Garçon Stupide (2004)

20 year-old Loïc (Pierre Chatagny) works in a chocolate factory outside Bulle, Switzerland by day and spends his after hours in Lausanne pursuing one-night stands with older gays contacted on the Internet, day after day, night after night. He has a hard time differentiating desire from pleasure, friendship from sex, and admiration from success. By filling his life with meaningless sexual encounters for extra cash he can block out the fact that he's unhappy. Loïc has delusions of grandeur, vague dreams of doing something big, but can't figure out what or how. For example, he imagines he's a good photographer because he takes pictures with the built-in camera of his cellular phone. In Lausanne, Marie (Natacha Koutchoumov), a childhood friend who works as a museum guard, provides Loïc with a place to stay after his urban flings. Marie isn't judgemental, and refuses to be a mother, big sister, or a nurse to him. Then one day he meets Lionel (Lionel Baier), who pulls aside the curtain of anonymity and seems more interested in Loïc's life than his body. Loïc arrives at one of the most crucial crossroads of his life and begins to take notice of Marie and himself. His journey to self awareness is told through a series of episodic events, including the suicide of his best friend, his growing infatuation with a local soccer player, a car accident and subsequent hospitalisation that reunites him with his parents. He says, "You can be interested in someone without wanting to fuck them." At the end of the film he realizes that he can be his own person and he recites a list of things he will never do in order to fit in and belong. He won't be a stupid boy anymore.

Overall this coming-of-age drama is an an exceptional film with good acting, a great soundtrack, unique camera angles and film styles, a wonderful story, and it is well-directed. Director Lionel Baier shares the writing credits with Laurent Guido and based this film on his own experiences. With rave reviews from the New York Times, Variety, and the L.A. Times "Garcon Stupide" tells a realistic story of sexual awakening. This French/Swiss film is in French with English subtitles

Violet's Visit (1995)

Australian girl Violet (Rebecca Smart) is weary of her single mother's wild romantic life, filled with boyfriends old and new. When Violet's mom introduces her to the latest "dad", she runs away from her boring small hometown in search of her estranged father she has never met. The fiesty 15 year-old prefers the nickname "Scooter" and believes he lives in Sydney with his new wife. In fact he is in a gay relationship with his long-time lover. With his address given to her by her grandmother, she turns up on his doorstep to surprise him. Gym owner Alec (Graham Harvey) and lawyer Pete (David Franklin), a pleasant pair of well-buffed, domestically partnered gays are very shocked! The three negotiate a "La Cage aux Folles" relationship with humor and sensitivity. This inevitably leads to changes and readjustments all round as Alec gets to know the daughter he never wanted and hardly knows. After agreeing that Violet can stay on a trial basis, the boys soon realize that having a teenager around the house is not easy for two gay men whose sole previous family was a pair love birds. Violet finds the gay world of her father heady but also confusing. Scooter takes to the streets. Her long absence only brings the couple together in a new appreciation for the importance of family and their mutual love for Scooter. The way in which the story is resolved is predictable but genuinely warm and tender.

This sweet Australian film is well paced, and never makes the error of going over the top in its depiction of Scooter's plight or the way gay people are portrayed. All of the male actors are handsome and so comfortable in their roles that their sexuality is simply an aside. Graham, Franklin, and Smart give excellent performances and their screen presence is realistic and warm. One aspect of the film that may present a problem for non-Australian viewers is that the Aussie accents are so thick that the dialogue at times is indecipherable. But that also adds to the flavor of this significant film. It was written by Andrew Creagh and Barry Lowe based on a story by Richard Turner, who also directed.

Drôle de Félix (2000)

After the death of his mother, Félix (Sami Bouajila), a carefree gay Arab man, loses his job as a ferry worker in the north of France. He discovers a box of letters from his father, who deserted his mother before he was born and decides to find him. Leaving Dieppe, and promising to meet his lover Daniel (Perre-Loup Rajot) five days later in Marseille, Félix takes to the road. He decides to hitchhike across France, avoiding all major cities en route. Carrying with him only a small bag, his HIV medication and a rainbow kite, he meets an assortment of interesting, unsusual characters along the way: a teenager who Félix teaches to draw; a lone old woman who shelters him in her house; a young man with whom he has a brief sexual encounter; a mother of three; and a middle aged fisherman. As he calls each of these characters "brother", "cousin", and "grandmother", he constructs a family and new understandings of life through this odyssey. There is an unnecessary subplot about a witnessed murder, but it has a moving conclusion. Bouajili carries the film very well, switching from comedic moments to Félix's search for himself. There is one scene where he and a man emerge naked from the bushes, but much of the film is about straight people. Félix's humor and sunny disposition light up the movie, no matter whether he actually meets his real father at the end of the story. This beautiful "road movie" adventure seduces the viewer, submerging us in the French countryside. Directed and written by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, the English title is "The Adventures of Felix".

