My G-Spot: Gay Film

Showing posts with label Gay Film. Show all posts

Il Compleanno (David's Birthday) (2009)

1 comments Posted by Jon at Monday, November 15, 2010

Italy came up with another good quality film which dealt with the issue of two men's bonding with one another. Matteo and Francesca are good friends with another couple - Diego and Shary. In their vacation by the beach, where Diego and Shary's young adult son came back from New York to join them, all hell broke loose.

Shary disagreed with Diego over the responsibility of the upbringing of David. Matteo began to question his commitment to Francesca when his feeling began to betray him. He could not get over his thoughts and temptation for David.

I enjoy gay themed films from Europe and South America. They are more likely to be good films with strong story plots, unlike USA, which is producing more and more trashy B-grades gay themed movies. David's Birthday is another excellent movie from Italy, where there is an invitation for movie lovers to enjoy thoroughly where the director is trying to convey to us.

Personally, I was disappointed that the gay plot comes in only after half-way of the film, and it does not dwell much on it, until the intense ending. And the ending is another film just like South Korea's Frozen Flower (2008), which is more likely to paint an ugly conclusion on the gays.

Is It Just Me? (2010)

1 comments Posted by Jon at Sunday, October 31, 2010

I have not blogged about movies lately, although I did come across a few good ones for the past few months. Some B-Grade USA gay themed films are seriously going to kill the gay industry, but for now, thank goodness we have a few nice ones.

I like "Is It Just Me?" No, it is not a first-class production - a movie to match Brokeback Mountain, Bent or Torch Song Trilogy, but it is feel-good gay themed film to match Trick, Latter Days or Jeffrey.

Blaine finds it difficult to find the right guy. Most gays he is aware of is into sex and hunky guys. So, he is not exactly fitting into the picture. It does not help either that his housemate is a drop-dead gorgeous hunk, who has man after man coming in for a tasty supper.

So, when Blaine bumps into Xander at the cafe, and then later on in the cybercafe, it is a challenging task for Blaine to face his insecurity, especially after a tough obstacle is placed in his path to be closer to Xander. Xander thinks that Blaine's hot housemate, Cameron, is Blaine.

I like this movie from the start. The acting is not Oscar-level, but still, it is not pathetic where it turns off the fun of watching this light, love story. The storyline is alright and the chemistry is great. Now, if only we can get Cameron off this movie poster so that the real focus of the show will be only on the two lovable Blaine and Xander.

That Thing We Do (2002)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Tuesday, October 12, 2010

A young guy faced problem of coming out to his family, causing him to have problems with his lovers. Left alone to be with his family for vacation, the young guy found an unnexpected companionship with his younger cousin.

Part 1

Part 2

Dostana (2008)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Monday, October 04, 2010

I have put off watching Dostana (2008) for quite some time. I did not feel any big hoo-ha to rush and watch this film for the simplest reasons - recycled idea and somehow, I had this feeling that the movie would belittle the gay community.

I was right, to a certain irritating extent.

There were claims made that this was one Bollywood movie that crossed over the taboo subject and how it would bring a great excitement to gay communities in India, as well as the gay communities in other countries which had hoped to see something good from Bollywood.

It is funny how people forget the famous Fire (1996) where the news centered on the lesbian kiss scene. Dostana was definitely not the first gay themed from India - namely My Brother.. Nikhil (2005), anotther irritating gay themed film The Pink Mirror (2006), Yours Emotionally (2005) and Mango Souffle (2004).

Why did I even watch Dostana? Watch the clip below. That was the ONLY good reason.

Why I did not like Dostana? I did not understand why Abhishek Bachchan was chosen for this film, opposite such a good hunky factor - John Abraham. Abhishek could hardly open his shirt, because John was doing that already for almost every scene near the beach. It was like a inferior product struggling not to drown, standing beside the gorgeous John.

Dostana banked on a recycled story - guys pretending to be gays in order to be near gays, or even to get a rented room - Think even the classic Three's Company. As well as the others - I Now Pronounced You Larry & Chuck (2007), Partner(s) (2005), Three to Tango (1999) etc. But Dostana did the crime of painting gays as sissies, who walked and talked like girls, giggled like girls and.. and.. basically were softies. Did the director and screenwriters do any research before producing such crap??

Neha, who was supposed to be the girl the guys fell in love with, would have won the award as the most air-headed fag hag in the world? At least with other movies of such nonsense theme, there was decency for the gay pretenders to share one bed. Here, the two guys took two separate rooms. Wasn't she even curious how many times the supposed gay couple made love? And how the two guys would casually walk into separate bedrooms when they came back from outing together... Oh yeah, don't even get me started on her strutting her stuff in front of the guys at the beach... And why was she often in the middle of the two guys?? What was her agenda? Separate guys all the time, whom she thought to be lovers?

