Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

What an utter piece of garbage this was. I mean common. You can’t just make anything in the same of visual masterpiece. In my opinion this is the height of self-indulgence. What use is a film, if only 10 people are going to watch it? I just read that when it was screened at Cannes, people left the screening and then boo-ed it but then later it was given jury prize and suddenly everyone started praising the film. This is just ridiculous. Keng is a soldier assigned to a post in a small city in rural Thailand. Everyone likes him in the village but his heart is set on Tong, who he meets in a truck in the village. They start blossoming a friendship which slowly turns into romance. They have a connection between them and we just see the two guys taking random country trips and walking along jungles and killing time. Then suddenly film shifts into a second act, following some ancient Thai fairy tale. Tong has now disappeared and is believed to have become a ghost tiger. We then suffer th...

Ok, so this is not a gay themed movie, per say, but the fact that it chronicles the true gruesome story of a homosexual serial killer who killed almost 30 young boys after sexually molesting them, makes it for a contender here. This was a made for TV film. At length of almost 3 hours, it doesn’t get boring because you are waiting to find what will the cops do to nail this criminal. When a local teenager Chris Gant disappears in Des Plaines, detective Joe, is assigned to the case. His initial investigation makes him believe that local businessman John Gacy might have something to do with the disappearance. He assigns a team to find out evidences but almost overtime their evidences are found to be circumstantial and hence an arrest is never made. Things get worse, when he threatens to sue the police department and Joe for almost million dollars. Also everyone, including joe’s boss thinks that Gacy is innocent and is a respectable member of the society. Gacy and Joe then begin a sadi...

Yes the title is very attractive and immediately catches your attention as a viewer but do not be fooled by the title. It is clearly chosen to attract more viewership on television.  Amore apt and suitable title would have been “Inside a Gay Sauna”. Just adding the word ‘Secrets’ makes it much more appealing to attract more audience and higher viewership on Television. This is made for TV documentary focussed on CS2, a popular sauna in Nottingham U.K. For most of us gays, a gay sauna is not an unfamiliar term. But outside the community, not many may be aware of its existence, let alone what happens inside a gay sauna, commonly also known as “gentlemen’s relaxation zone”. People can tell you whatever stories, but men usually visit these sauna for one and only one motive; sex. Yes there are showers, sauna, jacuzzi, steam room but there are also dark rooms, sleeping rooms, porn room, glory holes, sling room and what not !! The documentary follows the gay couple John & Joe who...

Hofesh Hagdol (Israel) [Summer Vacation] A family is on  vacation when the unexpected happens. Yuval is enjoying with his wife and kids when suddenly because of water pressure, he needs help getting out of sand. This is when his ex-lover arrives and saves him. Has he just saved him from bring buried or will he also save him from the suffocation of a pretentious straight married life, when truly is gay and struggling to come to terms with it.  Leaving an open ending for viewers to interpret as to what happens, but I really enjoyed the way and sensitivity with which the subject has been handled. I loved this short film. Acting, direction and story were brilliant. This has a potential of making into a full length features film on this subject by extending the story. (8/10) Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (USA) If you think business decisions are made strictly on the basis of profit and loss, you need to see this short little film. When our hero Cal is looking for a jo...

Was this is artsy film or was it just something else in the name of soft-porn; these are the arguments we can all have and never come to a conclusion. The makers could also argue that this is a study of human psyche. In either case, does this film provide anything for a viewer? Different people look for different things when they come to watch a movie. Thankfully, when I watch a movie, I try to not watch it with expectation and hoping to be offered something interesting. Unfortunately this film failed to do so. We look at this old worn out porn theatre in Paris. It shows only straight pornography for a clientele of men of various types: military men, straight men look for gay sex, married men in need of exploration of their senses, transvestites, old men for whom such places provide the only sexual outlet, and the regulars who spend their evenings in the dingy darkened atmosphere for anonymous sex. The theatre is run by a single 40-ish lady, who by now has seen every aspect of sex...

