Crustacés et Coquillages (2005)

GAY MOVIE GUIDE: Lone Wolf Goes Gay
© 2011 Lone Wolf Sullivan

This Guide was researched and written by Lone Wolf Sullivan. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Copyright infringement is a felony. It is punishable by up to $500,000 or five years in prison for a first offense.




Crustacés et Coquillages (2005)



















A father, mother, daughter and son head to the south of France for a summer vacation on the Riviera. Marc (Gilbert Melki) takes his wife Béatrix (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) and their two children to the beach home of his youth. The Mediterranean wind blows, the sea churns, and the heat of summer stokes their desires for a number of sexy liasons. Their 19 year-old daughter Laura (Sabrina Seyvecou) has a rendezvous with her biker boyfriend Michaël (Yannick Baudin), and their 17 year-old son Charly (Romain Torres) roams the beach with his best friend Martin (Edouard Collin), who is in love with him. Béatrix is sensitive to the undisclosed, erotically charged atmosphere that exists between the boys and imagines that her straight son is gay. She prides herself on being ultra-tolerant, so her reaction is not one of distress, but relief. Marc is somewhat bothered by this and by the open sexuality in the family, and especially concerned about being disinherited by his aunt. Béatrix re-encounters her old boyfriend, Marc's ex-flame pops up, and both former lovers express interest in rekindling affairs. Soon, the entire vacation becomes a hilarious erotic complication that collapses into chaos.

Arriving at the coastal villa Marc has inherited from his aunt, the family settles in for a long, lazy summer. Laura leaves for Portugal with Michaël, and shaggy rebellious Charly welcomes childhood friend Martin for an extended stay. Charly is not gay but Martin is fresh out of the closet, intent to cruise the beachside cliffs at night. While the two awkwardly renegotiate their friendship, the parents read every signal incorrectly. ''It's sunny, the house is divine, Charly is gay--what's the problem?" Béatrix says to her husband. She can afford to say that, since her lover Mathieu (Jacques Bonnaffe) has decided to vacation nearby and is constantly dialing her up on her cellphone for a quick romp in the bushes he pops out of in the nude. Marc gets turned on when he spies Martin pleasuring himself in the shower. Much of the drama comes from whether there will be enough hot water for everyone to take a shower and suddenly those long hot showers everyone takes in the film make a lot more sense. Hunky plumber Didier (Jean-Marc Barr) is called in, a grinning hunk of rough trade, and starts dispensing family secrets. He takes a liking to Charly, yet also is the ex-lover of Marc, having had a gay affair before Marc married Beatrix. Marc and Béatrix are indeed an odd couple who somehow make it work.

This light-hearted mix of comedy and drama smacks of a standard soap opera, but with motion picture length. It's a bawdy and silly farce. ''Crustacés et Coquillages" piles the farcical misunderstandings higher and higher, and just when you think it couldn't get any more absurd, there's a musical number sung by Marc and Béatrix to the two boys on a rainy day. It's called ''Crustacés et Coquillages" ("Crustaceans and Shell Fish"), which is also the film's French title. The characters are flat, rather predictable and undergo little development in the movie’s first hour. During the last thirty minutes, things speed up in order to tie up loose ends and finish the whole thing off with a happy ending. This film is cute, but totally forgettable, sexually frank without being dangerous, and that toothlessness is both a source of pleasure and a serious limitation. It's a movie where no one gets hurt, no matter how unseemly the revelation. ''Let's just say I find the situation a little tacky," Béatrix says about one particular turn of the plot. She's right, but you could say that about all summer houses. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Philippe Miller composed the original music. Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau both wrote the screenplay and directed. In French with English subtitles. The two English titles are "Côte d'Azur" and "Cockles and Muscles".

Dobro jutro! (2007)

"Dobro jutro!" is a feature documentary by Ante Babaja, one of the grand masters of Croatian cinematography. The director, screenwriter, and producer is depicted in an old folks retirement home. Using modern digital film technology to record the place where he lives and his everyday life, the film shows the facility's everyday routine. He wakes up when a nurse knocks on the door saying "Good morning", eats breakfast, visits a doctor, and rests in the afternoon. Everything is presented to us from Babaja's personal philosophic perspective--scenes from his private and professional life are mixed with those from the facility.

