Director: Leslie L. Smith
Writer: Leslie L. Smith
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 101 min
Stars: Anthony Rapp, Camryn Manheim, Julie Halston
Movie about a young homosexual man's search to find himself by surviving heartbreak and relationship fears. He explores what it means to live for himself and others. His video camera and his roommate and best friend, a heterosexual female. David searches for love, creativity, and meaning with his video camera, though living life is much harder when not hiding behind the lens.
Directors: Richard Knight Jr., Peter Neville
Writers: Timothy Imse, Richard Knight Jr., Ellen Stoneking
Genres: Drama, Family, Music
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 91 min
Year: 2012
Stars: David Pevsner, Tim Kazurinsky, Rusty Schwimmer
Billed as “a holiday movie for all of us,” “Scrooge & Marley” is in fact very niche, being of and for that segment of the gay community that enjoys watered-down camp and syrupy empowerment messages, which are not to be confused with the good kinds of either. This spin on “A Christmas Carol” delivers a heavy-handed morality play that Dickens himself might have found gauche, sugar-coated with weak songs and broad performances. Playing scattered theatrical runs between now and Christmas, the pic figures to do modest but better biz from its home-format release next month.
Raining on his employees’ seasonal cheer (even firing one of them), Ebenezer, aka Ben, Scrooge (David Pevsner) shutters the gay nightclub he ripped off long ago from a former benefactor (the inevitable Bruce Vilanch) and settles in for a grumpy solo Christmas Eve. But he’s visited first by Marley (Tim Kazurinsky), his former partner in ruthless gay-community bilking, now a salvation-seeking denizen of purgatory.
As in the Dickens story, three more ghosts follow: Christmas Past (Ronnie Kroell), who helps Ben revisit his homophobic father and other contributors to his greedy, mean adult personality; Present (Megan Cavanagh), who shows how forgiving the people around him are; and Future (JoJo Baby), who promises Scrooge’s customarily bleak reward. Scrooge redeems himself, natch, though the maudlin final scenes are cringe-inducing.
Of course, it’s impossible to do a “Carol” without sentimentality — Scrooge’s whole journey is about thawing his heart. But “S&M” (get it?) is so crude and literal-minded in its gay reinterpretation that no genuine emotion can get past the script’s compilation of cliches. Execution isn’t much better, with a low budget that might’ve been turned to a more imaginative pic’s advantage, but here is charmlessly obvious, with tacky f/x and stagy interiors; indeed, the material could translate to a proscenium with little alteration.
Shot in Chicago, the pic clumsily uses frequent blackouts to transition between scenes in a mediocre tech/design package. Source: Variety.com
Two facts to ponder: Crutch is "based on a true story," and Rob Moretti is not only one of the lead actors but also the writer, director, editor, and producer. The result: Crutch comes across as an extremely personal exorcism of Moretti's suburban gothic adolescence, for better and for worse. Like the scribblings in a teenager's diary, the film vacillates between insight and exaggeration.
Moretti has quite a story to tell. Sixteen-year-old David (Eben Gordon), the surrogate for Moretti, lives in a broken home with his rapidly deteriorating alcoholic mother (Juanita Walsh) and two sullen siblings. Dad (James Earley) lives across town with another woman, and the family's method for coping with all this drama is to maintain a chilly silence. When not scribbling frantically in his well-worn diary, David finds distractions with his pretty girlfriend Julia (Jennifer Laine Williams). Together, they sign up for an acting class led by new-in-town thirtysomething Kenny (Moretti) and his sidekick Maryann (Jennifer J. Katz). Within minutes, Kenny starts a not-so-subtle dance of seduction with David, who is too distracted by his family problems to pick up on the signals... at first.
Once David's mom is tossed into rehab, David, feeling adrift, starts clinging to Kenny, and before long, the two are happily intertwined in a drug-fueled affair. "I was impressionable," David says in his retrospective narration. Meanwhile, Maryann tells Kenny, "All I'm saying is that you should be careful."
Indeed. Kenny, who we learn was a successful actor who lost it all in a shameful spiral of drugs and self-hatred, is an utterly unsympathetic (but good-looking) lout, a sexual predator who spends half the film committing various felonies and misdemeanors, albeit with the consent of young David. Looking for advice as the relationship sours, David turns to Zack (Tim Loftus), a local bookshop clerk whose over-the-top swishiness, the likes of which hasn't been seen on screen since The Boys in the Band, stops the film dead in its tracks not once but twice. It's an egregious directorial mistake in a film that otherwise does a great job of capturing the gritty textures of a typical middle-class New Jersey suburb.
How strange it must have been for Moretti to write and then play the role of the man who seduced him as a teenager. Unlike the other characters in the film, the Kenny he's created is one-dimensional, a troublemaker who keeps making trouble and who doesn't earn a bit of understanding or forgiveness from the audience. You have to wonder if the man who inspired the character of Kenny will see this film and what he'll think of it. (For a much more nuanced portrayal of a suburban pedophile on the loose, see the fascinating L.I.E.)
