Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Its films like these that reaffirm what most people think: most gay films are trash. Apparently this is one of the most popular LGBTQ web series on youtube (surprising I have never heard of it before), but not every webseries can translate into a good film. Making a spoof is not an easy job. Sally Fay's cosmetic business is not doing well and she spends all her money to find out the eternal fountain of youth. Unfortunately that sits under the steam room of a local gym. The steam room has a group of hot hunky men (straight and gay) who discuss random things. Sally sends her assistant to find dirt on the gym and soon the boys realize that they need to collect 25k USD to save the gym and hence the steam room. The film just goes downhill with the trashy ideas (and even worse execution) to collect the money. The assistant falls in love with one of the men and does right by the group by supporting them in raising the money. As expected the money is raised, Sally bears the brunt and ...

When darkness falls, temperatures rise in these six stories about late night confessions, intimacy for sale, high speed hookups and full moon frissons.. This is a collection of short films from various countries. Thirst (UK) A young man delivers a stream of monologue with his wish list of the urban gay hook up life and dreams of his ideal future with the man of his dreams. Can gay men really overcome their internalized shame, when what they want is different from what they pretend! According To Mateo (Spain) This is a dark depiction of deep sexual desires, although its a bit unclear at times. Mateo and his boyfriend bring home a guy but Mateo leaves them both to go with another guy on street to have a more darker and harder sexual encounter which he is not getting at home. Hardcore (Israel) An encounter between two Israeli men and a German tourist, where they find themselves way above their head as he asks them to engage in extreme fetishes with him. Partly funny yet dark, ...

This film was good and I wanted to like it, but I feel that some where this film will connect more with the Brazilians more than the international audience. There are multiple reasons for it IMO, a lot has to do with the political situation in 1970s in Brazil and how theatre in Recife specifically was perceived at that point. Sure the film gives us an idea and I admired it but I believe I would have been able to appreciate a lot more, if I was aware of the political and the cultural sub-context of the country at that point. Surely this is a gay love story but the surroundings and situations are all so contextual that it helps. Also, this film weirdly reminded me of the documentary "Cockettes" that I had recently seen; I guess more an anarchist theatre point of view and all the colorful characters we get to see. Brazil is still under dictatorship. We meet Clecio, who runs an alternate theatre group that shows sexuality, nudity, political issues, in all campy but entertain...

I absolutely loved this 3 part mini series. This series really had everything going for it. Love, romance, drama, light moments, emotions, uncertainties, fuck-ups, friendship, families and overall how we all do mistakes as humans. This is definitely one of the better series that deals with interesting aspects of bisexuality and love. This doesn't mean that the series was flawless. It did have loose ends and made me question logic at certain places but then sometimes you just have to sit back and get entertained, which this series did plenty of. Hector is a doctor in emergency room and has been in a very happy and committed relationship with his boyfriend Jérémie for 5 years. Together they are trying to have a baby with their best friend Anna. Enter, Louise, who apparently was Hector's first love in school/college days. Sparks fly again and hector finds himself getting attracted to her charm again and he starts having an affair with her. Anna's trial to get pregnant wit...

This movie is a good example of how bad direction can completely spoil a very important message and a good narrative. For this film, I will not really blame the actors, because I do think they had potential but the direction was bad. It was more theatrical and very amateur, because of which a film that should be more widely seen may not really get the audience. Jake is a troubled teenage frustrated with life because he feels there is nothing going for him. He gets suspended from community college, has a dish washing job. To top it all the company he keeps is nothing to talk about. The 2 of his friends are homophobic and they convince Jake to join them in homophobic attacks on gays. They download a gay dating app and bash a couple of guys. Jake is not totally convinced but he goes along. On the third attempt, they badly end up beating a young 13 year old boy Noah. We then see Noah's story of how he is coming to terms with his sexuality, and also his first love and how his famil...

Nothing about this film was good. Too lengthy, flat jokes, over acting, stretching a topic, LGBT stereotypes, mix of jewish humor. This is a classic example of a film-makers over indulgence in a subject that could easily have been a very funny short 20 minute film. Darren and Dean arrive to Niagara Falls for their wedding. Alas! because of an online blunder, the hotel that they have booked for the occasion is totally rundown and instead of view of Niagara Falls, they are sandwiched between chemical factories. Dean, the diva of the two, demands Darren to fix everything for their wedding before the guests arrive. Sadly, because of a convention going on, no alternate place is available. The motel owner tries his best to convince the duo that things would be fine. While planning for the ceremony, Darren realizes that his ex-wife has not yet signed divorce papers. Which is even more of a shocker since Dean didn't even know that Darren was once married to a woman Maggie. Luckily she...

I had no idea what to expect out of this film, but I have to say that I was mighty impressed. A difficult subject, and something new to this genre, this film explores masculinity, repressed sexuality, crime and youth angst & anger issues like never before. Keeping sexuality as the core. its more youth who have somehow been living on the edge of social expectations and are  sort of outcasts. Andrej is an 18 year old, whose life is around alcohol, parties and self-isolation. When his sexuality is challenged by a girl, he gets more violent. His mother has had enough and as a last chance, he is sent to a detention center where he and other delinquent boy-men are boarded during the week. But the environment only encourages Andrej's risk taking acts. He meets Zele and his side kick, the self appointed thug leader whom everyone fears because of his violence streak. When Zele realizes that Andrej is quite strong, he takes him under his wing. This means the trio spend weekends toge...

