Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

I am not familiar with the name Fracis Bacon, so when I stumbled a film about the renowned painter, especially focussing on his relationship with his lover, George Dyer, a former small time crook; I was looking at this as just another film. In the 50s, Francis Bacon was a famous painter where the subject was the human body seen in anguish and ugliness. He liked a crowd at lunch and didn't mind picking up the check and him along with his friends used to frequent a club with a roomful of bohemians--some rich, some poor, some gay, some straight, all drunks. One night while he is sleeping, a burglar George breaks in through the skylight, who knows nothing about him or his paintings. Bacon awakens and makes him a deal: "Take your clothes off and come to bed. Then you can have whatever you want." George stays on as Bacon's lover. Bacon likes to get dominated by George in private but he is a sort of sadist in public. Their relationship grows but eventually part of both grows...

Sometimes we all just wanna be in a make believe, positive hopeful reinforcement, where there are no bad people and we all hope we find love. This really short mini-series of under one hour, produced the the Blued app provides you the perfect escape. Its not great by any means but it brings you that smile and cheer that we can all use from time to time. James is a popular social media influencer who comes to a resort during Christmas break. The trip was supposed to be with his bf but they broke up. Dale, the young boy who checks him in, is clearly a fan and in awe of him. Although James is hoping to be alone for sometime, as humans, we all need connections, so he logs in to Blued and starts chatting unknowingly with Dale. They plan to meet but when Dale finds out that its James, he gets cold feet and fear of rejection. Eventually, he tells him the truth but James feels disappointed and betrayed. Eventually he comes around and the two men spend Christmas Eve together drinking and just p...

This film is an interesting mix of drama and murder mystery thriller, rolled into one. Though I have to say that murder mystery part of it is very little and its the drama that overall encompasses all of it. I have to also say that this is not a queer film per say. Think of it as three parallel stories, in which now of them happens to be gay. So, by my rules, it is eligible to be reviewed here on my blog :) The film starts with a double murder of a couple. The police has a primary suspect, one Yamaguchi, a young man with a history of disturbed behavior but his whereabouts are unknown. Also it later emerges that he may have cosmetic surgery done, so the media is all over trying to find the culprit. A few month after this attack, three different men surface out of nowhere in three different settings and the film follows their paths and people around them fearing that the guy might be the killer. In the first one, we see two teenagers discovering a slight creepy and leanly backpacker squa...

Quite an old, made for TV film, but the homosexuality undertones in this film are very obvious. Even though nothing is explicitly mentioned or acted upon till the very end, but the way it is presented was probably something very new and original in those days. Its a simple story to be honest, but an even simpler direction made this film worth watching. Roland, a beautiful, young and charming man has just moved to a new town for university. He yearns for wisdom and is very attracted to the good wise words of wisdom that his literature professor provides. Very soon, the affection is mutual and the duo try to spend more and more time together, with Professor being very cautious to not say or do something that could spoil the relationship. Soon, we find that the professor is married to an ex-student and they have an understanding that the professor likes young boys. Part of me believes that Roland knows professor likes him sexually too but he choses to ignore that. Roland is eager to give ...

This Japanese series was such a pleasant surprise. I didn't know much about it and these days, I have been randomly picking up movies and series to watch, so I went into this one completely blind, but man was I in for a surprise. It was beautifully made, very well acted, shows different perspectives and a very intimate portrayal of what it is like to be gay in an unaccepting, especially high-school community. 8 episodes of about 30 minute each. Jun is an 18-year-old high school student. He hides the fact that he is gay from his mother and other people. Miura-san is a classmate of Jun. She is obsessed with books about BL (Fujoshi is a term referred to girls who are obsessed with BL stories). Accidentally one day Jun sees her buying a BL books that scares off Miura-san. But from that point onwards, an unlikely friendship starts between the two. Jun in meanwhile dating (Sleeping around) with an older married man Makoto. It's an arrangement of convenience for both men where they ha...