Crutch does succeed in creating an intimacy with the audience. The story is so personal that you can't help but feel like a voyeur trapped in the small houses and apartments where most of the action takes place. When Mom splits open her chin in a drunken stupor and blood spreads everywhere as David helps her down the stairs, you almost want to wipe the blood off your own hands.
It's hard to believe that Moretti's real-life experience was quite as dramatic as the melodrama he's written, but Crutch has its moments, and at least you know that Moretti made it through his troubles and became a productive moviemaker. There could have been far unhappier endings.
Director: Jesse Rosen
Writer: Jesse Rosen
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 70 min
Year: 2008
Stars: Johnny Ray Rodriguez, Rachel Castillo, Jim Dineen
Variety Review by Dennis Harvey
Posted by JesseRosen on Mar 11, 2014 in A.O.B.S. Reviews, Reviews
“A low-key comedy high on charm and credible twentysomething observation, Jesse Rosen’s debut feature, “The Art of Being Straight,” stars the writer-director as a possibly-coming-out newbie in Los Angeles whose puzzling over his sexual identification isn’t helped by his jokily insensitive straight buds. Appealingly played, nicely executed pic has a shot at arthouse distribution in addition to select DVD/cable sales and further fest travel.
Twenty-three-year-old John (Rosen) has just moved to L.A. from New York, ostensibly “taking a break” from his longtime girlfriend. He moves in with college bro Andy (Jared Grey), whose pals incessantly do that kind of “That is so gay” banter that’s essentially harmless — unless you’re the only gay guy in the room. (Acknowledging there actually is a distinction, one eventually queries “Is it ‘gay’ like it’s lame or ‘gay’ like it’s homosexual?”)
A quiet, genial guy among these more boisterous types, John is hardly comfortable discussing his shifting Kinsey scale placement with them, and his new job as bottom-rung gofer at a major ad agency is fraught with sexual tension as a studly boss (Johnny Ray Rodriguez) barrages him with thinly veiled come-ons.
Meanwhile, lesbian friend Maddy (Rachel Castillo) suffers her own travails, questioning her relationship commitment with g.f. Anna (Emilia Richeson) while developing a crush on nice-guy neighbor Aaron (Peter Scherer). Her own low-rung job at an art gallery is made torturous by bitchy, pretentious co-workers and customers.
Maddy isn’t undergoing a major life change, just a wee bi-curious phase. John isn’t so much closeted as simply figuring himself out. His peers aren’t real homophobes, just guys talking typical guy-trash. Narrative developments feel true to an increasingly frequent real-world dynamic too seldom seen in drama: When gay guy (or girl) is just “one of the guys,” not the token “gay friend” or the straight woman’s non-threatening pal. Pic’s slice of post-collegiate L.A. life likewise feels casually on-target in portraying an aspirational milieu that’s more Silverlake than Beverly Hills or West Hollywood.”
Director: David Lewis
Writers:David Lewis
Genres:Drama, Romance
Country:USA
Language: English
Duration:82 minutes
Year: 2009
Stars:Matthew Montgomery, Tad Coughenour, Caleb Dorfman
Two people weary from life meet unexpectedly and, even though they only know each other for a couple of days, discover a mind-blowing love that Changes Everything. But one of them has unbreakable commitments elsewhere — forcing him to ask, "Do I dare pursue this mind-blowing love, even if it means hurting other people?" Everett feels stifled with Miles, the man with whom he is raising an autistic son. But then Miles and their son go away for a week, and Everett meets Chase, a traveling novelist in town to research a book.
And so begins a brief, bittersweet love affair that will echo throughout the ages.
Look, if you simply can’t buy this premise of "soul-mates," of love-at-first-sight, you won’t like this movie. And truthfully? I don’t buy this premise either, not in real life, where I think "infatuation" is completely different from "true love," which is something that grows slowly over time.
But for some reason, I can suspend my disbelief long enough to buy it on movie screens — or at least I bought it here — even despite a wildly over-the-top ending. This is a fantasy, pure and simple, and it is exactly as ridiculous as the two movies I mentioned above.
It helps that the two leads, Matthew Montgomery (Chase) and Brendan Bradley (Everett), do a wonderful job of selling all this. Bradley, who is reportedly straight in real life, has an appealingly vulnerable quality to him — exactly what the role requires. And Montgomery, who is openly gay and well-known in indie gay film, is certainly my idea of a handsome stranger who would force me to Question Everything.
Keep in mind that Redwoods is a micro-budget indie gay movie, surely made on a shoestring. As such, the synth-heavy music is occasionally distracting, the story flags for a bit, and the dialogue is sometimes a little clunky (especially toward the end when they discuss Chase’s novel their relationship).
That said, this is night-and-day better than most similarly-budgeted projects: the script is solid, the acting is remarkably good (and consistent; unlike a lot of these micro-budget movies, there are no painfully wooden supporting players). And — I know this sounds like a small thing, but it’s not — the lighting, which is so often "off" in these indie gay movies, looks professionally done.
