Gay Themed Movies

Boys on Film 5 (2010)

2011-10-15T13:38:00.001+02:00

Title: "Boys on Film 5"
Directors: Various
Writers: Various
Genre: Drama | Romance
Awards/Festivals/Release Info: Cannes, Sundance, Outfest, Frameline
Runtime: 147 min
Spoken Languages: English, Spanish, French
Subtitles: English where applicable

"Nine more award-winning short film favorites from the hugely popular Boys On Film canon, from four different continents and celebrated film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Outfest, Frameline and many more.
Boys will be boys in Pascal Alex Vincent's FAR WEST and CANDY BOY, where a farmyard and an orphanage get a gay makeover. GO GO REJECT sees Flashdance obsessive Daniel aims for the stars, as SWEAT has Holby City's David Paisley infiltrating a bath house with unexpected results. Meanwhile, love proves to be timeless when LAST CALL unites past and present, but TWOYOUNGMEN, UT hints at an uncertain future. Looking back on the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, BLOKES focuses on the sexual awakening of a peeping Tom. A confused JAMES and mute DAVID, both reach out for an experienced hand, but will they find what they are looking for?"
Candy Boy
Dir. Pascal-Alex Vincent
(France) 13 min. 2007
Panic at the orphanage! Children start falling mysteriously ill left right and center. Candy Boy, the most valiant of the orphans, leads the inquiry. But our heroes investigations are complicated by the arrival of a beautiful new resident...From the director of Give Me Your Hand.

TwoYoungMen UT.,
Dir. Sam McConnell
USA) 17 min. 2009
Will and Eli meet by chance in a bar and head to the salt flats searching for a party. In the process, however, they take the first steps towards finding and accepting themselves.

Blokes
Dir. Marialy Rivas
(Chile) 15 min. 2010
Santiago, Chile, 1986. Blokes tells the story of the sexual awakening of a boy during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Desire can result in a very different outcome depending on the moment that you live.

Last Call
Dir. Nick Corporon
(USA) 18 min. 2009
After a tragic accident, Gavin is offered the chance to re-live three memories he shared with his ex-boyfriend, who recently passed away, by a mysterious bartender. Gavin takes the offer, but Fate has other plans...

Go Go Reject
Dir. Michael J Saul
(USA) 20 min. 2010
Daniel Ferguson yearns to leave his job at Yogurt World and fulfill his childhood dream of becoming the Jennifer Beals of male go-go dancing, yet his Flashdance fantasy comes a cropper when the clubs specify only muscular dancers. Undaunted, Daniel turns his small frame into a huge success.

David
Dir. Roberto Fiesco
(Mexico) 14 min. 2005
Unemployed businessman José, looking for work in the city, finds instead David; a much younger man who while mute, has no problem in communicating his desire for sex. Roberto Fiesco is the producer of Broken Sky, Bramadero and Raging Sun, Raging Sky.

Far West
Dir. Pascal-Alex Vincent
(France) 17 min. 2003
Eric is forced to spend his holidays on his grandfather's farm in the countryside. Bored out of his mind, an unexpected visit from OTT friends Mika and Koko, and the appearance of a hunky farmhand, pull Eric out of the doldrums. From the director of Give Me Your Hand.

Sweat
Dir. John Lochland
(UK) 15 min. 2009
Starring David Paisley and shot in the bath houses of London's Vauxhall, Sweat portrays Simon's first steps in the sauna scene. How much trouble can one boy get into, or out of?

James
Dir. Connor Clements
(Northern Ireland) 17 min. 2009
Focusing on a boy in Northern Ireland isolated by his sexuality and alienated from his family due to his parent's marital troubles, James reaches out in desperation to his teacher for support and guidance.

Independent Review:
"Go for it!"
"The BOYS ON FILM series no longer needs any introduction. This fifth volume is as engaging and diverse as its predecessors, and it is satisfying to see a range of nationalities represented, including Chile, France and Mexico. Synopses of the individual films are provided in the product description - so a few observations will suffice to introduce the variety of themes.
As always with short film collections, there are clear highs and lows. "Sweat" (UK) is a fairly tedious and predictable troll through a Vauxhall sauna, and "Last Call" (USA) is a dull and unoriginal reminiscence by a man-in-purgatory of mistakes that he has made. Happily, these quickly-forgettable shorts are in the minority, and the remaining seven films all have something to offer.
French director Pascal-Alex Vincent ('Give Me Your Hand') is afforded two slots in this collection: "Far West", a clever and entertaining story in which an urbane dancer finds himself in a rural outback town; and "Candy Boy", an unusual, anime-style adventure of a boy in an orphanage whose leadership is challenged by a troublesome yet enticing new arrival.
"David" (hailing from Mexico) contributes a touching lyricism, in its depiction of a mute young man's desire for an older Mexican man; and "Go Go Reject" is worth a mention for its injection of camp comedy into a generally serious collection.
Finally, pride of place to two absolutely outstanding shorts, each of which is - alone - worth the price of this collection and qualify it for its 5-star rating:
First, Connor Clements's "James" from Northern Ireland: a truly wonderful, and highly authentic, portrait of an isolated 15-year-old male, whose palpable desires for physical connection are consistently denied to him by our culture.
Second, director Marialy Rivas's spectacular "Blokes". An exquisite and intense short film, this is a quietly thoughtful study of a 13-year-old Chilean boy's lust for an older neighbor. Its intimate eroticism is highly compelling, reinforced by a powerful backdrop invoking the fleeting transience of life under the Pinochet dictatorship."
~ Son of Nietzsche "Refuse orientation. Refuse identity."(United Kingdom)

Protect Me from What I Want (2009)

2011-10-12T14:02:00.001+02:00

Director: Dominic Leclerc
Scenario: Dominic Leclerc
Genre: Short
Country: UK
Year: 2009

Actors: Naveed Choudhry, Elliott Tittensor

Description:

Fans of acting twin Elliott Tittensor could be forgiven for thinking that all their wet dreams have come true, when in this British short Elliott gets down to some manly hanky-panky with the object of his cinematic desire.
For here Tittensor plays Daz; a gay scally on the look out for some man-on-man action, only to find himself attracted to Saleem instead, namely a young Muslim hardly out to himself, let alone open to the thought of rampant gay sex. Exiting the scene faster than a discarded condom, it isn’t long before the two meet again. Only as a council bed-sit sees Daz instruct virginal Saleem in the art of man sex, could it be that Saleem has a lesson or two to teach Daz?
Written and directed by Dominic Leclerc, this touching short arrives like a cinematic shot of Channel 4's Shameless, given Elliott Tittensor here effortlessly reprises his working class credentials, along the way casting his boxers to the floor in true Chatsworth fashion. And yet it is Naveed Choudhry who emotionally reaches out to you, his nervous glances aptly conveying the mindset of a young man too afraid to even give his name, forever living in fear of the repercussions the true nature of his sexuality would have, if it became known to his family.
For this is more than just a boys first time story, as Leclerc narratively touches upon the issue of what it means to be gay and Muslim in today's society, along the way lacing his script with feelings of disgust and shame. Only as this well-executed work on loneliness and if anything, a longing for friendship and perhaps something more sets out to show, being gay and Muslim is not an oxymoron. Need more be said?

Eating Out: Drama Camp (2011)

2011-09-23T15:44:00.001+02:00

Eating Out: Drama Camp (2011)

Director: Q. Allan Brocka
Scenario: Phillip J. Bartell, Q. Allan Brocka
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Year: 2011
Duration:
Rating:

Actors: Chris Salvatore, Daniel Skelton, Aaron Milo, Harmony Santana, Lilach Mendelovich, Garikayi Mutambirwa, Ronnie Kroell, Drew Droege, Marikah Cunningham, Mink Stole, Rob Westin, Jesse Archer, Rebekah Kochan, Joel Rush, Cleo Anderson

Description:
From http://www.gaycelluloid.com

Followers of the series will know what to expect and suffice to say that here co-writer and director Q Allan Brocka delivers on the now somewhat predictable premise, even if fans of Rebekah Kochan will be left feeling short changed.

For here All You Can Eat lover boys Casey and Zack are back, along the way grabbing hold of their acting aspirations to join a sexual pic 'n' mix of wannabe stars at Dick Dickey's Drama Camp, including their friend and budding hetero director Jason. Only with their relationship going through a slump, it isn't long before Zack's eyes are found wandering in the direction of hunk with morals Benji, who not wishing to come between the two, as-it-were, ends up playing it straight - literally. Then again and with a strict "no sex on campus" policy the order of the day, courtesy of a sexually frustrated Dick, surely Casey doesn't have to worry about Zack being put through more than just his acting paces. Or does he?

And we all know what the answer to that is, as Brocka piles on the crude 'n' rude jokes, in this, the fourth and standalone instalment of the series. Relocated out of the city, but still with the sex, the result is the usual upbeat blend of crazy schemes and naked torsos, coupled with a Glee inspired "Drama Queen" musical interlude with Salvatore on lead and in this instance, an ever popular gay take on the words of the Bard; Taming of the Shrew style.

Only with many a cast member struggling to do their best with some way too corny lines, what is missing in this new character intense piece and in the main, is the natural comical presence of Rebekah Kochan, with her Tiffani appearance being little more than that of a one-scene cameo. All of which leaves Drew (Go Go Reject) Droege as stereotypical queen bitch Dick Dickey, Lilach Mendelovich as crazy actress 'n' worker Penny and an all too underused Mink Stole as lascivious Aunt Helen left to fill the comedy void.

That Harmony Santana of Gun Hill Road fame adds a nice transsexual touch to the proceedings as Jason's romantic interest, is a credit to a franchise that whilst still ludicrous enough to watch, is for many getting weaker with each serving. Still and for all of its pros and cons, the Eating Out meal deal remains on the menu; that of a raunchy gay romantic comedy, made by the boys, for the boys, packed with a series of double entendres that are delivered by a cast of seemingly more muscular eye-candy than ever, who and by no surprise end up breaking that golden "no sex" rule, bare-arsed cheek fashion. Only is that a bad thing?

Chris Salvatore - It Gets Better

Japan Japan 2007

2011-06-25T00:36:00.001+02:00

Director: Lior Shamriz
Scenario: Lior Shamriz
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel, Germany, USA
Year: 2007
Duration: 65 min

Actors: Imri Kahn, Amnon Friedman, Irit Gidron, Pnina Grietzer, Chloe Griffin, Avishag Leibovitz, Tal Meiri, Naama Yuria, Benny Ziffer

Description:
Japan Japan
(Israel)
By Ronnie Scheib
A Jehuti Films production. Produced, directed, written, edited by Lior Shamriz. Camera (color, DV), Shamriz.
With: Imri Kahn, Tal Meiri, Irit Gidron, Neema Yuria, Amnon Friedman, Benny Ziffer.
In this latest DV-shot exercise in gay teen angst, the naked 19-year-old hero proclaims, “Cinema is dead,” before sullenly parading his disaffection throughout Tel Aviv. Like many post-”Tarnation” navel-gazing wallows (a new fest staple), “Japan Japan” equates alienation with narrative deconstruction. What is left, in Israeli helmer Lior Shamriz’s debut feature, is a quasi-docu homemovie, digitally manipulated and aggressively punctuated with pornographic inserts from an alternate image system, namely cyberspace. Sixty-five-minute experimental walkabout has cultivated considerable fest exposure.
Pic traces the arrival of Imri (Imri Kahn) in the big city, having summarily left the army, his status, like the entire explosive Israeli situation, consigned to the movie’s off-space. Instead, Shamriz records Imri’s interactions with his flaky female flatmate, his nothing job in a party-supply store, his sexual liaisons for love or money and his shared perambulations with best friend Neema (Neema Yuria). These non-events fuel his burning desire to go elsewhere, specifically Japan, the source of a particularly graphic sequence of masturbating men slathering a shower mate with ectoplasmic semen. Between the drabness of Imri’s day-to-day existence and the Internet-imported sexcapades, Shamriz supplies no exit strategy.
Reviewed at Walter Reade Theater, New York, March 17, 2008. (In New Directors/New Films.) Hebrew dialogue. Running time: 65 MIN.

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Pooltime (2010)

2011-06-23T19:04:00.001+02:00

Director: Mike Donahue
Scenario: Mike Donahue
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Year: 2010
Rating:1/10

Actors: Taylor Burke, Elizabeth da Costa, William Freeman, Glozell Green, Mark C. Hanson, Marcus Harwell, Inge Jaklyn, Carla Laemmle, Kieran Newton, Jeffrey Patrick Olson, Matthew Sordello, Tom Tangen, Junes B. Zahdi

Description:
User Reviews
Drowning on Dry Land
13 February 2011 | by NJMoon (United States)

I try to find one redeeming quality in every film: Here it is the sound and picture quality, which aren't too bad for an indy film. The rest of it, however - acting, directing, script, music - are just about the worst stuff I've ever seen in all my Flixing years. I'd rather sit poolside and watch bugs drown than sit through this inane drivel. I'd suffocate on the smell of chlorine than listen to the idiotic dialogue delivered by characters who run the emotional gamut from A to B. The principal 'boys' in this film aren't too hard on the eyes, but they aren't boys anymore either (which makes their idle poolside chatter even more annoying). Inexplicable appearances by random women - one with a geographically untraceable accent - are absurd. The 100 year old Carla Laemmle is shoe-horned in to the plot and forced to speak in vague gardening metaphors I think neither she nor the foreign women understood. The film's ending - including a laughable montage and an appearance by a long-awaited Pizza Boy (!) - are almost too much too bear. I'm shocked I made it that far. I kept asking "how much worse can it get?" But yet the film managed to constantly exceed my wildest nightmares of banality.

2011-06-20T19:24:00.003+02:00

The Meeting - Gay themed short film

The Meeting - Gay themed short film from The Pegasus Company on Vimeo।

A sexual encounter raises doubts and questions from both sides involved.
Cast:
Baruch Porras, Jean Franco, Elise Garza, Santiago Dunbar* Crew:
Writer/Director/Editor - Sanjay Sooknanan
Producers - Lee Stokes, Sanjay Sooknanan
Photography - Devindra Sooknanan
Gaffers - Elisa Sterpone, James Suter
Sound - Vitor Coral
A.D - Joslyn Johns

Shot over 4 days in Alameda and San Francisco on a budget of $500

La otra familia (2011) –The Other Family

2011-03-25T00:53:00.000+01:00

La otra familia (2011)

Director: Gustavo Loza
Scenario: Gustavo Loza
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico
Year: 2011
Duration: 100 min
Rating:

Actors: Jorge Salinas, Luis R. Guzman, Ana Serradilla, Bruno Loza, Carmen Salinas, Ana Soler, Nailea Norvind, Juan Rios Cantu, Dominika Paleta, Luis Gerardo Mendez, Andres Almeida, Silverio Palacios, Mario Zaragoza, Alejandro Calva, Alex Bakalarz

Nekada smo svi za južno američke zemlje uključujući Meksiko mislili da su tradicionalno katoličke, konzervative i pomalo isključive. Još ako tome dodamo brojne vojne hunte, diktature i velike ekonomske i političke krize koje su bile sinoim za južnoameričke države onda nismo mogli ni sanjati da je u takvim zemljama tolerancija prema gay ljudima na nekom pristojnom nivou.

Tako je možda bilo nekada. A danas? Danas je u većini tih država dozvoljen istospolni brak, države finansiraju projekte koje doprinose toleranciji i upoznavanju stanovništva o pojmovima kao što su seksualna orijentacija i odnos društva prema tome. Većina ljudi u tim zemljama je prihvatila LGBT populaciju kao sastavni dio društva! Televizije, novine i ostali mediji promovišu sve projekte koje su u službi borbe protiv homofobije!

Kao rezultat takvog intezivnog rada prestalo se i razmišljati o nekoj posebnoj LGBT kulturi, već je taj pojam samo dio jedne opšte kulture u državi.
Nastali su mnogi kratki filmovi, propagandne poruke, dugometražni filmovi, edukativne televizijske emisije, izložbe, muzika ...
Danas su te zemlje u potpunosti dio razvijenog svjeta, civilizacijski napredne, a koliko mogu uočiti i ekonomski jake! Posebno tu ubrajam Brazil, Argentinu i Meksiko.

La otra familija je Meksički film koji se bavi temom usvajanja dijece u istospolnim brakovima. Ovo je kod nas još uvjek blasfemična primisao jer se homoseksualci, tj pederi smatraju bolesnicima koji se trpaju u bulju , a neki misle i da je to zarazno, tako da je jedan od glavnih argumenata zašto treba ograničiti prava pedera upravo vaspitanje dijece. Religija tu ima takođe velikog uticaja.

Mnoga dijeca odrastu uz očeve pijanice, nemarne majke, narkomane, uz kriminalne ličnosti ili pak u nekom okruženju koje odlikuje potpuno pomankanje ljubavi, nježnosti i pažnje. Siromaštvo je posebna priča koja može imati i sretan kraj kada je porodica složna i harmonična.
Da li je za takvu dijecu bolje da rastu u nekom sirotištu ili kod gay parova koji su spremni da tom djetetu pruže i ljubav, i podršku u životu!
Ovaj film razbija te dileme. Pun emocija sa lijepom pričom koja nas na momente raznježuje , pa raduje ili rastužuje do plača!
Sa moje strane ima sve preporuke za pogledati!

Prije 5-6 godina bio sam u vezi sa jednim starijim crnogorcem , koji je odrastao u patrijahalnoj porodici. Iskren, pošten čovjek, pun onih vrlina o kojima je pričao Marko Miljanov u svojim pričama o crnogorcima nekad. Kada smo se upoznali bio je već 6 godina u vezi sa jednom ženom koja ga je iskreno voljela i još uvjek ga voli!
Mene je doživljavao kao nekog svog najrođenijeg, i volio me je svim srcem. Upoznao me je sa roditeljima, bratom, sestrom, tom ženom i svima se hvalio da sam mu najbolji prijatelj. Naravno niko nije znao šta smo radili u 4 zida i to u našem slučaju nije bilo ni bitno. Idila je trajala oko 2 godine. Jednom prilikom sam pričao sa njegovom sadašnjom ženom koja mi je rekla: Ne mora on mene nikada oženiti , ali želim da mu podarim radost da ima svoje dijete. Znam da će ga voljeti svim srcem i biti dobar otac.
Nisam to lako podnio ali sam u tom trenutku bio svjestan da moram da se sklonim iz njegovog života po svaku cjenu kako bi mogao da ima ono što mu ja nikada ne mogu dati! Danas ima sina koji mu je sve u životu , sretan je! Ja nisam u kontaktu sa njim!

The other family

THE OTHER FAMILY is the story of Hendrix (Bruno Loza), a 7-year-orld child that’s been abandoned by his crack-addict mother Nina (Nailea Norvind). Ivana (Ana Serradilla), her best friend rescues Bruno,
however, she can’t take care of him because of an ongoing trip to Houston with her life partner (Ana Soler), to analyze the possibility of having an in vitro fertilization. Jean Paul (Jorge Salinas) and Chema (Luis Roberto Guzmán), an adult, stable, gay couple, and friends of Ivana, were given the task of taking
care of Hendriz while his mother spends some time in rehab. Patrick (Andrés Almeida), Nina’s lover and dealer is bien chased by Caimán (Mario Zaragoza), a drug warlord, because of a huge debt. In an
attempt to get the money he tries to sell Hendrix to a young, straight couple (Dominika Paleta y Juan Rios) who just lost a baby. While Nina tries to escape rehab in search of her son, Hendrix slowly
adapts to his new lik with Jean Paul and Chema. Patrick’s running out of time and urges Nina to find her misplaced son.

What’s best for Hendrix? Return to his crack-addict? Live with a homosexual couple that will offer him a better life quality? To be sold in an illegal fashion to a straight couple? or Surrender to the authorities and be sent to an foster house?

26 September 2011 | by jotix100 (New York)

Jean Paul and Chema are a gay couple that has been together for ten years. One can see their relationship is solid, proved to be real, as they decide to get married. In a macho dominated society the union between two men is a rarity that came to be legal only recently. It is clear these two men are in love and have decided to make a commitment that speaks loudly than words.
When Nina, a drug addict is sent to prison, her young son, Hendrix, is left to fend for himself. A friend, Ivana, a lesbian in a serious relationship with Gloria, decides to bring the boy to her friends Jean Paul and Chema. The men, uneasy at first, take a liking to the little boy whose innocence captures their hearts. After the initial misgivings, the couple end up loving Hendrix. Unfortunately, Nina wants her son back. Because of her connection with unsavory characters, the plight of the boy takes center stage for criminals that want to sell the boy to a wealthy couple. Jean Paul, and especially Chema, will fight to stand by the boy.
Directed by Gustavo Loza with sure hand, this Mexican entry surprises because of the way the subject matter is treated with honesty in dealing with the issue. Mr. Loza, who also wrote the screenplay, presents us with a drama that in other hands might have degenerated into a sensational account of the two gay couples that are being examined. That, and the fate of the boy, with an uncertain future, is examined with a clarity that speaks volumes as to the intentions of the creator of the film.
There are solid appearances by Jorge Salinas and Luis Guzman as Jean Paul and Chema. The actors do a solid job in the way they approached their roles to make them real. Young Bruno Loza, whom one suspects is the son of the director, is perfectly sweet, in a surprising performance. Ana Serradilla, Ana Soler, Nailea Norvind and the great Carmen Salinas contribute to the over all excellence of the film.

Cibrâil (2011)

2011-01-26T16:51:00.000+01:00

Cibrâil (2011)

Director: Tor Iben
Scenario: Tor Iben
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Year: 2011
Duration: 70 min
Rating: 2/10

Actors: Sinan Hancili, Martina Hesse, Peter Beck, Volker Figge, Oliver Weidner, Deniz Kara, Murat Urun, Ingmar Skrinjar, Niklas Peters

Iako sam ovaj film pogledao bez titla, jer ga nidje nisam mogao naći, ispalo je da mi nije ni trebao! Naime jako malo dijaloga i gomila bespotrebnih scena čine da priču savršeno možete razumijeti iako ne znate ni jednu riječ njemačkog jezika!

Cibrâil (Sinan Hancili) je policajac turskog porijekla koji živi sa djevokom Christinom u Berlinu. Jedan naizgled sretan i skladan par koji živi u velikom komfornom stanu.

Jednog dana im Kristinin rođak Marko dođe u posjetu. Kako oboje rade nemaju mnogo vremena za njega pa Marko obilazi Berlin po svom ličnom osjećaju! Često zaglavi i u neki park ili gay klub ali to naravno ne priča svojim domaćinima.

