Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Mostly shot by hand held camera (or at least that's what it seemed like), this film shows the story of 3 individuals who are coming to terms of their individual feels and what effect their feelings will have on the people around them. Did the film succeed in portraying what it set out to? Let's figure it out. Jana is a lonely social worker. She is in a lackluster and boring relationship with David which has no spark left. David spends most of his time at work and avoids Jana. Whenever he meets her, there is no chemistry and together they are both aware of the drifting chemistry, both physically and emotionally. And then we have a young German Turk Nazim, who also tries hard to keep up the appearance of straightness. Night after night he goes out with his homies, dances with girls like Jana and deals with drugs on Hermann Square. It is first jana who ends up sleeping with him. In a different turn of events, Nazim and David end up sleeping together as well. When the three of the...

Started off well, this movie soon became one of those wannabe's bad bad thriller gay movies. The story is simple but then its the acting, execution and just about everything else which makes a huge huge difference.  Three friends are on a cross country road trip from LA to NYC. Johnny is the eldest of the group who does not miss any opportunity to hook up with a stranger on the road. Mikey owns the car and is dealing with a breakup. Apparently he just found out that he is positive too. The third friend is just coming out and wants to live life a little bit. When they are few hours away from the city, they decide to spend the night at a motel and Johnny drags all of them to a bar called 'Lion's Den' where he is meeting a trick from internet. Johnny gets into an argument with his friends who leave him and go back to the motel. It turns out the motel owner duo of husband-wife have some other plans. The husband likes men and the wife tortures the guys while the husband is h...

Was this film a spoof or a comedy or drama? It is so hard to say. A lot of viewers describe the movie as comedy but I saw WTF!! And where was the plot? A lot of scenes were just there for the heck of it. The story idea was good but it was so badly executed. Armanda, is a 40-something gay man who is very popular in the social circle. He sells farm machinery in the countryside. Just when his life was going monotonous and nothing exciting was happening, he meets a 16 year old girl Curly and they both fall in love with each other. The expected restrain from the parents follow and Armanda woos the girl and they go on a run from the parents and the police. Somehow Armanda finds this magic root which can get him hard to be able to perform. Whenever him and Curly get a chance to make out and "do" something, they are always disturbed. Finally they get an opportunity and they make love but Armanda gets bored and now wants to leave Curly. In the meantime Armanda is being pursued by an ...

Somewhere I Have Never Travelled is a deceptive little film. As a slice of life in rural Taiwan it promises many things overly familiar to anyone who's seen more than a handful of films from the country over the past five years or so. It is wrong to classify this film under gay themed, since it is just that one of the 2 characters happens to be gay and is dealing with it. There is nothing much more than that to this. Ah-Guei is a fifteen-year-old girl who comes from a family of misfits -- her father is intellectually challenged and cleans streets for a living, while her grandfather is a neighborhood character known for his short temper. While Ah-Guei seems like a happy and well-adjusted girl on the surface, she was born color-blind and cannot see red or green, a seemingly minor disability but one that sets her apart from her classmates. Ah-Guei's most trusted confidante is her twenty-year-old cousin Ah-Xian, who dreams of traveling the world and owns a large collection of ...

Sometimes when you experiment in the way a story is narrated, it backfires on you, because as a director you become very self-obsessed. Thankfully this film does not fall in this category. It still is surprising that not many people might be aware of this film. It is a shame because I have never seen this way of showing flashbacks sequences. It must have been a difficult screenplay to write IMO. A prisoner Simon requests for a specific priest to make a confession. The preist is surprised but gives in and visits the prison not knowing what to expect. He is locked by the prison priest in the confession room and soon a play begins. Apparently Simon wants the priest to do a confession of his own. The play being played by the prisoners is real life story of Simon's young adulthood days. Simon used to attend all Catholic school and was in love with another boy Valier. Their love was pure and secret until one of their classmates (the now priest) finds out about them. He confronts them. Th...