Better still, the movie takes great advantage of the redwood forests where it is set. Too many low-budget movies are set in the front room of the director’s house, and they feel weirdly claustrophobic. This movie took the exact opposite approach — small budget, but big scope — and it absolutely paid off.
Mostly, I appreciate that, more and more, we live in an age where gay movies don’t have to always be angsty and depressing, or preachy and pointed. There are no closeted boyfriends in Redwoods, no disapproving parents to come out to.
This a pure cheese, a frothy romance — a gay guilty pleasure! And in my book, that makes this the most revolutionary gay film I’ve seen in quite some time.
Director: Nils Bökamp
Writer: Nils Bökamp
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Language: German, English, Polish
Duration: 79 min
Year:2014
Stars: George Taylor, Eric Klotzsch, Michal Grabowski
This whole post-gay thing is super confusing. What do we do now that being gay isn’t the be all and end all?
What do we do now that we are allowed to have straight male friends and be affectionate with them? What’s more, where is all the angsty queer drama going to come from?Take this case study: good-looking German feature You & I.
The “I” here is hot German photographer, Jonas (Eric Klotzsch); sexuality straight. The “You” is hotter English, German-speaking, laughter loving, nudity preferring, ex-housemate, Philip (George Taylor); sexuality gay. The two reunite in Jonas’ Mercedes campervan for a leisurely road trip through the rolling hills of the Uckermark.
Sounds like every second queer film, no?
Throw it in between Harvest (MQFF 2012) and Summer Storm (MQFF 2005); it’s even got the obligatory shirtless pontoon sunbathing scene. There is one small issue though. Sexual tension: nil. Dramatic tension: nil.
Turns out well-adjusted cross-sexuality friendships don’t make for edge of your seat cinema. Yet, You & I isn’t so easily dismissed.
The film’s first act may be a little limp but director Nils Bökamp imbues the young men’s reconnection with enough energy to maintain attention.
Klotzsch and Taylor give engaging performances, cut through with the kind of faux-vérité freshness that warrants the low-key narrative flow. Taylor’s smile has a cheekiness reminiscent of Michael Fassbender, and Bökamp’s laissez faire direction gives him space to flash it openly and often. And that’s not all that’s flashed.
Actually, the nudity counter is off the chart – they’re super comfortable with each other, y’know. All this, and it has to be said, the luscious scenery is extremely well treated by cinematographer, Alexander Fuchs. The point being, You & I is far from a difficult watch.
Then… enter Boris (Michal Grabowski)… we’ll call him the “&”.
Hot, Polish, straggly haired, backpackerly, homophobic; sexuality unlabelled. He brings the tension with him, dramatic and sexual. Well, to a point.
Bökamp’s approach to the material remains impressionistic but the insertion of Boris’ bristling Eastern European values brings a spark that sets the slow burn to a smoulder. It turns out just a hint of traditional pre-post-gay angst is enough to tip this new frontier bro-triangle into strangely endearing territory. Endearing, affecting and gently pulsing with erratic chemistry.
You & I may be a gear change for some but will reward those willing to take it down a notch and embrace its ambiguity. It’s a film riding the zeitgeist (it’s German, it fits) and may well provide some invaluable pointers in this brave new world of gay straight relations: Turn your bromance into romance… or something like that.
Director: Ryan Murphy
Writers: Larry Kramer (screenplay), Larry Kramer (play), Ryan Murphy
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 132 min
Year: 2014
Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Jonathan Groff, Frank De Julio, William DeMeritt, Taylor Kitsch, Joe Mantello, Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons,
Priča o počecima HIV-AIDS krize u Njujork Sitiju ranih osamdesetih, sa hrabrim osvrtom na nacionalnu politiku o seksualnosti u vrijeme kada se gej aktivisti i njihovi saveznici bore da objelodane istinu o epidemiji koja se širi. Ova drama HBO priča dramatičnu, dirljivu i umnogome frustrirajuću priču o počecima HIV-AIDS krize u Njujork Sitiju tokom ranih osamdesetih, sa hrabrim osvrtom na nacionalnu politiku o seksualnosti u vrijeme kada se gej aktivisti i njihovi saveznici bore da svom gradu i naciji u stanju poricanja objelodane istinu o epidemiji koja se širi. Mark Rafalo, Met Bomer, Tejlor Kič , Džim Parsons, Alfred Molina i Džulija Roberts glume u adaptaciji pozorišnog komada Larija Krejmera, dobitnika nagrade Toni. Nakon što je jedan od njegovih prijatelja preminuo od novog, nikada ranije dijagnosticiranog oblika raka, Ned Weeks {Mark Ruffalo} odlučio je preduzeti sve potrebno za borbu protiv istog. Maničan, na momente verbalno agresivan, od strane svojih prijatelja Weeks nije shvaćen ozbiljno. Borbi protiv i dalje nepoznatog virusa, nakon što su izgubili svoje najmilije, pridružila mu se nekolicina njegovih najbližih prijatelja.
Početkom 80-tih godina malo se toga znalo o AIDS-u tj HIV-u. 30 godina kasnije o HIV-u se zna mnogo, ali i dalje ne postoji lijek niti vakcina koja sprečava ovu bolest.