Međutim Cibrail koji je Marka jednom vidio u parku počinje da osjeća privlačnost prema svom gostu.
Privrženost i prijateljstvo prerastaju u strast i nastavak već i sami znate. Nakon što ih je Kristina zatekla kako jedan drugome drkaju kite napušta stan koji odjednom izgleda prazan. Cibrail malo luta po Berlinu, kao nešto usamljen i pogubljen dok na kraju tu prazninu ne popuni njegova nova ljubav!

Film je očajno urađen iako je imao potencijala da ispadne baš dobar. Dobri glumci i lijepa priča izgleda za ovog nesretnog reditelja nisu dovoljni da napravi jednu lijepu emotivnu romansu.

Nego sam film nije zavrijedio da ovoliko pišem o njemu, već priča koja je vjerujem mnogim pederima poznata! Veza sa nekim ko je već u braku. Kako li to na kraju vama završi ne znam , ali moje veze su trajale po pet ili više godine, ali su na kraju uvjek propadale!
Neko mi reče , nemoj nikada da stupaš u vezu sa nekim ko je oženjen ili je tek izašao iz veze! Možda je u pravu ali mene su uvjek privlačili "malo drugačiji pederi" Jbga!

Eng.

Cibrâil, a young policeman, lives happily with his art-dealer girlfriend in Berlin. Everything seems fine, money is not a problem, and Cibrâil is well integrated into German society, despite his Turkish origins. What is the reason for his sleepless nights? A gay cousin of his girlfriend who lives permanently in Rome, comes to visit them but that does not seem to disturb their relationship, or at least on the surface. The guest is friendly, free and enjoys being on his own. He wanders around in town and takes pictures. He has also some love affairs. Cibrâil gets close to him, almost unwittingly: they jog, go for a stroll and confide their secrets to each other. But sometimes attraction can be fatal. In Berlin, a cold city where disturbing episodes of homophobia take place, a story about undisclosed passions told in a frigid, unemotional and minimalist style. –Torino GLBT Film Festival

Cibra by dinho_lisbon

More about this movie:

1. FilmesTemaG

2. Sugue Tu Destino

Slow

2011-01-22T14:51:00.000+01:00

SLOW

Director: Darius Clark Monroe
Scenario: Harvey Gardner Moore, Darius Clark Monroe
Genre: Drama, Short
Country: USA
Year: 2011
Duration: 13 min

Actors: Carlton Byrd, Harvey Gardner Moore

Ljeto je prošlo. Doduše kažu da će biti još lijepih dana tako da ću možda još ovaj vikend moći otići sa društvom na neku plažu i uživati u nekom plažnom baru, a možda odem i solo na moju "skrivenu plažu".

Kako god vjerovatno ću imati više vremena da pogledam neki dobar film ili da se družim sa vama uz ovaj blog.

Jutros sam pogledao ovaj kratki film i podsjetio me na jednog klinca kojeg sam upoznao preko neta. Naime te zime sam bio sam doma i dopisivao sam se sa jednim momkom preko gayromea! Na njegovo insistiranje pristanem da popijemo kafu zajedno iako više volim društvo starijih osoba.
Kada sam otvorio vrata, razočarenje. Učinjelo mi se da predamnom stoji momak za kojeg nisam bio siguran ni da li je punoljetan. Tražio sam mu ličnu kartu kao da sam policajac. Piše 22 godine. Izvinuo sam mu se i rekao da udje .

Momak sjede, onako malo zbunjen. Rekoh mu da zbog načina na koji smo se upoznali , najmanje što mogu da učinim je da bar znam koliko ima godina, tim prije što sam duplo stariji od njega!

Pili smo vino , ispričali se i kada je već bilo dosta kasno rekoh mu da sutra radim i da moram na spavanje.
On me pita: zar nećemo zajedno spavati? Rekoh mu da me ne privlače mladi momci i da je bolje da ide doma. Uzeh praznu flašu sa stola da odnesem u kuhinju. kad sam se vratio dečko go golcat sjedi u fotelji. Ja onako zbunjen rekoh da izgleda da se nismo dobro razumjeli. Ustade. priđe i počne da me vata.. Ja ga odgurnem on opet.
Postalo mi smješno kako je uporan, a on kaže: ja jesam mlad, ali sam i sposoban i da volim i da ljubim i da jebem, nemoj se ponašati prema meni kao prema nekom nezrelom djetetu. dok je sve to izgovorio trenerka mi je bila spustena do koljena, a ja napaljen ko majmun!
Kada je otišao doma pomislih samo: Nikad ne reci nikad, nije sve crno - bijelo!

Ovaj film ne govori baš o tome , čini mi se da ponekad ne vidimo dobro iako su nam širom otvorene oči!

Good friend and filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe recently “leaked” his short film “Slow” online while it’s beginning it’s festival run.

I think this is such a brilliant move. There’s a ton of folks who’ll never attend most of the festivals where the film will screen so why not let those people view the work too. Right now. Cause that’s what they want… to see it right now.

And for an emerging filmmaker this is a good thing.

“Slow” recently premiered at Outfest 2011 and I’m hoping subsequent festival programmers screening the short will *understand (as Outfest obviously did) his enthusiasm for sharing the work.

Keith

SLOW from Darius Clark Monroe on Vimeo.

Strapped (2010)

2010-12-19T13:04:00.001+01:00

Strapped (2010)

Director: Joseph Graham
Scenario: Joseph Graham
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 2010
Duration: 95 min

Actors: Ben Bonenfant, Artem Mishin, Michael Carlisi, Carlo D'Amore, Katherine Celio, Michael Klinger, Raphael Barker, Michael Vega

Description:

by David Lamble

San Francisco filmmaker Joseph Graham's Strapped (Strand DVD) embeds us with a boyish hustler who spends a melancholy rainy night gliding between apartments in a haunted queer building. The Hustler, who tries on new first names as smoothly as he sheds his regulation red hoodie, jeans and T-shirt, offers a full-service bar of erotic favors for happy-hour prices – but no kissing, please.

Graham crafts a creepy ambiance in a succession of shabby spaces the denizens call home, which the Hustler appropriates as his stages. Somewhere between an old codger's leaky penthouse and the dark bowels of the laundry room, we suspect that someone could turn up dead. Sure enough, the Hustler is ambushed in the laundry room by a married guy, a backdoor bandit who quickly turns violent. Rescue comes from an elderly leather guy, Sam (former Colt model Paul Gerrior).

Graham wants us to forget every canard about beastly rent-boys being either scheming sociopaths or delusional losers whose path to destruction is guaranteed by the curtain. Strapped 's boy, called Adam in the script, plays his clients skillfully, only hinting at baser motives. Adam is a sensual Candide who strives never to reprise his tricks.

A movie rule of thumb holds if the hero is having too good a time too early, he's due a comeuppance. Graham and his sultry lead, film newcomer Ben Bonenfant, keep us guessing as to whether Adam will elude all who mean him harm. Or will the merry rent-boy someday turn into a gigolo version of Falstaff, who was 40 when he mused that every man "has the face he deserves."

Kudos to a first-rate production crew, especially director of photography Matthew Boyd for keeping us on edge with a shadowy lighting scheme that could serve a queer vampire tale as well as a quirky bedroom farce. Strapped allows us to care for a plucky boy who thinks he'll never be kissed.

On the record

Writer/director Joseph Graham spent a peripatetic childhood – Texas, California, Missouri – with many of his happier memories playing out in St. Louis, where he recalls trips to Cardinal baseball games with his grandfather. Now happily situated with a boyfriend in the city of St. Francis, Graham is enjoying the fruits of a second hardscrabble indie-film shoot while looking forward to the debut of another movie project, Beautiful Something.

Sprawled out on my black office couch, Graham riffed on the transformational magic of finding the right boy for the first kiss, while his theatre-trained actors shivered during 12 cold nights in a San Francisco warehouse.

"I remember my first kiss, and how it rocked my toes: under a bridge in St. Louis, what a kisser! I wanted the audience to experience that cosmic kiss as the Hustler did, so I was careful during all the other sex scenes to keep the performers separated, you never see them in the same shot during sex. So when we get to the kiss, not only do we have two performers in the shot for the first time, but we have this wonderful music, in-camera and post-camera lighting effects – we almost went a little overboard – but I really wanted the audience to feel this, and the character says, 'Nobody's ever kissed me like this before!'

"The older man, Sam, was written specifically for Paul Gerrior, who I had done plays with. What a voice! What a kindness he brings. Paul was a Colt model in the 70s, and even at 72, he has this great virility to him, not in a threatening or lecherous daddy way, but a kind, wise way. All but two of these actors were straight. It took a good deal of courage and trust on all our parts to move forward.

"I had about 600 people respond to an open call for the Hustler. Half quickly left when they saw what the material was, half of the remainder simply weren't right physically, and then I tested about 60 people. I needed an actor who could be a chameleon. A good friend contacted me from the Colorado Shakespeare Company, where he was performing with a young actor, Ben Bonenfant. I'll never forget the first thing Ben said. 'I read the script, and I got to tell you that it scares me.' Then he added, 'That makes me want to do it.' That's when I knew I was talking to a real actor."

Curious Thing (2010)

2010-12-17T22:25:00.000+01:00

Curious Thing (2010)

Director: Alain Hain
Scenario: Jason Mills
Genre: Short, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 2010
Duration: 8 min
Rating: 8.1/10

Actors: Danny Bernardy, Matthew Wilkas, Rebecca Pappa, Phoenix List

Ovih dana uživam u jednom prijateljstvu koje se na neki čudan način razvija u meni pomalo neočekivanom smjeru.
Iako ga znam od djetinjstva, kada smo se intezivno družili, život nas je razdvojio i uputio u različite smjerove. U zadnjih mjesec dana su se odnosi između nas ponovo intezivirali. Ne na pederski, nego na jedan baš prijateljski i iskren način. Nakon dugo vremena sreli smo se slučajno u jenom kafiću, ja sa mojim društvom, on sa svojim. Razmijenili pića , nazdravili i svak na svoju stranu. Pri odlasku on me zaustavio i pita za porodicu, majku , sestru… Ono tradicionalno kako se to u Crnoj Gori radi. Reče mi da će me zvati i doći kod mene da se vidi sa mojima i ispričamo. Mislio sam da je to više iz kurtoazije i nisam obraćao pažnju, ali već nakon dva dana stvarno je zvao i došao kod mene sa svojom malom ćerkicom. Popili nekoliko loza uz prisjećanje dogodovština iz djetinjstva.

Sutra dan opet on zove da odemo zajedno do grada. Ja ranije odem sa posla pa zaređam sa njim od jedne do druge kafane.
I tako već mjesec dana, kao da se nismo nikada ni razdvajali. Ako se ne vidimo obavezno se čujemo telefonom.
U našim razgovorima došli smo i do teme naših zajedničkih drkanja dok smo bili pubertetlije. Iako sam ja stara iskusna pederčina, iznenadilo me kada je rekao nešto u stilu: Trebalo bi to ponoviti ponekad!

Znam da je to sve neka str8 znatiželja ili možda želja da se malo izmjeni životna monotonija, ali sam siguran da ima tu i nešto više od običnog druženja.
Najbolje je ništa ne insistirati niti namještati neke bolesne situacije, a još gore je stvarati neku nerealnu sliku u glavi kada su svi ovi događaji u pitanju.
Vidjećemo šta iz te radoznalosti može izaći. Obično ne bude ništa, ali ima i drugačijih primjera. Bar po mom iskustvu.

Ovaj kratki film je jedna prava ljubavna romansa između jednog str8 momka i jednog biseksualca. Čudno zar ne, ali ljudske emocije i način na koji se neko može zavoljeti nije nešto za šta postoje pravila. Kada nekoga volimo to može biti i na način na koji će te vidjeti u ovom filmu.
Muško prijateljstvo često podruzamjeva i pronalaženje sopstvene seksualnosti do granica za koje uglavnom ne znamo dokle dosežu!

Description:

Based upon a set of true stories weaved together by writer Jason Mills, here we find director Alain Hain walking the more than familiar cinematic ground of falling in love with your best friend; albeit with a markedly straight variant.

For like Marco Berger's captivating exploration of male friendship and sexuality that is Plan B, this part love story, part coming out and part documentary work explores 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 bromance styled friendship.

Curious Thing by Alain Hain Told via a series of audio interviews / voiceovers, courtesy of six gay men's experiences, sexual or otherwise, with straight men, this telling short poignantly showcases the intense love that Jared feels for his best friend Sam and the hurt it brings, when they see the other flexing their heterosexual muscles, hand-in-hand with a girl.
Beautifully played out by all parties, including Matthew Wilkas previously seen in Jonathan Lisecki's Gayby as a man petrified by that curious thing called love, gay fashion, this movingly honest piece cuts to the core in the sole scene in which the narrative is broken, spoken words that achingly detail a heartrending decision destined to set both men upon their sexual path in life. That the Mills / Hain boys then go on to illustrate the consequences of that life changing moment, makes for a short film, the first of three, that in examining the lives of gay men in New York City, sets out to say it - like it is.

Fit (2010)

2010-11-06T07:21:00.000+01:00

Fit (2010)

Director: Rikki Beadle Blair
Scenario: Rikki Beadle Blair
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Year: 2010
Duration: 108 min
Subtitles: English,Bulgarian, Greek, Serbian

Actors: Duncan MacInnes, Ludvig Bonin, Sasha Frost, Lydia Toumazou, Stephen Hoo, Jay Brown, Rikki Beadle Blair, Alexis Gregory, Andy Williamson, Donovan Christian-Cary, Jack Shalloo, Ambur Khan, Jason Maza, Katie Borland, Alex Papadakis

Description:

Nakon što sam odgledao ovaj film razmislio sam koliko nam ponekad predubjeđenja iskrive sliku onoga što vidimo! Zar vam se nije desilo da za nekoga pomislite da je 100% peder jer se drži svih pederskih stereotipa, a ono na kraju ispadne da je dečko totalno str8. Dešava se i obrnuto, dosta pedera, posebno onih mlađih zaslijepljeni privlačnošću nekog muškarca počnu da vide stvari koje se definitivno ne dešavaju! Uslijed želje da budu dio nečijeg srca jednostavno ne vide da ta "prava ljubav" njih voli kao i ostale svoje str8 prijatelje.

Bio sam u prilici da prisutvujem razgovorima tipa:" Mislim da bi on želio da ima nešto samnom, način na koji me je gledao mi to govori" Slični zaključci često mogu biti pogrešni uslijed želje za nečim više od prijateljstva!
Jedan od pederskih stereotipa i jeste taj da svaki gay misli da su svi zgodni muškarci barem bisex, ako već nisu homići. Zvuči vam poznato zar ne!

Kada smo već kod razumijevanja i želje da nas drugi prihvate ovakve kakvi jesmo, jeste li se ikada zapitali koliko ste vi, draga moja pederska gospodo, spremni da prihvatite ljude drugačije od vas? Naježim se kada čujem komentare kako su lezbejke definitivno loše i pakosne osobe, kako su cigani glibavi i smrdljivi neradnici, šiptari su za izbjegavanje, crncima nije mjesto u mojoj državi....

Kad god pomislite tako nešto pomislite da i drugi mogu slično razmišljati sa dodatkom: "pedere treba sve pobiti"

Tolerancija ima dvije strane i uvjek postoji neka manjina i neka većina! Bar se potrudite da otvorite um i prihvatite okolinu onakvu kakva jeste.

Ovaj film nam govori i o jednom tinejdžerskom problemu, shvatanje i prihvatanje sopstvene seksualnosti. Ne znam zašto , ali dosta momaka je našlo za shodno da mi pošalje mail sa problemima u vezi toga. Pitanja tipa, kako mogu biti siguran da sam gay i šta da radim da to ne budem?!

Nemojte se ovome smijati vi ovejani matori pederi, i nemojte zloupotrebljavati mlade ljude koji tek treba da sazrenu i postanu samopouzdane ličnosti!
Svi smo prošli tu fazu, a za mnoge je jedini izlaz odlazak kod psihijatra jer neznanje i tradicionalni stereotipi tipa da je to bolest i slično ne zaobilaze ni ljude koji su seksualno orjentisani prema istom spolu!

O svemu ovome govori nam ovaj sjajan film! Jedan "odvratno feminizirani peder koji je još i crnac" dolazi u školu kao učitelj plesa i glume. I kao u svakoj školi učenici to različito prihvataju isto kao što se različito prihvataju i između sebe!

Film je za svaku preporuku, posebno ministarsvu prosvjete i bilo bi dobro da se prikazuje u svim srednjim školama. Ako ništa drugo ono barem na nacionalnim balkanskim televizijama!
Ovo posebno važi za Srbiju koja je uslijed duge nemštine i izolacije stvorila kritičnu masu stanovništva koje sve one koji se ne uklapaju u sliku "normalnog čovjeka" smatra bolesnicima. Mada budimo iskreni, skoro sve balkanse države imaju isti problem.

Ovaj film nam govori o jednom tinejdžerskom problemu, shvatanje i prihvatanje sopstvene seksualnosti. Ne znam zašto , ali dosta momaka je našlo za shodno da mi pošalje mail sa problemima u vezi toga. Pitanja tipa, kako mogu biti siguran da sam gay i šta da radim da to ne budem?!

GayCelluloid.com [David Hall]

Every once in a while, along comes a film that in saying it like it is, gives encouragement and inspiration to others to proudly be their homosexual self. Well thankfully, this is one such occasion.

Then again, this heartfelt message of sexual acceptance should be of no surprise given this groundbreaking feature was made with the support of Stonewall. It tells, in effect, the story of six teenagers, each of whom has fallen foul of the school system thanks to their misbehaviour and who are forced to seek educational redemption by participating in a dance and drama class with a difference. That difference being Loris; the new teaching jock on the block who is as open with his homosexuality, as he is on hand to support his pupils, a mixed group of troubled teens who have far more in common with each other, than what they may care to realise.

And no need to guess that the common factor here is one of sexuality; albeit sexuality with a twist in its tale. Take Lee for example. Your stereotypical butch dyke. Only she’s straight and the best friend of Karmel, namely a girl into make-up, clothes and all that’s pretty, including girls. Hey, who says lesbians aren’t supposed to be girly. And then there’s Isaac, who along with his best friend Ryan is homophobic to the core, having made the life of school geek Tegs a bloody misery. Only who’s actually gay or straight here? Tegs' best friend Jordan has an idea, but then this budding footballer has other things on his mind, as he sets his sights on a career in the so-called beautiful game.

In short, this is a film in which writer, director and don’t you just love him Rikki, think Metrosexuality, Beadle-Blair as Loris has set out to showcase the sparkling sexual diversity "that humanity has to offer." It is a work that brilliantly plays on its performing arts scenario to allow for accusations of being gay to flourish, that of a series of cutting comments, that make for direct replies in return. And here cue such questions as am I gay?, what if my friend is gay?, together with such major issues as religion and homosexuality, sport and homophobia, let alone the differing parental attitudes to gay blood in the family.

That the talented young cast play their roles with added poignancy, should arrive as no surprise, given of a number of them had already performed in front of 20,000 plus people during the three winters that the original stage play / workshop toured the UK; at theatres, youth clubs and critically at schools. Yet that does not diminish their remarkably realistic turns here, even if Jay Brown of Hong Khaou’s Summer credit had the unenviable task of portraying the homophobic bully of the piece; albeit one that is shown the error of his ways, courtesy of seven episodic chapters that detail the life stories and thereby the very sexuality of the principal characters.

Notably reworked for its cinematic outing, along the way taking in many of the players previously seen in Beadle-Blair's spirited Kick Off, this enlightening work equally contains a series of direct-to-camera monologues, that by way of a support group, emotionally cut straight to the hearts and minds of the gay and lesbian teens of today. The result is a vibrant mix of sexual home truths and street dance that is as entertaining, as it is informative. That an exhilarating feature such as this, aimed at addressing homophobic bullying in British schools should be required viewing as part of the National Curriculum, kind of goes without saying. Simply wicked.

3 (I) (2010) aka Trojka

2010-09-27T08:11:00.000+02:00

3 (I) (2010) aka Trojka

Director: Tom Tykwer
Scenario: Tom Tykwer
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Year: 2010
Duration: 119 min(Venice Film Festival)
Rating: 8/10

Actors: Sophie Rois, Sebastian Schipper, Devid Striesow, Annedore Kleist, Angela Winkler, Alexander Horbe, Winnie Bowe, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Peter Benedict, Georgette Dee, Michael Dorn, Cedric Eich, Christopher Karl Hemeyer, Hans Hohlbein, Senta Dorothea Kirschner

Opis:

Danas sam pogledao još jedan njemački film na temu veza sa biseksualnim muškacima. Nesretno sročeno jer se u ovom filmu radi o jednoj trojki. Film nam priča priču o srednjovečnom berlinskom paru koji se odvojeno zaljubljuje u istog muškarca! Za razliku od predhodnog filma Cibrail, ovaj je urađen odlično. Dobra gluma i odlična priča održaće vašu pažnju tokom cjelog trajanja filma.

Neću vam mnogo detaljisati, iako je sama tema većini pedera poznata. ( Barem onima iz moje generacije)
Ne znam da li sam već pisao u ovom blogu ali moja najveća i najsnažnija ljubav upravo liči na ovu priču! Desila se krajem 80-tih godina. Bio sam u vezi sa čovjekom koji je živio sa djevojkom punih šest godina. Meni bilo dobro, nije me zapostavljao, razumio me je, a bio sam i u odličnim odnosima i sa njegovom djevojkom , porodicom, prijateljima...

Jednom prilikom joj je priznao da me voli. Ona je rekla pa i ja ga volim. - Al ja ga volim...baš onako...
Ona na to poslije duže pauze pita: A ko koga.. znaš..ono
Kasnije je bilo sučeljavanja, a sa moje strane očaja, straha itd. Pokušali smo da održimo ono što je napozitivnije u toj situaciji bilo, a to je da se svi medjusobno volimo, međutim u životu nije sve kao na filmu.

Iako sam kasnije upadao u slične situacije nekako mi se čini da je to moj usud. Jednostavno privlače me muškarci koji su se dokazali i kod žene i u društvu, i na poslu .. U svakom pogledu kompletne osobe, mada istini za volju i komplikovane!

Assured Filmmaking from a Mature Director, 6 September 2011

Author: wordmonkey from San Francisco, Ca.

