Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

I am catching up on some of these old documentaries in my hard drive and came across this one. This documentary from back in 2006 is about gay Christians– and the reconciliation of both identities. The documentary brings visibility to a marginalized and at-risk population on the big screen, and despite the content having aged since its original release, this was still an interesting perspective. A patchwork of interviews comprises this film: self-identifying gay Christians, including seminary students and clergy; family and friends of those lost to suicide, and scholars of the Bible are all included. Major focuses of discussion include scripture related to homosexuality, and how different translations of the Bible over time have impacted its interpreted support or non-support of gay life. All of the subjects have a strong religious background and relationship with God, something that has been severely tested at some point in their lives. The opening section has them talking about disco...

Told in three parts, Patrick Carpentier’s “The Irregularity of the tearing” is a three part cine-diary intimate journey along the author’s transient love stories: two and a half years of sensuality to question intimacy, an exploration of desire and reason. Part one, “God is a Dog” (2004) is shot on Super 8 and confronts the film makers remembrances of childhood memories and how they interact with his adult love encounters.  Section two, “Les 9 mardis” (The 9 Tuesdays) (2005) deals with the absurdity of the passage of time. Time that reopens and closes past wounds, time that re-opens and cures childhood wounds, time that brings a rhythm to the impossibility of loving, time that provides the courage to continue and to go through mourning. The final installment is “Combat”asks the viewer: how can one let go in a world where one learns not to? Is it possible to reach the end of desire? The tale of two young men both deeply in love who can only express their feelings through acts of phy...

The lives of gays in the Deep South are explored in this documentary, which looks at two bars in rural Mississippi that cater to a homosexual clientele. While the film certainly does address the ills of gay bashings, ignorance, harassment, and picketing; the documentary is first and foremost a touching celebration of the endurance and tenacity required of gay people living in the South, and how these clubs work as an island of acceptance for a small, family-like community, that is to be clung to and cherished at all costs. It is a low budget and rough-around-the-edges, but considering it came back in 2006 it's a well-made documentary. As the self-explanatory title suggests, the film focuses on two isolated gay bars in Mississippi: Rumors, in Shannon, and the wild, anything-goes Crossroads in the woods outside Meridian, which shuttered two years ago and was replaced by the tamer Different Seasons. We see interviews of various patrons who offer candid accounts of living with fear and...

I had seen this film way back when I had just been exposed to the fact that there are gay movies out there. I was a total newbie at that time and remembered quite enjoying this silly gay film. Of course, this was time before I started writing my blog, so it seemed fair enough to watch it again and see how the film has aged for me personally. The plot of the film is pretty basic and simple. Four high school senior boys are on a quest to lose their virginity, but with the queer twist that everyone is gay! We meet Andy, who fantasized all the time about his exchange professor. Jarod is the school jock baseball player, Griff is the trusty best friend, who we later learn has a crush on Jared which leads to some comical blunders and mishaps. Nico is the campy flamboyant sidekick who has a thing for older men – but is still in the closet with his mother and dating a blind girl. The boys are close friends and are all virgins and they decide that this summer before going to college they all nee...

This film was an interesting indie film probably made on a shoe string budget. A sweet, heartfelt, movie about love that transcends age, stereotypes and meddlesome family, its heart is in the right place, trying to show us a warm breezy and cozy love story between two individuals who on paper may not seem right for one another. But the film is also about family and how you sometimes love them or hate them but you have to be for them in thick and thin. Justin works for an ad agency with his father who is very domineering. While driving to a business meeting young and handsome Justin runs off the road to avoid a rabbit. He finds himself stranded in front of a ranch farm 'Angora Ranch' owned by hunk Jack, a man almost twice Justin's age. Justin and Jack feel an instant connection and Jack's father is more than happy to fuel the fire. Jack's father lives with him and had been very progressive sexually in his times and fully supportive of his son being gay, but at the sa...

