Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

China has historically come up with very few gay series and films, so every-time I see something from there, quite naturally I am quite excited to watch what it has to offer. On the outset, it seems a usual campus love story between two boys, which is exactly what it is. I somehow kept hoping that some drama or action or something will happen, but the film just continued at the same pace and scene were elongated and stretched beyond reason. The story is simple. At a military school, goofy Maiding has a chance encounter with recluse Ah Ziyan. Post this meeting, Maiding becomes persistent in his pursuit of Ah Ziyan, since the latter is a popular student because of good looks, but his reputation is that of a jerk. Maiding's persistence pays off as this conflict soon turns into a reluctant friendship between the two polar opposites. Before you know the two are spending time with each other turning their friendship to love. But resistance comes from Ah Ziyan's sister who is very opp...

When I read that there is a documentary about Native American gender identity, I was quite intrigued. I had recently visited Arizona and got to know about the Navajo tribe. The fact that this documentary follows the story of Fred Martinez, a Navajo boy who also identified himself as a girl piqued my interest, It helps that the documentary was just under an hour. While homosexuality and gender identities are considered more modern concepts, the Navajo have long believed in the existence of four genders. They believed in four genders and duties were divided accordingly. Besides the two common ones, they also have born male with feminine essence and female born with male essence. The latter two were revered in Navajo community and referred to as Two Spirited humans. Sadly this was lost as Western influence progressed. We learn about Fred, a much loved boy, who he was loved by his family, how he came out, how he led his life on his own terms and how eventually he was murdered in one of the...

Mood Indigo was one of the good shows that I remember seeing sometime back. This show is the sequel to it, although very interestingly, it is this show that came first and the prequel Mood Indigo came later. But as luck would have had it, I ended up watching in sequence of the order in which things are supposed to happen. Kijima is now a famous porn writer. He is famous and successful. One day while walking he gets in an accident with a university student Kuzumi. Since Kuzumi doesn't have any insurance money ti pay, he agrees to help Kijima at his household with multiple things including scribing for the novels that Kijima wanted to write. While dictating the erotic novels, Kuzumi's fascination for the man keeps growing but he doesn't understand the guy at all. There is always a sexual tension between them and Kijima is always in control. One night they do end up sleeping together but Kijima dismisses it as a drunken episode. One day Kuzumi realizes that all these books tha...

I believe this film is trying to make a statement about objectification. But why take almost an hour and a half to come to the point. This could have been easily addressed as a short film. Similar scenes keep happening and almost 50 minutes of the film are very repetitive, during which even the protagonist makes a comment saying “most people’s desires are pretty boring.” And that's exactly what I felt about this film. The plot is wafer thin. This guy M is supposedly one of the most handsome guys and everyone, male or female, wants him. He has had enough of objectification and is tired and wants a normal life and decides to leave town. He reaches out an old friend Aaron, a simple looking guy, for a favor and a request. M wants to be knocked out for the most part of the day, via injection of some kind of serum from Aaron, and Aaron will supervise to ensure that no harm comes to the unconscious M. Various people, who hav been yearning for M will come one by one, each for about 40 minu...

This film deals with a very important and relevant topic but the execution of the film is painfully bad and tests your patience, despite the runtime of the film being only about 50 minutes or so. This film could have been so much better, but sadly it never aspires to be. To top it all the background music of the film is so jarring, it could easily blast your ear drums for no reason at all. In a suburban small town, Sean is adjusting to a life of single parenthood. He hangs out with his friends, who do not like this other guy James since he is rude and aggressive and they also think he might be gay. But they soon find out that James parents are getting a divorce and they sometime even geophysical. As a caring person, Sean decides to be there for James to support him and bond. They have a sexual chemistry. Th night James asks him to stay over, Sean has beautiful dreams of love which turn into nightmare when Sean forces himself on Sean that night and rapes him. Dealing with single foamily...

