Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

There are many films that have been made in India taking India-Pakistan partition in 1947 as the backdrop. This film falls in the same category. But this one looks less at the atrocities and murders, but a more personal story of two families who destiny got together. In contrast to most films of this genre, the director addresses the less well-known after-effects of partition, particularly focusing on the lives of women and a surprising gay/bisexual relationships and shows how the psychological damage of the time still resounds within the sub-continent today. I am quite surprised that this indie Hindi film was able to show a gay relationship in this manner. Lajma, in present day Pakistan decides to revisit her ancestral home back India after many years (where his uncle and aunt lived). But returning evokes a deluge of memories, and the film then unfolds in a series of flashbacks. We see how Lajma's uncle escaped Pakistan during partition to Delhi and was forced to live alongside a ...

What an absolute bizarre film (or was it a documentary?). The version that I saw either had some really bad subtitles, or it had the kind of English that made absolute no sense to me. It was extremely poetic using words that just didn't make sense together. Given that the film is supposed to be a homoerotic journey through a modern day Caravaggio painting, I'd have to say the dialogues were meant to be artsy. Maybe they make more sense in local language, but in language I ket scratching my head on what really is this film trying to say. The plot as per online resources is this. Set in three geographically distinct chapters that take place in Naples, Utrecht, and Rome, this drama follows the wanderings of a middle-aged man as he mopes his way through the sex clubs, concert halls, bars, and streets of Europe. Voice-over reflections on love, art, and death are abundant.  In a cross between a diary and a baroque play the film reconstructs the fragments of a fateful journey against ...

This German film came back in 1999. It follows the life story of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German Jew, who as a physician established the field of sexology, and fought militantly against German anti-sodomy laws in the late 19th century. In 1897, he founded the first gay political group in history. I am honestly not sure, how much of th film is based on true facts, but the film feels like a work of fiction showing us incidents and motivations of a man doing something that he was so passionate about. As a y young adult, Magnus is fascinated by sex and sexuality and through his growing years. His uncle and aunt help him pursue his education. His quest leads him navigating through various political issues and opening his dream Institute for Sexual Studies. We see how he meets a potential lover who is through thick and thin in this journey, but Hirschfeld worries that any love story of his own will jeopardize his research. The man after being patient can't take it anymore and leaves him....

This is an interesting mix of documentary and drama which looks at the 1950's muscle men's magazines and the representative industry that were popular supposedly as health and fitness magazines, but were in reality primarily being purchased by the still underground homosexual community. Bob Mizer photographed handsome young men for "physical culture" magazines that appealed to gay men when little other literature for them existed. The documentary-drama tells us about his life and incidents leading to how he became to be the photographer he was. It shows Mizer in his photography studio with his models, whom he found as they literally stepped off the bus from across the country--young men who were new to Los Angeles. The documentary part provides interviews with people from the larger California health and fitness culture, including some high profile models from the time. The interviews offer an interesting counterpoint to the narrative that seems stronger than the dram...

Of late, the world of transgendered people is getting more visibility and public attention. But this documentary came out back in 1999 and is an illuminating and compassionate look at the world of transgender identity, as seen through portraits of some of San Francisco's leading gender mixers. The individuals in this film are people whose (genetically) assigned gender does not match their social gender identity. The subject is pinpointed in the film independent of sexual orientation. Ms. Treut, a chirpy, sympathetic presence whose curiosity is always balanced by tact, introduces us to a few residents. Texas Tomboy, is biologically a woman, a former Penthouse model who sees herself as Tomboy's surrogate mother. But Tomboy sports blond stubble on her chin and prefers to be called he. A blue-eyed, crew-cut, six-foot photographer named Stafford, on the other hand, doesn't care what pronoun people use so long as they use it respectfully. And Hida Viloria, a voluble hermaphr...