Centered on the relationship between two closeted high school friends in the director’s hometown of Bangor, Maine, the movie quickly becomes ensnared in a tangle of subplots. It promises more than it delivers with its jarring background music as of we are watching some thriller unfold in front of us. There is absolutely nothing new or novel in this indie film to look out for.  High schooler Joe and his sister Theresa live with their mostly drunk and irresponsible mother and work in a local store. Joe's best friend Andrew forms the trio who is an expert is stealing stuff from store. Joe has loved Andrew for a while now but is in closet. The duo once make a day travel together with their respective girlfriends, but neither of them is interested in sexual advances. When Andrew's girlfriend pushes, she figures that he maybe gay and accuses him to have a relationship with Joe. To not reveal his secret, she asks him to have sex with Joe so she can watch. In the meantime, there is a s...

This is a set of two "gay horror" films in one set made by the same producer/director. The first one is a full fledged film while the other one is a 30 minute short film. Sadly both the film are pretty bad in terms of story, acting, direction.. everything. The main feature is " When Darkness Falls ", where Kevin, a prankster invites his most recent boyfriend, Danny, to his parent's summer home in the woods. Danny, the antithesis of Kevin, is a fearful, sweet, one-man guy naive to the likes of Kevin and his friends. Kevin gets a kick out of scaring Danny about the local folklore surrounding his house and the zombies that supposedly roam the adjacent cemetery. When darkness falls, noises outside the house begin to scare the two shitless. Even after Kevin's friends reveal they were behind the creepy happenings, things continue down a scary spiral revealing the true story of the zombies that wander the night. Neither the story is original nor the acting. The fil...

I recently saw the Queer Duck series, with its zany short episodic format was a decent time pass watch. The film follow the same adult animated format using the same cast members Queer Duck, Openly Gator, Bipolar bear, Oscar Wildcat and a whole lot of new members. This 72 minute non stop gagfest is full of gags, puns, caricatured celebrities and just overall time pass pop humor. After a night of full on parting , Queer Duck sees a show with a reverend turning gay to straight. And when the gay day at amusement park gets cancelled, he begins wondering the point of being gay when everyone is against it. Around same time he meets once popular Broadway actor Lola and they become great friends. Queer Duck convinces her to go back on stage for a one woman show. She does and wins Tony and proposes marriage to Queer Duck stating most of her ex-husbands were gay. He asks his friends who reluctantly agree including the heartbroken Openly Gator who is in love with Queer Duck. When Lola does she le...

This film is clearly one of those independent films made on a shoe string budget. Apparently it was made under 5000 USD, and has an interesting storyline but somehow the execution is a lot to be desired. It was probably made but some inexperienced people which shows. However the story is something that if it was well scripted, it could have made a big difference. The whole issue of gay bashing needs to be told and the point reinforced. Roger is a struggling gay artist preparing fo this upcoming one-man show at a local gallery. His friends have noticed that of-late his paintings have become quite violent and his work is full of anger and rage.  Because of experiences in his later teens, he has become obsessed with the violence rained down upon gay men and the lack of concern society has shown. This fixation gets worse when his boyfriend goes through a similar experience and is now moving away to a different place. On a specific night, one of the neighbors is throwing a party and the...

This film highlights a lonely teenager's struggle with his sexuality and identity. The subject matter is nothing new, but it’s a considerately and unflinchingly covered coming-out, and that’s definitely to be praised. Having said that, the execution style is sort of lyrical and poetic , which is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I myself can only take this narrative style only to a certain extent. 13 year old Logan lives with his single mother, who worries about him since he is very much in his own world of dreams and fantasies. There is a news that mountain lions are roaming around free and that students must be careful. Hs best friend is joey, another not so cool kid in school. But Logan respects the mountain lion and is appalled at the fears that have spread like wildfire about the animal in the school. He is happy when an older student Rodeo, a ninth grader who spends most of his time alone, turns out to share his feelings. He claims to have seen a lion in woods and bef...

