Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Terry and Julian is a British sitcom that aired on Channel 4 in 1992. The show had only one season with 6 episodes of about 22-25 minutes each. Unusually for a sitcom, Terry and Julian breaks the "fourth wall" by recognizing the studio audience and viewers, and employs use of audience participation. I was quite surprised to see how they used this method back in the day by inviting at least one audience member, making them part of the skit midway and sending them back with flowers. Flamboyant Channel 4 television celebrity Julian moves into a flat with geeky well-meaning Terry, completely transforming his life and home and repeatedly upsetting Terry’s pint-sized moustached policewoman fiancee, Rene. Julian transforms Terry’s ugly flat into a Barbara Cartland-ish nightmare and takes over Terry’s life to the point of marrying him. The script consist of a lot of double meaning dialogues that are quite witty. Episode one is when Julian moves in and completely redo carets the flat....

Dealing with sensitive subjects in films is never easy. The film makers here take a muted, almost ambivalent stand on the subject, which show sis the questionable relationship between a 29 year old man with a 15 year old boy. As a film, it is a pretty straight forward execution without much drama trying to show as 'matter of fact' events and what/how happens. I guess it is left to the audience to make their own morality decisions. (Although looking at the film's dvd poster, which features only the younger male, rather than the duo which should have been the case for a film whose title has names of two protagonists) Eban returns to his hometown Christmas from Seattle. He is a bit vague about the reasons he has come (which we later find out). Killing time growing through local shops, he sees a young 15 year old handsome boy Charley and rather insistently strikes up a friendship on the pretense of swapping lessons about guitar and being lonely etc. You can tell that Eban likes...

My second American BL, shot in Phone format, released as multiple episodes on DramaBox. Thankfully I watched the version where all episodes were stitched together and overall the duration is just under an hour. It is an easy watch even though the plot is filled with loopholes but once you start to watch it, it is easy to ignore some aspects. The protagonist, Ace, is a ruthless and decisive mob boss who has firmly established his position at the top of London's underworld. However, during an ambush orchestrated by his archenemy, Jack, a younger stranger named Max unexpectedly steps in to save him. This act of bravery sparks Ace's interest and earns his trust. Ace brings Max into his inner circle, as his bodyguard. What he doesn't know that it was all Jack's plan. Ace likes to flirt and is gay and he does that constantly with Max making him feel uncomfortable. Max succeeds in planting care in Ace's room who does the same. So Ace knows that max is watching him have sex...

This interesting piece of documentary is essentially the history of the queer movement in Canada seen through an assembly of parades, marches and protests. Through rarely seen archival footage and first-person accounts, Parade brings to life pivotal moments that sparked Canada's 2SLGBTQ+ movement, honoring the activists and elders whose resistance led to the rights we have today. It opens with Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s famous statement about the government having no right in the bedrooms of the nation, preceding the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969. The film looks at the early Gay Liberation Movement, including the We Demand Rally that took place in Ottawa in 1971. From here, Parade takes us through infamous events such Toronto’s bathhouse raids, and protests in response to how the government was handling the AIDS epidemic. The film finally touches on the BLM activists who controversially shut down Toronto Pride in 2016 to protest the presence of uniformed p...

This was an interesting series in the sense it was hard to like it or dislike it. The story is really barely there and s just paper thin, but look at the guts of the makers that they decided to convert this into 30 episodes each of about 8 minutes to keep the viewers hooked a few days a week to wait for what would happen next. Thankfully, as always I saw it when the whole thing was out.  It is the story of two worlds. Navee is a young man who works at a radio station. At the halloween party, another man dressed in traditional royal clothes catches his attention but disappears. The same guy starts showing up as a ghost at his apartment at regular intervals scaring Navee. Navee tries making offerings and prayers but nothing helps, so he eventually gives in. The man tells him that he is a prince from 2000 years ago and he has not crossed over and it would happen only when Navee remembers everything. Slowly love Strats Tod develop between the two in this world and in small fragments, N...

