Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

This Cuban series is your regular detective investigation series with a few recurring characters. The basics are straightforward. Homicides happen and homicides need to be solved. I am going to review Episode Three which is entitled Máscaras. In the scalding summer of Havana, the body of a gay young man and son of a diplomat is found, leading Conde to a world of sexual possibilities. The episode starts with a man's body found dead in a park strangled dressed in a red woman's dress. Turns out that he is Alexis, the son of a diplomat, so the investigation has to be hush-hush. Investigations reveal that he was gay but not really trans, so why dress in red, then? Detective Conde meets his family and his caretakers who tell them that he left home almost six months back when he had an argument with his father. The cops then go to an older gay guy from whom Alexis was renting a room. The cops are frustrated because they do not wanna be involved in solving the case of a 'homo'....

A lighthearted Thai series, which thankfully doesn't have to many sub plots for a change, focuses on the main story line and thats it, and best of all has only 7 episodes. Can you believe it? Looks like finally my prayers are being answered, or at least for this show. Even though the episodes are almost 50 minutes long, the plot flows briskly through each entertaining episode. I laughed at the irreverent jokes, had a silly smile on my face and grinned every time one of the leads would do something silly. The plot of the show is not very complicated. Nuea is an experienced wedding planner. He wants to be in love but because of his busy schedule , doesn't have any time. One day Nuea and his company are approached by a couple Lom and his fiancé Yiwa who want their wedding done in three months and have nothing decided yet.  Lom and Yiwa are one of his trickiest clients ever. This couple is uncooperative and has no idea what they want. And NNuea is out of his wits. Things are compli...

I guess taking inspiration from all the Asian BL series, this show is touted as first BL series, from the state of Manipur, a princely state in the eastern part of India. Even though the series is being promoted as a BL show, I have to say that it is much more than that. BL is a part of it, but the show mainly focuses on the lead man's trails and tribulations, his family, his struggles, his friends and everything around him. It tries to tackle issues that queer folks have to face like opposition from society, from their families, from peers, and might even their own selves in the form of internalized homophobia. Bimol is a young adult studying college, from a lower middle class family and struggling to provide for his younger brother while also dealing with his alcoholic father. The mother left them sometime back. HIs father abuses him of being feminine. To make ends meet, Bimol does makeup for girls. His only two close friends are a girl and another boy. The girl knows that Bimol ...

Its important to remember that first of all thesis a Hallmark movie, so you have to be ready to expect everything that comes with it: great old school romance, love at first sight, to many 'aww' moments which for some could be cringe in today's world; so essentially a holiday full on romantic movie. The difference this time is that it focuses on two couples: one straight and one gay and sure enough eligible for me to review here. Ellie and Leo are best friends. Ellie is a former concert pianist who’s begrudgingly working in hospitality and event planning. Leo is a successful romance novelist with writer’s block and has been single for a while. Ellie gets fired for being too distracted at her latest job, the two friends come up with an idea to swap their homes. Ellie will go to Leo’s house in the country to clear her head, and Leo will go to Ellie’s apartment in the city to find new inspiration for his novel. What happens is destined. Leo's neighbor and friend Sam ropes ...

Oh my god! Unbelievable. Just when you thought that cringe couldn't get any worse, here is this wannabe mini BL series, that I don't even know where to begin with to describe how bad and cringy it is. If you need to explain someone the meaning of cringe, then make then watch this show and they will understand it. Even though this mini series is only 6 episodes, each of less than 10 minutes duration; but trust me this will feel like the longest time. There are only two ways to salvage this: either you roll your eyes in disbelief that this is actually happening or just chuckle and laugh on how stupid everything is. I chose the latter with my morning cup of tea and I survived, albeit with a very bad taste in my mouth. Do not get fooled by this poster. Set in a resort (yes, once again like millions of other Filipino BL series), we see two friends Christian and his friend. Christian is waiting for "Love" of his life. Meanwhile clearly his friend is in love with him. Enter ...