This French film is actually a filmed theatrical play and the shortcomings of this are very obvious when you watch it on your TV screen. Its a serious subject, but also a story that I have at least seen twice in other settings. But he treatment here is theatrical which makes a huge difference and not in a good way, especially when all you have is two actors mouthing heavy dialogues for 1.5 hours straight. A 50-something Anita is packing her bags before leaving her flat. A young, pale and jittery Dave has been following her for days before Anita finally allowing him to enter her home. He introduces himself as the guy who called the police informing him aboutAnita's son's brutal death. There is a cat and mouse game with lot of back and forth, with Anita admitting that her son was found dead in a gay causing park beaten to death in a homophobic attack. Initially struggling with his homosexuality, it comes out that Davey is actually her son's boyfriend and together the recount ...

This is one of those wanna be a thriller with supernatural edge kind of movies, but when you have actors who don't know what they are doing, and a director who is probably too much into his head, the final product is bound to be a product that's sub par. The production quality is pretty low key, the fundamentals of screenplay are missing. This is yet another unremarkable addition to the list of gay themed films that I have wasted my time watching and wondering why these were ever made. Adam works at a small town diner. Suspecting that he is robbing money, the owner asks his son Anthony to spy. But truth is Anthony has been stealing money. Very first day itself Adam tells Anthony that he is gay and he likes him. Anthony's bi-curiosity kicks in and they share a kiss. Guilt ridden father entrusts his house to Adam and soon dies. A year later, Adam and Anthony are living in this house and are lovers but Anthony doesn't acknowledge. This publicly since he is a police detecti...

OMG!! Lets just say as it is. This film is soft gay porn (or maybe more than soft since we do have ample dick shots), masquerading to be a romantic film. Its like 100 minutes long. This film is an absolute no-no. The plot, if you can call it that, is wafer thin. A guy has recently come out but still hasn't had sex with any boy. His friend tells him that he recently met a masseur and he was cute and gay. Our man meets him, feels a connection but doesn't act on his impulses. He feels that Massage with happy ending feels like prostitution. To test the masseur, all other friends book massage with him, but he never makes advances with anyone. Eventually our man calls him again and they start dating. As you can see, there is nothing really in this. Almost 80minutes of the film are devoted to slow motion full on massage sessions with like 5-6 different guys. Its not full on sex, but titillating enough to be called as soft porn. I mean, we have to say as it is. The production quality i...

Said to be filmed over a period of two years, this documentary follows the journeys of seven gay men struggling with meth addiction and recovery against a backdrop of an emerging wave of HIV infection. From grappling with the drug's effects on their physical and mental health to wrestling with their darkest sexual desires, Rock Bottom delivers a chilling portrait of a community in crisis. The makers use and show us the breeding grounds for this crystal meth addiction like the bathhouses, locker rooms, porn sets and bedrooms of those for whom sex is inseparable from meth use. Our subjects freely describe the rush of empowerment and the liberation of libido that lets them enjoy sex without thought or precaution. They all, over a period of time want to get clean and connect with people and have a loving boyfriend. We see guys in different stages of their lives. Its scary to see how almost all of them understand the downside of the drug but are at a stage where they have become so depe...

This is clearly a gay erotica film, whose whole intent is to seduce the audience with its simulated sex copulating scenes. The good thing is that the boys are extremely gorgeous and good looking. But besides that there isn't much happening here. A straight couple, Ryan and Issy arrive for their summer vacation at a magnificent beachside villa. This vacation is meant to solve their stormy relationship problems and rekindle the lost flame. One night when Ryan can't sleep, he goes for a walk but gets mobbed and badly beaten only to be rescued by beach boy Pavel. Ryan becomes utterly infatuated with the boy and his long denied yearnings for another man come to the surface. And then there’s Pavel’s promiscuous boyfriend Pasha, who is just going around town having sex. I'll be honest, I am not sure what the eventual end of the film is but somewhere Issy becomes the unwanted female in the male trio.  The film is soft porn erotica aiming to simulate your mental thoughts. The produc...

