Movie Reviews - Gay Themed

Shem (UK)

2012-01-21T14:56:00.005-05:00

After a few minutes into the film (About 30 minutes or so), I could not take this movie any more. The lead character's meeting new a person in a different city, one after the other, was becoming too much of a problem for me. I just did not care anymore of where he is going to go next and who is he going to meet. And when you stop caring about what the characters do in their film, there is very little to hold your interest in the film.

Breaking off concurrent relationships with an older woman and her son, we are introduced to Daniel, as he prances around London thinking he's God's gift to man and woman. But his freewheeling existence is put into question when his eccentric grandmother, the one person he genuinely cares for, sends him on a wild-goose chase to locate her father's grave. Traveling through Paris, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade in Serbia and Sofia in Bulgaria, he learns a thing or two about life. He meets new people in every country and invariable forms some sort of sexual relationship with them irrespective of their gender. He discovers that feelings of true romantic love can exist, even for someone who can't reciprocate. He also receives valuable history lessons about his Jewish heritage, which in the past meant very little to him.

As I mentioned before, the moviegoer might find himself trapped and wearied by this repetitively stop-and-go script. What could have been a point of focus feels almost hackneyed by the conclusion. Some changes in Daniel's personality are illustrated nicely. It humbles him to a point where he begins to take pride in his heritage and what his great-grandfather had done to help preserve it. Nevertheless, Daniel is quiet about his new consciousness. The actor playing the part of Daniel does his job fine but when the script itself is flawed, the actors cannot get above the rest. By the time the frustratingly silly ending arrives, it's confirmed that "Shem," which translates to "name" in Hebrew, is just as confused as its protagonist.

If you have been liking the kind of films that I like, then you might want to stay away from this one. (2/10)

Hello My Love (Korean)

2012-01-21T13:45:00.003-05:00

Love is that queasy feeling in the stomach that only seems to be cured by alcohol until the queasiness turns to desperate sex. This film is a light drama that follows the above said principle. There are lots of ups and downs with a simple story. Different people have different views of love and how the equations keep changing between them based on this theory, is what this movie is all about.

Kim Ho-Jeong dishes advice to lovelorn callers in her radio program with heightened optimism. Her fiancee Yoo Won-jae has been away in Paris for 2 years and she is waiting for him to come back and propose to her. He arrives from Paris with another man Lee Dong-hwa who everyone thinks has come with Yoo Won-jae to start the restaurant business. Still hopelessly waiting for her man to propose her, Ho-jeong doesn't take long to discovers the two guys are a couple and her lover is now gay. After the initial shock is gone, she asks him for one more chance and date her for a month so that she can try her best. Of course, this doesn't help. In the meantime the 3 people start sharing a bond of friendship even though it is awkward. They all feel its love thats binding them together. On the eve of their restaurant opening, Dong-hwa's former lover arrives from Paris and hell breaks lose. Everyone finds out about Yoo Won-jae being gay and Lee Dong-hwa is forced to return back. Time keeps going on. Flash forward, a family emergency brings back the 3 people together. Yoo Wong-jae is single and very much in love with Lee Dong. Ho-jeong has finally moved on and is doing something worthwhile with her life. Lee DOng returns back from arrives to Korea but although they show him with his ex-lover, it is never very clear whether he got back with him or not. The film ends with he possibility that their friendship with wine is still pretty much alive.

Use of wine is very extensive in the film. Lee Dong is supposed to be the wine-guy , so the team is drinking wine is almost every scene. I really dunno whether it was all that necessary or not. The film started off as a drama but there were more than a few times where the drama seemed more comical. Ho-Jeong watching her ex running home in the rain, running home to be with another, running not walking, is a quick, quiet moment that firmly puts their recent past in the distant past. But at the same time we have scenes when she finds out and she is crying, seems so childlike and amateurish. Acting wise everyone was ok and I thought Lee Dong was very cute looking. Some scenes and dialogues in the film showed much more maturity than others but the film still has its shares of flaws. Regardless it is not boring.

There have ben better Korean movie but this one is still pretty decent romantic movie. (7/10)

Tre Somre (Danish) [Three Summers]

2012-01-19T22:55:00.003-05:00

Although this is just a 30 minute short film, it definitely deserved a separate entry in my blog. 'Cute' was the first word when I was 5 minutes in the film and it ended the same way. In between it had its bittersweet moments but in my opinion a very well handled overall theme. The interactions and relationships between two individuals who are very different from each other in every which way be it age, likes, sexual orientation and how it ends.

The film is kind of 3 acts and shows the three summers over a span of 3 years. Jørgen lives abroad, but every summer he comes back to Denmark with his wife. He invites, as usual, his neighbours and their teenager son,Thomas, for dinner at his place. Only, this time there is a strange tension in the air between the adults. After dinner, Jørgen and Thomas go to the beach for a walk. They discover that both have secret problems, and the fact they cannot talk about them is creating great stress. They decide to share a secret each. Thomas tells he is gay and Jørgen says that he wants to divorce his wife. With this a new friendship begins. Its the second summer now and Jørgen, now divorced invites his neighbors again. Thomas stays back to hang out with Jørgen. They are generally chit-chatting and the night ends up in them having sex. Finally , the third summer comes. Jørgen has met a new girl and is very happy with her and is having a party with his friends. Thomas shows unannounced. Jørgen freaks out but all Thomas wants is a final kiss for the sake of keeping each other's secret. Initially hesitant, Jørgen finally complies and Thomas leaves him very peacefully and quietly.

How over the course of three summers, a friendship starts and how the relationship develops is shown in such a beautiful manner. The first time they both share a secret was such a nice, simple scene. It could have been from anyone's life when people much more comfortable sharing secrets with strangers. The intimate scene in the second summer was also handled with sensitivity but it was the finale which was superb. Some people might judge the fact that a middle age man is getting sexual with a teenage boy but you need to see the whole chemistry with an open mind. How Jørgen is scared, how Thomas is heart-broken but then finally they are both at peace by just a simple kiss. They both know they need to move on and they do.

One of the best short films that I have seen. Wonderful. (8.5/10)

The Pretty Boys

2012-01-18T20:16:00.002-05:00

It is very surprising that there is no entry for this film in imdb, especially since the director of this film has made other prominent gay films and some of them are really good as well. This is a retro film set in early 70s when rock and roll was in. The film definitely carries that look and you feel you are there (which was not too hard, considering 85% of the film is set in rooms and indoors).

A young drug runner Dondo accidentally becomes the assistant to the manager of a glam rock bank while they are finishing their last song for their new album. Thanks to their manager Vangela, who recruits Dondo because he helps him cure the craziness of their lead singer Pagan who is a drug addict. Pagan, Dondo and Vangela are enjoying the drugs and sex life together. Things change when Pagan's partner Craig dies of drug overdose. Vangela wants Dongo to help her, so that Pagan doesn't find out about Craig's death. She wants him to focus and somehow finish the last song of the album. More drugs and sex follows. 2 girls drug Dongo and kidnap Pagan, because they are into some kind of black magic, something to do with rockstars. The film keeps going and suddenly people change. Dongo sees sense and somehow manages to convince Pagan to record their last song. After that Pagan finds out about the death of Craig which leaves him devastated. Leaving a trail of drugs, sex and demonic delusion the band has traveled the ragged road of collaboration and passion right to its end.

The film started off well and I thought it would be interesting but as the film progressed, it became a little hard to keep my attention. The director did a great job of depicting scenes when the characters are high on drugs and how people can do all kinds of things when they are under the effect but these scenes were too much and too detailed. From a story's perspective, there was a lot to be desired. It was never explained if Dongo was already in love with someone, why was he working with Pagan? Acting wise, thankfully everyone did a decent job. I think Pagan was completely in his character and did great. Even otherwise no one seemed to overact, which is a good thing.

This is a very different film with a weird drug theme. If you maybe watch with lot of patience you can get through. (3.5/10)

Wire In The Blood - The Mermaids Singing (UK)

2012-01-15T16:14:00.002-05:00

"Wire In The Blood" is a TV series that was aired in UK. This particular 2 part series has a gay angle to it and hence it qualifies to be viewed and reviewed here. Additionally, this particular story is also available as dvd on its own. I loved the film because I like murder mysteries in general and this was definitely one of those edgy intelligent, quirky, mystery that keeps you hooked throughout the duration. You are eager o find out who the killer is.

Someone is killing off young men in fictive city of Bradfield, UK. The killer uses medieval torture instruments in the most sadistic way, and detective inspector Carol Jordan seeks help from clinical psychologist Tony Hill. Tony Hill is an intelligent, sensitive and excentric man who has a rare ability to penetrate the criminal mind and understand it. He's fascinated by those he examines, but never fails to empathize with their victims. Although some in the police force are opposed to his involvment he manages to stick with the case courtesy Carol. Lots of loopholes within the police department are uncovered in process and maybe a tiny little bit love blossoming between the two characters. Tony Hill almost gets successful in profiling the killer, but what he doesn't know is that he, himself, is the next target. How he uses his skills as a psychologist to deal with the criminal when he is almost on his death bed is worth watching.

The Mermaids Singing is a very good thriller you could possibly watch. It is compelling and intense. Although most of th emurder scenes are pretty gruesome and not for the squeamish. The ending contains a graphic torture scene that makes you sit on the edge of the sofa. The acting is absolutely brilliant, and I loved the character played by Tony Hill. It is very hard to not like the confused character that he plays in the series. He is warm and funny and yet sensitive and vulnerable. His monologues are among the best parts of the film; enchanting and stunning!

Fun stuff for lovers of mystery crime drama. (7/10)

Sibak (Filipino) [Midnight Dancers]

2012-01-14T19:19:00.003-05:00

This was such a weird film in every sense. I have not seen so many people in a movie being ok with sexuality. A wife being completely ok with her husband having a boyfriend, a mother ok with her sons being call boys, 3 brothers dancing naked together etc etc. The list goes on. The director probably wanted to show us what some of the poor lower class people have to go through to make their needs meet in life but he could have shown that in a much nicer way in which viewer will empathize with characters a little bit. This is not to say that film was bad but it could have been treated better.

Sonny and his older brothers, Dennis and Joel work as go-go boys in a sleazy sex emporium called the Club Exotica whose upstairs cubicles are reserved for paid assignations. Through prostitution, the boys are able to keep their closely knit family from starving. The 3 brothers essentially think of themselves as heterosexuals but do not mind doing things to get some money. Joel has a wife and child; he and Dennis are saving money to buy back lost family land. Sonny has dropped out of university and sees dancing as a way to make money for now. Joel has a regular boyfriend as well; Sonny spends time with Michelle, a transvestite; Dennis and his pals steal car radios. Most of the movie revolves around the brothers and the family's struggle to meet their needs. Their life changes when they give shelter to a young boy who turns out had some gang connection. In the process, Dennis gets killed and to take revenge the 2 brothers kill 2 guys and now they have to run from their family to hide themselves. As the film ends, Sonny observes that although people say that when men prostitute, they dont lose anything, but he doesn't agree. He definitely feels that something is lost.

First some negatives. I do not understand why did the director have to focus os much on the actual dancing and club scenes. We understood what's going on the first time but to show that again and again was not really adding to the whole crux of the story. And then again, everyone in the family taking things so lightly was a little odd. Maybe I just don't understand some cultural aspects. On a positive note, I thought the scenes between Joel and his boyfriend were handled very nicely and sensitively. The homosexual element is not really the main focus.It depicts a general working class family's daily life. Its just hard to digest when the brothers repeatedly identify themselves as straight, why does Joel have a boyfriend and Sonny dates a transvestite.

The film was sometimes engrossing but most of the other times would make you feel as if you are in a club with not much happening with the story. (4.5/10)

Mary Lou (Hebrew)

2012-01-14T15:45:00.003-05:00

I have time and again said that I am not a big fan of musicals. Its even harder when the language is not your first language because the subtitles really don't translate that well. But there are movies at time which make you sit and take notice of them. You might not understand the language but the music and the acting are so engaging that you, for a change, dont mind of the subtitles are not doing complete justice to the film as such. This film, was originally a 4 part TV mini series but it fits perfectly well as a movie.

The story is based on songs of Israeli pop legend Svika Pick. Miriam is an adoring fan of Svika Pick. She dreams of being a famous singer. She calles herself Mary Lou based on famous song of Svika Pick. Following her dreams of singing for the legend, she mysteriously abandons her son Meir on his tenth birthday. Meir starts making stories about her mother. Only Shuli, a girl from his school believes in him and they become best of buddies. Time passes and before their graduation in school, they both fall for the same guy Gabi. When Gabi publicly humiliates Meri for his unwanted public display of love for Gabi, he leaves for Tel Aviv in search of his mother. He meets Ori there who falls in love with Meir but Meri is not. He joins a club of drag queens and slowly himself becomes a very famous singer all along continuing his search for his mother. Along the journey, we witness what happens to Shuli, Gabi, Ori and other drag queens in the club with enchanting music backing the excellent story. When finally Mier thinks he knows what happened to his mother, he gets a shock from his father who then finally decides to tell the entire truth to Meir. But it helps Meir finding himself and becoming a grown up better person.

The film is backed up by excellent singers and performers as actors. The film has pop music and good picturization but it also encompasses sorrow, pain and longing. Meir not only carries the entire film on his shoulder but he also brings an emotional resonance to all of his scenes. He is ably supported by the entire cast. You actually feel for all the characters. I think they were all developed with just the right information and to a certain extent, they were all given a proper ending too. I felt really bad for Ori. I loved the line "We all want what we can't get". Isin't that so true? The singing in the film is passionate though at time I wished that there wasn't a song and the film would just proceed faster.

Apart from a little drag towards the end of the film, I completely enjoyed the film. It was still an engaging, damn near irresistible flick. (7.5/10)

Le Clan (French) [3 Dancing Slaves]

2012-01-06T07:22:00.002-05:00

This is a very interesting film and take s a little while to hold audience's attention. Initially it did not seem a movie with gay theme but then it was definitely a very homo-erotic movie. After sometime, when the viewer starts getting deep into the story, you find out there is much more to it and actually there is a gay theme as well.

Three brothers live with their recently widowed father in a small town near the Alps in France. Marc is a rebellious youth, into drugs and petty crime and at constant contention with his overbearing father. We follow his life where he hangs out with his friends, gets into all kinds of trouble because of drugs and is finally forced to kill his own dog for not paying the dues. The eldest brother Christophe is recently released from prison and is trying to live straight by starting from the bottom in a pork factory and working his way to the top. Prison life has tamed him and he has now accepted the realities of life. Marc was counting on his brother to return from prison to take revenge from the goons who were after him but Christophe refuses. He very quickly moves up the ladder in the factory that he is working and has kind of settled in life. Olivier is the youngest and though tattooed and quasi-rebellious is the sensitive one whose gender issues are just beginning to focus. He doesn't find himself fitting in his bother's world but at the same time they are his family. Olivier finds love and passion with Hicham, Marc's friend, who is North African and repeatedly dances the capoeira, a slave dance, for his own expression and his need to connect with Olivier. They start a relationship but soon Olivier breaks up because he knows he needs to spend more time with his brothers as a family and his own personal feelings and needs will always be a lower priority for him.

Despite the differences in these young men there are repeated encounters that signify their bonding. Through each brother and 3 different segments we paste together a family disrupted and needy. There is a lot of nudity and bare bodied men which is very pleasing to the eye. Despite the differences in these young men there are repeated encounters that signify their bonding. One quiet scene shows the father awake, sitting and watching the troubled sons asleep, naked, entwined in each other's bodies: it should be clipped for a still shot as it is very beautiful. The acting by all cast members is very nice. Everyone's part has their own reasons for being the way they are. In the end, the slave dancer Hicham is free enough to take a principled, self respecting stand to end a demeaning relationship, yet the three brothers who look down on him are enslaved to their past.

A haunting and heart wrenching film with more than enough eye candy. (7/10)

7 Short Stories

2012-01-03T21:57:00.005-05:00

En Colo (France)
This is a such a sweet short film. I think this has to be one of my favs. Maxime; an introverted youth who his friends are beginning to suspect could well be gay, courtesy of a truth or dare boy-on-boy kiss with cutie Mathieu that Maxime seemed to have enjoyed a shade too much. But that doesn’t mean he’s gay. Or does it? When their teacher (Coach) tells them that he is gay as well and just because he doesn't look like gays people expect, doesn't make things funny. This one incident changes so much. The students can see more openly now and best for Maxime, who probably will now not have to deal with homophobia which otherwise he would have. (8/10)

Ronnie (India)
Ronnie is a troubled teenager grappling with questions about his sexuality and secretly suppressing strong feelings for his best friend, Aziz. He knows he is different on the inside and constantly feels unsettled by the disgust his father expresses for his lifestyle. In this loneliness, Ronnie develops a tentative friendship with a reclusive fisherman, who is also grieving for his estranged son. The story explores how their unusual companionship encourages Ronnie to come out of the closet and helps the fisherman to make peace with his son. The subject has been directed with utmost sensitivity. Very impressive. (7.5/10)

Un Beau jour un coiffeur (France)
It is a great little movie in that it focuses on what people do for love. A happy young guy suddenly finds himself falling for a hairdresser in his town. He will go to any lengths for him but it turns out that he is in love with a girl. They end up being friends and our man finally has a ray of hope when he potentially meets another guy. A very sweet film and the subject has been handled very nicely. Good actors and lovely script. (7/10)

My Uncle Mario (Israel)
A young boy delivers food in the summer vacation for this mother, who has some sort of a restaurant. Suddenly his uncle Mario, who lives in Italy, visits them by surprise. The boy's life changes when he follows his uncle one night to an appointment. After that night things will never be the same. Uncle Mario is gay and maybe the young boy is too but the mother doesn't want to take chances and sends back the uncle. (5.5/10)

306 (USA)
This is an interesting short film. Showing us a day in life of our lead character, we see him studying and then taking up a job as a male escort, getting fucked (literally) and then go back to bed with his girlfriend as if nothing ever happened. The film questions on how much do you really know a person with whom you spend so much time with and what are usual social ethics. Only thing that confused me was the title of this film. I still cannot figure that out. But I think, the film maker shows promise in this short film. (6.5/10)

We Once Were Tide (UK)
Set on the Isle of Wight, the film tells the story of Anthony and Kyle, and their last night together as Kyle moves away leaving Anthony to look after his terminally ill mother. Poetic in nature, the film is concerned with exploring the intimate and often unspoken moment in which we give something special away. I think it is a very touching film with a heart and definitely recommended. (6/10)

3 Lads, An American Fool And One Night (USA)
On the eve of his anniversary date with his girlfriend, Greg gets an unexpected visit from 3 strangers who claim to be his friend's friend. This event which ultimately makes him question his sexuality and his life, when one of the guys and Greg have this instant connection and one night stand but nothing happens beyond that. (6.5/10)

Ga-myeon (Korean) [Rainbow Eyes]

2011-12-28T13:24:00.003-05:00

When I started watching the film, I was excited to see that it is going to be a murder mystery but all along the way, I also kept wondering how does this film fit in the gay film bucket. My doubts were soon put to rest as the plot starts unfolding. The climax took me completely by surprise. I was not expecting it. I wish the movie had better subtitles because it seemed like a lot was being lost in translation. Not to be mean but it also took me sometime to get used to all the characters. They looked pretty similar, specially all the detectives (5-6 of them) an trying to differentiate on who's who takes up a lot of time.

Kyeong-yoon and his female long-term colleague Eun-ju work on an especially gruesome case. The victim has been stabbed multiple times and the crime scene has blood all over it. Although the killer has erased his tracks very carefully, the detectives find some evidences which makes them to believe that the victim could be gay and that the culprit must have blood type AB and is male. The detectives soon have found a suspect, but that pretty soon that person also gets killed in a similar gruesome manner. The case becomes a serial murder case and Kyeong-yoon loses track of any lead. Only by chance do the detectives find out that the two victims were part of the same military unit and have been transfered to another military base because of an unknown incident. There was also a third person involved in this incident, who could become the next victim. At the same time Kyeong-yoon is having troubles with his girlfriend Soo-jin. When during their investigation, the name Lee Yoon-su pops up, Kyeong-yoon's past is catching up with him. A truth he would have liked to repress forever crawls to the daylight again, and the investigation enters its finale phase. It turns out that the reason the 3 guys were transferred from the base was because of a rape case of a guy who happened to be a very dear and close friend of Kyeong-yoon. But Kyeong-yoon wanted him and the guy to be man enough and he suppressed the feelings throughout his life. The ending comes as shock in who is actually the main culprit for all these murders.

The film is super efficient, moves at at brisk pace, back tracks to causes and brings all the lines together. There's a lot of dialogue, but mostly plot points, so lot of subtitle to follow. The clues and the twist are given progressively to you so that he audience is as involved in trying to find the culprit. This is half the battle won for the film. It's not easy for the audience to sympathize with certain persons, something that becomes especially apparent with Kyeong-yoon, who becomes more and more unfathomable towards the end. And for those people who read it so far are still wondering how does this film still fit in queer cinema, you have to watch it. I would not wanna spoil someone's fun.

If you are looking for a decent korean thriller, then you will get what you want with this film. (6.5/10)

Beau Travail (French)

2011-12-22T07:00:00.003-05:00

Another one of those films which needs immense patience to watch it. I have that at times and then there are times when I just can't wait for a film to finish. Unfortunately, when I saw this film, I was in the second category. Reading reviews online tells me that this film is supposed to be a masterpiece but I nowhere felt that. In fact I dont even know why this film is classified as gay cinema. Yes, there are naked fit men all over but that itself doesn't qualify it for gay cinema.

Galoup is an officer at a French Foreign Legion outpost in the Gulf of Dijbouti, where he enjoys a close relationship with the Commanding Officer and works with a team of fit young men who work hard all day and play hard all night. When Sentain, a new recruit, joins the troops, Galoup believes that it upsets the delicate balance between the C.O. and the other men. Sentain is well-liked by his comrades for his good humor and selfless nature, and his virtues make him the C.O.'s new favorite. Galoup is jealous of the attention Sentain receives, and he devises a plan to discredit Sentain in the eyes of the other men and have him drummed out of the service. Galoup's plot is found out, however, and Galoup is stripped of his rank and sent home.

Although the story is so simple, its execution is soooooooo slow. There are numerous scenes of recruits just training, walking in the city and just socializing. Agreed the idea was to give the film some authenticity but then there should be some pace to the film. If you can't even hold the viewers attention to wait to see what happens next, what is the point of creating artsy cinema where people are not even going to wait. It was never very clear what the actual nature of relationship between Galoup and his CO was. Was it sexual or just respect. What exactly was it that made Galoup jealous of Sentain. Sometimes I would feel that this film is some form of musical tones minus the music part. It is very hard to explain how I felt during the film and even after watching it.

My recommendation for people who have similar tastes like mine to avoid viewing this film but there are plenty of poeple who loved this film. (0.5/10)

Out In The Silence (Documentary)

2011-12-18T15:58:00.002-05:00

"Out in the Silence" is an earnest work. The low-key film-making is not dazzling or kinetic; however, the subject is important and worthy of study. Yes, it is predictable but is surprising at the same time. How much ever we think we are growing in terms of our thinking, the fact is there are still so any small towns and so many people that would do anything against homosexuals.

Joe Wilson, a resident of Washington, DC, where same-sex marriage is legal, weds his partner. Perhaps in a conscious desire to stir the pot in his hometown, Oil City, Pennsylvania, he sends a wedding notice to the local newspaper. Predictable hate-filled letters to the editor are received and published. Help comes in the form of Kathy who is a mother of a young teenage boy CJ who happens to be gay and who is constantly bullied at school. They meet and Kathy tells Joe all the details about CJ and how suddenly he no longer is a school jock but just a faggot. Joe's interactions with local pastor is the highlight of the film on how even small changes in people's thinking can help. We also get to see the life of a lesbian couple who have been living in the same town for a long time and command respect. It seems people have problems when it comes to marriage and being out and open about their sexuality. The mother Kathy takes the school board to the law and finally gets justice and things start improving for CJ in life.

CJ brought a certain zing and liveliness in this film which could have been a little boring at times. His struggle and his mother's quest to get justice for her son was real. I am shocked to see that we are in 21st century. After watching the documentary, I wish I could something for the gay community and back in my country do something to make people ore aware of the whole situation. By God's grace my life has been relatively less harsh compared to some that we see in these films but if all of us could do a little bit, then lives of growing teenagers struggling each day of their life would be much more easier.

This documentary is definitely an eye-opener for all those who still think that being gay is against Jesus. (6/10)

Boys On Film 7: Bad Romance

2011-12-18T13:19:00.003-05:00

Opting to explore the darker side of love, this collection of short films alternates between dark desires and sweet affection. Some of the works arrive with a twist in their tale, whilst others are somewhat low in gay visibility, if high in humanity.

Curious Thing (USA)
This film sets out to examine the lives of gay men in NYC in this opening part. Exploring the growing bond between two men, both straight to the world, but equally aware of their burgeoning feelings for each other, emotions are set to test the boundaries of their friendship when one realizes he is gay and other is not. I think this short was beautiful.