It's always difficult to review films with taboo subjects. However hard you try, some sort of personal bias always come into play. There have been plenty of films which show us the world of drag culture, and it seems that of late I have been watching way too many of those. This small little independent film tells an interesting story of the façade behind the façade as the complexities of why somebody would choose to do this amidst the challenge of acceptance amongst the world. Gloria is a celebrated drag performer, who performs in a club owned by Toni, the best friend. Meanwhile, a man Alex has been privately investigating Gloria and has been following her. Alex shows up as Candy at the bar wanting to audition for drag and gets the job. Gloria and Candy form a bond as a drag mother and daughter, staging rehearsals in what initially appears to be a fun performance. However, you feel there is a sexual tension between the two and soon they end up in bed with each other. Soon, the secr...

I would never know what was the point behind making this film. Was it supposed to be a comedy, cos it wasn't. It wasn't even porn. It was just a silly attempt at making something absolutely senseless and ridiculous. The story, as well as direction is equally shoddy. You could laugh for having seen something so bad, but I wouldn't call that comedy. An old man runs a camp about gay masturbation. The explanation given is that gays masturbate for pleasure unlike straight men, for whom the act is seen as shame or because they can't find a woman. One day a straight man shows up and wants to join the camp for his thesis. After discussion, he is allowed in. Rules include that you can masturbate together, you can masturbate one another, but there is no fellatio or anal sex. Some students of course breaks rule. The teacher then talks about 2 forms of masturbation which gives ultimate pleasure. He shows one without touching and then refuses to talk of the other. Somehow suddenly, ...

I just maybe one of the very few people who has never seen any of the RuPaul's drag show episode. Nothing against it, but I feel that it will be not my cup of tea. Having said that, I have seen RuPaul's interviews and I find her quite funny. I had no expectations of this film, and went in full aware thatches is going to be over the top, campy and just too much. RuPaul plays a secret agent called Starrbooty. When she gets a call that her adopted niece Cornisha has been kidnapped, she teams with another drag queen Page Turner to find her arch nemesis Annaka who is into kidnapping for prostitution and organs. Page and Starrbooty go undercover as prostitutes. When Starrbooty finally confronts Annaka she discovers that Cornisha was in on the plot all along, and has become Annaka's lover. But Starrbooty is able to convince Cornisha that Annaka was going to double cross her. In a final showdown, Annaka dies thereby saving Cornisha and everyone lives happily ever after. As expected...

An Ireland film, shot in Cuba in Spanish? Pretty interesting, isn't it? The film is a moving take of an aspiring drag performer, but its not just that. It's also about the fragile relationship of a macho boxer father with his estranged son over the years. The film keeps you hooked in most of its aspects, as you wait to figure out what will unfold next on his screen. Jesus is a young boy, living by himself in Havana, Cuba working as a hairdresser to make ends meet. His regular clients include Mama, The proprietor of a seedy drag club. for an audience of randy tourists and local drunks. Jesus tends to the many wigs used by the club’s performers, while wondering what it would be like to join them. Also because he doesn't want to get into prostitution to survive. After an employee leaves, Jesus takes on drag name Viva and is given an opportunity to perform in the club. However, his estranger father, who was in prison since he was eight shows up and the club and beats up. He mov...

Needless to say I was super excited when I learnt of this film. Hello Stranger was one of the better series that came out in 2020, with a heartening storyline and good chemistry and acting, which I enjoyed a lot. So, naturally my expectations form this film was quite high and I couldn't wait to see what the makers have done to take the story forward. This, as expected, is a young gay romance and a coming-of-age movie all wrapped into one charming and heartwarming experience. It has the right amount of romance, drama and life lessons that the viewers would appreciate. The story is simple.   We are told that Mico and Xavier are no longer a couple but are cordial to each other as friends. The class is supposed to go to the beach for a week long literary tour. Xavier and Crystal come together, while Mico drives with his gang of three friends, still missing Xavier. Once in the resort, Xavier and Mico are forced to become roommates together and in multiple flashbacks we are told what hap...

