Mala Noche (1985)

Walt Curtis (Tim Streeter) is a homosexual liquor-store clerk attracted to two younger Mexican boys, Johnny (Doug Cooeyate) and Roberto Pepper (Ray Monge), who are illegal immigrants. Walt and his friend Betty (Nyla McCarthy) convince them to come over for dinner, but Johnny and Roberto have to return to their cheap hotel because another friend is locked out. Obsessed with Johnny, Walt says, "I wanna show this Mexican kid that I'm gay for him." However, Johnny doesn't speak English and finds Walt strange and undesirable. Walt offers hustler Johnny $15 to sleep with him, but Johnny refuses and runs to his hotel room, leaving Roberto locked out with nowhere to spend the night but Walt's. Settling for second best, Walt lays down next to Roberto and allows him on top for sex. The next morning, Walt is full of regret as he realizes that Roberto probably feels like he has just out-manned Walt, as well as stealing $10 during his stay. However, he doesn't give up on Johnny. The story progresses from there into unclear relationships--unbalanced by age, language, race, sexuality, and money.

Based on the autobiographical novel by Walt Curtis, this movie was shot in16 mm, mostly black-and-white, entirely on location in Portland, Oregon. Long unavailable and now fully restored, it is arranged into vignettes around Portland's skid row. Mala noche is Spanish for "bad night". This low budget drama was written and directed by Gus Van Sant, his first feature film.

A Touch of Pink (2004)

Alim (Jimi Mistry) is an Ismaili Canadian, a young South Indian movie photographer who lives in London, thousands of miles from his family, for one very good reason--he has a boyfriend. His ideal gay life begins to unravel when his mother Nuru (Suleka Mathew) shows up to find him a suitable Muslim girlfriend and convince him to return to Canada for his cousin's wedding. Nuru was born and raised in Africa. She was fond of watching Cary Grant and Doris Day movies, and wanted to be like her. After the death of her husband, Nuru leaves her four year-old son Alim in Africa with her sister Dolly (Veena Sood) and immigrates to Britain to start a new life. Nuru returns after suffering racism in England. She and her sister emigrate to Canada with their families and Alim grows up in Toronto. Fast-forward to the present. Nuru is going to attend her nephew Khaled's (Raoul Bhaneja) wedding and wants Alim to attend. She longs for him to marry a nice Ismali Muslim girl and raise a family in Toronto, and travels to London to convince Alim to come home. He lives with his boyfriend Giles (Kristen Holden-Reid), as well as the ghost of Cary Grant (Kyle MacLachlan), whom only Alim can see. Pursuing the ideal world presented in the films of Grant-era Hollywood, Alim seeks and then follows the advice of the ghost. This works out pretty well until his mother shows up. Screwball confusion ensues as Alim tries to keep his gay relationship from being discovered by his mother, all the while trying to maintain composure in the style of his mentor. Nuru finally gets to meet her son's boyfriend.

This charming and delightful romantic comedy is driven by the humour of the cultural divide between characters who are young and old, Indian and Western, gay and straight, real and imaginary, and alive and dead. Suleka Matthew as the mother is a very gifted comedian, and Kyle MacLachlan's performance as Cary Grant has the vocal intonations and mannerisms just right. A must-see for fans of old Cary Grant movies, who will pick up all the references to his films. Written and directed by Ian Iqbal Rashid.