This film came out in 1999 and is a light hearted comedy. I can imagine that in that time it was probably a risqué subject, only because its the story of an traditional Indian family as a background. Ideally I wouldn’t have classified this as a film in LGBT realm because there is so much more to it, like family, responsibilities etc. but it is still definitely worth putting up on my blog. Reena, an Indian-American is a henna tattoo artist and lives with her lover Lisa. She and her sister Sarita were single handedly brought up by their mother. Like most Indian families, the mother and even Sarita are obsessed with babies. Few months into her marriage, Sarita finds out that she can’t get pregnant and about the same time Reena’s family make her feel that she is selfish and doesn’t do much for her family. Without discussing with Lisa, Reena offers to be the surrogate mother of the baby for her sister and her husband Mitch. Narita is not to keen on the idea but because Mitch seems real...

I am not sure what category does this film fall into. The film came out in 1999 and focuses on the central character of a gay middle aged professor. A mix of psychological drama, sexual bramble. It also has a few parallel stories going on and how the lives of some of these people intertwine with each other. By the way, the poster of the film is quite misleading. This film is definitely not a sleaze fest. Jaume is a middle aged professor who is dying (we don’t know of what). His best friend os fellow university friend Pere, who Jaume loved all his life but is now his best friend. Here has a lovely wife and a 19 year old daughter, who has just found out that she is pregnant. The child is of David, a rebel-without-a-cause kind of college student. Pere hates David while Jaume thinks that he is one of the most brilliant students, albeit a rebel and Jaume finds himself falling in love with David. He is shocked when he finds out that David actually hustles as a male prostitute to make mo...

After a string of watching bad gay films, I finally got a respite in a decent comedy. This film was good in the sense that it wasn't over the top or anything, provided right laughs at the right time with right set of acting skills. Of course you do get to sees certain stereotypes but then it happens everywhere. Wayne and Harry escape prison when they are being moved. On their way, they steal a RV van owned by a gay couple Steve and David. While traveling hone they reach the town of Happy in Texas, the town sheriff mistakes them for the gay couple who travel around the world to help girls prepare for beauty pageants. They both get excited to do this since it will give them time to spend with girls. Their dreams get shattered when they realize that it is pre teen girls and not young girls. Wayne aka David is given the task to teach the girls and prepare them for their dance and Harry decides to plan to rob the bank of the small town. He befriends the young manager of the bank an...

Hit and Runway was a formulaic film school comedy. A film about budding friendship, it shows how friendship between 2 most unassuming people just naturally grows. The film doesn't take anyone's side. It just shows how 2 people from 2 different world in terms of ethnicity and sexuality are brought together with a common goal: to become a good screenwriter. All actors are pretty unknown and hence the film becomes more believable.  Alex is a budding screenwriter but the reality is that he is not much of a writer. After his father passes away, he is forced to work at his family's cafe. He wants to write this major story but is hindered by his lack of screenplay writing abilities. He meets Elliot, a regular looking Jewish guy, at his cafe. Elliot is there to meet Joey, the server and part time actor on whom he has a crush on. When Elliot leaves his play for Joey to read, Alex finds it and recognizes that Elliot is the only one who can help him write his script. Overcoming his ph...

Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. This is a fascinating film about the danger of beauty : to sum it up, a young "ephebe"'s ethereal beauty spreads like a plague, infecting a whole company of iron hard men in the process. In this film the forbidden subject of homosexuality among Samurais is tackled and I can't even imagine how traditional people perceived the film. After a strenuous scrutiny, Tashiro, a low-ranking samurai and Kano , an effeminate 18-year-old rich man's son, join the conservative samurai military unit loyal to the Shogun. Deceptively demure at first, the boy Kano quickly proves his acumen for killing when ordered to execute a wayward samurai. Tashiro, struck by Kano's feminine beauty and odd power, seduces him and they become talk of the group although they are never shown together. Kano's silent, almost frail, pretty-boy ways conceal demonic i...

