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Showing posts from March, 2012

Eating Out 5: The Open Weekend

When I saw the first film in this series, who knew that soon enough there will already be 5 films in the series. I must give kudos to the producers and directors of the franchise. Lets admit it, Eating Out series are no brainers. There objective is simple, lots of skin show, keep the gays happy, make them laugh with stupid jokes and just entertain them. I call this guilty pleasure which most of us sometimes feel embarrassed to even admit to liking it. A lot of characters are continued from the previous Eating Out series. Zack and his new boyfriend Benji are setting off to vacation at an all-male resort in Palm Springs with their MTF friend Lily. In light of the fact that there will be all these available men that are sure to be awaiting their arrival, Benji has proposed that he and Zack open up their relationship, just for the weekend. He's not ready to limit himself sexually and explains that this will be a good way for them to explore together. Zack is less than thrilled with th

Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss

This film falls under the gay romantic comedy genre. There are not many gay themed films that are known in mainstream Hollywood but this is one of the films that common man has at least heard of, maybe because it premiered in the very reputed Sundance Film festival way back in 1998. Jack from Will & Grace is our main protagonist here and plays his part very well. There is a main theme that the movie targets but then there are all these things that go on the side. The name of the film comes from Billy's latest project which is a series of remakes of famous Hollywood screen kisses. Billy is a photographer by profession. He moved to LA from Indiana when he released that no one in Indiana is gonna accept him for who he is. His best friend Perry is gay, (and I think Perry likes Billy but Billy has no idea about that) and his room mate is his fag hag Georgiana. Billy is sleeping around with Fernando who has a boyfriend but they have a fling on the side. Tired of being the 'other

Oxygono (Greek) [Blackmail Boy]

This film is set in a closed community of a small provincial town and focuses on a family facing many serious problems. The characters are vulnerable, innocent and ordinary but they all become ruthless and callous worrying only about themselves and the money. The film, although gives a very soap opera feeling, is still pretty interesting in holding the viewers interest. The family consists of mother Magda who owns important land coveted by entrepreneurs and who runs a bakery while caring for her wholly invalid husband injured in a car crash that killed her daughter; a money-conscious daughter married to Stelios, an earthy stud of a man with whom Magda is having an affair; the silent near comatose father who sits observing the tragedy like a wordless Greek chorus; and Christos, the hunky son who is bisexual and sleeping with a young girlfriend and an older woman and an older bisexual male city official Yiorgos who is married with children and is in charge of the city planning, his chie

Blutsfreundschaft (German) [Initiation]

This movie could have been really awesome. There’s much too little said about homosexuals in WW II and this film started talking about it. Problems with neonazis in Austria are often downplayed. This was a good opportunity to talk about it and show it but the film gets caught up in the ridiculousness and fails to say anything meaningful. Axel is a handsome but troubled sixteen-year-old boy who comes from a broken home, has trouble connecting with his peers and dulls his anxieties with marijuana. Axel has fallen in with a neo-Nazi gang who give him the respect he craves, but their leader, demands proof of Axel's commitment and asks him to kill a social worker. Axel does it and while on the run from the police, he hides in a dry cleaning shop and is spotted by the elderly proprietor, Gustav. Gustav takes in the young man and allows him to help out in the shop, but doesn't tell Axel why -- Gustav is gay, and the young man bears a striking resemblance to a boy he loved when he was

Hua wei mei (Chinese) [Bad Romance]

I have always liked the idea of multiple stories in a film that somehow related to each other towards the end of the film but when there are stories and they have nothing to do with each other feels a little odd. I mean from a perspective that, why did you make a full length feature film out of it when you could easily have made 3 short films out of it. This feeling is even stringer when the overall film turns out to be a big disappointment. This film is set in Beijing and follows life of 7 young people. We have a single mother who is very busy with work and hope stat she will meet her prince charming one day. She meets a student in the city and after much persuasion by the young boy, she finally gives in and they start having an affair. In the second story, we have a young city boy, who really likes another guy but he was taken. One day by chance they meet after 2 years of wait and our man cannot believe his luck. But the other guy is just nursing a breakup from his boyfriend and is w

Aka (UK)

In Britain, while the class divide is no longer relevant to most people's lives in terms of access to education or employment, there is still a great fascination with the lives of the rich. The premise of this film set in 1970's sounds so good when you read the summary but how I wish , even the execution was good. 18 year old Dean Page, who is from working class background, loves spending time with his mother listing to the tales of the upper class posh people by his mother based on her experiences with them being a waitress herself. We find out that Dean's father abuses him and soon throws him out of the house. He is picked up by an older gay queen who give shim shelter and clothes. He wants to move on and he visits Lady Gryffoyn, an art gallery proprietress, whom his mother had spoken of. She, for whatever reasons, hires him. She takes liking towards him which leads to his spending time at the Gryffoyn country house while people are away. Lady Gryffoyn's son Alexand

Alle Tijd (Dutch) [Time To Spare]

First thing that comes to mind after the movie ends is how talented the entire cast was. Everyone in this film has done complete justice to their characters and somehow seem very fit to the role that they ere given. The movie starts slow but very quickly picks up pace and has various small subtle stories in between giving support to the main theme story of a brother and his sister.This is a story about families and how they come to grow, in all shapes and sizes, and what gives them their resilience and vitality, their importance in our lives. Marteen in an older gay man who lives with his sister Molly. Molly now wants to move in with her boyfriend. Marteen starts to realize the emptiness in his life with Molly gone. Over a period of time Molly's boyfriend starts acting weird and even cheat's on her. When she can't take it anymore she decides to come back to her brother. Marteen , in the meantime, meets a gorgeous man, who is straight but something about marten attracts him

Weekend (UK)

I had meaning to see this film for a long time, specially since I had been hearing such positive reviews all over for this film. And I think it was worth the wait. Without being too wordy, the film and its two protagonists say so much and make you part of them. You feel for them, both of them in totally 2 different ways. You want them to be together, they want to be together but they can't be together. This feeling of love, longing, feeling lucky that you found someone but at the same time you can't be with them, is just so innocent and real on screen for this film. The story is pretty simple but its the execution that makes all the difference. On a Friday night after a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special. That weekend, in bars and in bedrooms, getting drunk and taking drugs, telling stories and havin