East Side Story (2006)

Diego Campos (René Alvarado) lives in a conservative suburb of East LA, and is in an unhappy relationship with his closeted real estate agent boyfriend Pablo (David Berón). The pair finally decide to split after Diego has had enough of playing a Mexican immigrant in Pablo's fetish games, only for Pablo to woo Diego's nymphomaniac aunt Bianca (Gladys Jimenez). Diego helps his grandmother Sara (Irene DeBarri) run the family restaurant and hides his gay relationships from his traditional Latino family. He plans to move away and open an upscale Mexican restaurant in Phoenix.

It's the perfect time to be single and out in East LA, as the neighborhood suddenly becomes the hot spot for young gay men, and soon Diego's eyes start to roam as an influx of gay white men move into the neighborhood and begin gentrifying it. When the dashing Wesley Henderson (Steve Callahan) and his outrageous boyfriend Jonathon Webber (Cory Schneider) move in next door, tensions start to grow. Jonathon is terrified by the Hispanic locale and makes ludicrous claims about his impending gay-bashing.

Wesley, meanwhile, falls head over heels for neighbor Diego. The attraction between Wesley and Diego is immediate and electric, forcing both men to reexamine their state of affairs. Serious questions arise about the pressures of an inter-racial gay relationship, including malevolent ex-boyfriends and the discouragement of disapproving family members. Hilarious, feel-good and scorchingly hot from start to finish, "East Side Story" tells an uplifting tale about loving thy neighbour--and not getting caught. It's a well-balanced movie and although the outcome is not certain until the end, everything works out.

This is an entertaining comedic drama, a creative and intriguing look at life in East LA that opens with a mouth-watering twist. The main character performs very well and there are some show stealing moments from the supporting cast: his over the top aunt, the Hispanic dog-walking homophobic chef, and the bigoted campy gay neighbor. One viewer commented, "Very enjoyable, well-acted, well-scripted romantic movie! It's hard to believe this is Mr. Portugal's debut film. It doesn't hurt that the movie is chock-full of really cute actors, with enough shirtless scenes and quick rump shots that titillate." Steven Cahill composed the original music. The screenplay was written by Charo Toledo and Carlos Portugal, who also directed.

Colma: The Musical (2006)

"Colma" refers to a northern California town built as a necropolis and still used as a burial place. It serves as the setting for the picture, but the meaning is expanded to characterize the small town as a place of boredom and spiritual death for its young residents. The teenagers at the center of the movie are Rodel (H. P. Mendoza), Maribel (L. A. Renigen) and Billy (Jake Moreno). The three rebel against the status quo by periodically breaking into musical numbers--songs original to the film done in the style of 1980s new wave rock. They dance around the cemetery and streets. Just out of high school, they are just beginning to explore a new world of part-time mall jobs and college parties. As new revelations and romances challenge their relationships with one another and their parents, the trio must assess what to hold onto, and how to best follow their dreams.

The movie opens with the three leads singing the rave-up "Colma Stays", which describes the anonymous small town with clever imagery. Lanky Billy is an aspiring actor who gets a sales job at the mall and also a supporting role in a local community theater production. He also finds a new girlfriend Tara (Sigrid Sutton) but can never quite manage to shake off the lingering memories of his ex-girlfriend Joanne (Kat Kneisel), much to the chagrin of his close friend Maribel. With a cheerful spark masking an uncertain melancholy, cherubic party girl Maribel is the glue holding the trio together. Her main concerns are getting fake IDs and looking ''f**kable''. Maribel's shining moment comes with "Crash the Party", very similar to Blondie's "Dreamin'", preceded by the film's funniest moment, a purchase of alcohol with fake IDs similar to the liquor store scene in "Superbad".

Rodel is the most challenging character, a gay poet and slacker, closeted from his traditional Filipino father and increasingly jealous of Billy's ability to move on with his life. He feels that he has to be a good son (his brother is in prison) and that means he must stay in the closet. Rodel provides the film's most painfully realistic moments, as well as the most lacerating lines. His rendition of "One Day" provides genuine heart to the story's climactic moment, but his nasal vocals are a repetitive monotone. The barroom shanty scene runs too long, especially in ¾ time, and the "Deadwalking" duet between Maribel and Rodel is marred by the artsy intrusion of ghostly couples dancing in the cemetery.

Filled with shots of San Francisco in the background, those in the Bay Area will appreciate the SF inside jokes. The first half dozen songs cover everything from the boring life in Colma to crashing college parties. However, the second half of the film tackles more serious and mature themes such as love, family acceptance, and becoming an adult. The acting feels stilted and the music derivative, but the film somehow makes it to the finish line through its honesty about how life is for social outcasts living in San Francisco's suburban necropolis. This coming-of-age musical had a budget of $15,000, but first-time director Richard Wong and first-time screenwriter, songwriter and co-lead H. P. Mendoza make something substantive from the premise of three close friends just out of high school. It's a funny, bawdy, real, stylized, quirky world in a bizarre setting.

Director Wong said: "It's a hard movie to market. All the gay distributors don't think the film's gay enough, all the Asian distributors don't think it's Asian enough. People like labels, and labels help sell. We didn't make it to sell anyways. And just the fact that it is gonna sell is pretty amazing. We never even considered submitting to queer and Asian film fests. It was always more about teenagers and the human experience. I would never take away what they have done for us, but that was not our original aim. We just set out to make a good movie." The DVD includes a commentary track from Wong and Mendoza and fifteen minutes of deleted and extended scenes. H. P. Mendoza composed the original music. He also wrote the screenplay from a story he wrote with director Richard Wong.