Ante Babaja's last film is a personal story about himself. He received a Sony camera as a gift and started to film things that happen in his retirement home every day, where he lives after two strokes and two cardiac arrests. While filming he decided to add to his reality some inserts from his favourite and most popular films such as "Breza" (1967) and "Izglubljeni zavičaj" (1980). In "Dobro jutro!" we see Babaja himself on the screen and the 80 year-old director's self-observation delivers something between a film legacy and a document of our times. It's a thoughtful study of life with quietly humorous undertones, a solemn depiction of growing old, a meditation on the transience of life, and of faith. "Dobro jutro!" is a very honest and hard story about being old, and the passage of time.

He was born the 6th of October, 1927 in Imotski, and studied economics and law while assisting many directors in Paris and Zagreb. His flms are meditative and cultivated. He founded and worked as a professor at the Academy of Theater, Film and TV in Zagreb. His most famous films are like movie screenings of literary works. He said, "Film has, for me, since the first day that I have been aware of it, always been art. Film as art, this is something that I have always emphasized. Naturally, film exists in a hundred different ways, but I am only interested in this one--film as art." About the documentary he said, "The primary thing always is to create the concept. Without establishing the concept, I'm incapable of shooting anything and due to my limited mobility and the fact that I am living in a retirement home I captured the world that surrounds me. In the scenes I inserted short fragments from my previous movies." "Dobro jutro!" translates as "Good Morning!". Ante Babaja wrote the script, directed, and was cameraman along with Goran Trbuljak and Tomislav Jagec. The runtime is 85 minutes. In Croatian.

Strákarnir okkar (2005)

Oáttar Thor (Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson) is the sexiest and most popular star of KR (Reykjavík FC), the Icelandic soccer team. When a female reporter tells him in a locker room full of naked men that her interview with him will be on the back cover, he announces that he is gay, much to the shock and amusement of the reporter and his team mates. He appears on the front cover, but coming out of the closet turns the sports world upside down. The news makes the owner of his team apoplectic, his teammates are nervous in his presence, so he is suspended from the team, sitting on the bench for most of his team's matches. His father Eiríkur (Siguröur Skúlason) (the team's general manager), his alcoholic ex-wife Gugga (Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir) and his 13 year-old son Maggi (Arnmundur Ernst Björnsson) react with embarrassment and disbelief, thinking only of themselves. His bigoted brother Orri (Jón Atli Jónason) seems pleased to see all the anger directed at Oáttar.

Once out of the closet, Oáttar forms a team with other players who have come out. His "Eleven Men Out" team win game after game on their way to the championship. Maggi is not coping too well with all the attention Oáttar is getting, for all the wrong reasons. When tempers cool, his father tries everything to persuade Oáttar to return and play for his team, but he must go back into the closet. A struggle between father and son starts. He agrees to return only if it will play a match with the "Eleven Men Out" team. Oáttar finally has the opportunity to battle it out on the field with the KR team on Gay Pride Day. He decides to act on his attraction toward one of his teammates, but discovers that his dreamboat isn't much of a catch off the field. In one scene, Oáttar is having sex with his teammate on the living room sofa, when Maggi comes in and shrieks "f**king perverts!" Father just replies, "Hi son, what're you doing here?" The ending deliberately plays with audience expectations to deliver a low key, light, positive, and satisfying conclusion.

A sports star's career takes a sudden roller coaster ride when he makes a very unexpected announcement in this comedy from Iceland. Björn Hlynur Haraldsson is as good looking as he is talented. He performs very well in scenes where he is dealing with his rebellious teenage son who is humiliated by his father's decision to come out, as well as with his alcoholic ex-wife as they try to unite and work together as parents. There are good soccer scenes and great repartee with fellow players. Haraldsson's steamy sex scene with another man which is interupted by his son is an unexpected turn of events. It's a charming, delightful, and feisty comedy. However, caricatures play every scene straight and this makes it difficult to laugh with the characters. Instead we laugh at them. Viewers comments are mixed, and one reviewer wrote, "The film might be trying to push boundaries in terms of male nudity, but no amount of male penises can save this wannabe comedy that is just not funny." Barði Jóhannsson and Mínus composed the original music. Róbert I. Douglas wrote the screenplay and directed. In Icelandic with English subtitles. The English title is "Eleven Men Out".