Tom Tykwer has come of age as a director with this film, and has dropped his sparkling visual flair in favor of straightforward yet sophisticated storytelling. His camera and editing are spot-on yet smart, as he carefully weaves a layered tale of two lost adults who rediscover and remake themselves through their relationship with another man.
His nuanced trio of characters deliberately play against gender types: Simon, the husband, is passive, quiet, artistic, and metaphorically female; Hanna, the wife, is assertive, successful, opinionated, and symbolically male; Adam, their paramour, a fertilization specialist who "brings life" to their dull routine, has both male and female sides.
The way their lives intertwine is both surprising and entertaining, and Tykwer not only explores their raw cores of emotional and physical need, but deftly and expertly exposes the humor in Hanna and Simon's awkward fumbling for new purpose.
What Woody Allen does for New York, Tykwer does for Berlin, showcasing the city as a vibrant center of art, culture, and yes, sexuality, filled with creative inhabitants who have gone there to remake themselves.
His intermittent visual collages of the character's lives inject new vitality to the stale montages we've all seen a million times; it's not that the screen has never been subdivided this way before, but that Tykwer's method of visual construction is meticulous and succinct -- like every frame of this film.
The result is an engaging, truthful, and non-traditional romance that leaves you feeling hopeful that love can tear down our seemingly permanent walls; yet another reason to set it in Berlin!
Highly recommended.

One on One (2010)

2010-07-15T17:37:00.000+02:00

One on One (2010)

Director: Luis Fernando Midence
Scenario: Luis Fernando Midence
Genre: Short, Sport, Comedy, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 2010
Duration: 10 min
Rating: 5.8/10

Actors: Gerry Altamirano, Robert Bell, Timothy Paul Brown, Shain Clark, Gregory Alan Cooke, Braulio Cruz-Ortiz, Alekz Gerard, Ryan Hill, Charlotte Livingston, Erica Manuel, Nick McMahan, Shelley Ohmes, Crystal Taboada, Erica Wrice, Cheol Young Park

Dosta nas voli što je muško i uživa u tome! Naravno ima i onih koji više vole da budu muško u ženskim krpicama, a ima i onih koji vole da budu žena u muškom tijelu! Sve u svemu o ukusima se ne može raspravljati! Lično volim da sam muško u muškom tijelu, a volim seks sa istim kao ja , pa ko koga - nek mu je sa srećom!

Prije jedno dvije godine sam bio sa jednim likom koji je sebe predstavljao kao skoro 100% str8 osobom, ili da budemo precizniji na skali 95% ( njegova procjena)
Iako mi je to bilo jako smješno, shvatajući da je to ipak naš crnogorski sindrom nisam zamjerio pa sam se vidio sa njim! Pravi pravcati date! Piće, večera, priča o ženama, sportu, politici, po neki vic i na kraju odemo kod njega doma! Ne zna se ko je više napucan testosteronima , on ili ja! Vrata se zaključavaju , poljubac, brzo skidanje i teturanje do kreveta, kao u nekom filmu!
U jednom momentu nedoumica: Oće on mene da zaskoči, ali ja napaljen ko bik oću isto! Rvanje koje je potrajalo 5-6 minuta i ja popustim. On mi ga sav sretan uvali i izjeba me baš muški!
Nakon toga ja ustao da vidim šta ima za popiti, a on : zašto si ustao iz kreveta? Ja rekao pa da vidim šta imaš za popiti , nećemo se valjda sada maziti i ljubakati! A on eeej pa i mi muški volimo i da se mazimo i ljubimo, a volimo i čokoladu zar ne!
Vratih se u krevet, zaglismo se a ujutro sam se probudio sa njim oko mene! Gledao sam ga dok spava i izgledao mi je kao neki nježni dječak uspavan, željan muške topline! Totalno gay!

Ovaj film nam govori o dvije strane nas muških. Jedna sasvim macho, puna testosterona, agresivnosti, strasti i želje da vladamo svjetom, a druga nježna emotivna, umiljata koja uz najljepšu muziku pleše u nama!

From GayCeluloid.com

Built on solid production values, this University of Texas, Dallas student production charms with the tender tale of a pair of gay lovers, only for one to be more at ease in expressing his sexuality in public, than the other. Not that this suits macho lover boy Trevor who views affectionate lip-service from his latino partner Alex, even when on an empty basketball court, as some form of social statement. Only could a gentle waltz under the tuition of Ms Hilda see Trevor finally lower his guard, one-on-one style?

Made in collaboration with The Dance Ensemble at the University of Texas, Arlington, here writer and director Luis Fernando Midence of Affinity and More Coffee fame delights with a short film that is gay to the core. For in a world in which many a man, sexuality and indeed ethnic origin aside, finds it difficult to openly express their emotions, this short resonates with the beauty of dance as a means of binding lovers together.

True the result is far from earth shattering. But then it was never intended to be, given the allure of this piece lies in the dance class itself, one in which looks of alarm are courtesy of the raised voices of warring parties, rather than a gay couple taking to the floor. That first time actors Timothy Paul Brown as Trevor and Braulio Cruz-Ortiz as Alex create a believable "working it out" relationship, makes for a sweet tale of Come Dancing, sexuality irrelevant style. Need more be said?

Loose Cannons (2010) Mine vaganti (original title)

2010-03-11T00:14:00.000+01:00

Loose Cannons (2010)
Mine vaganti (original title)

Director: Ferzan Özpetek
Scenario: Ivan Cotroneo, Ferzan Ozpetek
Genre: Commedia
Country: Italia
Year: 2010
Duration: 110 min
Rating:

Actors: Riccardo Scamarcio, Alessandro Preziosi, Carolina Crescentini, Nicole Grimaudo, Elena Sofia Ricci, Daniele Pecci, Ennio Fantastichini, Lunetta Savino, Ilaria Occhini, Bianca Nappi, Dario Bandiera

Noćas sam se slatko ismijao gledajući ovaj film prepun tipičnog italijanskog humora, a opet nekako životan. Režiser Ferzan Özpetek nam kroz jednu priču dočarava kako se jedna tradicionalna provincijska porodica nosi sa činjenicom da im je sin homoseksualac! U ovom slučaju ne jedan nego dva sina! Uz nekoliko karakterističnih likova povjerenih izvrsnim glumcima dva sta će vam proteći vrlo brzo.
Tomas, student i pisac koji živi u Rimu odluči da ode na Siciliju i svojoj porodici saopšti da je gay! Ponosan otac dva sina na čelu trpeze, pomalo dezorjentisana majka, pijana tetka, baka, dvije nezadovoljne sluškinje i naravno dva stasita sina, svi za stolom večeravaju i pričaju!I taman kada Tomas odluči da im saopšti što je naumio, stariji brat se javlja za riječ i kaže: Odlučio sam da vam otkrijem ono što krijem čitav život, Ja sam Gay!

Kada otac iznenada dobije infarkt ( naravno ne onaj koban) Tomas u trebu zaboravi šta je htio reći!

Možete li zamisliti sebe u sličnoj situaciji? Jedan prijatelj mi je ispričao kako se taman spremao da najboljoj prijateljici saopšti da je gay kad ga je ona prekinula i rekla : Ja sam lezbejka!

A ja sam jednoj curi sa kojom sam imao tu noć imao seks, nakon što je počela da mašta kako će mo do kraja života živjeti srećno da bi prekinuo tu njenu bajku rekao: Ja sam peder! Nakon kratkog šoka je rekla: Pa kakav je to peder koji je tako dobar u seksu sa ženama? Naravno ponosno sam odgovorio: Takav peder stoji pred tobom! Mislim da ni dan danas ne vjeruje u to što sam joj rekao i da je sve bila samo fora da bih je otkačio!

Ako slučajno čita ovaj blog znaće ko ga piše!:))

Inače Ferzan Ozpetek nam je već poznat po sjajnim filmovima Saturno Contro (2007), Hamam ( 1997) i Le Fate Ignoranti (2001)

Ferzan Ozpetek’s Loose Cannons is a pretty typical Italian tale of dynastic change. Tommaso (Riccardo Scamarchio) is an aspiring writer who returns from Rome to his provincial southern hometown, where his father is planning to hand the family pasta factory to him and brother Antonio (Alessandro Preziosi).

Tommaso plans a dramatic confession that he’s gay to escape such drudgery, but is beaten to the punch by his equally secretly gay brother. One paternal heart attack later, family ties are snapping.

Ozpetek takes these men and women as they are, revealing deep emotions in broad strokes. Everyone here is a disappointed misfit, not just the loose cannons in the clan.

But where a Fellini would also include hard barbs of human nature at its worst, Ozpetek’s deep belief in family and friends sees these bonds soften the conflict. He has the all-embracing, crowd-pleasing virtues of a daytime soap. But he has a bigger, truer heart.

Ordinary Sinner (2001)

2010-01-24T12:31:00.001+01:00

Ordinary Sinner (2001)

Director: John Henry Davis
Scenario: William Mahone
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 2001
Duration: 91 min
Rating: 5.4/10

Actors: Brendan Hines, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Elsewhere, A Martinez, Peter Onorati, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Joshua Harto, Kia Goodwin, Chris Messina, Nathaniel Marston, Daniel Stewart Sherman, Rusty De Wees, Brian Hammer, William Mahone, Lynn Bowman

Description:
VARIETY.COM
By DENNIS HARVEY

A Thief Co. presentation. Produced by Chris Bongirne, John Henry Davis, J.B. White. Executive producer, William Mahone. Directed by John Henry Davis. Screenplay, William Mahone; story, Mahone, Davis, J.B. White.
With: Brendan P. Hines, Joshua Harto, Kris Park, Elizabeth Banks, A Martinez, Peter Onorati, Chris Messina, Daniel Sherman, Nathaniel Marston, Kia Joy Woodwin, Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

Bland inspirational indie "Ordinary Sinner" merits applause for being a rare faith-based drama about sexual tolerance -- its central theme being the struggle between Christianity and homophobia -- though what's onscreen is far too vanilla in both content and execution to spark much enthusiasm. Beyond gay fest slots as a curio, feature will fare best as a broadcast item. If one incongruous early partial-nudity seduction scene is excised, it would make an excellent spur to social issue discussion amongst church groups and classroom viewers age 12 and up.
Protag Peter (Brendan P. Hines) has dropped out of seminary school since his counseling of an Albany, N.Y., teen failed to save the latter from serious trouble. His mission and faith badly shaken, he slinks back to a Vermont university town where childhood friend Alex (Kris Park) and sexy student Rachel (Elizabeth Banks) try to coax him out of depression. Peter's erstwhile religious mentor, Father Ed (A Martinez), tries likewise.
The priest (whose Episcopalian order doesn't require celibacy) comes out of the closet when campus gay bashings and one churchgoer's virulent homophobia force him to go public in his relationship with Mike (Peter Onorati), owner of the pizza parlor where Peter now works. This news divides the congregation, and various community members are suspected of spreading anti-gay propaganda.
A tragic death abruptly throws everyone into a mournful mood, while Peter sinks yet further into bitterness and doubt. Pic's earnest if heavy-handed morality play to this point is thrown somewhat off-kilter by a last act introduction of strained thriller elements, when it appears the aforementioned death might not have been accidental after all. Weak resolution pegs the crime on script's most vaguely defined character.
Perfs are serviceable given preponderance of banal dialogue like "I tried running away once -- I'm not going to do it again." Apart from some attractive use of the Vermont landscape, debuting feature director John Henry Davis's presentation is on the routine end of competency, with tech and design factors following suit.
Camera (color), Mathieu Roberts; editor, Paul Zehrer; music, Brian Adler; production designer, Henry Dunn; art director, Daniel Meeker; set decorator, Kate Foster; costume designer, Christianne Myers; sound (DTS), Tyler Stephens, Max Kalmanowicz; assistant director, Monique LaMontagne; casting, Vince Liebhart, Tom Alberg. Reviewed at Roxie Cinema, San Francisco, June 13, 2002. (In San Francisco Lesbian & Gay Film Fesitval.) Running time: 92 MIN.

Disarm (2010)

2010-01-23T17:02:00.000+01:00

Disarm (2010)

Director: Nathan Keene
Scenario: Nathan Keene, Will Faulkner
Genre: Short, Drama
Country: Australia
Year: 2010
Duration: 18 min
Rating:

Actors: David Ryan Kinsman, Taris Tyler

Dešava li vam se da vam se neko na prvi pogled ne dopadne ijednostavno kažete - OK nije moj tip al možemo se družiti i popiti neko piće.
Što se više upoznajete sa sagovornikom više vam se i dopada, te u jednom momentu u njemu ne vidite čovjeka koji vas fizički ne privlači već osobu sa kojom bi vrlo rado podijelili mnogo više od običnog seksa!

Meni se to dešavalo, doduše ne često ali ipak se dešavalo! Zadnji put ovo ljeto, stariji čovjek, bio sa ženom na plaži , odmah blizu mene! Svi troje pričamo o svemu i svačemu. Iz početka sex u bilo kojoj varijanti sa bilo kime od njih mi nije padao na pamet. Naprosto prijalo mi je društvo i to je to! Kako je vrijeme proticalo taj me čovjek počeo sve više zanimati sve dok u jednom momentu nisam poželio i da osjetim njegov zagrljaj. Naravno to se nije desilo, ali još jedno iskustvo kako iskren ljudski razgovor može da pobjedi svaki gard koji postavite prema nekom ili neko prema vama!

Pogledajte ovaj film i znaćete o čemu pričam!

Description:

Two gay men hook up online. The younger one (David Ryan Kinsman) goes to visit the older one (Taris Tyler). Their attempt at sex falls flat and they start to talk. During the talk there's a lot revealed about their characters, their feelings about being gay and sex in general.

This isn't a pleasant short(there's a LOT of swearing) and the characters are unlikable but the talk itself is fascinating. The Australian accents aren't easy to understand but everything comes through eventually. This basically turns into a character study with two very interesting people. They show and talk about gay relationships unlike any other movie I've ever seen. It pulls no punches and hits some interesting truths and subjects head on. My only complaint--Kinsman is unattractive and not a good actor but Tyler is VERY good-looking and one hell of an actor. He makes up for Kinsmans' deficiencies. Powerful and worth catching.

Disarm from Will Faulkner on Vimeo.

Sasha (2010)

2010-01-09T13:07:00.000+01:00

Sasha (2010)

Director: Dennis Todorović
Scenario: Dennis Todorović
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Year: 2010
Duration: 102 min
Rating:

Actors: Sascha Kekez, Predrag Bjelac, Ljubisa Gruicic, Zeljka Preksavec, Gosia Konieczna, Tim Bergmann, Jasin Mjumjunov, Yvonne Yung Hee, Werner Strenger, Christian Lessiak, Ozgur Cebe, Fang Yu, Lucy Schaaf, Anastasia Clemens, Jonathan Ewald

Description:

Bio sam iznenađen kada sam vidio da postoji neki "domaći" gay film koji nisam gledao! Tačnije ovaj film je režirao Denis Todorović u Njemačkoj produkciji. Radi se o jednoj našoj porodici koja živi u Njemačkoj! Glava kuće je crnogorac, Pero Petrović, oženjen sa zagrebčankom sa kojom ima dva sina, Vlada i Sašu. Pero predstavlja balkanski stereotip macho muškarca u koji se ubrajaju nama poznati ukrasi svakog "normalnog" balkanca koji voli žene, voli da popije, da se potuče, a nezaobilazna je i sarma na trpezi.

Medjutim nakon 20 godina u Njemačkoj, zapadna kuptura se neminovno infiltrirala u ovu balkansku porodičnu idilu.
Stariji sin Vlado je moderan momak, koji se potpuno uklapa u Njemačko društvo, tolerantan i iskren. Mlađeg sina Sašu majka forsira da postane uspješan pianist, te mu plaća časove klavira kako bi upisao muzički konzervatorij.
Otac kao zaštitnik porodice takođe gaji velike simpatije prema Saši jer mu je nekako muškiji od starijeg sina. Svi misle da je Saša u vezi sa kineskinjom Jiao.
Medjutim disciplinovani Saša krije da je zaljubljen u svog učitelja klavira Gebhard Webera koji je neskriveni gay!
Kakva drama može nastati kada se sve to saznaćete kada odgledate ovaj film. Da li roditeljska ljubav uvjek nadjaća bijes i tradicionalno shvaćanje seksualnosti?

Film je odlično napravljen, dobra gluma, a priča je naša! Dovoljno da vas zainteresuje, zar ne!
Interesantno je kako mnogi strani kritičari neke elemente filma vide kao komediju ne shvatajući da je ta komedija dio naše svakodnevnice. Film definitivno nije komedija vec je to coming-out drama i ljubavna romansa.

Film me asocira na jednog momka iz mog kraja koji je uspješno krio svoje seksualne sklonosti. Niko od komsija i sugradjana nije nista sumljao, imao je djevojku sa kojom je bio u vezi 3 godine, uspješan sportista, omiljen u gradu!
Preko neta me jedan kontaktirao i ispričao šta ga sve muči. Čitao je i obvaj blog koji ga je kako kaže i oduševio i uplašio! Pitao me je postoje li pederi koji se nipočemu ne razlikuju od drugih "normalnih" ljudi osim po tome sto vole seks sa muškarcima.
Naravno da ima, ali nisam bio u stanju da mu objasnim šta je to gay stereotip i elemente koji se prožimaju kod gay ljudi , a koji u večini slučajeva nisu prihvatljivi za neki tradicionalni moralni standard.
Nakon tri mjeseca dopisivanja zakucao mi je na vrata! Ušao mi je u kuću nekako uplašen u dva sata noću! Bojao se da ga neko ne vidi. Uzeh flašu loze pa mu nasuh da se malo opusti i razbije taj strah! Uz priču se oslobodio i počeo sa pitanjima koja su me zabavljala i bila smješna, uglavnom u vezi seksa, važnosti veličine kurca, emocija itd
Pred jutro mu rekoh da moram malo da odspavam jer idem na posao, a on meni: Smijem li te poljubiti - i tako dalje kraj znate! Čitav taj nazovi seks je trajao 2 minuta.
Sastajali smo se jedno 3 mjeseca dok nije napravio sranje i kući svima rekao da je gay! Ne samo doma, nego i prijateljima i u klubu. Možete li zamisliti koji je to skandal bio, od pljuvanja do odobravanja. Preživio je haos. Srećom mene nije nikada pomenuo! Zato sam mu pomagao koliko sam god mogao da sve prebrodi i izvuče se iz sranja u koje se uvalio.
Iako je uspio da ga svi prihvate takvog kakav jeste, odselio je u Njemačku!

Sasha’s piano teacher Mr. Weber (Tim Bergmann) — on whom Sasha has an insatiable crush — informs Sasha that he is relocating to Vienna. Sasha is heartbroken — make that devastated.
Jiao (Yvonne Yung Hee), Sasha’s best friend is also being pushed (by her father, a Chinese immigrant) to enter the conservatory to study violin. Jiao and Sasha do their best to please their parents, but life (more specifically heartache) gets in the way. Sasha is able to use Jiao as his beard around his homophobic family, but he does not realize that Jiao has an insatiable crush of her own — on him. Therefore, when Sasha comes out to Jiao (during an amazingly beautiful scene in which Jiao is expecting a confession of love) Jiao’s heart is shattered.
Sasha’s mother and Jiao’s father want their children to pursue the careers that they themselves were not able to (probably because life happened to them), partially to fulfill their personal fantasies but also to break their children away from their lower-middle class immigrant lifestyle. Jiao’s father owns a restaurant and Sasha’s mother operates a small pub with Sasha’s father, Vlado (Predrag Bjelac) — it is also worth noting that Vlado did not fulfill his childhood dream of playing professional basketball. All of the parents are unhappy with their current career positions; now their hope is focused entirely toward the next generation.
For some reason writer-director Dennis Todorovic thought this tender coming-of-age drama needed a comedic/slapstick element thrown into the mix, a role which Sasha’s lazy uncle (Ljubisa Gruicic) — who successfully channels Roberto Benigni — gladly fills; other than that minor misstep, Sasha is filled with tenderly rendered scenes dusted with carefully nuanced humor. Sasha is a wonderful interpretation of cultural and generational clashes, finely reflecting the multi-ethnic backgrounds of Cologne. Most importantly, Sasha stresses the importance of communication, openness and honesty amongst friends and family.

Solange Du hier bist (2006) AKA While You Are Here

2010-01-07T10:37:00.002+01:00

Solange Du hier bist (2006) AKA While You Are Here

Director: Stefan Westerwelle
Scenario: Ralf Stadler, Stefan Westerwelle
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Year: 2006
Duration: 78 min
Rating: 5.6/10

Actors: Michael Gempart, Leander Lichti

Description:

VARIETY.COM

By JAY WEISSBERG

A stripped-down two-hander exhibiting sensitivity where others usually go for the salacious or tragic, "While You Are Here" uses a non-probing approach to speak volumes about the relationship between an elderly man and a hustler. Though 15 minutes could be shaved off, novice helmer Stefan Westerwelle's nonjudgmental minimalist eye nicely captures the needs and hesitancies of both protags without condescension or voyeuristic intent. Extremely focused pic is an impressive graduation work from Cologne's Academy of Media Arts (credited as the production company), and while expanded play is unlikely, fests -- not just gay -- should provide welcome exposure.
Handsome opening close-up of wrinkled hands repairing a broken bowl signals what's to come: tight, often claustrophobic shots describing the just-sufficient, lonely world of the aged Georg (Michael Gempart).
In an airless, dark home, Georg waits for his regular appointment with young hustler Sebastian (Leander Lichti). Although the setup might sound depressing, Westerwelle, with just a few careful details, avoids turning Georg into a pathetic figure.
Backgrounds are kept to the barest of essentials, as is dialogue. Georg tentatively searches for any chance to pamper the young man, while Sebastian maintains an emotionless exterior. After a night spent at Georg's with the excuse he missed the last bus, Sebastian announces that his father recently died and he's contemplating returning home.
In a field glutted with predictable (and boring) hustler pics, Westerwelle refuses to go for stereotypes: Sebastian quotes from the poet Heinrich Heine, while Georg is never presented as a dirty old man. Westerwelle presents the two men as barely more than strangers and yet both yearning to communicate with the other.
Though transfer from DV is too dark, d.p. Bernadette Paassen (lenser on Jan Krueger's underappreciated "En Route") keeps her fluid camera close to the characters, creating a hermetic world that's further emphasized by Christina Freye's spot-on art direction, all wood paneling and brown furnishings. Westerwelle perhaps overuses a flashlight, peering into various corners of Georg's home, but the device beautifully reveals the tension between a still, ever-present past and the cautious anticipation of something in the future.
Camera (color, DV-to-35mm), Bernadette Paassen; editor, Huynh-Trang Lam; music, Andreas Gilgenberg, Martin Lesniak; production designer, Christina Freye; costume designer, Huy-Thong Tran Mai; sound (Dolby SR), Thomas Peters; assistant director, Linda de Oliveira; casting, Christian Ruzicska. Reviewed at Locarno Film Festival (Filmmakers of the Present -- competing), Aug. 7, 2006. (Also in Montreal World Film Festival -- First Films.) Running time: 78 MIN.