Cake And Sand (Germany)
Tim and Julian’s relationship would seem to be the envy of many. Yet behind all the smiles, lies the reality that their relationship spark is no more. Knowing such, both are determined to re-light the romantic flame, only are their loving efforts to be in vain? This poignant piece raises the question of when exactly does love die? Beautiful.

Watch Over Me (Israel)
Close to completing his final training, Eitan, a soldier enlisted in an elite army unit, is taken out by his team mates, only for their drinking session to be cut short upon the arrival of Shahar; an openly gay man. It is a situation that Eitan’s superior turns to his advantage, challenging Eitan to queer bash Shahar. Only has Eitan got what it takes to earn his stripes?

The New Tenants (Denmark/US)
This dark humoured piece tells the story of lovers Frank and Peter and their first hours in their new apartment together. Down on their luck, things are about to get a lot worse, when their welcome committee consists of a noisy neighbour, a crazed husband, not to mention the local drug dealer. Having just moved in, can they make it out alive?

Just Friends? (Korea)
Read Here Just Friends?

Mirrors (Canada)
Julien, a melancholic teenager who alongside his brother Antoine, arrive with their parents at the family lakeside holiday home. Only far from being at ease, Julien is soon rejecting offers to get up close and personal with the local girls, preferring instead the company of his musical neighbour Hervé and in turn his close friend / pianist. It is a friendship that is set to see Julien realise his path in life.

Communication (New Zealand)
Told from the reflective mindset of Jacob, we encounter this young man as he finds himself bequeath the estate of his former university lecturer Andrew. Taking a tour of a property once visited, memories come flooding back as objects on display vividly recall times past spent with a man only too happy to court the affections of a youth, struggling to reconcile his religious and sexual callings in life.

The Traitor (Israel)
What happens when love turns cold? Well in this dramatic, intimate, short showcases your seemingly everyday loving couple Tomer and Shmulik. Yet not everything is what it appears to be, as over dinner Tomer announces his intent to move out. Only is Shmulik prepared to let his lover go, without putting up a fight?

The Strange Ones (USA)
A man and a boy walk a lonely highway, until the boy chances upon a free swim courtesy of the outdoor amenities of a roadside motel, unaware that a female member of staff is watching them. Making her acquaintance, a faulty drinks machine takes up most of the time of the man, leaving the boy alone with the girl to tell her his alarming take of life on the road; a tale that differs to that told by the man. Weirdly funny.

Cappuccino (Switzerland)
Read Here Cappuccino

Another brilliant collection in the series. (6.5/10)

Nine Indian Short Gay Movies

2011-12-08T21:41:00.002-05:00

This one has to be some of the worse acted and directed shorts that I have seen. Agreed, some of the story concepts are very interesting for short films but they are handled so amateurishly, that it is a little embarrassing to watch. The only high point is that at there is a start and Indians are starting to make shorts (maybe even features) on gay themes.

A Clouded Sky - A recently out gay man wants to commit suicide because he is fed up of everything. HIs best friend is trying to stop him but he gives all incidents which are reason enough for him to take this step.

A Hidden Identity - A young boy walks through his normal life but is in closet. When he comes out, everyone reacts very negative and he ends up taking his own life.

Astitva - A young eunuch boy is looking for identity. He ends up joining the eunuch group in search of his identity to see where he fits in the best.

Gay - 2 homeless men are shivering in blistering cold sharing just one thin blanket. The only way they have to keep warm is body heat.

In The Closet - A comic twist on how both husband and wife are cheating on each other with 2 different men and how their secret comes out when both their lovers are hiding in the closet, literally!

Incredible Adaption - A lazy, good for nothing man is shunned by everyone including his wife. He pretends to become a eunuch just so that he can get some money and respect from people around him. Pathetic portrayal.

Kalavana Kanavu (Stolen Dreams) - 2 friends are very close (maybe lovers). Their life changes when one of the friends is about to get married to the other friend's sister.

Malayalam (The Present) - When his wife leaves him because he is gay, our man hires a gunman to shoot him because he cannot commit suicide. HIs wife returns but it is too late to cancel no. He gets shot.

The Man who Loved Me - WHen your best friend tells you that he loves you and is jealous that now you have a girlfriend, things do not remain the same. IN heat of arguments, the man ends up dying.

Like I said, some concepts were interesting but execution was bad. You also could realize that it seems every story ends in a death. I bet things are changing now in the country. (2/10)

Mannen Som Elsket Yngve (Norwegian) [The Man Who Loved Yngve]

2011-12-07T22:02:00.005-05:00

What i liked best about this film that it was not your regular run-of-mill coming of age story. It was a film with maturity and a very authentic feel to it in which many of the scenes and the characters were handled. Till now it is very hard for me to say whether our lead character was bi, gay or even just straight. There are moments when you just fall in love with a person. There is no reason behind it, sometimes sex of the person doesn't even matter. You just feel a connection and this film tries to give us a portrayal of that.

Jarle is a regular teenager, who is a part of a band with 2 of his good friends. He also has a girlfriend with whom he is very much in love with. Enter Yngve, a new student in the class and for some strange reason, Jarle gets instantly attracted to him. He wants to do everything that Yngve does, so much so that he starts missing his rock band practices and even starts avoiding his girlfriend. Till this point, Yngve has not given any hint that his either gay or interested in Jarle. Things take such a turn that Jarle has to now choose between Yngve and his friends. In a strange twist of events, Jarle bashes up Yngve yelling that he is gay. This happens right after he tells him that he loves him. Yngve cannot take this anymore and he tries to commit suicide and is now in a rehab institute. Jarle visits him after days of struggle and cannot contain himself when he sees him. The ending though not positive, shows that Jarle really cared for Yngve. You will never know whether he truly loved him or not. If he did, why could he never have the courage to do so.

An engaging and tender story, this film also shows the struggles with admitting true feelings when it comes to a same sex relationship. Jarle fears violent retribution from his father and emotional disapproval from his mother. I wish the movie had a little more to offer during the whole length of he film. There is so much that happens in the last 15 minutes, that I personally wish the film makers had spent more time on etching out those details of Yngve's and Jarle's relationship. I liked the friendship that Jarle shared with his straight friend. Unfortunately in these kind of stories, the girlfriend is always neglected. I feel, someone should make a film of what the girl goes through when she gets dumped by a guy for being gay.

My first Norwegian gay film but overall pretty impressive. It could have been a better if treated a little different, more streamlined beginning with maybe a positivie ending but still it is one of the better films that I have seen in recent times. (6.5/10)

Father And Son (Russian)

2011-12-03T15:58:00.003-05:00

Another one of the recent weird films that I have been seeing. This film has absolutely no plot and there are scenes that just go on and on and on for a long time without giving much push to the story. The camera loves the two lead actors to the extent that I simply could not figure out if paternal love was crossing over into incest or just homo-eroticism.

Father and the son live alone in a rooftop apartment in their own private world and are very close to each other. The extent of closeness is never fully explained. Following in his father's footsteps, Alexei attends military school. He likes sports, tends to be irresponsible and has problems with his girlfriend. But his girlfriend cannot fathom the closeness between the father and son. Enter another guy who is supposedly the son of the father's old friend. He enters their life and slowly their world starts to change wherein the father is first close to this new boy and then the son become the friend. The film goes on for a while and ends when the new boy is asked to come live with them. Th film ends abruptly as it started.

The lead characters and their male friends spend a lot of time urgently telling each other they need to talk and then staring into space, or down at their shoes, or at each other. Both the lead characters were very good looking but it always left me wondering what the hell was going on. Either the print I had something to do with it but there was no difference between the father's and the son's voice. The dialogue delivery was so monotonous as if it was just a reading of the script. Although the movie and scenes seemed to suggest homo-eroticism, but nothing ever actually happened to reveal this one way or another.

A completely useless film. (1/10)

Short Films

2011-11-26T13:27:00.010-05:00

Real Fiction (USA)
Zack and AJ are a couple. Zack wants to make it big in the writer's world but to get his book noticed, he will have to sleep with an old guy Damien and continue till he succeeds. He takes this offer up after discussing with AJ but this soon starts to strain their relationship. The end is sad where AJ ends up killing Damien because of jealousy and gets arrested and meanwhile Zack has now lost his glory, his love and his family. Classic tale of ambition. I think the director tried to pack too much of a story in a short film. This story if done well could have ended being a full fledged film but the short story leaves a lotto be desired. (4/10)

Who Leads (USA)
Within a few hours, one couple ends and another begins. Adam is leaving Trent, ending their dysfunctional relationship. Jordan, a mover and recent San Francisco transplant, crosses paths with their roommate Spencer. Their intense connection is questioned as they watch the disintegration of Adam and Trent. Who leads when four men come together? Interesting concept but it took me a while to get a hang of what was going on and by the time I was there, the short was done. (4.5/10)

Oo! Fxxx!! (India)
A cosmopolitan girl falls in love with her college boyfriend (who is a fashion photographer) whom she happens to meet after several years luck by chance but when their relation grows to the stage of commitment the guy completely denies any seriousness. Apparently, the guy had been trying to woo her neighbor who happens to be a guy with similar sounding name and the postman is the person responsible for the missing connection. It is a very beautiful done short film about mistaken identities with a hilarious comic twist. I liked it. (6.5/10)

Such Is Life (India)
Depicting one of the faces of still in closet homosexuality in India and how some people misuse it. This short shows a guy traveling in a bus when another guy comes and stands behind him. While the first guy thinks that the other guy is trying to get physical with him thereby making him happy and excited, him bubble bursts when he realizes that actually the guy stole his wallet and now he doesn't even have money for the bus ride. (5/10)

Brotherly (USA)
Based on a true story, this film shows us how due to lack of any care and love from their mother, the 2 brothers turn to each other for support. When the younger brother even at 12 keeps wetting his bed, the older brother takes him to his room to clean him up and they start sharing a bond. Sexuality irrupts strongly for the child who experiences his first erection as he feels his brother's body pressed against his. Soon they get into incest but the film never really tries to judge why that happens: lust, love, breaking social norms or security. This is for the viewers to decide but the director does a good job of keeping true to the subject. (7/10)

Randy And The Mob

2011-10-31T14:26:00.002-04:00

This film was supposed to be a low budget comedy with mob plots. It could have been interesting but there was something that was missing from the film. Maybe I will figure that out by the time i have finished writing this review. I would also like to mention that this is not primarily a gay cinema. There is an important gay couple and an important character but that itself does not make this film qualified for gay cinema but I can still review it here.

A good old boy from the middle-class suburbs of Atlanta becomes indebted to the mob. Randy is about as American as baseball and apple pie. Randy's wife is a clinically depressed baton teacher who also suffers from a painful case of carpal tunnel syndrome, and his identical twin brother, Cecil, is openly homosexual. When Randy runs into financial trouble, he seeks a quick fix by borrowing money from some local mobsters. Unfortunately for Randy, all his businesses are still making very little money. Franco, a loan shark for the mob, wants to collect the mob's money, but Randy can't deliver, and Randy is now in deep trouble. However, the mob has a plan to use Randy's business to move some of their goods. Franco sends the mob enforcer, Tino, to run the operations. Tino begins to make all the businesses very profitable. There is only one problem; Franco must drive down to the small Georgia town to collect the mob's money. The movie ends with how ultimately Randy ends up bridging the differences with hi gay twin brother and return the mob's money.

Firstly, what was Tino's deal. Why did he keep behaving like he was a robot. I still dont get it. Randy acted pretty well as twin brothers in completely contrasting characters. The movie and the story was funny to an extent thanks to the southern stereotyping. Actress playing Randy's wife also did a decent job of a clinically depressed patient. I just dont feel like writing anymore because i cant really think of any more positive points for the film. I just wish the screenplay was a little sharper and explained better things that were going on. I have a feeling that lot more people might find this film funny, which I did too but not to a great extent. (4.5/10)

Donne-Moi La Main (French/Spanish) [Give Me Your Hand]

2011-10-06T07:48:00.003-04:00

This movie was a sort of road-rip movie. Hitchhiking, walking, on road, running etc to their destination, the principal characters take us through their journey. A film of very few words, the film is shot beautifully but it could definitely had been better. The writing of the film left a lot to be desired. The director spends way too much time showing the boys walking down a road, walking through a forest, walking through a field, walking and more walking. A little bit is ok but when it becomes to the extent of self obsession, that harms a film.

Antoine and Quentin, twin brothers and both young, stubborn and determined. They want to hitchhike to their mother's funeral in Spain. Antoine finds occasional pleasure in girls but Quentin keeps himself busy in his drawings. The hardships of this trip starts to take a toll on the already strained relationship of the brothers but they both agree to working in a farm the necessary days to pay for a train ticket to Spain. One night, Quentin finds in the fields a young man that looks very interested in him. They go skinny dipping and afterwards they have sex in the middle of the woods. Antoine, worried about his brother's absence goes out looking for him and finds him naked with the other boy. Antoine cannot bear to accept the fact that his brother could be gay. Angry, mad and disgusted he betrays his brother. in a cafe, when a man shows some interest in Antoine, he offers Quentin to him for 100 euros. Quentin tries to save himself and run. When Antoine returns and only thing he sees is his brother's backpack, he realizes of the mistake that he did. He looks for his brother and continues his hike and ultimately reaches his mother's funeral with the guilt in his heart that his brother might also be dead.

There was little character development during the entire film. The series of events that occurred during their journey, mostly sex with strangers didn't have any real purpose to them. The ending is furious and rushed, and it seems like it was thrown in there as a last ditch effort to create tension. Only good thing about the film was the directors attempt to show that even though they were twins , they did not have anything else in common apart from their physical structure. Although the director shows lack of communication, loneliness and true desperation using with strong images, beautiful visuals and almost zero dialogues, the films fails to hold your attention unless you are a very very patient man.

This film is more for "art film" lovers. I used to think I am but I am starting to question now :). (4.5/10)

Le temps qui reste (French) [Time To Leave]

2011-10-01T09:09:00.002-04:00

This film very beautifully addresses that earth-shattering moment of being informed that death is imminent and shows us how one character copes with that information and how it changes his remaining days and his history of relating to others. It is touching, empathetic, very loving and at some or the other point, you will be able to connect with this film with some event from your own life, maybe someone whom you know.

Romain is a handsome and successful fashion photographer who lives with his lover Sasha, but is somewhat estranged from his family. For some reason he cannot relate to his pregnant sister Sophie despite his mother's pleading and his father's distance. During a fashion shoot Romain faints, is taken to the doctor who informs him he has metastatic cancer for which there is little hope and that he will live past a few months. Romain opts to go without treatment and begins to face his remaining life with silent gloom. Romain decides to quit his job, tells Sasha to leave, separates from his family, and visits his beloved grandmother Laura who shares her philosophy of living and dying and bonds even more closely with the grandson who mirrors her own life. Romain, alone, travels about France, meets a sweet couple in a café who are unable to have children and after consideration Romain consents to comply with their request to impregnate the wife but only if the husband is also a part of the process. The couple discovers Romain is dying after Jany becomes pregnant and Romain for the first time is able to show tenderness in his relationship with them. Somewhat changed in outlook Romain returns home, has a tender talk with his father who accepts his son's sexuality, attempts a reconciliation with Sasha unsuccessfully, and even responds to a letter from Sophie. His missions completed and he travels to the ocean where the film ends in one of the most beautifully subtle, tender and genuinely realistic ways.

This film was so touching that I can't even begin to tell. Yes, the story might sound cliched to some but it is the execution of the subject that makes the whole difference. All the actors are particularly outstanding. I loved the relationship that Romain shared with his grandmother. In every way this film is satisfying. I would have personally liked to understand better why did Romain share such a estranged relationship with his sister. As Romain slowly but surely makes his way towards the adamant death, there are flashes of his childhood which arrive in his mind. Maybe, they help him to accept his own death. Moreover, it is often said that old people behave like children.

A brilliant, quiet, immensely satisfying film. (8.5/10)

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

2011-09-27T20:40:00.003-04:00

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.

There is no plot and no advancement of anything. Some movies are badly produce, or the writing or the acting is bad but they can be seen as a movie. This is not a movie, there is no acting, no story, basically it's some guy recording his boring thought combined with some European scenery. (0.5/10)

Friends And Lovers

2011-09-22T22:40:00.002-04:00

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 openness and a passion for life. Jim’s instant liking for Tom becomes an awakening of the spirit. They start hanging out together and become good friends. Quick to see his potential as an artist, Jim convinces Tom to visit museums. As the two become friends, Tom’s initial resistance to taking his art seriously begins to change and, in the light of Jim’s encouragement, Tom finds the courage to fulfill his own potential. The problem is that Jim is now falling in love with Tom. He somehow assumes that Tom loves him to but is heart broken when Tom tells him he is straight. His friendship and love both backfire and now Jim will do anything to the level of obsession and madness to get Tom's love.

The story as you see is very interesting. There were few things that I really appreciate. When Tom figures out that Jim is gay and that is why he was befriending him, he does not lose his control, instead he gives Jim a friendly hug and says that he will forget everything and would still wanna be friends with Jim but it is Jim who reacts in a weird manner. He wants either love or nothing (which in my mind was avery absurd thing to say). Jim is lonely. Rather than coming to senses and prevent the friendship threads falling, he in turn forces Tom and himself to start avoiding and even hating each other. It is very clear that Tom wants friendship. I wonder if the film maker was trying to show that Jim was a mean character. Because the way he treats Claire and leaves her high and dry and then his obnoxious behavior with Tom, makes me question Jim's character. If that was the director's idea, then I must say that he did not do a good job of bringing that out.

Acting by principal characters was quite decent but overall the movie does not hold attention after a while. (3.5/10)

A Lower Power

2011-09-22T18:01:00.003-04:00

This is another one of those films whose premise looks and sounds very promising on paper but the final product is far fetched from that. This so-called gay coming-of-age comedy film is nothing short of boredom and height of indulgence.

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 old friends come back into his life in surprising ways, Thibodeaux's repressive reflexes connect sex to misfortune and humiliation, until his contorted logic drives away his friends and the mythic man of his dreams.

The film was pretty boring and I am not even going to waste any more time talking about any potential pros and all the cons of the film. Avoidable (1/10)

A Change Of Heart [Promises & Lies]

2011-09-21T06:58:00.003-04:00

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 family together albeit minus the father. There is an episode where a teenage gay bashing happens and it turns out that it is the teenage son who did it because he could not accept his father's homosexuality. Finally he pleads guilty in the court because now the anger in the system is out, and it is a hint that every member in the family is going to try their best to make things better.

The movie pictures in a very believable way the reaction a wife can have when discovering after twenty years of marriage that her husband is gay: the reaction of her colleagues was also portrayed in quite a realistic way. There's hurt, and anger, and tears, but it doesn't sink into sap. Elaine acted really well and was super convincing in the part of cheated on wife and struggling mother trying to balance things out. Her speech to the board of directors where she and her husband work was brilliant. There were some regular cliches in the movie but it is all relative. In today's time when you see the film, you might just roll your eyes but for that time, maybe it was the best that the film makers could do keeping the censors in mind.

It is a decent film depicting the struggles of a wife and mother dealing with homosexuality and makes for a decent watch because of the lead actress' acting. (5.5/10)

KickOff (UK)

2011-09-08T20:30:00.003-04:00

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 girlfriend from Hell. Desperate Adam drills his team on the crucial importance of playing a gentlemen‘s game - unaware that they are up against a panicky gay team who’ve decided to come out swinging and win this game by any means necessary. Elton, the first time referee, is struggling with a rulebook that is swiftly becoming a work of fiction as both teams get down and dirty. The drama escalates at a breathless comic pace until we reach the grand climax.

If you are expecting it to be a film about football then you'll be disappointed. Indeed the game starts and stops so many times that anyone trying to follow the match itself will be frustrated. Think of this football match as some sort of common thread which joins up each of the characters. Probably because of budget, they couldn't even field a full team, just five to a side! The plot made little sense, and the dialog was flat. It could have been a totally different movie if they focussed more on relationship aspects and take it seriously or maybe just focus on comic football side. Trying to cramp too much into one was a huge mistake.

A very wannabe campy gay version of any regular football movie. (2.5/10)

Gay Themed Shorts

2011-08-27T16:26:00.014-04:00

In Between Men (USA)
In Between Men follows four friends in NYC who live "in between" a gay world, whose cliches they don't relate to, and a straight world they don't belong to. They are successful, professional men not defined by their sexuality. Through wild adventures, racy story lines, joys and pains, underscored by the pulse of New York City. From acting to story to presentation, this one is pretty bad. It is nothing but a guilty pleasure but at least it did make history by being the first gay web series. (2/10)

Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho (Brazil) [I Don't Want to Go Back Alone]
I absolutely loved this film. 15 year old blind teenager Leonardo is good friends with Giovana. She is his best friend and drops him home every evening from school. A new guy Gabriel joins the school and Leonardo's life changes. He starts accompanying them and Leonardo starts to have feelings for him. Giovana has o struggle with finding out about this new found feeling of his best friend and in his own sweet way Gabriel does reciprocate to Leo's feelings. Beautiful and very touching. Excellent acting by everyone. (8/10)

Postcard (South Korea)
Another beautiful film. A post office clerk mistakenly thinks that a customer is trying to get her attention by writing open love letters on postcards he sends out. After fighting with her co-worker , she finally decides to go and meet him. Little does she know that his love letters were actually being written to himself to catch the attention of the postman who delivers his mail and on whom he is developing a crush. A very interesting short story of teenage crush and how hearts are broken. Very touching and nice beautiful film and very well directed. (8/10)

Brookton Hollow
Kyle is a young farm boy who lives with his father. They have a cow Willis. Kyle is so lonely that the only pleasure he gets is being with Willis. One morning at breakfast the father announces that their meat supply has come to an end, and he will have to kill the cow. That night Kyle hears Willis' cowbell off in the distance but when he goes to see, he finds a young naked boy wearing just a bell who disappears in the morning. Kyle soon realizes that it is his cow who i sunder curse of being a man in night and cow during day. It will be now only Kyle's true love that can save the farm Brookton Hollow from this curse. An interesting innovative story directed decently. (5/10)

Burning Palms - Buyer's Remorse (USA)
This is one of the stories from the burning palms segment. Tom and Jerry are a well to do couple in West Hollywood. They are anticipating their daughter Mahogany whom they ordered from remote part of Africa. When she comes to their custody, they realize that she doesn't speak and prefers to stay in the bushes and fields rather than comforts of home. After repeated attempts, the couple gets frustrated, leave the girl in the jungle and instead buy a dog. This is supposed to be a black comedy and is a little funny in a weird sense of way. (4/10)

Before Night Falls (English/Spanish)

2011-08-25T21:21:00.005-04:00

The fact that this film had Javier Bardem was the primary reason for me to watch this film. I had no clue that this film was based on a real character of that of late Reinaldo Arenas, Cuba's most charismatic literary voices. The film is made in a documentary way and it touches on his childhood, but concentrates on the '60s and '70s, during which time Arenas was considered a counter-revolutionary by the Cuban government because of his writing, as well as his homosexuality.

As a young man, Arenas is singled out by his teachers and encouraged to further his skills as a writer -- no easy task, considering the Castro regime's censorship of any work considered to be subversive or anti-authoritarian. Still, the author manages to smuggle his work out of the country through friends, who arrange for one of his novels to be published in France. Not only persecuted for his creative beliefs, the openly gay Arenas is jailed on a bogus sex charge; he escapes internment only to be captured and persecuted later for his contraband dispatches. In 1980, Arenas is finally allowed to leave Cuba for the United States, where he achieves freedom of expression but not prosperity.

Because the film is based on a memoir, it proceeds episodically, following the young Arenas from his boyhood to his early accomplishments as a poet and novelist through his imprisonment and later his escape to the United States during Castro's 'purge' of undesirables in 1980, when criminals and homosexuals were invited to voluntarily expatriate to Miami so that the demand for basic resources in Cuba under the US-led embargo could be relieved somewhat. The film spends considerable time reflecting on Arenas' sexual initiation and his gay lifestyle, which is slightly problematic in that it suggests that Arenas was persecuted solely for being homosexual, which is at best a half-truth. Though Arenas himself was probably persecuted less for his lifestyle than for his public criticism of the regime, it is probably not inaccurate in its portrayal of the turn against art, life, and experimentation taken by Castro's brutal totalitarian ethos. In any case, Arenas ultimately makes his way to New York with his friend Lazaro, where in 1987 he began to suffer symptoms of AIDS. He died in 1990, after which his memoir and several letters condemning Castro and the failure of the US to rescue the Cuban people from his tyranny were published, to wide acclaim.

Javier Bardem's performance was definitely worthy of an oscar nomination. Johnyy Depp features in 2 vastly diverse roles. I wish I had seen the film knowing a little bit history about the writer and his life. That would have made me appreciate the series of events and the film even more. It is sad that there have been so many people who have sen so many hardships in life to reach to a position where they are today and here we are complaining of slightest of things.