Amor de Hombre (1997)

Ramón (Andrea Occhipinti) is a handsome successful gay lawyer in Madrid, but unlike most of his friends has not settled into a partnership. His closest friend is Esperanza (Loles León) who is a 40 year-old divorced school teacher in love with Ramón. She can't seem to meet or like any men unless they are gay, so she's somewhat of a "fag hag", and Ramón tries to help her find her right man. They party together with businessmen, doctors, and teachers, and go out together to bars. Ramón always brings a man home while Esperanza goes home to an empty bed. Promiscuous Ramón usually has a different partner every evening.

After an automobile accident in which Ramón is injured, Esperanza moves in to care for him, a care that includes asking one of her fellow Phys Ed teachers Roberto (Armando del Río) to give physical therapy and massage to Ramón. Esperanza becomes jealous of the "amor de hombre" (love for another man). Because Roberto seems to rebuff Ramón's growing obsession with an unattainable straight man, the therapy ends when Ramón is able to walk. A twist occurs once Ramón is well and Roberto changes roles and is seductive to Ramón, a romance that comes to a tragic ending. It is the quality of friendship between Ramón and Esperanza that provides the lasting nucleus of this tale. The movie ends with Esperanza and Ramon platonically kissing on a beautiful beach at sunset.

This colorful, tender and funny tale is about the intense relationship between a straight woman and a gay man. It has a smart script, and is well cast, acted, directed, and scored. A light and entertaining comedy drama with a message, the two leads may not appeal to everyone. Esperanza in particular is annoying to some viewers. One wrote, "She is a one of the most possessive, irritating and manipulative types of person that I have ever seen in a movie." The film won both the Audience and Jury awards at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and Narrative Feature at the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. José Manuel Pagán composed the original music. Yolanda García Serrano and Juan Luis Iborra wrote the screenplay and directed. In Spanish with English subtitles. The English title is "Love of a Man".

Carandiru (2003)

This episodic film is set in São Paulo's House of Detention, referred to as Carandiru, one of Latin America's largest prison systems. 7,800 men serve time in a facility built to house a maximum of 3,000 prisoners. An Oncololgy Doctor (Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos) arrives in the jail to test patients for HIV infection. Seeing the disease, overcrowding, and rampant circulation of drugs, he notices the internal power structure among the prisoners. The doctor is moved to volunteer his services on a weekly basis. As his efforts begin to bear results, he gradually earns the respect of the prison community. Several narratives develop, including the attempted murder of Dagger (Milhem Cortaz), the solitary confinement of Chico (Milton Goncalves), and the romance between Lady Di (Rodrigo Santoro) and Too Bad (Gero Camilo). The doctor eventually establishes a routine and sees the prisoners as survivors. Tragically, everything leads to the violent conclusion: the October 2, 1992 prison riot known historically as the Carandiru Massacre. Policemen storm the prison and murder 111 unarmed inmates.

Based on a true story, "Estação Carandiru" (Carandiru Station), a memoir by Dr. Dráuzio Varella, the film's first moments are close-up and rough. The camera puts you inside the notoriously overcrowded and treacherous São Paulo prison, where two inmates argue over one's right to slit the other's throat. Dr. Varella said, "I have no right to tell a story like this, if someone's going to identify the person I'm talking about. This guy didn't tell me his story so I can use in a book. He told me because I’m a doctor and he trusted his doctor. However, the story should be told."

The DVD emphasizes the films historical context and political argument: in addition to director Babenco’s mostly narrative commentary, a "making of" documentary, it includes seven deleted scenes, and historical footage of prison activities from 1928 (when prisoners were enrolled in music and math classes, and rewarded for “excellent behavior"), as well as the demolition of the prison in 1993 in an effort to destroy the horrific memories it held. André Abujamra composed the original music. Hector Babenco, Fernando Bonassi, and Victor Navas wrote the screenplay based on Dr. Dráuzio Varella's book. Hector Babenco directed. In Portuguese with subtitles in English and other languages.

Blue Citrus Hearts (2003)

Sam (Joshua Peter Laurenzi) and Julien (Paul Foster) are high school best friends in Memphis who fall somewhere between the nerds and the losers. Sam has an abusive father (Mark Pergolizzi) and a cold-hearted mother (Lee Ann Roberts). Julien's parent is a single mom (Emily Fry) who provides him with an abundance of love. Both have girlfriends and neither has a job. Sam struggles against his father, his oblivious girlfriend, and thoughts of suicide clash while his affection deepens for Julien. He constantly writes in a journal he will not let anyone see and hopes to take guitar lessons. Julien haunts coffee shops and daydreams.

