A concise synopsis of gay-themed movies and gay interest films. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

101 Rent Boys (2000)



















From the makers of "Party Monster" comes this lurid documentary about the seamy world of street hustlers. The producers recruited 101 hustlers from the Santa Monica Boulevard area in West Hollywood and paid each of them $50 for their time. All the hustlers, who were from diverse ethnic, racial, regional and economic backgrounds, were interviewed in various motel rooms on such topics as how they entered into prostitution, their sexual orientation, drugs, homelessness, and their first johns. They also explain how they dress, speak, act, think, give head, receive head, increase cash flow, keep safe, walk, eat, smoke, flirt, get turned-on, feel about love, and plans for the future. Viewers are introduced to a sadist, an ex-gang member, a transsexual, and many others. It focuses on a few of the boys more extensively than others and longer interviews with about two dozen expose the transient lives of men who sell their bodies to other men, with surprisingly little guilt or shame. Each rent boy was assigned a number--but not each one is identified in the film. While some of the men are interviewed in various states of undress and the talk sometimes becomes sexually explicit, the film itself contains no sexual activity.

The DVD has a feature where each of the hustlers were left alone with the camera for five minutes to do whatever they choose. In this feature, several participants masturbate. A companion book, also called "101 Rent Boys", was published featuring photos and excerpts from the interviews. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato directed.

That Certain Summer (1972)



















Fourteen-year-old Nick Salter (Scott Jacoby) lives in LA with his mother Janet (Hope Lange). He cannot understand why his parents divorced. During the summer he visits his contractor father Doug Salter (Hal Holbrook) and his much younger "best friend" Gary McClain (Martin Sheen) in San Francisco. Gary moves out temporarily in order to keep Nick's possible suspicions at bay. Eventually Doug tells his son the truth, encouraged by Janet to reveal to Nick that he has a gay lover. Nick is filled with shame and disgust, and runs away. Once reunited with his son, Doug attempts to explain his sexual orientation and alternative lifestyle to him, with mixed results.

Originally broadcast as the ABC Movie of the Week on November 1, 1972, "That Certain Summer" was the first TV film to take a mature and somewhat uncritical approach to the subject of homosexuality. Like many "firsts", the film seems a bit timid when seen today. Emmy-winning writers Richard Levinson and William Link were forced by the network to include short speeches describing the gay life as something of a sickness. In an interview with the Dallas Voice, Martin Sheen said, "I thought it was wonderful. There was a great deal of freedom in it because it wasn't about advocating a lifestyle or a sexuality. It was about two people who adored each other, and they weren't allowed to have a relationship that involved their sexuality." Holbrook said, "I was an actor clearly not afraid of controversy...Anything that would make the audience think was worthwhile...That's a good reason for being an actor, when you can do something decent that touches people's hearts and their minds, so you feel like you actually accomplished something." Directed by Lamont Johnson.

Followers

Blog Archive