Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Terry and Julian is a British sitcom that aired on Channel 4 in 1992. The show had only one season with 6 episodes of about 22-25 minutes each. Unusually for a sitcom, Terry and Julian breaks the "fourth wall" by recognizing the studio audience and viewers, and employs use of audience participation. I was quite surprised to see how they used this method back in the day by inviting at least one audience member, making them part of the skit midway and sending them back with flowers. Flamboyant Channel 4 television celebrity Julian moves into a flat with geeky well-meaning Terry, completely transforming his life and home and repeatedly upsetting Terry’s pint-sized moustached policewoman fiancee, Rene. Julian transforms Terry’s ugly flat into a Barbara Cartland-ish nightmare and takes over Terry’s life to the point of marrying him. The script consist of a lot of double meaning dialogues that are quite witty. Episode one is when Julian moves in and completely redo carets the flat....

This film made no sense at all, and not because it is a musical. We will talk about that later but the script was so flimsy thin (if there was even a script). I watched and watched trying to make sense of what was going on but the characters kept coming in and out singing their heart out for what, I have no idea. If you do not believe me, read the synopsis summary below and let me know what you think. Peter, a freudian psychiatrist married to a Finnish actor, David, a young British gay living in Banyoles, addicted to Grinder, and Coco Lamour, a Parisian French actress. Peter is a friend of Maria, also a Freudian psychiatrist, and Betsy, David's mother, living in Cadaqués. Maria prepares a trip to spend some days with Betsy. David works at a computer company in Girona directed by a very talented young Indian, Usha. David has a great crisis with his partner, Daniel, a Mallorcan living in Barcelona. Albert is a famous British writer retired in Begur passing the mourning for the loss o...

I am quite sure that this film likely got popular just because of Gal Gadot. I was also quite excited to see it but sadly she is just as much a prop in this film, as in many films the actresses are. A sports comedy film, it tells us a story of a popular soccer player who is forced to pretend to be gay and everything that happens after that. Honestly the film neither evokes laughter nor does it really address the issue of homophobia. Soccer player Shushan is the dream of Jerusalem team. One night when he tries to flirt with a girl Mirit, he has no idea that she is an unwilling moll for ruthless gangster Mr. Black . To save face, Mr. Black tells Shushan that he must publicly announce that he is gay, if he wishes to live. Of course the guy has no choice. Right after the announcement, he set how homophobic his team players are and also the management of the team does not support him. The worse is that even fans give up on him and start calling him Shoshana. Rest of the film is about his Sh...

Sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is a topic that has long fascinated film makers and we can find plenty films in this zone from various countries. Manipulations, suicide, fear and the shame are some things that these priests often use to lure kids and get the kids in doing things they don't want to. I remember having seen a few already (full length and documentaries both), but there are many more to follow. It's always a dilemma on whether or not to add these films on my blog and review them, but here we are. Gabriel, an adult now is reminded of his childhood when he hears a catholic school's now famous choir cd. Through flashbacks we are told how he was admitted in the school run by Father Vincey. He was mesmerized by Gabriel's voice and soon he became close to the priest. A couple of students are a bit abusive to him but Gabriel soon realizes that something is off between another student and a priest. That student died in a car accident. We see how systematical...

Set in Limerick city in Ireland, Cowboys and Angels depicts the growing friendship between two very different men and looks at the anxieties and challenges faced by young people trying to establish their identity in a modern city. It came almost 22 years ago, so of course in today's time the visual aesthetics feel quite dated, but it is a good mix of sexual freedom and youthful energy, friendship, drug, criminal presence during that time. 20 year old Shane, has just got anew government job and kinda. New roommate in Vincent, a gay fashion student. The duo slowly warm up to each other and niece friends where Vincent tries to make the shy Shane come out of his shell slowly by taking him out clubs and enjoy the vibrant night life in the city. Shane starts to like this barista girl, who happens to be Vincent's best friend but she is not much interested in Shane. Vincent wants to move to New York after studies. One day by accident Shane discovers some drugs in his apartment building...