Watch it for the performances, information and a serious piece of cinema. This is not entertainment. This is art. (7/10)

Finding Mr. Wright

2011-08-23T23:04:00.003-04:00

This one was a pretty lame movie. I am so glad that I did not waste my time in the Philly QFest on this film and rather watched it in the comforts of my home on dvd. At least I was able to take breaks and yawn and be amused at stupidity and absurdity of the film and the characters. The acting was so pathetic especially for Eddy, it just blew my mind. As much as I would like to promote indie films, it is senseless films like this that just dont cut the deal with me.

Clark is a work-obsessed gay man who seemingly has it all. Not only is he one of the hottest young men in West Hollywood, he has managed to turn his first client, Eddy Malone, an eccentric party girl, into one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood. He throws a dinner party at his new condo and invites his friends and colleagues, including TJ, a powerhouse lesbian publicist, who's quickly losing patience with Eddy's wild ways. With TJ comes longtime friend, Pierce, a slightly awkward, down to Earth, spiritual life coach who becomes infatuated with Clark at first sight. However, Clark is far too wrapped up in Eddy to notice, especially when she pulls a stunt that threatens her career and forces TJ to drop her as a client once and for all. Hoping to win Clark over, Pierce makes a deal with TJ. He'll take Eddy and crew on a wilderness therapy retreat, so he can convince her there's more to life than parties, and TJ will give her another chance. That weekend, the group of them head to a cabin in the woods, where Pierce hopes to give not only Eddy a new perspective on life, but Clark as well. After quite a few twists and turns and sudden change of heart on Eddy's part (when she realizes that Clark also deserves a life of his own), everything magically falls in place. Clark and Pierce get together and her career is back on track.

Matthew Montgomery is getting typecast in the kind of acting he does. I have liked him so far but this film was a huge letdown. It is probably not all his fault because the overall direction and execution was so lame that I could hardly believe what I was seeing unfolding on the screen. Its a shame how some film-makers take audiences' intelligence for granted and present them with such.

Just about ok. Better than a lot of crap but still leaves a lot desired. (3.5/10)

Ssang-hwa-jeom (Korean) [A Frozen Flower]

2011-08-22T21:47:00.003-04:00

This movie was a visual treat and complete with all emotions of love, romance, drama, betrayal, angst, war, everything. The costumes, the sets, the acting, cinematography, everything was spot on. I had absolutely no expectations from the film but I must say that I was completely bowled over by the film. As the story was progressing, more and more surprises were thrown and it completely kept me hooked. The story though fictional was very new and something that I always appreciate.

The film is set in Goryego dynasty. The king when younger had appointed personally selected 36 young boys to be trained as bodyguards. When they get older, king gets fascination for Hong Lim and he favors him. Hong Lim is the chief of the bodyguards. Him and the king some a lot of quality time together including sleeping with each other. With the arrival of the queen, pressure mounts on royal family to produce an heir, otherwise a successor from outside will be appointed. But the king is completely gay, doe snot get an erection and hence cannot do the job. The only man he trusts is Hong Lim and asks him to sleep with the queen and impregnate her. Of course Queen objects but because of her duties towards the king and the country she does it. These couple of forced encounters arouses uncontrollable sexual awakenings in both Hong Lim and the queen. They start meeting up secretly. The king never makes it obvious but he gets an idea that something is going wrong. Quite a bog part of the film deals with the growing relationship of Hong Lim and the queen and how slowly he is probably betraying the king. The king is totally in control now and one day finally he question Hong Lim of his loyalty towards the king. He is very ashamed of himself and promises that he will never meet the queen. The king is ready to forgive everything and start their relationship all over again because he really loves Hong Lim. Hong Lim tries his best to stay away from queen to fulfill his duties but when he finds out that the queen is finally pregnant, he meet the queen. The king catches them red handed while having sex and gets really mad and orders his men to castrate Hong Lim. He still tries to put sense into him into loving just the king but now its too late. Hong Lim doesn't fear anything. In the final battle between the king and Hong Lim, they both end up killing each other.

The acting was so spot on by everyone in the cast, it was unbelievable. I would specially like to mention the scene when Hong Lim tries to sleep with the queen for the first time, the kind of expressions that queen gives and her reactions are so overwhelming, it gave me goose bumps. It was so good. The film talks about love between man-man or man-woman. Many people put the king in a wrong position but i dont thin it was entirely his fault. He loved Hong Lim very deeply. In fact he was the only one whom he ever loved and how could he see Hong Lim betray his love? In fact Hong Lim was also in love except that he didn't know he could love a woman much better than the king. Actually, maybe he just confused love with his loyalty and duty. He just did not know better because his whole life growing up, all he knew was the king and his love. As far as queen is concerned, she falls in love with Hong Lim because she missed that throughout with her husband. Its interesting when the king asks the chief is he was in love with queen or was it just lust and when the chief says it was lust, the king is ready to forgive him. But in the final when chief admits his love for the queen, he is so mad and upset on losing his only love. There is a good dose of sexual scenes in the film, though mostly heterosexual but they form an important part of the story. The film also has some very strong moment of bonding like the one where the king is painting him and chief together riding. One point that I di dnot like was when chief says he never loved the king before the king dies. Not maybe it was loyalty but it was clearly love as well and I wish he told king the truth because the king was not wrong at any place. Like everyone else, he also wanted love to be at his side.

The film was just beautiful, wonderful, sad, slightly depressing but with everything that makes for a wonderful royal queer cinema. Though a little lengthy, this film is not to be missed at all. (9/10)

Amphetamine (Cantonese)

2011-08-17T22:32:00.003-04:00

I had heard a lot of good things about this movie. A lot of people who saw it at the Qfest said nice things about it. I purposely did not see it in the festival since I wanted to watch it on dvd. For some reason this film looked to me like a more homo-erotic film rather than a one with stories and emotions. The film kept going in and out of being good to bad to doesn't make sense. But it still was an interesting view into the Hong Kong gay life.

Daniel, an openly gay banker can't decide whether to stay in Hong Kong or return back to Australia until he meets Kafka. Kafka is a straight swimming instructor. Somehow the 2 men develop a bond of friendship, admiration and even love for each other but Kafka cannot get physically intimate with Daniel which he doesn't mind because he is in search of true love. Kafka is a rebel and has a troubled past which we later find out that when he was trying to save a girl, he was raped by 4 men and left to die and this is the reason he cannot reciprocate Daniel's love. Kafka is slowly introduced to drugs by his brother who makes and sells amphetamine. Kafka really loves Daniel but he needs time, he needs to get through drug problem, so that he can be with him. Daniel is trying his best to be the best support he can for Kafka even to the extent that if he cannot take his drug problems away, he himself starts taking drugs and enjoy those moments with Kafka. Slowly the drugs completely take over Kafka and he ends up jumping from the top of the building.

The direction of the movie is a little odd. There are some time jumps and the narrative is filled with sexual scenes. But hidden in all this is also sadness. Kafka though straight loves Daniel and likes being with him but cannot reciprocate his sexual desires. Daniel truly loves Kafka and is ok with not getting intimate and wants to heal his drug problems. I think the 2 men acted really really well in this film. My problem was mostly with direction and the way the story is narrated. Some of the supporting characters act very weird throughout the movie. Somehow the director in this film leaves a lot for the viewers to decipher. His idea is challenging but direction leaves a lot to be desired.

Decide on your own. My rating is just average. (5/10)

Short Films

2011-08-16T22:43:00.016-04:00

Cappuccino (Switzerland)
Despite his marginal and extrovert looks, Jeremie is a shy teenager who keeps a heavy secret: his homosexuality. While trying to find his way between his classmate and sexual fantasy Damien and his very generous but protective mother Gina, his life is about to change. A mother's love, despite her own misfortune, is expressed in a very subtle way. The title of the movie somehow did not go that well with the story. (4.5/10)

Caught (USA)

In 1962, police use camera surveillance to capture sex deviants in a public park. Based on a true story set in Ohio town that filmed gay men when film surveillance was very new. Lester visits the public restroom and tries to make friends, while on hidden camera by the police. A lot of people get arrested by the cops but some lucky people like Lester get lucky. (6.5/10)

Little Love (USA)
This film explores what happens when a new guy to the town gets very friendly with a gay couple and in moments of heat/friendship ends up sleeping with one of them. What happens is that each of the 3 people lose something while trying to find passion in life and they all try to pursue their own truth. (6/10)

Verona (Canada)
Inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Verona is the story of two young lovers separated by their rival fraternities. Set in a small college town wherein young men are groomed for corporate success in All-American hyper competitive fashion, Verona presents the fate of star-crossed lovers in a society that condemns the very nature of their love. Very high production values, this short film was made to get funding for a full length feature film. Now that will be something to look forward to. (7/10)

Sweat (UK)
Simon's first time in sauna and he meets Tim, but soon going through the ups and downs of bath-house and meeting random people make him forget about Tim. Further into his journey, an experiment with poppers and some very public sexual displays, leave him wondering what he came for, and possibly leaving none the wiser, albeit with a phone number and a wry smile. (6/10)

Férfiakt (Hungarian) [Men In Nude]

2011-08-15T21:01:00.004-04:00

The title of this film cannot be more misleading. Not only was there no nudity wrt men (by which I mean , no frontal nude shots), the title itself had absolutely no relevance to the film. I took a break from watching gay films after the Philly film festival hoping that when I start watching movies again, I will pick the ones which will be meaningful, entertaining and relevant. This film clearly did not belong into any of these categories. I am hoping the results will be better next time.

Tibor is 49 year old aging writer married to a narcissistic actress who is out for work most of the time. One night he surprises himself by taking home an effeminate young street thug / hustler named Zsolt who comes out of nowhere and literally forces himself on Tibor. Always straight, there is something about Zsolt that he cannot resist and they start having an affair. Things start taking an awkward turn when his wife comes back. They need to find new places to meet. Because of this love, passion and secret affairs, a new creative spirit awakens in Tibor who starts writing o book on this. What Tibor doesn't realize is how risky is this whole thing filled with blackmails and someone who is just after money. His wife ultimately finds out the truth by reading his book and confronting him. Their sexual life is so bland that one day even she ends up cheating on him. For Zsolt, Tibor is just another guy whom he uses for money. The movie just abruptly ends as it started with Tibor and Zsolt's meeting.

The acting I would say was alright by the lead characters but things were just not explained right. The scenes would get randomly cut, the sub plots would be truncated randomly. And what was the whole point of those drug scenes in the so called 'red' flat where Tibor used to visit to meet Zsolt. If Zsolt was using Tibor for money and passion, how could he have been so idiotic and stupid o not realize what he was after. I feel that at some point even he wanted Zsolt to be with him since he had to finish his book and only Zsolt could keep his creative juices flowing.

It is a weird film. I would really not recommend this one. (3/10)

Going Down in La-La Land

2011-07-25T15:46:00.002-04:00

This movie was definitely a surprise. Closing night film of the Q-Fest, somehow when I read the synopsis, I thought this film be more on the lines of a wannabe comedy but I was very wrong. This film was actually very realistic, to an extent scary as well specially for actors who wanna make it big in the big bad world of hollywood. It shows the dark realities of what goes on behind those closed doors, how people exploit one another and how once you get sucked in, there is no way out.

Adam has recently moved from NY to LA and is living with his best gal-pal Candy, who once used to be a wannabe actress but all she now does is think of obscure projects to make more money. Her finances are stabilized only because of her fiance. Once the fiance storms out in anger, Adam becomes permanent room mate and now he needs to find a job. He tries a couple of jobs but none goes well. When he is cruised by Nick at the gym, he offers him an office job at a gay porn film office where Nick works as a photographer. Adam is pressured constantly to work in front of the camera. Still hoping for a legit career, he holds out at first but eventually consents to a photo shoot, then a solo video, then a regular porn feature. This eventually leads him to become an escort in hopes of meeting a director who will give him work one day. Things change when he escorts for a John, the closeted star of a mega-successful sitcom. John offers to take Adam on as his personal assistant, a good gig that might open doors and definitely encourages the romantic liaison between them. Unfortunately, Adam's brief porn past results in a tabloid-fueled scandal for Adam and John. By this time, Adam is madly in love with John. Of course, love wins when John makes a bold move to invite press and openly confess his love for Adam.

The director, who also played the role of Nick in the film did a fabulous job. You get to see the stark realities of the filmdom. You see how Adam has no choice eventually but to get into the porn industry and slowly become an escort. It hurts, he doesn't want to do it but somehow has no other option. People around you can make you believe in things that you know are wrong. John and Adam made a good couple. The side story of Nick and Adam's romance which eventually ends up because of drug usage was also handled with sensitivity. The film had good amount of humor thrown in all the scenes featuring Candy. She was funny, I must say and all her scenes with evoke laughters in the theatre. The film has several surprising cameos which adds to the fun of the film. In the end, audiences will connect with Adam, not for his beauty, but for the fact that Adam is genuinely a nice, down to earth, good guy and and in LA-LA Land, a nice guy’s dream, can come true!

I would strongly recommend this film. A good example of a book translating into a movie. (7.5/10)

Romeos (German)

2011-07-25T15:25:00.004-04:00

The Q-Fest this year has definitely been better than last couple of years. Surprisingly, the number of lesbian and transgendered movies have also seen a raise in this years film festival and thank god that most of hem have been good ones. I will see these movies any-day over crap, really pathetic gay movies. FTM transition and a love story woven between this, the film is definitely a great debut from the director. This film shows us the mindset of people transitioning and how it affects their relations with family, friends and of course how they go about finding love. This has been done in a very subtle manner.

Lucas is a 19 year old FTM. He is on hormone replacement therapy and still has breasts that keep him bound and hidden. He is invariable put in a female dorm while doing community service. He is stressed there and wants to move to male dorm as soon as possible. In this time, his lesbian friend Ine is always with him and keeping his secret safe with her. Lured by Ine and his new friends, he starts hanging out in the gay life where he meets Fabio, a cocky, dark haired extremely good looking gay hunk who beds whoever he pleases. The two are opposite but somehow strike a friendship. There are many beautiful scenes of friendship. Soon Fabio starts making romantic moves but Lukas holds back. One evening when Lukas' parents are visiting, his younger sister spills out his secret which Fabio hears. They start ignoring each other. In the meantime, Lukas moves to male dorm. Fabio decides to keep his secret and eventually they start talking again. Fabio now becomes his friend, his guide into the male world and very soon, his lover as well.

First things first I have to mention about Lukas' performance. The guy has done such a fantastic job, it is unbelievable. INternet search revealed that the actor who played Lukas is actually a man and al scenes with breasts etc were prosthetic makeup (which I must say could've fooled anyone). Lukas plays his part of a FTM with conviction specially in the scenes where he is interacting with other trans people over the internet. The film thankfully devoid any cliches and shows the positive side of things and hope in Lukas' life. Fabio also played his part very well of a cocky all-man gay guy and he looks pretty hot too. There's a nice, tender moment where we get to meet Lucas' mother and father and how they interact with him. The film also showed how over a period of time the friendship of Ine and Lukas progresses and how Lukas' transition affects not just him but people around him as well. I am still remembering the film and how much I liked it while watching it.

It is a small film but a big gem in the world of queer cinema. Please watch it. (8/10)

Mangus!

2011-07-25T09:57:00.003-04:00

I am still not very sure why was this film shown as part of the LGBT film festival in Philadelphia. A couple of characters are gay but hen that has become a very common phenomenon in recent films. It is no big deal. In any case, that doesn't take away from the fact that was a guilty pleasure to watch the trailer park white trash story which brings smile to your face and often brings the house down with laughter as well. I am glad they did make Mangus' character a pity boy.

Mangus has always had one dream; to play Jesus Christ in the musical spectacular in his high school drama thereby following the footsteps of his dad and grandfather. He lives with his father and step mom (who by the way is hilarious in a weird way in the film). When he gets selected for the part, he celebrates with his friends and get in an accident which leaves him crippled and thereby he looses the part to a gay flamboyant son of the mayor of the town. When his father has to leave town for war, the step mom very cleverly drops him off to his mom Cookie's trailer who lives with a very young man Buddy and Mangus' elder sibling Jessica. Mangus gets friends with Buddy but the siblings hate each other. When Jessica is forced to baby sit Mangus one day, they come closer and she comes out to him as lesbian. Now hell bent on getting his dream role back, they plan to scare the gay kid away but the plan goes wrong and the siblings have to run to save their life. Meanwhile the committee calls back Mangus to play the part because the other child has met with an accident. A series of comic incidents happen but Mangus finally gets to live his dream. His mother Cookie and father get back together and four of them are a happy family back.

The synopsis might sound a little slow and boring but the way the film is directed is very funny. I loved the southern accent, the trashiness of the people and how it is portrayed and all the characters in general. Even the drunk Buddy was fun specially when he takes Mangus to a strip club. Both the moms were funny. Dad was alright. The drama instructor brings the house down every time he comes to the screen. The movie succeeds in maintaining its light-heart comedy feel despite there being major ups and downs in the story. This is probably a very very low budget film with low expectations and that is why you dont feel cheated because you never went in with any expectations whatsoever and you come back with a smile on your face.

It is like watching one of those reality shows which you love to watch but would never admit that you actually see it. (5/10)

Auf der Suche (German) [Looking For Simon]

2011-07-19T19:34:00.003-04:00

I read somewhere online that this is a thriller but of a different kind. I can't disagree more. This is nowhere close to being a thriller. It is a tale of a mother looking for her son and in the process discovering things about him, his friends and even her own relationship with her son. This film ultimately ends up being a soul search rather than a search for an actual person. Not sure how many actually this kind of genre in the gay cinema but nevertheless it was a decent viewing.

Simon has been missing for only a week but it is enough to get his mother Valerie worried. She has travelled from Germany to South France and has also called her son's ex boyfriend Jens to help her out in searching for her son. High-strung and fearing the worse, Valerie has barely accepted her son’s gayness and having his former boyfriend around only adds to her stress. Jens has his own mixed feelings for his ex. He takes excursions in search of nightly casual sex where he encounters an Arab boy who recently had an affair with Simon. Through him they find out that Simon probably had booked a trip to Morocco with the Arab guy but did not go. The search is leading nowhere. After a week, Simon's body is found in an empty apartment, death by drug overdose.

Both Valerie and Jens are essentially sketchy figures, simply caught up in the search for Simon in the atmospheric French port city and revealing little about themselves. It is very hard to gauge where each of them is coming from. It doesn't really look like they were really interested in searching for him. The drama here is all in Valerie’s head – and her stubborn insistence that something might have happened to her son is a less-than-subtle reminder that he might not be missing, but she surely misses him. Obviously not content with the fact that her son is gay, she is trying to cope with and understand his homosexuality. The actors have played their part well but there were lot of questions unanswered in the film. The film was supposed to solve mystery and give answers but when the film ends you are left with more questions.

It is not bad but nothing great about it at the same time. It is strictly alright. (4.5/10)

Tomboy (French)

2011-07-19T15:55:00.003-04:00

Gender identity has rarely been explored with tender care and nurture in queer cinema before. This is such a sweet, heartfelt story of a young girl who just wants to be a boy. She doesn't understand the implications etc but just wants to be a boy. The film is poignant and humorous at times and filled with very believable performances.

Ten year old Laure, is moving with her parents and 6 year old sister to a new town. She spends time baby sitting for her sister because her mother is pregnant. She usually dresses up like a boy. Looking to play with the children from the same apartment complex, she meets Lisa to whom she tells that her name is Mikael. They both start hanging out and even with other kids of the building and a mutual crush develops. Mikael is now enjoying playing with boys, manly games and even taking his short off while playing. Soon her kid sister also joins the fun and addresses Laure as her brother in front of other kids. When the mother finds out about this, she gets completely furious and makes Laure wear a frock and goes to Lisa's house to clear the air. Laure/Mikael is devastated but her mom explains that he had to do it because soon people in school will find out anyway. Lisa is shocked by ultimately comes around and sticks with their friendship. Now the air is clear but Laure still dresses up like a boy.

The film makes an excellent watch just because of the kids. They are just superb. Each and every kid is great but how can you ever forget the charming performance out in by Laure and her little sister. Their chemistry in the film is something that i have never seen before. I just cannot forget the scene when at dinner the young sister tells her parents how she played with new friends and how some boy called Mikael is her favorite and how he takes care of her. That scene is just so natural and remarkable, it is incredible. In fact the tenderness and understanding present in that relationship extends throughout the family as well: the film is filled with quiet, intimate moments shared between them. Although quite a bot of film's portions just shows bunch of kids playing around but they are best scenes. they bring genuine laughter with their antics. Towards the end when Laure's identity i being revealed, you feel for the girl but at the same time you also understand why a mother is doing so. She doesn't have any problems whatsoever with her daughter being the tomboy but she needs to tell the truth until she is grown up and can decide what she wants. Thankfully the films ends on a positive note.

Great direction, beautiful performances by the 2 girls, makes this film a very worthy watch. Thank you Qfest for this film. (8.5/10)

Dirty Girl

2011-07-18T14:13:00.002-04:00

First of all I fail to understand why would this film be shown in a LGBT film festival. Agreed that one of the 2 characters happens to be gay but still the story is primarily about Danielle, a perfectly straight girl. The gay guy just happens to be his side kick and yes there is a mall parallel track. I have nothing against the movie, at least not till I finish writing the review but I was disappointed by the choice of this film for QFest.

Danielle is a dirty 'slut' girl in the Oklahoma high school. She does not mind sleeping with every boy in the class. She is angry at the world specially her mother because she never mentioned to Danielle about her father. She meets Clarke, a fat and obese gay guy whose father gives him a hard time for everything he does and fail and specially anything to do with being gay, when the two of them are forced to do a school project as a team where they have to act parents to a flour bag and write a project report. Danielle suggests that they run away to find her father, Clarke hesitantly agrees because he cannot take the bullying and abuse anymore. The two pals take off in Clarke’s dad’s car; their trip will see Clarke lose his virginity, Danielle soften and both learn about themselves while Jean, the flour baby, looks on. Meanwhile their respective mothers fearing the well-being of their kids go in search of them. Danielle does find her father who never knew about her existence. She feels much better now after meeting him. She comes back home a much changed girl.

This is one of those high school comedy type movie which might be lapped up by teenagers but I think I am past those kind of films. The film has filthy language and ample sex talk but it is just not enough to hold a film together. The film is full of cliches. There is decent amount of time given to Clarke , how he meets a very cute hitchhiker to whom he loses his virginity etc but still the film does not do much for me. What is weird is when suddenly towards the end the film suddenly becomes all serious.

It is a strictly ok road trip movie with a dirty girl and her male fag. (3/10)

Longhorns

2011-07-18T13:22:00.002-04:00

I dunno why but I had very minimal expectations from this film. Somehow the title, story or even the actors were connecting with me after watching the preview but of course I still had to watch this film. It was actually not all that bad. Set in 80's film takes a hilarious look at a group of friends. Agreed that this is no oscar worthy movie or anything but I have seen much worse gay cinema, so in comparison this one did not turn out to be bad at all.

he setting is a Texas college circa 1982 where big hair, loud shirts and cowboy boots are considered high fashion. Kevin is a straight frat-boy who enjoys bonding with fellow schoolmates. He does not even mind helping out his friend Justin once a while. But things change when he meets sexy and charming openly gay Cesar. Kevin starts hanging out with him and his heart starts beating for him and of course Cesar is also falling for Kevin. Too many encounters suddenly make Kevin confuse and he sets out for a weekend full of beer and women with his best friends from old times. Random events including Kevin helping out his pal jerking off or even sucking him off are shown , all the while maintaining it is all about helping out a buddy. In the meantime, homophobic Justin gets over his phobia of Cesar, becomes friends with him to get close to a girl. The weekend is over and Kevin realizes that he actually might be gay and is now all in love with Cesar.

The film had a lot of nudity. Never before you will see men supposedly straight drop their pants to get buck naked, bed hop, 'help out' buddies etc. Every action was gay except they all said we are straight. Kevin is a very good find. He was a very lovable character in the film and it was his charm alongwith Cesar to an extent that made the film watchable. Kevin's friend from school for the weekend were annoying specially the guy ho plays the role of always horny guy. I think directors aim was total entertainment of the viewers which he succeeds to quite an extent. It i again one of those guilty pleasure films which you probably secretly had fun but are not quite prepared to admit it.

It is an alright film with a lot of eye candy and humor galore. (5/10)

eCupid

2011-07-17T10:42:00.003-04:00

These brainless dead "comedies" are the kind of films that sometimes makes me wonder why do I come to these film festivals. This is an excellent example of a wannabe film. Except a few laughs here and there on some dialogues, this film is a pretty bad attempt at making something illogical and ridiculously absurd. Just putting in hot men, some hot scenes and a real life full on plastic surgery commercial actress in the end will not bring the audience. But at the same time I think that many gay men have not really branched out to see all the beautiful wonderful gay films out there that the expectation they have is very low and they enjoy these mindless , so called entertainers.

