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Showing posts from May, 2008

Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel

Gosh!! that was a bad movie. Autobiographical are supposed to be good and I am sure some people might find this film interesting but I simply had to stop the film mid way and just not watch it later. It is a story of Leslie (writer, actor of the movie), a gay man's upbringing and hardships. Growing up in an oppressive Southern Baptist household in the 1950s, he flees as soon as he is able to the nearby metropolis of Atlanta. There, he finds a new set of troubles, falling in with a drug addled party girl and a hustler who he immediately falls in love with. The film chronicles the experiences of Storyteller against the gay and drug subcultures of the 1970s. I have nothing more to add. Just a bad film, well at least for me. (0/10)

Flawless

A mainstream hollywood movie coming up with such a film is definitely good to see with some leading men playing the main protagonists. The story is simple and not too complicated but by the way Robert Di Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman have acted, it makes the whole difference. The story is simple. Rusty (Philip Seymour) is a female impersonator who lives in the same apartment building as Walt (DeNiro), a retired policeman who works as a security guard. During a robbery of a drug dealer, one of Rusty's fellow drag performer Amber is killed and DeNiro suffers a stroke trying to prevent the crime. The drug dealers are looking for their money and they keep finding different ways to harass the trannies to get the money back but that money is not found. The doctor suggests that Walt shold take singing classes and that will help in his stroke. He decides to take classes with Rusty. They have nothing in common except both of them are alone. They get along with each other and on one such

Murder In Portland

A horrible acted, directed, scripted film which could have done much better with a tight screenplay and good acting. A suspense film which has nothing new to offer. 18 year old Mike, runs away form his home after his baptist minister father finds he is gay. He goes to Olympia, WA. There he meets Grant , a store owner whose partner is David in business. Mike gets a job in the store and Grant and him become lovers. Meanwhile David goes to Portland where he is murdered along with another guy. Here starts the investigation. A detective is sent as undercover in the gay area to act gay and find out more details. He does all bar hoping, hooks up and finds out all details. Ultimately it turns out hat the minister is the killer because he confused David to be Grant (his son's lover). Afterwards a psychiatrist session reveals that Mike was able to talk until he was 4 but then he saw his dad murder his mom when he was naked with another woman. The minister is charged and Grant and Mike get a

Kiss The Bride

I am so glad I watched this movie. This definitely cheered me up after a terrible workday. There is nothing extra ordinary about this movie but the way few scenes are handled is good. Maybe I am a sucker for romantic comedies and I just love my moments in the film. Matt is a publisher in a gay magazine in SF. One day he sees a wedding invitation of Ryan and Alex. He remembers Ryan as his first lover in his hometown and his best friend. He thinks Alex is a by until he sees the picture of a girl. He decided to go his town because he thinks he should save Ryan from doing the horrible mistake of marrying just for society's sake even though he is gay. Matt goes back to his town and meets Ryan and Alex. Alex and Matt hit off very well with each other and instantly have a liking. Meanwhile Matt also tries to talk to Ryan about them and how thinks would have been different. Ryan blames Matt for leaving the town 10 years ago and not being in touch and now he cannot expect Ryan to just run a

La Meilleure facon de marcher (French) [The Best Way To Walk]

I was actually surprised to see all kinds of good reviews for this movie. For me, this movie did absolutely nothing. There were a lot of things which were not clear at least to me. The film is set in France in 70s in a boys scout. Marc and Phillppe are 2 of the few instructors at the camp. One night Marc sees Phillipe trying to dress up as a woman. Right after that he humiliates him at every point in the camp in front of students, other instructors etc. Phillipe tries to be friend with Marc but o avail. There are instances where one thinks that maybe Phillipe is actually gay and has feelings for Marc but thats not shown very clearly anywhere. Marc's humiliation goes on and on with Phillipe being his punching bag. Towards the end of the camp when there is a costume party, Phillipe comes dressed as woman and takes punches at Marc for dancing with him. Ultimately Phillipe ends up humiliating Marc that night. In the meantime there is also Phillipe's girlfriend Chantal, but there is

Yeladim Tovim (Israel - Hebrew) [Good Boys]

My expectations in the recent past have not been much. This film that depicts life of commercial sex workers in Israel did not give me much hope but it was still better than the other movies that I have seen. Menni is a 17 year old sex hustler who has a set of clients whom he meets regularly. He is done with his hustling on street days. He wears well and lives well. One night he meets another hustler Tal in a club and they end up spending the night together. Tal is very friendly with Menni even to the extent of making him breakfast. They both feel that there is some connection and decide they will meet later at a club. Meanwhile, Menni once slept with a girl Mika with whom he now has a small daughter (incidentally called Tal). Mika is now living in streets as a whore. She cannot take care of Tal, so one day she just leaves her with Menni. The night when Tal and Menni had decided to meet, Tal ends up going with another guy who turns out to be a cop and the cop holds Tal as a hostage and

Yours Emotionally (India)

