Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2020

Marilyn (Spanish)

Don't let the title mislead you. This is a good coming-of-age story of a boy raised and living in farm that comes with its share of fun and tragedy. Based on true events, this film takes you in the psyche of its characters and shows homophobia and what it can do to people. Teenager Marcos lives with his family on a rural farm. He is a very shy kid and we see him wanting to experiment with cross dressing. When his father suddenly dies, he has to share responsibilities with his brother and mother of the farm. On the carnival night, he dresses as a seductive girl pretending to be Marilyn. The town goon likes him and rapes him after the carnival, which I believe Marcos secretly was looking forward to. But because of this, his secret is outed to his family and his mother burns all his clothes. Fortunately, things take a positive turn when Marcos meets openly gay peer Federico at a convenience store in town, and the two begin a relationship. Federico's family accepts Marcos but

Papi Chulo

After finishing watching this film, it reminded me a little of 'A Single Man'. Not that the two movies have anything in common, but its the fact that both films focuses more on the loneliness of a gay man and in both cases it has something to do with the loss of their partners. Good looking weatherman Sean broke up with his boyfriend Carlos almost 6 months ago. After a breakdown on live TV, he is asked to take few days off. He decides to get rid of the bog plan from his deck, the last remaining memory of his ex, but then that means he needs to get his deck repainted. For some reason, he picks up Ernesto, a middle-aged hispanic migrant daily worker. There is obviously a language barrier, but intentionally, Ernesto becomes an ear to everything that Sean has to say, given his loneliness. A very unlikely friendship develops between the two. Sean takes Ernesto for hikes, rowing, parties, eateries, much to Ernesto's dismay on why this is happening but sensitively provides li

I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole (Documentary)

Documentaries need a very specific mindset while viewing them and thats why I feel they are usually a hit or a miss. You are trying to learn more about either a subject or an individual but it's also important to understand the pysche behind the process. Truth be told, I knew nothing about this man, except for the fact that he is one of the biggest gay porn film makers. This film gave a little more insight to what his life was all about before it and during and after. Wakefield Poole was born in 1936. He was a very good singer in his childhood but when he reached puberty and his voice cracked, he got into dancing, ballet and theatre. As you would imagine, life soon took him to New York where he became a very famous broadway performer. During one of his visits in 70s to Fire Island he realized his eye for film making and together with his then boyfriend Peter, he made a gay erotic film, Boys in the Sand. He subsequently made a lot of "erotica" films. He still refuses

Ideal Home

This was a nice feel good film, something that we have seen before. From a concept and story perspective, there have been few films on the similar subject, so in that sense, this film doesn't offer anything novel, but keeping the proceeding light hearted and quick, this doesn't feel dragged at any point to take your interest away. Erasmus is a TV talk show/chef, raging camp old queen who lives with his producer boyfriend Paul of 10 years. They live in a huge mansion in Santa Fe, and very out of touch with reality (at least that's the feeling I got). They are visited by a young boy of 10 years old Angel, who announces himself as grandson of Erasmus and that he is there because his father was jailed. Paul is shocked and thats when Erasmus tells how this happened. Neither of them is ready to take the responsibility of the child, but slowly and steadily they start it and in fact unknowingly also enjoy it. Paul becomes more of a caretaker while Erasmus still remains the fun

Gay Short Films : 72

La traction des pôles (France) [Magnetic Harvest] From close up, Mickaël seems to move about in a cloud of desires: to find his missing pig, get his biological certificate, break his loneliness. But, further along, Mickaël seems instead to be a magnet for Paul. Ostia - La notte finale [Ostia: The Last Night] A dark story of desire and betrayal by a young rent boy, inspired by the events of the night of the brutal slaying of Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Balloon (USA) In the brutal battlefield of junior high, Sam has always tried to stay below radar--but all that changes when he discovers he has superpowers. When he cant take being bullied and called out names for gay, the teenager takes matter in his hands. A Play (USA) Two friends go to see a play and realize just how terrifying supporting the arts can be. This was hilarious. Vi er okay nu (Denmark) [We are Okay Now] Jonah a troubled gay teen hangs out with his straight best mate Demitri after

Honest Men : Season 1 & 2 (Web Series]