Point is.. the ~~director~~ movie is an idiot.

I am too upset with the film. To console myself..

Fast Forward

0 comments Posted by Jon at Sunday, October 03, 2010

Warning! Don't watch this unless you are okay enough with the topic on aging.. You know, the one about growing old and everything around you seems to stay young, and wanting nothing to do with you.. Yup, that agingtopic. ;p

No words needed. the gay short film conveyed the message well where we belong.

Amphetamine (2010)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Wednesday, September 29, 2010

It pains me to write this review. I had wanted this movie to be so good that I would be writing glowing personal comment on the gay themed movie. And yet...

Scud - the writer, director and producer, has made a name for himself among the gay communities in East with his daring production involving little or zero clothings among the main male stars, something that other directors from China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and more try to avoid. Watching City Without Baseball (2008) (directed together with Lawrence Ah Mon), one would be stunned by his daringness to show the male stars in their skin.

So much was mentioned of this next production - Permanent Residence (2009), where it was said to take a step closer to portraying a close relationship between two males, instead of a group friendship in City.

Scud chose the right formula - guys audience would approve of. Wonderful-looking and acceptable acting skills, including likable movie characters. This was the same formula Scud used for his new movie - Amphetamine (2010). The movie banked on the relationship developed between Daniel (Thomas Price) and Kafka (Byron Pang). Just like in Permanent Residence, Scud chose two male leads which would almost be comparable as beautiful Eastern version of Aaron and Christian of Latter Day (2009) fame. I was already liking the movie when it started, but in fear that the movie would lose in direction as demonstrated by PR.

Daniel was on a business trip to Hong Kong, taking up a stay of 3 months, to work for a company. He met Kafka, who was strangely named after a Japanese comic character by his martial art teacher. Still, I thought it was funny that even Kafka's mother would address him as that, because I would imagine Kafka would be a name for him in the later stage of his life. I mean, his mom would have called him by the name she had given him). Kafka, poor. Daniel, rich. Kafka, a swimming instructor, hoping to make ends meet. Daniel, successful in financial industry. Kafka told his girlfriend that he thought Daniel was interested to bed with him after a love-making session. The film showed how their friendship grew stronger, ended up with the two of them sharing many a thing - kisses and a bed.

And then, the problem was revealed. Kafka was addicted to ice. I did not know how the story did not manage to show up at the beginning but it was a problem. The ice made Kafka hallucinated a lot and eventually this caused their relationship to be affected.

It is hard to be totally disappointed with Scud's work because to a certain extent, I did appreciate his contribution to the gay film world. So often I would measure new gay film releases to the gems of the earlier years, such as Beautiful Thing (1996), Get Real (1999) and Torch Song Trilogy (1988). We do get good ones like The Big Gay Musical (2009), Do Comeco Ao Fim (2010) and I Love You Phillip Morris (2009), and of course, Brokeback Mountain (2005). Scud's Amphetamine is definitely better than some crap B-grade gay film production from America and Philippine lately, but still...

One has to admire Scud's ability to produce a movie of beautiful artistry. There were much to admire from the cinematography as well as the editing, although I had to question the necessary of 'flashing here and there' of the movie plots. The sceneries were breath-taking and he made us cared for the characters.

I cannot help but to categorise Amphetamine to the same level as Lan Yu (2001) and Bishonen (1998), as well as Scud's own PR. Amphetamine is a recycled movie of Permanent Residence. Scud is unable to produce films of a different challenge. I am beginning to wonder if Scud is capable of not following the old trick of the directors in portraying tragic in love affairs of gays. Scud is incapable of happy ending and he is not capable of showing guys in passionate love setting. There was nothing much in PR except for hugs in showers and in bed, which was repeated in Amphetamine. But when it came to the male-female relationship, Scud had no trouble to show the body movements involved.

I feared much when the movie progressed as I was afraid of PR's tragic movie-ending spoiler - and ending that made no sense to the audience or had no commercial attraction to invite repetitive watching. I hated being right. Before the moment where Kafka was stripped by guests in a normal party, which was really freaky weird, I knew the movie was going downhill. I did not believe that plot. Neither was I believing Daniel would be so drunken, he would look so pretty lying down on the floor with a bottle beside him, that spilled no champagne. I mean, instead of protecting Kafka from his crazy invited (many) guests, Daniel went drunk. Stupid.

