07 December 2015

ABAN + KHORSHID (2005)

ABAN + KHORSHID (2005)

Director: Darwin Serink 
Writers: Darwin Serink 
Genre: Short, Short Movie
Country:  USA
Language: English
Duration: 13 min
Year: 2005



Stars: Mojean Aria, Bobby Naderi














ABAN + KHORSHID from darwinserink on Vimeo.

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Please share this film on your social networks with the hashtag #LOVEisbeingEXECUTED. Add the name of your favorite human rights organization in honor of #HumanRightsDay to your post or tweet.

At the end of December, the filmmakers will make donations to three of the organizations suggested by viewers.

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Based on a 2005 Iranian photo that was taken of two men on the day they were executed for being gay, the award-winning 13-minute film ABAN + KHORSHID from writer/director Darwin Serink depicts the atrocious and inhumane executions still happening around the world today based purely on sexual orientation.

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ABAN + KHORSHID 

AWARDS:
Cannes Emerging Filmmakers Showcase, American Pavillion: Best LGBT Short
Casting Society of America : Best Casting of a Short Film (Nominated)
Seattle International Film Festival: Short Film Competition Special Jury Award
Seattle International Film Festival: Nominated, Golden Space Needle Award, 4th runner up.
Cleveland International Film Festival: Jury Award for Best LGBT Short Film
Palm Springs Short Fest : Best Of Fest
Outfest: Best Of Fest
Iris Prize Awards: Highly Commended - TOP 3
GAZE International Film Fest. Dublin, Ireland: Best International Short Film
Edmonton International Film Festival: Best Cinematography
Edmonton International Film Festival: Audience Award
Image Out Rochester LGBT Film Festival: Jury Award, Best Short Film
San Pedro International Film Festival: Best Short Film
Meziprata: Best Short Film, Jury Prize
Ft Lauderdale (FLGFF): Best Short Film
Long Island LGBT Festival: Best Short Film
Mix Film Festival Brasil: Best Short Film, Audience Award
Durango Film Festival: Best Short Film
Human Rights Arts Film Fest, Melbourne: Best Int’l Short Film

14 November 2015

London Spy (2015)

London Spy (2015)




Director: Jakob Verbruggen
Writers: Tom Rob Smith
Genre: Drama, TV & WebSeries
Country: UK
Language: English
Duration: 60 min
Year: 2015




Stars: Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Edward Holcroft, Charlotte Rampling









‘London Spy’ je britanska špijunska dramska serija čiju premijeru su gledaoci  BBC TWO televizije imali priliku da pogledaju 9.Nov.2015. god
Serija ima 5 epizoda i emituju se ponedeljkom.
Danny je momak od dvadesetak godina, zaposlen u magacinu za transport paketa, sklon pijankama i društvu lakom na drogu, ali za sebe će uvijek reći I’m fine ili prevedeno na našem romeovski riječnik OK momak, ma šta to značilo za brojne korisnike gayromea sa ovih naših balkanskih prostora.
Sticajem okolnosti upoznaje Aleksa, otmenog engl. gospodina koji mu za sebe kaže da radi u nekoj od investicionoj banci za bogate kijente.
Alex živi urednim društveno prihvatljivim načinom života, pažljibvo bira skupocjenu garderobu, posjećuje mjesta rezervisana za višu klasu, redovno se bavi sportom i svojim stilom i načinom života ničim ne odaje da bi mogao da ima bilo kakav odnos sa nekim likom kao što je Danny.

Sex between Danny and Alex
Prva epizoda ove serije nam prikazuje kako nastaje njihovo prijateljstvo, otkrivanje emocija, seks i sve elemente jedne lijepe romanse.
Već nakon prve epizode u medijima se razbuktala priča kako je  BBC sebi dopustio nedopustivo. U ranim večernjim satima emitovao je strastven seks dva muškarca i prikazao nešto što nikada nebi uzrujalo većinu ljudi da se radilo o muško-ženskom paru.
Ipak britanski cenzori još nisu odlučili da li će ispitati okolnosti ovog slučaja i pored jedne žalbe koju su zaprimili i objavili da ni u kojem slučaju neće praviti diskriminaciju između heteroseksualnog i homoseksualnog seksa.
U svakom slučaju svim čitaocima ovog sajta preporučujem da pogledaju ovu izvrsno režiranu TV seriju koja nam već u prvoj epizodi otkriva da se radi o zapletu u kojem sasvim sigurno britanska obavještajna služba ima jednu od glavnih uloga.
O čemu se radi saznaćemo u narednim epizodama.



