Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

I have no idea how did I end up getting my hands on this show. Funny! Brilliant! and superb witty dialogues are some of the things that come to my mind after watching the show. Just 6 episodes, each of 25 minutes each, you see same faces, familiar situations and dialogues and they just make you break into laughter. The premise is quite simple. Freddie and Stuart are an old gay couple who have been together for nearly 50 years. Their lives now revolve around entertaining their frequent guests and hurling insults at each other at every opportunity. Ash is a young handsome man who is their new neighbor. Their long term single friend Violet who is looking out for a man in her life. And then an old lady, who just keeps forgetting everything every minute and finally another guy who no one just cares about. I can imagine that not everyone would like the show. You have to have an appetite for dark sometimes even morbid humour and be a fan of sarcasm. The dialogues and the sarcasm that i...

Pool Days This is a very interesting short film. It can be rightly put in the category of teenage coming-out stories. Justin is a 17 year old teenager who gets a summer job at a health club. He notices he is getting attracted to some hot men in the club but keeps denying it. One budding swimmer in the club helps him get over his anxiety and help him realize who he really is and be ok with it. It is a good film that shows the struggles that most teenagers have coming out and how maybe some of us help them get over their anxiety. Acting by both the principal characters is actually very good and real and I must say that they are both very good looking and easy on the eyes. Justin specially looks good and does his job very well. A duration of about 25 plus minutes keeps this film at the right length where as a viewer I get enough of context to not imagine things on my own and at the same time, it doesn't feel too dragged. (7/10) Summer Blues (Norway) This was a very interesti...

Even now, while writing this review, I really can't make up my mind if I liked this movie or not. Hopefully by the time I finish writing this, I would have a clue. The story is not very novel. We have seen the premise before but this one like every film has something different to offer. The one definite good thing about this film ws that it is set in New York and being away from my city for about 2.5 months now, kit definitely made me nostalgic about the city. Jack is a Brit gay man living in NYC. When his brother unexpectedly dies in a car accident, he starts taking care of his wife who is pregnant. Years have passed and his niece is now 6-7 years old but Jack's life still surrounds his sister-in-law and niece. He works with a photographer with his lesbian best friend Aly. When Jack finds out that his visa renewal application has been rejected, his lawyer suggests that getting married is the only option left with him. He coerces his friend Aly to marry him. Things are goi...

My movie watching has slowed down soooo much. Work is getting busier. Anyway, I am so glad that I saw this movie after a long break because I know I would have been really disappointed had a I ended up watching a really bad gay film (the chances of which are really high) but I am glad that I did not have to deal with the situation. This film thankfully does not deal with gay stereotype stories and movie that we have all gotten used to Instead, it touches on a very important subject of adoption and deals it with sensitivity. Apparently based on a true story, the film is set in 1970s. Rudy Donatello is a struggling musician and drag performer in a gay nightclub in 1979 West Hollywood, where he meets Paul, a closeted district attorney. Returning home to his apartment, Rudy finds Marco, a 14-year-old with Down syndrome, left alone after his mother, Marianna, had been arrested. Rudy takes in the abandoned boy, but Family Services intervenes and takes Marco to foster care. On Rudy's...

A sequel to supposedly popular gay web series, this series continues from where the last one left over. Its not really a sequel in the true sense but the same characters have been taken from the first season and new stories webbed around it. This season has 9 episodes, that continue to focus on some aspect of the lives of these A-list gay New Yorkers. The life of the 4 friends continue after the death on of one of the friends. New characters are introduced. We are introduced to a straight black man who is the girl's dousing who starts sharing the apartment of one of our protagonists. The doctor guy is still under low self-esteem and ends up dating either drug addicts or sorta losers on life one way or the other. The macho guy is all about just sleeping with anyone and everyone who he can find. (Reminded me of the dude from Queer as Folk). Of course, the straight italian lover for one of the guy is re-introduced but they keep their relationship open. At the end of 9 episodes we...

