Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Its not a queer film per say but depending on how to see it, this could fall in this category. Story of a perfectly normal kid, showing no sign of homosexuality, it just happens to be that the boy likes to wear dress. Is that so wrong? This and more questions are asked and answered in this feel-good heart warming beautiful film based on a book by the same name. 12 year old Dennis lives with his older brother John and their father. Their mother left them recently for another man. Dennis is very god in football an misses his mom terribly. When Dennis sees the Vogue magazine in a store with cover girl wearing a dress similar to what his mother wore, he gets intrigued. The school rebel Lisa James finds out and comes closest buddy with Dennis because she is all about fashion and wanting to break the rules. She makes Dennis wear a dress and experiment by going to the local store to see if anyone recognises him and of course no one does. One day when Dennis has had enough of his father’s...

This film reminded me so much of Ferzan Özpetek’s films that I have seen over the years. A very similar setup, specially to the Italian film ‘Saturno contro’. But I am not gonna judge this film based on that. We all have inspirations and as long as we still end up producing a good piece of cinema, I am going to appreciate it and enjoy it. This film falls in the same category and was a very pleasant experience in a lot of departments which we will talk about later. The title of the film comes from the name of the neighbourhood in Brooklyn where the protagonists live. The premise of the film is a birthday party. Will and Mateo have been together for sometime and it is Will’s 30th birthday and they are hosting a party for their closed ones and friends in the backyard of their apartment. Mateo is Latino  and is frustrated with his career not going anywhere and we then find out that Will is not out to his family. Soon after the plethora of friends start pouring in and the plot just...

Eden (USA) Adam and Everett are stuck  in an institution that cures you of being gay. With the help of Mary, a nurse haunted by her own past, they begin to execute their plan of escaping from the Eden institute. But as time starts to run out, and Adam struggles with a darkness that has plagued him for some time, they start to lose hope of making it out untouched. When Everett escapes and Adam stays in, he is supposedly cured. I really did not understand the ending of the film. This still confuses me. ON a bright side, the actors are cute and can actually act. (5/10) HuffPost Talks With Brett Jones: The First Openly Gay Navy SEAL (USA) Navy SEAL Brett Jones joins HuffPost Live to discuss his new book "Pride: The Story of the First Openly Gay Navy SEAL" and why he is pushing for equality in red states. Jones, the first openly gay Navy SEAL, was outed while serving when a voicemail to his boyfriend, who was also a member of the United States military, leaked. (4/10) ...

I was given access to screener version of the film by Syndicado, a film and TV distribution company. I have mixed feelings watching this film. Had I seen this film a few years back, I may have thought that this was a feel good funny film but having seen a lot of meaningful cinema of late, I unfortunately can’t say the same about this one. This does not mean it was an awful film but there is nothing special about it either. As title suggests, the film is set in a motel and focusses on few couples who are spending their time (a couple of days) in this motel. We meet a Venezuelan import trying to make it into movies and longing for companion. A chance encounter where the motel miss up a reservation for another guy could be his chance for companionship. We meet a straight couple who are in town to meet their cousin where the wife overnight develops a penis and the entire day goes in the confusion on what the hell has just happened. Then we have a lesbian relationship. One of the girls...

And its back!! The saga of terrible awful gay themed films mad in US is back. Let me just say it out loud: ‘Please do not watch this awful terrible movie. Save 1.5 hours of your life’. I would not recommend to watch it, even if you get paid to do so. But then, if you need lessons on how ‘not to act’ and how ‘not to direct’, this film could be a good case study. A group of friends rent a cabin in the woods to escape the hollow festivities of West Hollywood Gay Pride. The group consists of 4 gays and one straight guy whose father owns the cabin. Once there, boredom fast settles as they're deprived of their usual party tactics. They get their hands on an Ouija board which somehow awakens the spirit of a Gothic murderess. The vampire starts following and one after the other, the guys are attacked and made vampires. I do not even wanna go into the details of the story anymore because only I know how I managed to survive the film. Acting was over the top by everyone involved. I co...

