Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Oh God!1 where do I even begin? This show was so atrocious. There are rarely shows that I have had to stop mid way because they are so bad, this one definitely falls in that category. Firstly, the plot was almost non-existent; but what's worse is that it was executed so badly, with awful acting, cliches, cringe, awkward dialogue, horrible direction, stupid cheesy sound effects; anything horrible and bad that you can think of. Sitting through 10 episodes each of about 45 minutes was nothing less than a torture. Nomjuet, a young man whose personality and life are as dull as his name suggests, joins a photography club. He is mentally and physically not much evolved and feels very timid. This happens to an extent that eve. When two boys are actually interested in him, he has no clue about it. He is iso naive that his best friends guard him fiercely and are extremely overprotective. Chaos ensues when he unexpectedly meets Phra-ek, a junior from the photography club.  Nomjuet accidentall...

Oh my god!! What a royal mess. This series did not know if it would like to be a serious drama or a comedy. So they cobbled all of that together which of course does not make sense in the slightest. The comedy parts are overacted and cringy and the drama parts sometimes gives us a glimpse of what should have been possible and often they feel forced. This was likely made by a new production company. Sitting through 8 episodes of 40 minutes was like sitting through torture. I will try as best as I can to summarize the story (if there was any). A young boy Arm joins his uncle's company to do internship. He has not finished his studies and this is the deal he has with his uncle to not reveal his secret. The boss assigned to him is named Ryu, with whom Arm had an altercation just outside the offie before he started. So he is now in a predicament. Ryu pushes a lot of work on Arm makings life miserable. Also Ryu is an alcoholic, who lost the love of his life in a car accident. The boss of...

This Australian coming of age series focuses on gay men and their need to be seen by everyone. Set in the remote town of Geraldton, during the time of the gay marriage vote in Australia; it centers around the feelings and emotions of guys with brutal honesty and integrity. These characters are mostly teen boys and as they form a tight-knit friendship, the boys find solace and support in one another, exploring their desires and identities in a world that often renders them invisible. With 10 episodes each of 30 minutes, I really enjoyed the show in more ways than one. We first meet Charlie, a rebel seemingly without a care who refuses to dye back his hair black is desperate to leave the town. He hasn't even told his best friend that he is gay but when a hookup with an older married man goes wrong, he announces his sexuality of Facebook live. We also see the geeky Zeke, the younger of the two siblings of an Italian family who is constantly bullied by the school jock Hammer. However h...

'Yaoi' - an anime genre that depicts feathery romances between beautiful young men. This is a reminder for me, because I keep forgetting. Started as stories written by females for young female audience to enjoy nonthreatening romantic fantasies. Interesting that this film came out in 2016 when I was personally not very familiar with this genre. Of course, over a period of time, now I have seen so much BL content from Japan but still only a few anime. With a duration of just one hour, this nicely edited anime focuses on the budding romance between two classmates, whose chance encounter makes them feel all kinds of feelings. This is the story of Kusakabe and Sajo. They both study in an all boys school. Studious and nerdy Sajo can’t seem to master his part for the singing competition in his all-boys high school until slacker guitarist Kusakabe, who is in a music band teaches him to read music. With both getting along, they agree to hang out and practice in free time. As the days g...

I am not sure that to think of this film. The subject of polygamy and throttle in gay relationships has been handled with sensitivity in the past. Sadly this film leaves a lot to be desired. While the main subject could have been thought-provoking, the story's structural and narrative choices reveal numerous weaknesses. The film's first significant flaw is its rapid, superficial storytelling. Characters lack depth, and the conflicts between them are largely confined to shallow conversations. More on that in the detailed review later. Thankfully the film is just under 50 minutes. Paul and Marlon are a couple and the film starts with Marlon bringing in the idea of a throuple. He gives some really stupid arguments about why a throttle is better, including the fact that a new person will spice up their sex life> Paul reluctantly agrees (and we later find out that Paul cheated o Marlon few years back and since then there has been a dent). Marlon had met a guy Jeremy in a club who...

