200 American (2003)

Conrad (Matt Walton) is a gay man living in NYC, the CEO of an ad agency and a control freak whose lover has deserted him. He hires then falls in love with hustler Tyler/Ian (Sean Matic). Australian Ian came to NYC to start a new life, needed money to stay, and began hustling for 200 American dollars cash for his services. Ian claims he is straight and needs money to marry his girlfriend. Conrad gives him a job as an assistant to the photographer at his agency. It gets complicated as Conrad tries to make up with Martin (John-Dylan Howard), and Ian falls for Michael (Anthony Ames), his supervisor at the company. Michael eventually falls for Ian and the truth about Ian's hustling background is made clear in a way that impacts all of the characters in this drama. The soundtrack music is inappropriate, incessant, annoying pop music from the same composer. But it's a fun gay movie, much more than the typical "gay falls for a hustler" film. All the characters are shown to be needy, to have dark sides, and capable of change. They are also likeable men who just want to be happy. Richard LeMay wrote the screenplay and directed.

24 Nights (1999)

This Gay Christmas movie is about quirky Jonathan Parker (Kevin Isola), who has always believed in Santa Claus. He met a phony Santa when he was four years old, and the experience was so profound that he has never lost his faith in Saint Nick. Now 24, he is a pot-head college drop-out working in a in Greenwich Village gay bookstore who is a loser at love. Jonathan lives with his sister Marie (Aida Turturro). He writes a letter to Santa and handsome Toby (David Burtka), winner of the local "wet underwear" contest, starts working at the bookstore. Jonathan falls head over heels in love, convinced that Toby is the dream man sent to him by Santa. However, if Toby really is a gift from Santa, why is he a party animal all over NYC, and why has he brought his boyfriend Keith (Stephen Mailer) along with him? Jonathan must convince Toby, and has to fight to get him even if he has to ruin the lives of those around him in his pursuit of a fantasy man. Jonathan's family, including his brother-in-law Stan (Bob Bogue), and Stan's mother Lillian (Mary-Louise Wilson) is combative but, as Keith says, "They kind of grow on you." Marie steals the scenes she is in and has some funny lines as she bickers with Lillian. As Christmas approaches, Jonathan realizes Santa doesn't always deliver what boys want, he delivers what they deserve.

"24 Nights" is a sweet, cute, refreshing, touching, clever, heart-warming, and intelligent film produced on a low budget. The acting is first-rate and the soundtrack features pleasant Christmas tunes in the background. Kieran Turner wrote the screen play and directed.

Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

Luis Molina (William Hurt) and Valentin Arregui (Raúl Juliá) are cell mates in a Latin American prison. Luis is an effeminate gay found guilty of immoral behaviour and imprisoned for seducing a minor. Valentin is a straight, bearded, revolutionary political activist prisoner. Most of the time Molina tells him stories about tacky Hollywood movies, especially his fondly remembered Nazi propaganda film "Her Real Glory", which Valentin detests. The stories are meant to comfort Arregui and distract him from his imprisonment and separation from the woman he loves. It becomes clear that Arregui is being poisoned by his jailers to force him to reveal what he knows. And Molina is in his cell to obtain information for his captors. A friendship develops between the two prisoners and eventually they have sex, which begins discreetly with the blowing out of a candle. The ending is tragic for both, although Arregui's end is softened with a lovely fantasy scene reminiscent of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" ("La Rivière du Hibou").

Both acting performances are superb, and Hurt won a well-deserved Oscar. There is a movie within the movie starring Sonia Braga. The film is an adaptation of Manuel Puig's highly regarded 1976 novel "El Beso de la Mujer Araña". A Broadway musical "Kiss of the Spider Woman" was produced in 1993. Original music is by Nando Cordeiro and John Neschling. Leonard Schrader wrote the screenplay from Puig's novel, and Hector Babenco directed. This Brazilian/American drama is in English, and the Portuguese title is "O Beijo da Mulher Aranha".

Suddenly Last Summer (1959)

In New Orleans in 1937, wealthy matriarch Mrs. Violet Venable (Katharine Hepburn) will fund a hospital if Dr. Cukrowicz (Montgomery Clift) will perform a lobotomy on her niece Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor). Debutante Catherine had a nervous breakdown after the death of Sebastian Venable, Violet's poet son, while the two were vacationing in Europe. Mrs. Venable wants the lobotomy performed to stop Catherine from revealing the horrible truth about Sebastian's death. Dr. Cukrowicz knows Catherine is sane and helps her remember the circumstances of Sebastian's death.

The film ends with Catherine explaining at length the bizarre murder of homosexual Sebastian. While at a Spanish coastal resort the previous summer, he used her to lure young boys just as his mother used to do. But the boys turned on Sebastian and murdered him. Catherine watched his body being cannibalized by the boys and hysterically explains, "He...he was lying naked on the broken stones...and this you won't believe! Nobody, nobody, nobody could believe it! It looked as if...as if they had devoured him!...As if they'd torn or cut parts of him away with their hands, or with knives, or those jagged cans they made music with. As if they'd torn bits of him away in strips!"