Welcome Home, Bobby (1986)

2010-01-07T10:21:00.001+01:00

Welcome Home, Bobby (1986)

Director: Herbert Wise
Scenario: Conrad Bromberg
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 1986
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 4.8/10

Actors: Timothy Williams, Tony Lo Bianco, Adam Baldwin, Anthony Candell, Nan Woods, Stephen James, John Karlen, Gisela Caldwell, John Pleshette, Moira Harris, Don James, Erik Leeper, Steve Pink, Kim Strauss, Mary Ann Thebus

Description:
Flawed attempt at dealing with teen homosexuality, 17 February 2005
Author: dwr246 from United States

1986 was apparently the year that TV movies decided to handle homosexuality, as evidenced by "My Two Loves" and this offering. Given the subject matter, I so wanted to like this movie. Unfortunately, what I found after sitting through it was nothing but a bunch of clichés and stereotypes, and very little real understanding of the issues facing a gay teen.
The story centers around the title character, Bobby (Timothy Williams), a computer whiz from a small town outside of Chicago, who ventures into the city for either a computer class, or a computer lab (my memories of the details of this part of the movie are a bit sketchy). He meets a handsome older man who pays him a lot of attention. Since Bobby's relationship with his father (Tony LoBianco) is somewhat strained, Bobby responds to the attention, and eventually he and the older man become lovers. When this is revealed in Bobby's hometown, he finds himself an outcast, with almost everyone, including his father, taking a dim view of his homosexuality. Unfortunately, Bobby isn't quite ready to take on the label "gay" and the negative reactions of those around him only reinforce his discomfort. He finds few friends and even less understanding during his search, and ultimately has to create his new reality for himself.
While this film purports to be a sympathetic treatment of the coming out struggle, it fails miserably in that objective. The main problem is that Bobby himself is not drawn sympathetically. His confusion comes across well, as does his eventual defiance of his father, but the viewer sees little in him that would inspire the loyalty his few friends give him. It's unclear how he hooked up with, or why he hangs out with the man and woman who befriend him - he has little in common with them. And his girlfriend is an even bigger cypher. One would think she would be upset by his having slept with someone else, male or female. Instead, she wants to hear all about it. And her eventually reason for breaking up with him is that teachers in the school are lowering her grades because she's with him. The dialogue in the group therapy sessions is so full of gay clichés that it's harmful as well as painful, and even the conversations with the older lover are also full of clichés with no affection expressed between the two.
Worse yet are the stereotypical reactions of his family. Dad wants to beat the stuffing out of him, and Mom is too ineffectual to offer any real comfort or support. The scene where he appears at the dinner table in drag to confront his father is so hackneyed that I lost all sympathy for Bobby in it.
While the attempt to deal with such an issue was laudable, the film itself is a horrible mess of clichés and contradictions. If you're looking for an intelligent treatment of teen homosexuality, it's best to look elsewhere.

Welcome Home, Bobby
by edisonfarinha

Luksus (2008)

2010-01-07T10:08:00.001+01:00

Luksus (2008)

Director: Jaroslaw Sztandera
Scenario: Tomasz Olejarczyk, Jaroslaw Sztandera
Genre: Short, Drama
Country: Poland
Year: 2008
Duration: 38 min
Rating:

Actors: Piotr Sokolowski, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Michal Wlodarczyk, Dorota Chotecka, Antonina Lazarkiewicz, Milena Lazarkiewicz, Janusz Rybczynski, Pawel Szczesny

Description:
The lives of two boys converge at the central train station in Warsaw a day before Christmas. One is a teen prostitute nicknamed Luksus (Luxury) and the other is a beggar with a dog. The older one, because of his age, has just ?nished his ‘career’. The younger one is only a step away from it as he has come into possession of a valuable notebook with the addresses and telephone numbers of clients. A local taxi driver, the main client and agent in the underage sex business, offers Luksus a job as a tout.Will the boy exploit his younger friend or will he help him escape paedophiles’ clutches? Painfully realistic, photographed in the authentic setting of the station, Sztandera’s ?lm touches upon a real problem often ignored by Polish cinema.

Luksus
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Il compleanno (2009) aka David’s birthday

2009-12-05T18:48:00.000+01:00

Director: Marco Filiberti
Scenario: Deborah De Furia, Marco Filiberti
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Year: 2009
Duration: 106 min
Rating: Actors: Alessandro Gassman, Maria de Medeiros, Massimo Poggio, Michela Cescon, Christo Jivkov, Piera Degli Esposti, Thyago Alves, Marianna De Rossi, Daniele De Angelis, Lynn Swanson

Poslije dužeg vremena odlučio sam da nastavim sa ovim blogom. Iako se na njemu nije ništa novo pojavljivalo broj posjetitelja nije opadao! Tražeći po netu nove filmove vidim da je nekako gay produkcija zapala u duboku krizu! Pa nije valjda da su sve priče već ispričane!

Ovaj izrazito melodramatični film bi me potpuno uspavao da nije fantastičnog glumca Massima Poggia koji je bez zamjerki odigrao ulogu Mattea, uspješnog, sredovečnog oženjenog muškarca koji se zaljubljuje u prijateljevog sina Davida!
Priča se odvija na Siciliji u jednom mirnom turističkom mjestu u kojemu tri prijatelja sa svojim porodicama iznajmljuju vilu pored mora kako bi zajedno proveli godišnji odmor. Nenadano iz Amerike dolazi David, sin Diega i Shary koji sa ostalima uživaju u čarima ljeta.
Iako je zanimljiva priča, kroz ovaj film nam na momente postaje nekako isprazno dugačka. Režiser Marco Filiberti je mnoge scene ostavio nezavršene, tako da film na momente izlazi iz cjele priče a gledatelje ostavlja da čekaju kada će se nastaviti.
Takođe moram primjetiti da i pored odlčnih g lumaca u filmu nije uspio da nam u potpunosti približi Davidove emocije prema Matteu tako da je nesretni David ( ljepuškasti isprazni momak sa reklama Calvim Kleina rublja) u filmu bio samo objekat žudnje, kako za Mattea tako i za gledatelje koje vole taj tip "muškarca"
Par scena u filmu odskaču od dosadnog melodramatičnog predvidljivog klišea, kao na primjer ona u kojoj su Matteo i David na motoru, te scena Davidove masturbacije uz pjesmu Maledetta primavera od Lorette Goggi.

Sjajna gluma Massima Poggia koji je uspio da nam približi Matteovu rastrgnutost između želje za Davidom i tradicionalnog načina življenja je uspjela da izvuče ovaj film iz mora otužnih melodramatičnih filmova.

Ljetos sam bio na jednoj ne baš mnogo posjećenoj plaži u blizini Sv. Stefana. Film me je podsjetio na jednog rusa koji je tu došao sa ženom. Nekoliko skrivenih pogleda mi je govorilo da mu je žao što nije došao sam.
Za razliku od njega jedan mađar mi je otvoreno prišao i upoznao me sa njegovom djevojkom. Svo troje smo proveli noć zajedno u njihovoj kamp prikolici!
Kada neko zna šta oće to će i dobiti!

David's Birthday is a film about a married man coming apart at the seams, due to his desire for a gorgeous young guy, who happens to be his best friend's son.

Two affluent, seemingly happy couples share a beautiful house on the Italian beach for summer vacation. Matteo (Massimo Poggio}, a psychologist, is married to the lovely Francesca (Maria de Madeiros, who played bisexual writer Anais Nin in 1990 film Henry and June) with whom he has a young daughter. Shary and her on again off again husband Diego (Alessandro Gassman) live in separate worlds most of the time: she works in New York, he works for his father's company in Italy. Their 18 yr old son David, who lives with Shary in New York, has been working as an underwear model before college (played by real model Thyago Alves, who is positively radiant on film.) When the gorgeous David, who has taken a five year break from Italy, arrives, all the local girls are smitten, but so is the middle aged married Matteo....especially when David appears to be flirting.

After wife Francesca decides their daughter has had too much sun and sends her to visit her aunt, Matteo is at loose ends and sinks deeper into his obsession with David.

Meanwhile, tensions flare as Shary's frustration with Diego's macho posturing and inability to break away from the family business spikes and Matteo's wife feels he is becoming distant but wont admit it. She worries he is becoming bored with her because she is not his intellectual equal, not knowing that intellect has nothing to do with his moodiness.

Stop reading now if you dont want to know too much. Shary's brother Leonard arrives and instantly picks up on the attraction between David and Matteo. He subtly tries to warn off Matteo and when that doesnt work he convinces nephew David to leave with him, when he is called away. But David remembers the birthday party the two families are throwing him and stays. Matteo and David at long last hook up but it winds up causing a disaster of operatic proportions, forshaddowed by the opening scene where the two couples attend the opera before leaving for their rented summer house. David loses track of his surroundings, so intent is he on staring at the male star.

T he cinematography is gorgeous, the sexual and emotional tension is thick, the acting is good and Matteo's struggle is somewhat sympathetic, until the story descends into melodrama and then becomes operatic.

Francesca, returning home from buying David's birthday cake, can't get into the locked house. Looking for entry, she stumbles upon David and Matteo's tryst in David's cabana-like room at the back. Horrified, she drops the cake and runs out in the street into the path of a moving car. So she is killed by the immoral bisexual cheating of her husband.

Since there are relatively few bisexual films in the world, I'd prefer the bisexuality to be between equal adults, not a middle aged married man and a boy who only looks like a man. And I really didnt need a film where bisexuality causes death. Especially of a character as sweet, supportive, fragile, lovely and blameless as Francesca.

If you have a chance to see David's Birthday, I recommend you do, despite its drawbacks, because it is in many ways a good film and I think it's always an interesting experience to see how bisexual characters are portrayed. An operatic ending may be partly forgiven from a country that grew up on opera like mothers milk. But if you feel that life is too short to watch another bi film with a tragic ending, you've been forwarned.

/p>

Wrecked (2009)

2009-11-20T00:34:00.001+01:00

Wrecked ( 2009 )

Director: Bernard Shumanski, Harry Shumanski
Scenario: Bernard Shumanski, Harry Shumanski
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Duration: 73 min
Rating: 2/10

Actors: Benji Crisnis, Forth Richards, Peter Peterson, Theo Montgomery, Womack Daryl

Description:
An edgy drama about a gay teen’s tumultuous decent into drugs and anonymous sex, Wrecked is a twink-lover's wet dream. Explicit and nearly pornographic, this indie from debut filmmakers/brothers Harry and Bernard Shumanski forges new territory in the realm of plot-driven erotica. Ryan is an earnest 18-year-old trying to develop a career as an actor and getting his life on the right track. This course is quickly threatened with the sudden arrival of his sort-of ex, Daniel, who arrives at Ryan’s door wanting a place to stay and offering the promise of a normal, loving relationship. But Daniel’s drug addiction and his perpetually slutty top-man horniness derail any hope for normalcy and soon ensnares Ryan in his own downward spiral of sex and drug addiction. There are solos, passionate drug-induced lovemaking scenes and even a hot threesome. Check out our gallery for lots of juiciness. Handheld cameras, a hot young cast and a boldly upfront approach to sex combine to make Wrecked a uniquely orgasmic film experience.

Shortbus (2006)

2009-11-15T08:20:00.001+01:00

Shortbus (2006)

Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Scenario: John Cameron Mitchell
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 2006
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 6.7/10

Actors: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Peter Stickles, Jay Brannan, Alan Mandell, Adam Hardman, Ray Rivas, Bitch, Shanti Carson, Justin Hagan, Jan Hilmer, Stephen Kent Jusick

Description:
VARIETY.COM
By TODD MCCARTHY

"Shortbus" is the cinematic equivalent of a relationship that begins with sex on the first date and then wants to get more serious when you'd rather just have more sex. Unquestionably the most sexually graphic American narrative feature ever made outside the realm of the porn industry, John Cameron Mitchell's ambitious attempt to merge his characters' active sexual lives with more conventional emotional content is playfully and provocatively entertaining for roughly the first half, but loses staying power thereafter when investment in the uncompelling characters' problems is requested. The lubricious action, which comes in a lively and varied set of permutations, puts this way over the line for most distribs and exhibs, so while pic will be an immediate must-see for certain audiences, especially gays, in limited theatrical release, it will find its true and lasting home on DVD.

Mitchell, in the wake of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," has finally fulfilled a dream that a number of filmmakers had in the early 1970s, that of plausibly working hardcore material into a legitimate dramatic picture. From the eye-popping opening scene, sex pervades the action, and it is clearly the writer-director's intent to start outrageously so that, after the second or third time the actors get it on, it won't seem so unusual anymore.
Still, the polymorphous couplings are more inventive and entertaining than the emotional content. Mitchell's exuberant, playful approach and unfailing good humor feel far better matched to the characters' experimental probings than to their purported anxieties.
The central figures here are embarked upon problematic sexual quests; the main woman is a relationships therapist desperate to experience her first orgasm, and one of the men is suicidal, but there's far too much fun in Mitchell's sexual wonderland for such negativity to last.
Pic's intro may be the coolest movie welcome to New York City since the opening of "West Side Story." In the shadow of a looming Statue of Liberty, a beautifully abstracted animated model of the city is swooped down upon and through to locate the scenes of the action, and some vigorous intercutting to jazz accompaniment shows there's lots going on.
In one apartment, a young man starts playing with himself and does some contortions to orally finish the job. A straight couple seems intent upon re-enacting much of the Kama Sutra in one session. A dominatrix does her thing on a wimpy guy in a room over Ground Zero, and it all climaxes with a nifty joke at the expense of the Jackson Pollock school of painting.
The fellow in the tub was James (Paul Dawson), a former hustler who's been going with the dense but hunky Jamie (PJ DeBoy) for five years. Now they're dickering with "opening up" their relationship, so they visit therapist Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) to discuss the possibilities.
In the process, they learn her secret, that she's been faking orgasms with her husband Rob (Raphael Barker), so the boys invite her to a "Shortbus" party, a sort of downtown bohemian sex mixer where music and campy chit-chat prevail in one room, lesbians convene to chew things over in another, and whoever wants to dives into the action in the orgy cafeteria. "It's just like the '60s except with less hope," intones the event's sardonic ringmaster, Justin Bond.
Hunky James and Jamie have little trouble finding a third, a lad named Ceth (Jay Brannan), for their branching out experiment, a move that culminates in a memorable daisy chain with the threesome, just for a change of pace, singing "The Star Spangled Banner" while doing things that were no doubt long illegal in many states.
Despite a ready welcome mat, Sofia decides the Sapphic crowd doesn't do it for her, bonding rather with the dominatrix Severin (Lindsay Beamish), whose own barriers to intimacy are broken through only with great difficulty. Pic's theme overall has to do with the problem modern city dwellers, at least, have in feeling genuine emotion and letting other people "penetrate" them in ways other than physically, which is easy.
But Sofia's dilemma is in the end one-dimensional and hard to dramatize meaningfully, while the boys, despite James' closely held angst, scarcely seem tormented once they break the ice by sharing Ceth and never become multi-faceted enough to generate sincere interest.
Secondary characters such as Rob and a voyeur (Peter Stickles) who eventually joins the action aren't nearly as arresting as Bond and an old gay gent who says he was once mayor of New York.
So it's fun while the fun lasts, which will vary for different viewers. But despite the variable outcome, Mitchell earns major points for daring such a project, finding a cast willing and able to carry it off, developing the story with the thesps so the sex integrates with the general flow of events (while remaining dominant), achieving a smooth and nimble visual style, and suffusing everything with an intense curiosity and generous spirit.
All craft elements feed into the vibrant vibe, as do the energizing and sometimes witty musical elements.
Camera (DuArt color), Frank G. DeMarco; editor, Brian A. Kates; music, Yo La Tengo; music supervisor, Michael Hill; production designer, Jody Asnes; set decorator, Sara McMillan; costume designers, Kurt and Bart; sound (Dolby Digital), Ken Ishii; sound designer, Ben Cheah; re-recording mixers, Lora Hirschberg, Brandon Proctor; animation, John Bair; associate producers, Morgan Night, Neil Westreich, Richard Wofford; assistant director, Karen Kane; casting, Susan Shopmaker. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (noncompeting, Midnight Screenings), May 20, 2006. Running time: 102 MIN.
Also
With: Alan Mandell, Adam Hardman, Ray Rivas, Bitch, Shanti Carson, Justin Hagan, Jan Hilmer, Stephen Kent Jusick, Yolonda Ross, JD Samson, Daniela Sea, Miriam Shor, Rachael Cyna Smith, Paul Oakley Stovall, Lex Vaughn, Justin Bond.

Lonesome Bridge (2005) short

2009-11-11T17:16:00.001+01:00

Lonesome Bridge (2005)

Director: Brian Rowe
Scenario: Samantha Marazita, Brian Rowe
Genre: Short, Drama
Country: USA
Year: 2005
Duration: 12 min
Rating: 6.5/10

Actors: Ben Gaetanos, Austin Beckford, Aimee St. Piere, Amanda Lund, Nick Puliz

Description:
Worth Seeking Out, 13 February 2006
8/10
Author: JonB-2 from Los Angeles, CA
A nice small film that manages to avoid being a stereotypical "gay boy loves straight boy" story, and with a very interesting (and earned) twist at the end. Proof that simple stories with real characters work well, no matter the length.
The performances, camera-work and editing are above average, and unlike many low-budget short films, the music is nicely integrated into the story. Expect more from lead actress Aimee St. Pierre -- she exhibits a sweetness with an edge here reminiscent of Alyson Hannigan; and definitely expect more from producer/director/writer Brian Rowe. If he can do this in twelve minutes, I'd love to see what he can do with a feature.

Speedway Junky (1999)

2009-11-02T15:21:00.001+01:00

Speedway Junky (1999)

Director: Nickolas Perry
Scenario: Nickolas Perry
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 1999
Duration: 104 min | Germany:102 min | USA:105 min
Rating: 3.6/10

Actors: Jesse Bradford, Jordan Brower, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Daryl Hannah, Tiffani Thiessen, Patsy Kensit, Justin Urich, Adrienne Frantz, Patrick Renna, Erik Alexander Gavica, Timothy McNeil, Brian Stark, Warren G., Richard Balin, Jaime Bergman, Susan Gayle Clay, Lucy Dawn, Kaleb Dixon, Shevonne Durkin, Jason Ellsworth, Bill Farmer, Stephanie Granda, John Jett, Bill Cho Lee, Angela Little, Faith McDevitt, Sam Menning, Del Monroe, Cynthia Palmer, David Parker, Michael Roddy, Neil Ross, Nafisah Sayyed, Steve Schirripa, Benjamin Shelfer, Peter Thomas, Milo Ventimiglia, Nick Whelan

Description:
Movie Review by Zara
June 7th, 2007

When I got to the part where Tiffani Thiessen appears onscreen, I realized that I had stumbled upon this movie on late night cable at some point back, but only watched it for her bit role.
This time I Flixed it based on a search that I did of her movies (I have this thing that I do... don't ask) and figured I'd give it a chance. And it's a rough film to watch. There's so much bullsh*t being thrown at you by an incompetent writer/director that it's easy to miss the rare moments of genuine emotion that are conveyed.
True, the majority of them are buried deep under this light weight examination of street hustlers in Las Vegas. For a movie that mentions having sex for money, no sex is shown and nothing gets very dirty or scary. Doesn't sound like the kind of hustling that actually goes down on the strip to me.
In any case, it's a train wreck. But oddly enough, it's a train wreck that's hard to look away from. I blame Brower, a little known actor who manages to do the best that he can with the material that he's given. Most of the good scenes come from watching his face, green with both the inexperience in acting and the inexperience with what his character is going through.
Crappy movie and yet... I can't bring myself to hate it.

Bradford and Brower are terrific together, 3 January 2005
4/10
Author: wadeboi from Hollywood, CA

Novice director Nikolas Perry who made a fine debut with the short film "Must Be the Music" attempts to create another trendy Hollywood skid row druggie film but with a twist as a "buddy" film. And this one is set in Las Vegas. Jordan Brower is appealing as Eric and has particularly good chemistry with Jesse Bradford. These two would be worth casting together in another "buddy" feature. Beyond that one gets the sense that we've seen this all before including the obligatory death of the gay character. Perry explains, in his directory's commentary, that the death is an act of love--a sacrifice. Perhaps, but this film never sets the right tone for such a deeply symbolic conclusion. Like so many rookie writer- directors, Perry suffers from making the film too "busy" with endless characters, no sense of momentum, and endless clichés. Or perhaps the money people took over and made the film by committee? It has that look. Happily we are spared from the peek-a-boo nudity that is typical of these films: where the director goes to great lengths to get the actors naked then hide their nudity through awkward posing, clever placement of props, and so on.

It's My Party (1996)

2009-10-31T20:43:00.001+01:00

It's My Party (1996)

Director: Randal Kleiser
Scenario: Randal Kleiser
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 1996
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 6.7/10

Actors: Margaret Cho, Bruce Davison, Lee Grant, Devon Gummersall, Gregory Harrison, Marlee Matlin, Roddy McDowall, Olivia Newton-John, Bronson Pinchot, Paul Regina, George Segal, Eric Roberts, Steve Antin, Dimitra Arliss, Christopher Atkins

Description:
VARIETY.COM
By EMANUEL LEVY

An MGM/UA release of a UA presentation of an Opala production. Produced by Joel Thurm, Randal Kleiser. Executive producers, Robert Fitzpatrick, Gregory Hinton. Directed, written by Randal Kleiser.

