Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Expectations always make a huge difference. Whoever is into watching gay shows or something has probably seen "The Outs" and know what a fantastic show that is. Now when the makers come up with another web series, the expectations are bound to be sky rocket. I had huge expectations form this show as well. Were my expectations met? Probably not, but was the show good? I would say "Hell! yeah". Its so very different from 'The Outs'. If that was about gay couples, this show focuses more on trails and tribulations of young adults trying to make it big in NYC. It paints a broader picture of a group of young creatives trying to make ends meet and working disappointing jobs in what seems like an unending road to emotional and creative fulfillment. The story is primarily about 3 roommates: Lisa, her boyfriend Sam and their gay friend Ari. They all live hard lives. Lisa is struggling to live the a state of poverty she's uncomfortable with but still appears a...

Touted as the show by the makers of "Will & Grace", Partners is an American comedy TV show, which was cancelled only after season 1, which is amity because the show wasn't bad at all. I am pretty sure that there was some political game for canceling the show because the prime channel didn't even bother to air the entire season 1 completely. Partners centers around 4 people, but 3 relationships anchored with the main characters Louis and Joe. Louis is gay and has been there for Joe since childhood. The two are partners in architectural firm who consistently delve into each others lives meddling wherever they can. The two, who have a codependent relationship are trying to navigate their own relationships while maintaining their friendship. Louis lives with his under-the-top hunk of a boyfriend Wyatt and Joe has just proposed to his girlfriend Ali. The episodes focus on the bromance between the 2 guys and how each of these characters interfere in each other'...

I just saw this film in "Out In Africa" film festival in Johannesburg and boy was I in surprise or what. I expected a cheeky gay-chick flick by the title and synopsis but it turned out to be a very mature, intelligent, poignant story about friends and coming out and being comfortable in your skin. I am running out of words to say how beautiful and exciting this film was. Right mix of emotion, comedy, maturity and acceptance. Big applause for the makers to make this film. Set in Kentucky, Robby and Ricky have been the best of friends since childhood but never dates each other.  But their closeness and affection is very apparent. Only a small hitch, that Ricky is a transsexual undergoing hormonal changes to become a woman. Enter Franchesca, a rich girl engaged to be married soon to her boyfriend serving in Afghanistan. There is some sort of instant connection between the two. They become great friends which somehow is not acceptable to her fiancé. On Robby's insistence ...

We have seen a lot of coming out gay stories. This one is different. Its about a boy, who everyone around him is sure that he is gay and how he ultimately comes around to break the myth and accept his heterosexuality. Sounds funny! But actually this film is done very very well. Initial few minutes are boring but it does get interesting after a point. Its the kind of movie which strikes a good balance between comedy and emotions. The film opens as a live premiere of a monologue play by Guillaume, who recounts his days with his family and invariably his mother is part of every single event that he talks about. As far back as he can remember, his mother treated him like the daughter she never had. And he doesn't mind because he is in so many ways similar to his mother, to an extent that when he talks, no one can differentiate. All his life, he adored his mum, and that affection, along with much of the sexual-identity confusion it caused, comes across loud and clear in the worshi...

These are reviews of some really short films that I saw. Just under 5 minutes. Niagara (UK) Two guys in a car and one million dollars in a bag. One of them wonders how he’s going to steal it all from his lover. A road trip starts. A boring clay animated. Gay is the word (UK) When a guy's friend refuse to understand that their pal is gay, he makes them understand that gay doesn't mean weak or crap or stupid. He loves another man and thats what makes him gay. Do not abuse the word! Excellent short. Sidste Kys [Please Stay] (Denmark) A young boy is going crazy and is talking to his penis who wants to be shared with others and not just played with and by his owner. A funny concept except the ending is ouch. 10 Men (UK) A rough, raw and joyous ride with 10 gay male dancers as they prepare a sequence for Nigel Charnock’s performance piece 10 Men. Filmed over a week inside the rehearsal room capturing the energy, humour and pure joy of one of Britain’s best loved choreogr...

