl with some major gay characters.

Bethany and her brother live with their domineering mother June. Just because her husband decided to become gay and run away with another man, ever since she has been shielding her children from the world by schooling them at home and essentially keeping them at house arrest. One days when she can't take it anymore, Bethany runs to her dad where she finds a new friend in her dad's young boyfriend Chip. He helps her with some clothes etc and eventually she even gets a job in a clothing store. Her confidence suddenly starts to build up when her mother comes up again and brings her home in the pretext of her grandmother dying. Life starts going back to square on when determined to do something with life, Beth decides that she will do everything to go to the fashion school in SF and starts saving her money.A few more misunderstandings happen and with the support of her father and her grandmother and her own handwork, she finally manages to change things for herself and the bitterness in the mother also eventually goes away.

Th opening scene with everything pink in Beth's room is a symbol of oppression. Her mother has been forcing things on her daughter who can't rebel even if she wants to. It is refreshing to see the grandma telling June what exactly she is doing. I can't believe that in today's world, a mother can actually just house arrest her children literally and don't let them go out. The scenes of Beth with her father and Chip, her boyfriend are hilarious.  Chip played by the young kind of'The Sixth Sense' wears short shorts, cowboy boots and acts the gayest anyone ever can. Performance wise Beth does a decent job and so does her mother.

The movie is decently good but not great. (6/10)

I Want Your Love

I wrote my review for this short film here. Almost porn, I was very impressed with the short but never thought that it could potentially be made into a full length feature (which I hoped they did) and when I did see a full length version of it, I was really happy and excited. I was looking forward to similar things. Great natural acting and lot of real sex.

Film starts with Jesse, a 20-something gay artist who is moving from San Francisco back to his hometown in Ohio. He’s broke, recently broke up with his boyfriend and in an artistic rut, and needs a change. He’s searching for something and it becomes clear that he’s not even sure what that is – his father’s love and approval, artistic vision and motivation, financial security or just love and friendship. Keith, his neighbor and fellow artist is his closest confidence who tells him what he really thinks and doesn't sugar coat things. We also meet Jesse's roommate, a bear who is dealing with his own issues with his lover who is soon to move in after Jesse moves out. And then we have Ben, Jesse's ex, who is as nervous and Jesse to meet him on his last night at his going away party and is being hit on by a guy at the cloth store and again at the party. During various interactions and silent slow individual scenes, we do realize that  Jesse is actually looking for himself. He wants to know who he is or what he wants or what the hell is going on, and it’s hitting him hard.

Along with an interesting storyline, there is a lot of sex in its raw form. We see full on sex involving not just Jesse, but with Ben and his room-mate. It is almost pornography because there i soothing hidden but at the same time it involves a lot of emotion and real-ness in it. The scenes are tender, intimate and genuine unlike any porn film and is not uncomfortable to watch. we see moments of naked laughter only experienced by true lovers behind closed doors and it feels like you are eavesdropping on someone's private moments. There are a lot of silence scenes where we follow Jesse on his day trying to still figure tout what he wants to do. We feel for him. He is so lonely that he purposely misses his own going away party because he just wants to spend more time alone. We have some hilarious dialogues with the guy who hits on Jesse's ex Ben and they help to keep the film in a lighter tone at the same time. As much as people say that the nudity and sex was a total put off, I don't mind it because it is done tastefully. Jesse is a brilliant natural actor and I have high hopes from the director himself.

I definitely liked it and would recommend it. It will touch you in one way or other. (7.5/10)

Somefarwhere

OMG!! Somehow I had high hopes from this film. Something about the title and the poster made me think that this movie would be different and make sense. How wrong was I! Well, it sure was different but on the wrong spectrum. This was a total turkey.

We meet  price, a young American who is touring around Iraq border (or wherever the film was shot), looking at ruins with his guide, Marwan. Marwan thinks Price is hot. Soon we see that he is looking for his partner Bo, who is in marine and has been missing for a few days. We also meet Combs, with a southern accent, who randomly appears and disappears and is not very clear who he is or what he is doing. (Apparently he is CIA). Few erotic scenes follow and we also meet a few homophobic nationals, who randomly appear, threaten Price and go away. By this time, you are totally confused. Turns out that mar wan and Combs had a plan throughout but they tell that Bo is probably killed. But later they say, they have him. Bu this time you lose total interest in the film. Suddenly Price is captured by did knows who. He is rescued by Marwan and Combs. Some erotic scenes follow again and surprise surprise, Bo appears. wtf !!