A pretty good indie film with art-house character study, embellishes some great performances from its lead characters. Mad win s a very small budget. Christopher Plummer deservingly won the academy award for his supporting role in this film. The story of the film is very simple and straight forward. The first half of the movie focuses on Oliver and his ailing father. After his mother's death, Oliver's father told him 2 things: first he has cancer and second he is gay. Oliver is shocked but he still tries to keep his calm and understand his father. Apart from his father's lover, he is always there for his father whenever he needs it, be it for any gay party, gay events or just taking care of him. We see a lot of incidents that Oliver and his father spend time with each other striving to cultivate their relationship and grow it. We also see Oliver's childhood in flashback where the parents are attempting to make the best of their marriage of convenience. After his fa...

No Soy Como Tú ( I am Not Like You) (Spain) A so called straight guy spends alight with a gay guy but refuses to accept his homosexuality. When city drama forces the 2 men to spend some time together, he realizes that he cannot suppress his feelings for long and it is time he opened his heart for some love. But its too late. (7/10) The Tie That Bind Me (UK) 2 men, supposedly straight, get into a conversation on a rainy evening. Filmed in a theatre setting, it has only 2 characters in their whity tights and just talking. And it seems that in the end, one of the guys is coming out. Totally random film. (2/10) First Time (Israel) A young gay guy arrives in Tel Aviv. He is supposed to stay with someone but cannot find him. He is now stranded on the streets. Till he meets another cute guy on a bus stop and after their eyes meet, he just follows him. (3/10) Keel (UK) Two teenage boys get stoned in a boat shed, lie in a boat and make an imaginary journey, until moment of intimacy ...

Hit and Runway was a formulaic film school comedy. A film about budding friendship, it shows how friendship between 2 most unassuming people just naturally grows. The film doesn't take anyone's side. It just shows how 2 people from 2 different world in terms of ethnicity and sexuality are brought together with a common goal: to become a good screenwriter. All actors are pretty unknown and hence the film becomes more believable.  Alex is a budding screenwriter but the reality is that he is not much of a writer. After his father passes away, he is forced to work at his family's cafe. He wants to write this major story but is hindered by his lack of screenplay writing abilities. He meets Elliot, a regular looking Jewish guy, at his cafe. Elliot is there to meet Joey, the server and part time actor on whom he has a crush on. When Elliot leaves his play for Joey to read, Alex finds it and recognizes that Elliot is the only one who can help him write his script. Overcoming his ph...

I am not too sure what the point was behind this film. Agreed the film had a lot of nude scenes, a few penis shots, decent looking boys. You could say the film explores or tries to explore the intergenerational relationships between gay men. Men in their twenties, thirties vs men in old age who rely mostly on prostitutes to get off. Also the constant murders and all were not really explained. Was this all for love pro for money? Vassili is 30 odd something hustler. He meets old men and murders them. The motive is not explained. He meets Angelo, a 19 year old boy, who is beaten up in one such hustling incident. Vassili brings Alex home and they start falling for each other. They together prostate as a couple and sometimes when guys are not into Vassili because he is old, they just go with Angelo. He soon tells Angelo about the murders. Initially shocked, Angelo still stays because he loves Vassili. Once they are out in a club, they see an old man whom he had once attacked and thought t...

This is a very new and different style of film making. A cross between cinema, play and musical setting, the whole arrangement of the film is different. The sets are minimal , modernistic theatre style. I thikn the film is set sometime in future. Even the narration style of the film is very different. Some of the scenes are randomly shown and then we see what happened that followed to that scene. Yes, it does you leave confused at many a times but still makes for a viewing pleasure. The movie has great potential if it is remade as a typical thriller movie with the same story but very different screenplay. After a very artistic start and a very beautiful dance, we are introduced to the 2 lead characters. Ariyoshi seems fragile and passive. He has come here for murder. He murdered his innocence and a man who was using his innocence. He years for love. Kazuki is tough and aggressive and picks up fights with everyone.He acts first and talks later. He is full of pain. The 2 characters are ...

