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Showing posts with the label 1994

Quand l'amour est gai (Canadian French) (Documentary) [When Love Is Gay]

This is a documentary about men who break the silence about their homosexuality. They talk about their difficulty to accept and to make others accept their difference, of the place of sensuality in their lives, of their fierce desire to love freely. A film that ,in celebrating the love of a young couple, proposes to break the sometimes negative image around the gay world. Examining relationships between men - from long-standing monogamous partnerships to brief encounters - the film features men of all ages talking openly about their sexuality and the challenges of self-acceptance in a straight, often homophobic society. Drawing from intimate interviews as well as action scenes ranging from a steamy dance floor in Montreal's gay village to a gay ex-policeman lecturing to future officers, When Love is Gay brushes a realistic portrait of an evolving gay culture. This is an advocacy doc, aimed at giving a voice to gay Canadians as they discuss their experiences and opinions on matters ...

World And Time Enough

Supposed to be a gay romantic comedy, the big problem with this film is that it doesn't know where exactly does this film want stand. One of the protagonists is shown to be HIV+ but it doesn't take that anywhere. I mean there is no real reason to show that and has no relevance at all. David is the narrator of the story who happens to be best friends with Mark. Mark is an HIV-positive art student who creates temporary "sculptures" on topics including AIDS, abortion and the Bush economy. He cannot hold on to a job for more than couple of days and does that just to survive. HIs boyfriend is Joey, who works as a garbage collector, picking up trash along the roadways. He sometimes brings home interesting items that he finds on the job. Mark and his father are somewhat distant and out of touch. Joey's relationship with his adoptive parents is also strained because of his father's issues with Joey's homosexuality. Although he remains close with his sister, Joey f...

The Last Supper (Canada)

Yet another addition to the growing list of films that focus on AIDS related issues. Although, this film came way back in 1994, not every film is capable of managing viewers attention. This film is too theatrical with only three people in the film enacting their interactions withgloom, doom and dark (as the subject demands). Choreographer Chris is suffering from AIDS and is waiting on his death bed. Chris has decided to end his life via a doctor-assisted suicide, and film covers his last moments with his lover, Val. They eat a final meal together and reminisce about happier times. He surrounds himself in his last hours with everything that made his life special and creates his ultimate work of art by choreographing his own death. What's shocking for me to hear is that the lead actor who plays Chris died from AIDS-related causes four days after shooting wrapped on this film. I guess this was supposed to be his swan song and a tribute of sorts. To be honest, I would have been a bit h...

The Sum Of Us (Australia)

I think I had seen this film over 5 years back and had been wanting to see it again, so that I can finally put up a review online on my blog. Undoubtedly, this mvid depicts one of the most beautiful father-son relationships I have ever seen in a film. It is the true love, respect and affection that they have for one another that makes your heart how warm. Sure, sometimes you may feel that this is not as close to truth but who are we to judge. If this sort of relationship could exist in every family, that would be just awesome. Jeff lives with his father Harry. Jeff is gay and his father is more than ok in accepting Jeff's homosexuality. He is happy and proud of what Jeff is and supports him in every way. The father-son understand each other so well that hey can predict each other's routine and what they are going to say or do. Through some flashbacks we also realize that Jeff's grandmother was a lesbian and the purest love Jeff can remember is the one that his grandma ...

No Ordinary Love

Maybe six years ago, when I was brand new to the world of gay cinema, and had this been one of the first movies I had seen, I might have liked this film a little a bit. But today, I don't feel so. And don't get fooled by this poster. There was so much taken for granted in this film along with a little too many characters and a plot and sub-plots just to make the film longer, I guess. Each sub plot gets suffered from this because, the film makers could not focus more on any specific story vs the other. Kevin owns a house and has roommates Wendy, Andy and Vinny. One of the room-mates Tom just does and we find out later that he was originally Kevin's boyfriend before deciding to change his sexuality and dating Wendy. Vinny is an 18 year old boy, whom Kevin met somewhere and is letting him stay for free. Andy is a hunk who is gay but is very interested with neighbor lady, whose son is Vinny's best friend. Vinny is totally in love with him but he is all macho latino gu...

Les Roseaux Sauvages (French) [Wild Reeds]

It will be wrong to completely classify this film in the gay themed category. This i smog alike a coming of age film, in which a group of teenagers discover themselves amongst things that are going on around them. 3 boy son the verge of manhood and a girl in between. The interactions between the 4 protagonists forms the crux of the story. Francois and Maite are close friends but not lovers. Maite likes him but she knows she is not in love with him. One night Francois discovers he is gay, when he is seduced by an athletic guy Serge from his class. Serge i snot gay. It is just a sexual adventure for him in school. But post this encounter, the 2 of them become good friends and Francois keeps hoping that something more will follow. We also meet Henri, who is originally from Algeria, a couple of years older than the others and is try cynical. He ultimately ends up falling in love with Maite, who is supposed to be his enemy and a hated communist. Francois is also attracted to Henri but ...