Both have come to realize something is missing from their lives, and this sense of loss is diminished only when they are together. Julien is a moody boy, and his girlfriend Arielle (Alex Booth) has just about had it with him. The only bright light in his life is his friendship with Sam. They go together to the café, show each other their secret places, and wrestle on the grass. It's obvious they're in love. But these are teenagers--and they're just not ready. Then one night Julien shows Sam a poem he's written called "Blue Citrus Hearts" and it's about his crush on his best friend. Sam and Julien struggle through this film, trying to communicate with themselves, with friends, and finally with each other--discovering what they fear most, that they are gay. The film ends a bit too quickly.

This is a bittersweet tale of two boys in love. It's a slowly paced, heartfelt, gritty, honest little movie that has the power to move you profoundly. Sometimes there is arthouse pretentiousness that is appropriate here, revealing a deceptively simple story with complex emotional issues. The teenage boys from extraordinarily opposite homes find their way through friendship and sexuality while dealing with the complexities of high school, teenage romance, angst, fitting in, the desire for popularity, and the need to be understood and alone. They are unremarkable, ordinary boys learning to cope with emotions they fear and possibly can't understand.

Experimental in style, with lines of poetry scratched into film stock, sometimes jarring editing and a non-linear story, it is a distinctly non-Hollywood experience. It has a freshness and an originality missing from most films today. The soundtrack is strong, and the local music certainly adds flavor to the movie, although it is too loud. It's basically a noisy film. The actors are pimply high school students, not 25 year-olds playing high school students. Another important statement it makes is in the new millenium it is still not OK to be gay. It may be fashionable to accept homosexuality on TV and in movies, but in the real world gay men are still shunned, still legislated against, and still murdered because of their sexual orientation. Viewers comments are mixed--some love it and some do not. Morgan Jon Fox wrote the screenplay and directed.

East Side Story (2006)

Diego Campos (René Alvarado) lives in a conservative suburb of East LA, and is in an unhappy relationship with his closeted real estate agent boyfriend Pablo (David Berón). The pair finally decide to split after Diego has had enough of playing a Mexican immigrant in Pablo's fetish games, only for Pablo to woo Diego's nymphomaniac aunt Bianca (Gladys Jimenez). Diego helps his grandmother Sara (Irene DeBarri) run the family restaurant and hides his gay relationships from his traditional Latino family. He plans to move away and open an upscale Mexican restaurant in Phoenix.

It's the perfect time to be single and out in East LA, as the neighborhood suddenly becomes the hot spot for young gay men, and soon Diego's eyes start to roam as an influx of gay white men move into the neighborhood and begin gentrifying it. When the dashing Wesley Henderson (Steve Callahan) and his outrageous boyfriend Jonathon Webber (Cory Schneider) move in next door, tensions start to grow. Jonathon is terrified by the Hispanic locale and makes ludicrous claims about his impending gay-bashing.

Wesley, meanwhile, falls head over heels for neighbor Diego. The attraction between Wesley and Diego is immediate and electric, forcing both men to reexamine their state of affairs. Serious questions arise about the pressures of an inter-racial gay relationship, including malevolent ex-boyfriends and the discouragement of disapproving family members. Hilarious, feel-good and scorchingly hot from start to finish, "East Side Story" tells an uplifting tale about loving thy neighbour--and not getting caught. It's a well-balanced movie and although the outcome is not certain until the end, everything works out.

This is an entertaining comedic drama, a creative and intriguing look at life in East LA that opens with a mouth-watering twist. The main character performs very well and there are some show stealing moments from the supporting cast: his over the top aunt, the Hispanic dog-walking homophobic chef, and the bigoted campy gay neighbor. One viewer commented, "Very enjoyable, well-acted, well-scripted romantic movie! It's hard to believe this is Mr. Portugal's debut film. It doesn't hurt that the movie is chock-full of really cute actors, with enough shirtless scenes and quick rump shots that titillate." Steven Cahill composed the original music. The screenplay was written by Charo Toledo and Carlos Portugal, who also directed.