New original co-production, London Spy, is a five-part miniseries created by acclaimed best-selling author Tom Rob Smith (Child 44), co-produced with BBC Two and produced by Working Title Television. It will air on BBC America in 2015.
The gripping, contemporary, emotional thriller stars Ben Whishaw (The Hour, Skyfall, Bright Star) as Danny, an innocent, young romantic drawn into a dangerous world of espionage. He is joined by Academy Award-winning Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge!, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Harry Potter), British actress Charlotte Rampling OBE, whose recent role in Restless in 2012 saw her receive an Emmy Award nomination, and newcomer Edward Holcroft (Wolf Hall).
London Spy is directed by Jakob Verbruggen, whose credits include The Fall and the US version of The Bridge.
On his first television drama, creator and writer Tom Rob Smith says: “London Spy has gathered an exceptional cast and a visionary director. I couldn’t be more excited, or proud.”
Juliette Howell, Head of Television at Working Title Television, says: “Working Title couldn’t be more proud to be producing this captivating drama. Incredible scripts, a hugely gifted director and a world-class cast; London Spy exudes quality through and through.”
London Spy is the story of a chance romance between two people from very different worlds, one from the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, the other from a world of clubbing and youthful excess. Danny (Whishaw) – gregarious, hedonistic, romantic and adrift, falls for the anti-social enigmatic and brilliant Alex (Holcroft). Just as the two of them realize that they’re perfect for each other, Alex disappears. Danny, utterly ill-equipped to take on the complex and codified world of British espionage, must decide whether he’s prepared to fight for the truth.
Tom Rob Smith’s award-winning Child 44 trilogy was an international publishing sensation and has been turned into a movie with Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Noomi Rapace, produced by Ridley Scott, scheduled for release in April 2015.

London Spy is produced by Guy Heeley, and executive producers are Tom Rob Smith, Juliette Howell, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner for Working Title Television, and Head of Independent Drama Commissioning, Polly Hill, for BBC Two. The miniseries will be distributed by NBC Universal and BBC Worldwide.

27 October 2015

Abrase (2015)

Abrase (2015)

Director: Toshadeva Palani
Writer: Toshadeva Palani
Genre: Short movie
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 8 min
Year: 2015


Stars: Christian Adams, Michael Bordenave







Powerful and psychedelic. Abrase is the transparent picture of the fading love of two men, remembered. Prepare yourself to be deeply lost in an ephemeral tale and efflorescent images. Sadly, this title does not have an official Internet address. All we know is that Abrase was directed by Toshadeva Palani, and starring Christian Adams and Michael Bordenave.


The fading love of two men, remembered. A relationship once vivid, now dissipating into a fog of partial remembrance; the memories of heartbreak and loss that bend and change as the years go by.




Abrase | Short Film from Toshadeva Palani on Vimeo.

24 October 2015

Ruben (2012)


Ruben (2012)


Director: Thijs Verhoeven 
Writers: Hans Arendshorst
Genre: Drama, Short, Short Movie
Country:  Netherlands
Language: Dutch
Duration: 14 min
Year: 2012



Stars: Erick Brons, Anneli van der Hulst, Jim de Groot





This movie is about a young boy Ruben in search of his homosexuality and experience harassment & violence from where the problems of acceptance begins. He found out his love for boys when he has a date with Mike. His parents and little sister don't know about his struggle and harassment at school. This film is going to be used in education for acceptance of homosexuality and against violence.


20 October 2015

Wasp (2015)

Wasp (2015)


Director: Philippe Audi-Dor
Writers: Philippe Audi-Dor
Genre: Drama
Country:  France, Lebanon, Switzerland, UK
Language: English
Duration: 72 min
Year: 2015


Stars: Hugo Bolton, Elly Condron, Simon Haycock









Olivier (Simon Haycock) takes his boyfriend James (Hugo Bolton) on a romantic break to his house in the South of France. Whilst is France they bump into Caroline (Elly Condron), an old friend of James’ who has been dumped by her boyfriend. The couple agree to let Caroline join them for their vacation but Olivier is less than happy at having a third person around for the duration. As the days go by Olivier and Caroline clash but soon they realise their dislike of each other may actually be covering up something more surprising.
Wasp is the feature-length debut of Swiss writer/director Philippe Audi-Dor. The film features only three actors and takes place in and around a beautiful house in Gordes, Provence. One of the first things you notice is that Wasp is incredibly understated and that’s definitely one of its strengths. Audi-Dor doesn’t feel the need to make his characters veer off onto monologues to move the plot along and often the silences in the film speak volumes about the characters.
The central plot focuses on the arrival of Caroline into the midst of Olivier and James’ romantic break. Early on in the movie Caroline questions whether either men have been with a woman before and Olivier confesses he has but not since he came out. It’s established early on that the strong-willed Caroline is happy to push whatever buttons she needs to in order to get a reaction and despite an initial dislike between her and Olivier, the two characters start to be drawn to one another.
It’s at this point that the film gets really interesting. We’ve seen countless films exploring closeted characters that are attracted to the same sex but we’ve never seen a film before where a man who identifies as gay begins to question if he is indeed gay or possibly bisexual. The way the story unfolds is really intriguing and we commend Audi-Dor for doing something different and unexpected. The tension that builds between Olivier and Caroline does so expertly and at a believable pace.
We really don’t want to give too much else away about the plot but all we’ll say is that there are plenty of surprising twists and turns as you head to Wasp’s climax. Audi-Dor has assembled a stellar cast for the movie with all of the leads equal to one another in terms of their performance. Simon Haycock does a great job of conveying Olivier’s conflict through his emotive performance and he has superb chemistry with both Hugo Bolton and Elly Condron. Bolton makes what could have been a fairly flighty role rather meaty and Condron has great fun playing the devilishly manipulative Caroline. The trio works really well together and they really excel in the scenes where the tension threatens to boil over.
Audi-Dor, who wrote the movie and directed it, also deserves special comment for what he’s achieved. The film doesn’t feel low budget and the cinematography captures the stunning location really well. It’s not easy to make a film with only three actors compelling and whilst this could work well as a play, Audi-Dor’s direction makes it an intriguing character study and he gets superb performances from his actors.
Wasp isn’t due to be released until Spring 2015 and we think you should be making a note in your diary to see it now. With strong central performances, an interesting and original premise, and stunning direction it’s a film that took us by complete surprise. We’ll be keeping an eye on Audi-Dor to see what he does next and we’ll also be closely watching the careers of Simon Haycock, Hugo Bolton and Elly Condron.
Source: entertainment-focus.com


