Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Gerontophilia means ‘love for old people’. This love story is shocking, at least for me,in terms of its premise but by the time the film ends, it does make sense. This story of intergenerational gay love, although being controversial ends up also a tender love story if you can look beyond the predujices. I have never witnessed such a premise in the gay film scene and this is enough to generate the curiosity for me for this film. 18 year old Lake is in a relationship with his overly feminist girlfriend Desiree. But soon we get a hint that he actually gets aroused and excited by old wrinkly jaded old men. The happiness he sees sees a guard on the road and later when he gets an awkward erection while resuscitating a geriatric swimmer at the pool. His boozy mother soon gets him a job at ld age nursing home and Lake feels in heaven. One patient who particularly gets his attention is Mr. Peabody, 81 year old from theatre actor. After a few meetings the two people hit it off and they sha...

G&T is an Italian webseries. As title suggests, these are initials of our 2 main characters Giulio & Tommasso. The web series was 13 episodes. I was lucky enough to find this with subtitles. There are so many web series that I need to catch up on. I just wish there was more time in a day. Series starts with the G & T, two best friends going to a club to have fun. One thing leads to another and they end up kissing and later we see Tommasso storming out of the club. Circa, 5 years later, people have moved on. Giulio is in a steady relationship with Matteo but lives with his best friend Sara whereas Tommasso lives with his girlfriend Serena working for his brother. The 2 friends haven’t seen each other for 5 years since then. When Giulio catches Matteo cheating on him, he is heartbroken. A chance encounter with Tommasso and Sarah at a new club is going to change things soon. There is awkwardness when the 2 friends meet and Tommasso even picks up a fight with Giulio. We re...

An interesting mix of two very diverse topics has been dealt with in this delicate, ambitious and gripping drama. We see the intricacies of eastern boys who are illegally in France and what gay-male sexuality is about. A home invasion, a tender love story, hide-and-seek thriller and finally a deft ending; this film definitely tackles and shows things which I have not seen before. Film begins with us observing a gang of eastern European guys hanging out at the railway station. We ultimately see a 40 something Daniel, who is somehow interested in one of the boys named Marek, a handsome Ukrainian hustler. Daniel gives him his address and asks him to come next day. A naive thought son becomes a nightmare when his home is invaded by the entire gang and slowly everything is taken from him, in a very tense but long sequence. Stripped of everything material that he possessed, Daniel starts working again, only to be visited by Marek again the next day. This time for sex. Marek frequently s...

Mi Realidad (Spain) [My Reality] Xavi is a boy who has been left by his fiancé after a relationship of 5 years. He can’t stand it and decides to rely on some self-help books in order to leave behind his sadness. This includes imagining that his boyfriend is always with me when he wake sup, when he sleeps, when he walks , when he works; everywhere and anywhere. But how far will this world of reality and dreams go. Will Xavi go to a level where he begins to lose even the real friends he has? The First (USA) A brilliant short summarising the belief that you never forget your first. Our main character is bi-sexual and seems to be exploring his own preferences and feelings although at the same time he is hurting others in the process. It starts with him cheating on his girlfriend with a boy, then another girl before the girl-friend realises whats going on. A series of hook-ups follow before its time that our hero needs to decide what he wants from life and love. Good production value...

Set in 1980s, this film talks about 2 of the most unlikeliest of groups coming together to support each other. A loveable, warm and witty film. I, will admit that I had no clue about this aspect of history. The film is based on the true story of pioneering gay campaigners in London who supported the strikers with the "Pits and Perverts" benefit concerts - and in so doing had to overcome tribal suspicions among both London's gays and the miners of south Wales. Mark is a young gay campaigner who decides to break out of gay politics and support the miners. Mark and his friends raise some cash and finds a sympathetic Welsh mining leader to accept it. The irony is that the miners are generally speaking the most homophobic group that they could ever hope to find, so the union wants nothing to do with them or their money. When Mark and his friends visit the village, as expect they face hatred some some and love from others but slowly they manage to turn things around and ...