Marshall and Gabriel have been together for 7 years and now their relationship is getting stale. Marshal is cocky and very physical but Gabe always pretends tp be tied and busy and has to work. He is also turning 30 and needs some thrill and something new in life. He starts looking online and finds an app called ecupid which promises to help him find true love. The app suddenly takes over his phone, his computer and in fact his whole life. Marshall tells Gabe that he’s bored via a text he didn’t send; a surprise hustler arrives at the door; and a party planner plans spontaneously. He is also getting a lot of attention from a new trainee at work. Things go downhill when Gabe walks out hurt by everything that Marshall is doing. Series of incidents happen back and forth where they both justify their acts. Marshall is getting attention from all hot guys but still he doesn't find them half as stimulating. End is happy as always when they realize that true love has always been there and you just have to look and work for it.

Pretty lame if you ask me. The message from the director is good that it’s easy to get distracted from the love that’s right in front of us, especially in an age of texts, apps and technology but the presentation is not even half as good. The acting from the lead characters is good but that chemistry is missing that you would expect form a couple of 7 years. There is enough sex appeal from all male characters. The constant phone buzzer and ecupid voice was becoming so annoying after one point that I just could not take it anymore. I think i would have liked the film if I saw it is isolation and had not much to compare to but there is so much good gay cinema out there that in comparison this film falls so behind and thats why I said this is more a wannabe film.

It depends on what cinema you like. My opinion as pretty bad of the film but I can bet, I can find you people from the same screening who absolutely loved the film and enjoyed it. Its all relative. (2.5/10)

August

2011-07-17T10:17:00.002-04:00

The moment the producer of this film introduced this film is a full length feature version of the short 'Postmortem', I was super excited because I had no idea. That had been one of my most favorite shorts and for some reason had stuck with me. I was super excited to watch a feature version and when I saw that 2 of the principal characters were retained from the short, it was all the more better, The actors just suited the part so well in the short that I would have hated to see someone else play those parts. I would strongly recommend the short also to people to watch it.

Jonathan and Raul are a very happy couple of few years. They practically live together though Jonathan still has his apartment. Raul is married to Jonathan's best friend so that once the immigration goes through, they can have Raul stay in the country so that they both can live happily. Enter Troy from Spain who is planning to move back to LA. Troy and Jonathan were ex-lovers and apparently Troy broke Jonathan's heart and left for SPain. It took a long time for Jonathan to get over him. Troy is trouble and naughty. We can see that all he wants is Jonathan back. Jonathan is also not completely over Troy and they have a sexual tension between them. They meet for coffee after Troy comes back but something takes Jonathan back to Troy's house and after initial reluctance on their second meeting, they end up sleeping. Raul suspects something but doesn't say much. He expects a mature man like Jonathan should know what he is doing. This goes on for a while. Jonathan doesn't really know whom he really wants, Troy trying to get back to Jonathan and Raul's dilemma when he knows and pretends to ignore what is going on. Finally on Jonathan's 30th birthday, Raul encourages the 3 of them to get in a 3way because they are drunk and stoned but Raul knows exactly what he is doing. He wants to see the extent of their passion. This incident outs some sense in Troy's head. He decides to move back to Spain leaving the 2 men to deal with each other on their own.

The director and editor of the film have very excellently used time jumps and creatively edited the film. The scenes going between past and future add a different feel to the film. We have all seen many love triangle gay movies but this one is handled very differently. Raul's character is the most complicated because he is going through various emotions to decide what o do with jonathan, try to make him understand. He had to speak a lot with his eyes and I must say he did an excellent job. Jonathan and Troy acted very very well too. here is something about Jonathan that makes him very charismatic, at least for me. The film shows how at various points in our life we always keep looking for true love, have to make some very tough decisions to get through the phases in our life and how compassion and passion can make us stop looking at things in a more logical way. Special mention to the background music. It was mostly middle eastern which for some reason fitted so well with the theme and the mood of the film. It was excellent. I wish I could get my hands on the music of the film. I really really loved this film. It is hard to describe in words but the way some of Jonathan's actions are showed are interesting because he thinks what he is doing is ok but from Raul's point of view, he is trying to show that he still has a thing for Troy and as we all know that Troy is trouble.

I strongly recommend this film. An excellent example of how direction and editing can do wonders to a film. I so wish our US based directors who make all kinds of bad film in the name of gay cinema can learn something from this. (8.5/10)

Circumstance (Persian)

2011-07-16T08:23:00.002-04:00

Set in modern day Tehran in Iran, this beautiful story focuses on two attractive rebellious high school friends. The girls dare to dream in an otherwise orthodox world. Watching this film definitely opened up my mind a little bit about some of the notions that I had about women in Iran. But at the same time there was so much hype around this film, that it ended up turning out low on those. This is what happened earlier too. I think that is why it is very important to watch films without expectations because they tend to surprise you quite a bit.

Atafeh is a privileged daughter of an educated well to do family but her friend Shireen is not so lucky. Despite this they are very good friends. Over a period of time they have learnt about the vibrant maze of underground parties where they can be free, head uncovered, drinking, dancing, skin show. They once in a while have also defied the morality police and are enjoying and having fun. One night Shireen tells Atafeh that she loves her very much and they soon cross the boundaries of their friendship. When Atafeh’s brother, Mehran, returns home with newly fundamentalist views, the once-liberal haven of the family home is transformed into a scary place where secrets can no longer be contained. When the police threatens to put the girls behind bars for immorality, Atafeh gets support of her parents but there is no one for Shireen. She agrees to marrying Mehran who now likes her but soon we know that he knows about the relations between his wife and sister. He starts to become controlling. Atafeh confronts Shireen on why she is doing all this but all she can tell her is that she wants to live. Atafeh can't take it any more and being the rebel that she is plans to escape to Dubai hoping for a better world for herself.

Circumstance is an intriguing film on multiple levels, examining not just gender and sexual orientation, but also class in contemporary Iran. Though frank in its portrayal, it is still shocking to see some of the scenes on the film. Apparently after making the film, the director is no longer allowed to go back to Iran, which is such a shame. The 2 girls are absolutely beautiful and their struggle with society, with themselves and each other is portrayed beautifully. My problem with the film was that it tried to cover too many things in the film. It is unclear if Shireen’s husband’s descent into fanaticism is an allegory for government oversight or patriarchal control. Acting of every character is interesting and good. It was intriguing to watch something so different between different cultures and countries.

A nice film, definitely worth watching for its simple and complicated at the same time. (6.5/10)

Ausente (Spanish) [Absent]

2011-07-16T07:56:00.006-04:00

I have never ever seen such a long scene of sexual tension built up as it was shown in this movie. And at the same time, I have never been in a theatre with such pin drop silence because there are no scenes that evoke laughter. You are just waiting and watching as to whats going to happen next. I dunno if it is right to call this film as a thriller but there is a different thrill that you feel while watching the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

16 year old Martin finds his swimming instructor Sebastian very attractive. One day he fakes of an eye injury in the class, and Sebastian take him to the hospital. Martin has already planned in his mind a web of lies for why he cannot go back home and finally succeeds in getting an invitation from Sebastian to sleep at his house. But thing are not simple as they seem. The night seems pretty long where neither of them is able to sleep really well. Sebastian next day finds out that Martin's parents were looking for him all night. He also finds a note in his car from Martin apologizing for telling him the lies. When Sebastian confronts him, he very openly tells him that he was hoping something will happen between them that night. This infuriates Sebastian and he hits him. Things are not same. Now Sebastian is having weird feelings and he cannot even concentrate on his girlfriend. He keeps thinking of Martin. Martin meanwhile stops coming to swimming class and is spending more time with his friends. In an unfortunate accident Martin dies and this is when Sebastian has to deal with his emotions. He recalls how maybe on some occasions he might have possibly given the boy some hints and starts questioning his own feelings for the boy. Guilt struck, he is now hoping that somehow Martin will forgive him for what he did.

You have to really watch the film to closely absorb the beauty. The entire night sequence where Martin stays at Sebastian's house and events unfold is simply superb. There is so much sexual tension on the screen that as a viewer it was a completely new experience for me trying to anticipate what can happen next. Another beauty of the film is that there is no heightened drama or dialogues or anything. None of the scenes have been filmed with melodrama, however drastic they are. The subtlety of these scene make a much more stronger impact. The end is so beautiful when Sebastian follows the image of Martin in his head in the swimming club just hoping to be forgiven. Excellent acting and a fantastic direction. It is an incredible sexy drama of repressed passion, guilt and regret. The slow build of the characters is fabulous with the relationships unfolding, refolding and unfolding back again.

Strongly recommended. Whenever there is something new, I just have to lap it up. (8/10)

Buffering (UK)

2011-07-15T10:24:00.002-04:00

When I finished watching the film, I wondered what would this film have been like if it was done in US by an independent film maker. It would visualize a raunchy, really bad film , something like a couple of ones that I recently saw in the film festival. This is not to say that the UK version was any better. The film was simple but there was something about it that saved it from being a cheap thrill vs a decent attempt at a satire comedy. The story is pretty simple and straight forward actually.

Seb and Aaron have been together for a while. Suddenly now they find themselves in huge debt because they both lose their jobs. Aaron has been hiding about his unemployment from Seb and has been engaging in internet porn for about 3 months now. This crisis forces them to channel in their entrepreneurial skills. Aaron secretly starts filming their sex life and uploading on internet. Soon he finds that people are actually paying to see them. When Seb finds out, he is initially quite disturbed but goes along since they both need the money. Becoming better at selling themselves, the physical, emotional and industry demands start to take a toll on their relationship. Enters Jem , their old roommate, who soon becomes their director and plans the whole record and upload internet phenomenon. She gives them tips to raise more money. The final nail in the coffin is when she suggests that it is getting repetitive and they need a third person to join. Enter their hot neighbor who is not gay but is progressive and wants to apply for the post. This is too much for Seb who has to deal with his inner fears and finally goes with the plan, making this live event their biggest success and also making all the money they need to pay off their debt.

The film has various humorous moments as Seb and Aaron move from casual vanilla sex going all the ay to kinky to make the videos more spicy and satisfying for their increasing fan base. It is all cheesy but then it is a gay film after all. The 2 guys acted well but the story gives them only a limited scope. Most story just is about they filming and people watching. IO am guessing the budget of the film would have been pretty low, since everything just happens in one house. The film is not bad but there is nothing in the film for repeat value.

It is purely a one time entertainer and that too if your entertainment expectations are very low. (4/10)

Gun Hill Road

2011-07-15T10:07:00.002-04:00

The first thing after you finish watching this film is that the director has handled the subject with such compassion for his characters (all 3 lead actors). The film beautifully displays sensitivity towards a character whose sexual identity is evolving. The film is a wonderful emotional roller coaster, and shows how in a family when we love someone, we want to do everything that we think is right for them and we dont want them to go through pains in their life.

Enrique has just been released from the prison after 3 years and he needs to keep his act in control be it drinking, smoking, drugs etc or he will go back to jail without any warning. He feels a little oddball between his wife Angela, who he soon finds out that she had been having an affair with another Latino and his son Michael who is in the process of transforming into Vanessa, a transwoman. When Enrique finds out about Angela, he warns her to not do that since he is now back home. They have their issues to deal with since Angela now loves this other man but for the sake of her family is ready to sacrifice her happiness and stick by her man. After a series where Michael avoids to be with Enrique, he finally finds out what is going on and lashes out at him in fear. He cannot digest the fact why would Michael want to become a girl and even takes him to a prostitute .Meanwhile a teenage guy approaches Venessa for dating despite knowing he is a transsexual but it turns out that he is interested only in sex but fees very shameful being out in open with her. Michael's support are his mother his best friend who is gay. When Michael cannot take it any more, they way his father treats him , he leaves home. This incident finally makes Enrique realize how important his love for Michael is whatever way he is. But he does some mistakes in dealing with his criminal past. He pleads for Michael to come back home but his criminal past catches up and he is arrested again.

Harmony, a real life transitioning woman is superbly cast in this role and has acted so well that you deeply feel for her character. Enrique and his wife also play thei parts very strongly where Enrique's despair for his only son and his wife's love for their only child is so evident in the film. The film beautifully and sensitively shows the tribulations Michael has and is going through to become Vanessa. The direction in the film is very sensitively portrayed. The film makes you both laugh and cry and think and educate you to be more sensitive to everyone around you.

I will definitely recommend this beautiful film. The QFest is actually turning out to be not a bad experience after all. (8/10)

Hold Your Peace

2011-07-14T11:30:00.003-04:00

You can have a very decent idea on paper and it does sound very exciting when you start working on it. But when it comes to execution, the impact goes completely missing. This is exactly what happened with this film. On paper, it would have sounded quite new and nice, and to an extent it came out fine on screen as well but in totally this film was missing a lot of things, the main thing being the connection with me. I just was not able to connect to the film. I will write more on why it failed to do so.

Its been 2 years since Aiden and Max broke up but Aiden is still hung up on his old love. Meanwhile Max found Forrest and they are about to get married. When Max's best man bails out at the last minute, his only option left is Aiden who after initial reluctance agrees. He realizes that he cannot go to the wedding alone and he needs a boyfriend. With help from his female roommate Janice, he convinces blond, cutie twink Lance to go with him. But things are not exactly what they seem. Soon it i evident that Max doesn't really appreciate everything that Forrest does for him. Aiden cant stop thinking about Max and lance is falling in love with Forrest. Max finally confronts Max who categorically makes it very clear that it is only Forrest whom he wants and Aiden's chance is lost. Lance in sot so many direct words lets Forrest know about his feelings for him who doesn't reciprocate because he is getting married. And ow the wedding is about to happen and with a sudden twist, the real lovers unite.

This end comes so sudden that I was life WTF. Despite having so much discussions and arguments, no on was ready to give in and now suddenly when priest asks if anyone has any objection, Aiden and Lance just say they do and then suddenly Max is with Aiden and Forrest is with Max. It was so absurd and weird and came out totally bizarre. I man we all knew it will happen, but so sudden? C'mmon. And what was up with Max. His acting was so lame and bad that I cant describe it. His facial expressions wee so forced be it with any of the characters. The only real connection seemed to be just between Janice, Aiden and Lance. Even Forrest was shown a just a sugar sweet guy which just so did not suit his personality. This was one of the reasons that film looked so fake. It just did not connect with me at all. I mean I really did not even feel that Aiden really cared that much about Max, so after a point it rally didn't bother me on who ends up with whom. There were definitely some funny moments but they were all because of Janice and Lance who did decent in their characters.

This romantic comedy falls much short in expectations. (3.5/10)

Mi Último Round (Spanish) [My Last Round]

2011-07-14T10:54:00.002-04:00

Some films just surprise you. You hardly expect anything from them and then they spring out like something totally worth spending your time and money on. This Chilean drama is beautiful poignant and even sad. It shows what love is all about, it doesn't have to by mushy but it is all about what you feel internally.

Hugo has just lost his mother and leading a very mundane life. He soon becomes captivated by a boxer Octavio who is diagnosed as epileptic. Although Octavio keeps his tough and masculine facade, it is he who make the first move on Hugo. Life in a small town in southern Chile is hard for the two, for they can never be accepted in their community, and work is very hard. After Octavio finds out that if he boxes again he might die, Octavio and Hugo pack their bags to start a new life in the capital of Chile. Octavio gets a job as a barber and Hugo also manages to get a job. There he meets this girl who gets instantly attracted towards Hugo. Meanwhile, Octavio get s a boxing gig which he just cannot refuse because he needs money plus he misses boxing too much. When this girl one day shows up unannounced at Hugo's home while he is not there, she tells Octavio that her and Hugo are a couple. This doesn't go down well with Octavio who feels hurt and leaves the house immediately. His last fight is coming up soon which will give him enough money. But destiny always has some other plans for us and the film ends on a very sad note.

This was a truly unusual, moving and tender story about two very different working class men determined to love despite the obstacles. Like I mentioned, there might be many scenes that show heir physical relationship and mushy romance but this film shows it more realistically where they are there for each other, they care for each other, cook together etc. This i what happens in a real life. Both the lead characters have acted their part so well and with such conviction that they fit their roles to T. It does get a little boring somewhere in the first few reels but the ending does break your heart. I am up for a realistic good drama any day over a big budget crap.

This film will definitely touch you at somewhere. (7.5/10)

Fyra Ar Till (Swedish) [Four More Years]

2011-07-13T12:17:00.005-04:00

This film provides a very different take on the effects of secret desire on public office in otherwise open minded Sweden and how it also affects the relationships of the individuals involved. A bold romantic comedy that pushes boundaries on several thematic levels, this i another brilliant gay themed Swedish film after Patrick 1,5 a few years ago.

David Holst has just lost the election he was slated to win. His good looks, political savvy, and humor made him the front-runner for the Prime Minister of Sweden, but his lead has suddenly taken a downfall. It is during this time of disappointment that he meets Martin in an elevator and falls head over heels in love. Despite his marriage to his closest co-worker, Fia, and his professed heterosexuality, David pursues a relationship with Martin only to find out that Martin is the Secretary of State for the political party that beat him in the recent election. He is very confused on what to do. He tries his best but cannot control his desire to be with Martin. He just cannot control it and their very meaningful and pleasant affair stars. But can the double whammy of not only falling for a man, but also a political opponent, ever allow the two to be together. They have a falling out when David feels that Martin is cheating on him. He decides to break up and comes out to his wife. After a series of events, the two men decide to give it another shot because they both think that they fit in so well with each other but this time also some misunderstanding happens. Finally when David gives in that he will be forever lonely, when Martin comes in one final time to get back together, David refuses despite wanting him so bad saying that he cannot be selfish and just think of himself. He needs to think of his party too. But thanks to Fia, sense prevails before major damage can be done and finally the lovers reunite.

The dialogues in the film are witty and the characters behave in ways that people find very comforting. There is a maturity in the interactions that you typically don’t see in American film. I loved the interactions of both t he men when they visit David's parents. The overall story is very heart warming and its comedic tone is a nice compliment. Watching lot of bad films has given me some idea on how to appreciate a good film. The film gets a little preachy when there are too many discussions around politics but the comic tone helps to keep the check. I felt at a point that it is being stretched by that did not bother me too much. The best thing is that the 2 actors were chosen based on their characters. They are not averagely attractive but that suits the character who end up developing such a refreshing bond between them which is both sexual and friendly.

Highly recommended. It had love, mature romance, comedy and drama. (7/10)

Eating Out: Drama Camp

2011-07-13T11:12:00.002-04:00

I think this film is a pretty good follow up to the last 3 Eating out series. This film is a typical gay cheesy guilty pleasure film but trust me these kind of films are also needed in addition to some serious thoughtful cinema. Sometimes asa viewer I dont want to think too much and just want to be entrained. And this film very successfully did that. And not just entertainment, this film has a pretty good helping of eye candy as well which by now you have started to expect from the eating out films.

In this series, the gang heads out for a special theatrical camp headed by experienced Dick Dickey, a weird dude who hasn't had sex for 7 years now. He has one rule hat there will be no sex on the camp for the duration of the camp which in turn only builds up the sexual tension. Casey and Zack are going through a rough patch in their relationship. The situation worsens when Zack has instant attraction for another camper Benji. Benji initially comes out too strong towards Zack but he pretends to be straight the moment he figures out that Zack has a boyfriend. The duo are signed up for a Shakespeare modern twist on a story where they are supposed to play gay lovers. The film focuses on how both casey and Zack have to come to terms with the fact that there relationship is almost over and is time for them to move on. We also have Jason , the straight director who is starting to fall for Lilly, the transgendered girl. Of course, the film ends with everything fit and fine in place, new friendships, relationships made and a hot sexy camp finished.

As said above, the film is an over the top raunchy comedy which tickles your humour cells in the right places. There are so many places where I just burst out laughing. It will be very difficult to put them all here but trust me they were funny. Most actors in the film are supposed to look smoking hot which they do. As far as acting is concerned, they fit well in the realm of this movie but the real test would come if they did something more, outside this to explore their acting abilities. The surprise part of the film was Lilly's character. I am glad that the filmmakers decided to keep this angle as well because not many people have dealt with this subject.

This film is a total guilty pleasure whose aim is just for fun with its many witty one liners. (7/10)

Stadt Land Fluss (German) [Harvest]

2011-07-12T12:52:00.001-04:00

This film is shot as realistically as you can get it. In the QnA, with the director, it turns out that all the people except the lead actors were actual farmers who ended up in the film as well. It is a sweet gay romance involving two young budding farmers but it is so subtle and devoid of cliches, that it make s a wonderful watch.

Marko is from a broken home where his father left him when he was very young. He is studying to become a farmer and is doing apprenticeship as a farmer. He is a loner who doesn't hang out with other young students who are also working on the farms. He is just aimlessly going on with his life. Jakob, a new boy joins their group as an apprentice who quite his training as a banker and decided to become a farmer. Marko and Jakob start hanging out with each other. There is no apparent love shown between them. Marko doesn't know how to reciprocate Jakob's increasingly stolen glances at him. Something that he likes. They end up kissing one day but Marko is not very sure of it. One night Jakob invites Marko to go to Berlina dn they spend a very good time there. They come back and the film ens witha very very beautiful hug between the two where the two declare thir love for each other without saying even a single word.

The film is shot straight out of a farmer's life. There are long scenes of a farmer's chores done throughout the day and other mundane activities (for city person) and how even eventually the characters are built in that environment. The film pays very detailed attention to every single thing happening in and around the farm. This helps to keep the film very real and grounded with no frills or fancy fares. The 2 actors have done their job very well. Apparently, a lot of scenes were improvised but my favorite will definitely be the last hug scene. A simple action can speak so many unspoken words.

The film will definitely need a lot of patience. I am now rethinking of re watching some of the film that I had earlier discarded. This one was good. (6/10)

Drei (German) [Three]

2011-07-11T15:32:00.002-04:00

This German film had a very interesting story to tell. We all have seen plenty films on adultery even when both husband and wife are cheating but this one has a very very interesting twist. German gay themed films can be hit or miss. They are very unpredictable but at least they are not outrightly bad and unbearable. This one was a fun watch. It had the right amount of tension, stress, sex and a story to tell.

Doctor Hanna and Art engineer Adam have been together for about 20 years but they have not married yet. Of late they realize that they are maybe getting a distance between them and their sex life is far from being satisfactory. But they never talk about this and it is just a big elephant in the rom. They even sometimes do things on their own thereby giving each other enough space. In such an environment, Hanna meets Simon who comes to the hospital for some grant on a research. After a rocky meeting, they accidentally meet a couple of times and begin having a sexy torrid affair. Hanna doesn't feel guilty about this. In fact she is enjoying it. At the same time, Adam meets Simon at his pool club where he tells him about his testicle removal surgery casually. Simon demands to see the scar and they end up having a sex encounter which in turn again ends up in an affair. Hanna and Adam , both having an affair, find that their sex life is also improving but both keep it a secret and after 20 years of being together finally decide to get married. One day when Hanna finds out she is pregnant, she freaks out because she does not even know whose baby is it. When she goes to tell this to Simon, she finds Adam there as well and the cat is now out of the bag. Hanna and Adam take a break and meet after sometime. They miss each other and each of them miss Simon too. They confront deceit, bisexuality and they both decide to share Simon which is fine with him because after all these years of being single, even Simon fell in love with both Hanna and Adam.

The story and the execution of this film was brilliant. Although, I personally had issues with Hanna's character. She was shown making weird faces and her personality was also not shown very clearly. Was she control freak, demanding, intelligent, bored? What was it? To me she came out as a weird person for no reason whatsoever. And then the whole episode of Adam's mother having cancer and a few scenes thereafter had totally no relevance to the film whatsoever. Actually now that I think of it, the encounter between Adam and Simon is also pretty random although it is believable. Simon acted his part very well of a mysterious man who you will never know. what does he like, whats his life, he does everything, he loves everyone etc etc. The ending of the film was done in my opinion very beautifully, artistically with grace. It is sometimes good to think out of the box.

Watch this film. It's different. (7/10)

Quelques jours de répit (French) [A Few Days Of Respite]

2011-07-11T13:43:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, a stillness in a film is all it needs to tell a heartfelt story. It does not have to be heavy on dialogues. I mean they help, of course, but sometimes you just have to let the viewers sink into the characters and their life and miseries. The film shows what 3 individuals go through in their heart, their pain, their heartache and longing and also some decisions that you have to take in life even unwillingly.

A middle aged gay couple, Mohsen and Hassan flee Iran illegally to France to avoid a death sentence. They find themselves in a small village in France. They decide to travel separately for safety reasons. Mohsen, who speaks French fluently, meets an elderly Lady Yolande on the train and they strike up a conversation. In a spur of moment, she offers Mohsen a job in her house to paint. They both need extra income, so they stay in the village in a cheap hotel and Mohsen goes to work while Hassan stays in the hotel. The next day since Yolande is out, Mohsen takes Hassan to her house but he has to lock himself up in the attic when Yolande comes back. Clearly Yolande has been longing for a man which is more than evident when she offers Mohsen to marry her so that he can get papers. They both end up getting physical that night which is witnessed by Hassan. The 3rd day police catch Mohsen for having no paper and he does not contest. When Yolande comes to meet him, he says that he is ok to go back to Iran but he would really like if she could take care of a very good friend of his, Hassan. She agrees but Hassan wants otherwise. He ends up boarding the same train that cops are taking to deport Mohsen back to Iran.