Mel is an intimate documentary about Mel Daluzyan, one of Armenia's most talented weightlifters, a once beloved champion who has won medals and broken world records, but whose fame transformed into infamy when his transgender identity became public knowledge. Today, under asylum in the Netherlands, his dream of gender transition is finally within reach - but how much must he sacrifice for it? Mel Daluzyan was, at one time, a national treasure to the people of Armenia when in 2006 he became the first female from the country to win a medal in the World Weightlifting championships. Having been born with higher levels of testosterone than an average woman, Mel had a noted advantage over his competitors. He would continue to see further success until the 2012 Olympics when he was unable to set a total. Mel now has a girlfriend Lili and when the threats become too much in a conservative society, he seeks refuge in Netherlands.  As time moves by, Lilit feels the pressure of not only leavi...

This is an experimental queer musical film that uses opera/documentary and other styles to explore gay relationships and polyamory in a contemporary Arab context. The film’s artistic, nonlinear narrative incorporates a combination of live action, animation and music video-style sequences, along with more than its share of sexually explicit sequences. Even though I found the style and experiment quite interesting, including the narratives but overall I wasn't sure why this was made. In the sense that it had interesting representation of urban gay life and relationships but it was very confusing and one of those art for art's sake pieces. A glance leads to a smile, a smile to a rendezvous: every love story begins the same way. At the center of it all, from what I understood, this Arab love story is about a group of men trying to navigate a polyamorous relationship. Three men in a relationship and what each oof them thinks about it, how they got into it, how the meetings happened,...

When the show started, I thought this was going to be a nice feel good no-nonsense show and to be fair, for the most part, it stayed true. But somewhere the whole concept of jealousy, manipulation etc just took away the straight forward fun that this show could have even us. With just 12 episodes of about 16-20 minutes, this was a light humorous and easy watch with some very good looking leads. There was also a longer version of episode 12 showing us the eventual culmination and happy future for all.  We meet Yuha, a young boy who does odd jobs here and there to keep afloat. He lives with his older brother Taeha, who runs a bar. He is not his real brother but they were both alone as kids and grew up together with Taeha taking good care of Yuha. Yuha wants to become independent. His odd jobs include nude modeling, toilet cleaning and pretending to be someone's lover. During one such incident, his paths cross with Min U. The guy works in a IT company and is tired of his family connec...

This film is an ambitious costume drama with a very interesting storyline at its hand. Sadly, the low budget is very evident and for some reason, it takes away the fun because of it. I can totally see stuff like this happening in olden times when, just a. Whiff of homosexuality could land you in all kinds of troubles. Once you look past the budget, this film is actually not at all bad. Penelope is learning piano and has a crush of sorts on her teacher, but she doesn't control her destiny. She is married off, by her parents, to a shy and introverted Jonathan. They move into his family’s empty estate where not a great deal happens because of Jonathan’s hatred of social occasions and he generally prefers quiet life. The duo haven't even consummated their marriage and day by day Penelope's frustration grows. To her shock, one day when Penelope discovers that her new husband is having an affair with George the Butler, she finally understands Jonathan’s reclusive personality. Geo...

This documentary is about the life of the Brazilian transsexual singer Linn da Quebrada. Coming from an impoverished region of São Paulo, where she has to face many prejudices, among others, for being black. Her funk music sounds like a "gun" against machismo. With a really strong and daring stage presence, she constantly seeks to confront and fight paradigms and stereotypes. The titular star and her stage partner Jup do Bairro openly discuss what challenges they face from transphobia and racism growing up in the favelas of San Paulo, exploring how they use their music to give voice to the marginalized communities they fight for. The film shows her in performance, in the studio, reflecting on the nature of identity, hanging out with friends, and also affectionately chatting with her mum in the apartment where she grew up, arguing about the community’s defeatist habit of romanticizing poverty. She aligns the experience of being trans with the marginalization involved in having...