A Very Natural Thing (1974)

The film begins with a documentary clip of NYC's 1973 Gay Pride parade with a lesbian declaring that being gay is "a very natural thing." David (Robert McLane) is a 26 year-old ex-monk who leaves his monastery to become a public school teacher by day, and looks for true love in gay bars by night. One evening David meets businessman Mark (Curt Gareth). They spend the night together in a one-night stand, but David says he'd like to see Mark again. Soon the pair begin a monogamous relationship and David moves in with Mark. But when Mark wants to have sex with other men, the relationship starts to fall apart. Mark rejects the idea of modeling a gay relationship on heterosexual marriage, and he is irritated that David wants to "keep pushing this romantic thing." A year later the couple go to Fire Island for a weekend in an attempt to spice up their relationship. David tries to please Mark by entering an orgy, but cannot go through with it. After a fight, David temporarily moves in with his friend Alan (Jay Pierce), who offers David his perspective on what happened. In a later encounter with Mark at Coney Island, David finally realizes that there can't be a reconciliation, as Mark is more interested in sex than a romantic relationship. After months of loneliness, David meets a divorced photographer named Jason (Bo White) at the 1973 Gay Pride rally which began the film. Jason goes with David to his apartment and they talk. David believes he has found someone willing to pursue a romantic, committed relationship with him. Jason takes pictures of David while telling him things to say other than "cheese", and the film ends with the two men splashing naked in the surf at Cape Cod.

This film is more or less a gay version of "Love Story" (1970), the movie famous for the phrase, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." Mark tells David, "Love means never having to say you're in love." Straight film critics thought it was, "an argument rather than an entertainment". Gay critics felt the film was not political enough, the characters were too apolitical, too middle class, and by rejecting free love the movie was rejecting the gay liberation movement. Director Christopher Larkin said, "I wanted to say that same-sex relationships are no more problematic but no easier than any other human relationships. They are in may ways the same and in several ways different from heterosexual relationships but in themselves are no less possible or worthwhile". This very good timeless film is still relevant. It was not restored for the DVD release, so it loooks old and grainy with some off-colors. Gordon Gottlieb and Bert Lucarelli composed the original music. Joseph Coencas and Christopher Larkin wrote the screenplay. Christopher Larkin directed.

Gefangen (2004)

Arrested for credit card fraud, Dennis (Marcel Schultt) is sent to a prison where inmates either give in to the drug dealers or run the risk of being raped. From his cell window, he spots an older black prisoner Mike (Mike Sale) and immediately falls in love with the muscular hunk. Though their first encounters are tentative, a passionate romance develops. They face hostile prison officials and inmates in their attempts to become a loving couple. "Gefangen" reveals bizarre characters (a gay guard who enjoys watching the lovers in their private moments) and a painful prison bureaucracy that shows how inmates negotiate with prison guards in order to have time together.

Filmed entirely in an abandoned German jail, "Gefangen" boldly confronts romance and sex within the prison system. It's a fierce story of love behind bars featuring intense drama, steamy romance and attractive men. There are many full frontal nudity scenes, not much of a plot, and the ending doesn't make sense. This was made by Cazzo Productions, the producers of hard-core gay porn for All Worlds Video in the U.S.--so to some extent it's a soft-core love story. The language often jumps from English to German and back in the same conversation. Christian Messer composed the original music, and Jörg Andreas and Peter Oehl wrote the screenplay. Jörg Andreas directed. This powerful and provocative German drama has the English title "Locked Up".

We Think the World of You (1988)

Set in1950's London, Frank Meadows (Alan Bates) is a gay middle-aged businessman who has a relationship with married Johnny (Gary Oldman). When Johnny is sent to prison for burglary, Frank offers to help out, meaning he's prepared to offer financial help. But Johnny asks Frank to take care of his Alsatian dog, Evie, and Frank immediately refuses. Frank later has reason to regret his refusal. While Johnny is behind bars, his beloved German Shepherd Evie becomes the center of a heated custody battle between himself, his wife Megan (Frances Barber), his mother Millie (Liz Smith), his stepfather Tom (Max Wall), and finally Frank. While Millie and Tom are busily worshipping Dickie (Ryan Batt), Johnny's baby, Evie is neglected and mistreated. Frank begins to take an interest in Evie, becoming more enamoured with the scene-stealing dog than he is with Johnny. Suddenly everyone is fighting to keep the dog, and yet no one really wants her. A set of tragi-comic relationships evolve with the dog representing the hold they have over each other. The story explores the characters' ability to make their own and other's lives miserable through their fear of freedom and inability to fulfill their dreams.