Nick Stark - Eric Roberts
Brandon Theis - Gregory Harrison
Amalia - Lee Grant
Daphne - Marlee Matlin
Tony - Paul Regina
Charlene - Margaret Cho
Monty - Bronson Pinchot
Paul Stark - George Segal

Mixing comedy and drama, Randal Kleiser's "It's My Party" is an emotionally candid chronicle of a young gay man with AIDS who decides to terminate his life while still in control of his faculties. Though not as accomplished or emotionally satisfying as "Longtime Companion," the landmark 1990 AIDS drama, this star-studded studio release will probably do better than other indie pics about AIDS, but there's still a question about its crossover appeal.

Pic feels like a highly personal work but is severely flawed because its narrative consists entirely of background detail, with no dramatic core to contain its multiple subplots and characters.
Nick Stark (Eric Roberts) is a successful young architect engaged in a long-term relationship with Brandon (Gregory Harrison), his handsome lover who's equally devoted to his filmmaking career. When the story begins, Nick finds out that he's HIV-positive and has a short time to live. His healthy companion freaks out, and after a series of fights they break up, though clearly they're still very much in love. Rather than succumb to the disease's debilitating effects, Nick decides to take charge. As a prelude to his death, he hosts a two-day farewell party to which he invites all his friends and family members.
With its loose-knit screenplay, dozens of characters (some actors play themselves), overlapping dialogue and sound and other devices, "It's My Party" boasts an Altmanesque structure, but without Altman's savvy or wit -- it's more "Ready to Wear" than "Nashville" or "Short Cuts."
There are some wonderfully spontaneous and humorous sequences, but ultimately this movie of moments suffers from too much colorful periphery and not enough center. Once the core situation is established, the picture has nowhere to go, and what unfolds onscreen is a continuous parade of friends and guests who wander around the house, each getting a snippet of dialogue or a bitchy one-liner.
Pic's only dramatic interest is to see at what point Brandon, who arrives uninvited, will apologize for his misconduct and declare anew his love for Nick. During the two-day event, the two cross paths several times, with the audience waiting impatiently for the big scene, their reunion. Once it arrives, the scene is emotionally effective: Observing Brandon carrying Nick in his arms to his deathbed will reduce many viewers to tears.
One of the yarn's most interesting aspects is the contrast between Nick's biological family and his "real" family, a group of friends that includes Tony (Paul Regina), a former b.f., and Charlene (Margaret Cho), the loyal friend who insists Brandon still belongs to the inner circle.
It may be a tribute to superlative acting that Nick's blood family comes across as a loving, most caring unit, especially Nick's divorced mother, Amalia (Lee Grant), and his sensitive sister, Daphne (Marlee Matlin). Some tension prevails when Nick's father (George Segal), who had never accepted his son's homosexuality, arrives and has to deal with his still bitter wife but very forgiving son.
Kleiser has managed to construct a tale that's emotionally uplifting and, in moments, inspiring, without being overly sentimental. The lead characters are extremely engaging but two-dimensional -- particularly Nick, who seems to accept his fate without any bitterness or anger. About half an hour of the film's time is spent on Nick's delivering personal farewells -- and personal gifts -- to his family and friends, with prolonged hugs and kisses.
In what seems like a comeback after a decade of mostly straight-to-video movies, Roberts acquits himself with a decent performance in the difficult role of a saintly man who has no rough edges. The highly photogenic Harrison does a better job of acting, though one wants to know more about his character, particularly during the breakup.
To his credit, Kleiser adds some unexpected dimensions to the couple's split so that Brandon won't appear utterly villainous. But devices like brief flashbacks are routinely and disappointingly used to sketch the couple's happier times together.
Tech credits, particularly Bernd Heinl's fluid camera and Ila Von Hasperg's smooth editing, make for an intermittently enjoyable film, which in the hands of a different director could have been solemn and dreary.
Camera (Deluxe color), Bernd Heinl; editor, Ila Von Hasperg; music, Basil Poledouris; production design, Clark Hunter; costume design, Danielle King; associate producer, Dessie Markovsky; line producer, Harry Knapp; casting, Joel Thurm, Steven Fertig. Reviewed at MGM screening room, Santa Monica, Jan. 11, 1996. (In Sundance Film Festival -- premiere.) MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 110 MIN.

Intermezzo

2009-10-30T16:49:00.001+01:00

Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds (2006)

2009-10-27T23:06:00.001+01:00

Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds (2006)

Director: Phillip J. Bartell
Scenario: Phillip J. Bartell, Q. Allan Brocka
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 2006
Duration: 79 min
Rating: 6.8/10

Actors: Jim Verraros, Emily Brooke Hands, Rebekah Kochan, Brett Chukerman, Scott Vickaryous, Mink Stole, Marco Dapper, Adrian Quinonez, James Michael Bobby, Joseph Morales, Michael Serrato, Sarah Lilly, Andrew Ley, Jessie Gold, Larry Laboe

Description:
Slant Magazine
by Ed Gonzalez
Posted: November 1, 2006

Since Eating Out, Kyle (Jim Verraros) and Marc (Brett Chukerman, standing in for Ryan Carnes) have had their problems. One isn't trusting, the other has a wandering eye, and when they split, the stage is set for more absurd configurations of sexual interplay. The highlight of Eating Out is a scene in which a fag hag, Gwen (Emily Brooke Hands), sexes up a straight dude on the phone while Marc gives him a blowjob.

Gwen's determination is less imaginative this time around, but let's cut the girl a break—by the looks of her, she's seen better days. After Kyle and Marc split and Kyle, Gwen, and Tiffani (Rebekah Kochan) set their sights on a hot piece of man meat of dubious sexual orientation who poses nude for one of their art classes, Gwen unofficially teams up with Marc to seduce Troy (Marco Dapper) while Kyle and Tiffani go for the muscle stud under the pretense that Kyle is an ex-gay and Tiffani is his girlfriend (Kyle's argument: "He'll let me have sex with him if he knows I'm not gay"). Sloppy Seconds is something of a misnomer because the many messes these characters get into are not very spontaneous, but in spite of the schematic setup that leads to a naive Troy sucking his first cock and the whole gang outing the head of Homo No More, the film relishes in capturing those fluid days of youthful abandon when everyone's sexual agency was up for grabs. The film's appearance is close to embarrassing, but the funny-because-it's-true humor is stinging, getting off on the twisted lengths people will go to in order to get their groove on. Of course, the film also has a message: Appearing as Kyle's mother is Mink Stole, who realizes before everyone else does that "different rocks."

Between Places (2005)

2009-10-26T07:40:00.001+01:00

Between Places (2005)

Director: Amir Jaffer
Scenario: Amir Jaffer, Richard Schimpf
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 2005
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 7.1/10

Actors: Isaac Benjamin, Silvia Sweidan, Jakob Bokulich, Jennifer Beck, Desi del Valle, Joyce Lee Kinney, Juana Samayoa, Carissa Weir

Description:

After arriving from Egypt to work as a software engineer, Nagib (Isaac Benjamin) falls for his beautiful co-worker Aisha (Silvia Sweidan) and his handsome neighbor Jeff (Jakob Bokulich). September 11 terrorist attacks and the arrest of Nagib’s closeted gay friend in Egypt make matters worse. Business dries up at the software firm and his job is the first to go. Nagib is caught between being true to himself and the ones he love, as he tries to survive in the U.S. after 9/11. Between Places is an intricate story about love, deception and the choices one makes in hope for a better life for oneself.

Between Places
Uploaded by Aisha_Media. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

"Verbotene Liebe" (1995) TV Soap

2009-10-20T09:19:00.001+02:00

"Verbotene Liebe" (1995)

Director: John Delbridge, Annette Herre
Scenario: Susanne Wiegand, Eva Fritzsche
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Year: 1995
Duration: 24 min (3000 episodes)
Rating: 5.1/10

Description:
TV Series circling around young people, friends and families in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany. The series' trademark is that it tells both about life in rich (such as dukes and duchesseses) as well as "normal" families and people. Other and maybe most important trademark is that there always is one or many case/s of forbidden love ("Verbotene Liebe"), such as homosexuality or adultery. Written by Smoothhoney1265

Oliver is the nephew of Charlie Schneider (Gabriele Metzger). Charlie is happy when Oliver comes to Düsseldorf. Charlie and Oliver's mother Henriette (Susanne Seuffert) haven't had the best relationship and she kept Charlie from Oliver's childhood. Oliver is a young dreamer and bisexual. His first relationship with a man, the doctor Tom Seifert (Kay Böger), was very complicated. His mother showed up and Oliver kept his relationship with Tom as a secret...

See more: http://miriki.livejournal.com/164467.html#cutid1

The Art of Being Straight (2008)

2009-10-16T20:16:00.001+02:00

The Art of Being Straight (2008)

Director: Jesse Rosen
Scenario: Jesse Rosen
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Duration: 70 min
Rating: 4.3/10

Actors: Johnny Ray, Rachel Castillo, Jim Dineen, Jared Grey, Jesse Janzen, Tyler Jenich, Alan LaPolice, Bryan McGowan, Anne Reeder, Emilia Richeson, Jesse Rosen, Dana May Salah, Pete Scherer, Jen Zaborowski

Description:
VARIETY.COM
By DENNIS HARVEY

A low-key comedy high on charm and credible twentysomething observation, Jesse Rosen's debut feature, "The Art of Being Straight," stars the writer-director as a possibly-coming-out newbie in Los Angeles whose puzzling over his sexual identification isn't helped by his jokily insensitive straight buds. Appealingly played, nicely executed pic has a shot at arthouse distribution in addition to select DVD/cable sales and further fest travel.

Twenty-three-year-old John (Rosen) has just moved to L.A. from New York, ostensibly "taking a break" from his longtime girlfriend. He moves in with college bro Andy (Jared Grey), whose pals incessantly do that kind of "That is so gay" banter that's essentially harmless -- unless you're the only gay guy in the room. (Acknowledging there actually is a distinction, one eventually queries "Is it 'gay' like it's lame or 'gay' like it's homosexual?")

A quiet, genial guy among these more boisterous types, John is hardly comfortable discussing his shifting Kinsey scale placement with them, and his new job as bottom-rung gofer at a major ad agency is fraught with sexual tension as a studly boss (Johnny Ray Rodriguez) barrages him with thinly veiled come-ons.
Meanwhile, lesbian friend Maddy (Rachel Castillo) suffers her own travails, questioning her relationship commitment with g.f. Anna (Emilia Richeson) while developing a crush on nice-guy neighbor Aaron (Peter Scherer). Her own low-rung job at an art gallery is made torturous by bitchy, pretentious co-workers and customers.
Maddy isn't undergoing a major life change, just a wee bi-curious phase. John isn't so much closeted as

simply figuring himself out. His peers aren't real homophobes, just guys talking typical guy-trash. Narrative developments feel true to an increasingly frequent real-world dynamic too seldom seen in drama: When gay guy (or girl) is just "one of the guys," not the token "gay friend" or the straight woman's non-threatening pal. Pic's slice of post-collegiate L.A. life likewise feels casually on-target in portraying an aspirational milieu that's more Silverlake than Beverly Hills or West Hollywood.
Narrative grows a tad fragmentary toward the end, but "Art" and its characters remain ingratiating. Design and tech contribs are nicely turned.
Camera (color, HD-to-DigiBeta), Aaron Torres; editor, Rob Schulbaum; music, the Musical Theater, No Pilots No Demos, Trevor Howard; production designer, Karuna Karmarkar; sound, Mark Steele. Reviewed at San Francisco Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, June 20, 2008. Running time: 77 MIN..

From Imdb:

Cute But Fluffy Film, 7 June 2009

Author: cfbrown77 from United States

There is nothing particularly bad about the Art of Being Straight, but there is nothing especially good. Rachel Castillo does deliver a delightful performance as the lead character's ex-girlfriend who is now in a committed lesbian relationship, but dealing with her attraction to the new guy who moved in next-door. Unfortunately, the parallel main plot and lead performance given by the writer/director Jesse Rosen is not as engaging as he explores his own sexual identity. Mr. Rosen acting is lifeless and his character is dull. However, the film's tone is warm, the dialogue is sincere, and the movie smartly avoids heavy angst (for the most part) and tedious academic explorations of identity politics; however, it just ends up coming up short. The movie is neither intellectually provocative, nor particularly sexy (I am not arguing for more graphic sex scenes, but the few sex scenes which were shot are so insipid and boring they should have simply been left out). The film also occasionally stretches credulity when it needs to be believable. But most problematic is that the movie fails to deliver much of a message beyond "life isn't always black and white"--something other films have conveyed in a much more thoughtful and effective manner. In the end, the film is a mildly interesting "slice of life" flick, but mostly it's just a harmless bit of fluff. It's something worth catching for free on cable, if you have an empty hour on your hands, but it is nothing worth going out of your way to see.

Intermezzo

2009-10-14T15:36:00.003+02:00

Gone, But Not Forgotten (2003)

2009-10-13T20:24:00.000+02:00

Gone, But Not Forgotten (2003)

Director: Michael D. Akers
Scenario: Michael D. Akers
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 2003
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 5.9/10

Actors: Aaron Orr, Matthew Montgomery, Joel Bryant, Brenda Lasker, Sandon Berg, Joanne Bevelaqua, Glenn Blakeslee, Mark Fellows, Jenny Kim, Daniel Lee, Bel Parker, Holden Roark, Ariadne Shaffer, Bryna Weiss

Description:

Tainted with connotations of soapy melodrama, amnesia is a plot device screenwriters should approach with great caution. Luckily, writer/director Michael D. Akers has a deft touch, and his shoestring-budgeted Gone, But Not Forgotten gets beyond the traditional “Who am I? Where am I?” moments quickly to take on deeper issues of identity and relationships.
No one is sure how or why Mark (Matthew Montgomery) has ended up at the bottom of a ravine in a Califonia national forest. Drew (Aaron Orr), the young ranger who finds him, is baffled, and so is Mark, who can’t seem to remember anything about who he is or where he’s come from. No car is found nearby, so as Mark lies in a hospital bed recovering from minor injuries, questions abound.
The only thing Ranger Drew knows for sure is that he’s extremely attracted to Mark, and he has little trouble convincing the doctors to let him take Mark home to his A-frame house up in the hills to continue his recovery. Before you can say “bearskin rug,” the lights are low, the fire is crackling, and the clothes are coming off. By morning, Mark, who has clearly enjoyed himself, has even more questions about the life he left behind and why he may have left it.
As the lonely Drew latches on and holds tight (when is a gay forest ranger stuck in the middle of nowhere going to get another chance like this?), Mark begins to have flashes of memories that include business attire, a fancy car, a frantic apology, and maybe even a woman. He also suspects that Drew knows more about the accident than he’ll reveal for fear of losing Mark back to his former life. Both men realize that the mystery will some day be solved and that Mark can’t stay around forever. But then again, if Mark was escaping from an unhappy situation and has nothing to go back to, maybe he can.
Contrived though the situation may sound, Akers orchestrates it with style. Drew is extremely well-spoken about his homosexuality and the challenges it presents, and the small-town doctor (Bryna Weiss) in charge of Mark’s case is a paragon of plain-spoken common sense and sympathy. Once Mark’s identity is inevitably discovered, everyone involved has to shift perceptions before they can move on to the next stages of their lives. Both Drew and Mark have much to come to terms with, and those challenges form the dramatic core of this sensitively crafted film.

Wilby Wonderful (2004)

2009-10-13T06:25:00.001+02:00

Wilby Wonderful (2004)

Director: Daniel MacIvor
Scenario: Daniel MacIvor
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada
Year: 2004
Duration: 99 min
Rating: 7.0/10

Actors: James Allodi, Maury Chaykin, Paul Gross, Rebecca Jenkins, Sandra Oh, Ellen Page, Callum Keith Rennie, Daniel MacIvor, Kathryn MacLellan, Mary Ellen MacLean, Susannah Hoffmann, Marcella Grimaux, Caleb Langille, Terri Sanderson, Chris Saunderson

Description:
Directed by Daniel MacIvor Starring Paul Gross, Sandra Oh and Rebecca Jenkins

Author: (roland@atkinsononfilm.com) from Portland, Oregon, United States

This web-of-life drama with a dark comedic edge takes place in a small town on the fictional island of Wilby, somewhere off the coast of Nova Scotia. Here we get to know quite a few people, beginning with Dan Jarvis (James Allodi), a video store owner whose wife has just left him. His exquisite despair, agitation and dead serious suicidal impulses are occasioned not only by this loss but, more fundamentally, by the fact that he is being exposed, against his wishes, as a gay man, not a social status often sought in this tight little conservative village.

Jarvis's forced "outing" is part of a more sweeping attack on regular gatherings of homosexuals and drug users at a waterfront park. Turns out that developers are behind the exposes. They're almost drooling in anticipation of establishing a destination golf club with surrounding upscale houses on the now public park land, once they succeed in convincing the townsfolk that the only sure way to keep unsavory characters from corrupting their young people and way of life is to get rid of that park, i.e., by selling it to them, and for a song at that.

We also meet Buddy French (Paul Gross), a straight arrow local cop, and his tightly wound wife Carol (Sandra Oh), who has gotten herself into a chronic dither chasing brass rings in the world of real estate sales. Then there is Sandy Anderson (Rebecca Jenkins), the faded sex queen and mother of teenage daughter Emily (Ellen Page), whom Sandy worries will follow in her own pathetic footsteps.

Rounding out the group of major players in this drama are Wilby's Mayor, Brent Fisher (Maury Chaykin), whose porcine joviality seems overdone, perhaps to cover less seemly activities, and the pivotal character Duck MacDonald (Callum Keith Rennie), an Everyman clad perpetually in overalls, whose gentle manner and near omnipresence suggest that he's a sort of guardian angel placed among these humans to bail them out of trouble. In smaller roles, there's also Irene (Mary Ellen MacLean), a first rate gossip, and Buddy's police partner, Stan (played by the film's writer-director, Daniel McIvor), whose conduct is sometimes nefarious.

I take the trouble to mention all of these people because the film is really more a series of character sketches than a narrative, and because the acting is, with perhaps one exception, uniformly fine. For some viewers, the exception may be Sandra Oh's over-the-top frenzied behavior during much of the film, though certainly there are ambitious control freaks out there in the real world who carry on like she does. (Incidentally, the beauty of Ms. Oh's face is captured stunningly here by DP Rudolf Blahacek, especially in profile in a scene shot while she is driving.)

Some viewers might also wonder whether James Allodi's compulsive suicidal behavior as the deeply suffering Dan Jarvis is also over the top. He keeps making good faith efforts to end his life that are thwarted, sometimes in ways that make you laugh even when your intentions are otherwise. In this darkly funny depiction, MacIvor seems to have borrowed from the drollery of Bud Cort's habitual suicidal poses in "Harold and Maude."

We viewers can also easily see the pain in Jarvis's face and wonder how so many of the town citizens can fail to notice or respond to him. Fact is that in real life this is common. Often people are either too self absorbed or otherwise preoccupied to see pain in others. Or if they do, they gloss over it because they are too busy or are reluctant to intrude, to mind another person's business.

The film offers a wonderful quote from Mark Twain, delivered by Buddy French to Mayor Fisher: "Golf: A good walk ruined." "Wilby" was produced not by Canada's National Film Board, the source of so many wonderful movies from that country, but jointly by the provincial film boards of Nova Scotia and Ontario. The location for the film is actually not an island at all, but rather the town of Shelburne, pop. 2,000, on the southwest coast of the Nova Scotian mainland.) "Wilby" is unlikely to get wide U. S. distribution, and that is unfortunate, because it's a little gem of a movie. My rating: 8/10 (B+). (Seen on 11/28/05). If you'd like to read more of my reviews, send me a message for directions to my websites.

Saturday Night at the Baths (1975)

2009-10-12T14:18:00.001+02:00

Saturday Night at the Baths (1975)

Director: David Buckley
Scenario: Franklin Khedouri, David Buckley
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Year: 1975
Duration: 75 min (DVD version)
Rating: 6.9/10

Actors: Robert Aberdeen, Ellen Sheppard, Don Scotti, Steve Ostrow, Phillip Owens, Jane Olivor, Janie Olivor, R. Douglas Brautigham, Paul Ott, Paul Vanase, Caleb Stone, J.C. Gaynor, Pedro Valentine, Toyia, Josh Palace

Description:
An (almost) charmless mess! Rent it, don't buy it..., 5 October 2006
3/10
Author: plum-blossom from West Oakland, CA

While watching this I was faced with conflicting thoughts. I was a young man in NYC in the 70's, and had discovered the fabled Continental Baths a year previous to when this was released. The Continental was a ground-breaking establishment - up until then the majority of the bathhouses were Mafia-run, filthy, run-down and unsafe, and then Steve Ostrow took over the decayed health club in the basement of the Hotel Ansonia and turned it into a true pleasure palace - with original art (I remember a series of wicked Tomi Ungerer drawings and some early Plexiglass sculptures), great lighting, music, a juice bar - and a private elevator up to the roof sun deck. For me, just coming out, it was an exhilarating and liberating space to be in, where I could freely express my sexuality and begin to meet the rest of the community (that I'd barely knew existed).
So to see the few interior shots, and the shots of Greenwich Village as it looked in the 1970's was a treat - as was seeing a bunch of skinny men with so-so bodies and remembering that we didn't have to face the Gym Facists back then - it was enough of a wonder to just be young and queer.
On the other hand, the film is a shapeless mess, with a thin plot and an abrupt ending that I found infuriatingly simplistic and weak. Some of the acting's decent, (there's also an eerie Judy Garland turn by Caleb Stone and an all too brief glimpse of Jane Olivor performing), but the film feels partly like a pitch for the Continental (no surprise, as Steve Ostrow is listed as a producer and appears in a few scenes as well).

The best review what i read is Here ( http://www.filmcritic.com )

Zus & zo (2001)

2009-10-11T23:31:00.001+02:00

Zus & zo (2001)

Director: Paula van der Oest
Scenario: Paula van der Oest
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Country: Netherlands
Year: 2001
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 6.5/10

Actors: Sylvia Poorta, Anneke Blok, Monic Hendrickx, Jacob Derwig, Halina Reijn, Jaap Spijkers, Theu Boermans, Antje Boermans, Pieter Embrechts, Annet Nieuwenhuyzen, Jorge Do Collo, Mike Reus, Marisa Van Eyle, Tijn Docter, Harpert Michielsen

Description:

VARIETY.COM
By EDDIE COCKRELL

About as vigorous and intricate as a glossy romantic comedy can get without collapsing under the weight of its own merriment, "Zus & Zo" is a complicated confection in which three sisters scheme to prevent their gay brother from inheriting the seaside vacation home of their childhood. Convoluted plot aside, universally understandable feel-good nature of proceedings indicate action up and down the family tree, from fests to arthouses to cable to video.