Gosh! Its been a while since I saw a really well made good gay film that so well balances the core theme (in this case sports) and the emotional ones. I wasn't sure what to really expect but am I glad or what to have seen this beautiful film. Specially worth mentioning is the fact that the director of the film is a female and making a film on a Dutch teenager who is trudging with his sexuality while balancing his dreams as an athlete and be there for his family. Teenage boy Sieger, a good athlete, is a caring boy who gets selected for a relay race. His brother Ed is a rebellious which is hard for their wider father who is trying to raise the boys as best as he can. Sieger seems to be compensating for his brother. Sieger and his best friend Stef get selected in the team with 2 other boys. One of them is Marc. The two boys keep stealing glances at one another and don't understand what is going on. His yearnings finally get into reality when the four boys go for swimming. When...

Some films start with a good promise and sometimes fizzle out. We all know there are quite a few gay themed movies which are made on low budget because there is not much viewership out there, which is not really a problem. The problem is when the makers try to pack in way too many things into a film rather than keep it a simple engaging affair. Will is an ex-marine who leaves armed forces after serving for 14 years. He then reconnects with his old friends, and crashes with Rich, a very flamboyant but very nice and friendly guy, and begins to look for a new boyfriend to settle down with. Rich attempts to fix him up with the sexy and handsome Josh because he thinks they are a perfect match. It seems everything is going perfect on the first date till they can't seem to align on don't ask don't tell policy. After that series of events follow, mostly parties where the two meet each other but for some reason their stars never alit and one or the other person is not ready to ...

Lost Angel (USA) This is the story of Mikael & Carlitos who together become each others' protectors. Dutch guy Mikael has everything going wrong for him. He loses his wallet, his phone breaks and his suitcase exchanges with another tourist. He finds unlikely help from Carlitos who not only helps him with a place to stay but also teaches him a thing or tow. Are these guys each others' Guardian Angels? Sometimes, it seems, you need to get a little bit lost, in order to be found. A decent short story which shows how destiny has its own way of panning things out for people. The two were destined to meet and help each other out and become lovers. friends or whatever. Quite decent acting and god production values. (6.5/10) Triple Standard (USA) After a basketball game, Crim and a fellow player are roughhousing as usual, when Crim angrily accuses him of making a gay play for him. While many of the others in the locker room try to calm Crim down, D, Crim's roommate o...

The Armoire (Canada) Adolescents Aaron and Tony are playing a game of hide and seek in Aaron’s house, Tony now the hider and Aaron the seeker. When Aaron can’t find Tony, he gives up. Tony has apparently gone missing, which brings the authorities and news media in on the case. Ultimately Aaron is placed under hypnosis to see if he remembers anything significant about that day leading up to the game of hide and seek. As Aaron remembers backward from that game, he reminisces about an earlier incident in the armoire in his bedroom which may have some sexual connotation between the 2 boys. He very smartly also knows not to tell the hypnotist of what happened. Another brilliant idea and treatment. Although, I wish there was a proper culmination to the story and a little more details on the bonding that the two boys shared. (6/10) La dérade (France) Oh My God!! Such a beautiful and wonderful and heart touching story. Simon and his sailor boyfriend Francois are sitting on the b...

This film kept reminding me so much of one of my favorite films "The Family Stone" But in terms of what a nice film that was, this film fails to come close. At best I would call this film as poor man's "Family Stone". I think the filmmakers were quite confused on whether to make this film a drama or comedy. There were btw and pieces of both and it was becoming very hard for me to see if I should be taking things seriously and with a touch of humour. The film is about Petunia family. Husband and wife going through their marital menopause, they have 3 kids: Michael, Adrian and Charlie. Cute but awkward Charlie is celibate by choice and has problems with intimacy. He wears a rubber band on his wrist to control sexual urges. He meets the cute George who he gets an instant liking for at his brother's Michael's wedding to Viviana. We slowly see that Michael and Vivi do not really love each other and they have all sort of issues. The third (middle) brother...