Gary Oldman as the weasel-like Johnny is great in his role. Alan Bates is wonderful as Frank--the man who gets mixed up with people he wished he'd never met. But it's the story of Frank's relationship with Evie that makes the film. This is not a sentimental animal movie, it's about love and possession. The phrase "we think the world of you" crops up throughout the film. Frank is sick of hearing it, as it becomes a term used to cloak and excuse all sorts of neglect and abandonment. Love and commitment in the film exist only between Frank and Evie, and while this movie is funny, it also has serious overtones. Julian Jacobson composed the original music, and Hugh Stoddart wrote the screenplay based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Joseph R. Ackerley, one of the first modern authors to come out as openly gay. The film was directed by Colin Gregg.

Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green (2006)

26 year-old Ethan Green (Daniel Letterle) lives with roommate Charlotte (Shanola Hampton) in a house owned by his ex-boyfriend Leo Worth (David Monahan) in West Hollywood. Ethan has been dating former pro baseball player Kyle Underhill (Diego Serrano), so when Leo says he plans to sell the house, Ethan starts dropping hints to Kyle that they should live together. But when Kyle actually asks him to move in, Ethan breaks up with him. Ethan hooks up with a younger man, Punch Epstein (Dean Shelton), who works in a real estate office. Together they delay the sale of Leo's house by convincing him to sign with the LA's worst realtor, the chronically depressed Sunny Deal (Rebecca Lowman). After a one-night stand, Ethan has decided he wants to get back together with Leo. Unfortunately, Leo has become engaged to an abusive control freak, Republican Chester Baer (Scott Atkinson). Ethan's event planner mother has agreed to plan their commitment ceremony. Leo, Punch and Kyle end up in a threesome in Ethan's bedroom. Punch decides that Ethan isn't mature enough and dumps him. Kyle, who was considering taking Ethan back, abruptly changes his mind. Chester forgives Leo and they go ahead with their plans. The house sells, Charlotte and Sunny move in together and Ethan signs a lease at a local retirement community. Ethan crashes the ceremony but only to give Leo his blessing. At the altar, Leo has an anxiety attack and has to be taken away in an ambulance. A few days later Ethan settles in at the retirement community and the screen fades to black with the words "The End". The screen fades back up on Leo talking with a lady retiree. As Ethan stands nearby, Leo tells her that he gave Chester his ring back and broke up with him. Leo has realized that he still loves Ethan. He and Ethan reconcile and the film ends as they kiss.

This movie is a romantic comedy about a gay man with difficulties in dating and finding a rented apartment. It's based on Eric Ormer's syndicated comic strip that appears in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender publications. The strip's title character is Ethan Green and it was started in 1989. Director George Bamber's adaptation is entertaining, some characters are gay stereotypes, and it's difficult to sympathize with Ethan's problems. The film does not challenge intellectually, but it does contain some scenes that make it fun to watch. Since this is a low budget production, there was little opportunity to illustrate the sci-fi themes that are in the strip. Viewers not familiar with the strip will still understand it. Roy Firestone composed the original music, David Vernon wrote the screenplay, and George Bamber directed.

Urbania (2000)

Charlie (Dan Futterman) is an ordinary man haunted by the absence of his boyfriend, Chris (Matt Keeslar). Unable to sleep, he roams the streets of NYC looking in various bars for him. During the course of his journeys, Charlie keeps running into a number of different urban legends: the woman who cooks her dog in the microwave, the man who wakes up to find he is missing a kidney, a rat in a hot dog bun, a baby left on a car top, a tourist's toothbrush, needles in public-phone change slots--all of which makes NYC look surreal and scary. There are many dream-like hallucinatory flashbacks. He encounters Dean (Samuel Ball), a tough young man Charlie has met somewhere before, and who may hold the answers to Charlie's questions. Dean is racist, sexist and homophobic. Charlie pretends to be straight, buys Dean drinks and smokes a joint with him. Then Dean takes Charlie to a gay cruising area looking for victims, but Charlie is able to warn away the intended target. Dean is now almost incapacitated by alcohol and drugs and Charlie gets him into Dean's car and drives him to a secluded marshy area. With flashbacks we learn that several months earlier Dean and two of his buddies had attacked Charlie and raped and murdered Chris. Charlie's purpose is finally revealed: he wants revenge. He had pulled a knife on Dean and forced him to kneel and fellate the knife blade. Suddenly, Dean collapsed with an epileptic seizure. Charlie slit his throat. Chris challenges Charlie, not believing that he killed Dean. Charlie admits that he wanted to but couldn't. Instead, he drove off in Dean's car, abandoning him in the marsh. Charlie stands up from where he's been kneeling, at a makeshift memorial near where Chris was killed. He walks home and has one more flashback. He sees himself on the street, cradling a dying Chris. He kisses him goodbye and passes by him. When he turns back, he is gone. Charlie makes it home and finally is able to sleep.

