Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from September, 2014

J'en suis! (French) [Heads or Tails]

Thank god for a nice funny film. Full of stereotypes and cliches, this hilarious satire pokes fun at both straight and gay attitudes and communities. The concept of a straight man pretending to be gay is not new and I at least have seen a few films in this subject but this was still quite funny. Sure it may be not a gem or a genius film but it does keep you entertained with a constant smile on your face and for me a viewer that does matter quite a bit. Dominique and Pierre have been best friends and business partners. But when they go bankrupt, Dominique doesn't have the courage to tell his wit and kids and pretends to continue to live a lavish life. He also doesn't want to do any menial job. He has a keen eye for antiques. When he goes to sell of his own antique pieces, he gets hired to be the antique guy's partner. But this offer is made under the assumption that Dominique is gay an due goes ahead with it because the money is good. When he starts dressing gay, his wi

L'homme blessé (French) [The Wounded Man]

All the time I was watching his film, I kept thinking "What is going on?" and you know how that is never a good sign. Expectation that this film will son start making sense,just always go downhill. Not much dialogue and only actions makes watching this film very boring and hard. I wonder if this has anything to do with not having context of homosexuality life in France in 1980's. I doubt because that should be no reason to not understand the context of a film. A young man named Henri goes to the railway station with his parents to bid farewell to his sister, who is leaving on a vacation. The train is late, Henri has time to linger, and on a trip to the men's room he discovers that he has great passionate interest in men. One man in particular, Jean, a thug who implicates Henri in a robbery and then gives him a violent kiss, becomes for Henri a figure of enduring erotic fascination. Henri comes out of his shell that she starts getting obsessed with Jean. After a b

Gay Short Films : 24

They Say (USA) We see an odd friendship between the most unwanted girl in the school and the boy who is always bullied. When the girl spills the boy's secret hoping to make friends, the boy is bullied even worse and is force to move towns when he kisses a boy. Not everything that happens on a school playground is play. (6/10) Miles Apart (USA) Such a warm film inside and out, this film shows that compassion and transformation are possible. Jeffery and Miles are visiting Jefferey's mother's house for his sisters wedding. Despite the boys having been together for 5 years, the mother hasn't accepted Miles. This weekend things are set to change and like they say "never say never". Not the best production quality but the film positively portrays love, commitment and a very uplifting message. (8/10) Praner Manush (India) Chaitak and his mother deal with their soon-to-strike tragedy as he wants to confess to his mother every little thing about himself

Pakistan's Hidden Shame (Documentary)

This documentary has been one of the hardest documentaries to watch. I haven't seen stuff like this before; so hard-hitting, absolutely raw, in your face about this social evil for which we wish we could do something about. This documentary focuses on the north-western city of Peshawar, where it is estimated that nine out of ten street children have been sexually abused, mostly young boys. Pakistan is one of the world's most important Muslim nations. It's a nuclear power, it's allied to the West in the war against terror, and it's a democracy. But Pakistan is also a country in denial, turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of many thousands of poor and vulnerable children.. The 47-minute documentary depicts an unending cycle of stolen childhood, drug addiction and poverty. The scale of the problem is brought to light through a series of shocking confessions and accounts by both victims and perpetrators of child abuse. Bus conductor Ejaz confesses to rap

Love's Coming (Thai)

These days sexual ambiguity is the biggest trend in Thai films right now. This film, directed by a newcomer is a very light-hearted comedy-ish film that focuses on school going kids. Thai films so far for me have been a mixed bag, so I wasn't expecting much form this film and I think that worked in its favor. For some pople, it will seem a bit amateurish but then when you see the film from that perspective, you will be ok. This is not breaking any new grounds. The idea is to make people laugh. There is a close knit group of 4 school going boys. Gump, Pid, Arm and Zee. They have just finished their exams and wanna hang out but Gump bows out saying that he has to teach his neighbor Nai. Nai is a very popular and handsome guy who is quite popular with pretty much everyone. This makes Zee convinced that Gump is hiding something and that he is probably gay. The remaining three friends take help of one of their gay uncles to to figure out the truth. They try many techniques and fina

Ma vie en rose (French) [My Life In Pink]

This was such a breath of fresh air. Although the film is over 15 years old, it is probably as relevant as today. I have been watching more and more cinema on gender identity issues and they have all been very interesting and eye-opening for me personally to understand the people better. Th film is comic yet heartbreaking and the subject is very sensitively handled by the director. Seven-year old Ludovic lives in an upper-middle class Belgian suburban neighborhood. He behaves in a way that is quite natural to him, dresses in a dress or skirt whenever possible, and is quite convinced he will be marrying a neighborhood boy, Jerome, the son of his father's boss. He knows a boy doesn't marry a boy , so he will marry Jerome when he becomes a girl. The rest of the family humor him as best they can, rationalizing that Ludovic is only trying to find his identity and will be over it soon. While playing a game Ludovic and Jerome are caught while pretending to marry which is seen by