The film is so full of itself. As a viewer I am tally lost within 10 minutes of starting but I give it time hoping that it is a thriller and things will start getting clear but nothing like that happens. The mess just continues with below average acting. The story borders on ridiculous where more attention is paid on how to exploit Price's hot body. People are homophobic , yet it seems everyone wants a piece of ass of Price and he gives it as well to get more information on Bo. Billed as a pseudo thriller-war, the film quickly keeps setting high bars for ridiculousness. You don't connect with any character or what they are there for. After a while all you focus os on more naked body and that's it. Good eye candy and decent filming locations is all this film has.

Totally avoidable. Not worth even for a good body cos there are plenty more ways to see it rather than sitting through an hour and a half of torture. (2/10)

Homophobia (German Short Film)

I usually do not write separate posts to review a short film. Rather I club them together but this one was actually really well done and I just felt that just a couple of sentences for this film would not be sufficient.

Michael, a gay guy serves in Austrian military. He has been away from home and isolated form friends and family. This isolation and the attractiveness of his fellow comrade Raphael, gets Michael attracted to him very strongly. Michael is very used to being bullied on a daily basis. Jürgen, the alpha male in the group, has found the perfect victim in Michael. During taking a shower Jürgen bullies Michael once more but this time something is different, Michael bring about Jürgen's downfall both literally and figuratively. The game is on and Jürgen uses his most powerful weapon - his knowledge about Michael's secret and in a fight ends up punching him. Michael is emotionally hurt that Raphael didn't rescue him. The same night on a mission, Raphael and Michael spend a night together at the border smoking a joint together and finally Michael's feelings reach to a point where he just blurts it out to Raphael.

The film aims to portray fear of the unknown as the reason behind homophobia. We see that Raphael is so scared of returning his feelings to Michael because he is afraid. Not only that, the film also shows the fear of accepting yourself as gay. The direction of the film is fantastic and the camerawork does give a sense of claustrophobia that Michael probably is experiencing. Excellent acting and a touching subject and treatment makes this short films one of the better ones to come out in recent times. It can be a universal story of just about anyone. (7.5/10)

Melting Away (Hebrew)

The movie dramatizes the rejection and stigmatization of transsexuals, and the obstacles they face in simply trying to lead a normal existence. A beautiful film in not just acting but also production values, sensitive, background music etc, this film definitely deserves a wider audience. I have seen a few films on a similar subject but the sensitivity with which things have been handled here, definitely calls for applaud for the director.

Shlomo and Galya have a teenage son. When Shlomo discovers women's clothing and accessories in his son Assaf's room, , decides to 'teach the boy a lesson' and lock the home's door for him on a rainy night. His theory is the boy will learn fast and get back to house, get into studies and forget everything. Four years late, Galya comes to a detective to find her son since Shlomo has cancer and is dying. The detective son finds out that Assaf is now Anna and has undergone a sex change operation and she lives on her own and has friend close friends with her. The detective tells her the details about her father but doesn't tell Galya the truth. Starting next day, Anna starts visiting the hospital in the pretext of a private nurse sent from insurance company. Anna and Shlomo start bonding and they talk about things in their private life including Shlomo's closeness with his father and how he misses him. Soon Galya realizes that Anna is Assaf and is heartbroken. She reacts negatively but slowly starts coming around. Finally Shlomo passes away after asking Anna if she is satisfied with her life as a woman and then the truth is revealed that 3 years ago, he had changed his will to give his everything to his wife Galya, brother and Anna.