I am not a fan of the documentary style film making, especially which contain a lot of scenes with long stretched out sequences where simple actions play out uninterrupted. I mean, how long cam someone watch a scooter being ridden forever, or a boy taking a stroll in the city. You get my drift! Told as two separate stories which eventually culminate together, I am not very sure what was the end of the film or what was it trying to ay and that frustrates me. Joon works odd jobs here and there including a gas station. His co-worker is a girl named Soonhee, who is an ethnic Korean recently escaped from China, who gets unwanted attention from their boss who tries to exploit them both financially and who also makes moves on the girl. After a violent altercation with the boss, Joon and Soonhee skip out and spend some days wandering the city together. Whether they actually explore the city or is it more of a fantasy, we are not sure. In another roast of the city we meet a young pretty boy Hyu...

Its such a shame, when a film starts and something about it is captivating, you raise your expectations and clearly it has potential, but by the time it ends, it really just doesn't go anywhere as a whole. This film is a good example of a good idea and nice visuals but poor storytelling, bad pacing and overall losing the message in overall social concept. It feels good to watch, you wait for something to happen but unfortunately you never get an opportunity to really connect with any of the characters to empathize with them. As a young adult, Fei joins the hustling world. There he meets fellow hustler Xiaolai, who gets very protective of him. At one such incident, when Fei gets beaten up, Xiaolai takes revenge but he ends up losing his leg. When police comes looking for Fei, he runs away. Five years later, Fei is still working as hustler and leading a decent life but is very lonely. He operates form his apartment and has mastered the art of satisfying his clients. His family accept...

Brazil Carnival (Brazil) It is an explicit carnival with penises and butts dancing with the rhythm of samba. It is a film that emphasizes the freedom of expression. Portraits the carnival as a kind of an orgy / a consented orgy, where you explore your desires and fantasies and be who you really are. Faceless (USA) Faceless is the story of anyone who doesn't fit the stereotypical image of a community. From the perspective of a faceless man the film attempts to bring to the fore the problems or discrimination, segregation and white supremacy within the gay community in North America. Sonnet 18 (South Korea) Seung Min wants to write an honest scenario. To get some inspiration, Seung Min decides not to get out of his room, only watching movies and writing. His friend and would-be actor, Jung Soo hears the news and worries him. One day, a man with a mask comes to Seung Min to invite to a masquerade. BBC HARDtalk - Robbie Rogers (UK) Stephen Sackur speaks to Robbie Rogers, a US internati...

This film was clearly adopted from a play. The atmosphere, storyline, just three characters and a sordid atmosphere with drama happening in confines of a single room, I bet this would have made for a good stage play. Release in 1969, this is definitely not queer cinema, bit given one of the three main characters is gay, I thought to review it here. The plot is simple. We are slowly introduced to three characters who live in the slums area in Brazil. An again hooker, who is struggling to get clients, a gay guy who works as a cleaner and the joker's pimp. First 30 minutes show us the routine of these characters without any single dialogue. Drama starts when the pin wakes up and sees missing money from his table. When the prostitute comes it, they fight and he literally beats her up for stealing. She refuses and begs and says that maybe next door gay guy took it because she saw him with another guy. The pimp calls the gay man and beats him him who continuously refuses to have anything...

Finally this film got a release on Netflix. I had read this book a few years back when it came out and I was looking forward to the cinematic adaptation, especially when its the writer who also decides to direct the film. I feel people are going to have mixed emotions about watching the film. It's not your typical film, but is an emotion and poetic representation of romance, heartbreak, society with the gorgeous and lush colorful and green landscapes of Kerala while playing with the color "cobalt blue" in nearly every frame. The film keeps moving form reality to imagination to poetic representation all within minutes. Set in 1996 in beautiful town on Kochi in Kerala, we meet a Marathi family who migrated there few years back. The family has3 kids but the story primarily is of Tanay and Anuja. Tanay is a writer and a dreamer who goes to college and flirts with his professor, who returns the favor. Anuja meanwhile, is a tomboyish hockey player who prefers her game over any ...