Colma: The Musical (2006)

"Colma" refers to a northern California town built as a necropolis and still used as a burial place. It serves as the setting for the picture, but the meaning is expanded to characterize the small town as a place of boredom and spiritual death for its young residents. The teenagers at the center of the movie are Rodel (H. P. Mendoza), Maribel (L. A. Renigen) and Billy (Jake Moreno). The three rebel against the status quo by periodically breaking into musical numbers--songs original to the film done in the style of 1980s new wave rock. They dance around the cemetery and streets. Just out of high school, they are just beginning to explore a new world of part-time mall jobs and college parties. As new revelations and romances challenge their relationships with one another and their parents, the trio must assess what to hold onto, and how to best follow their dreams.

The movie opens with the three leads singing the rave-up "Colma Stays", which describes the anonymous small town with clever imagery. Lanky Billy is an aspiring actor who gets a sales job at the mall and also a supporting role in a local community theater production. He also finds a new girlfriend Tara (Sigrid Sutton) but can never quite manage to shake off the lingering memories of his ex-girlfriend Joanne (Kat Kneisel), much to the chagrin of his close friend Maribel. With a cheerful spark masking an uncertain melancholy, cherubic party girl Maribel is the glue holding the trio together. Her main concerns are getting fake IDs and looking ''f**kable''. Maribel's shining moment comes with "Crash the Party", very similar to Blondie's "Dreamin'", preceded by the film's funniest moment, a purchase of alcohol with fake IDs similar to the liquor store scene in "Superbad".

Rodel is the most challenging character, a gay poet and slacker, closeted from his traditional Filipino father and increasingly jealous of Billy's ability to move on with his life. He feels that he has to be a good son (his brother is in prison) and that means he must stay in the closet. Rodel provides the film's most painfully realistic moments, as well as the most lacerating lines. His rendition of "One Day" provides genuine heart to the story's climactic moment, but his nasal vocals are a repetitive monotone. The barroom shanty scene runs too long, especially in ¾ time, and the "Deadwalking" duet between Maribel and Rodel is marred by the artsy intrusion of ghostly couples dancing in the cemetery.

Filled with shots of San Francisco in the background, those in the Bay Area will appreciate the SF inside jokes. The first half dozen songs cover everything from the boring life in Colma to crashing college parties. However, the second half of the film tackles more serious and mature themes such as love, family acceptance, and becoming an adult. The acting feels stilted and the music derivative, but the film somehow makes it to the finish line through its honesty about how life is for social outcasts living in San Francisco's suburban necropolis. This coming-of-age musical had a budget of $15,000, but first-time director Richard Wong and first-time screenwriter, songwriter and co-lead H. P. Mendoza make something substantive from the premise of three close friends just out of high school. It's a funny, bawdy, real, stylized, quirky world in a bizarre setting.

Director Wong said: "It's a hard movie to market. All the gay distributors don't think the film's gay enough, all the Asian distributors don't think it's Asian enough. People like labels, and labels help sell. We didn't make it to sell anyways. And just the fact that it is gonna sell is pretty amazing. We never even considered submitting to queer and Asian film fests. It was always more about teenagers and the human experience. I would never take away what they have done for us, but that was not our original aim. We just set out to make a good movie." The DVD includes a commentary track from Wong and Mendoza and fifteen minutes of deleted and extended scenes. H. P. Mendoza composed the original music. He also wrote the screenplay from a story he wrote with director Richard Wong.

Beverly Kills (2005)

Beverly Jackson (Gary Kelley) is an aspiring actor who loses a role in a musical at the Pride Playhouse, a nude theatrical production of "Balls Out."--a revue that promises a same sex marriage ballet and gratuitous male nudity. Furious, muscular cross-dresser Beverly decides to form a cult of revenge after seeking advice from Rocco (John Marlo), his massuer. Meanwhile back at the Playhouse, employee Shane (Rick Sparks) is dumped by his boyfriend, then falls into the arms of Ray (Matthew Herrmann), a lighting designer, and the two are swept into Beverly's bizarre scheme. We encounter broken relationships, lonely guys, new relationships, arrivals to Hollywood from all over the country who long to become stars and end up being "stand-in celebrities" for the tourists along the Hollywood Boulevard.

Beverly gathers the guys and gals who have auditioned and plans a terrorist martyrdom attack at Hollywood and Highland as a means of making a statement about the unstable way of life and irony of the promised land of dreams. The tone changes a lot: it's a comedy, then a drama, then a love story. Of course it all goes awry, but it does so with some very attractive people and some impressive talent.