Srećom, opštepoznata prihvaćeno pravilo o obaveznoj upotrebi kondoma i sigurnom seksu sa nepoznatim osobama postalo je dio savremene kulture življanja. Ipak svake godine se dosta mladih ljudi zarazi ovim virusom. Od HIV-a se danas ne umire i osobe koje u sebi imaju virus mogu uz adekvatnu terapiju da nastave normalno da žive. Takve osobe su i dalje prenosioci ovog virusa.
Ono što se može primjetiti da se gaj kultura življenja nije mnogo promjenila u odnosu na 80-te godine proslog vijek. Naravno sve je modernizovano i jednostavno je stupiti u kontakt sa gaj osobama koje na prvo mjesto postavljaju pitanja a/p, god, izgled i veličina kite. Malo ko će vas pitati koji ste film pogledali zadnji put, a još manje njih da li ste pročitali neku knjigu u zadnje vrijeme?
Iako su se skoro svi pederi medjusobno pojebali u skoro svakom malo većem mjestu, možemo biti sigurni da se međusobno vrlo malo poznaju i još manje druže. Opis neke osobe, veličinu kurca i poziciju u seksu će te lako saznati od svakog pedera, ali kakva je ta osoba, kako živi, šta voli, kakve su joj karakterne osobine i slično je nepoznanica za većinu gej osoba. Međusobno nepoznavanje, nepovjerenje koje prevazilazi svaki razuman pristup ljudima i otuđenost je karakteristika današnjeg svijeta koji radije provodi vrijeme sa kučetom u stanu, pored kompjutera nego u zdravoj komunikaciji kroz koju se stića prijateljstvo.
Kako nekada, tako i sada, gej zajednica sama po sebi nije sposobna da se izbori za sopstveni bolji život. Rijetko će neki gej pomoći drugome da nađe posao, ili se založiti za nekog po bilo kom pitanju osim ako iza toga ne stoje neki lični razlozi. Više ustupaka i pokušaja komunikacije sa gej osobama učini str8 čovjek koji na taj načim pokazuje sam sebi karakter i ljudskost nego što će to gej prema drugom geju. Često mi se onladina žali na razne probleme koje ima. Uvjek ih upitam koliko prijatelja imaju i da li su oni spremni da ih saslušaju i pomognu u rješavanju problema? Začudili bi se kako su tužni ti odgovori. Otuda i borba protiv HIV-a vše zavisi od većinskog str8 društva nego od manjinske gej zajednice koja radije sakrivena čuči u nekom žbunju pokraj plaže u nadi da će sjesti na neki kurac, nego da dozvoli bilo kome da je upozna po imenu i prezimenu.
The Normal Heart is a 2014 American drama television film directed by Ryan Murphy and written by Larry Kramer, based on his own 1985 play of same name. The film stars Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons, Alfred Molina, Joe Mantello, Jonathan Groff, and Julia Roberts.
It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 26, 2014.
The film depicts the rise of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City (among gay people) between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks (Ruffalo), the founder of a prominent HIV advocacy group. Weeks prefers public confrontations to the calmer, more private strategies favored by his associates, friends, and closeted lover Felix Turner (Bomer). Their differences of opinion lead to arguments that threaten to undermine their shared goals.
It is summer of 1981. Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo) is an openly gay writer from New York City who travels to Fire Island Pines on Long Island to celebrate the birthday of his friend Craig Donner (Jonathan Groff) at a house on the beach. Other friends in attendance include Mickey Marcus (Joe Mantello) and the charismatic Bruce Niles (Taylor Kitsch), who has recently begun dating Craig. Craig is young and appears to be in good health. While walking on the beach, however, Craig feels dizzy and collapses. Later, when blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, Craig begins to cough repeatedly.
While traveling back to New York City, Ned reads an article in The New York Times titled "Rare Cancer Diagnosed in 41 Homosexuals." Back in the city, he visits the offices of Dr. Emma Brookner (Julia Roberts), a physician who has seen many patients unexpectedly afflicted with the symptoms of rare diseases that normally wouldn't harm people unless their immune systems have been compromised. All of these cases seem to be appearing in gay men. In the waiting room, Ned meets Sanford (Stephen Spinella), a patient whose face and hands are marked with skin lesions caused by Kaposi's sarcoma, a rare cancer. Brookner examines Ned, but finds that he does not have the symptoms of this disease. She asks Ned to help her raise awareness of this disease within the gay community.
Craig suddenly suffers violent convulsions and is rushed to the hospital with Ned, Mickey, and Bruce where he is later pronounced dead. Brookner recognizes Bruce, noting that he is the former boyfriend of another one of her patients who recently died. Ned organizes a gathering at his home where many local gay men are invited to hear Brookner share information about the disease. Though she lacks conclusive evidence, she states her belief that the illness is sexually transmissible and that they should all avoid having sex for the time being to prevent new transmissions. Most attendees question her belief. She notes that few medical journals appear interested in publishing anything on this disease which is mostly affecting homosexual men. Ned announces that he wants to start an organization to spread information about the disease and provide services to those who have been infected.
