Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

First things first, this is not a gay film an dhas nothing to do with homosexuality except the fact that the best friend of the main characters happens to be lesbian and there is a small kiss between the 2 men. This still doesn't qualify the film to be a gay film. So, why am I reviewing it here? I dunno. This was supposed to be gay film when I started watching it. :(  An average, calm mid-20s girl named Veronica restarts her dead dating life all of the sudden, but with two guys: a sensitive failed writer named Abel and an airheaded drummer named Zed. At first she despairs. Then she finds a way to date both without their finding out. Then she tells both about it. Then Abel and Zed meet each other, and, after much initial conflict, they wind up living together and evolve into a very odd yet happy threesome. However, as time goes by Veronica starts growing apart from them, while Abel and Zed become brother-like (and kid-like). Soon she finds out that she is pregnant and now wants some...

Three dramatic AIDS stories intertwine, chronicling the spread of AIDS on three continents: a plasma-smuggler in China; the mother of an HIV positive porn star in Canada; nuns in Africa. Only one of them was relevant for this blog , so reviewing that here. Set in Canada, this segment addresses the fundamental flaws in the adult entertainment industry. Denys is an adult-film actor afflicted with AIDS. Young and living at home with his parents, Denys steals his dying father's blood to pass his mandatory AIDS screenings. This triggers an AIDS crisis within the film industry. Following his father's death, mother and AIDS-stricken son are left broke. The mother purchases a life-insurance policy for herself and then begins seeking-out the virus for herself. The results are horrific to say the very least. The conclusion is the young actor being confronted by one of his victims. She looks him in the eye an utters, ""You killed Me for eight-hundred dollars." This segment ...

Masahista is a very engaging film even if it's done with a shoestring budget. It gives you a very realistic view of the life of a young man trying to survive poverty by offering massage and sexual services. The film impressed me because it seems there is lot going on but in actuality there is very little that moves. Illiac is a handsome young lad who, because his alcoholic and carousing absentee father cannot support his family, has left his home to work as a masseur in Manila, assuming the financial responsibility of his family. Illiac works in a massage parlor - rooms like closets so close that conversations are easily heard - where he has his regular clients as well as newcomers, each of whom pays for massage an tips for all the 'extras' the boys are more than willing to offer for a price. The film only centers on two parts of his life:when his estranged father died and his client for the night.. someone who called himself as Marina. He is a bread-winner therefore he h...

Lesbian filmmakers from Berlin were asked to make a short film about their idea of male gay love and sexuality and, vice-versa, gay men were given the task of making a short film about lesbian sexuality and eroticism. All genres were allowed and it could be erotic, experimental or simple but within a 3 to 7 minute range. The result is a mish-mash of several (I think its 15) odd films that tried so hard to be different that it was so difficult to sustain interest in any one of them. The highly diverse films, primarily concerned with the pinpointing, questioning and deconstruction of clichés -- clichés which, in spite of the proximity of gays and lesbians during the past ten years, appear to persist to a shocking extent in the minds of many in the opposite group. The diversity of the various contributions provides good reason to hope for a thoughtful and informative expansion of our perceptions of certain roles and gender-specific patterns. Because, after all, we are not just fucking d...

I have mentioned this a few times before that sometimes small films (especially in the gay genre) make so much more sense than a full length feature film. This film of approximate 30 minute length accomplishes this mission successfully. Seokii anxiously awaits the arrival of his boyfriend Min-soo, who has taken leave from the military. Shortly after they reunite, they are met by Min-soo's mother, who is unaware of their relationship. Seok-i decides to stay with Min-soo and his mother at an inn when he realizes there is no way for him to get back home. The next day, after Min-soo's mother leaves for church, the couple become physically intimate back in their room. Their session is cut short, when Min-soo's mother returns unexpectedly early and becomes devastated by the revelation. Seok-i returns home that night. Then there is a short confession song by Min-soo for his mother, telling her that he is gay and that he will continue to love Seok-i. Sometime after the event, Se...

A Little Comfort is a bright, pleasant French coming-of-age tale about a young man who falls for his "straight" male friend. Now how many times have we heard of similar plot but he good thing about this one is that it is done in a romantic and a short span of time which makes it even more believable. Arnaud is a young teenager coping with his attraction to the popular hunk Guillaume who has a steady girlfriend. Arnaud imitates his idol trying cigarettes, alcohol and sex, finds a girlfriend, but when both girls leave their beaus, Guillaume (whose suicidal mother is hospitalized and who has no other family) seeks refuge with Arnaud. Arnaud's mother is more than happy to have his 'best friend' stay with them when Guillaume's temporary foster father has to leave town on business for several weeks. At last, in a comfort zone, away from the outside world, Arnaud and Guillaume bond, fall in love, and actually fit into the society that they feared would ostracize the...

This was a very awkward and disturbing movie to watch. I dunno about others but definitely for me. This is not something you watch or even wanna watch. Maybe the subject material yes, for sympathy sake, but why why why did the director have to be so so graphic in the sex scenes. That was freakish and disturbing. Devotee is the story of Hervé, an assertive 43-year-old man who was born without arms or legs. Of course, he has not had a good love life. On top of that he happens to be gay. He meets a gorgeous young man online, a devotee (devoteeism or acrotomophilia) is the sexual attraction to people with amputations) who seems like he might be different. Their encounter proves Hervé's difficulty in finding a true connection with someone who is interested in treating him like a person rather than a mere fetish. Because this young man also cares about just his own pleasures. He treats Hervé as fetish and uses him without bothering to even consider his personal satisfaction. Of course t...

