Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

So, I am not very sure what was the main crux of this film. Surely it is about breakup and breakdown of lovers after having spent a beautiful part of their life together; but why sid story of a serial killer and so much loneliness and boredom in everyone's life? We meet an estranged couple and journey back with them 7 month sin to the pat when their love was 'in bloom'. The movie explores the complexity of first love. Kurt is a small time drug dealer who supplies pot to his peers, whilst Paul his boyfriend of two years has a dead-end job in a local grocery store that he can barely tolerate. When the long summer starts, they are having fun and very much into each other and seem the perfect couple. Everything had been going well with them until one night one of Kurt's good-looking customers puts the moves on him, and although he initially resists Kevin's advances does it opens his mind to the possibility that there is more to life outside of his cosy relationship...

With a title like this, there is already high expectations. Not just about the hotness of the guys but also of some action sequences in the process. Unfortunately, this film falls short on both of these expectations. Its more of a comedy-mystery genre. To give the credit where its due, The makers did come up with an interesting concept, thinking out  of the box from the regular gay movies that we get to see otherwise but it could have been so much better. Danny is a struggling black actor/waiter, and his ex-partner Pip lives a comfortable upper-class existence with his overly controlling mother whose racist tendencies are very evident. And this is primarily the reason for their breakup. Danny is taking a course in private investigation in preparation for a possible role. There are a series of robberies happening in gay sex parties but none of the victims is contacting the police for the fear of being outed. These are all profile people. When Pip becomes the latest victim, he a...

I don't whether its me catching up on movies, but it feels of late I have been watching a lot of movies set in mid 80s during the whole AIDS epidemic times. This movie. although set in 1985 in San Francisco, deals with something different and the presentation is also very different. The film captures the fear raging through the gay community as the AIDS epidemic begins to devastate a lot of people’s lives. After years of accepting promiscuity as the new normal, they have to rewrite the rules for their sexual and romantic encounters. There is not crying or anything but there is definitely hope. The film is about a gay dancer named Frankie and his day-to-day life as a back-up for a dance company. He is passionate about dancing and is constantly being told to "dance like a man". We don't know if he does have a crush on Todd, the manly gay bad-boy dancer on the group but you can see there is some sort of sexual tension between them. This is the time when AIDS reports...

Originally set as a stage play, thesis the film version of the play. It means the play has been recorded so that viewers like me can also enjoy the film. The setup, acting, sets and everything gives you a feel of a stage play which could be good or bad depending on how much are you willing to experiment with movies. The premise mostly is about how being queer can be quite a burden and trying to be a Christian an even greater burden. Being queer while trying to be a Christian at the same time can often seem impossible. The play follows story of 4 childhood friends set in Texas. Each one of them struggles with his sexuality in a varying way. Mark, who also serves as narrator, questions the Baptist church that preaches love and forgiveness while decrying homosexuality; Benny fully embraces his gayness, growing up to become a flamboyant drag queen entertainer; TJ (Mark's first love) desperately tries to deny who he is, eventually getting married to a woman; and Andrew, the most tr...

Thank you so much to one of my readers on this blog, who suggested that I should watch this series and that I would like it. I had in my list to watch this series but if not for the feedback, I probably won't have watched it so soon, and I would have missed out on such a great series. Made as a 3 part TV series of almost an hour each in Sweden, This film brings us a very interesting, genuinely touching, heart- wrenching and important piece of modern history. It deals with the start of the AIDS epidemic in 1980's homophobic Sweden. 19-year-old Rasmus, moves from rural hometown to Stockholm to attend university after graduation. As soon as he arrives in Stockholm he begins to seek out the gay community that he was always suppressing in his small town. He meets and befriends Paul as soon as he arrives in the city. At a Christmas dinner party in Paul's apartment he eventually meets Benjamin, a young man who is struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality (Paul helps ...

When I started watching this, I kept wondering why does this give a TV series feeling rather than watching a movie! And when in the first 5 minutes itself, the scenes were abruptly changing, I had to pause and look out what was going on. It turns out that this is not a film. The scenes were extracted from several episodes of the Irish TV series Raw. The result is a pretty decent watch (sometimes lethargic). It is not the usual youtube amateurish crap but it is not professional either. Overall a decent gay love story with a lot of stuff going around. Geoff is the au-chef in a restaurant run by Tanya and her husband Max who is the main chef. People come for Max's cooking but his eccentric behavior more often than not, leaves Geoff in charge. A young Czech waiter Pavel has recently started at the restaurant. Like he does for most people, Geoff shouts at Pavel and makes fun but slowly starts caring for him. In the meantime there are a lot of side stories happening in the restauran...

I was so excited when I saw that this cute short film (one of my favorites) has been made into a full length feature film. I was really curious to see what the makers can come up with when it comes to an entire length feature. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met completely. Don't get me wrong, it still is a fantastic film but can it match the humongous expectations that were set by the short film? Probably not! Maybe what the makers wanted to achieve versus my expectations didn't match  at a certain level. I was hoping the makers would focus on romance angle more (purely for selfish reasons), but makers tried to infuse the bling guy's struggle to be independent. Leonardo is blind from north and is best friends with Giovana, who walks him him everyday from school. Leo is often picked up at school but he is used to it by now. The dynamics change after entry of Gabriel, a new student in the class who ends up sitting in proximity of Leo and Giordana. Gio probably l...

These short films are all less than 4 minutes in duration. Therefore, I am combining these all here. Dear dad, love Maria (Spain) Maria, a young male-to-female transsexual, writes a letter to her disapproving father the night before her gender reassignment operation. An exploration of memory, loss of innocence, growing up, and being who you are. Seven sins: Greed (Canada) A young couple sings from their apartment windows about the unshared bagel that ended their relationship. And the guy finds a male lover. The Wedding dance (USA) Guests are leaving their love message for the newly wed couple specially groom, when he invites his parents for the first dance. The parents happen to be a gay couple. Fantastic ! Ageless (USA) Love, sex and relationships are seen through the eyes of two men; one in his 50s, the other in his 20s. Their common struggles about wanting just sex or something more emotional, prove to be ageless. The Closet (USA) An old man recalls the moment that d...