Brookner and Ned visit a local hospital where several of her sick patients are in critical condition with an illness that is now being referred to as gay-related immune deficiency (GRID). They stay in rooms that many hospital staff are afraid to enter for fear of contracting the disease. Ned, Bruce, Mickey, and several other friends including Tommy Boatwright (Jim Parsons) establish a community organization called Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). The organization sponsors fundraisers for research on the disease now called AIDS and establishes a telephone hotline, counseling, and other services. Over Ned's objections, they elect Bruce their President. Ned arranges for his older brother, lawyer Ben Weeks (Alfred Molina), to provide free legal advice to the GMHC. The two brothers are close, but there remains an underlying tension over Ben's lack of understanding of Ned's sexuality. Ned contacts gay New York Times reporter Felix Turner (Matt Bomer), hoping that he can use his media connections to publish more stories about the unfolding health crisis. Felix laments that it's difficult getting any mainstream newspapers to report much information on AIDS. The two begin a romantic relationship.
The disease continues to spread, claims lives. Bruce attempts to travel to Phoenix with his boyfriend Albert (Finn Wittrock), who is dying, so that Albert can see his mother one more time. The airline refuses at first to fly the plane with sick Albert on board. When they do eventually get to Phoenix, Albert dies following a period of dementia. The hospital doctors refuse to examine him and issue a death certificate, and instead throw him out with the garbage while Bruce bribes a funeral home to cremate his body without a death certificate. Brookner attempts to obtain grant money to continue researching AIDS, but her efforts are rejected by government officials who do not see AIDS as a priority. Ned, meanwhile, is kicked out of GMHC for his combative and aggressive tactics to promote awareness of AIDS, which is causing tension within the group.
Felix comes down with symptoms and his body wastes away as the disease claims his life. Felix arranges for a will with the help of Ben, and leaves everything he has to Ned. The two state their love for one another at the hospital before Felix dies. A few days later, Ned visits his alma mater, Yale University, where a Gay Weekend is being hosted by the students. He admires how young men and women are able to dance with one another openly, without fear of discrimination.
Information is displayed about the growing number of people contracting AIDS, as Tommy's Rolodex pile (the contact info of his friends who have died from AIDS) grows bigger, eventually including Bruce Niles.
Directors: Bonzo Villegas, Carlos Vilaró Nadal
Writers: Bonzo Villegas
Genre: Short Movie
Country: Argentina
Language: Spanish
Duration: 21 min
Year: 2014
Stars: Pablo Delgado, Verónica Paz, Marcos Zerda, Emiliano Monteros, Pola Schiavone, Santiago Gallo, Juan María Juárez, Enzo Torasso, Beatriz Morán
En El Mismo Equipo (On The Same Team, in English) is about the mixed feelings of a young rugby player. He tries to keep in the secret that he is gay, due to conformity mostly, but he struggles with it almost everyday. He longs to be free, but what exactly is freedom to the young man? He isn’t so sure himself.
I Kissed a Girl (2015) "Toute premiere fois" (original title)
Directors: Maxime Govare, Noémie Saglio Writers: Maxime Govare (screenplay), Noémie Saglio (screenplay) Genre: Comedy Country: France Language: French Duration: 98 min Year: 2015
Mladić imenom Jeremie jednoga se jutra budi pokraj zgodne šveđanke, zbunjen i u nevjerici, jer mu se tako nešto prvi puta dogodilo... Jeremie naizgled ima sve u životu, lijepog i zgodnog budućeg supruga Antoinea, najboljeg prijatelja sa kojim radi u zajedničkoj firmi i porodicu koja ga podržava. Ali nakon jednog zbunjujućeg seksa u njegov život ulazi i prelijepa djevojka po imenu Adna (Adrianna Gradziel).
Kako nju uklopiti u svu tu priču i šta će se dalje dogoditi pogledajte u ovoj smješnoj komediji koja ide u suprotnom smjeru od onoga na šta smo inače naviknuli.
Nije rijedak slučaj da gej zaluta u krevet sa nekom ženom. To su obično trenuci kojih se ponosni gej nerado sjeća. Ali šta ako vam se to dopadne? Još ako se i zaljubite u curu na koju vam se tak savršeno diže kita, onda je to zabrinjavajuća stvar. Naravno za potrebe ove priče dešavaju se stvari koje u svakodnevnom životu baš i nisu realne. Ako ste u desetogosišnjoj vezi sa muškarcem i pri tome nikada u životu niste imali seks sa ženom, skoro je nemoguće da se nakon jednog slučajnog seksa sa prelijepom curom zaljubite do te mjere da vas muškarci više ne privlače. Ali ako zanemarimo ovu glupost siguran sam da će te se nasmijati gledajući ovu komediju.
Waking up in an unknown apartment, next to a beautiful and charming Swedish woman could be the beginning of a perfect love story.
But maybe not for Jérémie (Pio Marmai, A Happy Event), who thought his life was already perfect, and was even about to get married—to his boyfriend.