Grind is a short feature in a musical format, Grind takes a very artistic, modern and realistic loo at how the gays connect today. There was a time when meetings an connections used to happen in bars, in person, in house parties but all of that is now replaced by online apps and multi screen hook ups. Or as one of the character says " We are at a gay bar all the time". The story is about 2 guys; Vincent and Thane. Thane is a successful model and extremely hot twinky guy, who can probably get anyone he wants. Vincent on the other hand is smart, intelligent, very good with words and can charm anyone with is wit an humour but uncomfortable in his own skin and doesn't think very highly of himself or his self-esteem. Thane knows that he can get any guy but since he can't carry on a conversation on chat, guys eventually lose interest. One day at a bar, Thane asks Vincent to chat for him. The combination of Thane's sexy pics and Vincent's flirty witty chat, could...

First things first. Although I am reviewing the film here, I personally do not wanna classify this film as a gay film. The lead of the film is gay, yes, but thats all the extent of gayness that is to the film. This beautiful film is so much more than that. I will strongly recommend this film as it delves into human bonding and how e are all special and bring a change to each other's life. Temmuz is an openly gay sculptor living at a flat with his dog in Istanbul. He enjoys a carefree attitude to his work and also to his relationship to his boyfriend.  This bohemian lifestyle and has a happy go lucky, carefree, eccentric nature gets him into trouble eventually leading him to be abandoned by his boyfriend via e-mail. He is given solace and affection by her wealthy mother, who is fully supportive of him, and best friend and co-worker, Beste. Temmus is constantly haunted in his dreams by a mystery man who wants his help and is asking him to come to him. At sea one day hanging with...

Its good to see sequels coming out for web series and gay films as well. If the content is any decent , I am always up to watching something decent. LIke the predecessor, this one also was a web series and later converted to a movie format. Although this time I saw it as a series with 23 episodes. If you watch it back to back, its almost like watching a film. Th basic theme, characters and premise are the same as part 1. Nelson, Wood and Reggie are still together and Nelson's hunk boyfriend Todd has also moved in with them now. Reggie's former college roommate and a candidate for city council gets murdered at his campaign launch party. The trio are again caught up in the murder investigation but this time primarily the foci is on Reggie since he found the body. We have the detective from season 1 who gets attracted to Wood and we now also see his boyfriend who is equally attracted to Wood and they form a trio. Back to the murder mystery, there a few people who are usual su...

I am still not very sure what I think of the movie overall. The premise of the film sounded interesting and I wanted to like it but somehow I missed that feeling by the time the movie ended. I felt a lot of things were unanswered and left open. The pace was slow but it is ok, given the film is supposed to be a psychological thriller, you can't leave a lot of thing son viewer's imaginations. Sometimes it works but other times it is always better to clarify things for sanity sake. Tom's boyfriend Guillaume is dead and his funeral is being held in his hometown. A town of farmers in a town which is in middle of nowhere. Guillaume's mother didn't know he was gay and his psychotic brother Francis threatens Tom to make sure it stays that way. Francis is handsome but scary at the same time. Tom makes up the story that Guillaume had a girlfriend and couldn't make it to funeral. Francis assaults Tom both in bed and in a toilet cubicle, threatening him with more consi...

Boys On Film 11: We Are Animals showcases short works from around the world that challenge genre, initiate discussion and explore issues of sexuality in beautiful ways. This diverse and daring compilation tells stories ranging from the whimsical, heart-rendering and poignant to the unflinchingly bold and provocative. Volume 10 was disappointing and this series is no less barring just a few stories. Can we please have those amazing collection of short stories back soon. We Are Animals (USA) Set during the 1980s AIDS crisis, this is a dark film. When a closeted young man finds himself in the midst of an anti-government coup, he joins in the fight against the strict regime that is being enforced upon them. I thought it was quite boring. Burger (UK/Norway) An observational study looking at the variety of customers that a late night burger bar attracts. It covers both gay and straight couples. It is a very ordinary film IMO. Actually no, it was quite annoying with some bad acting. ...