This film mixes comedy, drama, film noir, and gay cinema in new and interesting ways. A directorial debut from Jon Shear (Jon Matthews), "Urbania" moves from the present time to flashbacks and flashforwards, never losing its viewers for a second. It's based on the stage play "Urban Folk Tales" by Daniel Reitz, who wrote the screenplay with John Mathews. Marc Anthony Thompson composed the original music, and Jon Matthews directed.

Strange Fruit (2004)

William Boyals (Kent Faulcon) is a successful New York lawyer and gay African-American who returns to the life he escaped from to investigate the murder of his gay childhood friend, Kelvin Ayers (Ron Allen). He was lynched in the parking lot outside of a gay night club in rural Louisiana. Boyals is forced to wade through a bog of conspiracy involving a network of local law and a dangerously entrenched subculture. Deputy Mathers (Christopher May) warns him, “Just remember, things ain’t always what they seem.” At the same time, he finds himself having to confront the reasons he left in the first place. He must fight the racism of the local police force and endure the homophobia of his own mother Martha (Cecile M. Johnson).The harder he looks, the deeper he gets, until the veil is pulled back to reveal a quagmire of racism and homophobia that threatens his life. Sheriff Jensey (Sam Jones), who allows his deputies to watch porn videos in the police station, is as homophobic and racist as they come. He is such a despicable villain that seeing Boyals put him in his place during their first meeting at the police station is one of the most enjoyable scenes in the film. Patrons of the Gator, the local gay bar where Kelvin was murdered, refuse to talk, wary of destroying their only safe place to gather. But with the assistance of Kelvin’s brother, Duane (David Raibon), Boyals soon focuses on a likely suspect: Jordan Walker (Shane Woodson), Sheriff Jensey’s redneck nephew. Then the truth is revealed so quickly at the conclusion that you’ll miss some of it if you blink.

Written, directed, and produced by openly bisexual Kyle Schickner, "Strange Fruit" is an entertaining, suspenseful thriller. Some of the scenes are a bit heavy-handed in their melodrama--particularly the opening scene in which Kelvin is murdered. But the film makes up for it with sympathetic characters. Kent Faulcon is solid in the lead role, and David Raibon steals every scene he appears in playing the comic-relief sidekick. The film's title comes from the Billie Holiday song of the same name, derived from the 1937 poem by Abel Meeropol inspired by a photo of the lynching of a black man.

Westler (1985)

In 1985, before the re-unification of Germany, Felix (Sigurd Rachman) a queen in West Berlin is in a happy relationship with an American from Los Angeles. While showing his American lover around East Berlin, Felix spots cute Thomas (Rainer Strecker). After a few lustful stares Felix introduces himself. The two become lovers in a passionate relationship. Their only problem is they live on opposite sides of the Berlin wall. The relationship with the American ends, and from then on Felix travels back and forth to East Berlin as often as he can because the curfew forces him to return every evening. Felix and Thomas have only one day per week and four to five hours to be together. When the East German authorities become suspicious, Felix is pulled over and that's when the troubles begin. Thomas decides to flee to the West. They go to Prague and from there Thomas is told that he will be smuggled to Hungary from where he must make his own way to Yugoslavia. The movie ends without telling us what happens next, which is quite disappointing considering it's not a cliff-hanger serial.

Don’t expect too much from this film. After Germany's re-unification, it has historical value but has lost its relevance since the fall of the Berlin Wall. It does tell us to never allow walls to be built between us again. In its time it was a fringe indie film that justified itself on its political predicaments, but there’s little else in terms of character development, plot, or any emotional stimuli that keeps it relevant. Despite its political baggage the film seems shallow, never showing us the atrocities that happened in East Germany. Instead we see an awkward strip search and a few moody faces at the border. The film looks dated, the sound is in mono, and the faded footage looks almost like a home movie. At one point we lose the sound for a 20-minute montage. Partly filmed incognito and illegally in East Germany, there are sections where, due to the lack of a microphone, the actors are moving their mouths but we cannot hear them. This was caused by the East German government not allowing sound to be recorded outside. The 1980's synthesizer soundtrack is something you'll enjoy or hate. "Westler" is a conventional film in German with English sub-titles. Engelbert Rehm composed the original music, Egbert Hörmann and Wieland Speck wrote the screenplay, and Wieland Speck directed. The English title is "East of the Wall" or "Westler: East of the Wall".