Mrs. Venable completely cracks up and takes her antique elevator upstairs, cheerfully in her own demented fantasy world. Catherine is cured and speaks the film's last lines, "She's here, Doctor, Miss Catherine's here." Malcolm Arnold and Buxton Orr composed the original music. Gore Vidal and Tennessee William wrote the screenplay adapted from William's one-act play. Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed.

Poco più di un anno fa (2003)

This melodrama is about Riccardo Soldani (Marco Filiberti), Italy's top gay porn star. His stage name is Riki Kandinsky and he is actually the youngest son of a bankrupt Italian nobleman. With his blond hair and plucked eyebrows, he resembles one of the pretty young men in the films of Luchino Visconti. At 29 and after 11 years in the business he is rich, loves his work, enjoys casual sex, but leads a solitary hedonistic life. According to Riki, he's had more than 600 men and only 4 women. His estranged older brother Federico (Urbano Barberini) visits when his father dies. Federico has no idea what his brother does for a living, but learns fast when he stumbles across a porno magazine with Riki's picture on the cover. He views his brother's profession with disdain and curiosity. As the two reconcile their differences, Riki has to come to terms with growing up and taking responsibility, which for him includes the desire to become a father by adopting an orphan. He witnesses a car accident in which a young woman is killed and decides to adopt the dead woman's 6-year-old son. This leads to a court fight in which Riki battles the boy's grandparents for possession of the cute kid. In the south of France, the 2 brothers return to their family castle and witness their mother die in an accident. 14 years later there is a resolution of sorts. Directed by Marco Filiberti, this movie is in Italian with English subtitles. The English title is "Adored" or "Adored: Diary of a Male Porn Star",

Advise & Consent (1962)

"Advise & Consent" is partly about closeted gay Senator Brigham Anderson (Don Murray) who is blackmailed for political purposes. In the film, a homosexual affair in Hawaii with a wartime service buddy makes the senator vulnerable, and he is blackmailed by power-seeking Wyoming Senator Fred Van Ackerman (George Grizzard). To neutralize Senator Anderson, Senator Van Ackerman threatens to dredge up the homosexual incident in Anderson's past, which results in a suicide. Primarily the movie focuses on the nomination of Robert A. Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) to be Secretary of State, hand-picked by the second-term President (Franchot Tone) who is seriously ill. The film's title comes from the United States Constitution which requires that the Senate, using its advise and consent powers, must either approve or deny the appointment.

Director Otto Preminger seems unaware that the stereotyped caricaturing of the gayness in "Advise & Consent" is the very kind of witch-hunting hysteria he thought he was decrying. The message seems to be the senator can be queer and still go to Washington, but is better off staying in the closet. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote about the homosexuality, "It is in this latter complication that the nature of the drama is finally exposed for the deliberately scandalous, sensational and caustic thing it is. Mr. Preminger has his character go through a lurid and seamy encounter with his old friend before cutting his throat, an act that seems unrealistic, except as a splashy high point for the film." The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1959 novel of the same name by Allen Drury. Wendell Mayes wrote the screenplay, and Jerry Fielding composed the music.

All Over the Guy (2001)

This romantic comedy is about Eli Wyckoff (Dan Bucatinsky) and Tom (Richard Ruccolo), who meet on a blind date set up by friends. Tom is the adult child of emotionally distant alcoholic parents. Eli's parents are both psychologists who raised him to be emotionally open but ended up making him neurotic. Tom is quite ordinary and can easily pass as straight, whereas Ely is not so masculine and seems to have no control over his amusing, sarcastic remarks. They do everything they can not to fall in love, but as the comedy of errors rolls along, everyone can clearly see that they are made for each other. The film is told mostly in flashback, with Eli recounting his story to Esther (Doris Roberts), a funny HIV clinic worker, as he waits for test results. Flashbacks end on the day of their best friends' Brett (Adam Goldberg) and Jackie's (Sasha Alexander) wedding. Esther tries to teach Eli to be more understanding of Tom's emotional needs. At an AA meeting, a member tries to sexually assault Tom, and when he tells Jackie she criticizes him for discarding Eli for daring to fall in love with him. At the reception, Eli and Tom realize they have to overcome their families' dysfunction and their own fears. Dan Bucatinsky wrote the script and Julie Davis directed.

All the Rage (1997)

Lawyer Christopher Bedford (John-Michael Lander) is a handsome, clever, rich gay man every guy in Boston wants. In a bedroom scene he says to his partner, ''Everybody wants me. So why should I want you?'' At 31 he's celebrating his greatness without realizing what a mess he has become. Smug and self-satisfied, accustomed to meaningless sex with men he never sees again, he is shocked when he finds himself with a man who is the complete opposite of everything he thought he wanted--Stewart (David Vincent), an editor who sends him flowers with love notes attached. But is it really love, or will Christopher soon grow bored with someone so honest and genuine? Larry (Jay Corcoran), Christopher's friend and co-worker, asks him, ''Are you telling me you went out with a guy who doesn't work out?''