It is a little weird/odd to watch gay themed films that are relatively older because they sometimes deal with subjects or the way they deal with it is a little, i don't know what the word is, strange. This film was made in 1996 and even after seeing the movie, I still cannot figure out what was it that the film wanted to focus on. Was it relationships, love, friendship, HIV, careers ? What was it all about? Maybe while writing this, I will figure something out. Philippe is 30 something gay man living with slightly older Jean-Marc, his lover of seven years. Their restaurant has been a failure for about a month and Philippe's mother now wants her money back that she invested in the restaurant since she is separating from her husband. Jean-Marc and Philippe are hosting a small party. We soon learn that Philippe's long time friends Nathalie and Christian are keeping a secret from him. At the party, some guest orders for an escort to come over which is quickly interrupted by Je...

This film is one of those which encompasses several short films and somehow show some connection between them an drake a full length feature film out of it. The stories in this film were interconnected very briefly and could have very feel kept separated. This film, in my opinion, was not directed very well and even from acting perspective was not successful in holding on my attention. In 199, after a railroad accident, a few passengers get stranded or are waiting for their loved ones to show up. All this happens on a lonely night in Hong Kong. A tourist guide misses his flight from China and is now waiting for a train. His cell phone gets stolen and now he cannot reach his girlfriend, who is visiting during a hiatus in her studies in London. He goes for a meal at a restaurant where adult film actress Ding Li is shooting her latest movie, under prison like conditions. She takes up fancy for him, makes him do a scene in her adult film and they hook up in the night. On the other hand, hi...

Oh My God!! This movie had so much talking that it is unbelievable. The two lead characters can talk and talk and talk forever. Its not all bullshit talk or anything. In fact it seems very real life like, the way pauses are used or the language is used but it just tests your patience. You want something more meaningful to happen in the movie and it does but at os own pace when the viewer is already yawning away.  The story is basically of two best friends David and Jack. They are very very close to each other. David likes sleeping with women and Jack is having some problems with his live-in girlfriend Rebecca. When she can't take it any more, she decides to move to California. This is when Jack and David decide to move in together. David wants Jack to get back to a normal life meeting women but Jack is struggling internally. He has been in closet and is now finally sleeping with men. One night he tells David about this who takes it very positively. Life goes on. David meets a coupl...

First things first, this is not a gay film an dhas nothing to do with homosexuality except the fact that the best friend of the main characters happens to be lesbian and there is a small kiss between the 2 men. This still doesn't qualify the film to be a gay film. So, why am I reviewing it here? I dunno. This was supposed to be gay film when I started watching it. :(  An average, calm mid-20s girl named Veronica restarts her dead dating life all of the sudden, but with two guys: a sensitive failed writer named Abel and an airheaded drummer named Zed. At first she despairs. Then she finds a way to date both without their finding out. Then she tells both about it. Then Abel and Zed meet each other, and, after much initial conflict, they wind up living together and evolve into a very odd yet happy threesome. However, as time goes by Veronica starts growing apart from them, while Abel and Zed become brother-like (and kid-like). Soon she finds out that she is pregnant and now wants some...

I am not a big lesbian movie watcher, so I wasn't sure about watching the film. They are just not my cup of tea. So with my own apprehensions, I did start watching the film. In the end it turned out to be not so bad. The funny thing was this film also had all the typical lesbian cliches that you will find in most gay movies too. So in a way , it was funny. PLus the film was in a comedy genre, so it wasn't that bad after all. Meggie, just quit university and preferred becoming part of Vancouver's gay scene, performing in a gay bar and working in a lesbian book store. Things seem to go pretty fine until the day when Maggie's Mum Lila calls and informs her that she just left her current husband and wants to move in with Maggie, bringing Maggie's teen brother Paul with her. The problem is: Mum doesn't know (or doesn't want to know) that her little daughter is gay. Things get even more problematic when one night, after her performing at the club, Maggie meets an ...

