Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Of late we have been having a surge of coming out films, especially with more focus on teenage romance. Something that was a focus few years back. With mainstream films like Love, Simon; this genre is getting more popularity again. Netflix's film takes this genre forward and brings to us a tender coming-of-age story and the film is not without flaws. That doesn't take away the charm and smile that this film brings to your face. Alex Truelove is a nerd who is too much into animals. He is the kind of guy who is not a jock but popular enough and friends with everyone, to even become class president. And he wonders if any girl ever would find him cool enough to ever be friends with him, forget dating. Enter Claire, who is as much of an animal nerd as him and they both instantly hit off. They go from friends to dating but to Claire's frustration, they have not gone all the way. But Alex doesn't care. He is not ready and doesn't think much about it. Soon we realize w...

This film came out in 1980 and is apparently based on a play. So you have to watch the film keeping that context in mind. Set amongst some of the low-income class Philadelphians, its not the brightest movie made. The film can easily be summarized in a good 15-20 short film. Francis Geminiani gets a surprise visit by his quasi girlfriend Judith and her brother Randy on the eve of his 21st birthday. For being best friends, Francis is not at all happy with their surprise visit and soon we realize it's because Francis thinks he is gay and is struggling with it. The siblings nevertheless get a warm welcome by Francis' father, his girlfriend, their neighbor who has a clumsy asthmatic son Herschel. Judith refuses to believe Francis is gay and keeps telling him they cannot be friends if thats true. Further probe tells that its actually Randy on whom Francis has a crush on. Nothing can come out of it though. After birthday celebrations, things start coming out and the film ends wit...

Don't let the poster of the summary fool you. Lets make it clear that this is not really a queer film. Primarily, I would like to call this a story of a very very dysfunctional family and a decent amount of time is spent exploring gay relationship between 2 farm boys. But the focus is more on the family and the sham it keeps for their image in society. I am not sure at all why this film is being promoted as a tale of two gay men who find love on a New Zealand farm in 1960s. Given that this film has featured in prominent LGBT festivals, I do feel I should review it here. Set in 1960s, Maori city boy Billy moves away from his family and city life in remote areas to become a farm boy, primarily to escape the rumors of him being gay. In a span of short time, we are then introduced to various characters. Billy meets Eva who is having sex with her brother-in-law and being watched by head farm helper Danny. Eva is married to Frank, the owner of the huge farm and who has a spotless an...

Attack (USA) A neo-Nazi skinhead is apprehended because he has attacked two black teenage boys. As we are taken backwards through the story we realise that things may not be as 'Black & White' as they appear. It was actually a hate crime towards the white man. My First Suit (New Zealand) Steve, a young teenage is about to attend his first high school dance. His separated parents insist on buying him suit but the boy is more interested in men. Ditching the dance, he decides to 'come out' to himself. These Things Take Time (USA) An eight-year-old boy experiences his first heartbreak when he falls in love with his male third-grade teacher. The stuff he does to get his teacher's attention is soo cute. I absolutely loved the film, the acting and the direction. First love is always special. The way the parents deal with the whole event is amazing. Gay Hunt (USA) One of these 4 roommates is GAY. Which one do you think it is? Hilarious! Como en arcadi...

A first queer film from Trinidad and Tobago. I am surprised that I had not heard of this film and I am even more happy that I saw it last night. It is such a beautiful film. Two things stood out immediately for me after finishing the film. First that I need to add Trinidad to my list of places to visit asap and secondly the lead actor has a very bright future and how amazing the young guy was, in a role which was full of layers and was a wonderful opportunity to showcase his talent. Gregory is a young 18 year old boy who belongs to a lower class working family. Thankfully he is gifted and is family's only hope to win scholarship to get in a medical school. Although secretly he wants to be a photographer. He has been raised with ethics and morals by his very loving granny. His life spins out of control when he meets James. James is a successful middle age business owner who is in his marriage just because of his daughter. James initiates friendship and and career and life guida...