The performances in the film are subdued, full of grace and subtlety. Majority of the film combines intimate character studies of all the individuals. I got the impression that Mohsen purposefully gets himself caught because he does not want to either leave Hassan or be disrespectful to Yolande. Plus he realizes that Hassan had seen him with Yolande, so maybe he does not want to be with Mohsen anymore. But by his actions in the end, Hassan proves that whatever happens, he will always follow Mohsen wherever he goes. The pacing of the film is extremely extremely slow. I have an appetite for god cinema but this one for me particularly was very slow. It was visually beautiful and handles the subject of longing in middle age with grace without heavy dialogues going back and forth. It does calm you.

This film will definitely make you think. (5.5/10)

Como Esquecer (Portuguese) [So Hard To Forget]

2011-07-11T10:33:00.003-04:00

This Brazilian film is an honest portrayal of a woman, consumed with grief, taking baby steps to get her life back in shape after the loss of her partner. This film could easily have been a story of a man or a straight couple even, but I am glad that the film makers did not decide to go through the regular route instead focus on a lesbian aspect. What is most fascinating that even though the lead character happens to be a lesbian, that is not the story focus of the film rather than it is on her individuality.

Julia is 30 something professor in college. She has just lost her partner Antonia of 10 years in an accident. It seems that she has now completely lost interest in life and is completely overtaken by sadness. Any slight memory or sound makes her even more sad and she is almost on the verge of depression. In comes, Hugo, her long time friend whom she helped and was there for her when he was overcoming loss of his partner. Hugo decides that it is time for both of them to move on and would not take no for an answer. He gets a 3 bedroom house so that julia can be away from the house where she and Antonia lived near the sea hoping that change of scenery will bring back some energy in her rather dull life. Lisa, another friend of Hugo who was dumped by her boyfriend is the 3rd person in the mix. Not much changes in their life with Julia trying her best to move on and Hugo making every attempt to keep her happy and motivated. Things change when Lisa's cousin helena arrives to visit Lisa. She is an artist, a great chef and a woman with great looks. With her charm, wit and experience, she is finally able to break the mould that is there is Julia's life and shows her a ray of hope. Julia sees some change and is ready to embrace the sad truth which should now be a thing of past. She is not yet ready for relationship which she makes it clear to Helena but at least allows some light to re-enter her soul.

The story was beautiful and all the actors suited their part. They were all good actors. I wasn't very clear on what was the intention behind showing how Julia's student would try to be close to her and she would push her off. Was it because Julia did not want her sexuality to be the reason for people to judge her in the college? I dont know. The other problem that I had with the film was its pace. Like I said, these films sometimes need a specific pace. It was not that bad but I guess you have to be prepared to watch this film. And why was there no light in the film. Most of the scene sin the house were so dark that once for a change I was like, is there no sun at all in this city? lol..

Anyone who had to go through the pain of losing their loved ones would be able to connect with this film at an emotional level. (7/10)

The One

2011-07-11T10:13:00.002-04:00

I absolutely loved this film. There are more than one reasons why I did. The story is very close to my heart and it was handled so beautifully. Not once did I feel bored in the film or wanted it to end. It might not have the highest or best of the production values but it was 100 times better than the usual crap US cinema throws at us in the name of gay cinema. The story is pretty simple actually, something you have seen before quite a few times but the treatment is very different here and so many surprises thrown, it is just too good.

Openly gay Tommy, reconnects with his old classmate from college Daniel in a sports bar. Tommy always had a thing for Daniel and surprisingly one that day they end up sleeping with each other. Tommy is happy but soon Daniel announces that he is engaged to Jen and will definitely marry her. Daniel has a perfect life with perfect job, parents, career and soon to be wife. He cannot screw that up. Tommy is now head over heels in love with him. He also happens to meet Jen as they all workout in the same gym. He makes up a story forcing Daniel to join him for a weekend vacation where they spent very good time and get physical again. Tommy thinks maybe has a chance now but Daniel again mentions that there is no way he is leaving Jen. The two men meet once in a while while Tommy trying to persuade Daniel to not get married because he clearly loves Tommy more than Jen but Daniel would have none of it. They eventually end up getting married and Tommy is left heart-broken. Meetings between Daniel and Tommy decrease but Jen grows fonder of Tommy specially after she realizes that he is gay after a failed attempt to hook him up with her girlfriend. Things are moving fine. Tommy is finding hard to get Daniel out of his mind. Couple of times when Daniel meets Tommy is his aptt and tries to have sex, Tommy refuses because it is not the right thing for Jen. A few months later Jen announces that she is pregnant. This changes everything for Tommy. He realizes there is no more chance and moves on with his life. In the meantime, Daniel has totally devoted himself to work. Very close to the delivery date, Tommy meets daniel and Jen in the park with his new boyfriend and announces them that he is getting married just so that he can hurt Daniel and hurt he does because the way Daniel and Tommy look at each other tells Jen the entire story. She leaves Daniel and later reassures him to be his friend. Daniel comes out to his family which very surprisingly remain supportive. Now when he wants to go back to Tommy, he has already left. Daniel is all alone. The movie ends beautifully with Daniel spending time with his daughter alone in the park hoping to maybe find love.

Such a sweet film. The scenes just passed by my eyes all over again while writing this. Chemistry between all 3 characters was awesome. From Tommy and Daniel's reconnecting to awkward sex, to love to betrayal and getting married, everything was just perfect. Tommy showed good skills of a man who cannot get his love however hard he try. At the same time, Daniel did an excellent job as a man who wants a perfect so called normal life and even though he clearly likes Tommy, cannot do anything about it. His reaction when Tommy introduces his new boyfriend is very good. It shows that he somehow expected that Tommy will alway wait for him but people move on. SImilarly, when Jen realizes the whole truth, her reaction was just right. Not over board but something how people would react in real life. There were so many scenes that I can clearly remember even now. The subject of a gay man falling for a straight jock as been done to death but it is the screenplay and direction and the way the characters are portrayed which makes so much of a difference. The film had a right mix of comic elements as well and thank god had no stereotypes associated.

I absolutely loved it. Even though predictable at times, this film meant a lot to me. (8/10)

Órói (Icelandic) [Jitters]

2011-07-10T10:26:00.003-04:00

Jitters is a coming of age drama set in Iceland. This film is like watching a group of teenagers through a secret camera and following the happenings in their life. The incidents can be positive, tense, romantic, eye openers or whatever but it does provide a fun , positive look at today's youngsters focussing specifically on Iceland.

This is a group of trouble proned friends lead by Gabriel. On a 3 week English Immersion trip to Manchester, he shares a room with Marcus who is free spirited. He brings some character in life of Marcus and on their last day, they share a kiss. It is a short lived romance as it ends when they both come back home. They do keep sharing text messages though. Friends and family notice a change but he decides to keep a secret. We also get to know the lives of all of his friends. His best friend is having troubles with his girlfriend. He wants to score with her but she is not so easy to budge. We also have Greta, who just cant live with her mother anymore and decided to find a place for rent. She is also in search of her father and finally fins the man who could possibly be her father. She just wants to finish this so that she can move on. We also have Stella who likes Gabriel and who lives with her over protective grandmother who doesn't allow to let Stella live the life she wants to. She is always interfering. In between the lives of all of these friends, Gabriel is trying to find his own identity. When he and Marcus meet again, sparks are there but no one does anything. Gabriel is upset when he sees Marcus getting physical with a girl which ends up in a fight. When his friends interfere, Marcus tells them that Gabriel is gay. The friends are finally accepting and now it is time for Gabriel to move on and decide what he wants to do with Marcus.

The excitement and traumas of a group of Icelandic teenagers as they tentatively enter young adulthood, is very effectively and brilliantly captured in this film. The entire ensemble cast is very good and very very well acted by the whole group of teenagers. I personally feel that if the focus could have been given more on Gabriel's relationship rather than focussing so much in details on the 2 girls, it would have been clear on what exact;y is going on in his head because he is always so quiet. But I guess in the process the film could also have missed out on a big chunk of audience. Overall, a pretty good job. I would have loved it even more if it was somewhat focussed rather than all over the group of friends but that's just me.

The film although showing young teenage drama still is insightful and remains true in showing emotions. (5.5/10)

The Perfect Family

2011-07-10T10:06:00.003-04:00

I dunno why but I have always liked well made films on dysfunctional families. This one falls in the same category. And when the film mixes comedy and religion which makes people sit up and take notice, laugh and think at the same time, the director and the writer's job is well done. The film was house full for the only screening in the LGBT film festival and it was very good to see a good mix of men and women to enjoy this thoughtful, hilarious and poignant comedy.

Eileen is a god fearing woman who is all about Church and being catholic. She has devoted her life to this. This effort is noticed by the parish and she is nominated for the 'Catholic woman of the year' award which suddenly becomes very important to her. All the work she has done so far definitely vouches for her being the right winner but she faces a hurdle when its the time for interviewing he family with the bishop. She is now finding out that her perfect daughter Shannon is lesbian, is 5 months pregnant and is about to marry her life partner Angela. At the same time her son, Frank Jr. is planning to leave is wife because finally for once he has found his true love in another woman. Her husband is also a recovering alcoholic who takes side of his kids but with the controlling nature of Eileen cannot say much. There are some finely times comic scenes when Eileen tries to balance all this. She hesitantly attends her daughter's wedding. She is even helping Shannon and Angela with house chores because Shannon pregnancy is delicate. There are serious moments also, when she goes a little overboard in her controlling nature, forcing her husband to leave her and take a temporary break, her son wants to have nothing to do with her and Shannon loses her baby thereby despising her mother even more. Finally Eileen realizes that it is not the award that is important to her, it is her family and the happiness of the family. And at this time, her family comes to support her full time when the awards are to be announced which she rightfully deservingly wins.

Kathleen Turner playing EIleen does a fantastic job playing her part. She shows excellent expressions and acting abilities as a woman trying to balance her religion and her family. She is hysterical in some scenes. Some of the dialogues are out-wittingly funny like 'I am not supposed to think. I am catholic'. The side story of Shannon and Angela has also been done very well. I am glad that the y showed at least Angela's parents are fully supportive of the relationship. I was a little confused by the whole equation that husband and wife shared but after a while, I was like yeah whatever, I dont care because I am enjoying this film a lot.

Strongly recommended. It will be wrong to classify this film strictly as queer cinema but the festival did give me an opportunity to watch some good cinema. (6.5/10)

I Am (Hindi / English) [Documentary]

2011-07-10T09:34:00.004-04:00

I am so glad that I did go to watch this documentary film in the ongoing LGBT film festival in Philly. This was such an eye-opener in many different ways. There is no way that this film will not touch your heart. You will be able to connect with the film in some way or the other. It gets emotional too at some points. If you are like me who can certainly relate to few of these incidents shown in the film, you will love it. I was so glad to see the director getting a standing ovation after the screening. She deserves every bit of it.

'I Am' chronicles the journey of an Indian lesbian filmmaker Sonali Gulati who returns to Delhi, eleven years later, to re-open what was once home, and finally confronts the loss of her mother whom she never came out to. She starts hr journey wondering how her mother would have reacted after knowing t he truth about her only daughter's sexual identity. In the process she also meets, discusses and interviews various other gay. lesbian and transgendered members in India for whom it would have been a huge step to give these interviews. We also get to se the reaction of family members specially the mothers of how it took them time to come to terms with what their child is going through. During the interview process, Sonali also ends up putting together pieces of her life of what family truly means in a country where until very recently being gay as considered a criminal offense.

The interviews, interactions and stories are so poignant and touching that you wanna see more of them. The characters are not just playing parts, they are sharing their inner most feelings and life with the audience. They take the courage to be the leaders so that other in a similar situation like them can see a path already ben opened for them. The film shows how in most cases the mothers have been the pillars of strength. I think the most strength the children get is if their parents are accepting of the whole thing. It is very important to understand why someone is homosexual and why this is not a disease. People and their basic nature does not change based on their sexuality. They still remain same and this film does a fantastic job of showing that. It is not about education or awareness but a lot about love and acceptance for your child which gives the child and the family the strength to overcome all hurdles.

I salute Sonali Gulati for making such a brave film, a film that definitely needs to be seen by people in and out of India. I can't wait for my family to see this documentary. (8/10)

The Love Patient

2011-07-10T09:10:00.004-04:00

The unanimous reaction after most of us walked out after the screening of the film was 'It was so bad'. A few of us looked at each other and remarked how could this film have been in the top 10 favorites of the festival committee but then hey everyone has their own choices. But it seemed like most of us belonged to the category where they questioned this American indie comedy. The story of a self centered executive who will go to any lengths to win his ex-back just did not go well with me and quite a few others.

Paul, an ad-executive now realizes after almost a year of breakup that he might have lost something very good with his ex Brad. Since Paul is a self centered man who just thins about himself, and is not used to losing, he wants to win his man back. Brad on the other hand is now dating another colleague Alex who is bisexual. Paul comes up with a plan with his doctor friend Burt. Burt needs a lot of money to save his clinic which Paul offers to give him if Burt plays along with the act that Paul has cancer. This could bring Brad back to him. Initially reluctant, Burt agrees and this is when the mess begins. Because of the news, Paul's family of parents and sister move in with him to take care of him. It also brings Brad back to him. Brad starts working with Paul at home on the project and slowly they start remembering old days. It seems things are falling back in place. Meanwhile Paul's sister seduces Alex following which Brad and Alex break up. But when he finds out the truth about Paul's fake cancer from his sister who was always suspicious, he is deeply hurt but as expected everything ultimately falls in place after some drama.

This movie could never make up mind whether they wanted to be a simple comedy, over the top comedy, a lil bit serious or just plain simple annoying. Paul's character was supposed to be annoying which I guess he did well but Brad seemed as if he just came out of a sugar jar. So sweet always and with pretty much similar expressions on his face throughout. And dont even ask about the woman who played Paul's mother. She was sooooo over the top that it was annoying. The film took a long time to build up the whole story of fake cancer and then just suddenly out of the blue, the beans are spilled (as if the director just ran out of steam and wants to finish the film). But that does not actually happen. As sudden as Paul's secret is found, in the next 5 minutes we also see how Paul realizes his mistake and finally over a period of time wins back Brad by right means. The end seemed so rushed. The screenplay was not evenly divided throughout the film. And to top all this, there wasn't enough eye-candy too.

This movie joins the rank of really bad indie gay cinema that US produces. Please, lets learn from some of our best foreign gay films. (2/10)

Blackmail Boys

2011-07-09T07:56:00.002-04:00

The best thing according to me of this film was that no one had a gym perfect body and your 2 main protagonists were your usual run of the mill guys. There was nothing out of the world with them be it look wise, body wise or talent wise. This is what makes it more believable. But why are directors hell bent on shooting a film guerilla style where camera is shaking half the time. I understand your passion to show the proceedings as realistic but dude, it gives the audience a terrible headache.

Sam and Aaron have been in a long distance relationship for over 3 years now. Aaron lives in Chicago. Since he has monetary problems, he soon starts hustling in his apartment which I guess is ok with his boyfriend Sam. One day Sam decides to pay visit to Aaron and they have a good time. When one of Aaron's regular good payer client comes, Sam recognizes him as the the famous author Andrew Tucker, anti-gay activist who uses social networking sites to spread his message to teens. He is pissed with Aaron for having sex with him but then they soon come u with a plan to make a video of the two and blackmail Tucker. They need the money because Aaron wants to stop hustling and they both wanna get married. Things are falling in place but when Tucker arrives to give money to the boys, the unexpected happens. Tucker stabs Sam, gets the last copy of the video and does not even give them the money. Once home, he feels terrible guilty and tells his wife the entire story. Back home aaron uses help of one of his doctor client's to make sure Sam is ok. Tucker's wife visits the boys, gives them the money and asks them to please forget the entire episode. The 2 boys get married and and having fun with money with college full time.

The first thing when you are watching this film you realize is that the lead characters have absolutely zero chemistry. They dont even act like friends forget lovers. I mean, if a long distance couple is meeting after such a long time, there would be more intimacy, love , passion etc but here you see them treat each other as if they are 2 strangers who have got together for a hook up and are now forced to talk. You could see how awkward they looked even while kissing. The scenes with Tucker and the doctor were the ones where you could see some signs of maybe good director duo. Aaron I guess had no inhibitions to display his meat so there are scenes where we see his dick flopping around just for the sleaze quotient. I will give writers A grade for a novel story but not as much to the directors. Oh ! and there was a lot of typing and story telling which was novel when it started but then there is more than what it should have been.

Interesting idea gone wrong because of not so suitable direction. (3.5/10)

La Robe Du Soir (French) [The Evening Dress]

2011-07-09T07:32:00.003-04:00

We have all gone through the teacher crush phase in our life. It is a sweet memory that we cherish when we grow up and just laugh in a silly way about it. But when the crush becomes borderline obsession, this is when an interesting story starts to build up. The theme of the movie sounded interesting and I decided to go and watch this film in the ongoing Philadelphia LGBT film festival.

Juliette is a 12 year old young teenage tomboyish girl. She has huge crush on her French grammar teacher Hélène Solenska. Actually most of the class has that. Hélène might be old but she has amazing dress sense. She is witty, humorous, popular and takes pleasure in giving lessons in life and love to the class specially to the boys. Since the boys get all her attention, this makes Juliette a little bit jealous. What particularly bothers Juliette is the special attention that Adrien gets in the class. He is the most good looking boy n the class and gets most attention from Hélène. Now Juliette starts becoming obsessive. She finds where Hélène lives and goes to her house only to find that Adrien is there. She hides there to see what is going on. She becomes so obsessive that everytime she sees Hélène with Adrien she bursts with jealousy. One day she cannot control, accuses Hélène of sleeping with Adrien and just rushed out of the school. She comes back home knowing very well that she has done a huge mistake. She is suspended from the school for a few days and when she goes back, she has a very hard time. Everyone gives her the strangest looks, no one talks to her. Hélène's equation with the class is now completely changed. She no more gives private classes to Adrien who according to her has huge potential but needs some push. When the results are finally out, Adrien finally fails and even Juliette scores pretty low despite being one of the brightest students of the class. This angers Adrien and he attacks Juliette. She cant take it anymore and goes home and eats a lot of sleeping pills. Hélène reaches in time and saves her. At home, Juliette's brother finds a box which reveals how Juliette had a huge crush on Hélène. Hélène, in the hospital, talks to Juliette and tells her own experience of how she had a crush on a teacher and how it is normal but teachers only respond to those who satisfy their ego and reassures them that they are doing their job right. Juliette finally gets sense and is now over her crush and ready to begin life new.

The film had a very interesting plot and a very believable performance by Juliette. She very nicely portrays the emotions of having a crush on the teacher, her passion and also the angst and the pain when she is completely boycotted by pretty much the entire school. It is interesting to see how this also changes the equation within the family because her elder brother now gets crap in school because of her. The first half of the film although was very very slow. There are long scenes of just watching Juliette's mundane activities at home and trying to be a girl and not tomboy. These scenes though necessary to explain her mentality, just test your patience with no dialogues for a long intervals. I liked the film but it could have been much better in my opinion but at the same time this is why I like the french cinema because they are simple, very slice of life kind of stories which dont make you feel as if you are watching a movie but someone next door.

Beautifully shot with bravura performances, this film is easily a one time watch. (5/10)

Leave It On The Floor

2011-07-08T23:54:00.003-04:00

Let me first say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film today. Initially I was 2 minds about whether to watch this film or not in the film festival but since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go for it and I am o g;ad that I did. This movie had pretty much everything that I like: BBW, ghetto accent, black attitude and lots of mmm hmmm... The audience and also me were laughing so hard in some of the scenes, it was just he perfect way to end my day today. The film is all about African American ball culture to which I recently was introduced and it was exciting to get to know more about it through this film.

Set as a musical, film starts when a young man Brad is thrown out of his house by his mother soon after she discovers that he is gay. Not that there is any love between the mother and son anyway. Now living on the streets, he meets Carter in a pickpocket incident. SOmething about him attracts Brad who follows him to a club which turns out to be a ball club. Once there he is seduced by charming Princess who also introduces him to whats and hows of the ball culture and takes him back to the 'House of Eminence' lead by Queef Latina, the matriarch. The house which has not won a trophy in quite a few years is filled with people from the ball and who at some point or the other were disowned by the family. After a lot of initial hesitation, Queef finally warms upto Brad. Princess meanwhile is still seducing Brad who in turn is falling for Carter. There is a love triangle going on. Meanwhile Queef is waiting for her husband to return from jail. Jealousy soon follows and Princess and Brad leave the house to join rival gang but the death of one of the most loved members of the house in an accident finally brings them back together. Brad finally decides to find himself and participates in the ball with Queef finally bringing back that coveted trophy.

Although I am not a big fan of musicals, I loved this movie. There were so many hilarious dialogues like ' I am glistening' which means gay listening and 'You've been hanging around Tyler Perry's sets' when Brad talks about family and all. Every member of the cast has done a fantastic job in acting. Music and choreography is equally engaging. The film slows down n the latter [part of second half when it gets all serious but apart from that, the film was on a roll. Hilarious and poignant, it also gives a good message on social acceptance of the members of the LGBT community. The whole scene at the funeral between fundamentalists family and the LGBT group is pretty strong. Oh! And I got to see some pretty good vouging. What else can I ask for !!

It had its share of hiccups but I thoroughly enjoyed his joy ride. (7.5/10)

Judas Kiss

2011-07-07T22:33:00.003-04:00

Wow!! I guess I have been so busy that I haven't had time to watch too many films but here I am back and plan to watch a lot more films in the coming days. I just came back from the opening night of Philly LGBT film festival and saw this film. It is very hard to say at this moment whether this film was the right film to open the festival or not because unless I watch some of the other films, it will be very hard to compare. But still it was a decent effort. The story line is definitely very novel and I must admit, I could not have thought of it but not every story turns out well on screen. This film also defied some general logic but more on that later.

Zack is a 30 something failed film-maker. He was a wonder film maker in his college days but hollywood glamour and partying brought him from fame to dust and now he makes wedding videos. On his best friend's insistence, he returns to his college to judge a film festival for short films made by students to choose the winner for the scholarship. The first night he meets a guy in a bar and ends up sleeping with him. He is shocked when he sees the same guy turn up for his interview on the short film 'Judas Kiss' that he has made. The guy is Danny and his background is absolutely same as Zack. WIth turn in events, it turns out that Danny is no one but his own younger self. Zack is facing his past. And it was Zack originally named Danny who made the film 'Judas Kiss' and won the best film-maker award. With the help of his old college teacher, he finds out that somehow he has been given a chance to maybe change his past, rectify some of the mistakes and in the process change his future. Danny is very confident of winning the scholarship because his film is talk of the campus. Danny catches fancy of Shane who just likes to use the budding film makers. Then there is Chris who has a huge crush on Danny since they met but Danny wants to be with Shane because he is the one who can solve his immediate monetary needs. Zack explains his younger self hard to see the reality otherwise he will end of being an utter failure like him both in professional and in personal life. Zack reveals the truth that Danny will be disqualified from the competition since he broke the rules thereby changing what happened in the past and also helps him realize why Chris is the right person for him and not Shane. Cutto today, things are all good and Shane's future now seems to be treading on the right path.

The theme of time travel has not really been tackled before in gay cinema so that way it was refreshing to watch something new but many a incidents just defy logic. 2 entities of the same body cannot be in the same time zone but I am sue director was not looking for a scientific justification. It was an idea which he turned into a film. The first half of the film was kinda suspenseful where the viewer is tying to figure out what is the actual relationship between Zack and Danny and when the truth is revealed, it is a little (just a little) hard to digest but dont we all love escapist cinema? Zack was very good in his role. You could feel the struggle and questions that were going inside him for everything that was happening around him. Surprisingly, I did not like the actor playing role of Danny initially. He seemed cocky (but in retrospect, that is what he was supposed to be) but he grew on me over a period of time. Amongst the supporting cast Chris was a feast on the eyes. His innocent looks fit the character. Shane was OTT according to me. The production values were pretty good for a gay film and it did not look like a rushed job. Since it is pretty much filmed in a campus, there are not many scenic locations. By the way, I loved the flowy hair of Zack in the film. lol

Interesting plot (though not translated to the best potential), convincing acting and the fact that this is the first of the many films I am going to watch in next few days made this a decent watch for me. Let the film festival begin. This one was just ok. (6/10)

Le Placard (French) [The Closet]

2011-06-12T12:09:00.002-04:00

This movie is a hilarious take on how people's lives can take a turn just by saying a simple lie. It can save your job, bring back happiness in your life and make other things also better. Revolving around a humble accountant François, whose only crime is that he is very boring, the film deals with sexual issues without being over the top comedy. It is very subdued.