Watching Christmas movies during holiday time just hit different. It's the weather, the atmosphere such that even the most ordinary films give you the warmth that the holiday seasons give you. Sadly, I missed watching the film when it came out and it's only now I am catching up with it. There was a Cheery Lane movie from Hallmark television in the last season and this time again they follow the pattern, where they show three different families form three different time periods who have lived in 7 Cherry Lane house. One of these three families is a gay couple whom we saw in the previous Cherry Lane family Mike and Zian. In present time, we meet Mike and Zian who now have a daughter. It's Christmas Eve and they are preparing for Christmas, each with a special surprise gift for the other. Zian is recreating a memory from Mike’s teen years with his father, and preparing a nice window decoration. Mike is going to surprise Zian with the arrival of his grandfather from the Philipp...

Set in a coastal town of South Korea, this series is a visual treat with some stunning cinematography. With only 6 episodes each of 20 minutes, this is a very breezy watch and luckily the two leads are extremely charming. They portray this romance with tenderness and sensational chemistry, especially when the couple kisses. A story of unrequited love, this is supposed to be a prequel to 'Unintentional Love Story', but sadly don't remember much of. I mean, there is so much content being consumed these days, I just cannot keep up watching, forget actually remembering anything. This was apparently released as a film and then later cut into 6 different episodes. Hotae's father has just passed away and his mother return to their coastal hometown for a fresh start. Hotae is excited to reunite with his childhood companion, Donghee. And Hotae lives with latter's family since the school is close. The two friends haven't talked in a while so while Hotae is excited to meth...

I find it very fascinating that back in the 80s prominent gay films had started to emerge where the central theme was gay and not just a side character. This crime thriller with a gay romance at its center must have been quite a stir when it came out in 1984. Although I do have to say that French and German cinemas were always way ahead of times, so part of me is also not surprised. Sure, they don't show any intimate in-your-face scenes but it's all very obvious here. Set in Bordeaux, the emcee of local drag nightclub is killed one night, and Inspector Michel is called in to investigate. The film started with us seeing Michel with another man in Paris, so we know that likes men but we are then told that back home he has a loving wife and a kid. Back to the murder, As Michel starts to interview various staff and performers, he pays special attention to cute blonde musician Bernard. He is young and cute and before they both realize, they eventually have an intense love affair.  W...

Warm Film (Topli Film) takes its title from an old-fashioned phrase ‘warm brother’ that used to be used widely to signify a gay man. It brings a selection of scenes and storylines in Serbian cinema that either have homosexual overtones or deal with queer stories. The idea behind this retrospective is to show that queerness always existed in Serbian cinema and therefore in society. The film goes on to question why reactions to queer stories are more extreme today than they were in the past. (Don't be fooled by the suggestive poster) You’d be surprised to learn that the first same-sex kiss in cinema history took place in 1911, in a Serbian film'The Life and Deeds of the Immortal Leader Karađorđe', where two soldiers kiss twice on the mouth. This was a traditional greeting at the time. The director of this documentary launches a casting for a “fake film” – one he’s never going to make. Instead, he will include scenes with actors in his documentary on queer elements in Yugoslav...

I cant believe. This came out in 2019. A YouTube Premium original series with 6 episodes. Weird City is set in the near future in the city of Weird, which has been physically divided into two halves and segregated by economic class: Above The Line, populated by Haves, and Below The Line, populated by Have-Nots. Each episode follows different individuals as they navigate life in the city. I will be reviewing here only the first episode out of 6 since it was the only gay themed one in this anthology series. This episode is called "The One". We meet Stu, a young man born Below the Line. However, when his mother invented a hot app, he was able to move Above the Line. Now there is one problem. People born Above the Line are assigned mates at birth under specific regulations. Since Stu didn’t move Above the Line until he was older, he was never assigned anyone and has found dating tough. A friend at bar tells him about this company called “The One That’s The One.” This is a company...