Wow! Thailand can actually produce some really good content and relatable storyline revolved around gay men. So far, I have always been skeptical of Asian gay films and web series because they are so over the top in acting and story but this has come as a complete surprise packet for me. Not only the story is very relatable and covers various aspects of gay life, but even the acting and direction are fantastic. This should not be missed. I saw both seasons back to back which is pretty much good 8 hours and a lot of time watching the show. The story is about the lives of six diverse gay men living in Bangkok. The story focuses on their drama. Pom is a successful man but struggling to find love because of his own insecurities about his look & appearance. He lives with best friend Arm, a player, who enjoys being single and sleeping around. Oaf is in a happy long-term relationship with the much younger Big, although Oaf is starting to suspect Big of infidelity. Then we have Satang...

I had seen this film way back in early 2000's when I had just been exposed to the queer films and also before I started writing my blog. So, I am glad I got to watch it again, relive how much fun this movie was to watch and how I wish more makers make this sort of light hearted comedy films which don't tale life too seriously. We all deserve to have a good time once in a while, when we can forget our stress and worries and just have a good time. A Parisian couple, Mac and Beatrix, are enjoying a seaside summer holiday with their teenage son and daughter. While the daughter is off for a biking adventure with her boyfriend, Their son Charly is with them. Charly's best friend Martin also joins them later for vacation. The couple falsely convinces themselves that Charly is gay and that Martin is his boyfriend. Marc is initially uncomfortable with the idea but Beatrix is very happy. But the truth is only Martin is gay. Charly is straight and they both just happen to be the ...

I had mixed feelings while watching this film. At times it feels like this really nice British inspired film trying to be royal, other times it felt like the makers were confused on what they wanted to focus on between friendship and love. Some of the reactions by some characters would come so random, that it would feel a bit out of place. I understand that life and people are not straight forward and its not easy for all of us to make up our minds, but we all surely try. Our main protagonist is Charlie, an aspiring artist, who has been closest buddies with Sebastian, son of a disgraced Wall Street criminal. Their group has some other close friends but these 2 are closest. Although they are both gay, they are nothing more than friends although its obvious to everyone that Charlie is madly in love with Sebastian. This entire group play nursemaid to Sebastian's drunken bouts of depression and anger because of his father's situation. Things change when Charlie meets Tim, a pr...

This film is what we term as a slice-of-life film. It pretty much follows the path and journey of our lead character but doesn't really have a story or a clear journey for either the story or the characters. We are not told of any background of any characters, but its as if we have stumbled upon a camera thats just following life of its protagonist and we just keep looking it. Elias, a very charming 23 year old is our main character. He works in a garment factory where the head designer considers him as an important asset and support. But Elias really hasn't figured out what he wants from life. His sex life is very active and actually he focuses on that quite a bit. His relationship with a little older well-to-do man Arthur just ended but they still hang out and occasionally sleep together too. He cruises for guys with a captivating smile and is forward with his desires without being pushy. He socializes more and more with the workers in the factory and his social circle s...

I had all sorts of mixed feelings while watching this film. I thought it would be an average film, unsure of where it really is heading, but very soon I found myself sucked into the life of Benjamin. Its only after I saw the film and I was trying to find more about the actors and the director, I realized that its in some way semi autobiographical of the film maker. That takes my interest in the film to another level. Good gay love stories are hard to come by. Benjamin is a 30-ish neurotic, bit lonely and a "weird" young film-maker. He is very stressed about his second feature film. He is uncertain about everything and has issues of self-loathing. Through his publicist, he meets Noah at a party and instantly falls for him. Noah is young budding French singer. Benjamin makes all sorts of lovely small talks and pretty soon they are hanging out, almost falling in love and Benjamin's insecurities prevent him from taking this relationship to next level. Primarily because o...

I have always liked films which has something to do with a gay couple trying to expand their family. There are very few films that tackle with this subject and most of the films are actually pretty good. To be honest, there is not much variety that can be offered for such a scenario but we do get to see another facet in this film. A bit lengthy, this film offers an interesting perspective on families, loved ones and of course what society in general thinks of gay men. Hendrix has been home alone for 3 days now. His drug addict mother Nina has abandoned him (like prior times) and is with her boyfriend cum drug dealer Patrick. When neighbor's report this, Nina's friend Ivanka takes Hendrix with her but since she has a trip to US coming up with her girlfriend, she hands over Hendrix to her friends, Jean Paul and Chema, a well-to-do, stable, gay couple. Chema is initially skeptical but soon finds himself warming up to the boy. The couple's gardener and maid initially worry...

I cant remember the last time I had so much fun watching a documentary. And the entire credit for this goes to the very charming, charismatic and extremely handsome Riyadh Khalaf. He is a famous YouTuber (I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of him before) and the way he talks , interacts and interviews people is so normal everyday types and never once you feel he is putting up an act for camera and thats why he stays himself and the other characters stay true to their self. Riyadh (Iraqi/Irish descent) addresses a lot of issues wrt LGBTQ+ community in this six-part BBC3 series. Riyadh address many subjects in these episodes, right from religion & sexuality, discrimination & body shaming, how every 1 out of 4 people that are homeless are from LGBTQ community, what ethnic racism is like in Britain, pornography and finally the queer in LGBTQ+. In every episode we meet a few main subjects and hear their stories of that topic that we are learning about. Most of these...

Suddenly now everything makes sense. I should have know before that this is a Xavier Dolan film. The way relationships are explored in the film have become synonymous with the kind of films he makes. My one worry, before I started watching this film was that I hope it is not stereotypical story of a transgendered woman. And I am happy to say that this was more of a love story and what's the impact of transgender on a relationship. It film is as much a love story than anything else. The film follows journey of Laurence over a period of 10 years. Laurence Alia, a man, has been in a steady relationship with his girlfriend Fred for many years. A time when Laurence realizes that he is in a wrong body, he immediately tells Fred about it who is clearly hurt. But soon she realizes that she loves Laurence for the person he is and willing it to give it a try. She becomes the support system for Laurence while he deals with all the regular struggles that come with the transition. They b...