A queer themed time loop story is definitely novel idea. I have seen a few time travel stories so far (primarily in the Asian BL market), but time loop is definitely different. There is a certain appeal to the idea of a protagonist reliving their lives in a loop while trying to figure their way out of it and Spark fits well into this category. It is a thriller love story that makes for a decent watch, but somewhere remains short in keeping viewers engaged for a long time.  Aaron, is the careless, in-love twenty-something caught in an annoying time loop. Every afternoon, Aaron wakes up to their roommate Dani, offering them a glass of wine that has gone horribly off. Dani reminds them her habit to refuse to see red flags in guys and Aaron promises to do better. All that starts to change once he meets Trevor, an intriguing stranger he’s paired up with for a birthday party scavenger hunt. While Trevor at first seems fairly distant and aloof, there is a hint of interest, which is enough...

Set in 2006 in West Yorkshire, this is your simple boy-meets-boy teenage gay love story touching on nostalgia, teenage angst and indie pop with a gentle hand. We have seen many films in the same genre, so I was hoping for something different, but sadly the film follows a very predictable narrative approach. It's not bad at all, but how I wish there was something more. The film works only thanks to the charm of its two leading actors.  George is 16 year old teenager, navigating the difficult road of social and academic failure in a small town. George, who’s certain of his own talent even though no one else seems to share that belief, dreams of becoming a famous musician. He is not good at studies ether and his father and school teachers are very worried about his future. Enter Max, a handsome student, the son of a mega-famous musical duo, who much to surprise of George, takes interest in George and his music. Their budding friendship both excites and confuses George, leading him to ...

The original Japanese shows has to be one of my fav BL shows. Then came the Hong Kong version which was equally good. Sadly the same cannot be said about the Thai remake of this cult classic. This version is missing the humanity and the heart that was key ingredient of the original Japanese version. Most importantly, it had authenticity sprinkled with humor, grace, and tons of human emotions. Sadly neither the production, nor the actors do justice here. The makers have slightly modified the story also, but even if they kept it all same, not much would have changed. 12 episodes each of about 50 minutes. The story is similar. Heng is our main character who works in real estate company. His Boss has been secretly crushing on him, but he has no idea. At the same time, another office employee Mo likes him. Apparently many years back when Mo started in the company, Heng really helped him out. Monday is looking for a place to move in, so Heng invites him to stay with him. In return, Mo can co...

This Spanish documentary series chronicles the violent death of Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta on a tranquil Thai island, at the hands of Daniel Sancho, a 29-year-old aspiring chef known for his YouTube videos. Going over 5 episodes each of about 40-50 minutes, which captures the brief backgrounds of these two individuals, how/when they met. How/when murder happened and the trial and the media circus that followed. Inspite of the trial being covered extensively by the world’s media, mystery still surrounds the case. The series explores the questions that remain about Edwin and Daniel's relationship and also the double life led by each man. We first meet Edwin, a Colombian guy who came from a very modest background and ended up becoming one of the most celebrated surgeons. With dreams and high hopes, he used to travel a lot and apparently met Daniel Sancho in Spain. Daniel is son of a very famous Spanish actor and wannabe chef. He came from a luxury background but also wanted to do...

Aah! This series would have been so much better if it stayed true to the concept it introduces us about 'parallel worlds'. Instead, they take audiences for granted and fool us into thinking one thing and then very conveniently squashing the whole idea to make it yet another love story which then has absolutely nothing to offer. The parallel world concept is what would have made the show stronger. A good premise ends up being a mess. With 10 episodes plus one special episode each of 55-60 minutes long, it's not like it's a quick watch. You spend all this time only to feel cheated was not good. Our characters are Cir and Phu. Cir meets with an accident and in hospital. When he wakes up, he is frantically looking for someone called Phu and shows up at his dorm. Phu has no idea who Cir is. But Cir seems to know a great deal about him. He says he is from a parallel universe where Phu and Cir are boyfriends and are together. Phu dismisses the whole idea and then Cir shares in...