François finds out that lay offs are going to happen in the office and he will be laid off soon. He has already been deserted by his wife and his teenage son and now scared that he will loose his job as well, he is sharing his dilemma with his neighbor who suggests that he should pretend to be gay to save his job because the company will not want to be sued for discrimination. François emergence from the closet has an effect on a number of people. Suddenly his co-workers find him amusing and talk to him. His company now wants him to march in gay pride in for their company's benefit. His son suddenly starts liking him better than his mom because he thinks his father is cool. One of his co-workers, the macho Felix, pretends to be friendly to François for fear that his overtly homophobic attitude will get him fired. In the process he actually discovers his own closet homosexuality and now he wants to leave his wife and leave with François. Only François's boss is not entirely convinced that François is gay. When things go out of hand to the extent that Felix is sent to mental asylum because he is madly deeply in love with François does François decide to tell everyone the truth. Everyone finally understands his point of view and now things really change for good for him. He finds love in his co-worker who helps him get over his ex-wife.

French films always have that extra flair. It is a charming film which shows how over a period of time certain views on homosexuality have changed but they show all this in a very light tone. It also manages to bring in other threads involving Felix's homophobia, a thread that starts out being very funny but later becomes quite touching and delicate. The film never gets very serious and this is precisely why the interest in the film is kept alive. It also has some very funny scenes as to how small news can end up being big rumors and how François's co-workers thought process also changes over a period of time. The characters are all developed very well and as a viewer it is easy to identify with them.

Overall an enjoyable little film that has a good comic tone as well as an interesting story. (6.5/10)

All Over The Guy

2011-06-09T08:01:00.003-04:00

This film very intelligently focuses on issues of intimacy and finding ways to communicate. There is the usual arguing, fighting bitching and everything else between the characters of this film but on listening carefully, you will realize that this is all so realistic. This is how people in a normal life communicate with each other. There is nothing filmy about that.

The film is kind of 2 parallel stories. Eli and Tom are set up for a blind date by their friends Jackie and Brett who met each other in a furniture store. The date which starts off as very boring becomes lively when they start discussing movies and specially 'In & Out'. A few days later they run into each other at a flea market and hit it off, winding up back at Eli's place where Tom spends the night. The next morning Tom says that it was a mistake. Jackie and Brett decide to try again to set them up, and the two men start to develop a relationship. Tom's fear of becoming emotionally close coupled with Eli's own insecurities makes it difficult for them to maintain, but Jackie and Brett get engaged which forces Tom and Eli together. Eli finally tells Tom he loves him and Tom, terrified, lashes out at him the next day and drives him away. Both of them try to move on with their life but it is not that easy when in the hearts of heart you know you deeply love someone. At Jackie and Brett's wedding reception, Eli and Tom finally come to realize that they have to overcome their families' dysfunction and their own fears.

The dialogue is sharp and quick and not in the campy way, but in the way that friends who know each other can convey in codes and gestures without a lot of extra narration. It's one of the few films I've seen that touches on issues that not every gay man is looking only for quick sex and that when you get two guys together, it is assumed that one certain type of sexual act will occur. All Over The Guy discusses definitions of sex and the importance of intimacy and it's refreshing to see it handled in a manner that doesn't come across as preaching. Eli and Tom had great chemistry and that is so very important to make or break a film. There are so many scenes where they just at each other just trying to fight with themselves for what they feel for each other. The rest of the cast is superb as well, including some great cameo roles. Most of all, the characters of Brett and Jackie are very funny in a superb role of friends of the 2 guys.

This film is not extraordinary but definitely a sweet, good natured watchable romantic comedy. (7.5/10)

Ce Vieux Rêve Qui Bouge (French) [That Old Dream That Moves]

2011-06-02T10:28:00.006-04:00

The best thing about this film is that it is only some 50 odd minutes. The film set in a old factory in France for some reasons makes it for a delightful watching. I still cant figure out why I liked watching this film because there was nothing extraordinary about it, in fact it moves at a very slow pace. I hope by the time I finish writing this piece, I might have a better idea.

An old factory is going to close soon in France. A worker Jacques arrives in the factory which now has only a handful (5-6 to be precise) who know that in a week's time they wont have a job. Jacques is supposed to dismantle the machines and pack them so that they can leave the next week. All the workers share a special bonding with each other. Jacques experiences an alluring instant attraction to his boss Donand. He doesn't know what to do about it. An old guy in the worker group Guiraudie figures out that this worker likes men and tells him that he cannot get Donand but Jacques is really attracted and says he cant help to not think about it even though he might not be able to get it. There is a scene where the Jacques gets to touch Donand's penis but he quickly backs away. In the final scene, Guiraudie offers himself to the worker but he refuses but they still talk. The week is over and everyone is now going for one final dinner and drinks.

The best thing about this movie was that the movie grows up from male bonding to male understanding in a trying situation. No judgements are made on anyone's sexual preferences. The gay-themed twist is striking for how it naturally bubbles up to the surface, and resolves in an unforced and gently open direction. You can try to figure out few pieces of generation gaps and homosexual relationships if you watch this film closely. The film definitely is filled with some low-key eroticism but that makes it exciting. The acting by every single person is just so natural. You feel as if there is a hidden camera in the factory and you are just witnessing interactions between a few men in the factory. It is very real and believable. Some of the dialogues between Guiraudie and Jacques regarding trying to get something when you cant were awesome. If you have worked in a factory a slightest bit (like I have had in my life), you will be more able to connect with this. Staged with a masterly eye for detail, environment and the unexpected quirks in human behavior, no wonder this film was major contender in that years cannes film festival.

Not sure whether it was the simplicity or realistic portrayal of the film but I really liked it. The short duration was icing on the cake. (6.5/10)

Vil Romance (Spanish) [Twisted Romance]

2011-06-01T20:20:00.003-04:00

wtf!! This is my first reaction having sit through this film. It was such an amateurish experiment that I have no words to explain. The film is so dark. The story did have the potential of being 'different' in the world of gay cinema but a very shoddy screenplay, a shoddier acting department and pathetic direction made this film a drag.

Roberto is a teenager and a drifter. He lives with his mom and sister (whose introduction is a 4way with 2 other man.. so weird!). One day he meets a gray long haired man Raul. He accepts his invitation to visit his home. Raul ends up beinga violent lover but Roberto still ends up spending the night with him. They continue to meet despite the violent nature of sex and eventually Roberto movs in because he gets a sense of 'home' and 'family'. He wants this to work but it is not easy with a dark side man like Raul. So now its power struggle in bed. Raul is always top but Roberto wants to be active too. Enter a Spaniard Caesar with whom Roberto has a brief affair. Caesar can't get over Roberto and stalks him to his house. When Raul finds out, he turns extra violent and beats the shit out of Caesar. When ROberto wants to leave the relationship, he threatens him that if he leaves he will hurt his mother and sister. Eventually on a dinner night, the sister and mother murder Raul to save their Roberto.

Twisted Romance is low rent in every sense and the central ‘love’ story is pretty unpalatable. In fact it becomes unwatchable after a certain point. I have already mentioned about he acting department. Maybe it was a little too real for the inner streets of Argentina but common, if you want audience for your cinema, you have to make it a little more engrossing. The characters were probably chosen by demand. Not a single person was even half decent looking. Raul was the ugliest. It is just so hard to justify why in the first place would Roberto be attracted to the man when he is ugly and violent.

Watch this film if you have a twisted mind of your own. (2/10)

The Opposite Of Sex

2011-05-31T09:30:00.002-04:00

This movie is a mix of comedy, drama, satire, spoof and trying to be a little bit of everything, the film at some point in my opinion loses its whole point. Agreed maybe 13 years ago, when the film came out, most of it would have make sense but in today's time, it doesn't anymore. That does not mean that the film doesn't entertain you. It does but at the same time, some repetitive scenes and mostly one dimensional acting prevents it from becoming a better film.

16 year old Dede runs from her mother's home and goes to live with her half bother Bill. Bill is gay and is a school teacher whose partner Tom died of aids few years ago which brought Tom's sister Lucia and Bill very close. Lucia pretty much doesn't have a life outside Bill. Bill now has a new boyfriend Matt. Ever since Dede moves in, she tries to seduce Matt because he is hot and young and eventually succeeds. The affair goes on till Dede finds out that she is pregnant. She convinces matt that he might be straight. Bill devastated to know asks them to leave the house but they take some money with them. Meanwhile another guy shows up asking for Matt to Bill and claims that he is Matt's boyfriend. Since Bill doesn't know and cant tell this new guy where Matt is, he falsely accuses Bill of molesting him when he was in high school which turns into a big town scandal and Bill ends up losing his job. here begins chase of Bill after Dede and Matt. Bill still wants Matt back. Matt wants to stay with Dede despite eventually finding out that the baby i snot his but from one of the other loser guys with whom Dede played around with. Lucia is forever with Bill in this endeavor and is constantly complaining. Anyway, everything ends well when Dede realizes her mistake, gives birth to the child, asks Bill to take care of it. Lucia meanwhile finds love with a local cop. Matt goes back being gay with the other guy.

The entire story is told through Dede's perspective which sometimes is funny because she throws in certain cliches associated with certain events that are happening in the film. The keeps the films pace going. It was never really clear why Bill still wanted Matt (who by the way did an excellent job portraying a male hunk version of a dumb blonde girl). Lisa Kudrow as Lucia was clearly very irritating. She just could not get over her Phoebe persona and would throw fits and tantrums in the same way in every scene. Dede did well as the 16 year old girl who hins she os very smart and can actually fool everyone around here. One major flaw of the film was that at any single point in the film the viewer never feels connected to the characters which in my opinion could be a major flaw. Production values were alright much like a TV movie though.

Nonetheless, if you dont mind getting offended by regular gay cliches and dont put too much brian into it, you might actually end up enjoying the film. (6/10)

Broderskab (Danish) [Brotherhood]

2011-05-27T19:46:00.003-04:00

Now that was a complete surprise. A film that you would have not expected to go the way it did. It makes you think, you sometimes feel for the characters but you also feel repulsed by some of the acts they did. The movie was intense, it was gripping and it keeps you hooked throughout. You wanna know what is going to happen next. I was very pleasantly surprised with this film.

Lars has just quit army because he could not get promoted to being a field sergeant. One day when he is hanging out with friends, he meets some people from a new-Nazi group who are all about just having pure white people led by Michael known as Fatty within the group. Everyone and everything else is against the nature. Initially, Lars distances himself from their ideology and methods, but fuelled by defiance against the system in general - and his parents in particular - Lars decides to join the group. Michael for some reason think that Lars has potential even though his right hand man Jimmy does not agree. Soon Lars gets hired as A-member whereas that position should have gone to Patrick, Jimmy's younger brother. Lars moves out of his parents' house and into board chairman Ebbe's remotely situated summer cottage, which Jimmy is in the process of renovating. Despite their initial dislike of each other, the attraction between the two men soon becomes too strong to ignore. Before they realize, they are falling in love for each other while being torn between their emotion and ideology. Lars is still not entirely convinced about the group and when he finds out about their views about gays, he tries to pull out . Jimmy is now in dilemma but before they could make final decision, Patrick finds out about their relationship and informs Michael because of jealousy. They find Lars and beat him up real bad. Jimmy finally decides to leave with lars and go away but it is too late and he gets stabbed. FIlm ends with Jimmy in the hospital. Viewers are left to decide whether he is alive or dead.

The acting by the principal characters was so unbelievably good. Both Lars and Jimmy do so well in their parts. Their performance is nothing short of honest and heart wrenching and the director has utilized their potential. Such movies can easily have a tendency to get boring and draggy but this was different. The film keeps moving between being chilling to being a tender love story at times. There are certain flaws in the film like it is not completely explained why Lars joins the group or why is Michael suddenly favoring Lars so much. Despite these minor flaws you cannot ignore the overall film. The characters are all grey and not simply black or white.

I would have given a higher rating but this is a film that is a great first watch but doesn't really have a repeat value. It still deserves applauds for being different and meaningful. (7.5/10)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

2011-05-26T22:25:00.006-04:00

This is a glam rock musical made to a movie after a successful running on the broadway. This film might not be everyone's cup of tea but you can't ignore it. Considering is a debut of a director who also acts as the principal character of Hedwig makes you sit and take notice of him and the film. I had heard a lot about this film specially in the realm of queer cinema which of course raised my expectations over a period of time. We will have to read further whether the expectations were met or not.

The film is set in a mocumentary style where Hedwig is doing commentary and singing songs based on her life. Hedwig born as hansel in East Germany fled to US when he met a soldier in Berllin. he wanted to bring Hansel with him but for that he will have to undergo sex change surgery. The surgery goes bad and he is left with an inch of mass in his front and has to now live with it. Unfortunately, things didn't work out with the guy in US. He is now following this very popular rock singer who Hedwig accuses that he has stolen all his songs. It turns out that when he was between jobs, he met Tommy Gnosis and taught him everything that today he knows about rock. They used to sing together and were lovers for a long time but Tommy found success and later he refused to acknowledge the presence of Hedwig.

The entire movie comes between musical sequences, during Hedwig's interaction with her manager, band, and showing of mixed feelings towards Tommy Gnosis. Her interactions with husband Yitzhak (a male character brilliantly played by a woman) are also serious, heart wrenching and confusing because he is just a back-up singer and whipping boy, a much less important character in Hedwig's life. The music is all hard rock. It is not my cup of tea. The songs take the story forward where Hedwig is narrating his story through commentary and songs. The music sometimes gets so loud that it can cause headaches but thats just the nature of what hard rock is like. The story still remains the same. I would have personally liked the film much more if it was not a musical or even if the music was a different style. people will argue that it is this punk rock style music that makes this film special and watchable and they are fine. It is a very personal opinion and everyone is entitled on one. This movie shows that human beings have faults, emotion, love, anger and strife, no matter what their sex is, or how unusual they seem. The ending is definitely a masterstroke when Hedwig turns a man again and his husband is now a pretty and successful drag queen.

You decide on your own. My ratings will unfortunately be lower. (4.5/10)

Meine Schwiegertochter ist ein Mann (German) [All You Need Is Love]

2011-05-26T07:33:00.004-04:00

Thank God, after a series of watching really bad gay films (which seems to be the trend these days), I got to see a decent watch. In fact I was pretty surprised by the whole premise. What I loved specifically was it was a great blend of drama, comedy and social message. The gay characters are not just a walking collection of stereotypes, and the actors do their job well enough that you actually believe the characters love each-other.

The film starts with Katharina receiving a letter from her son Hans that he will bring Nicki with him whom he wants to marry in their small town of Bavaria. Katharina is very happy and tells her best friend and almost everyone in the small town. What she doesn't realize is that Nicki is a man. When Hans shows up with Nicki, she gets the shock of her life and immediately throws her son out. Initially they wanna go back to Berlin but Hans decides to stay and change people's mindset. Hans and Nicki check into a local hotel which again becomes talk of the town. Hans father Christian who s divorced and now married to the controlling Vera is also very disappointed knowing Hans is gay. he tries to take him to a whorehouse which surprises Hans. Since it is a small town, everyone finally finds out about the reality and start treating both Katharina and Christian differently. Vera even goes to the extent of spreading rumors that Hans is not he biological son of Christian. When Hans hears this, he cant take it any more specially after the fist fight that he has with a big group where he wanted to get married. They both go back to Berlin. Katharina's boss takes her to a lesbian club, thereby coming out to her and explaining her it is ok to be gay and how she admires how Hans has been so brave. Both the mother and father finally acknowledge that it is important to be happy be gay or straight and finally the 2 men get married in a very emotional celebration that the town puts for them.

What I liked the most was reactions of parents, neighbours and people in the small town. This is exactly I would imagine people in small town to react. Hans and Nickie made a cute couple and it was heartening to see Hans wanting to do everything right for his wedding which included making his parents happy too. The theme os sudden coming-out to the family was handled very bravely and rightly. We all love happy endings and so did I for this film but it went a little overboard when suddenly not just the parents but everyone in the town is so cool about it and are having a happy celebration for the married couple. Although what brought slight tears to my eyes were when Katharina's best friend Rosi sings a wedding song for the 2 men and their eyes get moist to see all the love they are getting from people who matter the most to them.

This is a film that makes me laugh, think and enjoy. It's rightly said that 'All you need is Love'. This is definitely worth watching. (7/10)

Release (UK)

2011-05-20T14:52:00.004-04:00

The heart of this film was in the right place but I cant even begin to describe how faulty the direction and editing was. The film was going all over the place between past and present and even just random scenes popping here and there. If the makers had kept the film linear and simple, it would have had so much more sense to the audience. As of now, this film was nothing but a huge disappointment.

Father Gillie, stripped of his priestly garb and is marched through the recognisable process of being showered and dressed in prison clothes. Housed in his cell with a younger troubled man it doesn't take long before rumours abound that the Priest is really a paedophile. Now an easy target thanks to the insinuations he becomes hunted. Security comes in the form of a prison guard who befriends him and with whom love and an affair develops. When safely behind locked doors their illicit relationship blossoms and only then do we learn of the true crime that has put our priest inside. He helped 2 kids with euthanasia.

Terrible acting, uninviting characters, awful camera work, contrived and completely unbelievable plot, tacky music, poor flow of scene transitions, the list just goes on.. This is basically artistic masturbation without any regard to giving the audience a involving story telling experience. The film makers really took the audience for granted in this.

This one is completely avoidable except for a very few naked me shots. (1.5/10)

Handsome Harry

2011-05-20T11:34:00.003-04:00

This was an interesting thought. There are quiet a few things that we all do when we are young without even thinking of what repercussions it might have in our old age. What we might think of it and how it is going to affect us psychologically. Using this as a primary theme, this film takes us through the life of Harry Sweeney.

Handsome Harry as he is called by his friends is 52 years old, divorced and has a son who lives in Chicago. He is ex army servant and is carrying a secret with him. He also does not allow anyone to come close to him. He gets a call from his friend Kelly who is dying and who wants him to find out their friend Kagan and ask for forgiveness. Thirty years ago, these guys were a group of 5 friends in navy who always used to hang out together. In a drunken brawl all of the the group subjected Kagan to a beating because of homophobia: all of the men participated in the cruel act but one crushed the jazz pianist Kagan's right hand with an armature, destroying the hand from ever performing again. Kelley's reason for calling Harry is that Kelley believes he was the one who crushed Kagan's hand and wants Harry to find Kagan and ask him for forgiveness. Kelley dies soon after. Harry then visits all his friends one and one and they relive that moment, no one wanting to ever talk about it again. One of them has a gay son and his wife is leaving him, 2nd has a sick wife and third is a college professor now. Finally Harry finds Kagan but the maid tells that he is out. Harry returns home, distraught and emotionally exhausted. Apparently both Harry and kagan were madly in love with each other except harry just did not have the courage to accept it in open. When Kelly finds them together, all the men gang up and beat Kagan. And it was Harry who is the one who actually hit him with the armature. Sometime later after singing in a quartet contest Harry spies Kagan in the audience and the two leave for a dinner in a deserted restaurant. There Kagan shares ALL of the truth about the incident and about his relationship with Harry and the film ends quietly and painfully with the truth being on the table.

I thought the ending was perfect. Bringing the 2 men now together after all these years of gap would have been odd. It was very heartfelt when Kagan tells Harry, how he has loved him still all his life and how he followed his every move and knew exactly what was going on with his life. Their love was pure but for some reason Harry did not the courage. They both wonder how different and happy they both could have been if they stayed together.

This one is a soul-searching, heart-wrenching drama. (5.5/10)

Rückenwind (German) [Light Gradient]

2011-05-11T22:22:00.004-04:00

This film was weird. It was just going nowhere. Looking at the poster, you might think that it might be somewhat like Summerstorm but it doesn't even come close. This is one of those really bad foreign / independent films where all that happens is bicycle riding. Trust me, thats exactly what they show for a good 30-40% of the initial time in the film.

2 young men Johann 7 Robin are on a train bound for some country-side experience. Half of the film just focuses on them and their adventures of biking in the woods. When their bikes get ultimately stolen, they look for shelter and find a 40s woman with her son. The woman is interested in gay men but her son is not. He is just used to being a bored teenage who just does random things to kill his time. Then random things happen. The 2 boys spent sometime with mother and son and then go back to woods. And then something happens in which one of the boy either gets lost or killed or something. It is not very clear.

Trust me, the film was exact;y as boring and ridiculous as you must have felt reading the storyline above. This film seemed to go nowhere, slowly and randomly. The film was full of bits and pieces of this and that. Sun shining through the trees as they ride bikes through the woods, S&M in the woods, robbing sandwiches from other bike riders in the woods were some of the scenes that made the film. This is one of the slowest films and bad films I have seen and i have seen a lot of bad films.

Completely avoidable. (1/10)

Callas Forever

2011-05-05T22:02:00.005-04:00

This film though might give an impression of a biopic, is really not. Its the directors fantasy that he plays on the screen around the idea of Callas starring in a film production of Carmen at a time where she was losing her command of her magnificent opera voice.

Larry is a famous singer who meets Michael, an artist on one of his trips to France. They have an instant attraction and slowly start dating. remember that Larry is much older than him but that means nothing. Michael idolizes Callas, a very very famous opera singer. She is now losing her voice and confidence and prefers to live in seclusion. Larry used to be Callas' agent in her heydays. Larry proposes a film version of her famous opera Carmen to Callas so that the younger generation gets to see her work and see her perform which they have never had the opportunity to. Initially reluctant to star in a film that will use her old recordings dubbed on the film soundtrack, she ultimately gives in. The projects is launched and things go well. She retains her temper tantrums and demands for perfection that hallmarked her real career. The film is finished and turns out to be great but Callas then realizes that her youth cannot be regained and decides to get rid of the film. In the meantime Larry loses out on his time with Michael who is now leaving for a tour to showcase his art and doesn't know when and if he will ever see Larry again.

I dont know why but the film did not really strike a chord with me, neither at emotional level nor at a cinematic level. I would say the acting was good but the film tries to fool some gay audience by kind of forcing the romance angle between Larry and Michael. It was so not needed. They could have focussed completely on Callas and Larry and it would have ben all good. Not that I would have liked the film better. The movie might be loved by opera lovers but that is again one more things that is not my cup of tea.

This is my rating for the film. Your rating might be totally different based on your tastes. (3/10)

L.I.E. Long Island Expressway

2011-04-25T13:51:00.002-04:00

L.I.E. is the coming of age story of a boy who must quickly develop resiliency to cope with the loss of the things closest to him; his mother to the L.I.E., his father to the criminal justice system, and his best friend Gary to the lure of California. This story rings true because it's something that happens in the real world all the time, whether people want to admit it or not. The film captures events and emotions that are complex, challenging, and confusing. But does it make up for an interesting viewing, lets see ahead.

Howie belongs to a well affluent family and his father is a lawyer. He alongwith his friend Gary, and a few others have been robbing the expensive houses of their Long Island neighbors just for the excitement of seeing how much they can get away with. Howie clearly doesn't need any money but Gary does. One of their escapades takes them to the house of Big John, a macho ex-marine well known in the neighborhood as a man who likes to have sex with young men. Don't that he carries this reputation but people know about it. This encounter is a turning point for young Howie. Big John finds out that it was Howie with his friends who robbed his house. He confronts the teenager and asks him to visit his house if he wants John to not press charges against him to the cops. Howie and Big John develop a relationship which, while the possibility of man-boy sex is clearly implied, is not threatening or exploitative, but provides Howie with the substitute father-figure he so desperately needs over a period of time.

Howie's feelings are a wide spectrum: confused, repulsed, lonely, defiant, confident, aroused, at times even suicidal. Everything about the film sounds right but for some reasons it just failed to hold my attention. In retrospect, I think it was the pace with which the movie moved. It was a little slow for him. Also, I guess people who have lived a suburban life can more connect with something like this. The story for me was somewhat unbelievable. The ending is a cheap shot. The movie and the ending have so little in common that it's as if the last scene is spliced in from a different film.

The film has got excellent reviews throughout. I must have missed something that everyone else saw. (3/10)

Altitude Falling

2011-04-23T13:17:00.005-04:00

What the hell was that film. Certain things about this film just made no sense whatsoever. What was the point that the film makers were trying to put across? Why did they have to set this film in future? It was all just too bizarre. Agreed they wanted to show what could potentially our life be in next 50 years or so but it is still not good enough reason to make a bad film with some really bad acting.

We are in future where every human body has a chip and that is how government keeps a track of you. Somehow there are a couple people here and there who have managed to stay away from being chipped. Middle aged Gary keep all to himself till he meets 20 something Danny. Danny and his mother have just moved to town to stay with her mother until they can find work. It turns out that David's mother was once married to Greg's lab partner. Greg and his partner were the ones who invented the idea of human chips. She is furious with both men for selling out humanity with their invasive invention. Danny's grandmother is a retired actress who became the voice for every scanner on the planet. Greg is still in touch with Danny's estranged father and he uses his prior connections to help get the lad a job. Over the course for some odd reasons, David and Greg become lovers which of course does not go down very well with David's mother. But the bigger fish that they need to fry is the fact that government might do something with the employees of the organization that David works for. Will Greg be able to save his love?