What could have been a beautiful story to tell turned into an amateurish experience because of the shoddy screenplay and direction. There are so few movies based in India and this could have been the one to make a difference but unfortunately it did not. Ravi and Paul are two Brits visiting India. They go to a gay party where Ravi meets Mani and instantly falls for him. They also meet an elderly couple Murthy and Anna who have been living together for over 20 years. We are told later that Murthy ws in London and came back to India when his mother died. Anna, by then a married man persuaded him to stay back. Later only when Anna's wife died did they end up living together. Meanwhile Ravi has completely fallen for Mani. But Mani is struggling with his own responsibilities. He has to get married soon. Ravi even says that he will sponsor Mani and take him to London with him but nothing of that sort can work out. Ravi seeks Murthy & Anna's help, but the couple hide behind words

Green Plaid Shirt

So what was this film about? We have seen various films who deal with the whole gay life style including the Aids epidemic but ws there anything special about this movie? Unfortunately, NO. Guy and Philip meet at a garage sale where both of them try to buy a plaid green shirt which either one of them is shown wearing at different points in the movie. They soon get together and develop a relationship. They share an open relationship wherein they can have sex with outsiders but cannot fall in love. Jerry and Devon are Philip's best friend who are with the couple most of the time. Everything is fine till one day Guy is detected to have Aids. Philip tries to take care of him. Both of them even buy a house together. At the same time, he is also looking for opening his own business. Things get harder. Meanwhile Guy meets someone else and moves out of the house but soon he realizes that his true love was with Philip. At the same time it is shown how Jerry and Deven are both HIV+ and are d

Hildes Reise (Switzerland - Swiss German) [Hilde's Journey]

An emotional journey of a dead guy's 2 lovers who are on their way to throw his ashes in the sea. The movie is full of emotion moments but the relatively lower production quality dilute the impact to an extent. Steff, a carpenter wants to do some business on his own but cannot get a loan because e has low credit scores. He is frustrated by this. He one day reads in newspaper about death of Martin Hilder, son of a wealthy industrialist German family, who happened to be his lover of 3 years. Martin's family has always denied his sexual preference even to the extent that they declare his cause of death to be cancer whereas reality is he died of Aids. The funeral is also attended by Rex and Gina, friends of Hilde (thats what they called Martin) who leave the ceremony in a rage because of this. Later when Martin's will is read, he his left his flat and estate for Steff and has also desired to be crated and ashes be thrown in sea. Martin's family bargains with Steff and prpos

L'Ennemi Naturel (French) [Natural Enemy]

I was again tricked into watching a movie which had absolutely nothing to do with gay themed. Agreed that in the last scene they show the protagonist confused about his sexuality but apart from that there was nothing in the movie, gay or straight. Inspector Luhel comes to a town to investigate murder of a teenage boy named Richard. His mom thinks that her ex-husband Tanguy (Richard's father) has murdered him. Richard's body was found in water next to the beach. Luhel begins his investigation in the weirdest of manners. He talks to all kind of people and also to Tanguy who now lives with his current wife. Their daughter Adele lives with her aunt. During his investigation Luhel is shown to have strange behavior and also the fact that he is confused about something and so he cannot concentrate on his wife Nathalie and new born baby. Meanwhile, Tanguy is the man with a huge sexual appetite and he wants to sleep with every woman in the town. Luhel in his course of investigation find

Segunda Piel (Spanish) [Second Skin]

This movie talks about confusions, indecisiveness and the fact that you cannot be the one who you want to be. You have seen many triangle love stories but this one comes with a difference. Elena and Alberto are married and have a cute son Adrian. At some point in the relationship, Elena and Alberto are drifting apart but they dont know why. Alberto keeps telling Elena that he loves her very much. On the other hand, he is also cheating on her with Diego, a doctor. Elena suspects that Alberto is cheating but doesn't realize until later that its with a man. Meanwhile, Alberto is not very comfortable with Diego in public. He is apprehensive of the whole thing. He keeps moving between his wife and Diego. He wants both but cannot accept both. Elena moves out to her mother for she needs time to think. Alberto swears that he will not see him again. But he cannot stop himself because he really likes Diego as well. in a shocking climax when Diego confronts him of what and whom he actually wa

Violet's Visit (Australia)

A funny take on how things take take a twist in life when someone unexpected knocks on your doors. This Australian film shows this facet of life in a very convincing and entertaining manner. Violet (who likes to be called Scooter) at fifteen is tired of her small own and the fact that her mom keeps bringing new boyfriends, runs away to Sydney in search of her gay father who as told by her grandfather lives with his new wife. When Violet reaches there , she meets Pete, the lawyer and thinks that he is her father. Later she finds that Alec and not Pete is her father and that Pete is actually the wife that Alec lives with. Violet's father is gay. Alec who owns a gym has been in denial of the fact that he fathered a child to himself and everyone and even to his partner Pete. Alec does not want to have anything to do with Scooter but with Pete's intervention , he tries. The 3 of them start to get along well and soon Alec starts loving her daughter. Soon these changed roles start aff

L'homme que j'aime (French) [The Man I Love]