The ninth edition in this series comes in with a very interesting title. Most of the shorts in this series focus on youth in various stages of emotional crisis. Unfortunately, the previous series have all been a lot of fun and interest but somehow this one lacks a punch. Barring just a few, most of them somehow did not manage to hold my attention. Deep End (Canada) When Dane's older brother comes out, Dane doesn't react very well. But soon after he has to choose between siding with his homophobic classmates or fighting to support his brother. The film has very few dialogues but I think it was very realistic. One of the better ones in the series. Family Affair (Brazil) The short shows a young man briefly escaping the masculine energy of his father and brother for a smoke-infused dalliance with one of his brother’s friends. The smoke ends up in a very passionate kiss followed by one of the best reactions that i have seen by a guy after his first kiss. The mix of p...

Thankfully, Lovebirds doesn't fall in the category of of your atypical, sexually explicit skin flicks whose purpose is to entice men and get them sexually charged. Now, there is nothing wrong with it but once in a while it is good to watch a different film. Mario lives in Philippines and has been chatting on internet with Alexis, a Spanish guy. When Alexis decides to visit, as per Philipino culture, Alexis is thrown a big bash. But there is a surprise. Mario's mother so far thought that Alexis is a girl and gets shocked to see that he is a man. She fabricates a story that he is Alexis' brother Alex in front of everyone in the family. Fearig that Mario is gay, his mother, who is very dominating, asks him to ask Alexis to leave the next day and that Mario should meet a girl and get married soon. Mario's father on the other hand tries to be friendly. Bt in between this, Mario and Alexis are struggling. They have just chatted on internet a few times and are not getting...

Now this was a very interesting film. The last film of the OIA film festival in Johannesburg, I saw a lot of people getting uncomfortable in their seats. The film was slow and when you have bunch of gays in an almost house full show, they expect something light, fast and sexy. This film was all opposite. So was it good or bad, lets try and analyze. One night at a bar Paulo gets very drunk. During the night he kept checking out the bartender Ilir, originally an Albanian guy. Ilir ends up taking Paulo to his apartment when Paulo gets wasted and passes out. Ilir is attracted to him but doesn't do anything. In the morning Paulo confesses that he has a girlfriend and he is questioning himself. Unable to control himself, Paulo goes to meet ilid again, and they have a quick affair which Paulo's girlfriend soon finds him. She throws him out of the house. Having no place to go, he ends up going to Ilir's house who is schooled to see him. He says that he wanted only fun but Paul...

It is 4th of July and a young teenager June who lives in a small town is looking to meet his internet date. The date turns out to be a middle aged black man Joe. Joe takes him out and they stat talking about random things. Mostly including why June is not comfortable in his own skin and can't come out to his family. June is an awkward teenager, who is not very sure what he wants from life and tries to push back on things he doesn't want to deal with. He doesn't even know why he is meeting Joe in the first place. Just to get out of house, for sex, for companionship or something totally different. We also meet Dexter and Abigayle. Turns out Abigayle is Joe's daughter who is staying in for the evening to take care of her mother because Joe is "out of town". Their relationship is fragile because Dexter thinks, she thinks of him as idiotic and cocky. Bored at home, she takes up Dexter's offer to meet for 15 minutes which turns out to be date where they even ...

My first movie in Johannesburg 'Out In Africa' film festival and I was so excited watching this with my new friends. I had my inhibitions for watching an American gay film in theatre because lets face it, US gay themed films have disappointed us much more than they have made us happy. This film thankfully did not fall in the former category. If, the film did not make me cringe and I didn't realize how soon the movie ended, I would say that the film did a pretty decent job of keeping the audience's attention. Corey, soon to be 30, has a successful career as a psychiatrist and lives with his boyfriend Jon. The night Corey is about to propose to him, Jon finds out and freaks out completely. To the extent hat he ends up sleeping with a woman, who happens to be Corey's patient. He comes back home to tell Corey that he might be bi and Corey completely flips out. They break-up. Corey's sister, Kelsey, moves in. She is lesbian and runs a neighborhood coffee shop wh...