This film was such a drag that I dont even feel like writing a review for this. The acting was really poor on all accounts barring a couple of scenes here and there. I have already mentioned about the plot and what was all those scenes about him talking to his friend and his boss. It was all so bizarre. Also why would Greg wanna parade around naked in a lot of scenes. Just because he is producer director or because being the director he gets to fool around with young naked men. An almost believable plot about people being chipped in future (but who knows) can only be 1 positive thing about this film.

Avoid unless who are looking forward for naked shots of an old man. (2/10)

Kambyo (Filipino)

2011-04-22T12:23:00.003-04:00

The film is named Kambyo because of the term “Joy ride”. It is about the journey of 4 gay men (we dont even know if they are really gay) wanting to take a break in their own busy and sometimes pointless life. During the trip, they soon discovered themselves and find the direction they take to move on in their own lives. The film originally hows 2 of the 4 men questioning about their sexuality but then after a while it just presumes everyone is gay and goes along with that assumption.

Cousins Macky and Manuel start on a road trip to look for the Macky's long lost friend Philip. They bring along with them their fun loving friend Xavier, who tags along a hunky guy named Aldo, whom he just met right before their trip. Along the trip they just talk about normal regular stuff that doesn't add much value (actually no value at all) to the movie. As they drive their way up north of Manila, this unrestrained group of three friends and a stranger explore the boundaries of their friendships, their sexualities, their dreams and the future that lies ahead of them. Macky finally finds his friend who is now married with a wife and a son but they both have this feeling of love for one another. They consummate their love so that they can finally move on with their life. After the road trip, Macky is able to let go of his secret feelings for his best friend Philip, who is now married with two children; Manuel is able to express his love for Xavier; Xavier gets to realize that he is worth the love that he has been fearfully avoiding; and Aldo realizes that he still can dream despite the struggles in his life.

The film looks like as if it has been directed by an amateur using a hand held camera. Acting is very amateur except for Macky who is the only mature person in the group. Even the chemistry between friends or lovers is hardly there. Some scenes in the movie go on and on forever. he sound quality was very bad (not that I cared because I was reading subtitles) but you could tell it was really bad. The only good part of the film was Macky and Philip finally meeting, expressing their love and moving on with their life.

Easily avoidable. (1.5/10)

Marathon

2011-04-22T10:56:00.002-04:00

This was such a bad film on all accounts. I waited for a while hoping there would be something nice and tender that the film has to offer but I was so wrong and finally I reached a stage where I just could not wait any more or bear the film. There is no concept of screenplay in this film. Combined with a pathetic direction and acting, this film tests your patience.

Based on the real lie story of poet William Meredith and his partner of 17 years Robert. When William suffered a stroke that left him almost helpless, Richard stood by his lover and fought for the right to be his caregiver against the wishes of William's family and aware of the restrictions that would be put on his own life. The film is set against the backdrop of training for and running of the New York marathon. We watch Richard gain the strength to work with his partner and see him help him through his illness, therapy and healing and we certainly feel the love they share.

The film was like random scenes put together here and there with no continuity and a lot of ambiguity. Acting was so bad specially by the guy playing Richard. But I would put more fault on the director because he probably didn't even realize how pathetically bad the actors expressions were. You know, films about love, devotion and sacrifice can be so loving and inspirational but this one beats them all on being one of the shoddiest acted films ever with a very uninspiring screenplay and story.

Stay away. (0.5/10)

Adam & Steve

2011-04-21T15:09:00.002-04:00

I saw this film the second time recently. I have to admit that I did not enjoy it as much as I did the first time. I still remember when I saw it the first time, I was completely bowled over but then that was the time when I had just started watching gay cinema. This does not mean it is not a good film. It is a gay romantic comedy which also uses some of its time to also focus on a straight couple as well who happen to be friends of Adam and Steve.

In the 80s in New York, goth makeup guy Adam meets a glam rock dancer Steve and they end up back in Adam's apartment. All the drugs and laxatives get the worse out of them and because of some very unhygienic reasons they never have sex. Fast forward to 17 years Adam again meets Steve who is now a doctor and love blossoms over a period of time. Neither of them remembers the past. Their affair starts with awkwardness, angst over saying ' I Love You' and weird meetings with respective parents. In the meantime we also have Adam's friend Rhonda and Steve's friend becoming a couple. After sometime one day Steve actually realizes that it was him and Adam 17 years ago and that act still makes him shameful. He starts avoiding Adam who cannot understand the reasons behind sudden change of heart. After a series of events, like every movie they also end u being together after a very exhilarating cowboy step dance in a NYC club.

The films funniest moments come from Rhonda's standup act because she once used to be fat and also his lover. This film combines an irreverent sense of humor as well as genuine and heartfelt emotions that demonstrates the trials of relationships whether they be gay or straight. This film is over-the-top at times with crass and unapologetically vulgar humor, but trust me, this film will make you laugh hysterically. Thankfully, there was no sad ending, just a lot of laughs and genuine chemistry between Adam & Steve. My favorite was of course the dance off between the 2 guys by the end of the film.

If romantic comedies and cheesy love are your thing, you will like this film. They are mine and I liked it. (7/10)

Christopher and His Kind (UK)

2011-04-19T13:35:00.004-04:00

This film was made for TV Uk film. I am by now very surprised how open Uk is about telecasting TV movies on gay subjects on BBC channel. I wonder when will America ever be so open about these things. Anyway. coming back, this film is autobiography of famous write Christopher Isherwood and his life in Berlin in early 1930s. The film is based on his book which itself became controversial when certain things were written about certain people who now enjoyed a healthy, successful and scandal free life.

Christopher is leaving England to go to Germany against the wishes of his mother. He meets Gerald on the train who suggest he can live in the same boarding house as him run by the landlady. Once in Berlin Christpher meets his friend Wystan (who we later find out that Wystan actually loves Christopher) who takes him to a seedy gay club populated by hustlers. In the boarding house, he becomes good friends with Jean, an aspiring actress. Christopher stars an affair with Caspar who is a hustler. The affair lasts till Caspar suddenly disappears and join the Nazis. Soon Heinz enters Christopher's life who is a street sweeper. They fall in true love for each other. Heinz's mother likes him but his brother, a Nazi sympathizer despises him. jean is left pregnant by one of her suitors and leaves Berlin soon after she gets an abortion. With the Nazis gaining in power, Christopher and Heinz decide to leave Berlin. They travel to England and Christopher tries to secure permanent residency in England for Heinz. Their hopes are dashed, however, when a passport officer denies Heinz a permit to remain in the country. We later find out that Heinz was eventually arrested, spent time in prison and finally in army. Almost 20 years later, when Christopher goes to Berlin again, he meets Heinz again who is now married with a son. He coaxes Christopher to have a family and also proposes that his family could be Chris' family if they can come to America. Christopher refuses to commit to the idea but promises to remain in contact with Heinz.

The guy playing Christopher does a good acting job. At time sI found his accent and mannerisms a little over the top but I am ready to give him the benefit of doubt because of the period the film was set in. It is not an easy job to portray autobiographical characters. The fact that the film was true story of a write makes it much more interesting. Had it been just a regular fictional story, I would be surprised if many people will find it appealing. Some of the explicit sex scenes were also fun to watch. Closing titles convey that the next year, 1953, Christopher met Don Bachardy and the two remained together until Isherwood's death. Christopher and His Kind was published in 1976 and Heinz, shocked at its frankness, never communicated with Christopher again which is completely understandable since Heinz was by then a successful 'straight' man.

The film wasn’t great but it was bravely done. (5.5/10)

Boys On Film 6 : Pacific Rim (Short Films)

2011-04-17T10:24:00.005-04:00

Drowning (Australia)
Things are changing for Mik. His world has been turned upside down by the sudden death of his big brother forcing him to redefine his place in his family and the world. The one solid thing in Mik s life is his best friend Dan. But Dan has a new girlfriend. BUt dan also will go to any length to be there for Mik because he knows Mik is gullible and all he has is Dan.

Franswa Sharl (Australia)
On a family holiday to Fiji, twelve year old Greg s creative pursuits fail to amuse his father. Setting out to win back his admiration, he enters himself into a competition for a beauty pageant and wins. Apparently based on a true story, this film for a change has a happy ending.

Tanjong Rhu (Singapore)
A former military officer makes a film about a man he encountered in Tanjong Rhu, a secluded cruising ground. He narrates his experiences of how he was caught and put in jail and publicly ridiculed in the media. Again, inspired from a real incident that happened in 1993 in SIngapore.

Teddy (New Zealand)
An earnest Londoner attempts to rekindle an old relationship while on holiday in New Zealand, but a faded old teddy bear from the past ultimately decides his fate. I had seen this one before and it was just ok.

LOVE, 100°C (South Korea)
A hearing-impaired boy, Min-so is gay, and he likes his classmate, Ji-seok. One day, Min-so impulsively has sex with a man who works in a public bath, an experience that lends him a new-found confidence, but at a heavy price.

My Last Ten Hours With You (Australia)
At 6am Jeremy and Mark will go their separate ways. Their last ten hours together over one hot night will be punctuated with friends, fights and frustrations as they wait it out, each dealing with the loss of love in their own way.

Ron the Zookeeper (Australia)
With only one male grey panda left in the entire world, Ron the zookeeper is sent in to get a sperm sample, no matter what. An animation gay short, it was weirdest in this entire selection.

Ajumma! Are You Krazy??? (Hawaii, USA)
Fuelled by their schoolgirl hormones, three Ajummas , aka Korean soap fanatics - the lovable Judy, Susan the gruff-tough one, and Amy the sassy tart - go on a hilarious journey to try and meet Korean superstar Michael Park by stealing his itinerary, breaking into his hotel room, and sneaking on to his music video set. However, they didn't factor in the competition! Hilarious!!

The stories in my opinion had nothing new to offer in this series, although the last story Ajumma made up for everything. This story was hilarious. Must watch. WIsh I could say the same about the rest. (5.5/10)

La finestra di fronte (Italian) [Facing Windows]

2011-04-16T23:13:00.004-04:00

Another brilliant film from the Turkish director who has settled in italy and has made some real good cinema with some pretty prominent gay characters. This film might not come as close to some of his other gems but nonetheless this one also make for a very very pleasant viewing and makes you think that not everything is so pleasant and good as it seems on the outside. Everyone is going through their own issues, problems and solutions.

Giovanna and her husband Fillipo are both not happy with their jobs specially since they work day and night shifts respectively. They constantly argue about everything which kind of shows that their marriage is crumbling but they are together only for the sake of their kids. Once walking they met an old man who is totally disoriented and is carrying a lot of money with him. Despite Giovanna's protests, Filippo brings him back to their home for the night so that he can take him to the police the next morning. 1 day stretches into many days. This old man who Giovanna thinks is named Simone because that is the only name the old man remembers, keeps having strange visuals. He sees himself trying to save lives of various Jews and in the process losing his lover. Taking care of this old man, leads to Giovanna meeting Lorenzo who lives in the opposite building. The sexual tension between the two is quite palpable as they have both been secretly watching and lusting after each other from their dimly lit windows. Their friendship leads to passionate kiss in the process of trying to unravel the mystery of the old man. And now since Lorenzo is being transferred for work, Giovanna is in a tough spot where she can't decide whether to choose her heart and go with Lorenzo or choose her mind and continue with her responsibilities. She chooses later. One day when Goivanna finds a love letter in Simone's coat addressed to Simone from a certain Davide. The next day Simone disappears. After a series of incidents she finds out that Simone is indeed Davide, the famous owner of the bakeries in Italy. She gets the exclusive privilege of learning from the man himself. And the letter is something that he wrote to his old time lover in 40s. That what the time was homosexuality was a complete no no and it was the war time. Davide had heard the news that Jews were gonna get killed, so Davide had to decide between heart and mind. One said save your lover and forget the rest and mind said to protect a many people as you can. He chose the latter and ended up losing his love forever.

The most interesting aspect is how both Davide in 40s and now Giovanni has to decide between their heart and mind and how they both choose responsibilities over the former. The acting by all lead characters is just superb. Giovanna depicts her confusions, frustration and responsibilities with great skills. Davide's character takes time to make sense but when finally it does towards the end, the viewers are shocked. You get to witness how in the present day the 2 lovers behave and meet (although maybe not pure since the woman is married) and similarly how the 2 men used to communicate with each other hiding letters in secret places that only they could read. It is in fact the sad love story of the 2 men that makes you cry and want more. But at the same time it is the beauty of the screenplay and the direction that is completely magical. I feel now I should watch this movie again a second time to closely watch some of the minute nuisances that i might have missed the first time.

Take a bow Mr. Ferzan Ozpetek for you have proved time and again that you are not a fluke. Your films are absolutely magical and very close to my heart. (7.5/10)

KM. 0 (SPanish) [Kilometer Zero]

2011-04-15T11:50:00.003-04:00

The title refers to Madrid's central square. This film is a comedic look at the love lives of 14 different people and how they interconnect during one hot August afternoon around this central square. Mistaken identities and second chances are among the results of this comedy of errors. It is actually somewhat of a surprise for its frank treatment of all kinds of sexual relationships.

You are introduced to 14 persons who meet at KM0 on a hot afternoon. Of course, everyone meets people who they think are there to meet them, but they are all meeting the wrong people. Pedro, a young film student is looking to meet his sister's conservative friend ends up mistaking a prostitute for her only to realize the truth later hen it is too late. An old lady bored with her husband decides to meet a hot male hustler but comes to realize a little late in the game that he might actually be her lost son. An uptight accountant, who was supposed to meet a hooker to experiment before his wedding is picked up by a vivacious gay guy who takes him to a nearby bar for drinks. The gay guys missed his internet date because he got snagged by a sexy flamenco dancer and off they have gone for an afternoon filled with fun and love. We also have the bartender who is trying to save money to open his own bar, his fiance who is a control freak, her sister who truly loves the bartender and thinks that she is a better choice for him than her sister. We also have an actress who will go to any lengths to get a part in a film or theatre with a director.

With all these parallel stories going on, you would think hat proceedings could get confusing but they dont. In fact the director does a great job in making sure that all the stories remain simple enough. All sorts of funny and sexy scenarios play out as the day progresses and this i what keeps the attention focussed of the viewer. The obvious message is that our destinies are the result of the most accidental of encounters. Acting wise everyone I think suited their part, its hard to single out any one actor in an ensemble cast. Overall the film leaves you fully satisfied.

Watch it for this one has the right combination of comedy, naughtiness, thought and drama. (7.5/10)

Children Of God

2011-04-11T22:56:00.003-04:00

This film tackles the subject of gay rights and human behaviours in the beautiful Bahamas. Among the sunny background of this Caribbean paradise, there is a huge social and religious unrest. The film is a moving, thought-provoking, funny and brilliantly poetic love story of an artist and a closeted musician.

Johnny is an art student in Nassau whose technique is perfect, but he’s creatively blocked. His teacher sends him off to the rural island of Eleuthera where he meets Romeo, a hot musician. They begin a clumsy dance of attraction and romance. Romeo has a fiancé and is identified as straight, but he’s been known to play with the boys on the side secretly. The Bahamas are bound by religious traditions that discourage homosexuality and end up forcing gay men into the closet. Lena is a pastor’s wife. Her husband demonizes homosexuality to further his career, yet he is the one who plays on the side outside his marriage. When Lena discovers that her husband has infected her with STD, she redirects her marital fury into antigay verbiage and a flirtation with a more open-minded reverend. All these characters are all bound together in this intense drama of love, family and secrets.

The film is shot beautifully. Someone like me who has never visited or seen much of the Bahamas, it was a visual treat. Johnny acted his part very well of a white Bohemian art student who is constantly bullied by local black guys. This is not a story of race but a story of faith in identity and love. The romance between the 2 boys develops beautifully. But what surprises you is Lena. She acts her part with such conviction and honesty. In fact each character in the film resonates with authenticity.

Watch it for brilliant acting, visual treat and a story that simply touches you. (7/10)

Reconciliation

2011-04-10T12:39:00.003-04:00

The subject of this film was touching and new, in fact it was very touching. Only if the performances in the film would have been better, this could have taken the film to a whole new level. Not many gay films have dealt with the subject of gay father and his straight son. We have seen many with the other way around, but this film in that sense brings something new to the table. It also mixes religion with homosexuality which tends to make it preachy at times.

Grant is a soon-to-be father, who has been behaving strange ever since him and his wife Sara have been pregnant. There is something about his childhood that bothers him. Grant privately wrestles with his embarrassment and anger toward his own father. Things take a turn when Sara receives a call informing them that Grant’s dad, Jeff, is terminally ill and his last wish is to see his son. Grant tells Sara that he abandoned his father at the age of 10 and told everyone that he is dead. Now he doesn't know what to do. On Sara's insistence, Grant goes to meet his father who is now dying of AIDS. With initial awkwardness, starts the struggle for both father and son to forgive past and start new. Grant meets his partner, his friends etc and finds out that his father got AIDS because of blood transfusion. His father and his mother had always remained friends but it was because of Jeff's insistence his mother never told him anything, since Grant was embarrassed about Jeff. However bad the things had turned, Jeff had always and will always love Grant. Jeff also tells how he had to struggle when Jeff's mother and father disowned him. They have long discussions on christianity and homosexuality. Grant finally forgives his father, even asks for his permission to name his soon-to-be born son after his name. Having being forgiven by Grant, Jeff finally dies in peace.

Jeff loves Grant unconditionally despite Grant’s hateful action and inaction towards him. This movie shows that by the end, Grant comes around and is able to love his father and his partner with the same passion. The long scenes where bible is discussed with homosexuality were a little too long. I am glad some of those issues were addressed but here is a thin fine line between information and being preachy. The initial scenes between Grant and Sara were a little awkward. They did not seem like husband and wife at all but later between Grant and Jeff, they portrayed the emotions with raw emotional punch. Jeff acted his part very well. In fact, it was very easy to sympathize with his character and at the same time feel the love for his son in his eyes. Some scenes leave you choked in the film like the one where Grant is graduating and he tells an adult partygoer that his father is dead when he is standing right there. The other one was when Sara asks Jeff his permission to name their son.

This film shows us that it is never too late to forgive. (6/10)

Les Nuits Fauves (French) [Savage Nights]

2011-04-09T15:54:00.003-04:00

I thought this was a very weird movie. Actually had I seen it around the time when it came out in early 90's , it is slightly possible that my view could have been different but watching it today made me feel that the viewer was at times being taken for granted. This film can easily be classified as one of those artsy gay films. You need patience and time to watch this film because there is a whole lot going on and actually nothing going on at the same time.

Jean, a professional photographer living in Paris discovers that he has contracted the HIV virus. He is young, fll of life and is shown gay. He meets Laura, a young actress whom he meets at an audition for a commercial he is working on. For some reason he has this instant attraction towards here and they start having sex without any protection, she being unaware of his HIV status. Meanwhile, Jean also continues having random gay encounters, as well as a sexual relationship with Samy, an aggressive and narcissistic young bodybuilder. Laura is angry when Jean finally tells her he is HIV positive, yet her emotional attachment to him becomes more and more intense and they begin living together. She also becomes increasingly possessive of Jean and jealous of his relationship with Samy. Returning from a short vacation, Laura finds Samy and Jean living together, and she reacts furiously. Jean decides to end his relationship with Laura, who is now obsessed with him to the point of self-destruction. Having gone to live with her mother, she descends further and further into hysteria, occupying her time by phoning Jean and screaming insults at him. Laura is treated in a psychiatric ward where she is found to not have the virus. When he sees Laura again, she has nearly fully recovered and has a new boyfriend. She now accepts that her relationship with Jean is over, and they say good-bye to each other.

There is a lot of melodrama between Jean, Laura and Sammy. Jean loves both of them and cannot just seem to choose either of them while he is struggling with being HIV positive. He is a complex character whose love translates into a consuming, sensuous hunger for physical pleasure, companionship, and excitement, as well as living a normal life. This is a film that is not simply about HIV and the way it takes away life, but rather about what happens to a life when HIV enters into it. Laura has acted superb in this film. She gets to play a gamut of emotions and she has used this to her full opportunity.

A semi-autobiographical film from the director, he dies soon after the film got widely acclaimed. (4/10)

Todo lo que tú quieras (Spanish) [Anything You Want]

2011-04-07T11:22:00.004-04:00

There are emotional films and then there are films that touch you. This film is one such case. A heart-wrenching story of the sudden death of a young girl’s mother, the film shows the extreme and even absurd lengths a father will go to to make his daughter happy. Some of the steps that the father takes might seem weird but it works in the film because there is nothing else that matters to him except his daughter.

Leo and Alicia live together in Madrid with their 4-year-old daughter, Dafne. Although they both work, Alicia is the one that spends the most time with their child. Leo is more concerned with his job at a law firm and spends more time away from home. Alicia's sudden death changes things. Dafne is missing her mother terrible and when she meets Marta (an old friend of Leo), she asks her if she would like to be her fake mother which surprises both Marta and Leo. Leo wants to give a try but he soon realizes that no one can take Alicia's place and he can never forget her. He decided that he will be both the father and the mother for Dafne. It starts with a small game of Leo putting on lipstick at night, reading stories to his daughter, exactly like Alicia used to do. It greatly comforts Dafne. He takes the next step with wig. Dafne is doing much better now. To be as much like a woman, Leo now has to take the help of Alex, a cross dressing man whom he once insulted in the club. Things get risky when Leo doesn't bother about anyone and is very comfortable wearing wig, makeup and dress like a woman in public to drop his daughter off to school and at the same time continuing to be a man. He is warned by his closest firm at office and also by the psychiatrist at school that Dafne thinks her mother is not dead but Leo makes Dafne understand that it is just a game and he is really her father. The film ends when Dafne asks Leo (who is dressed as Alicia more and more now for his daughter's sake) that she wants to see her dad and when Leo asks what will we do with Mom, she replies when we miss her, we will close our eyes and just imagine her. Leo's hard work finally pays of and father and daughter (not mother and daughter) finally come close.

Leo's actions in the film as per the normal society rules can be potentially dangerous and very surprising and we actually see that in the film when he is actually bashed up by some youngsters thinking he is gay. This was a very bold subject that the film-makers chose and I personally loved it. It was directed with such compassion that even though you think what Leo is doing is not the best but you want to be with him. Never ever have I seen a scenario where a father will go any lengths for his daughter. Morally complex situations are shown with intelligence and compassion. Both Leo and Dafne give standout performances. The pace of the film is just perfect. The last scene when Leo is removing his make-up and Dafne helps him remove it because she now releases that her mother is no more and wants her father back, can easily bring tears in your eyes.

The film is about tolerance and acceptance. Strongly recommended. (8/10)

Moritz (Swiss German)

2011-04-05T14:44:00.003-04:00

I loved this film. There is so much more to gay cinema than just petty repeatable themes. It is no nice, warm and refreshing to see something different that comes along the way and touches your heart completely. This film is a very good example of how you can have emotions, drama and a small touch of comedy and still make a film that talks to you and makes you think. It is not to say that the film did not have any flaws but despite everything, it made for a wonderful viewing.

Moritz’s mother is an epileptic who seems to be the only person taking care of the boy.She ignores the severe headaches, until one night she feels so bad that she has to go to the neighbors to ask them to keep an eye on Moritz. The neighbors are a gay couple Ralph and Andi who themselves are struggling in this small neighborhood. The two men are not entirely happy with this new responsibility as they are already having some relationship difficulties, one is under a lot of pressure due to a possible promotion at work and the other is missing city life. At first, they naturally try to find a relative the boy can stay with while his mother is in the hospital. They are able to locate his grandmother, but the boy hardly knows her and prefers to stay at his neighbors. This causes a lot of rumors in the neighborhood since “Two men and a little boy” – seems scandalous for some of the neighbors haunted by their own prejudices. At the same time, the village is preparing to meet the President of the Swiss Republic, and the grandmother of the boy insists that the boy be placed in a “decent “family. How does the mayor deal with this issue and the fact of why and to whom should the responsibility of Moritz go makes for some fun but at the same time thought provoking viewing. Finally, all is well since Moritz's mother has a successful surgery and he can now stay back with his mother.

The best part of the film is the humane story. It is so easy to relate with the story and be touched. The scenes that show how Moritz and the gay couple ultimately warm up to each other to the extent of getting used to each other makes your heart melt. Being gay myself and wanting a child, this just strikes the chord. It is a movie high on emotions but at the same time acted really well by everyone. It was also interesting to see how Ralph and Andi, though they have their own struggles but when it comes to safety and well being of Moritz they stick together. All the supporting characters have also acted really well. How I wish, US made more such meaningful gay films rather than churning out crap (most of the times).