The Young and Evil (2008)

The Young and Evil (2008)

Director: Julian Breece 
Writers: Julian Breece
Genre: Short movie
Country:  USA
Language: English
Duration: 15 min
Year: 2008


Stars: Vaughn Lowery, Diana Elizabeth Jordan, Reggie Watkins, Eric Pumphrey, Mark Berry







The five-year-old black gay short film, The Young and Evil, recently resurfaced online as a cautionary tale for gay men of all ages. The intention may have been to garner sympathy for the main character, instead it comes off as a horror movie chronicling the origin of a villain.

Directed by Julian Breece, the film tells the story of an 18-year-old black gay teenager Karel Andrews (excellently portrayed by Vaughn Lowery) living life on the edge. Burdened with caring for his debilitated mother and be an Out homosexual in an urban neighborhood, Karel adopts a lifestyle of dangerously causal unprotected gay sex. Upon hearing the news from a doctor that he tested HIV negative despite his risky sexual activity, the young man reveals that he actually wants to contract the virus.
“My favorite thing in this world is to get fucked,” he tells the doctor, “I like getting fucked so hard, I don’t know who I am when it’s over. I like high-risk, sometimes HIV infected cum. and I’m not giving it up.”
This is where the short film derails. One could speculate through subtext that Karel wanted to be punished for his sexuality, for being gay. One could speculate that Karel was turned on by the thrill-seeking adrenaline rush of engaging in high risk sex. One could speculate that Karel just didn’t care about life in general so he lived it like each day was his last.
The problem with all of that speculation is the filmmakers leave all of the heavy lifting for the audience instead of carrying the weight themselves. This is a trend that is heavily adopted in black gay short films and web series.
It’s never made clear why Karel lives the way he does. Throughout this short film we just see random scenes of a character likely created based on the writer reading a newspaper or blog headline. The internal conflicts and motivations of the main character is never really examined at all. This is a huge oversight given the fact that Karel is depicted to be so self destructive. It turns out the writers devoted most of their attention in building the character Naaman, played by Mark Berry.

As Karel continues his quest to become HIV positive (seriously, this is the ridiculous premise of the short), he finds his way into a dark candlelit sex party. It’s here that he sees Naaman, an older man in his 40s that Karel recognizes from an online video of men speaking on their positive HIV status.
Karel follows the live-in maintenance man of the complex, Naaman, down to the basement of the building where he tries to seduce him. The more reserved elder man of the two clearly recognizes the game that Karel is attempting to play, opting to try to talk sense into the teenager instead.
What follows is a amazingly brilliant, superbly acted and well written pair of scenes that (almost) makes us forget about the shortcomings of the previous dozen. Seeing Naaman reluctantly resist the young man’s advances as Karel quickly calls audibles to adjust his plays was more engaging than any scene in any black gay web series to date.
By the end, however, we’re still left scratching our heads. What did we just see and what was the point of it all?
Was the message: Avoid unprotected sex? If so, Karel was an HIV negative man who wanted to be positive, unprotected sex was the best means to an end in his case.
Was the message: Beware of older HIV positive sexual predators? If so, Naaman did his damnedest to avoid sex with the teenager at all costs until he reluctantly gave in to unrelenting advances. The younger HIV negative man was the predator here. On top of that, whose to say the older man didn’t eventually grab a condom before giving in when all was said and done? The scene cuts off before that moment so Karel may have done all that for nothing.
The only points and messages I could muster from watching this film was:
– Black Gay men love sex, lots of it. Especially unprotected sex.
– Black gay men are weak and self destructive. (even our Naaman eventually gives in to temptation)
This short had to potential to examine possible causes for dangerous lifestyles and behaviors. It could have examined the larger issue of depression in the black gay community. It could have delved into the pressures young black gay men face in urban communities, which often leads to depression and/or risky sexual activities.
The story of Karel was essentially the origin story of a killer or predator. In the context of the world created, we know that once he reached his HIV positive goal, he would continue to have unprotected sex and possibly infect others. That is the only thing that explains his intentional efforts to become infected himself, to infect others. If suicide was his goal, there are much more effective ways to kill yourself. Especially since HIV is not the death knell that it once was.
So if you view The Young and Evil as a horror film (with emphasis on ‘evil’), it works well as a prequel to a larger and more interesting story. Still, given its shortcomings, the skilled directing, strong acting performances and amazing last couple scenes of the film make this a must see.