Wow! This series could be a masterclass in what bad direction and bad editing is all about. I really wonder who the audience for this show is, because I cant imagine why anyone would find anything remotely of interest in the show. Yes, the guys are hunks and amazing good looking and you get you see ample ass shots, but in todays time, you can see a lot more on porn websites. I saw 2 seasons of this (10+8 episodes) and really it was terrible. The main story is about Colby whose best friend Andre is in the army. He has some attraction towards Andre's father Mark ever since he was 17. Now, with Mark being his neighbor, Mark shows up in Colby's life as a support when Colby's father dies. They both flirt while discussing the issues they both have in life. They come very close to having sex but somehow don't do it. We also meet JT, who is figuring out a way to make money for his son's prom party. He also has all kinds of hallucinations of him having S&M sex with

Mariposas Verdes (Spanish) [Green Butterflies]

I would say that the central theme of this film was not really LGBTQ but about high school students, their life, the bullying that some students face and overall the discriminations that people face not just in the school but the society in general as well. In that sense, the story was interesting but it felt all over the place. There were way too many tracks going on and felt like more of a TV show sort of feeling. Although the film is set in Colombia, this could be true of anywhere. Daniel and Mateo have been friend since they were little. Daniel has had an abusive father whose always beating his mother and Mateo comes from a broken family where his mother is forever working. The school they study in has a strict principal, who is very partial to her nephew Lucas , who is clearly the biggest bully in the school. Daniel has a crush on Mateo, and when Daniel see Mateo make out with a girl, he cant hold in anymore and tells Mateo about his feelings. Thankfully Mateo feels the same

Closing Numbers (UK)

Watching films during the AIDS epidemic time are never easy to watch. Even of the films are badly made, they constantly remind you of the horror that people went through and make you appreciate the life and flexibilities that we as queer folks have today. Despite having seen a lot of content set in those times, seeing something new always stirs up emotions of all kinds. This was a made for TV movie that came out way back in 1993. Anna and Keith are a happily married couple of many years. By accident Anna discovers that Keith has actually been having an affair with a man named Steve. Anna and Steve meet and talk about Keith and during these conversations, Steve asks Anna to get tested. He tells her that he always had protected sex with Keith but given that she may have not, it's better to know the truth now than later. On confronting Keith with the possibility, it freaks him out and he refuses to get tested. Anna eventually tests negative. But, in the process she ends up befrie

What The Duck: The Series (Thai)

This Thai drama was about 20 episodes ranging from 35-45 minutes in duration, so clearly it took me a while to watch all of this. Like you would expect for most shows, there is a lot of side parallel stories and scenes that maybe don't add much to value but give a good credibility to character and story building. The series focusses on one main couple (aren't really a couple yet) and another gay pair primarily. Pop has just joined a new job in catering for airlines at an airport where he befriends Oat. Oat is an orphan and has gambling problem. What begins as a joke to seduce Pop, starts becoming serious when Oat finds himself really liking Pop and wanting to be always around him and helping him etc. Meanwhile, he keeps saying that he is not gay. Pop has a girlfriend Mo, who works as a stewardess but is constantly being troubles by a group of fellow stewardesses who always are trying to bring her down. The pilot Nick likes Mo, but she tells him that she has a boyfriend. Mo

Nevrland (German/English)

When I started watching this film, I thought it had some good potential. But it totally lost steam half way. It turned into this self obsessed psychological trippy nightmare that was not my cup of tea. For a change, I don't have any recommendation on how this film could have been better. I am very sure that there are people out there who probably think that this by itself was a very good film, just sadly I dont fit in that category. 17 year old Jakob is a very shy teenager who lives with his father and his ailing grandfather. He starts working in the pig meat factory with his father and at nights he goes to these gay chat rooms to chat and watch porn and feel little bit alive. Jacob is struggling with an anxiety disorder that makes life increasingly difficult for him. One night, he meets 26-year old Kristian on gay chat and after a few times, they both decide to meet in person. The rest of the film is about the interactions between these 2 men, which I felt was an interesting

Soldiers: Story from Ferentari (Romanian)