Now this film was something to watch out. Totally engaging crime drama with gays being just a part of it. Some would argue whether homosexuality was the theme of the film or was it just a part of it. The more I think, the more I think it can go in either way. So I will leave it as a gay crime drama very different from whole bunch of other gay films being served out there. Eric and Sarah are detectives who are investigation the murder of a professor which it seems like a gay hate crime. When they go for the autopsy of the corpse, they find Dr. Emmanuel instead of Dr. Rose who had so far been motherly figure to Eric. Eric has been married for 20 years and has a 17 year old son but there is something about Emmanuel that instantly attracts him and he tries very very hard to fight it. They need the doctor for some interrogation but Eric is having a hard time, to the extent that he even gay bashes Emmanuel once. Sarah understands there is something wrong but is too busy with investigation. ...

Just Say Love is the film version of stage play. It is shot as if you are still watching the play which gives it a unique feeling. Specially the film also starts with some interesting scenes which leads you to believe that you might have found that one interesting yet different piece of gay cinema but alas that's not true.  A rugged carpenter Doug is working on the street where he meets Guy sitting on bench. Guy is ardant fan of Plato and believes that love is everything. They strike up a conversation. They start off clearly wanting very different things out of their meetings, but it evolves - over a period of many months - into something that is mutually rewarding and satisfying to both of them, but not in the way they first expected. Doug mentions how his pregnant girlfriend Gita is all about spirituality these days and doesn't satisfy his sexual urges. Guy tries to overcome his sexual attraction towards Doug but cant fight for long. They start messing around which works for...

Metrosexual is a term describing a man of any sexual orientation who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle. However, in this movie, one might not be able to draw a conclusion on the theme of the movie by its English title as directly as an official Thai title "Gang Chanee Kap Ee-aep," which could be literally translated as "the chicks gang and a closeted gay man." Pom, Pang, Pat, Nim and Fai are five upper-class best friends in Bangkok, Thailand. Fai is married with two boys, Pat is engaged to an older Japanese man, Pom and Nim, still hopelessly single. At one of their frequent dinners out, Pang announces introduces her friends to Kong, a man she has secretly been dating for three months, and who she has agreed to marry. Kong is handsome, cultured, fashionable and seems to know more about cooking and fashion than all the girls put together. The rest of the gangs think that the guy is "too" perfect. The paranoid of their love...

What if gay guys were tough? What if mafia bosses were warm and cuddly? What if loving parents were also hardcore off-the-grid anarchists? And what if they all came together in a nutty climax where hilarity would inevitably ensue? The screenplay of this film encompasses all these elements and make a very entertaining comic film that keeps you engrossed throughout.  Meet Danny and Stephen, a dapper couple who share a palatial New York townhouse which they pay for by working as enforcers for Victor Patrizzi, a charming mafia boss. The strong but sweet-natured duo is thrown into a tizzy when they find out Stephen’s parents are coming for a visit. And its not because they are gay (which the parents know). They don't know what the couple really do for a living and they have been made to believe that the two run a catering business and want to enlist their help in throwing Dad a 60th birthday party. The guys quickly get busy hiding their guns and ammo in laundry hampers. Meanwhile, Victo...

This is a french film based in Canada. French films from France usually have a very different aura about them. This one, I don't know so much actually. It was nice and interesting with a very common thing about a love triangle but at some places the direction was very different and how the triangle affects the relationships is also shown very well. Francis and Marie are very good friends. They meet Nicholas at a party. Nicholas is this greek god kinda guy who has blond curls, perfect charming face which everyone would die to be with him. Although neither would agree, but both of them are instantly very very attracted to Nicholas. He is very very friendly with both of them and they start hanging out. Marie and Francis are both falling head over heels in love with Nicholas to the extent that it starts to hurt. Specially when neither of them can tell whether he loves either one or both or none. They once come up with an idea of spending some time in Europe. Things get bad when Mar...

'Priest' is a complex film, dealing with hard issues of incest and homo-sexuality, but first with the conflict between the priest mission as a moral leader and the Procustian laws of the Catholic church he needs to obeye by. The ideological content may be controversial for many, it was partly for me as well, but I cannot help admiring the well kept balance, the dramatic tension, and the masterful way the excellent team of actors is filling the roles.  Father Greg is a young, dedicated, idealistic and yet conservative compared to his colleague, Father Matthew, who has recently arrived in his new parish. He works hard with total faith and devotion. Soon after moving in to Father Matthew's house, he discovers that Father Matthew has been having a relationship with his maid. There is initial friction as the Old and New Worlds collide. Father Matthew dismisses Father Greg's modernistic sermons, while Father Greg frowns upon Father Matthew's casual stance on papal celibac...

Let's be clear. This is not a gay film. One of the characters happens to be gay but that is not the central plot of the film. This is a dark movie sinister in its setting and narrative telling. Set during the time of civil war in Spain during 40s, this is not an easy film to watch specially for Non-Spanish people who are not familiar with this history. A group of friends play together. Ramalla, Tur, Francisca and 2 others. They witness the terror of the assassination of men, and the revenge that drives one of them to murder and suicide. These wide-eyed children become adults, carrying all of the psychic disease and trauma repressed in their minds. We then encounter the three who survive into adulthood where they are all confined to a tuberculosis sanitarium. Ramalla has survived as a male prostitute, protected by his 'john' Morell, and has kept his life style private. Tur has become a frail sexually repressed gay male who is deep into religion and thinks that praying and f...