Tongues Untied (1991)

Director Marlon T. Riggs’s controversial classic documentary chronicles the black gay experience. The stories show homophobia and racism: a man refused entry to a gay bar because of his color; a college student left bleeding on the sidewalk after a gay-bashing; and the loneliness and isolation of a drag queen. Some also affirm the black gay male experience: protest marches, smoky bars, “snap divas,” humorous musicology, and vogue dancing. Poet Essex Hemphill recites his poetry as the film moves forward with Riggs telling his own story of growing up. A socio-political experiment to show the marginalized gay blacks, the movie shocks as it denounces popular stereotypes and takes a slap at conformity. It ends with obituaries to AIDS victims and footage of the civil rights movement alongside of black men marching in a Gay Pride parade. A short film with a runtime of 55 minutes, the DVD has special features: a 1991 interview with Riggs, other interviews, and 7 minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes·

Le Hasard Fait Bien Les Choses (2005)

Jean-Pierre (Jean-Claude Brialy) is a Swiss professor, writer, and married man, and therefore he is a good candidate to take in a troubled teen. Switzerland has a law that every citizen can be assigned a live-in foster child. But when the court appoints him the guardian of 16 year-old Antoine (Julien Bravo), all hell breaks loose in Jean-Pierre's private life, which he has been secretly sharing with his Cuban lover and masseur, Armando (Antonio Interlandi). Jean-Pierre asks his long absent wife Alice (Sabine Haudepin) to help convince the judge that his is not a proper home for Antoine. He married 10 years ago in a "marriage of convenience" to satisfy his mother and to give Alice Swiss citizenship. He is forced to deal with his depressed wife, his hysterical boyfriend, an endearing "son", blackmail from the father of Antoine's girlfriend, a near fistfight with his wife's jealous ex-boyfriend, and the authorities hot on his tail.

This film is beautifully photographed, charming, comical, the cast is superb, and it gives hope that things will improve for gay people. It is a tender story that looks at the different ways in which love manifests itself, and the conflicts older gay men face in attempting to manage professional lives with personal lives. Sylvette Frydman composed the music score, Thierry Malet wrote the screenplay, and Lorenzo Gabriele directed. The language is in French with English subtitles. The English title is "As Luck Would Have It".

Man of the Year (1995)

This film is a fictionalized account of gay Dirk Shafer's reign as Playgirl magazine's 1992 "Man of the Year". It's a mockumentary, a combination of semi-documentary, drama, and comedy that includes real people as well as actors. Aspiring film-maker and male model Shafer leaves Oklahoma to pursue his dream of fame and fortune in Hollywood. After a series of degrading film jobs, he sends his photograph to Playgirl magazine and is delighted to become a sex symbol for millions of women as "Man of the Year". His gayness is kept secret from the magazine editors, fans and chat-show hosts he encounters as Playgirl's pin-up.

The camera follows him around in documentary style, showing that the entire sex industry is built upon appearances, fantasy and illusions. His lover Mike Miller (Michael Ornstein) was initially enthusiastic at the deception, while family and friends only later discovered the truth. Win-A-Date recipient Angela Lucassey (Mary Stein) travels to New York to enjoy a night on the town with her dream companion, and the theme is Dirk should be true to himself and his boyfriend, because masking his sexuality in this way only causes stress. Peitor Angell, Barry Stich, and Eric Vetro composed the original music. Dirk Shafer wrote, directed and starred in this ironic and interesting movie.

Drift (2000)

Ryan T. Lee (Reggie Lee) is a gay Asian screenwriter from Canada working illegally in L.A. On the eve of Ryan's third anniversary with boyfriend Joel (Greyson Dane), the struggling writer meets Leo (Jonathon Roessler), a college student and aspiring novelist, at his agent's (Jerry Lentz) trendy party. Though he loves Joel, Ryan feels stifled by the relationship's stability and believes Joel doesn't appreciate his artistic temperament. Ryan confides in his straight friends, Carrie (Desi del Valle) and Matt (Sebastien Guy), then breaks up with Joel to pursue a relationship with Leo. Joel, who's less flighty than Ryan, makes an effort to remain friendly with his ex. When Ryan leaves the party, he enters three different possibilities: he and Leo fall in love, they have a one night stand, and Leo doesn't like Ryan. In any love triangle, someone winds up hurt, and in each scenario Ryan is faced with the fragility of human emotions and the dangers in searching for a soul mate.

The "what if?" gimmick makes the film unique. It's a low budget erotic relationship drama, quirky, edgy, a bit cheesy, and often funny, but sometimes sad. This film is compelling, tightly edited, and the steamy sex scenes are believable because of the realism of the emotions portrayed. But what point is Lee trying to make? Perhaps the tentative nature of the title is the key. The film is set in a town where many are in a state of flux, not really settling down after making a commitment, and forever looking for the perfect partner. Steven Pranoto composed the music, and Quentin Lee wrote the screenplay and directed.