This was a very different film. Was it really good or bad, I will hopefully know by the time I finish writing this post. I do have to admit that a gay relationship between two 4-something very ordinary looking men is something of a rarity. This film is very rooted in the Bucharest slums, seems very real, mostly because of choice of actors and the location. Apparently the film is based on an autobiographical novel. A man in his early 40's, recently dumped by his girlfriend, moves to the slums neighbourhood of Bucharest called Ferentari. He decides to move there to do his PhD in manele music, something that this neighbourhood is known for. Pretty soon he meets and befriends beer-bellied Alberto, an ex-convict. After a couple years of homelessness, he’s living with a wealthy crime-boss cousin as a glorified servant. He is not shy of sharing stories that he has had sex with men in prison and wont mind doing again for money. He also has gambling problem. Before we know the 2 men so

Triple Crossed

What are your first reactions when you see a movie directed by Sean Paul Lockhart (assuming you know who he is)? Well mine is absolutely no expectations. Brace yourself for the worst and maybe then you maybe able to survive what you are going to watch. There is just no other way to describe it. Someone please recommend me some decent films to watch because of late the films that I have been picking up are just atrocious. Chris has just come back from war in Afghanistan and is looking for a job. He is hired by Jackie, who hires him to kill Andrew Warner, for property reasons , so she can have access to all of it. Reluctantly Chris agrees. He and Chris meet at various occasions during which Andrew tells Chris that his ex-boyfriend Tyler was also in army serving in Afghanistan. They both start falling in love but Andrew always has suspicion on Chris on why he carries gun. Upon confrontation, Chris tells Andrew the reality. Andrew is hurt because Tyler, who is now dead, was Jackie'

The Ambiguous Focus (Mandarin)

I have mixed feelings about this film after watching it. I had no expectations, so I was actually pleasantly surprised to see the film. Shown from 2 different perspectives on what went wrong in a relationship, it was very interesting to see how most things in life are not black or white. There is a whole lot of gray as well and it all depends on whose angle you are watching things from. Nan Zhang and Zhe Zhang have known each other since high school and its almost their 10th year anniversary. Highly introvert, Zhe is struggling writer while Nan works and looks after both of them not just financially but also at home etc. Zhe finds out hat Nan has been cheating on him with his colleague Jimmy. Despite ignoring that and pleading for Nan to not leave him, Nan leaves. His close friend and mentor Chunzi, who is struggling to find love for himself, is there for Zhe's emotional support at this time. A new guy Chao starts seeing Zhe who then soon finds out that Chao has also secretly

Alpha Delta Zatan

One more movie gets added to the crappy movies that have been made and i have been stupid enough to waste my time to watch them and review. This is not per say a gay movie but every single scene in the film screams homoerotic what with continuous display of hot naked male guys and their ass and bodies on full display. The plot of the movie is paper thin. There is a frat house. New and sexy guys keep coming into that house, keep walking around in their underwear and a masked killer keeps murdering them. Trust me, literally this is exactly what happens over and over again. The final revelation as to who is doing this dastardly deed and why is worse than anything else. i mean there is no single reason why anyone would wanna watch this movie at all. There is absolutely nothing at all, unless of course watching hot guys in their underwear is your thing. For sure there is plenty of that here. Other than that the film is not sexy, not erotic, no horror, no nothing. I really hope no money

I'm A Porn Star (Documentary)

An interesting documentary, this is not a thoroughly investigated journalism but it still provides an interesting perspective of the gay porn industry. And as the doc tells us that just the gay porn industry is almost 13 billion industry, much bigger than the music industry definitely deserves some sort of attention. This film focuses on stories of 4 major porn stars who were ok sharing their life stories. The documentary starts with a quick recap of gay porn right from 30s. Those 10 minutes were most interesting since it was a very breezy, fast paced recap and i learned about the history of gay porn that I had no idea about. And then we are introduced to 4 gay porn stars one after the other and their stories. Our first guest talks about his evolving sexuality over time, how he is married to a transsexual who went through the whole change while they were married, how his relationship evolved with his family. The next 2 are more the gay for pay kind of stories where they both talk

The Gays

When the opening of the film itself is so disturbing, you should know better whats in store for you. But, that was just a teaser. The rest of the film was so much more worse that in my wildest dreams I cant imagine and fathom why would anyone wanna make such an atrocious film, which is not funny by any means or standards. Agreed that the film doesn't take itself seriously, but I take offense to the fact when film makers take audiences taste and brains for granted. The "Gays" are a family of four (Yes, their family/last name is Gay). A gay man, his transsexual wife and 2 gay sons, who according to the parents have been painstakingly brought up to be gay. When a new guy Kevin moves into the town, he meets the elder son Alex Gay who tells him stories about his family. The stories include how to seduce your friends into having sex with you, how to prepare your ass for fucking, how to sodomize, how to cruise in parks and streets and how never ever fall in love and much mo