It is interesting how many films there are that deal with AIDS issues and show the whole thing with sensitivity and respect that it deserves. I had never heard of this film. It never gets mentioned in any list of recommended LGBT films, but that should change. And surprisingly, this film was apparently the first film ever made on AIDS. This film, though just a 2 man focus story, shows a very very interesting perspective from not just a patients point of view but also for a person who has never had to deal directly with someone having the virus. The film follows a New York City gay man in a monogamous relationship becoming a "buddy" or a volunteer friend to another gay man dying of AIDS and the friendship that develops. Robert is the AIDS patient and one day he gets a visit from David, a complete stranger, who has volunteered at gay center to be Robert's buddy. The visits in the beginning are formal and David in his daily logs even mentions that he is not a fan of Rob...

I need to double check my taste of documentaries. Why do I not end up liking most of them which get glorious reviews in press. This one again is an example. "Check It" follows local African-American gay and transgender youths who started their own gang for self-protection as a handful of fed-up 9th graders a decade ago. Many of them armed and dangerous as well as fierce and fabulous. The documentary is set in DC, known for highest rate of anti-gay violence and shows its subjects through their passions and dreams, and the film’s narrative emerges from the peaks and valleys of their ambitions. These “sissies” might look and act girlishly flamboyant, but they were packing brass knuckles, knives and trigger-tempers.. Most of the members of this gang make their living through prostitution. We see the primary focus on few of the key characters. Tray sports long dreads and speaks softly about their shifting gender identity. His real love is fashion, which they and a few other m...

Yet another one of those films, which I cannot decide if they should be reviewed here or not. Given that this played in a few LGBT film festivals, I am gonna write a very short review. Besides the fact that most characters in the film are gay, there is nothing queer about it. There are no talks of love, closeness or nothing. For some, this may be a good thing, because it shows that the film is focussed on the core subject; but for others (people like me), it is a slight disappointment. Because truth be told, I would have never touched this movie of not for the gay context. Gavin is a comic book nerd and a lawyer for a company developing new technology. He is good friends with the scientist Robert and one day an accident happens and Gavin realizes sudden subtle changes inside him. One night after a party, Gavin jumps to save a hot guy from hate crime on an alleyway, thereby realizing his powers for the first time. With the help of scientist Richard, he realizes that he now has ener...

Its hard to call this film as either a documentary or a proper feature film. And that has nothing to do with the longest title for a movie I have ever seen. The entire film is accompanied by voice-overs that are sometimes commentaries about the different gay life's styles and sometimes represent dialogue or narrations. There is no synch sound. The voice over and dialogue recorded do not match what is on the screen. It takes some time to get used to the format but then you find it ok. I think this is meant to be a perspective of and for a young gay man back in 1971. Daniel is a young, shy and innocent gay man who has just moved to Berlin. He meets Clemens and immediately both fall in love and get into the marriage kind of arrangement. But Daniel soon feels suffocated and leaves him. He find a rich older man who introduces him to art life style but once at a party the old man leaves Daniel for his other rich older friends. Daniel leaves him too, finds a place of his own and get ...

This film has its heart in the right place but somewhere the makers lose the plot and the intention behind the film. Or may they try to focus on too many things. The idea to talk about LGBT youth, homelessness, prostitution and suicide is a genuine problem that needs to be addressed. Showing this in an engaging manner is not an easy job, and I think the film was going in the right direction but somewhere, something happened in the whole Miami section and the movie was very hurriedly brought to an end. Jack is an 18 year old hooker in Manhattan. He lives in a hostel with his boyfriend Tom, an aspiring photographer who's nervous about Jack's criminal tendencies, and they're planning a future together. The couple is very much in love. After a few minutes enter Ken, a married man with a wife and a kid; who takes a sudden fancy for Jack. After playing hard ball, Jack finally gives in and agrees to go an all expense paid trip to Miami with him and an addition thousand dollar...

