Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

I had no idea about the Māori clan in New Zealand. If nothing else, I at least got some information on Māori clan and the fact that they are natives from New Zealand. The Māori culture and language is strikingly similar to Hawaiian — indeed, the Māori name for their mythical ancestral homeland is Hawai‘iki. The film interestingly shows us family expectations and responsibilities, while being true to yourself. Kawa is a mid 40s man. He has a secure job in a flashy corner office, a big house, a nice car, and a loving wife with two happy kids. However he harbors a secret. Yes, he is gay. He has ben spending some time away form his family because he needs time to think. Everyone including his wife and parents cannot figure out what has suddenly gone wrong with Kawa (since they do not know the truth). He is seeing this guy and is living in a portent on his own but still struggling. After some bathhouse trips and an affair, he realizes that he can't do this to his family and returns back...

This movie deals with the subject of boundaries. Boundaries of race, of nationality, of sexuality, even generations. It pits father against son, American-born Mexican against an immigrant, an adopted sister against her older brother, and for one brief moment, a strong friendship versus romance. A small budget film, it does show the conflicts of stepping out from comforts of family to the unknown world.  Set in a small town somewhere close to US-Mexican border, the story deals with 3 friends: David, whose father Slater is rich and has something to do with cross border patrolling and who sent David away for higher studies to become a lawyer; George, an insecure boy whose father is cab driver and he has an adoptive Mexican girl, whom he never gets along well with and Gregorio, a young teenage of Mexican origin, now US citizen but still struggling every day to find his identity in US. These 3 men are part of the group called 'The War Boys' from college days where they do their own ...

What the hell was this? All this hype and such mediocre execution. The story had potential and if entrusted with an able director and better actors, this could have been something totally different. Touted as India's answer to Brokeback Mountain, I wonder if the actors feel really embarrassed when they go back and see this film and their association with it. Margaret lives with her daughter in law Rebecca and her 3 grand kids - Ashley, Sam and Linda. Ashley is married to Jenny and have a daughter. Although the family pretends to be close-knit in front of the world, there’s a lot of tension between the members. Rebecca and Jenny hate Margaret because their ideologies don’t match. Rebecca's husband left her years ago in search of spirituality. Ash works in a MNC and Sam is looking for a job. Sam is in love with his sister in law Jenny and wants to settle down with her. One day suddenly Ash is shown to be gay and meets Aryan and they start dating. Then, one day, Ashley and Jenny h...

This was a fantastic film. Inspired by true events and story of Ahmed Yildiz who was murdered for being gay, this is a heart wrenching story. I am not sure how the whole gay scene in Turkey is like but I do know that all the military scenes that were shown for gays are pretty real. The fact that my boyfriend did go for the turkish military and had some interesting tidbits to share made this film a close to home film. Can is a free spirited youngster, who is trying o avoid military and is hiding at his aunt's home. He works as a zenne (male belly dancer) in a nightclub. He is trying to hide from cops and thats the reason he works at night. We also have a German photographer Daniel, who himself is trying to run away from his past and is spending time in Istanbul. FInally we have Ahmet, a university student in Istanbul, born and raised in very traditional family in South-Eastern Turkey. As the friendship between the trip progresses, the viewers are shown some other facets of their lif...

This new and latest edition of Boys On Film introduces you to the queer and wonderful world of new British cinema. From the cliffs of the Isle of Wight to an abandoned swimming pool via a broken down lift in Lambeth, Peccadillo Pictures presents an eclectic mix of ten UK-set short films from scorching new British talent that depict LGBT characters in situations both funny and heart-rending, definitive and unique. I Don’t Care In the tumbleweed coastal retirement community of Porthpunnet, Luka cares for his bedridden mother. One day he meets Dan, a young manwho lives in a camper van and shares his interest in art. Initially he sees Dan as a kindred spirit until Dan proves to be gay. This film could have been much more interesting but I think a lame ending was the fault. Downing Amidst a vibrant house party, John, the isolated local gay lad, finds an opportunityto exact revenge on his straight oppressor, the popular and handsome Daniel. Boykisses boy, drinking, fucking and regret: just a...