Jérémie seems to have everything in life, a loving relationship of ten years, a caring and supportive family, and a crazy ladies-man best friend.
Yet his spontaneous meeting with the honest and funny Adna (newcomer Adrianna Gradziel) turns everything upside down. Charming Pio Marmai gives an endearing interpretation of a man upset in his certainties, and co-directors and scriptwriters Noémie Saglio and Maxime Govare show off their talent for comic situations and biting dialogue in their debut feature. In this light and sentimental comedy, the question of “coming back in” when you already thought you came out sets the scene for a hilarious mixing of clichés.
Director: Stefan Butzmühlen
Writers: Stefan Butzmühlen, Jan Künemund
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Language: German, English, French
Duration: 79 min
Official Site: http://www.lichtesmeer.de
Stars: Martin Sznur, Jules Sagot, Katharina Melchior
Marek starts as a trainee on a container ship. It's 197 metres long, 30 metres wide and bound for Martinique. Full of anticipation, he leaves his parents' farm in Western Pomerania and goes on board at St. Nazaire. Marek wants to find freedom and falls in love with the enigmatic sailor Jean. Will it just be a fling or will it last forever? Does Jean actually have a lover in every port? On his trip across the Atlantic, Marek may not actually become a sailor, but he does grow up.
Director: Vincent Mtzlplck
Writer: Kevin Bowe
Genre: Short movie
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2003
Duration: 20 min
Stars: Kevin Bowe, Dean Ricca, Kurt Andrew Hansen
Obituary writer Robert is a heavy set gay man who is perfectly happy with his single, solitary life... or so he thinks. After being pried out of his apartment and coerced into a West Hollywood gay bar by close friend Rick, he meets John, another stocky gay man. John confesses his attraction to Robert, and invites him to a pool party at his house. At the urging of his best friend, the straight family man Andy, Robert reluctantly attends the party. As he steps into the gathering, Robert finds a gay community all his own - heavy, hairy gay guys and their admirers, collectively known as "The Bears". As Robert and John's relationship moves forward, Robert becomes more and more confident and outgoing, eventually allowing himself to commit fully to John and to the idea that life has more to offer than he had ever dared to imagine.
Director: Dito Montiel
Writer: Douglas Soesbe
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 88 min
Release Date: 10 July 2015 (USA)
Stars: Robin Williams, Roberto Aguire, Kathy Baker, Bob Odenkirk
Nolan je 60-togodišnji bankar, koji je veći dio svog radnog vijeka proveo u braku sa ženom koji poštuje i voli. Savršeno ispunjavajući sve što se od njega očekuje brine o ocu koji teško bolestan svoje poslednje dane provodi u staračkom domu.
Njegov idilični život narušava slučajan susret sa mladom gay prostitukom,, momkom po imenu Leo, koji nudi seksualne usluge kako bi mogao isplatiti makroa i dilera drogom.
Nolan u maladom Leu vidi sebe u mladim danima u dobu kada je shvatio da je gay ali ništa po tom pitanju nije uradio. Odbacujući taj dio sopstvene ličnosti, živio je onako kako se to i očekuje u jednom malom provincijskom gradiću.
Odbijajući svaki pokušaj da odnos sa Leom pretvori u seksualno iskustvo, Nolan pokušava da stvori jedan intimni, iskreni prijateljski odnos u kojem bi mladoj pederskoj kurvi pomogao da započne jedan novi život, onakav kakav se on nikada nije usudio imati.
Robin Wiliams u ovom svom, na žalost poslijednjem filmu maestralno igra ulogu čovjeka koji je shvatio da do svoje 60-te godine nije ispunio sebe u strahu da ne iznevjeri porodicu i prijatelje.
Da li je kasno da se tu nešto promjeni?
Mnogi danjašnji gay momci, ali i odrasle osobe žive tuđim nametnutim životim, sputavajući sopstvene želje i nadanja. Oženjeni, profesionalno ispunjeni, sa prijateljima koji ih okružuju prožive ćitav jedan život na kraju kojeg ostaju prazni.
Jedan moj prijatelj koji će uskoro napuniti 60 godina priznao mi je da se osjeća prazno, neispunjeno i emotivno osakaćen. Dok je bio mlad skakao je kao sumanut od jednog do drugog muškarca i ponekad zalutao do neke cure. Onako izrazito zgodan, snažnog muškog izgleda uživao je u čarima seksa i dobrog provoda ne primjećujući da vrijeme čini svoje i nemilosrdno ga izbacuje iz filma u kojem je živio.
Da li je kasno da tu nešto promjeni i ljude počne da posmatra kao osobe sa kojim bi trebalo podijeliti nešto više od kurca i dupeta?
Inače ovaj film sve do nedavno nije mogao biti dostupan širem auditorijumu jer nije bilo distributera koji bi htjeli distribuirati film po kinima. Konačno Starz Digital je potpisao ugovor i film je počeo sa prikazivanjem 17.juna ove godine.