Sígueme (Spain) One day Rubén decides to grab his bike to enjoy the sea air, something he can’t do everyday. What Rubén doesn’t know is what will soon lead to an encounter behind the rocks with a man named Paco. When he returns home, his finance Julia notices that their engagement ring is missing and she realises that he has been unto something. This afternoon that will change a relationship between two people forever. The film ends with the trio together and  aid named Paco. A lot is left for the viewers to decide but this is a great short film although similar stories have been seen in full length feature films made on similar subject. One Shot (Germany) Kerem is Turkish. His family is conservative. His sister denied her religion. He is gay. A cliché you will say, and certainly it is one. Because this story is the beginning of a movie within a movie within a movie, where all characters came to shot a clip against racism. Despite all good intentions in the world, they end u...

Wow!! A story told with simplicity, beauty and emotions sums up this wonderful story. I don’t know how many gay love stories have been made focussing on mature couples, maybe I haven’t seen them, but I am so glad that this film was made. Having lived in New York myself, I could really appreciate the nuances of New York real estate (which is kind of backbone for the film) and balancing work and life and family. Ben and George have been together for 39 years. Ben, a painter, struggles with anxiousness and sadness at most mets and it is George who is always there to prep-talk him and make him look at the bright side. After years of being together, they finally decide to get married. But soon afterwards, George looses his job as choir director, because by marrying his partner, he has now officially come out. With loss of income, they have to sell their Ny apartment and temporarily take shelter at their friends/family couches albeit separately. Ben goes and lives with his nephews famil...

Dirty boots (USA) This video follows a sexually-charged day in the life of a gay biker gang in Brooklyn. They awake in a tangle of leather, then suit up and ride to an underground sex club to initiate new members. Boundaries are pushed, but the boys find love, family and the unexpected. The Love Within (USA) Three college students - Ethan, Meg and Josh - share an intense friendship that turns emotional when unspoken attractions come to light. S straight couple and a man’s attraction for his best friend. The inescapable truths of the heart will either strengthen or destroy their seemingly fragile bond. Coming Out Straight (USA) A comical satire on the parental ignorance teens face when coming out. A teenager raised by 2 gay dads comes out and how his dads react forms the crux of this short. Vapor (Canada/Mexico) Set in Mexico City over the course of a single day, this is the true story of an older man's decision to accept his homosexuality, his coming-out. Told without an...

For any documentary to be successful, it is very important for it to hold viewers attention. Tell a story that has something important to say, incorporate key characters and their interactions and present in a way that viewers wanna know whats going to happen next. Sadly, this documentary miserable fails in the latter. It does have an important story to tell. But it is so long and drawn and boring that within 30 minutes into it and you have already completely lost the interest. Based on the stories from the Children-404 social networking project, which offered Russian (and international) youth a channel to express themselves and seek or offer support, this documentary’s name wants to say that ‘visibility is vital’. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin passed a bill forbidding the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors.” LGBT youth, now defenseless against insults and intimidation under this “gay propaganda” law, are considered sick, sinful and abnormal. The t...

Wow! Another Thai film that impressed me. Some people may find this controversial and even cheeky to an extent but I thought that the direction was done quite well and most of the stations were handled bravely and sensitively. Its not a typical gay teen coming-of-age film but its more than that. Its about whats right and what’s not in a relationship. Golf lives with his father and aunt. His father showers him with money but not love. When he remarries, in comes Bank, his step brother. Bank constantly keeps trying to reach Golf but is always met with hostility. Things change when their common friends make Golf realise on how bad he is treating his brother. The 2 guys start accepting each other as brothers. Bank gives Golf the love and warmth that he has always desired. The school’s pop start is interested in Bank who refuses his proposal because he likes someone else. The moment when the 2 boys confess their love for each other being a brotherly love is very emotional. The two star...