5 minutes in the movie and I knew I had seen it but did not remember much of it. Half way into the movie and I remembered that I liked the movie. Almost to the end and I realized that it s a wonderful movie about finding true love, fighting against all odds and how you can get someone you really love. Martin and Lucas work at the same swimming pool. Martin immediately fancy for Lucas as soon as he sees him. He tells Lucas about that but unfortunately finds out that Lucas lives with his girlfriend Lise. Nonetheless, Martin tries to keep friendship between them going with occasional flirting with Lucas. Lucas initially gets mad and tries to buzz Martin off but after that he also starts enjoying the attention. He starts to realize that Martin truly loves him. Lucas at his end is confused about whats going on. He likes his girlfriend but cant stop thinking of all things that Martin tells him and flirts with him. He tries to fight his feelings. One day he finds out that Matin is HIV+ and is

In Extremis (French) [To The Extreme]

A waste of time is how this movie can be summarized. Only if the setting of the movie was more realistic and had they not portrayed the movie for gays, this would have been an otherwise touching emotional story. Thomas, a bisexual man sleeps with both sexes. He has 2 lovers. Caroline who has a son Gregory whom Thomas loves as his own son and a guy called Vincent. Caroline dies one day in an accident. Gregory wants Thomas to be his guardian but that is not possible because of the law. Even with the aid of his prostitute sister Anne he is unable to keep the disappointed Gregory from being sent to a prison-like orphanage. Eventually Thomas' devotion towards Greg helps him to let Greg escape from the orphanage and live with him in his ancestral home in Ibiza. All's well in the end and they live together. The movie was very boring for me primarily because the photography was so bad. Hardly anything in the movie was visible. It was all so dark. Plus the story just wont move. The movi

The 24th Day

It was interesting to watch this movie. Having known almost nothing about the movie, it turned to be a pleasant experience specially because contrary to the other gay movies, this one talks and points to the real gay issues that gay men should be talking about rather than just partying and enjoying life. Tom and Dan meet in a bar and then end up going to Tom's apartment. They start talking and after a few minutes of verbal teasing , we are in a shock when Tom tells Dan that they slept 5 years back in the same apartment and that has been the only sexual experience Dan had with a man. Tom has been stalking Dan in revenge for his transmitting HIV to Tom, a transmission which has resulted in Tom's wife falling victim to AIDS and dying in a car crash 24 days ago. Tom holds Dan captive in his apartment and takes his blood sample for testing and pledges to kill him if he finds that he is positive and Dan gave Tom the virus. All this while Dan keeps repeating that he has got tested man

Bernard And Doris

There are very few movies which are made on real life actual stories. This is one of them. Although this again would not be classified as gay movie but yes definitely the lead character is gay and thats all that is to it. Tobacco heiress Doris Duke is like one of the richest living women on earth. One day she firs her butler for bringing cold cantaloupe. The agency then sends Bernard Lafferty who earlier served Liz Taylor. He is gay and a former alcoholic. He was in rehab for 6 months but is recovering now. After a strict master employer relationship, Doris starts liking Bernard for his selfless motive of serving her. They start getting close and travel together. Her lawyers question his motive. She realizes that he does not want anything from her. As he sys one night, all he wants to do is take care of her. Though Bernard is not without flaws. He slowly succumbs back to alcohol and steals the most expensive wines from the wine cellar. He is fired when Doris comes to know about it. He

Douches Froides (French) [Cold Showers]

Another disappointment. Marketed as a movie primarily for gay audience, this movie has nothing remotely close to being gay except for a few frontal nude shots of men. The story is of three teenagers: a beautiful girl, Vanessa, and two boys, Mickael and Clement, one rich, one poor. Mickael is judi fanatic and wants to conquer everything. He is good friends with Clement and Vanesaa and the 3 of them are trying to explore sexuality with the burning desire to be best in judo for Mickael. There is no such synopsis for the movie except a lot of training scenes, locker room scenes for judo team and the way Mickael's parents are dealing with the fact that they have no money. Clement's parents are the sponsor for the entire tournament. Mickael is supposed o loose 7 kgs to fight under 66 category. He stops eating and practices hard with Clement. One night three of them have a 3some and Vanessa like it. Se wants to do again but somewhere Mickael feels its wrong. The movie does not preach

Theft

A movie in a small town in Texas and conflicts between the gay community and god fearing christians forms the crux of this story. Guy works in a small town gay bar mopping floors and doing mundane jobs where George performs as Liberty Queen every night. The owner of the bar one night dies of heart attack. George tells Guy that before he died , he left the bar to Guy who now suddenly has become rich. Meanwhile, the christian community led by Sister Susannah is trying heir best to de root the whole gay community. Guy has no idea how to handle all these things. In comes Alex, an outsider, who comes up as breath of fresh air for town and for Guy. Things just move on. We realize that Sister Susannah has a motive behind all these things. She wants the money behind the gay bar because she is sister of the owner of the bar and their father did not give her any money. She burns down the church and all blame goes on Guy. With Alex's and George's help, they are finally able to prove Guy i