In “Boulevard,” a middle-aged married man picks up a gay hustler on the Nashville street where hookers hang out, pays the kid for company instead of sex, and ever-so-gradually begins to confront the secret identity he’s suppressed for so long. Knowing that man is played by Robin Williams (in morose rather than manic mode) tells you everything you need to know about the film, which is well written, acted and directed, and yet somehow never manages to surprise. That approach has its advantages, however, making the unfulfilled character’s sexuality almost secondary to the ways in which straight audiences can relate.
As best friend Winston (Bob Odenkirk) puts it in the film, “Maybe it’s never too late to start living the life you really want” — an optimistic philosophy that may as well be the mantra for a project director Dito Montiel (“A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”) felt compelled to make after his parents split up late in life. Though some might assume the window to begin a new relationship would have already closed for singles in their 60s, such stories aren’t uncommon. In many respects, the true challenge is finding the courage to break free of the familiar routine that holds one back, which is certainly the case for Williams’ character, Nolan Mack.
Nolan leads a comfortable life. He works a demanding yet unexceptional job at a Nashville bank, and shares his home with an exceptional yet undemanding wife, Joy (Kathy Baker), with whom he splits the domestic tasks each day before the two split up and find their way to separate bedrooms at night. These two are a bit older than the couple in “American Beauty,” but one needn’t look much closer to detect that something’s missing in their marriage.
By now, Williams is such a pro at playing forlorn souls saddled with heavy baggage, Monteil doesn’t even need to show said baggage via flashback (which makes Nolan’s monologue to his bedridden dad all the more unnecessary). Still, this is one of the kindest characters Williams has ever played, which makes his self-imposed turmoil — the consequence of not wanting to hurt anyone, least of all his wife — all the more tragic. Tapping into that same loneliness felt in “One Hour Photo” and “Good Will Hunting,” the actor projects a regret so deep and identifiable, viewers should have no trouble connecting it to whatever is missing in their own lives — whether those regrets are romantic, sexual, professional or spiritual.
Returning home from a visit to his father in the retirement home one night, Nolan upsets his routine with a rare impulsive decision. He’s driven by the streetwalkers who line the boulevard countless times without ever so much as acknowledging them. Now, for some reason, he pulls up alongside them, clearly trying to muster the courage to speak to one of them when a young man steps in front of his car. Despite his tawdry profession and strung-out look, Leo (Roberto Aguire) may as well be an angel fallen from heaven, and Nolan accepts the offer to give him a ride without ever collecting on the implied double entendre.
For Leo, the relationship would be easier if it were physical. He doesn’t know how to interpret Nolan’s interest, which doesn’t seem to be sexual. It’s as if a lifelong vegetarian had suddenly walked into a steakhouse, and instead of ordering dinner, merely wanted to admire the meat. His appetite in check, Nolan’s instinct is to be protective: He offers to pay more than Leo asks for his company, and invites him on a date to the nicest restaurant he knows, where he runs into his boss (Henry Haggard) but salvages the situation with a bad lie (rather than re-creating the double-duty setpiece from “Mrs. Doubtfire”). He even intercedes in a fight with Nolan’s pimp, resulting in a tough-to-explain black eye.
Nolan has been even-keeled for so long that no one is fooled when he denies that something’s going on, though no one would expect the truth, either — well, almost no one, though that piercing revelation is the pic’s lone twist. The rest is polite and accessible, patiently swept along by David Wittman’s sensitive score. The details (as in a lovely scene where we learn what the movie “Masculin feminin” means to the married couple) are precious in a film that trades specificity for tasteful relatability, but that’s what the assignment seems to demand, as “Boulevard” builds to a series of confrontations in which Nolan can no longer deny his passions and must instead choose the road not taken.
Source: Variety.com
Directors: Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon
Writers: Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
Duration: 83 min
Seashore ( Obala) je mlaka coming-out priča o dva tinejdžera koja tek treba da započnu novu etapu života. Martin i Tomaž odlaze u Martinovo rodno mjesto na obali mora. Martin želi da prekine otuđenost od porodice, a Tomaž ga u svemu tome podržava.
Prve tri četvrtine fima su nekako uspavljujuće i dosadne. Malo šta se dešava da održi pažnju gledaoca. Njih dvojica izlaze, viđaju se sa djevojkama, piju i pričaju toliko usporeno da sam na momenat imao utisak da se scene ponavljaju.
Tomaž koji je svestan sebe i da je gay to krije od Martina. Martin nakon jedne žurke shvati o čemu je riječ.
Da je režiser filma imao malo više adrenalina tokom pravljenja ovog filma moglo bi biti zanimljjivo. Ovako ko ne zaspe prije zadnje četvrtine filma održaće ga budnim iskren i emotivan završetak ove priče.
Review by Michael Lyons
Think about a movie that is non-stop action: explosions, guns blazing, with a trademark wisecracking, beefcake, invariably white hetero leading man—I guess what I’m saying is, think of Age of Ultron. Then think of a film that is the exact opposite of that, one that is so subtle, where so little happens it’s difficult to say what you just saw. In the best way possible, Seashore is this film.