This BBC mini series is definitely not a gay mini series but the fact that 2 of the 4 principal characters of this series were gay, makes this series qualify for me to write a review about it here. This series chronicles the lives of the four Russian spies from 1934 to 1951. The series shows us how the 4 characters, Philby, Burgess, Maclean and Blunt are recruited and why they feel compelled and obligated and wanting to do this with Russia. Each series focusses on an individuals life and the interactions between the four people. Blunt is the reserved one who occasionally is allowed to show emotions and is also gay. Guy Burgess is witty and charming, who enjoys picking up men in public toilets. Maclean is a man of privilege who feels guilty for what he has, yet is aware of his limitations. And finally we have Philby, the most enigmatic, fiercely loyal and intelligent, devious and filled with angst. There is a lot of information that is thrown at the viewers and you just have to kee...

Gerontophilia means ‘love for old people’. This love story is shocking, at least for me,in terms of its premise but by the time the film ends, it does make sense. This story of intergenerational gay love, although being controversial ends up also a tender love story if you can look beyond the predujices. I have never witnessed such a premise in the gay film scene and this is enough to generate the curiosity for me for this film. 18 year old Lake is in a relationship with his overly feminist girlfriend Desiree. But soon we get a hint that he actually gets aroused and excited by old wrinkly jaded old men. The happiness he sees sees a guard on the road and later when he gets an awkward erection while resuscitating a geriatric swimmer at the pool. His boozy mother soon gets him a job at ld age nursing home and Lake feels in heaven. One patient who particularly gets his attention is Mr. Peabody, 81 year old from theatre actor. After a few meetings the two people hit it off and they sha...

G&T is an Italian webseries. As title suggests, these are initials of our 2 main characters Giulio & Tommasso. The web series was 13 episodes. I was lucky enough to find this with subtitles. There are so many web series that I need to catch up on. I just wish there was more time in a day. Series starts with the G & T, two best friends going to a club to have fun. One thing leads to another and they end up kissing and later we see Tommasso storming out of the club. Circa, 5 years later, people have moved on. Giulio is in a steady relationship with Matteo but lives with his best friend Sara whereas Tommasso lives with his girlfriend Serena working for his brother. The 2 friends haven’t seen each other for 5 years since then. When Giulio catches Matteo cheating on him, he is heartbroken. A chance encounter with Tommasso and Sarah at a new club is going to change things soon. There is awkwardness when the 2 friends meet and Tommasso even picks up a fight with Giulio. We re...

An interesting mix of two very diverse topics has been dealt with in this delicate, ambitious and gripping drama. We see the intricacies of eastern boys who are illegally in France and what gay-male sexuality is about. A home invasion, a tender love story, hide-and-seek thriller and finally a deft ending; this film definitely tackles and shows things which I have not seen before. Film begins with us observing a gang of eastern European guys hanging out at the railway station. We ultimately see a 40 something Daniel, who is somehow interested in one of the boys named Marek, a handsome Ukrainian hustler. Daniel gives him his address and asks him to come next day. A naive thought son becomes a nightmare when his home is invaded by the entire gang and slowly everything is taken from him, in a very tense but long sequence. Stripped of everything material that he possessed, Daniel starts working again, only to be visited by Marek again the next day. This time for sex. Marek frequently s...

Mi Realidad (Spain) [My Reality] Xavi is a boy who has been left by his fiancé after a relationship of 5 years. He can’t stand it and decides to rely on some self-help books in order to leave behind his sadness. This includes imagining that his boyfriend is always with me when he wake sup, when he sleeps, when he walks , when he works; everywhere and anywhere. But how far will this world of reality and dreams go. Will Xavi go to a level where he begins to lose even the real friends he has? The First (USA) A brilliant short summarising the belief that you never forget your first. Our main character is bi-sexual and seems to be exploring his own preferences and feelings although at the same time he is hurting others in the process. It starts with him cheating on his girlfriend with a boy, then another girl before the girl-friend realises whats going on. A series of hook-ups follow before its time that our hero needs to decide what he wants from life and love. Good production value...