Horror, disgusting and unbeleivabale are some of the phrases that come to mind after you are done watching this 2 part mini-series / made for TV movie. Having been made in 1992, I can only imagine, how difficult would it have been to get it broadcast without repercussions. Based on some real life child sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, This is actually a 2 part film. The first film, " The Boys of St. Vincent" , covers the sexual and physical abuse of a number of orphans by Brothers. The second film, " The Boys of St. Vincent: 15 Years Later" , covers the trial of the Brothers that happens 15 years later as the title suggests. Brother Lavin and 10-year old Kevin Reevey form the central protagonists of the story. St Vincent’s Orphanage is run by All Saint Brothers led by Brother Lavin. Their authority is overwhelming both physically and sexually. Brother Lavin fancies Kevin and sexually abuses him on multiple occasions including beating him up b...

A gay them film that also enters around food is pretty rare, so in that context kudos to the film makers for making this. But then, in all essence the primary theme about he film is not about being gay. Promoted as maybe a rom-com for a gay couple, the prime focus is actually on the protagonist’s mother here. The film is more about acceptance, both for parents and kids. A film that focuses on the bonds between mother and son, husband and wife and also the fragility of a more fledgling relationship. Emma has woken up to the realisation that she is in a lacklustre marriage. She only knows how to add spice to her life in one way, by squirting it from a bottle of hot sauce. The rest of her life is cushy but bland. When she needs the space, she moves in, unannounced with her gay son at his LA apartment. Elliot, is a cook, running his uncle’s restaurant. Emma’s relationship with him are  bit strained Emma’s inability to come to terms with Elliot’s sexuality. It’s not that she disapp...

“Big Gay Love”, a phrase that you will hear way too many times during the course of this film, is a film about a overweight gay man coming to terms with loving and accepting himself the way he is, while also trying to find true love of his life. The concept is quite interesting and the film constantly kept reminding me of someone I know, but still there is a lot missing in the film to make it a good comedy. Bob, a man in mid-30’s is a successful party planner and is doing well for himself but he is not too happy. He is very conscious of how he looks and believing that no one could ever fall in love with him. A thought that would soon change, when he meets a chef Andrew Darcy at one of the parties that Bob has planned. Andrew is not only good looking but is also nice guy, level-headed and is very curious about Bob. Because of his own insecurities, Bob cannot fathom why someone like Andy would be interested in him. He just fails to see that a hot man can also look something beyond p...

Husbands is a gay web series which has so far premiered three seasons. After the success of bringing 2 seasons as a web series, CWseeds picked up the show for the season 3. After six weeks of courtship, an actor, Cheeks and a baseball player, Brady travel to Las Vegas in celebration of a federal amendment for marriage equality, only to wind up drunk-married to each other. When the media explodes with the news of this along with speculation and judgement and fearing that a public divorce would be devastating to the cause, and their careers, the two decide to stay married. Also it doesn’t help that the Brady so far was in closet and is now suddenly out. All the three seasons basically focus on th embargo of these 2 highly unlikely individuals and how over a period of time they learn to live with each other and truly love each other. We also meet Haley, Cheek’s fag hag who provide her own share of laughs for us. The 11 episodes of season 1 are barely a couple of minutes each but I ...

All these are quick short films, most about 2-4 minutes. 100 crushes chapter 6 - They (Canada) -  A bad animation introducing concept of addressing as pronouns rather than ‘he’ or ‘she’. By way of love (USA) -  A man discovers his lover has found another prompting him to enact upon a deeper, darker side of human nature. Cruising Electric (USA) -  A commercial for a cruising game Based on Al Pacino’s film. Dunkin Love (USA) -  A musical interlude between a trans and a man Europe is Our Playground (Spain) -  Suede music With a naked main jungle Franz (Dominican Republic) -  No dialogue. A naked man reliving his past love in dreams. Golden Age of Hustlers (USA) -  Interviews with Bambi Lake and archival projections from San Franscisco’s queer community in the 1980s. Kahanne Bez Mežaў (Byelorussia) -  2 couples - one gay and one straight. Their delicate romance. Maricón (Spain) -  A young, aggressive-looking man wakes up at 3:0...

I was surprised to find that G&T came up with season 2. And it was a pleasant surprise. Although the season 1 had a definite ending, there is always a possibility of introducing new characters and new happenings in the lives of the individuals that can make for an interesting viewing. Although prime focus this time is also on G&T, there are a lot more new characters introduced and thankfully each one of them is given a good character sketch and something to build on. This time there was not a specific ending for the series, and I am expecting a season 3 may follow soon. The series starts with a shocker when we see that Tommaso & Giulio have broken u and are not staying together. It turns out that at some point Tommaso cheated but we don’t know the details until later. Giulio has now a new boyfriend, a guy with who he has worked for a long time, is a perfect gentleman and had a crush on Giulio from before. Tomes regrets and wants to make things better with Giulio but G ...