These kind of weird dystopian futuristic, low budget films are not my kind of cinema at all. An Austrian film, filmed in a mockumentary style, this is not really a gay themed film to be honest. So don't get fooled by the posters at all. By the end, I wasn't sure whether this film, is satire, comedy, drama, love story or what? It was a big ball of mud in my opinion. Recently there have been a spat of assassination attempts. Jannis and his mute boyfriend Patrick are convinced that these are politically motivated. They decide to infiltrate a circus to shoot an undercover documentary exposing an underground political conspiracy. But when Patrick meets Mo, a young woman whose sensitivity to sunlight forces her to live by night, Jannis’ jealousy threatens the entire project. Now, the only way Patrick and Jannis can be certain to get the answers to their questions is to stick together until the bitter end. The script of the film is very amateurish and all over the place. To top that, ...

This film is not a gay film at all but given that in almost half of the film you see all males, full naked with their penises flopping around, I don't think anyone else besides the gay audience would be even remotely interested in the film. And trust me, their is a penis in pretty much every single frame. Chris along with his 2straight male model friends get invited by a a photographer for a cowboy shoot. But as per their agent Tess, they shouldn't do any nude modeling yet. Same night Chris' sister Callie is in town and the 2 other friends along with photographer's assistant party that night. Callie starts having sex with 3 of them but changes her mind. Eventually the assistant is pushed off the roof. To keep the models out of any controversy, their agent Tess asks them to go for the cowboy photoshoot. Surprisingly, the killings continue and one by one people start to die there as well. First the 2 other male models, then the blonde gay couple, then the photographe...

This movie was simply soft porn and nothing else. There is no way you can get around to defending this film in anyway. Beth and Ryan are engaged but a fight leads to them wanting a break Ryan is passing through a gay bar and curiosity gets the best out of him. Next one hour is spent on multiple sexual encounters filmed in much details that Ryan has with various people inside the club, thereby making him realize what he truly wants. Beth and Ryan become best friends. Trust me, there is absolutely nothing besides what I just wrote here, The sexual encounter scenes with Ryan sniffing poppers way too extended that it makes me feel this was an extended audition for porn films. The acting was poor and there is absolutely no point in making this film. Completely avoid. The half star is just for Ryan's good looks. (0.5/10)

I hate when a seemingly simple story that can easily be told with a very tight screenplay and even sometimes in the form of a short film, is sometimes stretched to no extent and it turns out a very frustrating movie experience. I can discount poor production quality as long as acting and direction is something to talk about, but sadly this movie disappoints there too. More on that later. Greg drives up in desert near cowboy junction and picks up a hooker. Turns out the hooker (cowboy) is sensitive types and our nam decides to bring him home with him. Only when he comes home, he tells the cowboy that he is married. He tells his wife that the guy will stay in back room and do chores for the home. Since the wife is sex starved and has no knowledge of husband's philanderings, she makes a move on cowboy only to realize that he is gay. Clearly there are strains between husband and wife. Apparently this started about an year ago when the husband hit a deer. After controlling his urge...

Shortbus is definitely not a gay themed film. It revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colourful characters in New York city and since a couple of prominent characters are gay and gay relationships have been given ample prominence, I think I feel ok reviewing this film on my blog. Surprisingly Shortbus includes a variety of explicit scenes containing non-simulated sexual intercourse with visible penetration and male ejaculation with all combinations of partners- male-male, male-female, female-female. Set in contemporary NYC, the film focuses on 3 main relationships/protagonists. Sofia is married to sexy Rob and together they have great sex. But she has never had an orgasm in life. She works as a couples/counsellor where she meets the couple Jamie and James. James is going through some sort of depression which is affecting the relationship between the two. We also see that a guy has been secretly watching over James’ every move. We also meet Severin, who is a dominatrix, w...