Set in 1980s, this film talks about 2 of the most unlikeliest of groups coming together to support each other. A loveable, warm and witty film. I, will admit that I had no clue about this aspect of history. The film is based on the true story of pioneering gay campaigners in London who supported the strikers with the "Pits and Perverts" benefit concerts - and in so doing had to overcome tribal suspicions among both London's gays and the miners of south Wales. Mark is a young gay campaigner who decides to break out of gay politics and support the miners. Mark and his friends raise some cash and finds a sympathetic Welsh mining leader to accept it. The irony is that the miners are generally speaking the most homophobic group that they could ever hope to find, so the union wants nothing to do with them or their money. When Mark and his friends visit the village, as expect they face hatred some some and love from others but slowly they manage to turn things around and ...

Sígueme (Spain) One day Rubén decides to grab his bike to enjoy the sea air, something he can’t do everyday. What Rubén doesn’t know is what will soon lead to an encounter behind the rocks with a man named Paco. When he returns home, his finance Julia notices that their engagement ring is missing and she realises that he has been unto something. This afternoon that will change a relationship between two people forever. The film ends with the trio together and  aid named Paco. A lot is left for the viewers to decide but this is a great short film although similar stories have been seen in full length feature films made on similar subject. One Shot (Germany) Kerem is Turkish. His family is conservative. His sister denied her religion. He is gay. A cliché you will say, and certainly it is one. Because this story is the beginning of a movie within a movie within a movie, where all characters came to shot a clip against racism. Despite all good intentions in the world, they end u...

Wow!! A story told with simplicity, beauty and emotions sums up this wonderful story. I don’t know how many gay love stories have been made focussing on mature couples, maybe I haven’t seen them, but I am so glad that this film was made. Having lived in New York myself, I could really appreciate the nuances of New York real estate (which is kind of backbone for the film) and balancing work and life and family. Ben and George have been together for 39 years. Ben, a painter, struggles with anxiousness and sadness at most mets and it is George who is always there to prep-talk him and make him look at the bright side. After years of being together, they finally decide to get married. But soon afterwards, George looses his job as choir director, because by marrying his partner, he has now officially come out. With loss of income, they have to sell their Ny apartment and temporarily take shelter at their friends/family couches albeit separately. Ben goes and lives with his nephews famil...

Dirty boots (USA) This video follows a sexually-charged day in the life of a gay biker gang in Brooklyn. They awake in a tangle of leather, then suit up and ride to an underground sex club to initiate new members. Boundaries are pushed, but the boys find love, family and the unexpected. The Love Within (USA) Three college students - Ethan, Meg and Josh - share an intense friendship that turns emotional when unspoken attractions come to light. S straight couple and a man’s attraction for his best friend. The inescapable truths of the heart will either strengthen or destroy their seemingly fragile bond. Coming Out Straight (USA) A comical satire on the parental ignorance teens face when coming out. A teenager raised by 2 gay dads comes out and how his dads react forms the crux of this short. Vapor (Canada/Mexico) Set in Mexico City over the course of a single day, this is the true story of an older man's decision to accept his homosexuality, his coming-out. Told without an...

For any documentary to be successful, it is very important for it to hold viewers attention. Tell a story that has something important to say, incorporate key characters and their interactions and present in a way that viewers wanna know whats going to happen next. Sadly, this documentary miserable fails in the latter. It does have an important story to tell. But it is so long and drawn and boring that within 30 minutes into it and you have already completely lost the interest. Based on the stories from the Children-404 social networking project, which offered Russian (and international) youth a channel to express themselves and seek or offer support, this documentary’s name wants to say that ‘visibility is vital’. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin passed a bill forbidding the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors.” LGBT youth, now defenseless against insults and intimidation under this “gay propaganda” law, are considered sick, sinful and abnormal. The t...