Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

I dunno why but my reactions watching first few minutes of the film was that this is going to be another disaster. One of those poorly acted low budget movies which takes its audiences for granted. A full on campy film. Rather, it threw a pleasant surprise by being a touching love story between a boxer struggling to come out and accept his sexuality and an up-and-coming music producer who has been around the block for a while. Craig is a boxer who makes money by fighting in back alleys. His elder brother worries about him but since his wife doesn't like Craig, he stays away. Struggling with his sexuality, he hangs outside a gay bar where he meets Matt, who happens to be the manager there and also a music producer. Craig gets too talk to him and brings him back to his apartment for sex but changes his mind and asks Matt to leave. But the next days he goes to club again, so that he can spend a day to hang out with Matt and not just have sex. The two get really close. But Matt...

I reviewed the film based on Greg Louganis' life way back in 2007 here . When I found out about this documentary, I was looking forward to it, especially from the point of view of what's happening in Greg's life in todays time. Spanning over three years, this documentary focuses on his struggles with financial security and reunites with the sport he once dominated but not welcomed in. Louganis is introduced auctioning off memorabilia, hoping to save the Malibu home he’s owned for 27 years and to what he hasn't paid his mortgage for a few months now. He later finds out he is victim of being fleeced by his former boyfriend/manager who robbed him off a lot of his finances and someone who was also responsible probably for Greg's HIV status. Although. This can never be confirmed. We see his past of winning olympic medals and other important events, especially the now famous incident when Louganis hit his head on the board. The documentary's central focus is Greg...

Ever since 'Beautiful Thing' became one of the gay cult classic films, many film makers have tried to take ideas form the scenario to come up with their version of a young teenage gay love story but most of them have been able to achieve the charm of the former film. So this film is also a coming-of-age love story between two teenage boys, set in 80s time period,  who meet on a Welsh campsite and how make promises about love for each other. A very awkward and shy teenager Paul comes to this Welsh campsite with his overbearing and controlling mother. Paul has no charm for anyone to have a second look at him. At the camp he meets another teenager George, who unlike Paul is very assertive, bullish, confident and independent. He is there at his camp with his father, who is never around. We soon find that his father is alcoholic and hardly there. The both of them make good friends with Angharad, the daughter of camp owner. Soon the boys get closer and promise to meet exactly a ...

Of late, the world of transgendered people is getting more visibility and public attention. But this documentary came out back in 1999 and is an illuminating and compassionate look at the world of transgender identity, as seen through portraits of some of San Francisco's leading gender mixers. The individuals in this film are people whose (genetically) assigned gender does not match their social gender identity. The subject is pinpointed in the film independent of sexual orientation. Ms. Treut, a chirpy, sympathetic presence whose curiosity is always balanced by tact, introduces us to a few residents. Texas Tomboy, is biologically a woman, a former Penthouse model who sees herself as Tomboy's surrogate mother. But Tomboy sports blond stubble on her chin and prefers to be called he. A blue-eyed, crew-cut, six-foot photographer named Stafford, on the other hand, doesn't care what pronoun people use so long as they use it respectfully. And Hida Viloria, a voluble hermaphr...

I just wasn't sure when I started watching this film. Made in 1980 and a period drama, I had my reservations both for the story and how the execution would have happened. I also wasn't sure of what the storyline is like and will it actually qualify as a film that could be reviewed on my blog here. Apparently this is the true biographical film of the famous Russian ballet dancer. The film is told in just 2 years of 1912/13. Vaslav Nijinsky is a young, supremely talented baller dancer. He works for the Russian ballet company managed by Sergei, a controlling but loving man. Everyone knows that they are a couple but they keep the personal and professional lives separate. Of course Sergei sees talent in  Nijinsky and encourages him to do better, even asking him to try choreographing some of the ballets. But Nijinsky is always a bit insecure of their relationship. They have continuous misunderstandings but their true love for each other keeps bringing them back together. It does...