"All the Rage" is a satire on the shallow twinks and gym bunnies in the gay world, but the acting is not so good and the film is quite tame. However, some viewers think it is very funny, and an accurate look at gay life in the big city. Los Angeles Times film critic Kevin Thomas called it, "One of the sharpest, sexiest and most amusing satires of gay life and values ever filmed." It is widely considered a hallmark of the Queer Independent Film movement of the late 1990s and is considered groundbreaking for its critical look at so-called A-list gay culture. Directed by Roland Tec, who also wrote the screenplay from his play "A Better Boy".

Boyfriends (1996)

Three gay couples get together at the country home of Paul (James Dreyfus) during a tragicomic Easter week-end. All of them are suffering relationship problems. Paul is with Ben (Mark Sands), his companion of five years, but their relationship is unstable because of Paul's continued moodiness over the death of his brother Mark (Russel Higgs). They are the film's central couple, and it is clear how stale the relations between them have grown when Ben, a nonsmoker, accuses Paul of killing his favorite house plant by exhaling cigarette smoke in its direction. Over the weekend, Paul videotapes interviews with his guests and asks personal questions about their relationships and their romantic philosophies. Matt (Michael Urwin) brings Owen (Andrew Ableson), whom he's dated for three months and wants a life-long relationship, but his boisterous personality doesn't suit him. They are an obvious mismatch, with the naive Matt continually pressuring the deceitful, promiscuous Owen to move in with him. Their freewheeling sexual behavior causes problems. Social worker Will (David Coffey) brings Adam (Daren Petrucci), a 20-year old one-night stand he once counseled to meet "happy, well-adjusted homosexuals." As the 6 men, joined by Mark's lover James (Michael McGrath), sort through their own relationships as well as new ones begun during the weekend, happiness and being well-adjusted prove elusive.

In this film about gay couples, we enter a world of complex emotions and different situations. We discover much that needs to be known about gay relationships, emotions, and sexual feelings. But the talk is so focused on issues like commitment, monogamy and compatibility that other aspects of its characters remain unexplored. The plot, acting, and picture quality are mediocre. The screenplay was written by Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter, who also directed.

春光乍洩 (1997)

"Happy Together" is a Chinese film ("Chun Gwong Cha Sit") about Lai Yiu-Fai (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and Ho Po-Wing (Leslie Cheung), a pair of gay lovers living out the waning days of their relationship as expatriates in Buenos Aires. Hoping to renew their ailing and turbulent relationship, the pair have a pattern of abuse, followed by break-ups and reconciliations. One of their goals in Argentina is to visit the Iguazu waterfalls, which serves as a leitmotif in the movie. The movie has 5 parts. In part 1 they arrive in Argentina, argue and break up. Lai is stable and committed, whereas Ho is destructive and not monogamous. In part 2 Ho is beaten up and Lai nurses him back to health. But Lai returns to his promiscuous lifestyle. In part 3 the relationship falls apart again and Lai befriends Chang (Chen Chang), who tells Lai that his goal is to reach the lowest point in South America--a lighthouse where supposedly all sorrows can be dropped. Eventually, Chang departs Buenos Aires and continues on his journey. In part 4 Lai sinks into a depression. He changes jobs in order make more money and eventually has sexual encounters with men in bathrooms and movie theaters as a means to cope with his loneliness. On Christmas Day, he writes a long letter to his father in Hong Kong. We learn that Lai had stolen money from his father's business in order to finance the trip for himself and Ho to South America. Lai apologizes to his father, and decides to make amends. In part 5 Ho contacts Lai again, but is rejected. Lai visits the Iguazu waterfalls, then returns to Hong Kong. He visits Taipei and seeks out Chang's family's noodle shop in a market. He steals a picture of Chang as a remembrance.

Writer and director Wong Kar Wai said, "In this film, some audiences will say that the title seems to be very cynical, because it is about two persons living together, and at the end, they are just separate. But to me, happy together can apply to two persons or apply to a person and his past, and I think sometimes when a person is at peace with himself and his past, I think it is the beginning of a relationship which can be happy, and also he can be more open to more possibilities in the future with other people."

The English title is from The Turtles' 1967 song, which is covered by Danny Chung on the film's soundtrack; the Chinese title is an idiomatic expression suggesting "the exposure of something indecent." Leung and Cheung are 2 of Hong Kong's biggest movie stars. Winner of the Best Director Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, Wong Kar Wai's "Happy Together" is a cinematic balancing act, a great display of filmmaking style and a love story mixed into one film.