The end was pretty interesting when it is revealed that Shlomo all along knew that the nurse was his son turned daughter. I can imagine how hard it must be for parents to accept these changes but what is even harder is the individuals who have to go through this. In a chilling scene where the parents lock Assaf out on a rainy night is shocking. I can't even imagine anyone being in that position and not knowing what to do. The scenes thereafter between Anna and Shlomo are heart-warming too. I also liked the angle of Anna's friend and his boyfriend and the mother. The scene where her friend comes out to her mother as gay, is one of the best in this film. Though it directly doesn't contribute much to the film, but I think in terms of the reaction from the mother, this one has got to be one of the best coming out scenes in terms of emotions. I hope they had elaborated a little more of that couple as well. Story was novel and the execution was also perfect. The actor playing Anna, though female herself, does a great job. Although, the movie would have been more compelling if the audience could have seen a true transsexual in the role.

Hatts off to the producer to make such a brilliant emotional film. Its a shame that not many people are aware of it. I just happened to lay my hands on this and I am so glad that I did. (8/10)

My Beautiful Laundrette (UK)

I know a lot of people have loved this movie over a period of time. I saw this film , I guess 6 years ago and vaguely remember not being too impressed with it. But now, with time gone by and my experience with gay themed movies being much broader, it was time to revisit this film for my blog. Sadly, despite some decent performances, the film still did not manage to rise beyond average in my mind. It is quite possible that I amassing seeing something in the film that the others are.

Nasser and his ally Saleem have a number of small businesses and are doing very well for themselves. Meanwhile his brother, a once famous journalist  and now alcoholic Ali, lives in a seedy flat in a poor neighborhood with his son Omar. To help his brother, Nasser gives Omar a job doing menial labor. But Omar, with bigger plans, talks Nasser into letting him manage Nasser's run down laundrette. Enters Johny, a friend of Omar's since they were kids who has been a street punk for a while. Omar invites him to change his life and essentially work for him. The two together think they ill be able to make something out of heir life. It is not very clear when or how, but it turns out that Omar and Johny are not friends but lovers. And Johny is ready to do anything and everything for Omar. He loves him dearly. Nasser tries to marry off his daughter to Omar but they both don't want it. Saleem becomes a pain in their plans when the other street punks take a revenge against Saleem and in the process end up causing damage to the launderette but this incident brings Omar and Johny back closer from the stressful days that were driving them apart.

The film depicts life in 80s and how immigrant Asian communities and Brotishers treated each other. The film thankfully doesn't get overboard in any aspect. Be it street punks or Omar and Johny's relationship. It is surprising, considering that the film came out in 80s, their relationship is shown as any normal relationship would. They are not afraid or shameful or shy. They are just being themselves. Their love scene is gorgeous. When you first see Johnny he seems so rough and coarse and low class, but as he begins to seduce Omar while Omar talks about the past he suddenly seems powerful and sophisticated. I think, for whatever reason Johny truly loved Omar because he even says to Salem once that ' In my opinion it is always worth waiting for Omar'. Despite all of their differences both Omar and Johny seem to have a profound respect for one another, which will hopefully enable them to continue their relationship, although the ending is left rather open. The film also gives us an insight into how first generation immigrants have to deal with the in-between feeling. Every actor performs really well. Seeing Daniel Day Lewis as Johny is very interesting considering he recently won his third oscar.

Despite this long review, I still feel there was a lot left to be desired and a lot of questions unanswered as a viewer in my mind. But I can't even imagine how ahead of its time it must have been in 80s. (6/10)

Soldier's Girl

I have to first thank one of my followers from my blog, who recommended me this film. The film had been in my backlog list and if not for his recommendation, I probably would not have seen it sooner. This film will challenge your definition of gender and redefine love. The fact that the film is used on a real story makes it even more heart-wrenching. To see that someone actually has to go through all this, just because he was in love which the social norms don't accept!! Its a shame.

Barry Winchell has just joined army is becoming friends with people around. His room-mate is a little crazy and takes pills for something which we still don't know about. One night, 5-6 folks from the army go to this gay club where they see drag queens performance. After initial joking around, we see that Barry gets interested in one of the performers Calpernia. His room-mate realizes this but he himself is quite fucked up. Love soon blossoms between the two. Calpernia can't believe her stars because Barry is as straight as anyone can get and she is scared to see how truly wonderfully in love he is with her. Barry is not shown as gay. He just chooses to be in love with a woman who is in her transitioning phase. His room mate cannot deal with the fact he is being ignored and Barry doesn't spend enough tie with him. With the help of one of younger comrades, he first spreads the rumor that there is a gay guy in the unit and soon one of the leads begins the quest of finding the man, even though don't ask don't tell policy is applied. Stress soon begins to engulf Barry's mind but  things just don't stop here. The younger comrade is also a little fucked up in his head just like Barry's room-mate and one fateful night on the room-mates provocation, he ends up killing Barry. He beats him to death. Its the same night when Calpernia is real sing her dreams of winning a pageant. Yes the culprits finally in real life go to prison but the pure love of Calpernia and Barry never got the due. Barry was just 22 when he died.