And so now is the time to review the sequel. My first reaction is that this was slightly better than the original film but still pretty dumb from an overall concept and convenience of how things just fall in place. Thankfully this time the focus is not just on one character, but it is evenly distributed amongst friends, which is a welcome change. Primarily, we see all main characters are struggling with romantic issues of one kind or another. Its been a year since Fabian broke up with Lonnie but could never get over him and continuously writes to him. When he finds that Lonnie is now seeing a new guy, the old feelings re-ignite and on insistence by his best friends Amira and Greg, he decides to meet Lonnie to see if there is any scope; but its too late and Lonnie has moved on. Amira now has a hot boyfriend but she is insecure and suspects that her boyfriend is cheating on her for absolutely no reason. Bisexual Greg is the meanwhile has found the perfect man and the perfect woman (...

I hate when a seemingly simple story that can easily be told with a very tight screenplay and even sometimes in the form of a short film, is sometimes stretched to no extent and it turns out a very frustrating movie experience. I can discount poor production quality as long as acting and direction is something to talk about, but sadly this movie disappoints there too. More on that later. Greg drives up in desert near cowboy junction and picks up a hooker. Turns out the hooker (cowboy) is sensitive types and our nam decides to bring him home with him. Only when he comes home, he tells the cowboy that he is married. He tells his wife that the guy will stay in back room and do chores for the home. Since the wife is sex starved and has no knowledge of husband's philanderings, she makes a move on cowboy only to realize that he is gay. Clearly there are strains between husband and wife. Apparently this started about an year ago when the husband hit a deer. After controlling his urge...

I think my streak of watching bad films is not going to go away anytime soon. I am not even gonna question on why one after the other, the movies I have been picking are somehow terrible and have some cross between horror, comedy and zombies. Tis film is an erotic thriller with lot of penis and ass shots. I wouldn't say that nudity was important, but its there and I am not complaining about it. The film is in three parts and goes quite a bot in flashbacks. Gareth is a porn film director and has been making it films with lead bottom start Timothy. But he is in short of cash. When an investor Cody comes to make his own film with Timothy with 200,000 dollars, things start going wrong. Timothy refuses and immediately leaves panning to start his own business. Soon Gareth realizes that the money goes missing and is now on lookout for Timothy. Now we meet Grant, Gareth's twin brother, who is taking care of a hurt Timothy in remote woods. But Gareth and his crew, with support from...

Oh my god! It was actually embarrassing to watch this film. How could anyone in their right mind make a terrible film like this? And by terrible I mean, the worst acting and mindless direction. I was constantly in a state of disbelief and hysteria over the fact that someone actually thought of making this film. I mean the film is not even that old, wherein, I could give concession for this being from a time period where amateur gay themed films were just a starting market. Nathan & Justin are a gay couple who are going through a rough time sexually. But they do share their love for extreme cinema, zombie films and sadistic pleasures (at least in their minds). The though of serial killers and gay rapists actually make both of them horny. frustrated in their obscure university, they decide to invite one of the hotties from their class and rape him. In the drug-fuelled incident, the guy dies but this in fact makes the couple even more dangerous. They decide to go to Connecticut i...

All through watching the film, I was under the impression that this film came out a long time ago. I did have my doubts when there was a scene about AIDS and HIV, so it was slightly difficult to pin-point the time, but only after watching the film I realized that this came out in 1997. So not really that old, as I thought. Filmed in gay clubs and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, the black-and-white film has moments that border on hard-core pornography without actually going over the edge. But more about that later. From a story perspective, the film is quite simple. Kyle has just turned 18 and wants to move out of his parents home in LA. Hi ex, a rich man, is his true friend but he wants to experience the real life. He hangs out in this cafe where he spends time writing poetry and he’s taken under wing by a trio of drag queens. In the same cafe he meets 30 year hunk and stuff Mike and they both have instant mutual attraction. Their passionate one night stand develops into an instant ...