'Aichaku' means attachment in Japanese and this feels like a very appropriate title for this film. It was a very interesting film with a nice storyline and to an extent the makers did a good job of executing it. But still somehow something was missing to make this film really good. And I have thought hard on it and I still cant out my finger at the 'what'. Anyway, it's a unique take of being gay in countryside Japan and also what is it like for a foreigner to live in Japan. Lukas is an American expat living in countryside. He is an English teacher but can barely make ends meet. He dreams of buying a roadside cafe which is up for sale but can't afford it. His landlady secretly hopes that she can hook her daughter up with Lucas to marry him, since she has already spent time in US doing her graduation. In the same town, we meet Ken, who is half Japanese. His mother left him and went back to US when he was one year old ands father committed suicide. His uncle raised...

This little Korean series is cute and all but honestly we have seen this story play out so many times, that it does not hold any novelty at all anymore. Plus, the lack of chemistry between the leads and the slow pacing makes these episodes very dull. The story line is pretty thin and there are no real dramatic moments or anything. Sure, it's a sweet drama and easy watch but won't leave you with anything memorable. With 8 episodes each of 24-25 minutes average, this is how I like my episodes in terms of both number and duration. Woohyun is a high school senior with a secret crush on Jeongmin, his homeroom teacher and club advisor. Woohyun is drawn to his teacher's warm personality and quickly becomes smitten. One day he gives a hint to his teacher that he likes someone but never tells the name. He does understand that student-teacher relationship is taboo and even if he confesses, this will go nowhere. We then meet Park Doha, Woohyun's classmate and best friend, who figu...

There haven't been many queer or BL themed shows from Myanmar, so this Burmese mini-series was a welcome change. With only 3 episodes plus one special episode, the total duration is just under 50 minutes, so this is a very easy watch. The story is simple love story that finds its feel thanks to the supportive group of friends. Thingyan is. Burmese festival, where one gets to sprinkle water on others as a way of symbolically wishing them good luck in the coming year. It is believed that water can fix mistakes, drive out bad luck, and bring greater health and happiness. It usually lasts 3-5 days. Always celebrating this festival together are two very good friends. Nway Thit and A-Ta have been close since they were young and always celebrate the Thingyan festival together. Secretly, however, A-Ta is in love with Nway Thit but does not know how to tell him. So, when Nway Thit tries to confess and sprinkle water on the girl he liked, A-Ta thwarted his efforts and interfered at every sin...

The Heart Killers is a stylish crime cum romance BL drama. While the sho had a very interesting premise and the first few episodes kept me hooked, the excessive focus on the relationship side of things and the drama associated with it took precedence over the crime aspect and every subsequent episode started to feel tedious. There is a lot of skin and hookup scenes to add to the appeal of the viewers of BL shows. The show has 12 episodes and almost all of them are around an hour long or more and hence it really tests your patience. I am really not sure why the fascination for 12 episodes and that too so long. At least till a few years back, we used to get 12 episodes but with maybe 45 minute duration. The production houses are really pushing the audience patience IMO, and sooner or later that may backfire. Bison and his older brother Fadel run a burger joint with a retro diner vibe. Brother by soul, they wrestle raised by a woman and also their boss "Mother" who assigns them ...

I had read good reviews about this show, so I was naturally looking forward to it. It's pretty much a love story as you would expect, but this time it's almost devoid of any drama barring in the first few episodes. The show focuses more on the positives of people and how the couple gets together and how it is important for them to be accepted by their families too. Sadly this straight forward love story doesn't have too much meat for 12 episodes. Each episode is almost an hour long and it feels like the makers had a contract or something that you have to do 12 episodes and therefore all we see for almost middle 8 episodes is the lead couple going through the antics of dating and relationship growing. As charming as the couple is, the cutesy romantic stuff can hold your interest only so for so long. Teerak is a cheerful university student and a people pleaser, filled with kindness and cannot say no to people. feels bothered when he receives a love confession from Oh, a wealt...

