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Showing posts from September, 2011

Mon Voyage d'hiver (French) [My Winter Journey]

If you insomniac this movie may be the cure you're looking for. The narrator is driving across Germany. During the drive he talks and talks. If his ideas aren't enough to put you sleep then his voice will. And then he stop talking for a few minutes and you can see some nice scenery with a soft music. Basically this formula repeats itself. Vincent Dieutre is accompanied by a close friend's teenage son on a trip to Berlin and in the process reminisces about his life as a gay man in this 2003 autobiographical documentary. Dieutre and his traveling companion, Itvan, visit numerous friends and landmarks, all holding special meaning to the 40-year-old filmmaker as they make their way to the German capital. As the pair grows closer as friends, Dieutre also takes on a paternalistic relationship with the boy as he details his own journey of self discovery -- partially to assist Itvan with his own adult transformation, but also as a means for Dieutre's own legacy to endure. Th

Friends And Lovers

There have been quite a few films that depict loneliness in a gay man's life. There are also films that have shown a gay man's obsession for a straight guy. This film combines these 2 elements and tries to present something different. How I wish, the director would have succeeded in doing so. There were so many questions unanswered and so many scenes that did not fit in which we will talk about in a little bit more detail further. Lets talk about the story first.  Jim is a pretty lonely man with a man of routine. He has somehow accepted his life which also includes his disapproving father and continue with it. A change comes in his life when he meets a waitress Claire at the restaurant where he frequents. They have instant connection in arts and start hanging out. Jim fears a strong connection with a woman and when Claire declares her love for him, he sinks deeper into isolation and loneliness. Around the same time, when his car breaks down, Jim meets Tom, a mechanic, a man of

A Lower Power

This film can best be described as a film about an individual who has his ways to self alienating people and friends. I am really not too sure what to make of this film. What was the message or point of the film. It feels as if we are seeing chapters of the life of a gay man coming to terms with his emerging sexuality who cannot deal with the battle between his mind and heart (something which we all have dealt with). Thibodeaux lives with his parents and can't wait to get out of there. His parents are very open about their life. When neither the geeky, introverted sanity of his friend Steve nor the advice of torturously heterosexual stud buddy Mas provide an easy answer, Thibodeaux sets off on his own to college, where he hangs with bubbly Emmy and seeks a sexless social life. But Thibodeaux's chastity strategies meet their match in Todd, a cocksure biker and Old English scholar who teaches Thibodeaux the power of passion. Even as Todd unleashes Thibodeaux's appetites and o

A Change Of Heart [Promises & Lies]

In 1998, when this film was released on TV, I am sure it must have made a good impact. In those days, being gay was not talked about openly (at least not that I know of). And to top that, it is not about a struggling teenager. Instead the drama is heightened by the fact that the lead character is a happily married man. The film is apparently based on a true story. Elaine has been happily married for 20 years to Jim. A successful doctor, she has two beautiful teenagers, a stable career and two houses: one in the city and one in the country. However, her life is shattered in an instant when she discovers that Jim is having an affair with a man. She reacts very strongly to the whole truth and so does her colleagues. It is not only their personal lives that gets affected but it is also the professional life of both the characters. With this realization, both the teenage son and daughter are no struggling to accept the truth. The mother initially heart-broken tries her best to keep the fam

KickOff (UK)

This film could have been one of those guilty pleasures fun gay ride but the film was bad on many grounds. I think the film-makers tried to squeeze in a little too much into this story. They wanted everything - nudity, hot guys, every guy's story, gay liking straight, straight closet gay etc etc. Overall the impact is pretty minimal and leaves a lot to be desired. This is the best and worst day of Archer’s life.  Finally captain of his own gay football team, this ex-soldier has the chance to break boundaries and stereotypes. But his rebellious team has brought along a posse of flamboyant supporters plus his well-meaning but clueless boyfriend has designed a neon pink team strip... size Xtra small. And they up against hardest most cheatingest team in East London for their first match. On the other side, captain Adam is having his own problems: A twitchy goalie on the run from the feds, a coke-fiend midfielder and a Beckham wannabe pretty boy strker with the ball-busting bitch girlf