Just because the production budget is low doesn't mean the acting has to be so subpar. This was my first reaction while watching this film. A lot of shows targeted towards black gay men aren’t worthy of talking in high spirit but still some of them are at least slightly bit decent. This film however was pretty pathetic mostly because of bad acting and direction. The concept on paper must have been nice but sadly it doesn’t translate well on screen. Fabian is a young gay man who lives with his father and is looking for a job. His father is homophobic but Fabian has no means to live on his own. He has a very strong support system via his friends Greg and Amira. Greg is a free spirited bisexual man, who happens to be Fabian’s best friend and is his voice of reason. He is there for him always. Amira is aspiring singer and is constantly at loggerheads with Greg but together both of them are always there to help Fabian. Fabian meets this young, charming activist Lonnie. There is mut...

Mom's the Word (Canada) A short and funny comedy of a conversation between a gay son and his mother when she finds a cock ring and mistakes it for a napkin holder. How should a son tell her exactly what the toy is? The Last Leatherman of the Vale of Cashmere (USA) An aging leatherman makes a weekly pilgrimage the cruising destination of his youth, when leather and cruising was in thing. Paul (USA) Paul, a young man diagnosed with HIV in the late 1980s, attends a dinner with a family he's never met. A very poignant and dignified film about what feelings and loss of self dignity that the individuals went through through 80s because of this virus. One Last Chance (USA) Bed conversation between two fuck buddies, where one wants to know how come the other person has never been interested in him outside of sex! In The Paint (USA) College basketball player Kollin is preparing to enter the NBA Draft. He must decide if he wants to continue playing the game down low o...

Finally I finished watching all 3 seasons of this web series. Apparently the show started on youtube with its first 2 episodes and now the season three premiered on Netflix. This itself tells us the growth and trajectory that the show , cast and story has followed. I try to keep my expectations real low when I am watching US based gay content, because more often than not, it disappoints. The hugely popular show “Looking” had left a void which I think a lot of folks are trying to fill in. This series comes to a very close and I would highly recommend. Touted as a dark-comedy, the show primarily focusses on the couple Cal & Thom. Cal is an artist with a very rich mother and Thom is a writer. The series starts with Thom’s admission that he has been cheating on Cal with another guy Jeremy. Not sure how to deal with this, a series of events lead to both Thom and Cal sleeping with Jeremy separately. Jeremy likes them both but eventually they both don’t want anymore to do with him , ...

When I started watching the film, I wasn’t aware of it being a sequel. Only 15 minutes into the film, I realized the fact and so had to go read my review of the original film to jog my memory. Now that I remembered the original story, this film started to make more sense. This time, however, the focus of the movie isn't really the gay guys; but it's the women dealing with the aftermath of how the first movie ended. Of course, gay characters are still integral to this story. The new gay on the block Eli, kind of accidentally rents himself Corin & Jake’s old apartment. He interviews with Judith (Elliot’s mom) and somehow starts getting injected into Eliott’s life. Judith’s negative attitude toward her son's sexuality in the first film was a chief ingredient to the tragedy that ensued. Enter an old man, George, who is introduced as Eli’s father, starts dating Corin’s former co-worker Nancy. But something doesn’t feel right. Neither father-son relationship and nothing ...

This film was probably not an easy film to make and I can only imagine what it would have taken to get it a proper release at least in South Africa. The subject is controversial and deeply personal to the rituals of a tribe. You can never know how much of truth is gonna be in there vs how much content was added to make the film controversial. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful piece of cinema, something very different that we have been used to seeing. Xolani is an isolated factory worker. He takes a break from work to go into the mountains to mentor a city boy for his initiation. Initiation is the act of circumcision thereby welcoming the boys to manhood. This young boy is Kwanda, and Xolani is chosen as a caregiver for him because he has the temperament to deal with “city initiates”, known to be “softer” than their country counterparts. Kwanda is a rebel, who questions age old customs and the gathering of men. The initiation is also an opportunity for Xolani to meet up with his long...