Peccadillo’s 23rd edition of their Boys on Film series presents ten encounters from across the globe, where the dangerous allure of a risky attraction yields emotional results. From heartfelt comedies to heartbreaking dramas, this series offers something for everyone. Well, at least thats what the release says. Personally I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed by this collection.  My Uncle’s Friend (Brazil) Vincent looks back at his childhood, when his father bought a camcorder and incessantly and annoyingly filmed his shy young son, who was coming to terms with his queerness. The boy’s secret affection for a friend of his uncle is accentuated when we learn that the friend died of AIDS a few years after the start of the film. Budapest Closed City (Hungary) Hungarian teenager Péter is taking his British friend Adam on a tourist visit of his home city, Budapest. When they go to a club, we see a depiction of a burgeoning love which is unrequited in a mixed-up oppressive world....

Sometime back I had reviewed this Chinese series Addicted. Even though when I started watching this show, I didn't remember much about the original show, but this revisited version of the original show (whether ir not you compare to the original) is a brilliant show in many aspects. First of all, let me make it clear, this is not a gay show or even BL for that matter. I would classify it more of a bromance but thats probably because of China's strict rules. And I am willing to ignore that and still review the show here because it deserves to be seen. Everything about this series starting from the story line, characters, settings to the direction, was topnotch. Having said that, this is not a small commitment. The show has 24 episodes, each of about 35-40 minutes long. Su Yu is a high school student, top of the class and brilliant. He lives with his father, have. Great bond and they just get by with modest earnings. Life hasn't been same since his mother left the father and ...

Three Headed Beast is the story of the joys and sorrows of a bisexual polyamorous relationship. Containing almost no dialogue, nearly all of the story is told in movement and body language. There is just one long scene where all the protagonist meet for dinner and we get a screens for 15ish minutes where we finally hear some talk, but other than that it is a film with no sound. The film Starts with us meeting Peter and Alex, when Peter is helping Alex move in to his new house, they have sex and goto bed. On the other side of the town, Nina wakes up beside her lover. They hug and Nina departs. It’s revealed that Peter and Nina are partners and have been together for the past eight years. They have an open relationship, which was initiated by Nina to explore her sexuality. She is aware of Peter's proximity to Alex, and somehow this has started to bother her. Nina, while she has explored her sexual desires has not been able to form a strong bond with anyone as Peter and Alex have been...

Instructions for Survival is an exquisite documentary portrait and a profoundly honest window into one couple’s struggle to live openly. Set in Georgia, we see the life and struggles of a trans man, trying olive his life, be at constant risk of people finding out. Even though, now it's no longer illegal to be gay in this East European country, and trans people are theoretically protected from discrimination, there are all sorts of barriers which make it difficult just to get by. At about 80-85 minutes duration, this documentary powerfully humanizes the statistics and headlines about migrants seeking asylum with its deeply personal, moving and ultimately hopeful narrative. Nobody would look twice at Alexander if they met him in the street. He blends in perfectly, and all he wants is to be able to get on with life like any other man, but his situation is complicated because he's trans. This makes it hard for him to find employment, access reliable medical care or marry the woman ...

This was a weird film. Overly stylish and a very stagey feel, it just felt like a mish-mash of things and unsure of what it really wants to say. The film employs split screen is more than a few scenes, includes several sequences shot with backlighting that more often than not silhouette the characters and obscure their expressions. I felt this film was more like an experiment or a gimmick for a new narration style, but personally for me, it failed. Both story and the execution. MMA fighter Misha is a black guy who is dealing with his demons (we don't hear about it till much later, on what they are). He likes to dance but somehow never does, because of being perceived as gay. His ex-girlfriend is dropping off his daughter by a one night stand and the duo are not on best terms. After repeated self harm attempts by Misha, his doctor recommends him to see a transgender psychiatrist in Fire Island if he wants his pain prescriptions refilled. Once in the gay mecca, Misha falls in love wi...