The ending was more like Scud was trying to get into the 'hm... I wonder what did Scud try to convey by the abstract scenes'. I was more like 'hm.. I did not give a shit, the movie was again another half-failure.' Half failure? This is the kind of movie when one should play for the first half of the film, where things still make sense, just like in PR. After that, one should just switched off the film because the director made a mess.

Despite of all I had said, I still have to admire a better than average production of a gay themed film from Scud. I still hope to see a film that can stand out there to challenge wonderful gay themed films such No Regret (2006), Jeffrey (1995) and Reine Geschmacksache (2007).

Em Nome Do Pai (In the Name of Father) (2002)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Saturday, September 18, 2010

A gay short film from Brazil. Offensive to some. I like it for the cute actor.

Part 1

Part 2

Billy's Dad is a Fudge-Packer (2004)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Sunday, August 08, 2010

This gay short film won several awards - namely, 2005 Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Best Short Film Jury Award, 2005 PlanetOut Film Festival Comedy Finalist, 2005 Michigan Reel Pride Best Boys Short, 2005 Sundance Film Festival's World Premiere.

Billys dad is a fudge packer - Watch more Funny Videos

Hatsu Koi (2007) (First Love)

1 comments Posted by Jon at Monday, April 05, 2010

Japan has been upfront with a number of teen-targeted gay themed films, and a number of them were easy-favourites. Hatsu Koi is another gay themed film that deals with gay teenagers in love.

Tadashi is in love with Kota. However, Kota is afraid that being labeled as a gay may cause him trouble. So, Kota keepts his distance away from Tadashi, which is hurting Tadashi.

Maybe I am shallow, but I don't really see the reason to be obsessed with Kota. There is hardly any chemistry here. Unlike otherr gay themed films from Japan, where the actors are usually cute, this film fails to pick a good one to make Kota stands out.

Mr. Right (2009)

1 comments Posted by Jon at Sunday, February 07, 2010

Harry (James Lance) and Alex (Luke de Woolfson) are a couple. Harry produces tv show, while Alex works as a waiter, wanting to be a performer. William (Rocky Marshall) juggles his life between his young daughter and a new boyfriend, Lawrence (Leon Ockenden) , who is a closeted tv star. Lars (Benjamin Hart) is a kept-hunky-boy, sponging off the wealth of Tom (David Morris). Enters Louise (Georgia Zaris) who is upset knowing that her perfect boyfriend, Paul (Jeremy Edwards), is gay. Lars come on to Harry, and this leads to a separation between Harry and Alex, who seems to be uneasy with his own progress in life. Tom separates from Lars. William has a difficult time to convince her daughter to accept his new boyfriend.

There are enough bad gay themed films produced lately, that I felt like screaming ENOUGH! And then came this right movie about Mr. Right. Written by David Morris and directed by David and Jacqui Morris, this gay film is a crowd-pleaser. I have always been a big fan of British films (especially gay themed ones - think of Beautiful Thing, Get Real etc.), because they are of better story plots and less of B-Grade stuff that America produces lately. Besides, the accent is sexy and the men in this film - Benjamin and Leon are HOT!!

This gay film has already won the Audience Choice Award at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck.

Trai Nhay (Boy Dance)

1 comments Posted by Jon at Friday, February 05, 2010

Tuan is a masseur. One day he meets a rich young gay, who happens to be interested in him. Tuan resists him. Money is hard to come by for Tuan, until his male friend introduces him to earn money from night clubs and acquaintances. This leads Tuan back to the gay guy again. This affects poorly Tuan's relationship with the girl he likes.

It is difficult to dislike this movie, bearing in mind that this is the first gay themed film from Vietnam. Directed byLê Hoàng, it is sad to think that the first gay film from Vietnam has to be one that sets the gay movement achievement a few decades back. Maybe this film tries to show that the rich gay guy is lonely, and just like any other human, he needs companion too. But it is clear that Tuan has no feeling for him, and hence, the gay guy is depicted as nothing but a stalker, who imposes himself on a reluctant Tuan. I can't help to think that this would upset those homophobes in Vietnam and elsewhere in the world, if they should come across this film. In fact, the girl was made to look so innocently sweet, that gays looked like they were so wrong for interrupting a guy like Tuan's love life.

Sigh.

Taam Saai Nam (Down the River) (Thailand) (2004)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Sunday, November 08, 2009

Judging from the cover, it looked like another film that I would love to watch - one, it's about young gay love. Two, it's another offering from the East.

