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Showing posts from February, 2012

L'escorte (French) [The Escort]

It is a little weird/odd to watch gay themed films that are relatively older because they sometimes deal with subjects or the way they deal with it is a little, i don't know what the word is, strange. This film was made in 1996 and even after seeing the movie, I still cannot figure out what was it that the film wanted to focus on. Was it relationships, love, friendship, HIV, careers ? What was it all about? Maybe while writing this, I will figure something out. Philippe is 30 something gay man living with slightly older Jean-Marc, his lover of seven years. Their restaurant has been a failure for about a month and Philippe's mother now wants her money back that she invested in the restaurant since she is separating from her husband. Jean-Marc and Philippe are hosting a small party. We soon learn that Philippe's long time friends Nathalie and Christian are keeping a secret from him. At the party, some guest orders for an escort to come over which is quickly interrupted by Je

Circuit

My expectations out of this movie was not huge but I was hoping that in addition to making some viewers aware of what the whole "circuit" scene is gay community is like, the film will also have a string story and an equally string message to give to the viewers. Alas, my expectations were not met even though they were set low. John, is a cop, who is forced to move to LA because no one wants to work with him in his small community. There he meets Hector, who is hustler and slowly they start a friendship which slowly leads John into the circuit party scene of LA. John also has friends Gill, with whom he ultimately gets romantic with and Gill's ex-boyfriend who is making a documentary film on how people in the gay community are dying because of drug abuse specially in the circuit parties. His documentary primarily focuses on Bobby, who has been the heart of circuit parties for a few years and is now diagnosed with HIV. The film primarily focuses on how John gets lured into

Du er ikke alene (Danish) [You Are Not Alone]

This film is an escape to a time lost forever. A film about life, misery, love, happiness, achievement, sex and about understanding. This film takes you into the lives of young teenage kids in a boarding school and their everyday lives and mischiefs and their daily dealings with their situations. It is wrong to put this film as a gay cinema because although it does explore homosexuality in growing teens with sensitivity, it is just another aspect of the film. That itself does not make the film. Bo is a 15 year-old boy who finds himself smitten with Kim, who is younger and extremely handsome. Bo lives in boarding school with some other friends who all have some or the other individual stories going for them. Kim more than reciprocates Bo's interest and they eventually end up becoming good friends. Kim is the son of school principal. Aske puts the educational system in the limelight and leads the rest to discover why young people can think and do. Bo is a good friend who will always

I Love You Baby (Spanish)

This film is a gentle, wise and a beautifully performed story of love in its many facets--gay, straight, parental, friendship--with particular emphasis on exploring the continuum from hetero to homosexuality. With a touch of comedy here and there, this film is a sweetly believable story of four people whose connections withstand surprising complications. One other important thing in this film is the interesting take on the Dominican community in Spain and how their world and desires rise and fall in dream city Madrid. Unsure of his sexuality, Marcos leaves village to come toMadrid to work for his uncle in a cafe. On his first day itself, he meets a young Dominican girl Marisol, who for some reasons falls completely in love with Marcos but he doesn't even notice her. He meets Daniel, a struggling actor who also falls for Marcos but this time Marcos reciprocates. They start having a relationship, even though they clearly have very different tastes in everyday events of life.Daniel&#

Leave Blank

This film was a semi-porn film; actually come to think of it, it was a porn film with a story attached to it. The story and premise were interesting but I fail to understand what was the logic behind adding so many full on sex scenes. If the idea was just to seduce the audience, then it was achieved but then if you wanted to send out amore meaningful message, things could have been handled way differently. Todd, is a high profile lonely middle-aged man. He broke up with his boyfriend sometime ago and now needs to satisfy his loneliness & his sexual desires. He decides to hire a hustler and invite him over to New York. Enter Paul, a a rugged masculine dude who is in NY to spend the entire weekend with Todd. Todd is finally ready to experience all of the potentially dangerous things that he has fantasized about, but has never actually done before: including hardcore drugs, anonymous sex with multiple partners, un-safe sex, and more. They have hot sex which Todd films. Todd introduce

Sam yuen yi ma (Cantonese) [The Accident]