16 October 2015

Perpetual (2015)


Perpetual (2015)
Morke Rum (original title)


Director: Peter Lavrsen 
Writers: Flemming Klem, Jakob Thomsen, Peter Lavrsen 
Genre: Drama, Short, Short Movie 
Country:  Denmark
Language: Danish
Duration: 26 min 
Year: 2015


Stars: Mads Hjulmand, Sofie Topp-Duss, Nicolas Wollesen






Morke Rum (Perpetual) is an unconventional love story that centers around a private booth at a seedy sex club. The young Sebastian explores his sexuality and seeking sex/love online. He meets the older Jacob, who takes him to a sex club. In the new and frightening surroundings Sebastian surrender and in their subsequent meetings love sprouts, at least for Sebastian. Outside the darkness of intense togetherness, the reality penetrates. Jacob is full of lust and not love. So when Sebastian’s hopes are disappointed and Jacob pulls away, Sebastian return to the dark room to restore the lost with a stranger.

15 October 2015

Kiss Me Softly (2002)



Kiss Me Softly (2002) 
"Kus me zachtjes" (original title)

Director: Anthony Schatteman
Writer: Anthony Schatteman
Genre: Short movie
Country: Belgium
Language: Dutch, Flemish
Duration: 16 min
Year: 2002



Stars: Ezra Fieremans, Tim Bogaerts, Marijke Pinoy 


17 year old Jasper lives in a very grey, small town. In his family, he cannot be himself. Jaspers dad is a singer, named Lukkie Luk. All the attention in the family goes to his career. Jasper searches a way to handle this and is faced with the typical questions in the live of an adolescent. Questions that will not be answered when he stays in his own routine.


14 October 2015

Alex and the Imps (2015)

Alex and the Imps (2015)

Director: Ryan Grippi 
Writers: Ryan Grippi 
Genre: Short Movie 
Country:  USA
Language: English
Duration: 13 min 
Year: 2015



Stars: Josiah Jacoby, Klein Wong, Rodner Saldago, Kara Goldberg









Alex and the Imps is a coming of age story about a teen magician coming to terms with who he is and learning to love himself for it in a world where everyone is against him. Inspired by the "It Gets Better Project" this story is a salute to the unusual qualities in all of us that make us who we are.

La dérade (2011)



Director: Pascal Latil 
Writers: Pascal Latil 
Genre: Short movie 
Country:  France
Language: French
Duration: 24 min 
Year: 2011



Stars: Valérie Vogt, Yoann Moëss, Adrien Stasiulis








Two lovers talking on a beach in France. One hides the fact that he is in need of a heart transplant. He knows that someone has to die so that he may live. But to find out who it was that died so that he may live.


22 September 2015

For Dorian (2012)

For Dorian (2012)


Director: Rodrigo Barriuso
Writer: Rodrigo Barriuso
Genre: Short movie
Country: Canada
Language: English
Duration:16 min
Year: 2012


Stars: Jerald Bezener, Dylan Harman, Ron Lea









A father fears the sexual awakening of his disabled son, a teenager living with Down syndrome, and wrestles with the notion of letting him grow up.

Oliver, a controlling yet loving father is shaken abruptly when forced to recognize his son Dorian, a teenager living with Down syndrome, as an emerging adult with sexual urges who yearns for his independence. As Oliver begins to discover the changing dynamics within his home, he starts to fear that his son might not only be different by virtue of his disability, but also his sexual orientation.

21 September 2015

The Boy Who Couldn't Swim (2011)

The Boy Who Couldn't Swim (2011)
"Drengen der ikke kunne svomme" (original title)


Director: Anders Helde
Writer: Anders Helde
Genre: Short movie
Country: Denmark
Language: Danish
Duration: 33 min
Year: 2011