Krit is gay. He wants his best friend, Win, who is straight. Krit is frustrated and his jealousy is shown clearly, as he wants girls to stay away from his best friend. Krit devices any plan to keep Win to himself, including a hike to see a famous, secluded waterfall. The first attempt fails because Win brings along two girls who do not want to hike too far into the forest. The second time fails too, because it is too late in the night.

I have lost count of the number of gay films from Thailand and Philippines, but it does look like these two countries are not shy from producing more gay themed films. Thailand has several great films under its belt - The Love of Siam, Iron Ladies, Bangkok Love, Right By Me etc. So, there was a high expectation from me on this young gay film, and boy, was I disappointed. This film banks on one theme - let's hate the gays. Krit is shown as the selfish gay who refuses to give up the belief that a straight guy wants nothing more than just a friendship. His persistent attempt to tempt Win makes gays look like they are devils, who are already assumed (wrongly) of trying to convert straights into gays. I have to admire the actor who is acting as Krit, because his eyes really showed his displeasure of having girls around the straight Win.

From the beginning, gays, through Krit, are painted as the bad guys. And even after Krit managed to seduce Win for one night stand, Krit went bonkers. Krit went to a carcass of a dead animal and slept beside it, knowing that the beast that killed the animal could return anytime. Despite Win's persuasion, Krit just lied there in the dark.

Damn stupid film.

Robert Hoffman

0 comments Posted by Jon at Monday, October 19, 2009

Remember Robert Hoffman - the hot guy with fine lean abs in Step Up 2? Well, he has a short film on Youtube. It's cool. It's about a guy, who has trouble with relationship, and he dreams of dating himself.

Damn! Two Robert Hoffman? This world has just gone more perfect than gay.

A nice short gay film.

Ma Vie En Rose (My Life in Pink) (1997)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Fabre family has just moved into the neighborhood. Hanna (Michèle Laroque) and Pierre (Jean-Philippe Écoffey) have 4 children - one girl and three boys. Well, maybe not 3 boys. Ludo (Georges Du Fresne) believes that he is a girl. A seven year old girl. He likes to dress up as a girl and play dolls. He does not play sports like the other boys, because he believes that he is a girl God has built wrongly - forgetting an X for him, instead of the Y he is trapped with - an XY. And Ludo is obsessed to be Pam, the Barbie-alike, instead of wanting to be Ben, the guy in the Pam-Ben package.

I often prefer coming out and coming of age stories, where the film deals with a teenage guy falls in love with another guy. So, for me, to watch Ma Vie En Rose and to think of the trans issue, is usually a non-interest topic for me. But it was hard to be not interested when the movie was made so well.

Ma Vie En Rose is co-written (with Chris Vander Stappen) and directed by Alain Berliner. It is a marvelous film, deserved to awed over again and again. It is an uplifting story about the world of a kid, and how the kid should be understood, instead of being judged. It's about us not imposing thoughts and ideas on others, when they don't fit into our stereotyped world.

I was enchanted by the bond shared between Hanna and Ludo. The mother-son relationship was the center of the story, and not of Ludo obsession to marry his neighbor boy, Jerome. It was Hanna who initially protected Ludo's confusion with his identity when Pierre was upset. Count in Elizabeth (Hélène Vincent), Ludo's liberal-thinking grandma, to support Ludo through his obsession to cross-dress. And the psychiatrist's treatment was not working well for Ludo, who was already forced to deny his inner thoughts and feelings.

Eventually Ludo's issue became a cause of concern among the neighbors, including Pierre's boss, Jerome's father. When Pierre lost his job, it was the protective Hanna who lost her cool, and started to treat Ludo coldly.

I was puzzled with Pierre's sudden turn-around as the accepting father. Somehow, he emerged as the guy who was cool with Ludo's inability to adapt. Hanna became the temperamental one.

The near-ending scene was a touching one, where adults are taught to be more open-minded and not to lose oneself in our expectation of how a world should be.

A marvelous movie.

AWARDS:

Won 1997 Golden Swan in Cabourg Romantic Film Festival
Won 1997 Best Screenwriter in European Film Awards
Won 1997 Jury Award for Best Film and Presidential Award for Best Foreign Language Film in Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival
Won 1998 Outstanding Film (Limited Release) in GLAAD Media Awards
Won 1998 Best Foreign Language Film in Golden Globes, USA
Won 1997 Box Office Award in Joseph Plateau Awards
Won 1997 Crystal Globe in Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Won 1997 Best Film Award in Molodist International Film Festival
Won 1997 FIPRESCI Prize in Sarajevo Film Festival
Won 1997 Audience Award in Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Won 1997 3rd Place Audience Award in São Paulo International Film Festival

Just

0 comments Posted by Jon at Thursday, October 15, 2009

A guy follows another guy home and ends up finding out that the latter is in an open relationship, something that the former is unable to accept. This short gay film deals with the moral issue of open relationship.

