Nico and Dani (2000)

Nico (Jordi Vilches) goes to his best friend Dani's (Fernando Ramallo) summer beach house at a seaside town outside of Barcelona. They plan to lose their virginity while Dani's parents are away. It's a coming of age film for the 17-year-old characters, as one comes to terms with his homosexuality and the other with his heterosexuality. They have sex together. A pair of cousin girls, Berta (Esther Nubiola) and Elena (Marieta Orozco) enter the picture. Nico is much more interested in Berta than Dani in Elena. Nico gets to make love to Berta, making Dani jealous of her. Dani realizes he is in love with Nico and tells him, causing an argument between them. Then Dani goes out to get drunk and meets a gay writer friend of his father, Julian (Chisco Amado). After having dinner and sailing with him, Dani wants to make love, but changes his mind at the last moment and runs back to Nico. Both friends reconciliate, but summer is over and Nico returns home.

"Nico and Dani" is a Spanish film similar to "Beautiful Thing" and "Wild Deeds". The Spanish title is "Krámpack", meaning "mutual masturbation" or "hand job." The soundtrack is mostly excellent but derivative electric blues, which Lone Wolf loves, but considers inappropriate for the film. It works well, but is incongruous for teen-age Spaniards. Flamenco or Spanish pop would have been better. Joan Díaz, Jordi Prats, and Riqui Sabates composed the music. Tomàs Aragay and Cesc Gay wrote the script derived from the play by Jordi Sánchez. Cesc Gay directed. In Spanish with English subtitles.

My Brother Nikhil (2005)

From fabulous Bollywood comes "My Brother Nikhil" about Nikhil Kapoor (Sanjay Suri) who has been living in Goa for several years with his close-knit family. Nikhil wins a sports scholarship, but is then kicked off the swim team representing Goa. Starting out like an ordinary Indian film where everything is happy and bad things happen only with a burst of dramatic music, "My Brother Nikhil" lures you in with its sunny simplicity before turning darker and more complicated like a sudden thunderstorm on a summer day. Almost like a documentary, the story is told through the experiences and from the points of view of Nikhil's father, mother, boyfriend, lawyer, and his elder sister Anamika (Juhi Chawla). One day Nikhil is arrested for being HIV positive. Set from 1987 to 1994, a time when AIDS was not well understood, he is kept in forced isolation by law. His Parents desert him and his friends move away. The only two people who stand by him are his sister and boyfriend Nigel De Costa (Purab Kohli). Confined in an isolated sanatorium, Nikhil is left to rot. This film deals with the trauma of Nikhil and his fight for dignity, and is the first mainstream Hindi language movie where the main character is gay. The film is based on a true story. There is a beautiful excellent hit song, "Le Chale", heard throughout the whole film. Viveck Philip composed the incidental music, Amitabh Verma wrote the dialogue, and Onir wrote the story and directed. Shot entirely in Goa, the film is in Hindi with English subtitles, although about 20 percent of the dialogue is English.

Jeffrey (1995)

Jeffrey (Steven Weber) is a young gay neurotic actor in NYC who gives up sex for celibacy because of the AIDS epidemic. He decides to experience different joys such as exercise and body-building. At the gym he meets the man of his dreams, Steve Howard (Michael T. Weiss), a charming HIV+ hunk. He experiences an emotional conflict as he faces his fear in order to accept love. The story is filled with ridiculous homosexual stereotypes that are supposed to be funny. Co-star Patrick Stewart plays Sterling, an older gay decorator whose partner (Bryan Batt) dies of AIDS. Stewart plays a stereotypical gay man to perfection, not at all like his character in Star Trek TNG. This gay romantic comedy is based on the stage play by Paul Rudnick, who also wrote the screenplay. The movie features cameos by Olympia Dukakis, Victor Garber, Gregory Jbara, Robert Klein, Nathan Lane, Camryn Manheim, Kathy Najimy, Kevin Nealon, Ethan Phillips and Sigourney Weaver. One reviewer wrote: "The fact that is obvious to anyone who cares to notice is that this is just a highly pathetic American attempt to be comical and controversial in one ball of wax." Another wrote: "Jeffrey is an amazingly bittersweet comedy of love and lust in the Aids era. The story does have a question for all gay men with or without HIV and also deals sensitively with all aspects of relationships and life with or without the virus." Stephen Endelman composed the original music, and Christopher Ashley directed.

Shelter (2007)

22 year-old aspiring artist Zach (Trevor Wright) works as a short-order cook and helps his sister Jeanne (Tina Holmes), his disabled father (Don Margolin), and his five-year-old nephew Cody (Jackson Wurth). Zach wanted to go to art school, still draws, surfs, and spends time with this best friend Gabe (Ross Thomas), who lives on the wealthy side of town. He has an intermittent girlfriend Tori (Katie Walder). Then he falls in love with Gabe's older brother Shaun (Brad Rowe), who has returned home to cure a case of writer’s block. His sister learns that Zach has been spending time with Shaun and warns him that Shaun is gay and to keep Cody away from him. Though his sister cannot accept that Zach himself may be gay, both Gabe and Tori are supportive. One drunken night leads to a kiss between them, but Zach’s relationship with Shaun is strained by his sense of obligation to support his family versus his relationship with Shaun and his desire to pursue his own dreams. Shaun submits Zach’s art school application, and Zach is eventually accepted on full scholarship. When Jeanne’s boyfriend gets a job requiring her to move and leave Cody with Zach, Zach is forced to decide between putting others first and neglecting his own dreams, or fighting for what he really wants for himself and Cody. He finally discovers that affirming his love for Shaun and going forward with his art career is the best solution.

This simple and honest love story with a generic plot was filmed in 21 days, primarily in San Pedro and Laguna Beach, California, with additional shooting in Bel Air and Malibu, California. The artwork in the film is the work of LA artist Ryan Graeff. The movie soundtrack features original music by Shane Mack and others, with incidental music by J. Peter Robinson. Written and directed by Jonah Markowitz.

Another Gay Movie (2006)

Four gay teenagers have recently graduated from high school. Curious and geeky Andy Wilson (Michael Carbonaro) is sex-crazed; flamboyant Nico (Johan Blechman) is effeminate; jock Jarod (Jonathan Chase) is handsome and insecure; and geeky Griff (Mitch Morris) is bookish and conservative. They want to have sex but can't find partners. On graduation day their lesbian friend Muffler (Ashlie Atkinson) has a graduation party. The boys make a pact to have sex before the end of the summer. Each one looks for sex in a different way, with tragic and comedic results. Nico tries to get an online internet date with Ryder (Matthew Rush) and says "Unfortunately, our lives aren't coming of age films where we all magically get laid by the climax. This isn't American Pie!" Andy pursues his long-time crush with his math teacher Mr. Puckov (Graham Norton). Jarod seeks out jocks and falls for rival baseball team's pitcher Beau (James Getzlaff). Griff tries to earn the affection of male stripper Angel (Darryl Stephens) and is confused about his crushes on Jarod and his gym teacher. Much of the humor comes from the awkwardness of all the boys, and how naïve they are about sex. Each scheme backfires, until they finally change their attitudes about sex.

"Another Gay Movie" is like a gay "American Pie", and pays homage to a number of movies, with particular emphasis on the entire genre of gay coming out movies. It parodies "Adam & Steve", "American Pie", "Beautiful Thing", "Broken Hearts Club", "Carrie", "Edge of Seventeen", "Queer as Folk", "Trick", and others. Original music was composed by Marty Beller. Todd Stephens wrote the screenplay adapted from a story by Stephens and Tim Kaltenecker. Todd Stephens also directed.