When you see this film, you have to remember that this film came out way back in 1981. Things were way way different then. Despite this disclaimer, I am going to review this film as what I felt today after watching it. What things left impression on me and what were the things that I was bothered with. Moreover, I strongly believe that the title of the film is just not suited for the story that was presented. Sometimes, the title make s huge difference. Based on autobiography of the actor-director himself, the film shows the life of Frank Ripploh. He is in 30's, gay man and a school teacher. He hides his sexual orientation from school but then is very very active in his sex escapades. He is constantly thinking whom and where to meet next. In fact, he even checks student papers in toilet while cruising. During one such instance, he meets Bernd. Their one night stand soon turns up into a stable relationship. Bernd has eyes for only Frank but this is not the same case with Frank. He ...

I am not big into religion but at the same time I do not judge anyone at all for what religion they follow and what their beliefs are, as long as I am left to do and believe what I want to. I don't judge and i do not want to be judged. I am not an avid or devout churchgoer but I would like to believe that this film touched upon some very real issues of faith in a way that were both authentic and unique.  A group of high school students who are members of a church youth group are preparing to begin their adult lives in South Carolina town. We follow 3 close friends: Brea is the minister's daughter, Tim is an aspiring film maker and Laura who is totally devoted to God and religion. Tim realizes that he is gay but hasn't acted on it. Brea is very comfortable with this fact but when Laura finds it out, she is shocked and frightened. She tries to help Tim reconcile between his sexuality and religion. At the same time, Brea is questioning her faith and prayers. Then we have Austi...

Set in 1950's, this film is one of those over the top, romantic gay comedies, which I probably would have rated higher few years back. It is funny how perception on a film changes from an individual's perspective within a span of few years. My tastes in movies has also changed accordingly. These days, forced comedies don't do much for me and this is where this film also failed to keep my attention. It wasn't boring or anything but I just didn't get any laughter from any of the scenes shown.  Guy Stone, is a matinee idol and macho star who hides his homosexuality and leads a double life. He is the perfect bachelor for the outside world. In his private life, all he is looking for is the next male hunk who he can sleep with. Desperate to get the lead role in Ben-Hur, on the studio head's persistence, he agrees to marry the head's secretary Sally who is completely in awe of him. Everyone knows it is a sham except Sally. Some funny scenes follow with the closet h...

I had no idea about the Māori clan in New Zealand. If nothing else, I at least got some information on Māori clan and the fact that they are natives from New Zealand. The Māori culture and language is strikingly similar to Hawaiian — indeed, the Māori name for their mythical ancestral homeland is Hawai‘iki. The film interestingly shows us family expectations and responsibilities, while being true to yourself. Kawa is a mid 40s man. He has a secure job in a flashy corner office, a big house, a nice car, and a loving wife with two happy kids. However he harbors a secret. Yes, he is gay. He has ben spending some time away form his family because he needs time to think. Everyone including his wife and parents cannot figure out what has suddenly gone wrong with Kawa (since they do not know the truth). He is seeing this guy and is living in a portent on his own but still struggling. After some bathhouse trips and an affair, he realizes that he can't do this to his family and returns back...

This movie deals with the subject of boundaries. Boundaries of race, of nationality, of sexuality, even generations. It pits father against son, American-born Mexican against an immigrant, an adopted sister against her older brother, and for one brief moment, a strong friendship versus romance. A small budget film, it does show the conflicts of stepping out from comforts of family to the unknown world.  Set in a small town somewhere close to US-Mexican border, the story deals with 3 friends: David, whose father Slater is rich and has something to do with cross border patrolling and who sent David away for higher studies to become a lawyer; George, an insecure boy whose father is cab driver and he has an adoptive Mexican girl, whom he never gets along well with and Gregorio, a young teenage of Mexican origin, now US citizen but still struggling every day to find his identity in US. These 3 men are part of the group called 'The War Boys' from college days where they do their own ...