The idea on paper sounds very interesting. Get gay short films made by lesbian filmmakers and lesbian short films made by gays. How does the sex of the others work, how to deal with stereotypes, prejudice, sexual fantasies and pornography; all these areas could be explored. So 15 queer crossovers filmmakers from Berlin were asked to make a short film about their idea of lesbian and gay love respectively.  All genres – animation, documentary, drama – were allowed. Filmmakers were also given a free hand in deciding which form their films would take – either experimental or conventional. The only parameters to which they were required to adhere were the length of each film – between three and seven minutes. It was interesting to see that even though we may think lesbians and gays co-exist, there is still a lot of cliches in the minds of many in the opposite group. Sometimes ridiculous and other times offensive. W are not just fucking differently, we are fucking different. And tha...

My faith in good gay cinema has once again been reinstated. But I guess I knew that very well that I will encounter some wort of worse movies and some really decent to some really good ones. This film needs patience but that and the simplicity of this film is what makes it special and you feel connected to it. A small town life has to be portrayed in a way that it exists. Not more not less. So yeah, some of you may get very impatient but trust me, give this film your attention and no expectations. You would be surprised ! Luke and Jonah have been inseparable ever since they were 4. Jonah is the smart one and an artist while Luke is just an average kid. It is their last summer together before Jonah leaves for college. Each one of them loves the other more than the other person thinks. It is killing both of them equally that Jonah is going to leave but is there anything that they can do except their time together? Faced with separation, they savour every remaining moment, hold it, c...

And the bears are back ! By now, if you have seen the first two seasons, you have a general idea on the characters, their goofiness, their interactions and their silliness as well. So you know exactly what you expect and hence what you get is also what you expect. Its a win-win situation. Like the predecessors, his season will also feature Reggie, Wood, Nelson and Todd into solving yet another thrilling murder mystery. Suddenly all chunky beefy male models of ‘Chunk Studio’ are being illdd and over a period of time there are 3 deaths. Nelson gets cast in a horror film, Chunk Studio owner wants Todd to join, which he ultimately joins as undercover. And Reggie enlists Wood to help him shoot a reality TV pilot to help him expand his brand as a true crime expert. We also have the usual dose of the 2 detectives also trying to solve the case. Thing sleep mystifying and eye are raised at all potential suspects including the make-up at its, ex-flames and anyone working in the Chunk Studio...

Oh My God!! What a piece of garbage this was ! yes, you read it right. I have actually written those words right at the beginning to save many viewers who are still yet to watch it, save themselves over an hour of their life. Sure the film wants to make some point about depression and loneliness but then why drag it to 90  long boring obnoxious minutes. The message could have been so well passed on in a 10 minute short feature film. I will struggle to write the plot here because there was none but let me try in a couple of sentences. We see Brian, a handsome young man, going though past and present of his life and living in depression and fear of something. We also meet Joe. an older fit and handsome man, who time and again comes in Brian’s life as a source of strength. The chapters of their life are then shown in repeat mode with pretty much every scene repeated like 5-7 times, which didn’t make any sense to me. The films starts with Brian’s death so we know what’s in store...

Can I be your bratwurst, please? (Germany/USA) Jeff ‘bratwurst’ is tickling everybody’s fancy. When he arrives at a Hollywood hotel, all the guests have all sorts of fantasies set in motion at the sight of Jeff. We have a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like, a leather-man with a little white dog and the hotel-owner’s mother all craving for Jeff’s flesh. But fantasies turn wild at the dinner table set for christmas, where maybe these people are more than just humans and want even more than Jeff's bratwurst. Or is it just Jeff's imagination? A very well done and interesting piece of short narrative. (6/10) The Disgustings (USA) A comedic short film about a day in the life of two best friends, one an egocentric complainer and the other a judgmental ruthless witch, both ridiculous narcissists. This film clearly shows the abundance of assholes around you. I couldn’t believe some of the insulting to people remarks in this but I can also believe that people like these 2 exist. (6.5/1...