Living Lives

0 comments Posted by Jon at Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Two gay high school boys face the dilemma of coming out. One is comfortable with his sexuality and is willing to come out. The other wants to keep hiding in the closet.

A nice short gay film. :)

Kysset Som Fikk Snøen til å Smelte (A Kiss in the Snow) (1997)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Sunday, October 04, 2009

A young guy has a crush on another cute guy. Unfortunately, the cute guy has a girlfriend. Somehow, the young guy hangs around the cute guy and his girlfriend, while withholding his own sadness. A play in the snow, making snow angels get the guys to fool around. The girl gets jealous and the gay guy gets what is coming.. A beautiful short gay film, with really cute guys. :)

This gay film won Ursula Award Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and Best Short Film Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in 1998.

This clip is only 3 minutes long. The actual gay short film is 22 minutes.

Although this was made in Norway, for a movie edited this beautiful, no words are needed.

Coffee

0 comments Posted by Jon at Saturday, September 19, 2009

This short gay film centers around the few people talking about their relationship, experience and gay-ness.

Far West

0 comments Posted by Jon at Thursday, September 17, 2009

A boy has to visit his grandpa. He is not happy about it. At the village, his city gay merry friends decide to visit him. This is not okay with him because he does not want to upset homophobic grandpa. However, the hunky neighbor is about to change the situation.

Part 1

Part 2

Permanent Residence (2009)

0 comments Posted by Jon at Tuesday, September 15, 2009

When he was young, Ivan (Sean Li) has always been afraid of death. He was afraid of losing the loved one. Being so attached to his grandma, Ivan could not accept the fact that one day his grandma would leave him. When he was a teen, Ivan moved to Hong Kong, leaving behind his grandma in China.

When he was a young man, Ivan hid behind his busy workload instead of looking for a lover. He got his own place and indulged in boxing exercise and gym. That was when he met Windson (Osman Hung). Ivan was attracted to Windson and made his move. They became good friends, and Ivan had hoped for more. Unfortunately, Windson was straight, and had a girlfriend back in mainland.

They became closer friends eventually - a gay guy and a straight guy, with the gay guy falling for the straight guy, and the straight guy unable to return his love. Windson became more accommodating to Ivan's need and allowed Ivan to touch him, and they shared brief kisses but nothing more, which led to Ivan into frustration.

When Ivan's grandma passed away, Ivan was further devastated when Windson announced that he was getting married to his mainland girlfriend. Windson left Hong Kong. Their paths crossed again eventually and Windson told Ivan he never got married. Ivan had always been his 'wife', except that Windson could never understand how a straight him could ever be in a relationship with Ivan.

Permanent Residence is a movie that is bound to delight many gay themed film fans, especially those who want to see less clothings on hunks in gay films. The actors are not shy to show skin. Imagine that once a male nud*ty in Lan Yu (2001) cooked up a great storm of interest. This one makes Lan Yu looked real tame. The director / writer for this gay film is Scud, who is responsible for City Without Baseball (Mou Ye Chi Sing) (2008) , which was also produced in Hong Kong. City Without Baseball became controversial among the gays because of a homophob*c remark made by one of the male cast.

Permanent Residence open well. I was intrigued by the cinematography of the film, although I thought the choice of the child actor was poor. But still, the beauty of the film was delivered well enough to ignore that. As the movie progressed into Ivan's youth life, the climax of the gay film picked up, as we are treated to many seconds of beautiful male nudi*y. Sean Li and Osman's bodies can bring shame to many lead male actors of erot*c films. They are simply beautiful.

The dynamic of wanting and staying a distance of the relationship between Ivan and Windson drew my attention. I was wanting to see how it ends. However, once Windson left Hong Kong and Ivan became the 'son' to take of ailing mother of Windson, the film became a little bit draggy. The second half of the film was rather disappointing, until Windson showed up again, and just like most gay films, gay characters deserve no happy ending. So, we were treated to the unnecessary ending of the gay Titanic. Just when I thought the gay film had ended, the film seemed to go directionless and dragged unnecessarily to become a joke.

Still, for the first part of the gay film, the film was worth to be devour for the beauty of the complexity of a love between two - a gay and a straight. Beautiful indeed.

Trailer

Older Posts Home

My G-Spot

Gay Song, Gay Film, Gay TV, Gay Book etc.

Labels

Blog Archive