The Graffiti Artist (2004)

Nick (Ruben Bansie-Snellman) is a teen-aged post-modern graffiti artist who decorates exterior walls in downtown Seattle and Portland using the tag name "Rapture". He is a loner, keeps journals of his drawings, photographs of his graffiti, stays alive by shoplifting cans of spray paint and his vegetarian diet foods, and gets around on a skateboard. Nick is a man against the world and is arrested for his art. When released, he meets a fellow tagger Jesse (Pepper Fajans) and finally speaks--to this point there has been no dialogue from Nick--and follows him around, sharing art and tagging. A "tagger" is a graffiti artist who spray-paints his name or symbol on a public wall. Jesse has some money and provides Nick with food and shelter. They travel to Seattle to tag, create some beautiful grafitti art, and bond to the point where Jesse invites Nick into his bed. There is an impressive sexy yet understated gay sex scene. By morning Jesse has conflicts about the gay sex. Nick appears satisfied yet anxious about Jesse's response. They continue to tag, using their new partnered tag name "Elusive". Jesse eventually distances himself from Nick and returns to Portland. Nick tries to maintain his lifestyle but living in the streets and tagging in dangerous places results in problems with the law. But primarily because he misses Jesse, the only person with whom he has bonded, Nick returns to Portland, leaving tag messages signed "Rapture" wherever he sees Jesse's signature "Flip". At last Nick finds Jesse, who doesn't want to have anything to do with him. Alone again, Nick returns to his solitary life and the way he deals with his dream ends the movie.

There is almost no dialogue in this film. It relies on body language to tell the story of why Nick and Jesse like each other, what the sex meant, and what the long-term impact is likely to be. The magnetism of the actors' body language and especially eye language is more effective than dialogue. Ruben Bansie-Snellman creates a character so convincingly simple in his complexity that he pulls us into the strange world of the graffiti artist subculture. The music score is by Kid Loco. Written, produced, and directed by Peter Paige.

Say Uncle (2006)

Paul Johnson (Peter Paige) is a nerdy gay artist, innocent and reclusive, living in Oregon. He loves children and has a close relationship with his godson, the child of his best friends. When his godson moves to Japan, he attempts to replace the loss by baby-sitting, working in a toy store, and playing with kids in playgrounds. Paul is not a pedophile, but is playing with fire. His best friend Russell (Anthony Clark) advises caution, because people will talk and he could get into big trouble. Local mother Maggie Butler (Kathy Najimy) concludes that he fits the classic profile of a child predator. She embellishes the truth for what she considers the safety of innocent children. Together with some other mothers, Maggie starts a neighborhood witch-hunt to "bring Paul in" before he commits a crime. Because Paul is gay and kindly, we are supposed to regard him as the victim. However, his creepy Peter Pan complex, grossly inappropriate behavior, and his anger at the bad world of grown-up people does not arouse my sympathy. Why doesn't he grow up? Frankly, I have more sympathy for the parents, although the movie demonstrates that it is wrong to become hysterical and jump to conclusions without evidence.

Filmed in Portland, Oregon during the summer of 2005, "Say Uncle" had a production schedule of 18 days, and filming took place at 19 different locations. Production values are not the best. New York Times reviewer Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that the film's R rating is based on "two boys kissing, one naked-toddler photograph, some naughty words and a lot of bad art." Written and directed by Peter Paige, who also stars in the film as Paul.