The cast of the film is spot on. The actor who plays Barry gives a very restrained and subtle portrayal of the soldier. You can see he is in love truly but also stressed since staying in the army is really important for him. Calpernia is no ordinary transsexual performer. She is smart, beautiful and a true woman inside and thats what attracts Barry to her. Is is shocking that a male actor can perform such  a character which such élan and grace without making a mockery of it and still keep it gracious. The male actor walks, talks and portrays the young fragile heart of a woman with grace. Other performances by the actors is also pretty good. This film definitely deserved a bigger reach than just being released on TV. It is not difficult to not get emotional watching the film. The subject was great. That doesn't mean it did not have flaws. Some of the explanations were not very clear. What was Barry's room mates issue. Was he mentally sick? Was he attracted to Barry? I also wish that there was more buildup of romance and love between Barry and Calpernia. But despite these flaws, the film is still pretty strong.

Its a shame that a young man, whose only crime was love had such a tragic end to a wonderful and beautiful simple life. (8/10)

Beautiful Thing (UK)

I don't know why I had been pushing to watch this film a second time. I remember watching it before and really liking it but hey, I had to watch it again for my blog. And I am so glad that I did it. This is the finest, most emotional, heart-touching movie about self discovery, coming of age teenage love story, you will ever see. Although the film came out way back in 1996, it is as relevant today as it was then. The characters and situations are perfectly developed and realized, ringing true in almost every scene.

Jamie, a teenage guy lives with his single mom,Sandra, who has ambitious plans to run her own pub and string of lovers, current being a hippie named Tony. Jamie's classmate and neighbor Ste lives next door and Jamie has total crush on him. Ste lives with his drug-dealing brother and abusive father. One night when the father ends up beating Ste too much, Sandra brings him home and lets him sleep over with Jamie. Ste and Jamie sleep on the same bed 'top to toe' without saying a word. There is very obvious tension between them, wherein Ste, in my opinion, knows what Jamie feels about him but just does't want to deal with it. The next night, a little conversation and a massage helps them relax and Jamie kisses Ste for the first time. Ste soon panics and starts avoiding Jamie. But Jamie's neighbor suspects something between the two guys. When Jamie confronts Ste, he first ignores and snubs Jamie, but slowly by constant persuasion, their relationship begins to develop. They go to a gay bar together where Sandra sees them. She confronts Jamie later who tells her that he is gay. Sandra is meanwhile successful in getting her pub dream fulfilled and bread up with Tony. The film ends with Jamie and Ste inviting Sandra and Leah to go with them to the gay bar, and the boys dancing in each other's arms in the courtyard of their building, without worrying about the shocked and surprised local residents.

This movie makes me smile on every level; from the way the two boys discover their affection for one another, the wonderful comedy relief from the next door neighbor Leah. The ending of the film has to be one of the best. It is surprising how the 2 young actors played such complex characters with such an ease. We see 2 facets of growing up gay. Jamie, who is comfortable with being gay and doesn't give a damn and Ste,on the other hand fearing his brother and father. Leah's character though not needed in the film, provides comic relief and I thought she did a fantastic job too. The film is uplifting without being preachy, and tender without being grating. All scenes between Jamie and Ste are wonderful. Right from school, to their sleep together, to their going to gay bar and finally the dance. It is so heart warming that I can't even tell you. The make you feel 16 again and you relate to them so easily. All this could not have been possible if not for an able direction. I would give full marks to him.

Beautiful Thing is an experience you should not miss. This is an ensemble piece that each player can be proud of. A film I will cherish forever. I wish there is a sequel that comes out soon. (9/10)