Using Chekhov's play about the trio of scheming siblings as a broad jumping-off point, pic sets up three very messy lives. Sometimes narrator Sonja (Monic Hendrickx) is a writer whose priapic husband, Hugo (Theu Boermans), perpetually worried about his health, is having an affair with Sonja's sister, Wanda (Anneke Blok), an artist collecting sperm samples for an elaborately interactive exhibit. Eldest sister Michelle (Sylvia Poorta) yearns to escape her life with long-suffering husband Jan (Jaap Spijkers) and an assortment of multicultural adopted kids.

All three sisters see the answers to their prayers in the form of the spacious, spectacular seaside home of their childhood, an idyllic retreat north of Lisbon. But their convoluted machinations come screeching to a halt when their brother, Nino (Jacob Derwig), previously thought to have been involved with TV chef Felix Delicious (Pieter Embrechts), announces that he's about to be married to the bubbly Bo (Halina Reijn) -- thereby invoking a clause in their parents' will that allows him to inherit the property.

Bulk of pic involves the various schemes hatched by the siblings against Nino, Bo and each other, culminating in a surprise wedding, a really surprising birth, and a not entirely unexpected surgical procedure.
With all these narrative balls in the air, helmer Paula van der Oest brings a whimsical vigor to her over-plotted script, tempering a madcap -- if often overbearing -- vibe with an ingratiating lustiness. Cast is enthusiastic if somewhat mannered, with Boermans stealing the show via a wide-eyed bundle of tics and twitches as the perpetually bewildered Hugo.

Tech credits are pro, with crisp lensing of d.p. Bert Pot (operator of the subjective camera in Robert Jan Westdijk's distinctive 1996 thriller "Little Sister") burnishing the overall gloss. Original Dutch title is pun on phrase "this and that" or "so-so," as "zus" also means "sister." Claiming "we never really found the one that does it," shingle is currently sifting through some 400 suggested English lingo titles gathered via a write-in competish during recent Toronto fest.
Camera (color), Bert Pot; editor, Sander Vos; music, Fons Merkies; production designer, Harry Ammerlaan; sound (Dolby Digital), Ben Zijlstra, Mark Glynne, Michel Schopping. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema), Sept. 15, 2001. Running time: 105 MIN.

Paranoid Park (2007)

2009-10-02T06:19:00.000+02:00

Paranoid Park (2007)

Director: Gus Van Sant
Scenario: Gus Van Sant, Blake Nelson
Genre: Drama, Sport, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Year: 2007
Duration: 85 min
Rating: 7.0/10

Actors: Gabe Nevins, Daniel Liu, Jake Miller, Taylor Momsen, Lauren McKinney, Scott Patrick Green, John Michael Burrowes, Grace Carter, Jay 'Smay' Williamson, Christopher Doyle, Dillon Hines, Emma Nevins, Brad Peterson, Winfield Jackson, Joe Schweitzer

Description:
From avclub.com/
by Keith Phipps

Looking not quite big enough to reach the pedals, Gabe Nevins sits behind the wheels of a car early in Paranoid Park. Happily cruising through a Portland night, he lets the music on the radio wash over him, changing his expression and demeanor as the styles shift from hip-hop to rock to country. He's young, free, and licensed, and though he has his share of problems—his parents' divorce foremost among them—life has yet to pen him in. Flash to another scene: Nevins walks in slow motion through his high school, accompanied by the minor-key melancholy of Elliott Smith's "Angeles." Though Gus Van Sant's elliptical approach to the story has yet to reveal exactly why, it's clear from the look of dark reverie on Nevins' face that his life has found its unhappy soundtrack.

Based on Blake Nelson's young-adult novel, Paranoid Park explores how Nevins' character gets from one point to the other, and the question of whether what's brought him there will ever let him leave. Using Nevins' confessional letter to an unknown recipient as a framing device, Van Sant jumps around in chronology, first showing his protagonist's reluctance to visit the quasi-legal, fringe-character-populated skate park that gives the film its title, then showing him being called out of class for police questioning. It takes the film a while to reveal the specifics of what happened in between, but it isn't hard to fill in some of the blanks.
Nevins' girlfriend (Gossip Girl's Taylor Momsen, one of the few professional actors in a cast recruited partly from Portland-area MySpace profiles) pressures him into having sex for the first time, failing to notice his reluctance to lose any more of his innocence. Her narcissism only partly explains the oversight. Nevins plays a character who reveals no more of himself than he has to. Talking to a detective (Daniel Liu), he remains cool and prepared. Hanging out with a pal (Lauren McKinney) who shows the same intensity in

her concern for his well-being as in her dislike for the war in Iraq, he reveals just enough for her to see he isn't doing well. Through simple observation, Van Sant quietly lets viewers understand Nevins and feel the full force of his distress. Keeping a respectful distance, the dreamily unsettling film—stunningly shot by cinematographers Christopher Doyle and Rain Kathy Li—follows Nevins from skate park to coffee shop to a home that doesn't really feel like home anymore, drifting along with him as he makes decisions that will shape the rest of his life, even if the present crisis passes. It's a film assembled from moments out of time, destined forever to weigh down the boy at their center.

Nighthawks (1978)

2009-10-01T21:07:00.001+02:00

Nighthawks (1978)

Director: Ron Peck
Scenario: Paul Hallam, Ron Peck
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Year: 1978
Duration: 113 min
Rating: 6.7/10

My rating: 1/10

Actors: Ken Robertson, Tony Westrope, Rachel Nicholas James, Maureen Dolan, Stuart Craig Turton, Clive Peters, Robert Merrick, Frank Dilbert, Peter Radmall, John Angel, Norman Bateson, Philip Beckett, Ernest Brightmore, Derek Jarman

Description:
http://www.avclub.com
by Scott Tobias

As one of the first commercially regarded features to emerge from London's gay underground in the '70s, Ron Peck and Paul Hallam's remarkable 1978 film Nighthawks had to tread a thin line between challenging public misconceptions and presenting an accurate portrait of the gay community. To pull off such a politically loaded project without compromise is almost impossible; for a recent example, look no further than the first mainstream AIDS drama, 1993's Philadelphia, which lost credibility with its guarded speeches and meaningful shoulder-squeezing.

Nighthawks sidesteps these pitfalls by focusing on the double life of Ken Robertson, a closeted geography teacher, as he navigates through the straight and gay worlds. At night, he descends on the few gay bars and discos, nursing a pint of beer while anxiously scanning the dance floor until someone catches his eye. Since bars and discos, by nature, encourage one-night stands over long-term relationships, Robertson's frequent sexual encounters become routine and dissatisfying. With intimacy and compassion, Peck and Hallam explore the romantic dilemmas of marginalization, using a minuscule budget and few locations to show the suffocating limits of homosexual life.

Twelve years after Nighthawks was released and subsequently hailed as a landmark in gay cinema, Peck returned to direct a fascinating companion piece, 1990's Strip Jack Naked. Ostensibly a "making-of" documentary, this loose assembly of outtakes, photographs, sketches, film clips, and newsreel footage evolves into a far more ambitious and personal history of gay culture in England. Tracing back to his adolescence, Peck begins with a riveting account of his peculiar attraction to the same sex, well before homosexuality was decriminalized in 1967, and goes on to explain how the gay community continued to flourish, even in the grim moral climate of the Thatcher Era. Nighthawks was his snapshot of the movement; Strip Jack Naked shows the full album.

See more:

IMDB , Cinethemagay

PARALLEL SONS (1995)

2009-09-28T06:01:00.000+02:00

PARALLEL SONS (1995)

Director: John G. Young
Scenario: John G. Young
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 1995
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 6.7/10

Actors: Gabriel Mann, Laurence Mason, Murphy Guyer, Graham Alex Johnson, Heather Gottlieb, Josh Hopkins, Maureen Shannon, Julia Weldon

Description:
VARIETY.COM
By LEONARD KLADY

Rife with good intentions and noble thoughts, "Parallel Sons" falls short of its dramatic quotient with an awkwardly constructed narrative and ill-defined characterizations. A racial fish-out-of-water tale, it plays more like a classroom discussion-starter than theatrical fodder. Its best prospects are on the small screen, where its reliance on melodrama will be less obvious and production limitations muted.

Seth Carlson (Gabriel Mick) is fresh out of high school, waiting tables in a diner in his small upstate New York farming community. He'd really rather be studying art in Manhattan, but his father refuses to accept an educational loan. So, Seth has adopted what he perceives as an artist's demeanor. He sports dreadlocks, listens to rap and dresses like a brother. In his heart, he identifies with the black man.
Circumstance brings him closer to the African-American community when an escaped prisoner (Laurence Mason) wielding a gun holds him up after closing time. But before the robber can get to the door, he collapses from exhaustion and massive blood loss from a wound. Seizing the opportunity, Seth takes the unconscious man to a remote shed on the family plot and ministers to him.

From the start, "Parallel Sons" appears to be on shaky ground. The fantastical premise that propels the plot is relayed straight-faced as if there was neither humor nor absurdity in the situation.
Initially, the escapee, Knowledge Johnson, is hostile to his unexpected benefactor. He's first suspicious of the act of kindness, and then aghast at the mock emulation of black culture. But a dialogue begins and barriers begin to come down.

Writer/director John G. Young would have been better off keeping his story simple. Instead, he ladles on improbabilities and strives for a spectacular ending that proves to be unintentionally funny. He also complicates the tale with a subplot involving a homosexual attraction between the young men that is ill-defined and cumbersome.
Tech credits are professional, with a modest nod to the postcard prettiness of the Adirondack Mountain locations. Mason is the most commanding screen presence in pic, and overall acting work is low-key and earnest. The sum total ranks low on the commercial scale but suggests a budding talent in need of more batting practice to get into the swing of dramatic cinema.
Camera (color), Matthew Howe; editors, Young , Spione; music, E.D. Menasche; production design, Cindi Sfinas; costume design, Leonardo Iturregui; sound, Harrison Williams; assistant director, Wendy Jo Cohen; casting, Kathleen Chopin. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (competing), Park City, Jan. 24, 1995. Running time: 92 MIN.

PARALLEL SONS(1995)(USA)(Dir.John G. Young)
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Maurice (1987)

2009-09-24T16:47:00.000+02:00

Maurice (1987)

Director: James Ivory
Scenario: E.M. Forster, Kit Hesketh-Harvey
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Year: 1987
Duration: 140 min
Rating: 7.5/10

Actors: James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves, Denholm Elliott, Simon Callow, Billie Whitelaw, Barry Foster, Judy Parfitt, Phoebe Nicholls, Patrick Godfrey, Mark Tandy, Ben Kingsley, Kitty Aldridge, Helena Michell, Catherine Rabett

Description:

WIKIPEDIA:

Maurice is a 1987 film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his school days, through university, and beyond.
Produced by Merchant Ivory Productions and Channel Four Films, the film was directed by James Ivory and written by Ivory and Kit Hesketh-Harvey, produced by Ismail Merchant, with cinematography by Pierre Lhomme.

Starring James Wilby as Maurice, Hugh Grant as Clive and Rupert Graves as Alec, the supporting cast included Denholm Elliott as Dr Barry, Simon Callow as Mr Ducie, Billie Whitelaw as Mrs Hall and Ben Kingsley as Lasker-Jones.

Maurice is 11 at the beginning of the film, rather than 14. The film omits almost all of the novel's philosophical dialogue, and also many subplots such as Maurice's lust for the schoolboy Dickie (the scenes dealing with this subplot were deleted from the final cut). It expands the Wildean character of Lord Risley and his 6-month imprisonment with hard labour for homosexual conduct (he is not imprisoned in the novel), in order to dramatise the dangers of Edwardian homosexuality and provide a plot device by which Clive feels he must reject Maurice. No such plot device was in the novel. In one deleted scene released in the 2002 edition, Risley actually ends up committing suicide, but this was not shown in the film.

While undergoing hypnosis by Dr. Lasker-Jones in a desperate attempt to "cure" himself, Maurice reveals to him that he has slept with Alec Scudder. Lasker-Jones warns Maurice that at one time homosexuals were executed in Britain. In spite of this warning, Lasker-Jones, especially in the film, seems to be the most affirming character. Despite most of society's condemnations, he suggests that Maurice consider relocating to a country where homosexuality is not illegal and more tolerated, like France or Italy. Maurice asks him if England will ever change its attitudes towards

homosexuality, to which Lasker-Jones replied that "England has always been disinclined to accept human nature."
The place of the final tryst between Maurice and Alec Scudder has a certain homoerotic symbolism when seen in the movie; the pseudo-Elizabethan boathouse alludes both to the Arts and Crafts movement that was so associated with Edward Carpenter (a visit by E.M. Forster to Carpenter and his lover George Merrill inspired the writing of Maurice), and also to the Elizabethan England of Christopher Marlowe ("all they that love not tobacco and boys are fools") and the Sonnets of Shakespeare. In the novel the "greenwood and the night" serve as the place of refuge, and the boathouse is only alluded to.

MAURICE (A look back)
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The Deviants (2004)

2009-09-22T16:17:00.001+02:00

The Deviants (2004)

Director: Reid Waterer
Scenario: Doug Dezzani, Reid Waterer
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Year: 2004
Duration: 80 min
Rating: 5.1/10

Actors: Doug Dezzani, Tamara 'Gingir' Curry, Parry Shen, Johanna Black, Tiffany Shepis, Adoni Maropis, Angel Boris Reed, Randy Becker, Christopher Bradley, Shauna Sand, Brad Yoder, Emily Petta, Mikki Padilla, Katie DiCicco, Tom Fitzpatrick, David Goldman, Anthony Martins, Ana Mercedes, David Sandercott, Pierre Sauvé, Tamie Sheffield, Adrienne Stout

Description:

Reviewed by
Christopher Armsted

‘The Deviants’ is special because I watched it in a brand new way. So I’m watching some movie on TV called ‘For Real’ and the female lead, one Tamara Curry, is pretty damn fine so I pull up the old IMDB to see what sista girl has popped up in. I see this movie called ‘The Deviants’ and the description is fairly interesting so I decide to log on to Netflix and toss it in my cue. Netflix now has thing called Instant Viewing in which you can actually stream some of their movies, usually ones that either aren’t very good or in low demand truth be told, straight to your PC and ‘The Deviants’ was one of these movies. Despite the fact I have a pretty big PC monitor I’m still not going to sit in a chair in front my computer for an hour and half or more watching some movie. But me being the technical kind of guy that I am happen have a small PC connected to my living room LCD TV via the VGA port on the TV. For those who don’t know they call these things a Home Theater Personal Computer or HTPC for short. So what we have here is a PC with essentially a 37 inch monitor. The resolution is too low to type on so you wouldn’t want to do a term paper or crunch a spread sheet but you can play the occasional PC game on it and as I have now found out, stream some full screen Netflix movies right to your living room, assuming you have a decent Internet connection flowing. I’m glad to report that this Instant Viewing thing from Netflix worked flawlessly with no skips or pauses or jumps and the quality was decent, maybe not quite as crisp as a store brought DVD, but more than watchable with good sound. Considering Netflix isn’t tearing me off a single thin dime I shouldn’t give them any unnecessary free advertising but the system works and I will be attempting to use up all of my allotted hours each month.
But on to ‘The Deviants’!
Norm (Doug Dezzani) is a self-styled sex therapist / match maker who has carved a niche into finding mates for people who have sexual pathologies. Say like a guy who likes to get off by having cats sit on his lap or a woman who can only achieve orgasm by standing on her head. Norm’s assistant Monique (Curry) wants to be more involved in the matchmaking process but Norm doesn’t think she’s quite ready to take on the heavy responsibility of matching up pubic hair freaks and dudes who have urine fetishes. Norm and Monique have their own personal problems to deal with Norm trying to achieve that perfect orgasm with nymphomanical, possessive, insanely jealous girlfriend Madeline (Johanna Black), and Monique being unsure about her feelings with her Dentist boyfriend Jerry (Perry Shen) who has asked her to move in with him but has yet made that big sexual move. Krazy fool.
Eventually Norm lightens up and takes on Monique as a full partner as the clientele that they have to deal with gets weirder and weirder. The Jealous Madeline is none too pleased with all the time that Norm is spending with his sexy assistant with the phenomenally full lips and unusually wide hips, I threw that in there, though I should add that Johanna Black ain’t exactly day old bread herself. Since this is a Romantic Comedy more or less you know that crazy stuff has to happen and it all has to end in a way where everybody is happy and gives us the reassuring message that sometimes what you need most is often right under your nose.
I don’t like Romantic Comedies. Romantic Comedies are guilty of telling the same story with different actors more than any other genre of film. Just watch some Cary Grant flick from the fifties and marvel how it’s identical to a Matthew McConaughey joint in the new millennium. What could possibly be the chances of someone who doesn’t like RomCom’s to be entertained by a RomCom that is on the way low end of the budget scale, filled with actors I challenge you to recognize, with a large number of those actors not being all the great. Surprisingly high as it turns out.
Though the quality of ‘The Deviants’ in suspect, and this is without argument, it still manages to take a unique, somewhat raunchy view of dating and love and flip it around in an amusing way. This is a film that has a number of genuine humorous moments within a very sharp and amusing script that is filled with oddball and unique characters. Though some of the acting came off as bit amateurish in parts, the effort put in by the performers was always 100 percent and did I mention that Tamara Curry has arguably the most amazing set of lips in the history of filmed entertainment? Arguably? But you don’t have to watch the movie to actually see those as I’m sure there in a picture somewhere on the Internet.
‘The Deviants’ ain’t exactly ‘Some Like it Hot’ or anything but it is a bawdy, sexy comedy that at least attacks a very tired genre at different angle and manages to be reasonably entertaining because of that effort.

Sorority Boys (2002)

2009-09-22T08:43:00.001+02:00

Sorority Boys (2002)

Director: Wallace Wolodarsky
Scenario: Joe Jarvis, Greg Coolidge
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Year: 2002
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 5.0/10

Actors: Barry Watson, Michael Rosenbaum, Harland Williams, Melissa Sagemiller, Tony Denman, Brad Beyer, Kathryn Stockwood, Heather Matarazzo, Yvonne Sciň, Kerri Higuchi, Dublin James, Omar Benson Miller, Mike Beaver, Rich Ronat, Brian Gross

Description:
VARIETY.COM
By DENNIS HARVEY

"Animal House" meets "Some Like It Hot" in the genial cross-dressing teenpic "Sorority Boys." Hardly as inspired as either of those ancestors, this Touchstone presentation nonetheless is a cut above most youth-skewed sex comedies of late, with bouncy execution and an unsophisticated but positive gender-sensitivity message elevating a so-so script. Same basic mix (plus a must-see lead perf, which this ensembler lacks) propelled "Legally Blonde" to sleeper status last year, and "Boys" stands a fair chance of similarly performing beyond current genre expectations.
Sophomore feature for director Wally Wolodarsky (a veteran writing contributor to "The Simpsons" and "The Tracey Ullman Show") is much broader stuff than his 1995 debut, the unjustly overlooked black comedy "Coldblooded." Yet while co-scenarists Joe Jarvis and Greg Coolidge never quite come up with the home-run gags or situations pic promises, they keep simple plot running nicely, while Wolodarsky's pacing and production packaging provide steady light diversion.
Protags Dave (Barry Watson from WB serial "7th Heaven"), Adam (Michael Rosenbaum of same net's "Smallville") and Doofer (Harland Williams of "Freddy Got Fingered") constitute the social committee of a generic university's most notoriously party-monstrous frat house, KOK. Thus they're in charge of its cash resources, and when coin goes missing, they're ousted -- even though accusing frat prez Spence (Brad Beyer, doing a decent Will Ferrell impression) is pretty obviously the real culprit.
A scheme to infiltrate the frat's kegger in drag and seize name-clearing evidence goes sour when the bewigged trio becomes the brunt of a typical KOK sexist prank -- they're netted by "dog-catching" brothers, then hurled to the pavement outside. This humiliation attracts notice of Leah (Melissa Sagemiller), budding-feminist leader of the Delta Omicron Gamma sorority next door. She takes them in and, with nowhere else to go until justice prevails, the three lads -- possibly screen's least convincing screen cross-dressers since Lemmon and Curtis -- must settle in with their fellow DOG (ka-boom-cha!) pledges for a crash course in misfit sisterhood.
Resulting nuance-free exploration of everywoman problems in a man-boy's world soon has Adam (now Adina) fretting over body-fat issues while fighting off the advances of desperately horny KOK frosh Jimmy (Tony Denman). Doofer-Roberta becomes a booster for DOG girls' low self esteem, with a little help from hempsville. The cutest in or out of drag, Dave (nee Daisy) tries wooing lovely Leah in pants, but to his surprise finds he gets further on the Sapphic track.
Pic flirts with parodying ancient campus-comedy conventions, and could have used a little more absurdist oomph in that department, a la last year's uneven "Wet Hot American Summer." Stabs at gross-out humor in the "American Pie" vein involving sperm stains, dildoes, etc., are unmemorable, though frisky enough (alongside some brief nudity) to warrant pic's R rating.
Likewise, successive climactic set pieces -- first one intercutting among three separate cross-dress intrigues, the next a touch-football match against the college's "bimbo" sorority, lastly a cruise-ferry party melee -- aren't so much outstanding in their comic invention as colorfully and amusingly staged.
Cast is game enough, with closest thing to a standout perf coming from "Welcome to the Dollhouse's" Heather Matarazzo as a screechy-voiced DOG in need of confidence lessons. Production is nicely turned out visually, thanks to lenser Michael D. O'Shea, Edward T. McAvoy's production design and Melinda Eshelman's slightly camp costuming. One-time Devo-tee Mark Mothersbaugh contributes backing score alongside music supervisor Randall Poster's savvy lineup of soundtracked pop oldies.

Gay rights

2009-09-20T16:02:00.001+02:00

"AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL" gay rights spot, feat. Slim K
by SLIMKHEZRI

Gay rights activists have called off Sunday’s planned pride parade in Belgrade after the Serb authorities requested the event be moved amid security concerns.
Ultranationalists and football hooligans had threatened to attack those taking part.
The cancellation comes just hours after President Boris Tadic had vowed to protect the march.
Majda Puaca of the organising committee is furious:
“ Serbia has bowed to threats from a number of violent groups. Therefore the state by its decision to hold the march somewhere else, on a field near the Palace of Serbia, has rendered the parade useless, without meaning or sense.”
The move casts doubt on Serbia’s determination to become a more open society following a bloody recent history.
In 2001, the only gay pride event to take place in the capital, was ambushed by nationalists, which left dozens of marchers and police injured.