I personally am not into the whole leather/BDSM scene, but it has always fascinated me and I have always been curious to know more, so a documentary like this, which is story of The Hoist (open since 1996 and now one of London’s only surviving leather bars), full of explicit scenes leaving absolutely nothing to imagination was a good orientation. The history of the HOIST, London’s first and only gay sex fetish bar, follows the cultural evolution of gay life and sex in modern London through AIDS, gentrification, and the ongoing political struggle to decriminalize homosexual activity in the UK. We see interviews with the owner and many patrons who visit the club. The story of how the club started is interesting, and how the scene changed in 80s during AIDS pandemic and how the club has evolved over a period of time. The documentary is sweet, funny and defiant and features both thematically appropriate hardcore sex and familiar faces . The Hoist and its patrons could be seen as representi...

It's good to see an Asian film after a while, which has some good action and not as much of teenage romance. Don't get me wrong, I love all sorts of teenage gay romance dramas, but I think they were starting to get to me, so it was good to see some grown up stuff, for a change. If I am not wrong this film was released both as a mini series and film format. Though I watched the latter, I am guessing both are the same. Chi-Soo is orphan who is regularly bullied in school for being gay. During one of these beatings he is saved by a famous gangsta named ‘Black Rose’. In return for his help, Chi-Soo is loyal to Black Rose and is trained to become an exceptionally skilled hitman. Now adult Chi-Soo secretly writes a fiction online, under the alias Flying Dagger and has a huge fan in Gi-Tae (also known as Wild Dog). When finally the two meet, despite their opposing personalities, sparks fly and soon they start dating. But soon we are told that Gi-Tae is also hiding a secret and is on a...

Another badly made gay vampire film. I am happy that these films are no longer being made, but I guess eventually form my library, I am slowly reducing the backlog of the ones that I need to finish off. In prologue we see two monks Anthony and Florian in love. But Anthony murders Florian in a fit of repressed unrequited lust and locks the body in a trunk. Back to current times, we see a few monks living together. Ou t of them two of the monks indulge in regular sexual activity while being blackmailed by another monk. When a mysterious kid Sebastian  with no memory is found on the monastery grounds, Anthony has flashbacks of his victim. An apparition of the murdered young Florian starts appearing in broad daylight, and many of the monks start having grisly visions followed by diabolical behavior and collective hormones start raging up. He film tries to make a psycho-dramatic theory about the dangers of repressed homosexual lust, but with its over-the-top characters and mock-horror s...

A simple production, straight forward story without unnecessary drama and angst, it's an easy breezy watch which thankfully has no awkward pauses and sudden reactions. It feels real and you connect with the characters and story. At about 10 episodes of barely 10 minutes each, the series ends as quickly and swiftly it started. Kent is a pasty chef and Kane is an internet singer. Their managers decide that their collaboration could be beneficial for both of them. Both carry scars from their failed first loves but they have learned to live with the residue of their heartache. Kent stars mentoring Kane and some sparks of love can be noticed. They get a client for the gay wedding of Noah and Soda to make a cake and compose a song, they are all excited. Turns out Soda was Kane's first one in whose memory he composed his first song and became an internet sensation. We get to learn Soda and Kane's history where they both liked each other but never confessed. With Kane back in pictu...

I saw the recorded version of this play in real time which was shown on PBS channel. I can imagine how much fun it would have been watching the play in real life on or off broadway, but this one also does well. Featuring veteran theatre actor  Nathan Lane, the play shows us the gay life and burlesque performances during the 1030s of New York City.  A headliner called “the nance”, usually played by a straight man, was a stereotypically camp homosexual and master of comic double entendre. THE NANCE recreates the naughty, raucous world of burlesque’s heyday and tells the backstage story of Chauncey Miles and his fellow performers. Chauncey's seemingly settled life quickly becomes upended. He meets a straight turned gay man Ned and falls in love with him.Ned is a sweet-natured, attractive younger man from Buffalo, who also loves back Chauncey which he finds quite surprising. Ned manages to find work in the same theatre where Chauncey performs. Chauncey plays occasional Nance chara...