At the core of heart, "Pariah" is a street-smart story of an African American teenager's struggle to come of age and come out — to the father who still calls her "daddy's little girl" and the mother who quotes the Bible and buys her pink frills. It's hard to portray adolescence in film without nostalgia or fantasy. The film captures adolescence in all its awkwardness and tragedy. The plot follows Alike, a black teenager girl, from home to school to the local gay social scene just a few bus stops from her Brooklyn neighborhood. We see her day to day life. She's an A student, a writer whose poetry speaks from her inner depth. She's wary of her classmates, but they seem merely curious to know the answer to the is-she-or-isn't-she a lesbian question. Certain about her sexual orientation, she's insecure about where she fits in as a young lesbian woman. Her closest friend is Laura, a very obvious butch lesbian who is hated by Alike's mothe...

I liked this film lot. It was modern and yet contemporary and as a viewer I was very engrossed and eager to know what is happening and I was invested in the film. This according to me is a sign of a good film. Set in the city of Sao paulo, Brazil; the film tells the story of 2 teenage brothers, discovering greatest and most important things in life growing up. This is technically not a gay film but nevertheless it is ok to put this film here since part of there growing up years get affected by something major 'gay'. Mano is a 15 year teenager like any other. He concerns about going to school, playing the guitar, parting with his friends and trying to score the most beautiful girl in school. He tries to keep his life normal even if his relationship with his parents is falling apart. His parents have decided to separate because his father finally realizes that he is gay and does not want to lead a double life. Mano's best friend is Carol, a girl about his age who shares with ...

This effective drama about crisis and change in an unorthodox family is a film that was made way back in 1979. I don't know what was it, but the film failed to keep my attention for long. Maybe it was my brain wanting to get stimulated by actions and stuff but somehow the film felt too dramatic and unreal to me, even though now that I write this review, I am questioning why was that ! Marta, an ex-famous opera singer now live sin a country house near Venice. Her adopted niece Anna takes care of her with her girlfriend and childhood lover (?) Claudia. The usual routine life gets an uplift when Anna's brother Nicky arrives with his boyfriend Picchio to the house. Nicky and Anna are shown to have memories of the past. Anna has memories of her man-hating mother because her father left her mother, thereby turning Anna into a spiteful and stony woman. Nicky's memories are tender playing with his best friend and object of his affection and other happy times with Marta. The family ...

Some films are just made to disturb audiences. But if you think hard, most of this films have some sort of truth or reality hidden behind them. We all had heard of a story where a man had help captive a girl in Australia for many many years. I guess, that was the clue that the director used in this film with a twisted angle to this tale. At the end of the film you are left bewildered and amused. Michael, is your average mid-30s man. He works for an insurance firm. He is good at his job, is friendly with his co-workers, gets along well with his siblings, and has a tidy home in the suburbs. But Michael is also a sexual predator obsessed with young boys, and he hides a ten-year-old child, Wolfgang, in his cellar as his slave. He frequently tells Wolfgang that his parents don't want him back, and while he takes good care of the boy, he also forces the child to have sex with him whenever he wishes. Michael follows the title character's double life over the course of five months, as...

A Crimson Mark (South Korea) This short film shows love in old Korea during the Chosun Dynasty. A secret relationship between two Korean government employees is complicated by the difference in the ranks. The 2 guys want the premier to act according to this individual suggestion and they are supposedly opposition members but they have a secret love going on among them. (4.5/10) Les puceaux (France) [The Virgins] A simple yet beautifully done story. 2 boys are sitting and talking. It turns out they are both virgins. One with boys and the other with girls. The pleasure, anxiety and fear of doing it with a virgin and teaching the ropes is shown very beautifully. The end was specially nice when one by says to the other that he wants to kiss him.  (6/10) Between The Boys (US) Two handsome easy going boys playing, giggling and tickling, the very erotic shower scene, and the snow fight -- and then BAM a twist to end all homo erotic twists. It turns out they are both brother...

