Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Nubes Flotantes (Mexico) - They swim and dance in water like wandering clouds. Maremoto (Brasil) - Two childhood friends head to at a deserted beach, to surf. When they get there, however, the sea is flat. As they wait for a wave that never comes, one of them decides to make a revelation MUM (USA) - In this nearly wordless short, a deaf swimmer—a regular at his gym’s pool—tries to attract a guy he has his eyes on, but wonders if his disability may get in the way. Manifesto (Spain) - A free adaptation of Mario Benedetti´s poem with gay snapshots. Katie and Arin (USA) - Set against backdrop of conservative Oklahoma, two transgendered hare their stories. Hercules & Love Affair ft. John Grant (USA) - A musical video “I Try to Talk to You” First Time Gay Sex (Germany) - 10 things you shouldn't do... when you have sex the first time with another man. Battlefield (Australia) - Two young gay men embark on a one night stand. Both with very different understandings...

Probably the intentions behind this movie were nice but everything that looks perfect on paper may not necessarily translate into something meaningful. This becomes even harder when the subject is comedy. It is not easy to direct a comedy, so full marks to the film-maker for attempting this subject. Unfortunately a lot of scenes of the film just fall flat. Lloyd Cooper, a high school, nerdy shy guy lives with his financially pressed, over-bearing single mother Maggie Cooper. Maggie likes to be involved in every detail of life – from homework to activities to love life. Lloyd hasn’t figured out if he is straight or gay and no intention yet to pursue a relationship. But this doesn’t stop Maggie from assuming that her son is gay. She even manages to ‘out’ him at the school. Even worse, she takes it upon herself to surreptitiously submit an application for him for a gay student college scholarship, forcing her horrified son to play along with the deceit. The proceedings then mostly sh...

A story of friendship and re-assessing your life, this film does bring a relatively refreshing subject from al the stereotypical gay stuff that we get. But does everything that sounds good as an idea, actually translate into something interesting; we will have to wait and read? But whatever happens, I would like to applaud the makers for trying something different. The characters here just happen to be gay. This film could have as well ben equally meaningful with straight characters because ultimately the film is about reassessing friendship, insecurities in life and whether or not we are in love. Rudolf, a bookshop salesman and a wanna be writer gets dumped by his boyfriend. So after the break-up, he is heart-broken and decides to leave Paris to go back to Austria and start his life afresh including leaving behind his 2 best friends; Gabriel, an actor and Nicolas, a bar waiter. Unable to figure out how to react to Rudolf’s neurotic decision, the two of them decide to take off fro...

Oh My God!! yes, we still make terrible shitty gay themed films, where we want all attention on ourselves and torture the audience. This film definitely falls into this category. It has a simple story but it has been stretched beyong belief and it just tests our patience. David, an independent filmmaker, is turning 50 and is questioning his life, whether he has done something meaningful, whether he has found true love.. blah blah blah. Does he truly love his long term partner? We find out that they have a minor aragonite over dinner and they decide to split (what?). David’s friend then introduces him to his cousin Shane, who is a loner from Indiana and because David’s friend thinks that the two loners can make a life together. Sure enough, for whatever reason the two click together and finally David finds the true love. Yes the story is that simple but the screenplay and the direction and the acting is terrible. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. David keeps going on and on a...

Dirty Magazines (USA) In the '80s, a mother-son relationship takes a wild left turn after she discovers adult material under her son's bed the morning of his 16th birthday. It is hilarious take on the extent that she would go to first make sure that his son is not gay. This includes even hiring a male prostitute so that nothing could happen.  Nobody I Know (USA) A boy brings home his first trick only to have his mother and little sister in way to his satisfaction. Funny!! Beau mâle recherche (Canada) [Hot Guy Looking For] We follow a day in life af a gay man obsessed with grindr trying to find his perfect match. We go through the different profiles of guys he is growing. Very interesting. Fikon (Sweden) [Figs] 'He loved the sperm, especially my sperm, which he said tasted like sugar from all the soda I was drinking daily.' Memories of a brief, passionate affair. In all simplicity strongly portrayed debut with text and images engaging in a riveting battle. You...

I was relatively new to the whole concept of gay web series when I watched season 1 but it is so encouraging to see that these web series are doing so well that the makers are coming up with more season of the hugely popular series. I remember really enjoying the season one so I was quite looking forward to season 2. Unlike season 1, this time it was only 4 episodes of about 20 minutes each. Alex, the blogger, is still the centre stage of this season and we also see what’s happening in the life of 3 of his friends. Alex has been single for a while and enjoying but when he sees his ex in a happy married life with another guy and a baby, he gets depressed. He always thought they would eventually get back together at some point in life. He unloads this all on a random guy he meets that night; who ends up becoming good friends with Alex’s sister who comes to visit him because she could use a break from their parents. Alex is still rude and mean to everyone including occasionally to hi...

How I wanted to like this film. The poster of the film looks nice and the premise seemed interesting as well but unfortunately the film went from being stupid to getting stupider as time went by. It was just so odd with everything that was happening. Some people (read film makers), may term this as dark comedy or something, but I for a change did not get any laughs on any scene. João & Carlos have been together for 5 years. One morning João wakes up not remembering he is gay and freaks out seeing Carlos in bed naked with him. He is disoriented and thinks that everyone around him(his sister, his parents, his publisher) have all gone crazy and they are trying to make him gay. João is a celebrated writer and is soon supposed to finish his first gay-themed book but is not stuck in last chapter which becomes difficult to finish now, since he can’t even remember that he is gay. His competitor Isabella on the other hand has announced the launch of her book. One drunk night when they ...

Little Bi Peep is supposed to be a comedy about myriad of relationships. As the name suggests the protagonist should be bisexual and would probably delve into the story and life of how the lead handles the bisexuality. Does the film meet expectations? Let’s read further. The plot is actually basically very simple. Emma lives with her mother. Her routine includes sleeping through the day, then working at a night, very seedy adult/porn store which is usually followed by going to some bar, picking up either a man/woman; having sex and moving on with her life. We go through the mundane routine of her everyday life, waking up late, struggling with her coffee machine and being dropped off and picked up by her mom. We also realise that Emma makes up new names and new carers, overtime she meets a person because she doesn’t do drama and more than one night stand. One day she meets Mason, who she later finds out is transgender IT technician. Mason doesn’t jump in to Emma’s pants right away ...

Now this film had an interesting twist to the term “coming-out”. In most films that I have seen so far, its always the protagonist ‘coming out’ as gay; because socially it is not considered a norm. But what would happen if the situation was reversed? What if a very popular gay man, a popular figure in social circles, suddenly ‘comes out’ as straight? Scandalous.. isn’t it? Well this premise is what makes this film quite interesting. Erik and his partner Balazs have been together for 5 years. Erik is a famous radio show host, a gay celebrity who has a lot of credibility in the city and among the gay population. Having lived together so long, Balazs wants them both to get married. But all this is about to change. An accident leads him off the rails; suddenly he starts to throw glances at women, checking out their figure, their ass and their bosom. This is where he meets Linda, a doctor who is looking after him. He finds himself taking sudden interest in her, to the extent of even fa...

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. ...