I should preface this review by saying that I love a good boring movie, by which I mean my choice of film sits at the latter end of the spectrum mentioned above, a film that can make a lot happen with very little action. Life, after all, is just a lot of staring blankly and feeling shitty about stuff.
Seashore is a Brazilian film about Martin and Tomaz, two young men nearing adulthood. They return to the hometown of Martin’s estranged grandfather and then, for the first three-quarters of the movie, very little happens. There’s a tension between the two as they undertake this journey, and it’s unclear why they are on it. Martin (the brooding Mateus Almada) must confront his relationship with his family’s past. Tomaz (played by the frighteningly pretty Maurício Barcellos) admits he shouldn’t even be there with his friend, but as the pieces slowly and quietly fall into place, all becomes clear.
Seashore02To say Seashore is a slow burn of a film is an understatement. The feature hands out little tidbits, glimpses of the character’s lives and motivations, jealously. Between these few moments, the characters muddle through friendships, they drink, they wander around town. Life is presented as a wasteland of mundane, melancholy nothingness with the rare moment of warmth and connection. The tension in the audience was palpable as the film continued, and at the climatic moment it felt like a tightly wound spring had uncoiled. This wasn’t to the taste of all, as we had a few walkouts—hilariously, about 90 percent in, just before the film took a gay turn. The main criticism I heard as the audience filtered out, and indeed from my film companion, was that the film was too slow.
To me, however, this is Seashore’s ultimate success; aside from exquisite cinematography, the film’s dynamics build so slowly, almost tortuously, that there’s a real sense of accomplishment in the end. It’s like watching a tide come in inch by inch. Even though it’s agonizingly slow, there’s something raw and powerful about it, and it feels wonderful to let it simply wash over you.
David Searching (1997) 
Scrooge & Marley (2012)
Billed as “a holiday movie for all of us,” “Scrooge & Marley” is in fact very niche, being of and for that segment of the gay community that enjoys watered-down camp and syrupy empowerment messages, which are not to be confused with the good kinds of either. This spin on “A Christmas Carol” delivers a heavy-handed morality play that Dickens himself might have found gauche, sugar-coated with weak songs and broad performances. Playing scattered theatrical runs between now and Christmas, the pic figures to do modest but better biz from its home-format release next month.
As in the Dickens story, three more ghosts follow: Christmas Past (Ronnie Kroell), who helps Ben revisit his homophobic father and other contributors to his greedy, mean adult personality; Present (Megan Cavanagh), who shows how forgiving the people around him are; and Future (JoJo Baby), who promises Scrooge’s customarily bleak reward. Scrooge redeems himself, natch, though the maudlin final scenes are cringe-inducing.
The Art of Being Straight (2008)
“A low-key comedy high on charm and credible twentysomething observation, Jesse Rosen’s debut feature, “The Art of Being Straight,” stars the writer-director as a possibly-coming-out newbie in Los Angeles whose puzzling over his sexual identification isn’t helped by his jokily insensitive straight buds. Appealingly played, nicely executed pic has a shot at arthouse distribution in addition to select DVD/cable sales and further fest travel.
A quiet, genial guy among these more boisterous types, John is hardly comfortable discussing his shifting Kinsey scale placement with them, and his new job as bottom-rung gofer at a major ad agency is fraught with sexual tension as a studly boss (Johnny Ray Rodriguez) barrages him with thinly veiled come-ons.
Maddy isn’t undergoing a major life change, just a wee bi-curious phase. John isn’t so much closeted as simply figuring himself out. His peers aren’t real homophobes, just guys talking typical guy-trash. Narrative developments feel true to an increasingly frequent real-world dynamic too seldom seen in drama: When gay guy (or girl) is just “one of the guys,” not the token “gay friend” or the straight woman’s non-threatening pal. Pic’s slice of post-collegiate L.A. life likewise feels casually on-target in portraying an aspirational milieu that’s more Silverlake than Beverly Hills or West Hollywood.”
En el mismo equipo (2014)
Mladić imenom Jeremie jednoga se jutra budi pokraj zgodne šveđanke, zbunjen i u nevjerici, jer mu se tako nešto prvi puta dogodilo... 
Waking up in an unknown apartment, next to a beautiful and charming Swedish woman could be the beginning of a perfect love story. 
Yet his spontaneous meeting with the honest and funny Adna (newcomer Adrianna Gradziel) turns everything upside down. Charming Pio Marmai gives an endearing interpretation of a man upset in his certainties, and co-directors and scriptwriters Noémie Saglio and Maxime Govare show off their talent for comic situations and biting dialogue in their debut feature. In this light and sentimental comedy, the question of “coming back in” when you already thought you came out sets the scene for a hilarious mixing of clichés.
Marek starts as a trainee on a container ship. It's 197 metres long, 30 metres wide and bound for Martinique. Full of anticipation, he leaves his parents' farm in Western Pomerania and goes on board at St. Nazaire. Marek wants to find freedom and falls in love with the enigmatic sailor Jean. Will it just be a fling or will it last forever? Does Jean actually have a lover in every port? On his trip across the Atlantic, Marek may not actually become a sailor, but he does grow up.
