Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

I love over the top screwball comedies, specially gay ones. Watching these films is one of the few times, where you can leave your brain aside and just enjoy the proceedings. But the biggest problem with this film is that it is not funny and there isn’t any reason to laugh at all. The characters make stupid decisions, which are non-laughable (more on that later) Richard and Alex are sexy, young gay couple living a blissful life in sunny Los Angeles. They have everything but are missing that perfect house where they can raise a family. When they chance upon a beautiful mansion, with a picturesque charm, they want it at any cost. They crash a party at that place and make friends with owners Jake and Chloe. We also meet Alex’s half sister who also wants that house. When Jake and Chloe pick Richard and Alex to house sit for them while they go to Bhutan to help orphan kids, destiny has something else in store. Jake and chloe get killed in Bhutan and Alex and Richard stumble upon a pile...

The Ducks’ Migration (USA/Chile) Two close family friends, Jeremy and Alphonse, spend a few weeks together in Brooklyn. Jeremy is confused about his love for his friend but doesn’t know how to react while obsessed with the ducks in the Prospect Park lake and finishing a school paper about their migration. Alphonse likes to ride bicycles and does not want to leave town. The ducks inevitably leave, Alphonse goes back to Paris, and Jeremy stays in his house. But thep process teaches everyone something, mostly Jeremy. Mom I'm Gay (Argentina) A man's failed attempts at coming out to his mom make a for a very short but hilarious viewing with all excuses he gives to her. Furry Boys (Spain) 2 boys who wear fur of animals are trying to make love for a promo. Really short short. Gorilla (Australia) On a camping trip with his boyfriend, Joel questions when the universe will end. His boyfriend, Sean, plays a game, having Joel close his eyes and pick a random word from a book...

This was an interesting film, unlike most other Japanese gay themed films that I have seen before. It was an interesting mix of drama, comedy, emotions. In fact, the film could also be a right balance between both gay and straight audience. A story that’s said to  focus on relationships (does it really?), it makes for something interesting on paper. Saori is a young woman, with low self-esteem and always low on cash struggling for survival. Her father left her mother to live his life as a gay man. He started a bar for gays, which later closed. He then opened up a retirement home for gay men called “La Maison de Himiko”. Understandably, she holds the grudge against him through the entire movie. When approached by her father’s very young and handsome lover to work as an assistant at this home, she unwillingly takes up the job became of money involved. At first she’s very uneasy and finds the men that live in the retirement home disgusting. Slowly but surely she comes to like the...

Now this was an interesting film, if you can call that at all. It is a mix fiction, documentary, feature or you can call it docufiction film as mostly it is mentioned in its promotions. The film stars James Franco and Travis Mathews (also credited as the directors of the film) as themselves working on a film project which reimagines and attempts to recreate the 40 minutes of deleted and lost sexually explicit footage from the controversial 1980 film Cruising starring Al Pacino. The film starts with the fact that Franco and his Travis are looking to recreate the lost 40 min censored footage from the film. The film follows their process of finding the actors, whats their motivation behind doing this film, a mix of gay and straight actors preparing for the role and this documentary. Everyone is apprehensive, some are doubting, some are questioning while others are condemning. The major focus is on Franco’s friend, an actor, who is trying to make mark of himself and is now being asked...

Shortbus is definitely not a gay themed film. It revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colourful characters in New York city and since a couple of prominent characters are gay and gay relationships have been given ample prominence, I think I feel ok reviewing this film on my blog. Surprisingly Shortbus includes a variety of explicit scenes containing non-simulated sexual intercourse with visible penetration and male ejaculation with all combinations of partners- male-male, male-female, female-female. Set in contemporary NYC, the film focuses on 3 main relationships/protagonists. Sofia is married to sexy Rob and together they have great sex. But she has never had an orgasm in life. She works as a couples/counsellor where she meets the couple Jamie and James. James is going through some sort of depression which is affecting the relationship between the two. We also see that a guy has been secretly watching over James’ every move. We also meet Severin, who is a dominatrix, w...