At the start , this Thai series, based on the character names of our protagonists, seems promising especially since it's a love story between a Thai and a Korean boy. Somewhat new, one would say. But soon, just after a few episodes, you start to feel the amateurish attempt at this. From the dumb jokes to the absurd plots, each episode becomes more aggravating. And then there are random extended sex scenes, which just do not ft in anyway and clearly were added just for the sake of it. Thank god, it was 8 episodes and you could fast forward some of those, With about 50-55 minutes duration of each episode, it is still a significant time investment. In the countryside in Thailand, Dinneaw lives with his mother and together they run a homestay just trying to make ends meet. Dinneaw dreams of becoming a tour guide and travelling the world. One day, a Korean guy Sangmin arrives at the homestay. Turns out he had lived with this family about 10 years ago when he was a kid. He was a lovely k...

This Brazilian murder-mystery thriller has a good story at hand and to an extent they have tried to do justice to it. But having said that the film's production is very independent-like and some of the acting leaves a lot to be desired. More on that later. It's great that we are trying to tell different stories around gay themes but unless we give a proper attention to the execution, these films will never make an impression like they should. The film starts with Victor bringing in Renan to a secluded cabin in the mountains and they son hear about the murder of the senator Arthur a turns out that Victor was the last person to meet him. The cops soon arrive and they both ar taken for questioning, Through flashback we hear the story of what transpired. Senator Arthur is leading a double life of a happily married man but is also enjoying an illicit affair with a young boy Renan, to whom he has given an apartment ad all luxuries as his keep. Through a common friend Renan meets a jo...

This Vietnamese series is very mellow, given its base in a countryside setting. The series has an interesting premise but the makers have added too many characters and too many parallel stories and they all keep vying for attention. So what happened here is that the leads barely get any time to develop their romance and focus on it, making it really hard to connect with them or root for them. The show is 9 episodes with average 20 min each. Yes, the Vietnamese BL scene is improving but this is going to take time. Dang is a student in city who is not very good in studies and has already failed twice for university entrance exam. Tired of his antics, his mother decides to bring him to the village to his grandma after finding out that there is this teacher in village who could possibly help Dang study. We meet Son, a young man, who has taken responsibility of teaching younger kids so that the family members can work. While not a teacher by profession, he reluctantly agrees to teach Dang. ...

This is a “mean-kids” comedy horror film incorporating several tropes. The film packs bullying, homophobia, high school cliches, romance, mental illness, self-identity, revenge and the paranormal etc. This film doesn't offer anything new and one would feel that you have seen this film before, but this film stands on its own because of the two solid performances from actors playing Javier and his best friend Bianca. The premise is that in high school, the seniors are about to graduate. A few weeks back, a murder happened in the school but people have moved on. We met Javier, a young Mexican American gay teen who gets bullied by a few kids in school. He’s smart, sarcastic and knows exactly what he’s up against. His best friend Bianca is his loyal sounding board. She is constantly trying to keep him calm and out of range of the bullies. Also Javier had been secretly hooking up with Brad and no one knows about it. The only sympathy he gets sometimes is from his English teacher. And we ...

As per its director, The Writer is a film that explores the art of conversation. And I couldn't agree more. Two people in an apartment talking. Sure we will talk about further nuances of things, but watching this film I wondered if this would have been better enjoyed as a play. You see, for films like this you need to have patience, which is scarce in today's time. A story of two friends and former lovers who reconnect after any many years asking questions about what defines us as human beings, whether politically, sexually or nationally. Their talk jumps back and forth from the public to the private, as if in an attempt to provide an overview of past repression and today’s prejudices towards queer people through private experiences, against the backdrop of ongoing political turbulence between the East and the West. Ethnically Russian and now Lithuanian Dima is in New York for an interview. He meets his old friend and ex-lover Kostas (original Lithuanian and now American). Thro...