Hey, Happy (2001)

In the not-so-distant future, a variety of environmental disasters have led to the final collapse of Western civilization. Society as we know it may have been lost, but sex and dancing are still in style in this funny post-apocalyptic satire. Sexually ambiguous hipster Ricky G. (Johnny Simone) leads an encampment of rave kids who have created a makeshift city on the outskirts of Winnipeg, Canada. One of the community's leading citizens is DJ Sabu (Jérémie Yuen), whose sexual appetite has led him on a mission to seduce 2,000 men before a looming flood destroys the village. Sabu is close enough to hitting the magic number to have chosen the special man he wants to be Mister 2,000--Happy (Craig Aftanas), an attractive but socially gauche and paranoid UFO-ologist who is able to communicate with alien life forms. Happy works at a pig-slaughtering factory, and routinely inhales industrial waste so that he can hear strange alien voices warning him of the end of the world. He is told that if he gives himself to Sabu, the aliens will take him with them. His romantic encounters with Sabu lend moments of tenderness and affection to the film, plus a bit of serenity in the midst of the surrounding madness. However, Sabu has a rival for Happy's affections--evil body-modification advocate and hair stylist Spanky O'Neil (Clayton Godson), who tries to foil Sabu's plans by abducting Happy. Spanky is a twisted male version of the Wicked Witch of the West. The action unfolds at a series of raves on an old garbage hill in an industrial landscape populated with characters right out of a John Waters movie. They have names like Dildo Queen and Magnolia Thunderpussy.

This authentic, tripped-out rave movie doesn't make much sense. It's an amazingly sexy, experimental, trippy, explosive, psychedelic ride, unique and hilariously bizarre. But it's also kind of weird, a conceptual nightmare, absolutely outrageous in a daring and progressive kind of exploitation movie that offers little to the mainstream public, but does represents an important niche in the cinema world. "Hey, Happy" was shot in 16mm Cinemascope with expansive views of the prairies around Winnipeg, and its railroads. The design is striking, and the colors vivid against the bleak post-industrial, pre-apocalyptic locations. The music score is varied and the story is a good blend of dystopian science fiction, sadism, and romance. Noam Gonick directed this Canadian film.

Uomini Uomini Uomini (1995)

This film chronicles 6 months in the lives of four middle-aged homosexual friends, each of whom is a neurotic wreck. The film opens in a gay disco with very hunky Italian Go-Go boys and moves on through the lives of each of the men. As we watch the problems plaguing them, we also see their sense of humor, as they spur each other to perform outrageous pranks and sexual games. They love, suffer, fight, are good or bad, and are generous or envious. All four characters are shown as lonely, pathetic, predatory, misogynistic and incapable of sustaining an intimate long-term relationship--but they laugh at the cards that life has dealt them. Sandro (Massimo Ghini) is a television producer who discovered his homosexuality after having started a family. Dado (Alessandro Haber) is a successful orthopedic surgeon. Tony (Leo Gullotta) is a women's tailor who lives with his possessive mother. And Vittorio (Christian De Sica) is an architect in love with an associate who is about to be wed. Together, the four men party through Rome, sharing adventures, practical jokes, and some disappointments. There is a sobering and frightening climax with a very handsome, naive, and vulnerable straight young man.

The movie is intelligent and mature, yet full of young-at-heart lust and desire, as well as pain and pathos. All four actors give excellent performances, lending depth to their characters and making them sympathetic. Sandro, the most macho of the group, is particularly intense. Yet as good as the actors are, they cannot compensate for a gag-driven script that is predictable, with gay stereotypes. Basically, the film is a series of vignettes in which the characters' growth is substantially limited. Yet it is an entertaining, enjoyable movie, despite its lack of continuity. Christian De Sica's direction is almost perfect, making one to wonder what level of success he might attain with a decent screenplay. De Sica wrote the screenplay. The English title is "Men or Not Men".