With Midas Man, Brian Epstein, the manager of the Beatles, gets a biopic that’s TV-movie basic, with quite a few endearing moments. I am one of those very few people who did not know anything about Brian a or how did Beatles come about. So that way, I really enjoyed this film and getting to know this part of Beatles life and that of Brian. The fact that Brian was gay was probably a well known secret at a later stage, but while he was the manager, he tried his best to keep all that well-hidden. I debated whether I should review the film here, because sure Brian was gay and the film shows us some of his love escapades, but this biopic is not about his sexuality. It's all about how he discovered, and made them the chartbuster that they are know for today. But the fact that he was gay is as critical as anything else, so here we are. Brian was the third generation Jewish family in Liverpool who used to run a very successful furniture store. He also happened to be gay. In early 60s it wa...

This Vietnamese series is very mellow, given its base in a countryside setting. The series has an interesting premise but the makers have added too many characters and too many parallel stories and they all keep vying for attention. So what happened here is that the leads barely get any time to develop their romance and focus on it, making it really hard to connect with them or root for them. The show is 9 episodes with average 20 min each. Yes, the Vietnamese BL scene is improving but this is going to take time. Dang is a student in city who is not very good in studies and has already failed twice for university entrance exam. Tired of his antics, his mother decides to bring him to the village to his grandma after finding out that there is this teacher in village who could possibly help Dang study. We meet Son, a young man, who has taken responsibility of teaching younger kids so that the family members can work. While not a teacher by profession, he reluctantly agrees to teach Dang. ...

I am not sure why this film was made. Featured in Cannes festival, I have too ay that when it comes to experimentation in movies, French are way ahead, but this film remains very much an oblique a non-needed film. Mostly delivered through VoiceOver by various characters, while we see multiple gardening scenes, this film is another great example of film makers taking vanity to another level. Pierre-Joseph is a young man years old when he joins a training center to become a gardener. There he meets Françoise Brown, the director, Alberto, his botany teacher, and Adrien, his employer, all of whom are decisive in his apprenticeship and the discovery of his sexuality. At multiple given opportunities he hooks up with these older men a they are all sort of happy in a commune sorta situation. All this while we keep hearing of this India guy Kutta, born to a French mother, owner of this. Agriculture institute and how everyone is waiting for him. 40 years later, Kutta arrives and is now owner of ...

Dekko TV often comes up with LGBTQ+ content. I cannot remember anything being good though. Films/series always have low production value are quite underwhelming. Add one more show to that list now. This horror/slasher genre show is so embarrassingly bad that Ince it is finished, you are like what did I just watch! It makes absolutely no sense. Thank god! This was just 6 episodes of 12-25 min duration. I think it was also released as a film maybe and thats why the uneven pacing of the episodic timings.  Adam, a street hustler who has just about given up on life. At the start of the film, he’s picked up by a mysterious trick whose seemingly sinister intentions go largely unnoticed. Adam can’t even muster up the energy to care about his own fate. He accompanies this man to his isolated home in the desert and soon finds himself held captive – stuck at the mercy of a psychopath whose dark history prevents him from understanding the difference between reality and his own murderous fantas...

Gay cops who stare at each other in a very sexy way is my new favorite genre. This was an entertainingly good detective movie with a gay undercurrent, neither of which are truly fleshed out but the potential was there. When the film started with a guy in cop uniform, I was like "this dude is so f***ing hot" and even when the film ended , I do stand by my thought. An interesting murder mystery of a wealthy gay man and how cops have to navigate through gay scene to find the culprit make the gist of this film. Ambiguity pervades the film in both a sexual sense, in the relationships between the main male actors and the plotline of the aftermath of the murder; and this might be a deterring factor for. Lot of movie watchers. The film starts with a rich gay man's murder, who belongs to a very influential family. We see a handsome policeman Ganso waiting at the crime scene for detectives to show up. Enter Chavez, a handsome middle aged detective with a wife and kid who is asked b...