Stars: Jonas Wandschneider, Sebastian Elkrog Sorensen, Christian Damsgaard






Rasmus arrives in Copenhagen determined to find his mother whom he has never met. Having just arrived at Copenhagen Central Station Rasmus is approached by Nicklas who wants Rasmus to help him by keeping a stolen IPod. Rasmus does so and to return the favor Nicklas offers to give Rasmus a ride to his mother’s house. Reluctantly Rasmus accepts the offer and that kicks off a day that holds lots of fun and reveals hidden feelings.
Two young actors have that faces that are were very expressive of their personal sense of unsureness and disconnectedness with the world, yet wishing to demonstrate a bravado and control of their personal circumstances. The opening shots of the film showed the yearning and glistening hope in the eyes of the boy, Rasmus, as he looked out the train window, contrasted with the harsh face of a middle-aged stranger sitting next to him on the train whose face showed the angry lines of a firm acceptance of his place in hard world where dreams won’t come true. One can see in that that youth is not apt to find much of value from people such as those, who are more apt to destroy their spirit than they are to ignite it.
In the train station, the other boy, Niklas, almost by a kind of bodily magnetism instantly connects with Rasmus as someone he can trust to help him by holding a stolen item while he escapes from men who are pursuing him. A while later, Niklas, having escaped from the pursuing men, meets up with Rasmus and while it seems that Rasmus has a vague destination he is heading for that he doesn’t feel like revealing to Niklas, Niklas convinces him that they need to go there together with Rasmus riding in the cart of Rasmus’s bicycle cart. And that really was the true journey, the two of them toward, or with, each other, they who share certain personal circumstances and need.
This action of them traveling together seemed to put them together in their own isolated bubble. Much of the movie was simply their traveling together throughout the city of Copenhagen from one destination to another (which I appreciated seeing, as while I have passed through Copenhagen, I haven’t seen very much of it), but the beauty of the city, the simple shared exuberance of the boys as they felt the wind in their hair and a feeling of their own motive power, and the various expressions on their faces, sometimes wide open, sometimes cautiously masked, tell the true story without a need for words. And what words there were, were pointed and expressive, and throughout those conversations the boys were continually reaching out in yearning for connection, and then drawing back into unsureness, wavering on that balance beam between “yes I need” and “no I don’t”.
The title of the movie, “The Boy Who Couldn’t Swim”, made me think of a wise Jewish saying that I learned about in a psychology book, “A father’s job is to teach his children how to swim.” While at first that seems trivial, you come to realize that “swimming” is metaphorical of leaving the safety of home and venturing out bit by bit into an alien and dangerous world (or an uncaring and exploitative one). The father is not to hang onto his children, but to help them grow up into a secure adulthood. So what of those children who have not been “taught how to swim?” How do they maneuver out in this world without having had a secure center to start out from? Perhaps they can have another chance, by finding helpers along the way, if only they can recognize them and take the risk of connecting with them when they find them.

Disc Of Love (2013)

Disc of Love (2013)


Director: Ryan DaveyWriters: Brandon Bushman (screenplay) (as Josh Brandon Bushman) , Ryan Davey (additional material)
Genre: Short movie
Country: Australia
Language: English
Duration: 8 min
Year: 2013



Stars: Luke Cosgrove, Brandon Taylor-Cotton







Jake has packed his bags and is heading off to visit his parents.
His roommate, Lucas seems all too disillusioned by the idea of Jake being gone for the entire weekend, and is acting in a very strange manner. Jake tries to find out why, but all he receives is this mixed CD.
Odd as it may be, Jake willingly accepts it and is wished a safe journey. While the entire trip seems to be going just as planned, he soon discovers what is on this mysterious disc, and all hell breaks loose!


20 September 2015

Un Mostro Chiamato Ignoranza (2014

Un Mostro Chiamato Ignoranza (2014)eng. A Monster Called Ignorance


Director: Alessandro Antonaci
Writer: Alessandro Antonaci
Genre: Short movie
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Duration: 24 min
Year: 2014


Stars: Daniel Lascar, Luca Buongiorno, Chiara Moscatello, Gioa Orlando, Mattia Antonaci, Andrea Zirio, Roberto Pitta, Vanina Bianco, Simone Sarzano





Elia is a 20 years old boy who decides to tell the story about his family in front of a camera. A long flashback shows us how 2 years old Elia was loved by his wonderful parents, Roberto and Marco, and their best friend, 'aunt Sara'. The movie is not set in a specific place or time and shows how beautiful and genuine a LGBT family can be. But ignorance will come in their lives and destroy their happiness. Marco will be taught a very important lesson about how essential facing hate and discrimination is and he will fight every day against that 'monster called homophobia', that still causes attacks, murders, suicides and many more injustices.




Boygame (2013)




Director: Anna Nolskog
Writer: Anna Nolskog
Genre: Short movie
Country: Sweden
Language: Swedish
Duration: 15 min
Year: 2013

Stars: Charlie Gustafsson, Joakim Lang, Sophie Adolfsson

John and Nicholas are best friends. They both claim to be interested in girls but feel insecure when it comes to their first sexual encounter. So as not to come across inexperienced…they decide to “practice'” with each other.
Anna Nolskog is an emerging European filmmaker having directed three shorts to date – Emella, Boygame and Bury Me In The Back Yard.

19 September 2015

VGL Seek Same

VGL Seek Same


Short Film, written and directed by Dorjan Williams

Director: Dorjan Javas Williams
Writer: Dorjan Javas William
Genre: Short movie
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 7 min

Stars: Kraig Million, Richard Ruskin, Dorjan Javas Williams

West Hollywood Motel (2013)

West Hollywood Motel (2013)


Director: Matt Riddlehoover
Writers: Matt Riddlehoover, Ethan James
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 78 min



Stars: Matt Riddlehoover, Andrew Matarazzo, Amy Kelly, Phil Leirness








Director Matt Riddlehoover doesn't mind tweaking your expectations—delivering plenty of eye candy while he tries to deliver a message. In his last film, Scenes from a Gay Marriage, he included plenty of skin but also charming wit. Now he's back with a new sexy comedy that takes place in the various rooms of, as the title suggets, a West Hollywood Motel.
According to a press release, the characters include a medical student (Riddlehoover), his extrovert boyfriend (Andrew Callahan), an adulterous actress (Starina Johnson), her lover (Heather Horton), and a dutiful husband (Phil Leirness) whose wife (Amy Kelly) wakes to find she has a penis. It also  co-stars Jared Allman (Scenes from a Gay Marriage), Cesar D' La Torre (Logo's DTLA), Ben Phen (Interior. Leather Bar.), and newcomer Alec Houston Bell. While many people seem to be leaning toward the moody gay dramas about failed romances these days, there should still be room for these silly comedies about sex, love, and more.
Check out the naughty trailer below for a taste:


Source: OUT.COM

18 September 2015

Blackbird (IV) (2014)

Blackbird (IV) (2014)



Director: Patrik-Ian Polk
Writers: Rikki Beadle Blair, Patrik-Ian Polk
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 99 min
Year: 2014



Stars: Mo'Nique, Julian Walker, Kevin Allesee, Isaiah Washington







BY DIEGO COSTA - Slantmagazine
APRIL 22, 2015
Blackbird opens with sexually repressed Randy (Julian Walker), a closeted black high school senior from a Southern Baptist family, singing a duet in his choir with another guy. The scene culminates with the two making out and taking their clothes off on stage and at least one member of the choir fainting in horror. Turns out this is just a wet dream, one of many that Randy will have throughout the film, which sometimes includes guys knocking on his window and asking, “Is this a gay party or can a dirty straight boy join in?” Randy tends to wake up from these dreams with jizz all over his hands, and stricken with the kind of guilt that gets him on his knees, begging the lord for forgiveness.
The dream motif actually turns out to be one of the Patrik-Ian Polk film's least hackneyed devices; after all, a gay boy in the most stifling of closets (this despite the realness of Randy's Joan Crawford eyebrows) can only gasp for air in the unconscious. The device recovers its usual triteness, however, once we hear an entire song about dreams, just in case we haven't understood that they're quite important for Randy, while watching him lose his virginity to some white dude in, of course, slow motion.


While this gospel Glee of a movie about gay alienation has its share of witty lines (“What do they teach you straight boys, nothing?”) and sweet tear-jerking scenes, Blackbird flounders by using a song in every other scene, or whenever it wants to evoke an emotion, and by casting Mo'Nique as yet another mother monster.
She slaps Randy in the face when he eats the pie she's baked for her missing daughter, and arms herself with a baseball bat when finding irrefutable proof that he's gay. To add to the film's TMZ-triggered problems, having Isaiah “Not-Your-Little-Faggot” Washington, as Randy's father, play the one gay-friendly voice in an ocean of homophobic hysteria is an embarrassingly forced mea culpa.



In its best moments, Blackbird exudes the cheekiness of But I'm a Cheerleader, as in Randy meeting a bona-fide gay, Marshall (Kevin Allesee), who ushers him toward his first sex-cruising experience at a park late at night. Randy asks, “Is this some kind of lovers lane?” But for a film that wants to be something of a teen musical, a coming-of-age story, and a gay fairy tale all at once, it's too often bogged down by an unnecessarily somber subplot about Randy's sister, which never quite fits the narrative, and worn-out images of Jesus freaks trying to pray the gay away through exorcism. Indeed, being a closeted black gay boy in Mississippi is surely suffocating, but Blackbird is, like its main character, too naive to understand or, at least, to deploy the reparative powers of camp.

No Match Found (2005)

No Match Found (2005)



Director: Brian Pelletier
Writer: Brian Pelletier
Genre: Short movie
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 10 min

Stars: Michael Ciriaco, Michael Dean Connolly, Nick Estrada


When Kevin discovers his boyfriend is cheating on thier anniversary, his friends come to the rescue to find him a quality person. Of course, the best intentions don't always have the best consequences and he swings from bad date to bad date only to discover what he's been looking for is right next door. Written by Brian Pelletier


15 September 2015

The Awakening of Spring (2008)


The Awakening of Spring (2008)



Director: Arthur Allan Seidelman
Writer: Frank Wedekind
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 92 min
Year: 2008



Stars: Yuval David, John Aniston, Gary Bisig






Ducdebrabant from New York City, USA - IMDB
First of all, it's basically a photographed stage play, though it's all done in a studio (with neutral backdrops and extremely minimal scenery), not in a theatre in front of an audience. If that turns you off, okay, but it's hardly unprecedented.

Apart from that annoying clarinet, I quite like it. It's a nice to see the Wedekind play done straight (though liberties are taken, names are anglicized and marks become dollars), not to take anything away from the musical "Spring's Awakening." Although the attitude towards sex education may have changed, and our mores, and the amount of information available to children, human nature has not. The way the people grope for answers and try to understand their own feelings and impulses and physicality is timeless.

The acting under Seidelman's direction is very good. Jesse Lee Soffer is very charismatic, Constance Towers is excellent. Bridget Moloney does wonderful things with her little part. There is some tasteful and artistically justified nudity, none of it full frontal.
A clever idea of Seidelman's is to have the teachers (but not the headmaster) in the faculty meeting where Michael is expelled wear carnival masks. It allows them to be doubled (which one senses they are) by the young actors playing the students and thereby adds an extra dimension to the caricatures they basically are.





But over all, the spareness of the production, the fact that it focuses on the generations in the way it does, and the English names and places (New Hampshire is actually mentioned) cause it to dialogue with "Our Town." It becomes the more unflinching cousin of the Wilder play. The dead even come back.