Banana is first of the two spin-off shows from ‘Cucumber’. The show focussed mainly on Henry and Banana, in 8 episodes, focuses on 8 different characters and journey of love, heartbreak, sex and drama. Some of these characters very prominently feature in Cucumber, while others feature in just blink an miss appearance. Nevertheless, it is a great idea to showcase some of these stories. Added to the fact that these stories have some sort of comic touch to them, makes for an excellent viewing. You may or may not agree to everything that is shown, but you certainly won't be able to neglect it. Episode 1 focusses on office boy Dean, who has been complaining about he was thrown out of the house. Since he needs money desperately, he visits his home with his best friend Scotty. Episode 2 shows Scotty and her obsession with an older married woman and how she stalks her. Armed with a fantastic support system, the scene where she tells the woman how beautiful she is, was just perfect. ...

This film reminded me a lot about this Indian film ‘Memories of March’. I am not saying that the films are similar but I found that the basic premise was quite alike. It doesn’t take away the merits of this film. It is a poignant film and touches you at places. It’s not to say that it doesn’t have its shortfalls but given the duration of the film, its quite nice. A story of two people trying to prevail past not only with language gap, but also the intense privacy of their own grief, makes for an intense serious viewing. Kai and Richard are long time lovers. Kai’s Cambodian-Chinese mother Junn is living in a London retirement home that she totally despises, because she feels lonely and also because she doesn’t speak ay English. Even more, she despises Kai’s “best friend” Richard because he came in the way of Junn moving in with Kai. Not so long ago, Kai died in an accident and both Richard and Junn are dealing with it. Hoping to connect with Junn, Richard pays her a visit but she m...

These are exciting times for avid film/series watchers like me, specially the ones that focus on gay characters. It is time for another gay TV series from UK. I had heard of this series a few months back, but I am an impatient man. So I waited of the entire series to finish, so I could binge watch 8 episodes. By now most of you may know that this is a part of 3 web series along with Banana and Tofu, which essentially represent hardness scale of penis erection. The thought itself is so exciting that every gay man would watch this series. Cucumber’s central character is a 45 year old man Henry and his life and his loves and his adventures. Henry is an insurance salesman and has been living with his boyfriend of 9 years, Lance. Interestingly, we find out that Henry doesn’t like anal sex and somehow he has convinced Lance of that. Lance is desperate to get married to Henry and end his virginity phase but Henry is more interested in his conversations with Dean (a black teenager worki...

This was an interesting film. I have very mixed feelings about it and still can’t decide what to make out of it at the end. Hopefully while writing this piece, it will get clear in my head. the few things that come to my mind after seeing the film is that it must have been made on a ultra low budget. Because the entire film has been shot in one hotel room along with some pics here and there but pretty much every single thing happens there. So the production cost has to be really low. Keeping that in mind, the film has been done actually pretty well. Lewis and Cooper have ben the best of friends for a while. At Cooper’s bachelor party, when he gets too drunk , he decides to just stay back with Lewis at his hotel room. More shots follow and Lewis admits to being bisexual or maybe even on path of being gay. Thankfully Cooper doesn’t over-react and since he has never messed around with a guy, they end up doing so. Thankfully again, no drama happens in morning and the friends part way...

Just finished watching the last episode of Season 2 and at the same time I also find out that the series has not been renewed for Season 3. Now that makes me upset, because e decent gay series are hard to find in the first place, and now HBO wants to take away that pleasure from us. Anyway, at least they are going to allow a special episode so that all the stories can be given a proper closure. Now I will wait for that. Season 2 continues to focus on the 3 friends Patrick, Augustine and Dom. Patrick and his boss Kevin are now secretly dating. Initially hesitant, Patrick tells this to all his friends. Kevin has still not broken with his current boyfriend, so the things are complicated. Patrick initially is ok with this but can’t take it anymore forcing Kevin to take a decision. Ultimately patrick and Kevin end of moving n together but the end of season is not as rosy as it seems because it seems the 2 want different things form their relationship as far as monogamy is concerned. Au...