Sibak (Filipino) [Midnight Dancers]

This was such a weird film in every sense. I have not seen so many people in a movie being ok with sexuality. A wife being completely ok with her husband having a boyfriend, a mother ok with her sons being call boys, 3 brothers dancing naked together etc etc. The list goes on. The director probably wanted to show us what some of the poor lower class people have to go through to make their needs meet in life but he could have shown that in a much nicer way in which viewer will empathize with characters a little bit. This is not to say that film was bad but it could have been treated better. Sonny and his older brothers, Dennis and Joel work as go-go boys in a sleazy sex emporium called the Club Exotica whose upstairs cubicles are reserved for paid assignations. Through prostitution, the boys are able to keep their closely knit family from starving. The 3 brothers essentially think of themselves as heterosexuals but do not mind doing things to get some money. Joel has a wife and child; ...

Priest (UK)

'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...

Ai qing wan sui (Taiwan) [Vive L'Amour]

This was such a ridiculous movie. The first thing I read someone's review online was that it is one of the director's best film dealing with contemporary loneliness and alienation. BS !! This was crap, boring and utterly annoying. Viewers just keep waiting and waiting for something to happen but almost never nothing happens. In Taipei, a middle-aged real estate agent, May Lin, goes about her daily routine of putting up signs, inviting potential customers to an open house, then sitting and waiting for them in empty apartments as the hours drag by. Hsiao-kang, a young gay man who sells wall space for burials, soon finds the key to an apartment being shown by May Lin and moves in. When May Lin meets Ah-jung a slick street vendor of women's clothes during a lunch break, they coyly size each other up, then use the apartment for casual sex. Ah-jung, unaware of Hsiao-Kang's presence, takes the key from May Lin and also moves in. The characters live an existence surrounded by s...

I Like You... I Like You Very Much (Japanese)

I think this is one of the first Japanese gay films that I saw and boy what a disappointment. This film was more of a soft porn rather than trying to either depict gay life in Japan or show a story or something. Yu has a good thing going with his boyfriend, college student, Shin. One evening, while waiting for the train, Yu spots Taka, a hunky young man in tight jeans. Gathering his courage, Yu approaches his new found attraction and whispers " I Like You, I Like You Very Much". This casual meeting sets off a series of events that allow each character to explore their changing sexuality. The film is laced with lot of sex scenes and personally none of them got my attention. They were done in a very weird way (neither aesthetic nor sexy). It was very difficult to watch through the whole movie despite the fact that movie was barely an hour long. Save yourself some time and please dont watch this. (0/10)

Der bewegte Mann (German) [Maybe... Maybe Not]

This film was different. It was a different kind of comedy film where emotions also played a strong part. It is also a bot different from the regular gay films that you get to see. So anything that somewhat different and is done good, I appreciate it. Axel's girlfriend of 3 years Doro catches him redhanded having sex with some random woman. She throws him out of the house. None of Axel's ex-girlfriends help him live with them even thouh he is so good looking. Certain events bring him to a discussion group of men which is also attended by a gay guy Walter who proposes to Alex that he can live with him. In a drunk state Axel thinks that Walter wants him for physical reasons, he decides to stay with Walter's friend Norbert. He is happy because of course Norbert likes him. Norbert is the kind of guy who falls in love with anyone and likes the idea of relationship. He helps Axel with everything but Axel makes clear that he is not gay although he doesn't mind getting naked i...

Postcards From America

Good God!! what was this film. Neither a documentary, nor a biography and definitely not commercial. How different it could have been had the director decided what's the ultimate result that he wants. This film is based on Late artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz, who died in 1992. The film portrays the life of this tortured gay soul on a desperate, life-long search for love and the supportive family he never had. The episodic story intercuts three periods in David's life: his abused childhood; his 1970s late teens years as a Times Square hustler and petty thief where he has a partner in crime and a couple of drag queens; and his emotionally adrift life as an adult who substitutes furtive, anonymous sex for love and whose rage and alienation eventually takes to the road. The three periods of his life just keep changing intermittently and they show random events from these 3 periods (which needless to say I could care less). And thats it. The film randomly starts and ...

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Australia)

There are not many movies who deal with gays and drag queens in a normal and sympathetic way, too often they are just shown as stereotypes. This film is a wonderful exception. The movie follows the story of 2 drag queens and 1 transsexual who follow a road trip across Australia to perform drag shows. Tick is the one who organizes the trip. He is the lead. He is married to a girl (who herself is bisexual) and also has a son which he is hiding from his friends. Adam/Felicia is the second drag queen who now has the biggest opportunity in life to perform in front of a large audience. Then there is the transexual Bernadette who acts as a balance between the two and supposedly most sophisticated. She has recently lost her husband and thats the reason she took the trip to get away from everyone. The 3 of them buy an old bus, name it Priscilla and move on. Thinking of taking a short cut, they drive through a desert and of course the bus fails. Starts here their journey of meeting some interest...