This film is filled with great performances, a heart-touching plot, an underdog winning and the circumstances that feel too real. It will be wrong to categorize this film as strict gay-film but I think this definitely falls as a gay cult classic given the nature of the lead character and the storyline. 11 year old Billy lives with his widowed father and older brother, who work in a coal mine factory which in on a strike. One day when his father takes him for boxing class, he immediately dislikes it and chances upon a ballet class that issuing the same gym. Unknown to Jackie, Billy joins the ballet class. When Jackie discovers this, he forbids Billy to take any more ballet. But, passionate about dancing, Billy secretly continues lessons with his dance teacher. His teacher thinks that Billy deserves to study at the Ballet school in London but both his brother and father prohibit him from doing so thinking that everyone will think Billy is gay. Over Christmas, Billy learns his best f...

One very important thing to remember when you watch this film is that the film was made for TV way bak in 1985. That was the time when homosexuality was not widely accepted. In fact, it was not even openly talked about. It was some sort of disgrace to a family, so the reactions that you see in the film are more relevant.  Ken and Tess are a happily married couple and Ken is just fought cancer and is healthy. They have a son Jeff who studies in college and a daughter Margie who is expecting her baby. Both parents are very proud of Jeff. After having struggled very hard with himself and lying to everyone, Jeff decides to tell his mother that he is gay. Though his mom is unnerved by the revelation, she tries her best to remain supportive in front of him—despite insisting that he seek therapy to "fix" the situation. But for Ken, it is devastating for him to know that his only son is gay. Not knowing how to deal with the situation, he starts avoiding his son on purpose. Soon the v...

After watching this film, I asked myself whether this film was really a work of cinema or more of artistic pornography. I still do not know the answer. The film sourced from various studies of serial killers, goes all over the place. There should be a story that goes somewhere rather than just a series of incidents to make the audience gasp. Chris, a young man is a wanderer and likes to pick up people and have sex with them and kill them. He meets a young rebellious young French-American Aurore in a hotel bar and drives her out to the woods in his van, where they have lots and lots of sex. Instead of murdering her, Chris begins an intense sexual relationship with Aurore and the pair move into a flash apartment owned by her wealthy but frequently absent businessman father. They both start falling love. One day Chris picks up a male prostitute and accidentally kills him. Things take a dark ugly turn from there. What follows next is a series of events where Chris either by himself or wit...

Once in a while I do like to watch documentaries in LGBt cinema but sometimes they spring you a complete surprise. The title of this documentary was pretty catchy and I had to see this. 7 years ago, a 19 year old rugby playing teenager Kris snapped his neck while playing with his friends. He suffered a massive stroke and he woke up as a completely different person who is now ok. The documentary follows Kris' quest with his past, since he doesn't remember much of it, his trial to convince everyone that indeed the stroke made him gay and it was not how he was born. The documentary contains a mixture of one-to-one interview and video diary footage of Kris himself, joint interviews with him and his fiancé Jak Powell and others with old and new friends, and also follows him as he consults with a number of medical and academic experts, as well as another man who experienced significant personality changes as the result of a stroke. The documentary doesn't look to provide any an...

If you watch this film looking for entertainment, you will be thoroughly disappointed But have some patience and give it some time, you might start feeling what the characters are going through. There are long shots of silence in the film but they go with the characters, and their aimlessness. There is some mystery in the character's childhood and slowly, as the film progress, we will find out. Sam is traveling to south of France looking for his mom. On his way, he gives ride to siblings Lea and Jeremie. Lea is pregnant and it seems the siblings are also running away from something. Jeremie likes Sam a lot and has feelings for him , which Sam also does but there is something stopping Sam to give himself to the love of another man. They meet Mathieu who joins their trip on Leah's insistence because she now fancies the boy. The film now explores the chemistry between these 4 individuals and their interactions. They have happy times, they have sad times, they have times when hear...