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Contrast (Japanese Series)

By Golu
This is basically a high school BL where two guys who have nothing going on in common somehow end up getting really close to each other, and that's kind of the whole point of the title too. There's barely any drama or fluff packed in here, it stays pretty straightforward the whole way through. A little bit of friction pops up here and there, but it's nothing compared to what you'd normally get in this kind of show. Runtime wise you're looking at 8 episodes, each one sitting around 25-30 minutes. The two guys carrying the story are Akira and Kanata, and funny enough they knew each other's faces way before they ever knew each other's names. Kanata's the type everyone likes, always got people around him, popular guy, but there's this distance to him that people can't quite place. Turns out he had an injury that ended his football days, and that's what pushed him into being more withdrawn, and it only got worse once his younger brother got picked...
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100 Years of Men in Love: The Accidental Collection (Documentary)

By Golu
This charming documentary, features a selection of the 3,200 vintage photographs of male-male couples that Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell have collected over time. The images were published in their 2020 book, “Loving.” The photos, which were likely made between 1850-1950 (some are tintypes; many are undated) are lovely portraits of male intimacy - from a full embrace to subtler poses with fingers intertwined, or feet discretely touching, as well as more effusive affections as from a photo booth, or sharing an umbrella, and even kissing.

The documentary starts with how this couple ended up with this collection. The two made it a routine to visit local antique stores after church on Sundays. During one chance encounter, the pair discovered an old photograph of two men in an affectionate pose during a time it wasn’t exactly accepted. This started Nini and Treadwell on a path to finding more images like that. Since then, they’ve amassed a collection of what has become hundreds of vintage pictures of gay couples in love. Between interviews with Nini and Treadwell and montages of their collection, we take an eye-opening trip to the past. Organized by levels of shown affection, we start with the seemingly platonic pictures of men standing together.  They sweetly reveal what's written on the back of the photos: "two Sad Sacks 1945," "me and Harvey 1929," and "more than palsies." The film makers try to go deeper in some of the pictures and the story behind it as best as they can, and its moments like this the documentary stands out and shines and begins to attain depth.

The collection is definitely archival and for the history books because I bet you that nothing like this exists. The photographs are well curated, and the film makers peppers each section with quotes about love from gay writers. But strictly as watching a documentary, with even less than an hour of run time; I personally was done watching the photos and quotes. I think I may enjoyed their book 'Loving' more than watching the film. Nonetheless, this is an incredible and an important collection and kudos to the couple Nini and Treadwell for shining of doing something like this. (4/10)
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