These are some really really short films that I saw (less than 5 minutes in duration) It's Consuming Me (Germany) A wonderful 3 minute video of a boy obsessing with a guy and his traits and things he does. "I can’t move on. I wish I could. But I’m caught in the thought of what could have been, losing my grip on reality." A little weird ending by still pretty good just for the dialogues. OK (Brazil) Two friends in a public restroom talk about and actually do experiment with their sexuality. Starts with jerking off, fingering and finally gets sealed with a kiss. Very innocent and sweet story. Noturno (Argentina) Desire runs out through between a couple since they met. A very quick overview of how they met, got passionate and within a short time, how the passion fizzled out completely. Make Homosexuals Marry (US) If you disagree with the homosexual lifestyle, why not overturn Prop 8 and make them get married, like the rest of us? A quite funny story showing a ga...

Delivering an alternately striking and realistic vision of gangland London, My Brother the Devil, is an excellent film.  A coming-of-age journey with bold, memorable characters, vision and style, the film leaves you wanting more. Gay story set in a Muslim context is not always to depict and very few film makers have been successfully able to do that. This film is definitely a step ahead in that regard. Rashid and Mohammed are of Egypt origin and are brothers living in London now. Elder brother Rashid (Rash) is on streets and deals with drugs etc. to make extra cash. The brothers are pretty close and Mohamed (or Mo) knows about it. They both hang out with street boys. In a gang war, Rashid's best buddy Izzy gets killed. Izzy was very close to Rashid and Rash is now forced to reevaluate egis life and wonder if what his father and mother always said was true or not. Mo is slowly growing up and wants to be exactly like his brother. But the change in hi brother's attitude stars...

This movie spans across almost 50 decades of life in a small town in Homer, Connecticut. Actually the film could easily have been 3 major episodes, which are not really related to each other except the location but yet all share the common ground. They fall in the category of queer (lesbian or gay, in this specific case). I wonder when this was shown on TV, whether it was shown as one long film or as three different episodes. The film is narrated through the eyes of a character, whose job is to raise the town's flag every day. In 1954, when he is 6 year old, he witnesses the arrival of Dorothy from navy, one of the first woman veteran in town. When she is out looking for job, rumor soon spreads out that she was dismissed by the army on charges of sexual deviance. There is only one woman in the town who comes out to support her and even listen to her version of the story. Dorothy is confused about her sexuality and while her visits to a gay bar with one of her gay friends from ...

Another web series that I just chanced to watch and OMG! was I impressed or what ! The 6 part series is a story about big relationships, the ones that really define people, and what happens when they fall apart, and how that can change someone. I can't believe how good the series was. I loved every bit of it and you know you love it when the series leaves you wanting more. So I am so anxiously waiting for next seasons (I hope there are more seasons) that should be broadcast soon. The series follows mainly 3 characters. Mitchell, James and Oona. Mitchell is 20 something gay man who is trying to find love in the city. His best friend is Oona, who is a budding writer but really can't write anything and finally James, who is Mitchell's ex and is sleeping with anyone around. Basically he is in his slutty phase. The story unfolds at a very good pace where we see James in his slutty phase but basically very very unhappy. Mitchell, obsessed about cardigans (that was so cute) t...

I think this was my first sci-fi gay themed movie. This film could have been so much more entertaining and fulfilling but alas!! the promise that the film builds up in first half come s crashing down towards the final reels of the film. Laced with overall pretty scent performances, the film's screenplay in the end is a huge let down. Smith is a 18 year old college student who lives in a dorm with his straight room-mate Thor, on whom he totally has a crush on. His all time best friend is Stella, who we find out is lesbian. Smith has been having this weird dream for a week. The mysterious dream has people in it that are extremely vivid that he's never met and it instantly gets our minds to spinning as to what the hell is going on. It gets weirder from there. At a party Smith meets two of those girls whom he saw in the dream. One of them turns out to be Stella's new girlfriend and the other one is just some random girl. Smith also meets London, who ends up being his first...