Andamio (Spain) [Scaffolding] Eduardo, a snob and grumpy journalist, and David, a shy literature student, are neighbors in a building under maintenance. For six months they have never greeted each other. A scaffolding is put up for the renovation of the building, which provides them with a platform to finally socialise with each other. We see the two characters break the ice by talking about scaffolding, then they smoke, drink coffee, play cards. And that's it. I am not even sure if this is really a gay short film. (3/10) It's nothing / Less Than Zero A collection of 7 real small (a couple of minutes or more) clippings focussing on nude performances, videoart etc. , most focussing on nudity and not necessarily queer. (0/10) Escapade (Netherlands) The film is about 2 friends, living as neighbours. They are both dealing with having a hard time at home.  Their parents don’t like the way their kids are living and are constantly mad at their children. One of kids os comp...

Touted as a comedy, 'John Apple Jack' supposedly brings East and West together to create one sumptuously heart-warming dish. Unfortunately, I will end up remembering this film for how annoying and irritating the characters were, pretty much all of them. I mean, how to expect that with a wafer thin plot line, stereotyping asians, bad over the top acting, can actually make people laugh and appreciate the film. Trust me I have sen worse films; so giving a balanced opinion, this film is not terrible; but it sure is very irritating. John, a handsome young gay man lives a privileged luxurious life. He is a playboy who beds anyone. Jack works as a chef in one of John’s restaurant. Barring an incident hat maybe the two boys had a crush on each other in childhood, there is no other scene that shows that either had a crush on the other. Maybe to a certain extent Jack had crush on John. When Jack finds out that John is marrying his sister Vivienne, he is confused. Meanwhile, we also ...

I feel sad about what I am going to write but I can’t help but be objective. When I hardhat Vicious was returning for Season 2; I was incredibly ecstatic. I loved the season 1 and recent;y saw the entire season 1 with my closest friends when they were visiting me. We were all laughing uncontrollably, so I knew that even they were liking the show. Naturally my expectations were quite high even for the second season. But sadly, I was disappointed. By both writing and a bit of acting as well. The setting is still the same and it seems the stories just move on. Stuart and Freddie are still together. Although Violet is now married to Jasper, who mysteriously disappeared 3 months ago after wedding night and has since not returned. Her flirtations with Ash continue who is dating her ex-girlfriend again, to re-breakup with her. The six episodes of season 2 continue to show brickbats between Stuart and Freddie, they being vicious towards Violet who hasn’t changed one bit and Ash, who is st...

What a beautiful small gem of a film ! I had never heard the name of the film, but something about the title and the cover seemed intriguing. And within few minutes i was hooked. Tiger orange, the color, is meant to be “the loudest thing on the block”. The small time setting, the silence, the acting etc. just caught my attention. A setting with 2 brothers (both being gay) though uncommon seemed very believable in this case. I think this director will be someone to watch-out for; at least in my list. Chet and Todd are two brothers and we get to see bits and pieces of their childhood life in flash backs. We find out that they are both gay and at some point, Todd had run away to live in LA, because he though their father didn’t approve of him being gay. On the other hand, Chet decided to stay back in the small town taking over their father’s hardware store business after his death and doing his best to downplay his sexuality.. When Todd is moneyless and jobless, he comes back to town...

A gay rom-com. We have seen a few before and I am sure there will be a lot more coming out. Nothing wrong with rom-coms but at some point they need to be amusing and interesting or at least be sexy in case of gay themed films. This films just partly holds attention in all these attributes. This film may not be one of those underdeveloped badly made, produced and weakly acted so-called gay films which fail to enthral or impress. But at the same time it is no great shakes that could be talked about or even referred to our friends for a funny evening watch. Myles is a successful lawyer but also a hopeless romantic, who is looking for the perfect Mr Right so he can settle down into romantic marital bliss. Brody is his handsome best friend, a Los Angeles police officer, who beds every man he crosses paths with. Why are these 2 men friends, we won’t know. One night when Myles get dumped on a date (yet again),  the two make a pact that if they are still single in ten year’s time then...