This film is one of those which encompasses several short films and somehow show some connection between them an drake a full length feature film out of it. The stories in this film were interconnected very briefly and could have very feel kept separated. This film, in my opinion, was not directed very well and even from acting perspective was not successful in holding on my attention. In 199, after a railroad accident, a few passengers get stranded or are waiting for their loved ones to show up. All this happens on a lonely night in Hong Kong. A tourist guide misses his flight from China and is now waiting for a train. His cell phone gets stolen and now he cannot reach his girlfriend, who is visiting during a hiatus in her studies in London. He goes for a meal at a restaurant where adult film actress Ding Li is shooting her latest movie, under prison like conditions. She takes up fancy for him, makes him do a scene in her adult film and they hook up in the night. On the other hand, hi

Krampack (Spanish) [Nico And Dani]

This film is a very sweet story about two teenage boys who frequently engage in "Krampack" which is apparently Spanish slang for masturbation. It is about sexual awakening in the teenage years focussing on best friends Nico and Dani. A key is that the title characters are not sleazy party animals, taking advantage of women and not thinking twice about it, but sensitive and confused. Without guidance, reasoning is tough for them...especially because they are searching for who they really are, which means also coming to terms with their sexuality. Dani is spending his summer at his parents beach house. When his parents have to leave for work, his friend from grade school Nico comes to visit him like every summer. At the house, he is tutored by Sonia, a young woman and Marianne who comes to cook the food. Nico and Dani who have been the best of friends have resorted to the "krampack" to relieve their sexual frustrations in the absence of girls to sleep with. Dani is p

Boat Trip

This film is a huge guilty pleasure comedy film. It is stupid, vulgar and corny, but sometimes exactly those kinds of comedies can fill a comedy niche with certain viewers. That said, it does not mind I am a propellent of this kind of cinema. The film was filled with stereotypical gay characters and mannerisms that after a while it started to hurt me to watch the film. Most of the humor is combination corny and vulgar, with some of it venturing into the gross-out variety. But, I did smirk more than once, and at least found myself chuckling, more in 'I can't believe this' fashion.   Jerry and Nick are two best buddies whose love lives have hit rock bottom. Jerry was dumped by his girlfriend Felicia on the day he proposed to her on a hot air balloon. He has been sad for last 6 months. To escape their troubles and find women, they book a trip on board a cruise-liner. And while this is going on, Nick picks up a fight with the janet with the result that they get booked for a gay

Elève Libre (French) [Private Lessons]

This film is not an easy film to watch. It's an impressive and bold movie with a repulsive story and a questionable morale, that lingers in your head for a long time and can cause some serious discussion on the topics of sexual exploitation and opportunism. There could be 2 diametrically opposite ways to decipher this film depending on what school of thought you come from. This film might not really entertain you but will make you think. Jonas is a 16 year old vulnerable boy, who lives with his brother and his divorced mother is always traveling. Th boys are always on their own. Jonas spends his time with 3 adults Didier and Nathalie who are a couple and their friend Pierre. It is not really explained who they are and why does Jonas spend so much time with them. Jonas does bad at school, his tennis doesn't work-out either and he feels like a total looser. He get s a new girlfriend but they are having problems in sex. These 3 adults are always giving tips and advice to Jonas on

The Green

The title of the films refers to the lush green and suburban life in Connecticut, a far cry form chaotic NYC life from which our protagonists move. I was very glad to see that this film was not one of those gay films which seems to tackle all stereotyped gay issues. It was different. Though the entire subject might not be completely new for the film-goers but come to think of it, it is difficult for a teacher (specially is he is gay) on defining the boundaries of how much he can show interest in his student's well being without being judged the wrong way. Michael and Daniel are a gay couple who have been together for 15 years and have now moved to Connecticut. Michael works as a teacher in a private high school and daniel continues with his restaurant/cafe business in the small town. Michael makes very good friends with Trish, a fellow teacher, who herself is battling with cancer. Michael sees great potential in one of his students Jason, whose parents were alcoholics and do not

Romeo And Julio (Croatian)

Romeo and Julio is the first trash gay break dance musical, a parody of Romeo and Juliet in a fully synchronized to the Croatian. The main theme of the film is based on the story of Shakespeare tragedy "Romeo and Juliet". The film was shot on various locations in Split, and installed in the premises of the Cinema Club Split. This film was so bad, so bad, so bad.. that I can't even begin to start. First of all the acting was pathetic. Dialogues were going somewhere and the expressions were going somewhere totally different. The fact that I had to see this film with subtitles was not helping. The subs were done in poetic rhyming fashion, which trust me, was not adding any fun at all. Worse is when you are 10 minutes in the movie and for next 20 odd minutes, all you see is people taking turns dancing in a party room. It was bizarre. I love dance and like to watch it but this film was torture. Not even the dances were good. Definitely definitely stay away. I do not know which