Šokiran sam ovim zadnjim dešavanjima u Beogradu! Otkazivanje Parade ponosa, prebijanje stranaca po ulicama, zabrane okupljanja....kad se sve te informacije sakupe na gomilu stekne se slika da je u Beogradu ratno stanje. A do juče sam bio ubjeđen da je Beograd od svih gradova bivše Juge najtolerantniji grad. Demantovan sam na najsuroviji moguću način!
Dugo sam razmišljao kako je sve to moguće? Grad koji je uvijek važio za slobodarski, otvoren, evropski da na ovako spektakularan način doživi sramotu!
Razumijem da u svakoj sredini ima ekstremista koji svojom nasilnošću terorišu većinu, ali zaista ne razumijem da jedna država nije sposobna da se obračuna sa njima. Ako već nisu znali kako i na koji način da riješe nastalu zbrku oko toga mogli su zatražiti pomoć EU i siguran sam da bi im poslali pomoć kako se obračunati sa fašistima i nasilnicima po ulicama! Ovako cjela država je kapitulirala zbog grupe neobrazovanih marginalnih terorista.
Znamo za onu :prase se ne goji uoči božića! Tako i vlast ne treba da čeka da joj se dese ovakva sranja pa da počne da razmišlja o elementarnim stvarima kao što su osnovna ljudska prava!
Zapitajmo se koliko je obrazovnih sadržaja o ljudskim pravima napravljeno? Koliko se medijski utiče na stav javnog mjenja po pitanju tolerancije prema manjinama?
Koliko godina Srbija i Crna Gora žive u viznoj izolaciji? Naša omladina naprosto svijet oko sebe može da vidi samo preko medija, filmova, muzike.
Rijetki su oni koji mogu da otputuju preko granice i učestvuju u nekoj studentskoj debati o ljudskim pravima, a još rijeđe su takve debate na našim prostorima!
Primjetili ste da izbjegavam frazu Gay prava. Smatram da su prava gay populacije neraskidivi dio osnovnih ljudskih prava. Danas su ugroženi homoseksualci i lezbijke , a sutra neko drugi! Može li to biti i nepravoslavno stanovništvo, romi, neka vjerska sekta, druga nacija.....?
Podržavam napore LGB Zajednice da se izbore za pravedan tretman u društvu. Ponajprije će to uspijeti ukoliko svojim ponašanjem , tolerancijom, profesionalnošću na poslu steknu poštovanje okoline nezavisno od seksualne orijentacije!
Samo tako će te bez ustručavanja svakome moći reći da ste gay bez straha od negativne reakcije!
Druga strana medalje je koliko su pripadnici gay svijeta tolerantni prema drugim manjinama? To zapitajte sami sebe kad god raspravljate o bilo čijim pravima!

And the Band Played On (1993)

2009-09-19T14:56:00.001+02:00

And the Band Played On (1993)

Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Scenario: Randy Shilts, Arnold Schulman
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 1993
Duration: 141 min
Rating: 7.6/10

Actors: Matthew Modine, Alan Alda, Patrick Bauchau, Nathalie Baye, Christian Clemenson, David Clennon, Phil Collins, Bud Cort, Alex Courtney, David Dukes, Richard Gere, David Marshall Grant, Ronald Guttman, Glenne Headly, Anjelica Huston

Description:
VARIETY.COM
By TONY SCOTT

Randy Shilts' monumental book about AIDS has been impressively assembled by scripter Arnold Schulman, who's based his dramatization on facts and "elements" from the book and from historical records, as well as creating fictionalized characters and situations. Unfolding like a sad detective story, the $ 8 million-plus production, directed to varying degrees of effect by Roger Spottiswoode, points up the politics as well as the horror of AIDS. As a TV movie about a highly sensitive subject, overall it's a moving experience. Film premieres Sept. 2 at the Montreal Film Festival, then begins airing on HBO Sept. 11.
Skipping over intricate details of medical research, the telefilm takes measure of the battles against red tape, egos, lack of funding and countless self-interests. The telefilm mirrors the struggles, recounted in Shilts' book, as researchers in France and the U.S. fought to isolate and identify the virus despite public resistance and governmental neglect.
As a narrative thread to tie up Shilts' sprawling story, Schulman uses real-life researcher Don Francis (Matthew Modine), an impassioned hero who joins Atlanta's Centers for Disease Control team in 1980. The plot dramatizes the medical frustrations and small victories of Francis' CDC associates, including Dr. Mary Guinan (a standout Glenne Headly).
Doctors and health officials in N.Y., L.A. and S.F. encounter patients with the unknown disease and begin the long hunt to nail it down. Francis spots a clue on a Pac Man machine; other points add up, and the "gay cancer" finally gets a name.
The vidpic underscores the appalling lack of coin for research. Hospitals turn away the sick, blood banks won't spend the money to screen blood. Self-promoting individuals and interest groups are shown ruthlessly defending their positions; federal government indifference is noted with selective shots of President Reagan.
If Modine isn't always persuasive as the scrappy doctor, he does have the idealist look and determined combativeness. Played with assurance, Sir Ian McKellen's Bill Kraus, liaison between San Francisco gays and their congressman, becomes a near-symbolic figure in the telepic as his health begins to fail.
Aspects of gay life depicted in "Band" include Kraus' low-key homelife with his partner (B.D. Wong); a dying, flamboyant transvestite ("Angels in America's" Stephen Spinella, who, like most of the patients, looks too robust under the AIDS makeup); and an unconvincingly staged rally against the closing of S.F. bathhouses.
The vidpic catches various phases of gay life openly and objectively, yet one of the most touching moments involving ignorance about homosexuality is voiced by a woman whose hemophiliac husband has contracted AIDS.
The use of celebs in cameos to draw audiences might have been a distracting gimmick, but most of the actors melt into the drama: Swoosie Kurtz, in one of the more poignant segs, plays a woman who learns she's contracted AIDS from a transfusion; an expressive Richard Gere is a composite character who sees his grim future in two of the vidpic's most eloquent moments; Lily Tomlin limns a courageous S.F. public health official; Steve Martin is awkward in his bit, and Anjelica Huston's appearance is absurdly brief. Alan Alda as Dr. Robert Gallo, laying claim to discovery of the AIDS virus, gives a solid study of a driven man.
Though a number of scenes are expertly directed, Spottiswoode surprisingly runs into difficulties with some straightforward moments: the CDC's first meeting with Francis, a choreographer (Gere) in a hotel-lobby encounter, Tomlin's style of talking her way into a bathhouse inspection, etc.
"Band" has been in the offing since 1989, being optioned and eventually dropped by both ABC and NBC. Spelling, linked to the ABC deal, conferred with Robert Cooper, HBO Pictures senior VP, and the project was on the way.
But not without its problems. Director Spottiswoode succeeded Joel Schumacher and Richard Pearce, who left for various reasons. Recently, HBO denied Spottiswoode's claim he was fired from post-production, with Modine joining in the public fray over concern about the content and handling of the issues, but all sides have since expressed amicability and satisfaction with the end result.
The vidpic's shrewd use of film clips and of L.A. locales is excellent. Numbers flashed occasionally across the screen denoting increasing AIDS cases and deaths again define the telefilm's theme.
Paul Elliott's camerawork is well composed, and Carter Burwell's low-key score is on target. Victoria Paul's design is imaginative, Lois Freeman-Fox's editing is terrif.
If there are lapses, director Spottiswoode's engrossing, powerful work still accomplishes its mission: Shilts' book, with all its shock, sorrow and anger, has been transferred decisively to the screen.
Camera, Paul Elliott; editor, Lois Freeman-Fox; production designer, Victoria Paul; art director, Lee Mayman; sound, Walt Martin; music, Carter Burwell.

Different Short movie

2009-09-19T13:47:00.001+02:00

Director: Tyler Shafner
Scenario: Zach De Gregorio
Genre: Short
Country: USA
Year: 2004
Duration: 10:42 min
Rating:

Actors:

Description:

Short film "Different", winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Student Film in the 2004 edition of the Rhode Island Film Festival. the short film "Different" treats us to a reverse world in terms of sexuality, which forces us to see these issues under a very distinct perspective.

À toute vitesse (1996)

2009-09-19T13:15:00.001+02:00

À toute vitesse (1996)

Director: Gaël Morel
Scenario: Gaël Morel
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Year: 1996
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 6.6/10

Actors: Élodie Bouchez, Stéphane Rideau, Pascal Cervo, Mezziane Bardadi, Romain Auger, Salim Kechiouche, Mohammed Dib, Hasan Akyurek, Marie-Claude Bacon, Ryad Benkouider, Nassera Benlaloui, Hacina Bouhamadi, Stéphane Bouillard, André Bouvard, Jean Branche, Christiane Charlet, Silvčre Demule, Laurent Diomande, Nicolas Dixmier, Christine Dubouchet, Anne-Laure Euvrard, Frédéric Fargier, Fabrice Farison, Patrick Geoffray, Estelle Granet, Abdel Guedichi, Kena Guines, Sabar Hamai, Frédérique Hurpeau, Alain Husson, Thierry Josson, Missoum Laimene, Aurélien Morel, Paul Morel, Youcef Ninach, Michel Petit, Nabil Sadji, Joaquim Sa, Hanafi Soul, Patrice Thomas, Karine Valverde, Stanislas Vart, Bernard Villeneuve

Description:
Movie Review By Heather Clisby

In his directorial debut, French filmmaker Gael Morel gives us 'Full Speed', an engaging effort that explores innocence lost between four young friends.
At the center is Quentin (played by Pascal Cervo), a gifted writer making waves with his first book which focuses on the ruffian lives of his streetwise friends. His girlfriend, Julie, (played by Elodie Bouchez) does not take to his new world of success even though her face graces the book's cover. Though Quentin's best friend, Jimmy, (played by Stephane Rideau) is admired for his boxing skills and hip-hop sensibilities, he behaves like a kid brother around the square and scraggly Quentin.
Then there is the lonely Samir, (played by Meziane Bardadi), who strikes up a friendship with Quentin at a party. After losing his great love, Rick, in a tragic accident, Samir finally opens his aching heart to Quentin, who then pressures Samir to let him use his sad story for his next novel. Samir falls hopelessly in love with Quentin, who leads him on, then cruelly rejects him in sudden fits of disgust.
When Quentin moves to Paris, the three friends deal with abandonment issues and the intricacies of compounded betrayal. When Julie and Jimmy become lovers, part of their passion is fueled by their mutual love for Quentin. On a shallow side note ó the site of these two actors making love in the mud, in the bed, on the dresser is deliciously erotic. This sort of raw, primitive mating business comes across much more naturally in French cinema than in Puritan-based American films. In short, Vive la France!
Though Quentin is beloved by all those around him, I can't figure out why. He's selfish, rude and exhibits empathy only when it suits him. Perhaps this explains his revered status; Quentin seems free in his life while the others are bound by insecurities and their reliance on human relationships.
It's positively heart-wrenching to see Samir plod through his life with such an emotional open wound. As he begins to heal with the help of Julie and Jimmy, he is attacked by homophobes. When Jimmy intervenes and suffers a head wound that is ultimately fatal, Samir is driven to murder. His quiet walk through the city immediately after the act is both chilling and serene; we sense a certain peace but with the understanding that Samir may have killed a part of himself as well.
'Full Speed', in French with English sub-titles is evenly-paced, despite its' harried name. Though for all the stunning photography of the French countryside, Morel has shown that love can indeed be hard on the eyes and tougher on the soul.

A River Made to Drown In (1997)

2009-09-19T10:22:00.001+02:00

A River Made to Drown In (1997)

Director: James Merendino, Alan Smithee
Scenario: Paul Marius
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 1997
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 5.2/10

Actors: Richard Chamberlain, Michael Imperioli, Ute Lemper, James Duval, Austin Pendleton, Talia Shire, Mike Starr, Richard Riehle, Michael Saucedo, James Karen, Michael Kearns, Michael O'Hagan, Lewis Arquette, Paul Marius, Jon Powell

Description:
Richard Chamberlain plays a dying man trying to tie together the loose ends of his past in this melodrama. Thaddeus (Chamberlain) is in the last stages of AIDS, and he's determined to live out his final days in the company of old friends. First on the list is Allen (Michael Imperioli), an artist in Los Angeles who, much to Thaddeus' surprise, is now living with Eva (Ute Lemper). Thaddeus' arrival has forced the couple to come clean about Allen's past as a hustler; meanwhile, Thaddeus enlists Allen to help him track down Jamie (James Duval), a former trick who needs to be aware of Thaddeus' condition -- for his own sake. River Made to Drown In features Talia Shire in a cameo.
Here we have a finely attuned and deftly executed little film, unassuming and unpretentious, about hustlers in Hollywood and the impossibility of escaping ourselves. Rich lawyer Thaddeus (a pre-coming out Richard Chamberlain), dying of AIDS, pays a visit to Allen (a pre-Sopranos Michael Imperioli), who once made a living on the streets and is trying to go straight as an artist. Allen is now involved with a wealthy gallery owner, Eva (Ute Lemper); Thaddeus, a former client of Allen's, implores Allen to find someone else from his past, Jamie (James Duval), who's still hustling.
Allen has no idea that the return of Thaddeus, and his favor to find the young Jaime (James Duval), will force him to not only deal with his past life, but with his current feelings for Thaddeus, who hopes to leave the two great loves of his life to take care of each other after he is gone. Neither are ready for the responsibility and the film leaves you wondering what will become of them together and individually. The director creates a fractured and unsensationalized exploration of society's castoffs and those who cast themselves out: Imperioli proves he's got more in him than just goombahs, and Chamberlain is just downright heartbreaking.

Rites of Passage (1999)

2009-09-18T07:17:00.001+02:00

Rites of Passage (1999)

Director: Victor Salva
Scenario: Victor Salva
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Year: 1999
Duration: 95 min
Rating:

Actors: Dean Stockwell, James Remar, Jason Behr, Robert Glen Keith, Jaimz Woolvett, Joseph Kell, Thomas G. Waites, Rondell Sheridan, Marianna Elliott, Brenda James, Nancy Sawyer, Joseph Foss, George Georgiadis, Andreas Michael Lamelas, Kenny Cloutier

Description:

After attorney D.J. Farraday catches his father Del having an extra-marital affair at a San Francisco hotel, the two decide to take a trip to their isolated family cabin to talk things out. Instead they arrive to find Campbell, D.J.'s younger brother, waiting in the cabin for his boyfriend Billy, whom Del beat up last Christmas. Their ensuing family argument is suddenly interrupted by a knock on the cabin door by two escaped convicts who bait the men into a competition in which the stakes are deadly.

From IMDB:

A family crisis becomes a police matter when two outsiders crash the party, 31 August 2004

Author: sol from Brooklyn NY USA

Trying not to give away any important plot-lines in the movie "Rites of Passage" the one thing that impressed me most about Camp Farrady, Jason Behr, was how meek in the biblical sense of the word, and un-violent he was throughout the entire film. Even though Camp was the most hurt abused and betrayed person in it and had every reason to express his painful feeling with combativeness actions. Yet somehow refused to give into them even to the point when his life was at stake.
Growing up gay in a straight All-America family Camp's life was a living hell when as a young boy. He tried to conform when his strict father Del Farrady, Dean Stockwell, tried to "straighten" him out and later when Camp reach early adulthood his dad brutally beat up and chased out of his life Billy, Camp's best and gay friend, when he caught him and Camp embracing outside the family cabin on Christmas eve. Billy was so despondent over the forced break-up of him and Camp that it led to get himself infected with AIDS and later die of that disease.
One afternoon Camp's older brother D.J, Robert Glen Kline, who's a lawyer on a case in Washington State, was about to register at a Tacoma hotel and was told that he's been signed in already by the hotel clerk. D.J realizing that the person signed is really his father Del sees him in the lobby with a woman who he's obviously having an illicit affair with. Del embarrassed at being spotted and D.J shocked at what he saw agree to go to the family cabin in the woods to talk thing out the next day. Unknown to both of them Camp was there too not expecting them to show up.
Camp while he was looking for Billy got in touch with a prison pen-pal Frank, James Ramar, who knew about Billy who was also a pen-pal of his and from Frank he found out that Billy was gone. Frank noticed the address of the letters that Camp sent him and it was where he buried some $500,000.00 in stolen drug money and was using Camp's hurt feelings and emotions to get him to find the loot and take off with it and then leave Camp behind dead.
Frank who broke out of prison with a fellow convict Red, Jalmz Woolvett, who Camp didn't know or expect but in the end found out that he was the one who wrote him those letters that were attributed to Frank that impressed and touched Camp so much. Frank Prearranging to meet Camp at the cabin that he expected to be deserted and then take off, or so Camp thought, with him to Canada to live together as a gay couple. With the unexpected appearance of Del & D.J made things deadly and complicated but at the same time in the end brought both father and son together even though it took a night of horrors to do it.
Unusual film that treats relationships between gays and their parents and siblings with both touching sympathy as well as brutal realism. With Jason Behr really outdoing himself as the tormented but courageous Camp who despite all the abuse he takes in the movie from his father and Frank refuses to lose his humanity and in the end comes out as the most positive as well as tragic person in the film. The final scene in "Rites of Passage" when Camp reluctantly at first embraces his forgiving father and then accepts him is one of the most powerful and emotional scenes I've ever seen in a movie and it's done without a single word of dialog.
Every one in the movie has a story to tell but it's Camp who's story ties them all together and makes "Rites of Passage" the emotional experience of a film that it is.

Solos (2007)

2009-09-14T20:35:00.000+02:00

Solos (2007)

Director: Zihan Loo, Kan Lume
Scenario: Zihan Loo
Genre: Drama
Country: Singapore
Year: 2007
Duration: 77 min
Rating: 6.9/10

Actors: Peishan Chiew, Guat Kian Goh, Yu Beng Lim, Zihan Loo

Description:

Source: Twitch
by Stefan, May 21, 2007 10:59 PM

If anyone thinks Singapore is a straight-laced country with a budding film scene afraid to push the envelope, perhaps you might want to revisit that thought again.

About one year ago, I chatted with director Kan Lume around the time when his debut feature film The Art of Flirting was being screened at the 19th Singapore International Film Festival, and learnt of his subsequent plans for the celluloid. One's an action movie, and the other an independent film made with European festivals in mind, with the subject matter dealing with the exploration of human sexuality.

The movies of late coming out from our local directors have usually been either comedies or horror meant at capturing a chunk of box office receipts, with Royston Tan's 4:30 being the blip of hope that we too can make "artistic" movies that resonate with audiences. I saw a rough cut of Solos sometime in July last year, without proper sound, and no doubt in my mind that the movie will ruffle some feathers here. It wasn't done for the sake of shock value or upsetting the local censorship board, and while it wasn't banned, which Kan Lume feared it would, the local censors passed Solos with an R21 (no admittance to those aged below 21) rating and 3 cuts, meaning its planned world premiere at this year's 20th Singapore International Film Festival was to be withdrawn from the organizer's programme, given the festival doesn't screen movies which are cut.

Having watched the final, theatrical version of Solos, I thought it was a worthy addition to our small but growing number of movies. It was an achievement in itself in getting the film made, and having seen what in my opinion was an improvement over the rough cut -- being quicker in establishing the characters and premise, and being paced much faster. Solos tells of a story of love between 3 characters, a boy, his mum, and his lover the man, (yup, you read that right) and the internal tussle of emotions that each feel in their lives as they try to reach out from their pain and confusion.

It's interesting to note that Kan Lume's movies to date have rarely been mainstream, which is set to diversify and add to our repertoire of films aside from comedies, or films about the mundaneness of local society. His features have both been based on short films done (The Art of Flirting based on his award winning short "I,Promise", and the precursor of sorts to Solos was a short called Untitled), and are totally different in genre and presentation. With The Art of Flirting, it's extremely dialogue driven, and a voyeuristic approach used to capture scenes up close. In Solos, Kan and co-director Loo Zihan employed the minimalist approach with the still camera technique so often used in the works of auteurs like Tsai Ming-liang, and totally devoid of dialogue, instead relying on the visuals to tell the story and move the narrative along. It's not an easy film to follow given that an audience will probably have to work at while viewing it, yet simple enough to avoid alienation.

Perhaps having it devoid of dialogue helped to convey the mood of the characters, where everyone's on almost non-speaking terms. It's an abstract tale of insecurity and despair, with a young boy unsure and struggling with his being in love with an older man, an older man afraid that his young love will leave him, and a mother frustrated with herself for her son being different from societal norms. With strained colors contrasted strongly with surrealistic, colorful scenes conveying innermost thoughts, I thought the one for the boy, played by co-director and writer Loo Zihan himself, was the best amongst the three. The mother's played by newcomer Goh Guat Kian, who had to go through most of her scenes in a bandaged eye-patch, hinting that she refuses to see and accept what is, while the Man is played by local veteran stage and TV actor Lim Yu-beng, in possibly his most daring role to date, a character like ice, fearful of a definite change in state while hoping for a thawing of relations.

And what of the scenes which were requested to be cut? Singapore has shown gay-themed movies in local theatres with the R21 rating, and usually it's the sexually explicit scenes that are snipped. Should Solos be eventually screened commercially here, no doubt such scenes in Solos will be shortened, or at worse, eliminated, which will probably and unfortunately diminish the anguished feelings of the characters involved.

There's certainly a ready niched market here, deny it all if anyone would like, and like the tagline reminds, "open up".

IMDB, Solos Official Website (with Embedded Flash Trailer), Google

He like a guys (2008)

2009-09-14T06:02:00.001+02:00

He like a guys (2008)

Director: Damien Rea, Bill Taylor, Rachel Zisser, David Maurice, Edward Gunawan, Sam McConnell, Justin Ross, Pat Mills
Scenario:
Genre: Short movies
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Duration:
Rating: 10/10

Steam 2008, 3 mins. Great Britain, Dir. Damien Rea
A super buff party boy gets all steamed up.

Silver Road 2007, 13 mins, Canada, Dir. Bill Taylor
At the end of an idyllic summer on the farm, what will happen when Danny finally acts on his desire for his best friend, Mark? Andrew Hachey and Jonathan Keltz give stellar performances in this accomplished gay drama.