This very entertaining satire of Hollywood lunatics, fanatical doomsday religious cults, and oversexed gay community theater features lots of cuties, a hot romance and a twisted drag queen. There are plenty of laughs in this edgy comedy, and the over-the-top, silly, ridiculous situational comedies and parodies contain much social comment. All of the men in the movie are gorgeous and either wear absolutely nothing or next to nothing throughout the whole movie. Their nudity includes full frontals. The "Balls Out" musical number is great! Unlike most low-budget gay romantic comedies this one doesn't take itself so seriously, is quite witty, well-acted, and leaves you feeling good. If you are easily offended or don't have an absurd sense of humor, then you should probably look elsewhere as this one is scathing and out there. Viewers comments are mixed. The DVD includes the director's commentary track, which is very entertaining and helps appreciate this movie even more. For some great surprises, freeze-frame the Cult's CD multi-media presentation. A few single frames contain some startling images. Jeffery Alan Jones composed the incidental music, and Damion Dietz wrote the screenplay and directed.

Azuloscurocasinegro (2006)

Jorge (Quim Gutiérrez) and Israel (Raúl Arévalo) are two best friends living in Spain. Jorge wants a suit. Israel wants a van. Jorge's plans are put on hold when his father Andres (Héctor Colomé) has a stroke. For seven years he nurses his father and is forced to take over his job as a janitor while studying part time to get a business degree. When Natalia (Eva Pallarés), his childhood crush, returns from studying abroad, Jorge yearns for something better. He is desperate to find a better job, but no one will hire him because he only has experience as a janitor.

Antonio (Antonio de la Torre), Jorge’s older brother, will soon be released from jail. He is an opportunist who has never gotten along with their father. In prison Antonio meets Paula (Marta Etura), a beautiful young woman in jail on drug charges. Paula has a problem because she flirted with another inmate's boyfriend. Violently harassed in jail, she wants to get pregnant in order to be moved to the jail's safe maternity ward. Antonio just wants to have sex with Paula, soon falls in love with her, but he discovers that he is sterile.

Everything changes when Antonio gets out of prison. He plays on Jorge's good nature to get him to step in during conjugal visits and impregnate his girlfriend Paula. Jorge reluctantly agrees, even though it might get in the way of his long-term relationship with Natalia. Meanwhile, Jorge's best friend Israel secretly photographs men visiting an erotic masseur. He finds out that his father is one of the clients and thinks that he must be gay. Irritated with his father's hypocrisy, Israel starts anonymously blackmailing him. However, he later begins to question his own sexuality when he visits the erotic masseur himself.

Jorge's relationship with Natalia becomes difficult after she tries to get him a job where she works but he is only offered a position as a janitor. Then Antonio finds out that their father has an undisclosed bank account full of money. Jorge makes regular visits to the women's prison to carry out his brother's wishes and falls for Paula. Gradually, they develop an unusual relationship. She gets pregnant and through her, Jorge learns to stop feeling responsible for everything and finally confront his own wishes, ignoring what the world expects of him. He breaks his relationship with Natalia and decides to wait for Paula’s release. The relationship of the two brothers survives Jorge's emotional involvement. Antonio fails to retrieve the money his father has had in the secret bank account and is instead mortally attacked by his father.

Israel confronts both of his parents and his own sexual identity, finally achieving some degree of peace. Jorge and Paula have a baby daughter. He moves from the building where he has worked and lived for so many years, finding a new job as a janitor. When Jorge thinks of escaping his dead-end life, he dreams of a suit, which is dark blue, almost black. At the end, he takes Israel’s car, breaks the store window and grabs the dark blue suit.

These two stories are interwoven to demonstrate the struggle between family obligations and individual freedoms, especially at that point in life of coming into one's own. With its subtle wit and homoerotic curiosity, "Azuloscurocasinegro" is a fresh and vibrant discovery reminiscent of its Spanish-language forerunner "Y Tu Mama Tambien". The English title is "DarkBlueAlmostBlack", which is technically called "midnight blue". It's a state of mind, an uncertain future, and a color--a color that we don’t always recognize and which varies depending on the light, the medium and the mood. The DVD extras include interviews with the director and the lead actors. Pascal Gaigne composed the original music, and Daniel Sánchez Arévalo wrote the screenplay and directed. In Spanish with English subtitles.