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Showing posts from July, 2019

Ma vie avec James Dean (French) [My Life with James Dean]

I did not know what to expect when I started watching this film. I didn't even know what the genre of the film was. But It was a nice breezy film, with some nice fun moments. The film wasn't great by any standards, but neither was it bad. The charming leads of this film and the quirky chemistry that the actors shared with each other made this film a worthy watch. This wont fall in a typical romantic comedy genre, but it comes pretty close. Geraud is a young film maker who is visiting a small town that is showcasing his film “My Life with James Dean”. His phone gets stolen by a kid as soon as he leaves the bus. Although his hotel reservation is done, it turns out that there is absolutely no promotion or word about his movie being played in the local cinema on that night. When Geraud visits the cinema, the young projectionist Balthazar agrees to play his film and in fact watches the whole film and loves it. Geraud is anxious about feedback for his film but at the same time,

A Man, His Lover and His Mother (Swiss German) [Rosie]

This film is technically not a gay film to be precise. This is more of a relationship that an ailing mother shares with her children , especially her gay son. And since, the son being gay is an important aspect of the series, I am ok writing down a review of the film here. Originally titled as Rosie, I think the film's title was changed to attract more gay audience, because the gay son is definitely not the central character. Its the mother. Rosie is old and lives by herself and one day falls and is admitted to the hospital. His gay son Lorenz who lives in Berlin, comes back to take care of her. Lorenzo, who is in his mid 40s, writes gay fiction but of late his books are not getting good reviews. He also has a sister who is herself dealing with her family issues. They both argue that neither of them can take care of the mother. But Rosie herself insists that she wants to stay independent and refuses any help. Lorenz struggles with her strong-willed mother but ultimately gives

Night Scene (Documentary) (China)

I had to fast forward this film(?) to even live through it. I hate it when even after the end you can't say whether it was a real documentary or a drama film shot in documentary style. I guess we will call it docudrama or mockumentary. The film essentially is about the male sex workers (gigolos) in Beijing, China. We see interviews with many young boys telling us their stories of how they came into this business and how they need the money. We hear how they go targeting their customers, what are the things they keep in mind and so on. But sadly there is no proper character development on any of the main protagonist. They could be easily interchangeable. The production values are really bad. Yes, you do hear the stories of these young boys and how these men have been forced into the business sometimes by hook or crook and most times just to meet their basic needs. This film seems to have been made just for the sake of it. If someone seriously wants to showcase the plight of mal

Devil's Path

We should always give credit where its due. There are so many similar themed gay films out there that there story lines keep blending with each other. So in that respect the makers have definitely come up with an interesting novel storyline. Unfortunately, something that looked good on paper loses its steam and feels too stretched at many places. The title refers to a hidden hiking trail in a wilderness park where gay men often go for cruising. A young man Noah is walking around with tarrot cards and starts following Patrick as soon as he sees him. They strike up a conversation but clearly Patrick is looking for just casual sex. On Noah's insistence, Patrick decides to stay little longer for him but when Noah is attacked from behind after wandering off for a minute and he and Patrick begin fearing for their lives. It seems the only chance for survival is to get back to the main trails and back to their cars. Instead, they spend the day running from the assailants in what turns

Otto; or, Up With Dead People (Canada)

This film is such a bad gay zombie movie (if thats even a genre of films in queer cinema). Right from the weird title of the film to a plot that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. The sex scenes with gay zombie was gut wrenching and not fun to watch at all. Otto has just woken form the dead and doesn't know who he is and where he is going. He just randomly walks around till he is discovered by underground filmmaker Medea who begins to make a documentary about him with the support of her girlfriend and her brother Adolf. Medea is trying to finish Up with Dead People, the epic political-porno-zombie movie that she has been working on and convinces its star, to allow the vulnerable Otto to stay in his guest bedroom. Otto discovers that he has a wallet that contains information about his past life, remembering details about his ex-boyfriend, Rudolf. He arranges to meet him at the schoolyard where they met. This film was utterly amateurish. The acting was pretty terrible to b

The Cockettes (Documentary)

When I started watching this, I had no idea what I was getting into. To be honest, I did not even know that I was going to watch a documentary. So, to be honest, at. the beginning, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue watching it but I am glad I did. After my initial apprehensions, the documentary did peak my interest and there was so much I got to learn and understand about San Francisco in late 60s and 70s when celebration of hippie culture, diversity, sexuality was at its peak. The documentary talks about the gender-bending San Francisco performance group who became a pop culture phenomenon in the early 1970s. The documentary starts with snippets of interviews with some of the members of the Cockettes group that was an eclectic mix of gay and straight, black and white, men and women.. Story is centered around a NY based actor George Harris, a bearded man, who moves to SF, rarely seen without lavish glitter makeup, facial hair dye and resplendent thrift-shop couture. He mov

Strapped For Danger

I can't believe the amount of good reviews this film has received online. I understand that this is a camp film, wanna be comedy laced with over the top acting but there should be something to keep a viewer's attention. I caught myself rolling my eyes pretty much every 5 minutes. I mean, come on. But then, one look at the poster and I should have known what I am getting into! Joey and Matt are gay male strippers and are underpaid. They also have a straight colleague Chuck. One night they rob one of their clients. When the cops come to arrest them, they take the twink cop Rod as their hostage and shoot his partner in the shoulder. The strippers bring the cop to a frat house That Chuck used to belong to to hide out and locate a stash of diamonds. This is where there are a lot of hazing scenes and random fuck scenes to initiate the frat boys. With the help of drag queen, Rod's partner is able to find these men at the frat house. The story as you can see rests on a wafer

Gay Short Films : 64

Ace (USA) Ace, a shy newcomer is attracted to Z that he can neither ignore nor embrace. Though the attraction is clear, their inability to acknowledge and express their feelings for each other openly threatens to sever the bond that draws them instinctively to each other. Made Of Sugar (USA) A nostalgic portrait of a Cuban-American Family's evolving cultural heritage. Als ik jou tegenkom (Belgium) A very short quick story of a secret love that takes place in an art school. A love between two individuals, both lost in their secret lives in the bathroom of the school. Room Closet - Truth or Dare (USA) The classic truth or dare game is used by teenagers to express themselves. A girl thinks she is smart, but is upstaged when a boy gets to kiss his crush. Due volte (Italy) [Twice] Diego, only 17, is best friends with Antonio and has a crush on him. Antonio knows it but probably doesn't enjoy it. At one of the parties Antonio almost forces Diego to rape a girl whi

A Queer Story (Cantonese)

This film was surprisingly a very pleasant watch. I wasn't sure what to expect. Even though at time the film felt a bit stretched, but wonderful performances by its two lead actors made sure as an audience you are never bored. The story is a little all over the place and too many issues have been tried to be dealt with, instead it would have been better to continue to focus on the core couple. Law, a 40-ish man, and a counsellor is in stable relationship for 8 years with his younger boyfriend Sonny. But due to a very unhappy incident in his childhood, he has deep buried the secret of his sexuality and no one except his boyfriend knows. On the contrast, Sonny is happy and proud to be who he is and is deeply in love with Law. Law has a childhood sweetheart and they are very close but he is even afraid to tell her the truth. His father's pressure to get married is always looming over him. When one of his clients force to go with her to mainland, he is approached by a hustler