Dealing with sensitive subjects in films is never easy. The film makers here take a muted, almost ambivalent stand on the subject, which show sis the questionable relationship between a 29 year old man with a 15 year old boy. As a film, it is a pretty straight forward execution without much drama trying to show as 'matter of fact' events and what/how happens. I guess it is left to the audience to make their own morality decisions. (Although looking at the film's dvd poster, which features only the younger male, rather than the duo which should have been the case for a film whose title has names of two protagonists) Eban returns to his hometown Christmas from Seattle. He is a bit vague about the reasons he has come (which we later find out). Killing time growing through local shops, he sees a young 15 year old handsome boy Charley and rather insistently strikes up a friendship on the pretense of swapping lessons about guitar and being lonely etc. You can tell that Eban likes...

For a change, the lead trans character in this sitcom, is a self-centered, easily bored agent of chaos; unlike what we usually see as a serious subject. Inherently lazy and a person who doesn't hesitate to use friends and is constantly lying, this was indeed a different cast of trans character that I have seen in recent times. The sitcom is an easy watch with only 6 episodes each of about 22-23 minutes. This workplace comedy set in a supermarket packs its pacy storylines with plenty of gags, and from all sorts of angles and slapstick humor. Supermarket manager Simon is trying to have the most inclusive workplace having launched an accidentally transphobic advertising campaign. A female dwarf, Millie, and a tall, black woman, Beefy don’t cut the mustard, so he thinks the answer is to look up “transgenders in the area”. He remembers that his employee Tim has a trans roommate Olivia, who is inherently lazy. Tom emotionally blackmails her to join the job. Simon assures her “We want you...

The backdrop of the show is quite interesting. A whole BL series centered around boxing is not easy to make, so kudos for that. The problem is that the things strata to get repetitive very soon. Problem arise, someone fixes it, there is amount of happiness and the craziness starts again with one more layer of bad guys now joining in. It happens multiple times with our lead couple always at the center of it all. Also, another problem is that there are way too many characters to keep your focus on and they keep coming in. So, for a series that started off quite well. I found myself losing interest by the time 6 episodes were done and then I just wanted it to end sooner than later. The show has 12 episodes plus one special of about 50-65 minutes duration. Keen is a young boy who suddenly loses his cop father in a mysterious death. Left alone, his father's friend offers shelter in his boxing club. Loan sharks are after his life and they wont leave him alone, so he has no choice but to ...

This 4 episode (45 minutes each) mini series is tThe intriguing true story of King Gustaf V, Sweden's first gay king. It looks at the clandestine affair in the 1930s between a Swedish king and a male restaurateur, in a captivating portrayal of love against the odds that uncovers the homophobia and human rights abuses of those times. A love that had to be kept from the public at all costs, but eventually got out, leading to one of the worst miscarriages of justice that Sweden has ever witnessed. The year is 1932, and in a final attempt to save his restaurant, ex-con man Kurt Haijby appeals for a private audience with King Gustav V of Sweden. To his wife Anna’s great surprise, he is granted one. What starts off as a formal encounter between the restaurateur and the King soon turns into a romantic evening filled with passion. But when the fling turns into a secret relationship, the King’s advisors do everything to stop the affair. Haijby is railroaded, repeatedly by Governor Nothin, w...

I have mixed feelings about this film. My problem is that the more I see films that likely made their debut in international film circuits, the more I am realizing that these art house or "different" film makers end up going so different in treatment of their subject that sometimes it fails to connect at various levels. This film seems more concerned with shock value than telling a compelling story. Johan is an openly gay man working at Copenhagen’s only gay sauna. When he’s not pursuing the sauna’s clientele, he’s hooking up and having one night stands with random men at the bars. One night of browsing Grindr leads to Johan meeting William, a trans man, at his home. But Johan is so sexually motivated that he doesn’t even realize that William is trans until they begin having sex, which leads to an awkward uncertainty. Nevertheless, Johan finds something exciting about William and pursues him. They start seeing each other and a casual romance evolves. When Johan takes William ...