13 September 2015

Park Bench (2007)

Park Bench (2007)



Directors: Elias Benavidez, Jim Le
Writers: Elias Benavidez, Jim Le
Genre: Short movie
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 6 min
Year: 2007



Stars: Ian Delaney, Clayton Froning, Julia Graham







A timid young man yearning to connect and express his true attractions finds an opportunity to do so when a handsome stranger sits next to him on a park bench.

12 September 2015

Caged (2013)

Caged (2013)
"Uitgesproken" (original title)


Directors: Dylan Tonk, Lazlo Tonk
Writers: Dylan Tonk, Lazlo Tonk
Genre: Short movie
Country: Netherlands
Language: Dutch
Duration:14 min
Year: 2013



Stars: Joël Mellenberg, Josha Stradowski, Yldau de Boer






David and Neils are best friends and their love for each other as friends came about because of their love of sports. However, their friendship will be tested when David finds out that Neils is gay.
Written by Lazlo & Dylan Tonk, this is a depiction of the emotional rollercoaster of coming out within the macho environment of the sporting arena. Here the sport is track and the film feels very real. We see scenes that strikingly juxtapose outright prejudice with the open arms of sexual acceptance, frankly there’s a lot to like here, including an ending that’s guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. Unfortunately we can only gather from watching what happens as there no English subtitles (yet). Nonetheless we feel the heartfelt message of love and acceptance comes through the Dutch celluloid loud and clear thus making this a delightful viewing experience.




From the Edge of the City (1998)

From the Edge of the City (1998)


Director: Constantine Giannaris
Writer: Constantine Giannaris
Genre: Drama, Crime
Country: Greece
Language: Greek, Russian
Duration: 94 min
Year: 1998


Stars: Stathis Papadopoulos, Costas Kotsianidis, Panayiotis Hartomatzidis








In many ways, Sasha, the cocky 17-year-old street hustler at the center of Constantine Giannaris's pungent film ''From the Edge of the City,'' is every lost boy, spurred by Day-Glo fantasies of easy money, scrounging for a living in the sleazier districts of any large city in the Western world. Portrayed by Stathis Papadopoulos with such a natural mixture of innocence and hardness that he has the aura of a youth plucked off the streets, Sasha blithely sells his skinny, chiseled body to men while having lollipop dreams of one day living happily ever after with his 15-year-old sweetheart, Elenista (Panagiota Vlachosotirou).

But Sasha is also a very specific product of his time and place. After the crumbling of the Soviet Union, he and his family were among thousands who emigrated from Kazakhstan to Athens in search of a better life. In feverish flashbacks, Sasha imagines an idyllic boyhood, running with his friends across a golden wheat field. The childhood of his imagination couldn't be more different from his sleazy late adolescence of prostitution, drugs and gaudy nightclub fantasies.
At least Sasha has a home to go to. His father is a laborer who expects his son to contribute his share to the meager family income. But when he discovers that Sasha hasn't been going to his construction job, he flies into a rage and drives his son from the house. Most of Sasha's friends on the street are fellow Pontoi, Russian immigrants of Greek descent who haven't been assimilated into the mainstream despite their Greek origins. The Pontoi take pride in ranking higher on the social ladder than the Albanians.

''From the Edge of the City,'' which opens today at the Screening Room, is a deliberately ragged movie that affects a documentary authenticity as it follows Sasha and his friends around Omonia Square in Athens. Every now and then, Sasha is plunked in front of the camera and asked blunt questions about his life and his expectations by an unseen narrator. His tends to respond with defensive, noncommittal shrugs.
Sasha occasionally catches a glimpse of the life he would like to live while in a client's apartment or a nightclub crowded with well-to-do suburban youths. But as the movie goes along and Sasha sinks into the netherworld, that hope seems increasingly remote. Sasha and his friends, when not hustling, sit around aimlessly smoking pot and experimenting with other drugs. The movie shows how easy it is for shiftless youth driven by boredom and idle curiosity to drift from soft into hard drugs with barely a second thought.
The quest for the quick buck eventually lands Sasha in the clutches of Giorgos (Dimitri Papoulidis), a vicious pimp whose prize prostitute, Natasia (Theodora Tzimou), also a Russian immigrant, is expected to have 30 to 40 clients a day. Giorgos, who has grown tired of Natasia, plans to sell her to some other pimps. While waiting for a deal to be consummated, he turns her over to Sasha for short-term management. Disastrously, Sasha falls in love with her.


''From the Edge of the City'' tells its story in random flashes that capture the fragmented uncertainty of Sasha's day-to-day life. But in striving for a semi-cinema-verite ease, it loses track of its characters as it rambles from scene to scene. Even so, it captures a gritty urban reality without moralizing or sentimentalizing its hapless young protagonist.
www.nytimes.com
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: April 21, 2000


09 September 2015

Love in the Time of Civil War (2014)

Love in the Time of Civil War (2014)



Director: Rodrigue Jean
Writers: Ron Ladd (screenplay), Ron Ladd
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Language: French
Duration: 120 min
Year: 2014


Stars: Ana Christina Alva, Catherine-Audrey Lachapelle, Alexandre Landry







Love in the Time of Civil War (L’amour au temps de la guerre civile) tells the story of the fairly grubby and unglamorous life of Alex (played by Alexandre Landry) – a young gay guy living in Montreal.
Directed by Quebec filmmaker Rodrigue Jean, this is a movie that celebrates the gritty realism of everyday life in a big city where people do whatever they have to do in order to get by.
Landry is convincing as the confused and directionless young, gay guy who lurches from one drug-fuelled encounter to the next. However it’s hard to feel much sympathy for any of the characters – they’re a fairly unlikeable lot.
This is a story that won’t give you many laughs – it is a bleak insight into a world that you don’t really want to be part of. It does however shine a light into the spiral of despair that drug addiction can create.
Observational film-making with a message.