Limited Partnership is An American documentary, that covers a 40-year marriage between two gay rights activists using archival footage and modern interviews. This documentary brings an important personal dimension to the long struggle for equal marriage and points up the problems that being unable to get married can create. Richard Adams, a Filipino-American, and Tony Sullivan, an Australian national, met in 1971 when Sullivan was in the United States on a tourist visa. After hearing about a county clerk in Boulder, Colorado, who was marrying same sex couples, the two were married in March 1975. However, the Immigration and Naturalization Service refused to recognize the marriage, and, in a rejection letter, used a homophobic slur. In the face of impending deportation, the couple sued the U.S. government. The resulting case, Adams v. Howerton, was decided against them. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their case. When Sullivan was deported, the couple spent time in Europe before...

It's been a while since I saw a Thai series, but here I am with this one. Heads up, the episodes are almost 55 minutes plus, with no breaks or product advertising (thankfully) and with 8 episodes , we are talking of an almost 8 hour commitment to watch this show. With tighter editing, a skill, which I feel I should learn more and more just so I can edit these unnecessarily stretched shows and make them edgy and crispier. The story definitely has potential. A possible attraction and love developing between a deceptive yet witty and charming lawyer and a martial arts teacher in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy. Charn, a high profile lawyer who is ruthless and not above bending the law to further his will and benefit his clients. And then we have Tinn, a martial arts coach who believes the law is just. Fate brings them together a couple of times, the most notable being when they meet as plaintiff and defense in the case involving the death of Tin's niece in a car accident by th...

This was such a wholesome film to watch. I enjoyed every single minute of this beautiful shot, exquisite, loving film with a ghastly air of menace throughout and a devastating conclusion. After seeing the film, when I started reading about it, this is when I realized that the film is  inspired by true events, the murder of two young boys in a Sicilian small town in the ’80s. This was a crime that changed forever the perception of homosexuality in Italy. Its emotional impact on public opinion was so deep and vast that it opened the way to the creation of the first association aimed at safeguarding homosexuals’ rights. Reading these statements suddenly made the impact of the already beautiful film even more. I couldn't believe what I was reading. So, now with even more vigor, I highly highly recommend and urge people to watch this beautiful love story of two teenagers. Set in early 80s in Sicily, we are slowly introduced to the two young boys. Gianni is bullied by the locals of his s...

At virtually every opportunity, Rotting in the Sun is daring you to hate it. It feels like the film is a meta version where the actual director plays a fictionalized self-loathing version of himself. But not just him, the other main character Jordan Firstman, playing himself in the film (I wasn't familiar with the guy, so I did my homework) is also an odd mix of comedy/meta/sattire, almost to the point of annoying. I still haven't made my mind on what really I think of this film. Also , just to put it out there there are scenes of male nudity, dick shots and sex, like full on. If you have ever complained that movies are scared of realistic depictions of sexuality; then this film is a dick-stravaganza with contextually relevant full-frontal male nudity on nude beaches and at orgies and more. The story is also interesting, Sebastian is a fading director living in Mexico City. He should be working but instead he spends his day with his dog, snorting all kinds of drug, slightly dep...

Taking a break from Asian BL (and yes, I desperately need that), I just finished watching this 4 episode Danish mini-series about two young boys who join a “man camp,” only to embark on a complicated exploration of masculinity, sexuality and queerness. With about 15-20 minutes of each episode, this was such a welcome change from BL stories. It’s a sensitive, yet heart breaking and poetic glimpse of a small, hyper masculine provincial town in Denmark as one boy feels pressure to fit in with other boys, while struggling with his romantic feelings for a charming new boy. Shy and awkward teen Lau is on an all boys weekend trip to the woods called as "Real Man" camp. Together with two adult counsellors, the weekend s going to be a series of challenges and tasks that will prove that these boys are ready to become men and there will be one winner. Years back, Lau's father who dies when Lau was young won the competition and his friend (one of the counsellors) is motivating Lau to...