Traces 2008, 19 mins. USA, Dir. Rachel Zisser
What if Julian’s Dad knew the truth about his handsome collegiate son? Sometimes parental love can trump homophobia; and sometimes the truth comes out too late. A tragic cinematic drama from the American Film Institute.
Just 2007, 12 mins., USA, Dir. David Maurice Gil
PlanetOut Short Movie Awards Top 5 Films Winner
Two buff Asian guys (one 23, one 32) have relatively anonymous hot sex after meeting online. The younger man is offended when he finds out that the older one is cheating on his boyfriend. A very well written and beautifully shot short about the ideals of monogamy.

Laundromat 2007, 13 mins. USA, Dir. Edward Gunawan
Beefy Lawrence and his new live-in boyfriend Joey bicker over Lawrence’s cruisy ways. Will they stay together? Crossing paths with elderly Bob at the laundromat gives them inspiration for couplehood in this poignant drama.
Seeing You in Circles 2005, 21 mins. USA, Dir. Sam McConnell
On the night of his 30th birthday Jerome asks his ex-boyfriend Wade to meet him at their favorite place in Brooklyn for a drink. The insensitive Wade brings along his latest squeeze Cal. From writer-director Sam McConnell comes this aching drama of grown up gay men learning to, well, grow up.
Waiting for Yvette 2007, 14 mins, USA Dir. Justin Ross
Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me) heads up a perfect ensemble cast in this humorous yet poignant meeting of the Gay Men’s Tuesday Night A.A. Scheduled for her final gender reassignment surgery, will this be Yvette’s last meeting? Or not.

Babysitting Andy 2007, 11 mins, Canada, Dir. Pat Mills
What do you do if you’re 9 years old and nobody will tell you what “fellatio” means? If you’re as devious as Andy, you corner your gay uncle and his boyfriend with a Supersoaker and demand answers.

Description:

Review by Cycads

As a member of my college cinema club, I would show a film a couple of nights every month. Usually, the featured movie would be preceded by a surprise short film—nothing too long, but always something entertaining. Recently, I showed Laundromat (2007, 13 mins) by Edward Gunawan from a collection of acclaimed gay short films, He Likes Guys, to my unsuspecting audience. Little did I know that the DVD’s menu page featuring a buff torso would draw a variety of gasps—some amused, some more ambivalent, and even a rather repulsed, “Whaaat?!”

Silver Road
Uploaded by sososogay - Watch feature films and entire TV shows.

Fortunately, Laundromat promised nothing loaded with hackneyed gay stereotypes. In this smile-inducing drama, newly-cohabiting couple Lawrence and Joey bicker over their differences when doing the laundry. Their squabble later gets the attention of an elderly man who teaches them a small but profound lesson in the value of love, life and relationships. So far, so Zen-like.

Another short film that I felt moved by was Traces (2008, 19 mins). Directed by Rachel Zisser, Traces examines the tragic side of trans acceptance (or rather the lack thereof.) After seeing his handsome college-going son off at the airport, a father is shocked to hear of his son critically injured in a car accident some miles away from home. Arriving at the hospital too late, he is shown the body of his son, in women’s clothing and bewigged. He is later consumed by a desire to piece together his late son’s hidden identity, using different objects once belonged to his son that eventually lead him to uncover not only a secret double life but also a man who had stood between them for years.

He mixed response from the audience at the prospect of watching a film with gay themes that night says a lot about the position of homosexuality in the margins of cinematic discourse. But He Likes Guys is an anthology with an important social message at its heart. Part of the pleasure of watching the mini social commentaries is attributed to the film-makers’ measured use of thought-provoking drama and humour to humanise gay culture. Perhaps the only weakness can be found right at the beginning—in the first short film, Steam (2008) by Damien Rea. At (mercifully) three minutes long, it is effectively a music video and an exercise in male objectification—a bland starter to the far superior films that are definitely worth a watch.

David Searching (1997)

2009-09-13T12:12:00.001+02:00

David Searching (1997)

Director: Leslie L. Smith
Scenario: Leslie L. Smith
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 1997
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 6.7/10

Actors: Anthony Rapp, Camryn Manheim, Julie Halston, Joseph Fuqua, David Courier, Michael Rupert, Stephen Spinella, John Cameron Mitchell, David Drake, La Chanze, Kathleen Chalfant, Susan Bruce, Craig Chester, Brenda Cummings, Christopher Duva, Alecia Hurst, Jordan Meadows, Anthony Meindl, Juio Monge, Jennie Moreau, Richard Munroe, David Pevsner, Joe Santarelli, Emanuele Secci, Melinda Wade

Description:
VARIETY.COM
By MARK WOODS

After a series of flashbacks recalling how they became flatmates before becoming close friends (despite vowing never to share more than the rent), we learn that Gwen is divorcing a man she still cares for and is seeking a little peace and male comforting, while David seeks both a career start (via a perpetually postponed meeting with PBS execs) and true love.
And despite Gwen teasing David about his two-year sexual hiatus ("Doesn't virginity grow back?"), sex, it would appear, is not really in short supply in Gotham. David gets offers as he walks down the street, through the park and, not surprisingly, at sex clubs. But, being a nice, if neurotic, guy (who admits to being the king of self-pity), David is tired of meeting sleazy men with no interest in his brain.

After a series of comically bad dates for both David and Gwen (including one guy who dates them both on separate occasions), David spots his ideal man on the street and, after spying him having sex with strangers in the park and at sex clubs, lures the man, Michael (David Courier), to coffee. Michael tells David there is no such thing as a perfect match --- just well-suited people who stay together for a while. He then draws parallels between life and cable TV, and David is smitten.
More crucial than finding Michael is David's emotional journey, in which he realizes that chance encounters and the ability to change one's perceptions of people may be as important as a sense of destiny. Most integral to David's development is his chance meeting with standup comedienne Julie (a standout perf by Julie Halston), who swiftly gives him a reality dose.Arguably, the most interesting and important characters here are female, including David's grandmother (Kathleen Chalfant), seen in David's docu footage, and Gwen.

The latter occasionally steals the show, especially in scenes with her "sex comfort" partner Walter (Joseph Fuqua), who, after flirting briefly with both sexually deprived roommates, seduces Gwen.
What sets "David Searching" apart from the standard young, desperate and dateless fare is the depth of the emotional portraiture of the main characters and the richness of the supporting roles, not to mention spot-on perfs by all concerned. But while these ingredients may charm auds into going along with the premise that a journey of angst and chance, rather than one ruled by a sense of destiny, can be rewarding, one does wonder if all men are as forward as they seem to be in this film.
Tech credits are fine, and pic is lifted by an upbeat score, featuring mostly original music from the likes of Julee Cruise, Man Ray, Thunder's Monkey and Itchy Trigger Finger

DAVID SEARCHING (1997) (Dir. Leslie L. Smith) (USA)
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Sex, Politics & Cocktails (2002)

2009-09-13T11:16:00.001+02:00

Sex, Politics & Cocktails (2002)

Director: Julien Hernandez
Scenario: Julien Hernandez
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 2002
Duration: 90 min
Rating:

Actors: Julien Hernandez, Marisa Petroro, Seth Macari, Alex Douglas, Don Max, Dave Emerson, Paul Lekakis, Lonnie Simpson, Hunter F. Roberts, Gina Vetro, Jonathan Zenz, Devon Michael Jones, Lonnie Henderson, Ron Doyle, Barry Ashley

Description:

A Short, Not a Film, 2 April 2006

Author: Franco-LA from United States

This movie has some good performances, as others have pointed out, but suffers (as others have pointed out, except for the people who apparently are either friends of the filmmaker or the cast to otherwise explain why they would deem this a "10") from some self-conscious and self-absorbed film school padding and excess plots. This is the type of plot that Sex In The City could handle in a half hour episode, so there was no reason for it to be even an 88 minute movie. A perfect example of wasted footage is the fast forwarding montage in the first third of the movie. Some of the back story is merited, but too much time, for example, was spent on Daria character with the anal sex boyfriend and on the back story for Paulie, who was not a realistic character, although the actor did a decent job with the lines he was given.
The worst aspect of the movie was the level of amateurish parts: from typos in the typed material, to bad jumps and edits, poor camera positions, angles, lighting problems throughout and, most glaringly, a poorly written script with a badly developed concept. If the writer (also the director and lead) had collaborated with someone, he might not have ended up with a 100% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, which further belays the ability of anyone to truly believe the people who gave it a 10 on the rating system here.

Coulda Been a Contender...But Not Quite, 10 March 2006

Author: mkarol-2 from New York, NY
Julien Hernandez is certainly an attractive and likable on screen persona. In fact, his character pretty much carries this whole film, or what's worthwhile about it. The problem is, with the exception of his gal pal (played by Marisa Petroro) and Paul Lekakis (as a trick/date/ boyfriend for some of the characters) no one else even comes close. Hernandez plays a 30- something director of Cuban heritage, and unknown sexuality, who comes to L.A. and gets a job making a gay documentary. In the process of meeting a group of gay people while finding subjects, he comes out...but very s l o w l y. Even at 88 minutes, the film has obviously been stretched out and padded with various film-school devices, most of which only end up pointlessly interrupting the narrative (which ain't much to begin with) or pointing out the overall amateurish-ness of the film-making.
Which is a shame, because there's a love story in here somewhere, and the final three minutes, when Hernandez's Sebastien finally clicks with a wealthy West Hollywood party- thrower (nicely underplayed by Lonnie Henderson) and they share some sexy soulful kisses, it works despite all that came before. But we don't really care about any of the other characters or their situations: Why would handsome Dante have a Eurotrash priss for a boyfriend? He wouldn't. And don't even get me started on Sebastien's friend Paulie's "rules" for dating -- no gay man I know, hell no sane person, period, would put such constrictions on himself or others. And please tell me how Sebastien gets a peeled banana (which is normally fairly shmushy, right?) stuck up his butt and has to go to a doctor to get it removed?
I noticed Hernandez won an award for this film as a "short" -- it probably should have stayed that way. All this said -- I'd look forward to seeing Hernandez on screen again, in a better scripted comedy with more assured direction.

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Doña Herlinda y su hijo (1985) aka Dona Herlinda and Her Son

2009-09-12T07:47:00.001+02:00

Doña Herlinda y su hijo (1985) aka Dona Herlinda and Her Son

Director: Jaime Humberto Hermosillo
Scenario: Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, Jorge López Páez
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Mexico
Year: 1985
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 6.5/10

Actors: Guillermina Alba, Guadalupe Del Toro, Letícia Lupercio, Arturo Meza, Gustavo Mezza, Marco Antonio Trevińo, Lucha Villa

From APOLLO GUIDE

By Scott Renshaw

Description:
In Dona Herlinda and her Son, director Jaime Humberto Hermosillo isn’t all about the wacky gay gags. He has more serious intentions on his mind than simply a Mexican variant on the sexual identity farce of La Cage aux Folles. And it’s a good thing, too, since he doesn’t seem to have a clue how to tell a joke.
The basic set-up sounds ready-made for Three’s Company-style misunderstandings. Rodolfo Ledezma (Marco Antonio Trevino), a Guadalajara neurosurgeon, still lives with his widowed mother Dona Herlinda (Guadalupe Del Toro). She has high hopes for her grown son eventually to settle down and start a family, setting him up with new women at every opportunity. What she somehow avoids noticing is that Rodolfo’s young “friend” – a music student named Ramon (Arturo Meza) – is actually Rodolfo’s lover. Dona Herlinda even invites Ramon to come live with them, creating a complicated scenario that grows even more complicated when Rodolfo starts spending a lot of time with a woman named Olga (Leticia Lupercio).
At the heart of Dona Herlinda and her Son lies a rather intriguing idea about accepting a life that doesn’t conform to our idealized visions. Dona Herlinda, despite plentiful evidence of Rodolfo’s sexual preference, chooses to remain oblivious so long as there’s a chance he’ll fulfill his role of providing her with grandchildren. Ramon at first mourns over what he believes he will lose when Olga enters Rodolfo’s life, but begins to understand that he can still have what he wants most. Even Olga becomes part of the complex equation, sacrificing her career goals, even though she’s – get this, a feminist! – to become a mother. In its subversive little way, Dona Herlinda and her Sonoffers a sharp commentary on finding happiness through altered expectations.
But even altered expectations may not allow a viewer to find enough happiness in the film. For an ostensible comedy, it’s simply not funny enough. Sometimes Hermosillo creates a gag that just doesn’t work with the premise. One scene finds Rodolfo quickly amending an embrace of Ramon to make it look like he’s giving Ramon a massage when his mother appears, which doesn’t gibe with Dona Herlinda’s already apparent willingness to keep blinders on. Sometimes he finds a decent joke – Dona Herlinda commenting that she has taught her naturally-left handed son to write right-handed, making him “completely ambidextrous” – then throws it away with shabby comic timing. Between the running-through-water pacing, bland performances and the enigmatic characterizations – Rodolfo remains a potentially unsympathetic mystery – it’s hard to work up much enthusiasm for anything that’s going on.
It’s refreshing to watch a film that treats sexual ambiguity so matter-of-factly, but that doesn’t mean Dona Herlinda and her Son has enough sense of what it wants to be. Attempts at weightless comedy need to have a little spark; detailed character studies need to throw away the farcical trappings. Trevino’s appealing, sweet performance gets lost, all because Hermosillo doesn’t understand that Three’s Company doesn’t work if Mr. Roper doesn’t really care whether or not Jack’s gay.

DONA HERLINDA & HER SON-1985 Dir:Jaime Humberto (Mexico)
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Treatment of Alan Turing was “appalling” - PM

2009-09-11T20:12:00.001+02:00

Treatment of Alan Turing was “appalling” - PM

The Prime Minister has released a statement on the Second World War code-breaker, Alan Turing, recognising the “appalling” way he was treated for being gay.

Alan Turing, a mathematician most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes, was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration.

Gordon Brown’s statement came in response to a petition posted on the Number 10 website which has received thousands of signatures in recent months.

Read the statement

2009 has been a year of deep reflection - a chance for Britain, as a nation, to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before. A unique combination of anniversaries and events have stirred in us that sense of pride and gratitude which characterise the British experience. Earlier this year I stood with Presidents Sarkozy and Obama to honour the service and the sacrifice of the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we marked the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willingness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing.

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ - in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence - and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.

Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.

I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.

But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate - by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices - that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.

So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.

Gordon Brown

The Last Year (2002)

2009-09-10T18:07:00.001+02:00

The Last Year (2002)

Director: Jeff London
Scenario: Russ Williams
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Year: 2002
Duration: 108 min
Rating: 4.6/10

Actors: Ron Petronicolos, Mike Dolan, Patrick Orion Hoesterey, Merrick McMahon, Elizabeth Flesh, Seth Adams, Rand Smith, Penelope Ma, Craig Staswick, Joseph Michael Olesh, Lawrence Rinzel, Jason Sumabat, Dale Ferranti, Jason Freeman, Duane Waddell

Description:
A conflicted bible college student faces the wrath of his homophobic classmates when his true sexuality is revealed in filmmaker Jeff London's sophomore drama. Upon returning to school following summer break, Paul's internal conflict rages as he struggles to find common ground between his spirituality and sexuality. When Paul makes the acquaintance of new student Alex, their quickly deepening friendship begins to draw the suspicions of their classmates. Increasingly targeted for harassment by the intolerant student body and threatened with expulsion by the school board, Paul and Alex find that the same people who preach peace and forgiveness seem unable to look beyond their sexuality to accept them on a spiritual level. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

From IMDB:

Stunningly Bad, 22 May 2005

Author: claudenorth from United States

A friend of mine saw this at the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and reported that the audience laughed through the entire film. Then, when the director came out for a question and answer session, his first comment was, "I didn't know I made a comedy." Naturally, I had to rent it, but I approached it with an open mind, suspecting that the audience reaction was a reflection of the "hip, above it all, dismiss everything as camp" attitude that is far too common among movie viewers today.
Well, I was wrong. This film was one of the worst I have ever seen. The acting, writing, and directing were terrible. Particularly bad was the skinny kid with acne who read every line in the same way. He would say the first three words very slowly and then say the rest of his line quickly. For example, "Are...you...going...tothemovies?" Porn video companies make compilations of sex scenes from their various titles. Watching this film was like watching a compilation of the non-sex scenes from gay porn.

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In & Out (1997)

2009-09-03T06:26:00.000+02:00

In & Out (1997)

Director: Frank Oz
Scenario: Paul Rudnick
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Year: 1997
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 6.1/10

Actors: Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack, Tom Selleck, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Wilford Brimley, Bob Newhart, Gregory Jbara, Shalom Harlow, Shawn Hatosy, Zak Orth, Lauren Ambrose, Alexandra Holden, Lewis J. Stadlen, Deborah Rush

Description:

VARIETY.COM

By TODD MCCARTHY

A Paramount release presented in association with Spelling Films of a Scott Rudin production. Produced by Rudin. Executive producer, Adam Schroeder. Co-producer, G. Mac Brown. Directed by Frank Oz. Screenplay, Paul Rudnick.
Howard Brackett - Kevin Kline
Emily Montgomery - Joan Cusack
Cameron Drake - Matt Dillon
Berniece Brackett - Debbie Reynolds
Frank Brackett - Wilford Brimley
Tom Halliwell - Bob Newhart
Peter Malloy - Tom Selleck
Ava Blazer - Deborah Rush
Ed Kenrow - Lewis J. Stadlen
Walter Brackett - Gregory Jbara
Sonya - Shalom Harlow
Trina Paxton - J. Smith-Cameron
Aunt Becky - Kate McGregor-Stewart
Jack - Shawn Hatosy
Mike - Zak Orth
Vicky - Lauren Ambrose
Meredith - Alexandra Holden

A very broad mainstream comedy, "In & Out" has more trouble than it should stretching a high-concept premise into 90 minutes of mirth. Basically a one-joke farce that plays around with a once-delicate subject that by now is a mainstay even on TV, this "Is he or isn't he?" situation comedy about a prim Midwestern schoolteacher whose sexuality is placed uncomfortably in the national spotlight should ride a number of good laughs, a feel-good demeanor and a fine lead performance by Kevin Kline to solid B.O. in wide early-fall release.
Penned by Paul Rudnick, best known for the gay-themed Off Broadway hit "Jeffrey," this well- cast picture was triggered by Tom Hanks' Oscar acceptance speech in which he thanked his high school drama teacher. Here, however, the ultra-cool young star Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), who wins the Academy Award for a gay-themed war drama, goes a step further by outing his mentor to millions of viewers on the telecast, calling him "a great gay teacher."
The problem is, Howard Brackett (Kline) is not only not "out," he is not, he claims, even gay. True, he wears a trim little bow tie, has a possibly inordinate fondness for Barbra Streisand and has passed the age of 40 without marrying, but the latter situation, at least, is about to change: After a three-year (and unconsummated) courtship, Howard is about to marry fellow schoolteacher Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack).
Although Howard's friends and family are aghast and confused by Cameron's startling proclamation, they are inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to one of their own. But the frenzied media smell a hot story and descend upon cozy Greenleaf, Ind., to nose out the truth, which puts Howard on the defensive with his uptight principal (Bob Newhart), who can scarcely bring himself to utter the word "gay," his fiancee and his long-suffering mother (Debbie Reynolds), who is determined to see her son married whether he's gay or not.
The most persistent and suspicious reporter to track Howard is slick Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck), a hack tabloid-style broadcaster who disarmingly describes himself as "show business garbage" and freely admits that he's gay. Lurking around town and delivering regular reports of small-town gossip to his large TV audience, Peter finally finds a way, in a very funny scene almost exactly halfway through the movie, to determine the truth about Howard; remainder of the running time is spent dealing with the fallout in the most public and comically contrived manner imaginable.
One of the most genuinely amusing aspects of the second half concerns the arrival in town of Cameron and his spacey supermodel girlfriend (Shalom Harlow). With his dyed blond hair, inarticulate manner and hipper-than-thou 'tude, Cameron, in Dillon's witty performance, constitutes a delightful Brad Pitt knockoff, a small-town boy who's hit it big virtually overnight and returns to set matters straight, so to speak, on a number of fronts.
Beginning with mock excerpts from Cameron's Oscar-winning vehicle, "To Serve and Protect," a sendup of both "Platoon" and "A Few Good Men," in which a dogface finally admits his true feelings about a fellow soldier whose life he saves, there are a number of big laughs in "In & Out," undoubtedly enough to make general audiences feel they've gotten their money's worth. But instead of five or six out-and-out guffaws, the material seems ripe enough to have provoked two or three times that many, leaving the impression, by the end, of a comedy that's been decent fun but is somewhat undernourished.
Rudnick and director Frank Oz graft old-school stereotypes of gayness --- a taste for musical comedy, fussy neatness, "unmasculine" mannerisms and interests --- onto a more politically up-to-date stance about the desirability of honesty and a nonjudgmental mind-set in a manner that all but the most conservative audiences should have no trouble swallowing. Nearly every gag is pitched and underlined in the most obvious way, with punch lines played to the upper balcony.
Still, pic is given a gratifying measure of grace by Kline's effortlessly light and dextrous performance. A fine dramatic actor, Kline nonetheless always seems most in his element when he's acting up a bit in comic roles, which is amply illustrated by his work here. As the increasingly discomfited Howard, he underplays some of the easiest laughs, all the better to provoke hilarity with some unexpected outbursts later on. The actor and role fit each other beautifully.
Aside from Dillon, who brightens every scene he's in, the delightful surprise here is Selleck, who brings wonderfully mischievous, energizing and self-deprecating qualities to the role of the dirt-digging but ultimately on-the-level broadcaster. Cusack also has her moments to shine as the previously overweight bride-to-be who finds herself at the center of unwanted controversy, while the slinky Harlow generates terrific laughs of recognition as the self-centered model who freaks out when confronted with a rotary phone at a small-town motel. Reynolds and Wilford Brimley are somewhat underused as Howard's mother and father.
Shot largely on Long Island, ably standing in for Indiana, pic boasts spiffy production values.
Camera (Duart color, Deluxe prints), Rob Hahn; editors, Dan Hanley, John Jympson; music, Marc Shaiman; production design, Ken Adam; art direction, Charles V. Beal; set decoration, Leslie A. Pope; costume design, Ann Roth; sound (Dolby), Danny Michael; associate producer, Suzanne Santry; assistant director, Michael E. Steele; casting, Margery Simkin. Reviewed at Harmony Gold screening room, L.A., Aug. 27, 1997. (In Toronto Film Festival.) MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 90 MIN.