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Showing posts from April, 2009

Lola + Bilidikid (German/Turkish) [Lola and Billy the Kid]

This amazing film takes on huge cultural issues and taboos that neither the Germans or their Turkish "guests" really want to face. Add to this setting the fact that the film deals with the taboos of gay life, transgender and transvestite men, and the stresses of families who deal with these issues on a daily basis and the result is a film full of richly detailed stories. Lola, a Turkish drag queen has a lover Bili, a macho, closeted Turk who views his role as the Man and Lola as the woman and encourages Lola to have gender altering surgery so they can live as husband and wife back in Turkey. Murat is Lola's baby brother, also gay, living with his mother and older brother, Osman who disowned Lola for being gay. Murat was born after Lola left home. After 15 years Lola returns home to demand his inheritance share to proceed with his sex change and finds out about Murat. They reunite because Murat is tired of Osman. Lola and Murat plan to meet the next day but 2 days later

Head On (Greek/English - Australia)

This film is about a greek family living in Australia. It was interesting to watch because it shows you life from the perspective of Greeks who migrated to Australia and how they cope up with everything including family values. 19 year old Greek Ari is frustrated with his life. He confronts his parents who like the control their kids life but that's because they were once political activists and they had a hard life to live. Ari has secret homosexual desires which lead him to many odd sexual encounters which he is not proud of. SInce he does not have a job (not that he is looking for one), he gets into drugs, random sexual encounters. His sole attempt to seduce his friend' sister fails. He meets Shaun, a room mate f his brother. There is instant attraction but they both do nothing about it. The film walks us through various Greek families in his life and the affect it has on him and people around him. They include his father' friend who has a transsexual son who is conforma

Darker Secrets - Sideline Secrets 2

If you thought Sidelines Secrets was bad, wait till to watch this sequel. This is an idea of a producer/ director's whimsical fantasies and the fact that they live in their own world. This film was nothing but a soft porn film. Peter has been appointed to go through the video tape that Dr. Kirk used to make to help in some investigation. His roommate is Todd, a straight guy whom Peter has hots for. Peter feels disgusted watching those tapes but soon becomes captivated by the tapes, and sets out to satisfy his dark desires. He films Todd having sex with a girl and blackmails him into having sex with him. Afterwards, he makes one of his girlfriends into having sex with random guys, make money and live his dar desires. Believe me, thats all there is to this film. Most of the time, we are forced to watch the sex between the guys on the tapes that Peter is watching. Every scene in the movie was just an excuse to get boys naked and create a sensation or something. There was nothing

Sideline Secrets

Didn't realize until half way that I had seen the film before. It must have been a long time plus now it gives me an opportunity to blog about it. The film sounds interesting, low budget and god. But son you realize that its nothing like it. Devon by all appearances is a successful kid with a kind girlfriend Jenna but he has an eye for boys. On a visit to a gay bar, he meets Brian who has been down the same path and can offer Devon assistance on every level. They bond, Devon comes out and they start a relationship. During all this time, the neighborhood boys have been disappearing. Devon's stepfather psychologist Dr. Kirk Tyler is not at all what he appears to be. He asks Devon to leave home after he finds out that he is gayand because of his new relationship. It seems Dr Tyler is in a dark business with Detective Cunningham who apparently is investigating the missing boys. Devon with the help of Jenna and her cousin Amy soon finds out the real deal of how his step father has

Tan Lines (Australia)

Sometimes a film might sound interesting by the synopsis on the paper but if you mess up the direction, it leaves a really bad taste in audience's mouth. So in the end it all boils down to a good direction. Midget loves to party and surf with his best friend Paul. Since school is over and it is summer time this is all they do in their small town. This may seem an ideal life but Midget begins to feel claustrophobic living with his mom, sharing a small room and a bed and questioning hi sexuality. Cass, the elder brother of Paul suddenly comes home after having traveled in Europe for four years. Midget immediately is attracted to him. He is openly gay and exudes self-confidence. He is also a wonderfully graceful surfer. Midget and Cass become involved and their meetings are filled with passion. The problem is that they live in a town where secrets cannot be kept and every one knows what everyone else is doing. Midget realizes that being gay and the life style he leads are incompatible

Finding North

Its been a while since I saw a decent gay film. It wasn't great by any shakes but it struck a chord with me (if we forget the annoying Rhonda in the film). It made me want to have a family with my boyfriend.  When a passing bank-teller Rhonda sees Travis, a heartbroken guy ready to jump off the Brooklyn bridge, she gets obsessed with him thinking she realizes the pain he is going through because she herself is suffering because of her parents and starts stalking him. It includes following him to his house uninvited, raking through his belongings and eventually following him all the way to Texas. Travis on the other hand, we realize is just getting over the fact that his boyfriend of 10 years has just died of Aids. He receives a tape from Bobby wanting him to travel to Texas to see where Bobby grew up, things that he did and fulfill his wishes. Rhonda stalks him thinking he is cute and wanting him but soon realizes that he is gay and is here to fulfill Bobby's wishes. They have

Kenneth Williams : Fantabulosa!

This film is about Kenneth Williams, star of the Carry Ons and Round the Horne. Kenneth led a life full of mental torture as he tried to overcome his homosexuality in 1950s Britain, and also be one of the most popular people in Britain. The film shows us a man Kenneth Williams, both appalled and aroused by his homosexuality; a man desperate for love who pushes away any advances that may bring him a moments fleeting happiness. He befriends playwright Joe Orton who is everything Williams wishes he was: virile, self-confident and relaxed with his sexuality. But it is Orton's partner and murderer, Kenneth Halliwell, with whom he shares the quietly desperate despair that characterises his life. Like the man himself this is very funny but also tragic. His only true friend throughout his life is his mother who stays forever with me in his good , bad, struggling and famous times. To be very honest, the film was totally out of my league. For Britishers, who have witnessed real life of Ken

Ciao

I had heard of the film first time in Philly LGBT film festival but couldn't see the film. So I was excited now when The film is finally out on dvd. I kind of knew the basic plotline but I was a little disappointed when I saw the final product. Mark has died in a car accident. His best friend Jeff is taking care of his stuff. He checks his emails and finds out that a guy named Andrea was about to visit him from Italy. Jeff is surprised that he doesn't know anything about Andrea. With his regular correspondence with Andrea, Jeff finds out that they had met online about an year ago and have been in regular touch. This would have been their first visit in person. Since Andrea had already booked his tickets, he decides to come anyway. They eventually meet, where they extend their e-mail exchanges into more personal and intimate conversations. They talk about their respective countries, their jobs, their families, their lives. Mostly, they talk about Mark. What began as a tragedy t

Brother To Brother

BROTHER TO BROTHER is a feature length narrative film which follows the emotional and psychological journey of a young Black gay artist as he discovers the hidden legacies of the gay and lesbian subcultures within the Harlem Renaissance. It explores the life and struggles of black, gay artists in the present and past. Perry is thrown out of his house by his family when they find he is gay. As he struggles to hold on by working in a homeless shelter and trying to maintain a college scholarship, he is haunted by his homosexuality and becomes increasingly withdrawn due to his family's rejection. One day an elderly man randomly stops next to Perry and his friend, recites a poem and leaves. In his library research for a class project, Perry finds a book about the Harlem Renaissance and recognizes a poem as the same one that the elderly man was reciting. They encounter each other again at the homeless shelter where Perry works. He confronts Bruce about who he is and begins to ask him ab