Almost Love

You know, there is nothing out of this world extraordinary about this film if you look from a story perspective. But having said that there is something very warm, very real and something that you can instantly connect to as an audience with this film, and I think this itself gives the movie an added advantage. There are no silly trying to be funny moments. There are characters, a group of 30 and 40 something individuals trying to live through their life in New York city in search of love and belonging. The film is centered by this gay coupe Adam and Marklin coming up on their fifth anniversary. Marklin is a very successful social media influencer, documenting most moments of his life to make a living. Adam on the other hand is a ghost painter, who paints on behalf of a renowned painter, except she is the one who makes money out of it. The couple is going through an itch and neither can pin point to where the problem is. Is it their love, is it their career, is it marriage or some

Matthias & Maxime (Canadian French)

By now Xavier Dolan has created a niche for himself in the film industry. Most of his films some sort of human emotions with an undertone of sexuality or queerness. This film falls in a similar category. It will be absolutely wrong to classify this as a queer piece of cinema but its somewhere there. Is it about sexual awakening or not, I am not sure but the undertones are there between 2 main protagonists and a sexual tension that's never gotten rid of. The film starts of as 5-6 group of friends hanging out in the summer. Matt and Max are two closest friends. One of the friends' sister is making a short film and 2 of her actors back out leading to Max and Matt acting in the film. What they don't realize is that they will have to kiss in the film. An event that could just have been laughed off, becomes a big point of contention between the two. It ignites long suppressed feelings that both of them have for each other (or at least thats the idea). Clearly that kiss has a

Temblores (Spanish) [Tremors)

Religion and sexuality has been explored in many films to date and we have already seen a few versions out there. This film is slightly different in the sense that rather than focusing on the coming out process itself, it is more focussed on the repercussions of it. Whether self-identity is defined by what people are, or what they are not or by people around you? Is the fear of loss more profound than the search for love? Whether the happiness to be himself is worth the pain that will come with it? All interesting questions and lets see how well do these situations get explored. Set in Guatemala city, Pablo is a man in 40's, a pastor and a consultant by profession (his entire family is big time into church) with a wife and kids is outed somehow that he is gay. He doesn't deny it and leaves home despite being coaxed by all his family members. He moves in with his boyfriend Francisco, a man from a very different social strata and a nurse by profession. Pablo loves his childr

Impossible Choice

Another one of those poorly scripted, acted and directed gay films that have absolutely nothing to offer to us an an audience. Granted the film came out few years back, but still the film is all over the place and takes forever to get to the point and in the process loses the viewers interest, at least it did mine. The main story is of a 2 friends who get intimate with each other on one hiking weekend. They both are close to a third male friend who also takes acting classes and are actors. A parallel story plays where a cruise company is trying to come up with a special gay cruise to increase their revenue. One of the boys of the couple happens to be pastor's son who completely loses his shit when he finds out that his son is possibly gay. In the process he tries a murder attempt on the son's boyfriend and god only knows what happens after that, since by then I had completely lost interest. Firstly, I am not sure at all as to why there was this 10 minute play within the

Siempre Si (Spanish) [Always Say Yes]

There is alway s a fine line between pornography and making a sensible meaningful erotic LGBTQ cinema. Even though this film comes with warning of having explicit sexual scenes, this is nothing but porn. Hector travels to Mexico City from Hermosillo alone after his friend Carlos decides not to accompany him, with the hope of posing naked for photography collective Feral. Now he is on his own, young and very horny, he walks through hallways if his hotel and the streets of mexico and bathhouses looking for sexual experiences. He enjoys sex with 2 different guys in sauna an d then again with his hotel neighbor. He goes partying and meets a stranger there. Next day he gets called that since the guy he was supposed to model for had a party and is too hungover to shoot him naked. Hector is sad but eventually makes the most meeting new random man and eventually finds an artist who is interested in his naked body. I understand and can very well relate to a weekend of ravel exploring you