I had no idea about this documentary and I got hold of this totally by chance. Even when I started watching it, I had no clue on what this was about, but standing at less than 50 minutes of run time, it wasn't bad at all. It focuses on Fritz Haarmann, who was one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th century in Germany. Time is early 1920's, just before WW1, poverty is at its peak and the town of Hannover in Germany. People have found various ways to make money, including prostitution. And before you realize there are a lot of male prostitutes in teens and twenties. But soon reports of young boys missing start happening. Investigations point to a guy called Haarmann, who has previous records of sexual assault to young boys. We then get to hear Haarmann's childhood story and his growing up days. How his life was spent between detention centers and jail. At one point in his adulthood, he met a man 20 years younger than him named Hans Grans and how they had thi...

“4 Days” takes on the struggles of a gay relationship in times of confusion, curiosity and whether to stay inside or come out of the closet. This film is not the highly typical gay love story. Its the questioning of one man’s own sexuality, whether or not to choose a woman because of societal culture or to accept the fact that it is okay to love a man even if you’re a man yourself. `conceptually the film has the heart set in the right place, but boy oh boy! does it take time to come to the point. The film actually spans 4 years and we see what happens on 4 consecutive valentine days. Mark joins half-american half-filipino Derek in his dorm room as a roommate. He is initially very shy in the first year. The second year, they have come close as friends, where Mark is now helping Derek in opening up to his girlfriend because he thinks she is the one. The third year, we see a heartbroken Derek who is questioning if something is wrong with him. Mark continues to be his very very suppor...

Web series are a hit or miss. This series is nothing ground breaking but given that the episodes are so short, it does bring a smile to your face after every episode. You know what's exactly going to happen but you still dont mind. Thankfully the episodes to address most common problems that most gay men face trying to date and find a boyfriend and balancing random hook-ups alongwith all this. The focus is mainly on three friends while other characters are introduced later. T is a player, G is a newbie who wants a boyfriend and no hookups and the third is B, who hooks up for money although he has a good job. We are introduced to M later, a super hot guy who is also from a small town like G and becomes apart of their friend circle. After many sexual escapades, T & B becomes boyfriends but that doesn't last long since T cannot stay away from prostitution much longer and ends up cheating. M also finds a boyfriend who is bottom and he now has started enjoying being a versa...

I watched this documentary completely not knowing anything on what its about. Actually I didn't even know that this was a documentary. It follows the conflicts that arise when gay white professionals move into a black working-class neighborhood. I am still not very sure if this needs to be reviewed here, but what the heck! Focusing on the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, there is a neighborhood called "Olde Towne". When economy hit hard in 80s until later, White Homosexual homebuyers were attracted to the neighborhood because of the cheap, beautiful, historical homes in the area. These new incoming residents in turn displaced older residents which primarily consisted of poorer African-Americans. The main focus is on two people. An older gentleman who is ordered by the city to take down a sign on his entrance. And then on an older lady, who has been summoned by the city for building code violations due to lack of maintenance. Also she is in no mood to sell her property. We ...

I can't believe this made for TV movie came way back in 1986. The movie, just under an hour, seems to be way ahead of its time and is definitely as much relevant in today's time as it was back then. This movie needs to be seen by more and more people, because this focuses on a facet of a gay man ad his friend; that not many movies have touched upon without making it weird. It offers poignant perspectives on friendship and personal honesty. Alex and Bradley are best friends, both on the football team and make a great pair. Brad has a girlfriend and always wonders why Alex doesn't come out to party. Alex loves piano and constantly practices for his recital so that he can go to college. This is something he cannot compromise with. One day at the rest stop of a gas station, he gets beaten up by a truck driver for refusing his advances. To his horror, the driver accuses Alex of trying to make a pass at him. News soon spread about this. When Brad finds out, he wants to fix t...