Told in tedious flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks, this  minor-key drama about a country-ish band and its closeted gay lead singer is a yawn fest. Everything from story to acting to uninspiring music is bad about this film. And I fail to understand why everyone speaks so slowly in this film. The film would have been half the duration if they all spoke normally. The film starts with the lead singer of an upcoming band found dead in a violent attack in a back alley. We follow the friends and lovers of ‘Handsome Jake’ as they try to come to terms with the singer’s untimely death. As the band travels to Nashville to honor his passing, we discover that there are many Jake’s - the brother, the lover, the poet, the liar and the cruel manipulator. As the band members cross the Midwest with Jake’s ashes on board their Winnebago, they must now struggle to regroup, understand what happened, and find a way to move on. Yes, thats pretty much the story of the film. The characters and t...

This has to be one of the weirdest 'film' I have seen. It neither falls into dramatic recreation and neither documentary, but he way it is presented is definitely documentary style with interviews and some other snippets which are so damn slow that it can put anyone to sleep. Based on the true story of the infamous Groningen HIV case, in which three men drugged other men and infected them with their own HIV-infected blood, Feast is a bold and provocative film that skillfully reflects the questions of life, death and morality that have emerged from one of the most disquieting stories in contemporary Dutch life. Sadly what the above statement is supposed to represent doesn't get translated on the screen at all. The film starts with a policewoman displaying all the objects that were at the sex party: from the wine glasses, CDs, to the sex toys. It was weird and long scene, but intriguing. Then we hear the conversation with Hans, one of the perpetrators, at whose house the orgi...

This Chinese musical comedy from Singapore follow life of a middle aged man who accidentally becomes a night club drag queen sensation. I was quite wary of the film because these kind of subjects tend to add a lot of over the top drama but thankfully such was not the case here. Not to say that the film wasn't with its flaws, and it could have been easily shortened in length but overall it was quite alright. Chow Chee Beng gets sacked from the company on ew years eve and the same night his wife tells him that she is pregnant again. He desperately looks for a job through his recruitment agent but nothing comes through. Eventually he gets hired for a night club Number 1. Its only later Chow Chee realizes that this is a drag club and there are 5 drag queens there. But when it is revealed that one of them was a runaway soldier, Chow Chee unwillingly has to take up the fifth position. When he sees tips coming in, he decides to continue performing to pay off his housing and car loans. Ove...

An unusual film, this was probably way ahead of its time when it came out in 1978. This is not a gay film per say, but given that one of the leads is gay man and the film talks about homophobia to some extent, makes it a good candidate for it to be reviewed here. Mostly this film is about being a macho guy, greed, family honor, homophobia all rolled into one. The film is set in a very small town of Mexico where we meet some interesting characters. Rich and elderly congressman Don Alejo is poised to sell the town for a profit,, the only thing missing is a whorehouse to close the deal. It is owned by an aging gay man Manuela, who cross dresses to perform dance and his daughter. Another important character is Pancho. Don Alejo tries to control him because he owes him money, but also Pancho had a bog fight with Manuela a year ago and Manuela is very scared of him. He wants to sell whore house and move away from the town but the daughter will have none of it. Through flashbacks we see how M...

This film highlights a lonely teenager's struggle with his sexuality and identity. The subject matter is nothing new, but it’s a considerately and unflinchingly covered coming-out, and that’s definitely to be praised. Having said that, the execution style is sort of lyrical and poetic , which is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I myself can only take this narrative style only to a certain extent. 13 year old Logan lives with his single mother, who worries about him since he is very much in his own world of dreams and fantasies. There is a news that mountain lions are roaming around free and that students must be careful. Hs best friend is joey, another not so cool kid in school. But Logan respects the mountain lion and is appalled at the fears that have spread like wildfire about the animal in the school. He is happy when an older student Rodeo, a ninth grader who spends most of his time alone, turns out to share his feelings. He claims to have seen a lion in woods and bef...