Head On (1998)

Nineteen-year-old Ari (Alex Dimitriades) walks out of a Greek wedding in Melbourne. He is young, handsome, unemployed, bisexual, and alienated. The movie follows him and his friends through 24 hours of excess, from a family party to a Greek nightclub, then to a gay nightclub where he meets up with Sean (Julian Garner), a dreamy college friend of his brother's who may offer a loving alternative to self-destructive excess. His father Dimitri (Tony Nikolakopoulos) calls him an animal and his mother Sophia (Eugenia Fragos) pleads with him not to leave home. Ari despises his once-beloved parents, former radical activists, for becoming traditional. His closest friend Johnny (Paul Capsis) is open about his cross-dressing, defiantly dressing up as his own dead mother, but Ari can’t face the consequences that would follow coming out. Instead he seeks short-term pleasure in drugs and anonymous sex in seedy alleys and public toilets. When Ari and Johnny are arrested and brutalized by a pair of cops, however, the chance for redemption seems very remote. The film does not have a happy ending.

This Australian movie directed by Ana Kokkinos is based on the acclaimed novel "Loaded" by Christos Tsiolkas. The film gained notoriety upon its release for its sexual explicitness, including a highly graphic male masturbation scene performed by Dimitriades, who is good looking, but a bit too old to play a teen-ager. Ollie Olsen composed the music. Ana Kokkinos and Mira Robertson wrote the screenplay derived from Christos Tsiolkas' book.

C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)

Zac Beaulieu (Marc-Andre Grondin) is a kid who thinks he has the coolest dad (Michel Côté as Gervais) on the block. Mom Laurianne (Danielle Proulx) dotes on Zac, thinking he has healing gifts from God. "C.R.A.Z.Y." tells the story of a young man dealing with his emerging homosexual feelings while growing up with four brothers and a conservative father in 1960s and '70s Quebec. The title is derived from the first letter in the names of the five brothers: Christian, Raymond, Antoine, Zachary and Yvan, and also refers to their father's love of Patsy Cline's hit song "Crazy", written by Willie Nelson. When Zak's gayness emerges, his homophobic father becomes angry and distant, then eventually loves him for who he really is.

Yet another gay coming of age movie, this time from Quebec, Canada, where "C.R.A.Z.Y." was a huge award-winning box office hit. The movie is not easy to categorize. It's a drama, but also a flashback comedy. One of the film's themes is the waning influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec society during the "Quiet Revolution". Period music is an important element of the movie, and a good portion of the film's budget was spent on rights for songs by Patsy Cline, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, as well as David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and many others. The Charles Aznavour song "Emmenez Moi" is repeated over and over in the film, often sung by the father. He also sings another Aznavour song, "Hier Encore", as part of Zac's 20th birthday celebrations. Original music is by David Bowie. The film was directed and co-written (with Franחois Boulay) by Jean-Marc Vallיe. The language is French, and DVDs are available with and without English subtitles.

Food of Love (2003)

Adapted from David Leavitt's 1998 novel "The Page Turner", this film is the story of a love affair between an 18-year-old man and his much older mentor. Paul (Kevin Bishop) is a music student working as an assistant for a classical pianist, Richard Kennington (Paul Rhys). The two meet first in San Francisco, then in Barcelona and begin a relationship, but they must contend with Paul's neurotic mother Pamela (Juliet Stevenson) and Richard's boyfriend and manager Mansourian (Allan Corduner). Richard flees to New York, and when he meets Paul again, he is a Julliard student, promiscuous and in an affair with yet another middle-aged man. The movie has first and second acts, but no conclusion. Act I is the development of the relationship between Paul and Richard. Act II is about Paul's move to NYC, where he becomes a disillusioned jerk. No Act III. When the story begins to reach a climax, it ends with no resolution of any plot threads. The final scenes seem empty.

"Food of Love" is complex, interesting, polished, with occasional insights into the lies we believe and tell to others. The sad thing is that none of the characters really learn anything about themselves. They simply discover that people lie and life sucks. And the idea that a young sensitive gay pianist might be happy in the romantic clutches of leering, ugly, bald, and smug men who are in their fifties stretches credibility. This Spanish/German film is well-done on a low budget, with beautiful music, and some good acting. Charles Cases composed the music, and Ventura Pons wrote the screenplay and directed.