06 September 2015

Miles Apart (2003)

Miles Apart (2003)



Director: Jonathan M. Guttman
Writers: Writer: Keith Humphrey
Genre: Short movie
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 19 min


Stars: Craig Burke (Jeffrey), Brad Schmid (Miles), Kathleen O'Neel Toleedo (Darleen), Megan Hamaker (Kathryn)


Miles Apart is a short gay movie about two gay men dealing with a parent who resents their homosexual relationship. Miles and Jeffrey are travelling to attend Kathryn's wedding. Kathryn is Jeffrey's sister. Jeffrey is gay and has been in a relationship with Miles. Jeffrey's mother does not approve of their homosexual affair.
Miles has reservations about having to stay at Jeffrey's home because of his mother's attitude towards their sexuality. Jeffrey convinces him to come along. They arrive and the mother is already very ignorant of Miles existence. She even asks them not to lock the door while in the room. At the dinner table she asks Miles to pray for the food with an ulterior motive. Miles starts to pray invoking his gay relationship with Jeffrey. The mother stops him and they argue. He goes away upset and Jeffrey goes after him. Miles asks that they leave but Jeffrey pleads with him to stay at least until they attend the wedding. He agrees and on the wedding day the mother treats them no different with the same homophobic discrimination.

05 September 2015

When I'm Sixty-Four (2004

When I'm Sixty-Four (2004)


Director: Jon Jones
Writer: Tony Grounds
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Language: English
Duration:90 min
Year: 2004

Stars: Paul Freeman, Alun Armstrong, Peter McNamara

When I'm Sixty-Four is a British gay movie about two old men who fall in love with each other. Jim is a teacher at a school but has hit the age of 65 which means he has to retire. He has spent almost all his life in that school. He started there as a student at 8 years of age. A man around his age picks him up with a taxi. The man's name is Ray. Jim asks to be taken to a clinic instead of the earlier planned airport. Ray drops him off. Ray arrives home and realizes Jim left his jacket in the car. In it is a diary written things he must do before death. Number one is see the world and number two is fall in love. Ray lost his wife to cancer eight years back. His two children a son and daughter are married with children and come to visit him sometimes. He is however lonely.
Ray takes the jacket to the clinic. The receptionist shows him to Jim's room. He finds Jim was having a nose job done on him. They exchange numbers. Jim calls Ray to take him to his father's house. On arrival they find him collapsed on the lawn. They rush him to hospital. Jim's plans for a trip to Botswana are interrupted by his dad's health.
Ray and Jim continue to bond. Jim has a crisis over his looks and age. He wants to experience life before his death. He takes Ray along for shopping. Jim has saved almost 200,000 pounds because he almost had no expenses while in school. Ray is a football hooligan who is lonely and sad especially after his friend was diagnosed with cancer. Jim must be gay as he makes homosexual advances at Ray. Ray resists but later agrees. They begin an intimate relationship. Ray's son notices the two. He tells the sister and they confront Ray asking if he is gay. The son is especially upset that his dad might be queer. Ray denies it and lies. Ray and Jim however continue meeting. Jim decides to take the trip to Botswana and Ray joins him just before he leaves.


04 September 2015

The Sum of Us (1994)

The Sum of Us (1994)


Directors: Geoff Burton, Kevin Dowling
Writers: David Stevens (play), David Stevens (screenplay)
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia
Language: English
Duration: 100 min


Stars: Jack Thompson, Russell Crowe, John Polson







Review by Queer Beacon
Good movie. You'll feel all good and hoping the world could be like the movie, with fathers getting along with their gay sons. Here, Russell Crowe, yes him, plays a big gay. Jack Thompson plays his father. They have an awesome relationship. Jack is extremely supportive and accepts Crowe's homosexuality like I've never seen in a father-son relationship before.
There are constant reminders that the father is super supportive. He pushes for safe sex. He keeps hoping Russell will find Mr. Right. He tells Russell how lucky he is to have him for a son, it goes on and on. Seriously, see the movie with someone you like because you'll want to kiss someone.
To top it all off, Russell's grandmother was a lesbian and she is remembered fondly, and Russell plays footy. He's just a nice and ordinary guy. You will also get to see various types of gays in the movie. Queens, older gays, butch gays (like Crowe) etc. It's great when movies reflect the wide range of gays available.
Forget that you hate Russell. If you see this movie you might actually like him. The movie was shot in 1994, he was 30 then.


There was some homophobia elsewhere in the movie but not inside Crowe's house, and the homophobia was portrayed as something bad.After the jump there is a little discussion on the mentioned homophobia (which will sort of give away part of the plot).



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