Strongly recommended. (7.5/10)

To A Tee

2011-04-04T13:02:00.003-04:00

I have seen worse movies , so it is kinda hard to say all bad things about the film. There were some decent moments but they were so few and far in between that the negatives take over completely the few decent parts of the film. There were times I had to just fast forward the film because they were just random dialogues which after a point became so boring that it was unbearable.

David is a young gay actor. During one of his shows, he meets Amanda and they soon become thickest of friends. David is forever with Amanda. He tells her about his relationship with this guy from his acting class and how their relationship grew and then finally it ended. David then meets Xan who is the director of his play and they go an a date. As always David is again completely smitten by him and says that he is for keeps. Things go on well but David soon gets so clingy that they also break up. He can't understand what's wrong. This is the time that Amanda tells him that she has got a job and she is moving to different town. He is sad but Amanda is fine because at any point it was always about David and never about anyone else. Amanda invites David at her house to introduce him to her boyfriend Kevin. She knows Kevin had history with men. Kevin and David have this instant connection. David doesn't even think about Amanda and starts going around with Kevin. Kevin does not want Amanda to know the truth but when it finally comes out Amanda is completely heartbroken and asks David never ever to meet him again. Ultimately David loses everything. He uses these life experiences in a play which Amanda does come to watch. As soon he runs after her after the play to meet her, he is stopped by a young man and we see David go back to his philandering ways of always trying to find a new boyfriend.

The only best thing about the movie was the same guy playing different roles of all of David's boyfriends. I think that was pretty interesting, plus he looked very good too. There are some long boring scenes like the one where David and Amanda are on a bed and they are just talking. I felt like shaking them up and asking them to shut the fuck up. David (also the producer/director) of the film is ok in acting but I am very curious what was he trying to show in the film. Was it about a gay man's philadenring ways, or about fag hags or about the fact that any man he met , David used to immediately make him as his boyfriend or what?

At best this could have been a good short film. Avoid. (3/10)

Floating

2011-04-03T20:56:00.002-04:00

I feel like of late I have been staring my blogs by saying how this or that film is not particularly a gay film. The reason being that just because a couple of characters happen to be gay, does not make it a gay theme movie which was the original intention behind my blog. But since I happened to see this film because of the gay content, I feel the need to review it here. I dont think I would have even heard or watched this movie otherwise. This film is an emotional coming of age story of a young teenage boy. A well-acted film in which sympathetic and complex characters drive the story (which is nothing much to boast of in the first place)

For financial reasons, Van is taking time off from school and taking care of his handicapped double amputee father. 2 of his close buddies also come in the countryside with beautiful lakes and stuff. Van finds out that his buddies have been stashing their break in loot and weed in the cellar of Van's mother's up for sale house. Unexpectedly a family soon moves in that house. The son of the family Doug is befriended initially by the 3 of them to get their stuff out of the basement of the house. Doug is cool when he finds out the whole story. They all start to bond really well to the extent that Doug tries his hand once with his friends to loot some stuff. Doug swims for state and his dad is his coach and Doug realizes that Van is also a great swimmer. Van and Doug become very close friends because of swimming. Doug's father comes off as a hard ass coach who snipes away at his masculinity. One night out of the blue Van discovers that Doug is gay but he is cool with that. Initially Doug is embarrassed but comes around and their friendship continues. Tired of his father's bullying and having to take care of his demanding father, Doug and Van are tired and decide to loot a house and get away. The whole incident goes wrong in which Doug dies and Van and his father finally come together for the first time to transcend mourning.

The best part of the film for me was that when the straight guy discovers that his friend is gay, they remain cool and he doesn't become gay (like we have seen in numerous films). They remain normal friends. Throughout nothing much is happening except the 4 dudes aimlessly walking with bare (good) bodies. When Doug comes in the scene, the proceedings get interesting but then again towards the climax of the film, the story completely loses its tempo. Acting from all principal characters was good. One thing that wasn't clear to me was when they show that Van has to go sleep with his dad every night. Was it because his dad gets scared in the night or something hidden for the viewers to imagine? Till the last minute I could not figure that out. The film deals with a young man's struggle to overcome the tough hand life has dealt him and about the friends he makes along the way. It shows shows how a father-son relationship progress due to various incidents in life.

A film showing 2 young men dealing with finding their own path is a little uneventful at times but slightly better than most crap out there. (5/10)

Me da igual (Spanish) [I Couldn't Care Less]

2011-03-31T14:48:00.006-04:00

I dunno why but I had some kind of expectations form this film. Maybe because gay films from Spanish have historically been good. This film started off well and promising but after a while it was nothing short of wasting time to even finish this film. None of the character sketch was built properly and it just moved from one incident to the other, from one person to another, it was just odd.

Jorge, a wannabe writer is flatmate with Marta who doesn't like labels. She just has sex with men or women or whoever she likes. Jorge is also struggling that is he a bisexual. He fears that suddenly he will have feelings for men and wants to do something about it. He meets his ex-girlfriend Eva who is now running a book store. Marta introduces him to Alberto, his gay colleague. Jorge and Alberto hit it off well. Alberto offers to help Jorge in his struggle but Jorge is not sure. They do end up sleeping with each other but just literally because Jorge is not good with his drinks. Then there is Ines, a religious healer who gets liking for Jorge and wants to get him in her bed. Marta meets Mario in one of the clubs and they instantly fall in love. All these people randomly keep meeting in various bars, clubs or parties for no rhyme or reason. When Marta moves in with Mario, she realizes that he is too much of a drug addict and an abuser and she can't take it anymore. Also Alberto is suddenly now diagnosed with AIDS and he has few days to live. Film ends with everyone celebrating his birthday.

This film leaves viewers with so many questions. Why were Jorge and Marta never a couple when they liked each other so much. It a little weird to see both of them walking around naked in the house. It is different if Jorge was gay, which brings me to another question. Why does eevrytone think Jorge is gay and what is this weird obsession with 'I might turn gay'. It just doesn't make any sense. Ines and Eva's character were so useless (and so were others). Film could have been so much better with good focus on Marta, Jorge and Alberto rather than making a hocus-pocus out of various characters. And when an AIDS subplot made an appearance in the plot line I pretty much lost interest in this film.

This is not a film that I envision ever wanting to view a second time. (3/10)

More Gay Short Films

2011-03-31T11:02:00.007-04:00

Dear Friend (UK)
Christian and James are bestest of buddies. Set in 1965, we see how Christian is falling for James and one night, when he can't control, he kisses James who completely freaks out. They have a huge fight and James calls him names. Knowing all this Chris' father interrupt and asks him to see a psychiatrist. He decides to leave home and cant take it anymore. I guess James realizes his mistake and comes back wanting to be friends again. We see them now both playing as happily they did when the film started. I am not sure of the intent behind setting the film in 60s but I can see a person reacting a in a very similar manner even today. Guys looked super hot. It is a nice sweet and short 15 minute film. (6/10)

Oranges (Australia)
This film shows the awkwardness of 2 growing up teenage boys starting to recognise and explore their homosexuality. After a cycle accident, a guy is taken in by his senior in school and he starts boasting about girls. The elder guy is eating orange but the younger one refuses since he has braces. They are hanging out and end of kissing each other when the younger one says his kiss tastes of orange. Things are back to regular routine. The senior guy ignores younger guy but now the young boy is eating oranges because that is the only way he can still feel the kiss. The ending of the film is absolutely brilliant and it was good to see the right actors of right age enacting the parts. (6.5/10)

Trevor (USA)
Trevor is a film many people will identify with. It takes a sensitive yet blunt approach to suicide. It deals with a young boy's thoughts about his sexuality at a very important stage of his life. When Trevor realizes that he might be gay, suddenly kids around him somehow seem to know and begin to mistreat him. At the same time, his parents refuse to really talk about it and send him to talk to a priest who is completely inept in dealing with it. As a result, it's no surprise that Trevor is on the brink of suicide. Presented by Ellen DeGeneres and brilliantly acted by the lead actor playing Trevor, t successfully manages to entertain the viewer at the same time. Trevor has a camp and very funny side. This helps makes the film all the more real. (7.5/10)

Boys Grammar (Australia)
Gareth attends a private school and is attracted to Nick. When Nick and others see him ogling at jocks naked bodies, the bullying crosses all levels and they end up raping Gareth. Gareth and Nick meet again at a private dinner where when Nick provokes Gareth asking him if he has become a man, Nick starts punching him but ultimately both men hugging and crying. I am not too sure of I completely understood what the end exactly was. I guess Nick was himself dealing with his own demons. Nice acting and very provocative. (6/10)

Fighting Tommy Riley

2011-03-30T15:04:00.003-04:00

I am surprised that I had not heard of this movie before I saw it. It is such a fantastic movie specially about human relationships. It is not just a boxing movie as most would like to think, rather the film focuses very heavily on the protagonist and his trainer and this is what makes this film an experience to watch.

Tommy Riley is a young and gifted boxer, who has completely lost his self-confidence after a mistake in Olympic trails and his relationship with his girlfriend is now at stake. Concurrently we meet Marty Goldberg, an obese, has been trainer who left the ring because of a dark demon he harbors and has turned to teaching high school English. Marty is friends with Diane whom he saved sometime ago and is now a boxing promoter. When Marty spots Tommy, he asks him to call him so that he can train him. Things are going fine and the trust and bond between the 2 is impeccable. Tommy is starting to gain back his confidence. Before one of the big fights, Tommy and Marty go to Marty's cabin in the woods to train without distractions. After several days, during a rubdown following a workout, Marty touches Tommy inappropriately. Tommy reacts strongly negatively and Marty apologizes. They agree to ignore the incident but return to the city ahead of schedule. When Tommy wins, he wants to take everyone out but a big promoter at the same time takes them out which Marty refuses to go. The same night, he ends up in hospital. This is when Diane tells Tommy that when Marty was a fighter, people threatened to expose Marty's homosexuality, so he ended his career by putting his hand through a window and damaging it. He became a teacher and his influence led Diane to make herself a success. After his big win, one of the biggest firms offer Tommy a million dollar for a title fight but they want him to leave Marty which Marty also wants so that Tommy can go further in life. Tommy refuses the deal if it means leaving Marty. Marty tries to alienate Tommy and ultimately ends up killing himself. FInally we see Tommy going for his big fight regaining his confidence after he sees an image of Marty, his inspiration wearing his old ring robe.

Both the lead characters are absolutely fantastic in their performances. Rarely as a film about sports been influenced by the presence of sexual preferences, but Marty's character does it with elan and dignity. And the manner in which Tommy finesses both the initial advances from Marty and then gradually alters his response in understanding his behavior is nothing short of miraculous acting. I loved the trainer's sense of caring and him personally, and it is one of the triumphs of this flick that Tommy Riley does too, in his own hetero way. More importantly, trust, character, and humane values are validated here as well.

There is a lesson here about intergenerational relationships, as well as how we sexualize friendships undesirably. (7/10)

House Of Boys

2011-03-29T18:57:00.003-04:00

Wow!! What a graph this movie had! This film is definitely an emotional roller coaster. No wonder the director very sensibly divides the film into three acts focussing on different aspects and emotions. I personally think that this was a brilliant idea because that way it kinds of set focus on energies for the act. Very few films have dealt with gays and AIDS in a very mature way and with sensitivity. This film definitely succeeds in doing that after Longtime Companion.

Sometime in 80s we see a young boy Frank who is very open about his sexuality and deals very bravely with his school mates teasing and bullying him. He is a free spirit, like to have sex and before its too late he leaves his parents house and runs to Amsterdam with his closest gal pal. When the gal pal decides to go back, he has nowhere to go. Looking for shelter, he quickly finds refuge in an all-male strip/show club called House of Boys. He gets both work and house to live in there with 3 other guys who work in this club. Madame, a drag queen is the owner of this club. He makes friends with everyone but has this huge crush on his room mate Jake. But Jake is straight and i sin club only so that he can save money to do something meaningful in life. He also acts as a hustler in the club. After a few is understanding between Jake and his girlfriend, Jake ultimately responds to Frank's love and they start sharing a very very beautiful relationship. Just when things are going fine, Jake is diagnosed with AIDS and is asked to leave the club. The final act of the story shows Jake dealing with sickness and how Frank with all his love and support remains with him through his last days and end.

The first act is very bubble, comic and fun stuff with usual gay melodrama of hot bodies, drag queens, bitchiness and all. The second act, we see love blossoming between the 2 men. The scene where they first kiss and make love actually is very sensual and has been directed very esthetically. But its the last part that you are not prepared for and it saddens you. You feel for both Jake and Frank. Both the principal characters and even others have done a great job of acting. The visuals clearly show the open-nes and joyful gay liberation in early 80s until AIDS strike and things change suddenly. This and photography with acting and sensitivity makes this film different from a regular boy meets boy and boy loses boyfriend to AIDS story.

It was little odd to see fluent English speakers in the film supposedly set in Amsterdam but I am not complaining. I liked the film. (7/10)

Dear Mr. Gacy (Canada)

2011-03-29T14:37:00.004-04:00

This is a Canadian film, a true story and a much better watch that most crime dramas. Based on the true story of John Gacy, an American serial killer also known as the Killer Clown who committed the rape and murder of 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. The movie is based on the true story of a college student contacting John Wayne Gacy in prison before he was executed.

Jason is an aimless college student whose only real passion seems to be criminology. The impending execution of Gacy gives him an idea--if he could find a way to contact the convicted serial killer, earn his trust and friendship, and persuade him to open up and perhaps even confess, it would make for a kickass term paper. His family, professor and girlfriend advice against it but still he goes ahead. Jason contacts Gacy by mail and even sends him some provocative shirtless photos to whet his interest. After a little research, Jason is also able to say things in his letters which are designed to establish a sympathetic, trusting rapport with the killer. The plan succeeds beyond Jason's wildest expectations, with Gacy becoming his ardent pen pal and even phoning him repeatedly from prison for long emotional chats. But as the naive, overconfident Jason thinks he's getting one over on Gacy, he has no idea that it is Gacy who is using Jason for his own twisted amusement. This is especially evident when Gacy coaches him on how to read people and assess their traits and weaknesses in order to assert control over them. Gacy wants Jason to become like him and to a very large extent succeeds too. The relationship begins to insinuate itself into every aspect of Jason's life until it finally becomes volatile and threatening.

By the time the film ends, we end up experiencing is an intense and uncomfortable story that goes far deeper into the psyche of Gacy and anyone who came into contact with him than the usual fare. Acting from Jason Moss is great. We see him grow from a boy to man while doing his research on Gacy and in the process getting his brain all messed up and his inner dark man coming out. It’s hard to keep the stakes high in a movie where we already know the ending, but by approaching the story from a different angle and telling a tightly focused story, it is a different ball game altogether. I like crime dramas and this one definitely succeeded 100 % in doing that.

What is not shown in the film is that fact that Jason Moss ultimately ended up writing his memoirs in his book 'The Last Victim' which referred to himself when he was almost raped and killed by Gacy in the prison. 7 years after he published his memo, on 6/6/2006 Jason Moss committed suicide. The reasons are still unknown but after watching the film you probably can get an idea that anyone who plays such mind games with experienced serial killers are bound to do a lot of damage to their own personality.

This is one of the best studies of serial murderers that I have ever seen. Strongly recommended. (7.5/10)

Prick Up Your Ears (UK)

2011-03-28T22:10:00.003-04:00

Prick up your Ears is full of cheeky British humor and has enough pricks going up rears (if you know what I mean). My third British gay film in a row and one thing I realized while watching this film is how vastly different the British gay films are compared to the American counterparts. Another drama which is based on true real life characters, it amazes me how comfortable Britishers are with these subject sand their open-ness to make movies on these characters.

The film is based on the true story of Joe Orton (British playwright whose plays included 'Entertaining Mr. Sloane' and 'Loot'). Joe Orton was an openly gay playwright in a period of time in England when being gay was still punishable by imprisonment. His childhood in Leicester is explored as he wishes to become an actor. He moves to London where he becomes involved with one Kenneth Halliwell and lives in an openly gay, albeit bizarre love/hate relationship. Orton loves the dangers of bath-houses and liaisons in public restrooms; Halliwell, not as charming or attractive as Orton, doesn't fare so well in those environs. While both long to become writers, it is Orton who achieves fame, only after a six month prison sentence for 'indecency' during which time he writes his first play. When Orton and Halliwell are released form prison, Orton's star ascends due in part to the wise counsel and friendship of Peggy Ramsey, his agent. The film continues to focus on the relationship of Orton and Halliwell and how they can't stand each other any more. Plus the fact that Halliwell was getting more and more psychotic about growing popularity of Orton. This ends up in a tragic end where Halliwell ends up killing Orton one night with a hammer and then later committing suicide.

By the time the film ends, you have nothing but appreciation for the actors, the story and the director for daring to do something so good and different. Both the actors are mainstream but did such a marvelous job, specially Halliwel as over jealous over the top drama queen. The interplay between Orton and Halliwell is key; their's is an imbalanced relationship, but even if Orton leaves Halliwell emotionally devastated, they are too close after 16 years together to separate. There were no moments of boredom. The way the story was interwoven with interviews being taken, Orton's notes being read etc. made it all very very enjoyable and kept the viewers hooked.

I would definitely recommend this movie for this is one of those good pieces of cinema. (7/10)

Withnail and I (UK)

2011-03-28T14:26:00.005-04:00

First things first, this is not a gay film. One of the side characters happens to be gay but that itself does not qualify this movie to be a gay film. So you might ask whey am I reviewing it here. Well, it is because i have had similar cases in the past and I will continue to write reviews here for movies which had an important character in it play a gay role. Its a film with subtle comedy nuances which not everyone can appreciate but considering it was made in late 80's in UK, I did appreciate the film better.

Withnail and Marwood inhabit a wretched, cold and dirty flat somewhere in the back-end of London, waiting (hopefully) for a call from their agents. They are totally wasted and do absolutely nothing with their life. Suddenly inspiration strikes; Withnail has an uncle, Monty, who just happens to have a little cottage in Penrith. They visit Monty, a somewhat eccentric, rich and randy old queer, who agrees to lend them the key, after some private persuasion by Withnail. Reaching the cottage in the middle of nowhere, the only way Withnail and Marwood see to keep themselves warm is heat the furniture. The next morning the situation just deteriorates -- farmers won't sell them firewood, their wives won't talk to them and they finish all their booze. A surprise visit by Monty that weekend changes things. Monty arrives and showers n them great food, wine and charm. Marwood hates him but can't do anything. It turns out that Withnail told his uncle that marwood is gay but somehow cannot accept it and that he loves Withnail but he cannot reciprocate. Monty tries to get sexually close to Marwood who then makes up the story that Withnail and him are actually a couple but Withnail just can't accept the truth. They soon head back to London and Marwood hears that he has got a lead role and moves out leaving Withnail drunk and drugged to deal with life by himself.

The performances of the 2 principal characters as wasted and depressed substance-abusers are fantastic, a joy to watch and so incredibly pitiful. The movie may be a comedy at heart but it's a desperate one, with the laughs born out of frustration, recognition and degenerate self-loathing. Although marketed as comedy, I personally did not think it was that hilarious. Or maybe just because I am seeing it almost 25 years after it came out.

This film touches the nerves of anyone that's ever struggled for something that seemed unobtainable. That naive part of youth that makes us feel invincible. The time of your life when you don't mind going without. The time of your life where your greatest memories will come from. The freedom and irresponsibility of being young. (5.5/10)

Fit (UK)

2011-03-27T16:29:00.003-04:00

The movies is about what it is like to be gay, and how hard it can be to come out of the closet when you have homophobic friends etc. It follows the stories of a little group of students, who all participate in a dance/drama class. Watching this might remind you of the series 'Glee' but it has nothing to do with it. This film is more episodic in the sense that it focuses on one character at a time and shows their story.

The issues regarding homosexuality is brought to the class' attention when their new, gay teacher begins. All of the characters are dealing with emotional issues, both homophobic friends, family issues and school bullying. The film then shows us details of 6 different students who are dealing with this. There is tomboyish Lee who everyone thinks is lesbian. She doesn't care. Her best friend is Karmel. Lee soon finds out that Karmel is lesbian. Initially surprised, she soon accepts it and remains friends. Though Karmel is at the same time having a tough time coming out to her family. We also have Tegs and Jordan. Tegs is bullied in college by everyone and Jordan is his saviour. Tegs is labelled gay and is bullied. It turns out that Jordan is the one who is gay and loves Tegs but Tegs is actually straight. Their friendship still remains intact when Teg starts seeing a girl from the class and Jordan starts dating her brother. Last group is Issac and Ryan. They are the bullies of the college and gay bashers. Although slowly we are shown that Ryan is gay and actually likes Tegs but is so afraid of Issac finding out about his sexuality that he ends up supporting him to bash Tegs. Ultimately the whole group comes together alongwith the dance teacher to make both Issac and Ryan realize the truth and that their friendship should have nothing to do with one of their sexuality.

Since the film was episodic in nature, it really did not have a set story to show. It also got a little too preachy and educational at times specially during the scenes of gay group sessions. It was initially hard for me to believe that the film as recently made in 2010 because some of the reactions of the teenagers were more like late 90's, I think (hope?) that people's mentalities are much more mature now than it was few years ago, specially in countries like UK. Acting wise everyone was ok. Dancing was the center point that brought all these characters together, though so many gays in one single class looked a bit extreme. The film ties to show that some kind of resolution, even if not yet found, is possible.

Accent was heavy but aimed at teenagers, the film might be good for them. (4/10)

Drama (Spanish)

2011-03-27T12:18:00.006-04:00

This film was so so heavy. Few minutes into the film and I realized that this is not going to be a simple regular watch. There was very thin line between real and surreal and acting vs reality. After a while I just gave up trying to understand where the whole film was heading and what was real and what was acting. I also gave up trying to figure out what they characters actually were.

Three theater students, influenced by a charismatic professor and French theorist Antonin Artaud's acting technique, begin to experiment with their own lives, searching for real emotions and situations to bring onto the stage. Blond and bisexual Mateo, luscious Maria and conflicted gay Angel. Their obsession with becoming better actors leads them to their darkest sides, surpassing boundaries that neither they nor their teachers could ever imagine. The professor gives them various exercises which lead them to go to places in the city that they have not seen before. Each loves the other, and each urges the other to overcome his or her inhibitions: The normally retiring Angel not only consorts with the gay hustlers who congregate at the village square; he allows himself to be "sold," more or less, until Mateo rescues him. Mateo, meanwhile, flirts with the homoerotic, even though it seems to be against his nature, because how can he be a real actor otherwise? Maria, psychologically stressed because Mateo never stops acting, dresses like a prostitute, and it becomes unclear whether she is one or not - only that Mateo's battle with her client brings matters to a breaking point.

The truth is that the 3 individuals are trying to find themselves through the performance in relation to one another. The ending got me a little confused when Mateo is trying to co-relate whatever is going on with what happened in his mothers life (which apparently is somehow a true story and is related to Chilean history). I will do some research and try to find more about it. The acting of the principal characters was good and the chemistry they shared was also good but the film completely failed to connect with me as an audience. Anything can happen, and this film certainly accepting various alternatives.

It is an intense film. Of course, this can be for better or for worse. (3/10)

Morrer Como Um Homem (Portuguese) [To Die Like a Man]

2011-03-26T14:25:00.004-04:00

This film is a bizarre collage of scenes put together to make a movie. I mean, the movie definitely has a story but there is so much extra noise that has been put in addition to the main plot that the film drags so much so many times that viewers can't help but say "Enough already!". I can see the director's intention but oh boy, did he miss the bus or what.

The film is the story of an aging drag queen Tonia. Her love of life is Rosario, a drug addict half her age. For some reason she has fallen head over heels in love for him giving him lace to live, money, food etc knowing very well that he is not going to change his habits of drug and abuse. Tonia is getting old and has competition from an upcoming drag queen. At the same time, she is not too sure if she wants to undergo the sex change operation. The film randomly keeps following these characters and a host of other characters which have absolutely no bearing to the script or story of the film. FInally when Tonia gets infection from breast implants. The surgery is done and the implants are removed, and Tonia dies like a man exactly like she was born. Rosario overdoses himself and he gets buried next to Tonia which makes us believe that they must have shared a deep bond of love for some reason.

The opening sequence of the film with military men fornicating in woods and on a mission has no bearing to the film. Neither does the sudden emergence of Tonia's son. Worse is when Tonia and Rosario are on a road trip and get lost in the woods and they meet a drag queen living in middle of woods all by herself and another drag queen to serve her. These and so many more scenes have no bearing at all to the relevancy of the film. The other weird thing about the film was long drawn scenes and some where the characters are not shown, they are just heard. It becomes annoying after sometime. There is along scenes of Tonia just staring outside on the road in the car and singing, another one where she is walking in the woods. Then there are scenes where Rosario and Tonia are talking and camera is completely focussed on dogs. I mean , wtf !!

A confused collection of random interludes makes this film watching experience very frustrating. (1.5/10)