This was a very confusing film for me. I read this film has been featured in many comedy film festivals, which is weird because there is not a single comic scene in the film. I still am not very sure what was the point of the film and what was the exact message that the makers were trying to make in the film. Fred is a widower, devout and religiously conservative Dutch man. Being a good Christian, Fred decides to help reform a homeless man Theo and teach him a few things about responsibility and the importance of work. Theo seldom talks or initiates conversations and is more like a slow-witted robot—doing things Fred tells him but seeming to have little in the way of intellect. Sometimes he makes animal noises and is more interested in hanging out with farm animals than people. And, sometimes Theo puts on Fred's deceased wife's clothing. Despite this, both men come to care for each other over time. In fact, eventually Fred comes to love Theo and is convinced that God has a...

I think I am having a few good days here where I am getting to see more and more films that spring a peasant surprise. From a story point of view, this film would have seen yet another one of those late coming-out stories but I am so happy to see the maturity in the way the whole subject was handled in the screenplay and of course in subsequent direction. I will talk more on that later. But I have to admit, this film had everything in it, simplicity, family, love, emotion and wanting to do the right thing that is expected of you from each character's point of view. Weichung, an optometrist, lives with his wife Feng and son. They have ben married for 9 years. At his sister's engagement party, Weichung bumps into an old friend, Stephen, a wedding photographer who, though also married, is living the high life of a younger, single gay man. When Stephen teases Weichung for his newly straightlaced lifestyle, dormant emotions are awakened in Weichung. Meanwhile Feng's paren...

An intense and alluring film, it manages to hold viewers interest till the end. Running with a perfect length of 80 minutes, it never gets boring or over the top. I think this would be a good film for anyone to watch because just replacing the mysterious man writing letters with a woman would make this film probably more accepting but it loses the tension that gets created in this scenario between a straight couple and mystery letters. A dense and captivating drama of how sexuality and love or not being loved affects people. The story is set in 1989 (not sure why). Boaz is a very charming and beautiful young man who lives with his girlfriend Noa. He is a student at the university of Tel Aviv studying linguistics. He goes to the post office to check status of his scholarship but instead one day sees a letter from a secret admirer. The letters keep coming with more and more details about Boaz's life which makes him realize that the person is somewhere close to his everyday life....

Having heard such good things about this film in critics reviews and all, now I have many questions. Firstly why is this a comedy/drama film? It is just "whatever". Secondly why is this a gay film and being promoted as a gay film. The lead character may be gay. He never even admits to being one. We never see any real sexual tension or desire in this young man.I kept waiting for the entire duration of the film that something interesting is gonna happen but it never does. Not one character in the film seems real for some reason. THere is so much more left to be desired in the film. Sure everyone is going gaga over the fact that this is first adaptation of writer David Sedaris's (whoever that is) work but big fucking deal. For those who read his piece may enjoy is but what about the others? the rest of us !! Phew !! Yale grad David wanders away from his parents to work on an apple farm in Oregon. ON his way to Oregon from Connecticut, he meets one strangely disruptive c...

A romantic comedy is exactly the right phrase to describe this film. The film is about gays and friendship and how a group of gay friends deal with their day to day life dealing with friendship, love, drama, acceptance, family and romance. Not to be taken very seriously most times, the film does manage to send some messages across as well but in a very subtle way. Because it is an ensemble film, it never really focuses on one specific character. Petty much every character gets ample scope and hence it also does give a soap opera feeling sometimes. The film is set in gayville, West Hollywood and follows life of gay friends. They hang out at coffee shops, clubs and each other's homes. We meet Dennis, a photographer who often holds the group together and hosts a lot of parties; Cole, a very handsome, charismatic actor and room mate with Dennis who often ends up with other people's boyfriends and can't stick to a guy for more than 2 weeks maximum and breaks their heart; Be...

I can't believe that this film was made for TV. Although these days you can reach out to a much larger audience through TV than films. Its a funny, lovely, touching love story about a God-fearing rural small-town Midwestern couple and the film manages to capture the nuisances of small town life very well. Its definitely a sensitive topic that the makers have tried to deal with and they really need to be applauded for that. And Tom Wilkinson for being so brave to take up the main role and portraying it so beautifully and with respect it deserves. Roy and Irma have been married for 25 years and have a son and daughter together. After their 25th anniversary, Roy tells Irma that he has long felt that he is a woman trapped in a man's body, and wishes to do something about it, no matter the consequences. Irma, an avid member of the church choir, naturally finds this a little disconcerting. She feels as if she has been lied to through out the whole relationship and her life is fa...

After weeks of waiting and mentally preparing myself to watch a hectic film, I finally saw the film. Based on Larry Kramer's play by the same name. Showcasing a man's struggle to the rising HIV and AIDS epidemic in New York City in early 80's, this is a gut-wrenching film that shakes you up completely. I have seen a couple other movies on AIDS epidemic that have hit me harder, but this film also leaves a very very strong impact and makes you think that to wasn't too long long (almost 30 years) when all this was happening. It gives me shivers to even think what people in those days must have been going through seeing their near and dear ones die because of it and they being completely helpless. Ned Weeks is an openly gay writer from NY. When he sees an article in New York Times about "Rare Cancer diagnosed in Homosexuals", he meets Dr. Emma, who ha sheen seeing many patients unexpectedly afflicted with this rare disease that compromises immune systems of t...