The Day It Snowed In Miami, a documentary about LGBT rights and the 1977 Anita Bryant campaign in Miami-Dade County. The documentary’s title serves as a metaphor: the ordinance that sparked the outrage was debated by commissioners on an uncharacteristically frigid night and some opponents at the time remarked that the ordinance would pass "when hell freezes over." The morning after the ordinance was approved — Jan. 19, 1977 — Miamians woke up to snowflakes for the first and, so far, only time. The ordinance and subsequent battle in South Florida between liberal supporters and conservative singer Anita Bryant's Save Our Children group, thrust gay rights into the national spotlight for the first time and the film documents the LGBT movement through the present. Banned by law from holding any public or private teaching jobs, as well as several other professions, and hounded by a state Senate committee headed by a former governor, Florida’s homosexual population lived in...

In the documentary film Underage and Gay, shown on Channel 4 in UK, we meet bright, articulate, funny teenagers who tell their own stories during this interesting period of their lives. The camera follows queer teenagers for about 4-6 months to survey whether the world is now a more tolerant place? But even more importantly, what is the reality for LGBT teenagers in Britain today? Become from Bradford is a 14 year old gay teenager who was never in doubt of his sexuality. The documentary looks at his desire to be out, open and honest while starting at his new work but at the same time dealing with threatening phone calls and abuive messages. Mykyla, 14, is a self-described ‘butch lesbian’ and as such has had issues fitting in with other girls. She attempts to meet more people ‘like her’ including a residential boat trip with an LGBT group. During the trip she finds out that she identifies herself being addressed more as a boy with pronoun ‘he’ but still wants to retain her body. Ta...

A list of some really short films/programs that I saw with gay theme. The Clearing (UK) This short show an unidentified walker who is lured through the woods by the distant sound of a saxophone. He is drawn past inviting groups of gay men luring him into sexual acts, a woman picnicking, a boy eating an apple, before finally reaching the clearing. Good ! Alfalfa (UK) Film introduces a gay alphabet, with the aid of images and music, which it is argued is a defence against heterosexual language. Yawn !! Distance (French Canada) A couple struggling in their relationship gets the last blow when the husband comes out to his wife as gay. Average ! The Navajo Nation and Same-Sex Marriage (USA) The national debate over gay marriage, however, is prompting some Navajos to re-examine a 2005 tribal law called the Dine Marriage Act, which prohibits same-sex unions on the reservation. More documentary style. Yawn ! Black Gay Dads Who Blew Up Twitter (USA) What did Kordale and Kaleb Le...

Films with multiple parallel tracks can be a hit or miss. Some stories gel well with each other while others don’t. Each film-maker has a different way to present these stories. Some keep them totally separate while others try to bring in the characters into each other to show some form of relation between the stories. There is no right or wrong between these two styles. As long as the viewer is still sufficiently engaged and enjoys, nothing else matters. This film also follows 4 parallel stories. We meet 11 year old Mauricio who has a secret crush on his dark haired cousin. Rather confident of his feelings, he manages to act on it with his curious cousin only to be later humiliated in public by the cousin’s curiosity-turned-homophobia. The young boy’s first brush of crush will leave a deep impact on his life including how his parent’s react to the entire situation. In the second story we meet Fito & Leo, former school buddies as kids who reunite in college again. Spending tim...

Its not a queer film per say but depending on how to see it, this could fall in this category. Story of a perfectly normal kid, showing no sign of homosexuality, it just happens to be that the boy likes to wear dress. Is that so wrong? This and more questions are asked and answered in this feel-good heart warming beautiful film based on a book by the same name. 12 year old Dennis lives with his older brother John and their father. Their mother left them recently for another man. Dennis is very god in football an misses his mom terribly. When Dennis sees the Vogue magazine in a store with cover girl wearing a dress similar to what his mother wore, he gets intrigued. The school rebel Lisa James finds out and comes closest buddy with Dennis because she is all about fashion and wanting to break the rules. She makes Dennis wear a dress and experiment by going to the local store to see if anyone recognises him and of course no one does. One day when Dennis has had enough of his father’s...