This one a was avery weird movie. It seems like thats all I watch these days. Again it had just had few characters who happened to be gay. This is not purely a gay cinema. The film basically follows thoughts dreams and a slice of life of a few people traveling in the subway train in Paris. An old woman is just looking at passengers and wondering what they do when they get off the train. The film hence follows the life of 4-5 such people. A young man who is taking flowers to the grave of his former lover, a victim of AIDS, reflects on their last moments together. Another young man is so obsessed with finding a woman with perfect feet that he ends up marrying one with an unpleasant face. David, a school teacher, begins an amorous liaison with a an unemployed younger man, Marco, whilst Pierre, a security guard, is all too ready to give up his days of solitude when he meets the right woman. Around them, society seems to be crumbling, the spread of AIDS reflecting a far deeper malaise...

This film has the look of a low-budget film by an inexperienced film-maker. However, it has an interesting story, two interesting main characters, and ultimately is worth watching. This film follows the relationship between an English professor Hugh who happens to be a bitter, alcoholic writer in Hong Kong, and Mark, one of his prize students. At first, Mark is merely another student in one of Hugh's classes, but Mark's talent soon brings him to Hugh's attention, and once Mark gets to know Hugh a little better, he is clearly smitten with Hugh. While Hugh tries to push Mark away at first, one night, Mark enters Hugh's apartment to find him drunk in the bathtub, and they give way to their passion. Hugh wants to put a stop to this but Mark pursues it. Having failed in making no progress in his writing abilities, Hugh attempts suicide. Mark then saves his life and takes care of him. This in turn brings them closer and the film ends with them looking for an apartment togethe...

Metrosexuality is a British television drama, which aired on Channel 4 in 1999. The show, a short run series in six episodes, depicts the interactions of a racially and sexually diverse group of friends and family living in London. Kwame is seventeen; sexy and unswervingly straight with his hormones raging like a forest fire. He has gay dads who are now divorced. The story revolves around these characters. One of his best friend, a young twink i madly in love with his dad. His other dad now has a new boyfriend but Kwame wants both his dads to get back together. His other friend is a big romantic who is in love with a bear and has proposed to him 4 times overtime to be rejected. Then there is the family counsellor who feels love lost between her and her husband and decides to move in with her girlfriend's rick millionaire father. There are other characters also in the mix who lend supporting roles to each of these creatures. The feature focusses on the days and problems and issues ...

The story of this film is actually very simple but I guess that the beauty of this film. Sweet and simple yet very identifiable, believable and enjoyable. I didn't remember much of the film since the last time I saw it except the fact that I liked it. Watching it again helps me to review it on my blog and also see whether I still think the same about the movie or not. Gabriel is an aspiring musician who wants to write musicals. His best pal is his girlfriend Tori whom he has known for ages, who is annoying, pushing but someone whom you can never move on from. One night Gabriel meets Mark, a journalism student who works as go go boy to earn money and he does have a hot body to prove it. They decide to have a hook up and go back to Gabriel's place but Tori is there getting her printouts done. Gabriel and Mark sit their uncomfortable trying to ignore Tori and doing small talk unconsciously they are getting to know each other better. By the time Tori leaves, Gabriel's room mat...

This amazing film takes on huge cultural issues and taboos that neither the Germans or their Turkish "guests" really want to face. Add to this setting the fact that the film deals with the taboos of gay life, transgender and transvestite men, and the stresses of families who deal with these issues on a daily basis and the result is a film full of richly detailed stories. Lola, a Turkish drag queen has a lover Bili, a macho, closeted Turk who views his role as the Man and Lola as the woman and encourages Lola to have gender altering surgery so they can live as husband and wife back in Turkey. Murat is Lola's baby brother, also gay, living with his mother and older brother, Osman who disowned Lola for being gay. Murat was born after Lola left home. After 15 years Lola returns home to demand his inheritance share to proceed with his sex change and finds out about Murat. They reunite because Murat is tired of Osman. Lola and Murat plan to meet the next day but 2 days later ...