In the Flesh (1997)

Oliver (Dane Ritter), a 21 year-old clean-cut student, is living a double life. His upper-class family sees a decent young man, but they know nothing of his night life as a gay hustler. Suspected of murder, he turns to his lover Philip Kirsch (Ed Corbin)--a closeted undercover narc probing the drug traffickers involved in the homicide. Soon Philip becomes Oliver's reluctant alibi for the murder charge. Kirsch risks his job for Oliver, insisting he is innocent of the crime. He follows Oliver around like a lost puppy, searching his medical files, and inviting him to live in his house until he finds a place of his own. Soon the hustler becomes the hustled when he becomes the target of a murderer. What remains is the two attempting to stay alive amid corruption and greed in a seedy suburb of Atlanta. One of Philip's cop buddies plays a role in the film's finale, in a contrived twist.

It's a thriller/love story with interesting characters, from the attractive leads to the suspicious bartender, rent boys, and an older cop who has seen it all. Although low budget with some wooden acting, the character development is good and the film is quite appealing. However, some viewers describe it as cheesy, emotionless, predictable, with hackneyed plot twists and weak writing. We get to see a gratuitous sex scene between a male and female, but no gay sex. Eddie Horst composed the music, and Ben Taylor wrote the screenplay and directed.

Friends & Family (2003)

Stephen Torcelli (Greg Lauren) and Danny Russo (Christopher Gartin) are a gay NYC couple who have it all: a fabulous house, good friends, lots of money, and each other. When Stephen's meddling mother Ada (Beth Fowler) and undercover FBI agent father (Frank Pellegrino) show up for an unexpected visit, their lives are thrown into chaos as they try to hide their big secret. The parents know the guys are a gay couple, but they think they run a catering company for a living, even though neither of them can cook. What they don't know is that their son and his boyfriend are part of a gang of enforcers for Don Victor Patrizzi (Tony Lo Bianco), a notorious New York mob boss. They are hit men for the Mafia! If Stephen's father learns of their criminal activities he'll be obligated to report them.

Meanwhile, Don Patrizzi's daughter Jenny (Rebecca Creskoff) announces her engagement and her father decides to throw her an engagement party combined with Mr. Torcelli's birthday party. Mrs. Torcelli suggests the boys cater the party, sending them into a panic. Fortunately one of Don Patrizzi's sons is an excellent chef and the other is a master decorator, so the Patrizzi boys take care of the food and the decor. As a special treat for Jenny, Don Patrizzi forcibly "invites" US Senator Pete (Bruce Winant) under his control to the party. This guest is of the most interest to the parents of Jenny's fiance, Alma (Tovah Feldshuh) and Matt Jennings (Patrick Collins). They run a militia group which has declared war on the US government and they want to hold the Senator hostage.

Oblivious to this threat, Don Patrizzi's soldiers have been enlisted to serve as waiters for the party. Reasoning that a catering company owned by a gay couple would have gay employees, they have a flamboyant friend of the Danny and Stephen's give them a crash course on being gay--including the correct order of Elizabeth Taylor's husbands and the proper use of the expression "puh-lease!".

All goes well at the party until the Jennings and their militiamen strike. They take the guests hostage and force the Senator to record a message for the media. Stephen and Danny, fearful that the tape will lead to police action and a deadly shootout, neutralize the militia with the help of the newly gay-acting Patrizzi soldiers and some drag queens who came to the party. With their cover blown, Stephen and Danny tell Mr. Torcelli that they're ready for him to turn them in. However, the birthday he's celebrating is his 60th, meaning that he's been mandatorily retired and is no longer with the FBI.

This movie is often slow-moving, with too many stereotypes, predictable jokes, and forced situations, but it is entertaining. With too many characters interacting in too many ways, the film feels crowded, confused, and frenetic. Kurt Hoffman composed the original music, Joseph Triebwasser wrote the screenplay, and Kristen Coury directed.

The Business of Fancydancing (2002)

Seymour Polatkin (Evan Adams) is a successful American Indian gay poet who reluctantly returns to the reservation he left 15 years ago to attend the funeral of Mouse (Swil Kanim). "I've had sex with one Indian woman, 112 white boys and two black men," he laughs, "but I've never slept with an Indian man." His former best friend Aristotle Joseph (Gene Tagaban) views him as a pathetic token of his tribe, a "little public relations warrior" who "puts on little beads and feathers for all these white people." The film explores issues that contemporary American Indians face, including cultural assimilation, stereotypes, and substance abuse, with a sometimes strongly symbolic style. There are simple, dream-like interludes of individual characters performing ceremonial dances in complete blackness, and episodes of Seymour reading his poetry aloud.

Indian filmmaker Sherman Alexie (writer of "Smoke Signals"), does a good job of bringing to life the fear, frustration, tension, and bitterness of his cast of characters, as well as the blood ties that bind them together. The movie was shot on digital video and sometimes the image quality is not very good. Music was composed by Mohican composer Brent Michael Davids. The violin solos were composed and performed by Swil Kanim (Mouse), and the film also features Sherman Alexie's poetry, who wrote the screenplay and directed.