Swan Lake (1996)

Director and choreographer Matthew Bourne's "Swan Lake" is his third modern interpretation of a classical ballet for "Adventures in Motion Pictures", one of the UKs most popular dance companies. This made for TV production features the complete London West End Show that toured around the world. Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" is set in the present day and features a supporting cast of male swans. The unhappy and unloved Prince Siegfried (Scott Ambler) is mocked, betrayed and rejected by everyone around him. When he decides to commit suicide by throwing himself in a lake at a city park, a beautiful swan (Adam Cooper) emerges from the water. The Prince and the swan become close friends, but their friendship is destined to end in tragedy.

Act 1 of the ballet opens in the Prince's bedroom as he has a nightmare of the sexy swan above his bed. The next few scenes are of the Prince's life: the parties, his girlfriend, and a visit to a ballet. After the ballet the Prince and his girlfriend fight and he follows her to a Soho club. At the club he meets and goes home with a sailor--our first indication that this is no ordinary ballet. In Act 2 the Prince lands on a park bench, drunk, sad, and alone. He spies some swans and proceeds to enter their lives in a spectacular dance sequence. The lead swan (Cooper) dances a very sexual duet with the Prince. They almost kiss, flirt, and chase each other. The other swans dance topless around the two as the Prince is enticed into the swan's world. The swans, including Cooper, wear frilly pants but no shirts--which emphasizes the sexuality of the piece. Act 3 is set at a party where a young man courting the queen looks a lot like the swan causing an altercation. The Prince is distraught and in Act 4 he becomes quite ill and dies suddenly in his bed. Behind the bed is the swan holding his handsome young Prince as he finds peace at last.

The swan represents to the Prince everything he wants to be: strong, beautiful, and free. Matthew Bourne said, "We have gone for something much simpler and more universal. AMP's Swan Lake is about a man with no love in his life. He is rejected by his unsuitable girlfriend, his mother, the Queen, cannot express affection for her son, yet flaunts her young lovers in his presence. And his restricted lifestyle makes it impossible to connect with people without the threat of scandal." This "Swan Lake" was the big hit of 1996 with a myriad of modern influences and themes used to astonishing effect.

It's never an overtly gay ballet, although the pas de deux at the height of Act 2 delivers a strong homoerotic charge. It has humour and evokes feelings of sadness and sympathy for the characters. Adam Cooper is superb as the swan and his dance is breath-taking, and his performance as the evil doppleganger is equally impressive as he dirty dances his way into the queen's affections. Scott Ambler as the Prince mixes drama with dance perfectly, and without his performance as the weak, shy, loveless prince this production would be nothing. On DVD "Swan Lake" is presented in full screen 4:3 video format with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound to showcase Tchaikovsky's score performed by The New London Orchestra. Peter Mumford directed.

Wonder Boys (2000)

Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is the author of a very successful novel who is trying to write another, but is struggling with writer's block because of the success of his past and the weight of his future. His wife announces she's leaving him and he also manages to get the chancellor (Frances McDormand) pregnant--and her husband chairs Grady's department. In the meantime, he and his student James Leer (Tobey Maguire) are trying to find a jacket once owned by Marilyn Monroe, and a nubile college girl, Hannah Green (Katie Holmes) boarding with Grady has a crush on him. His literary agent/editor Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey, Jr.) pressures him to finish a novel seven years in the writing. James stirs paternal feelings in Grady and raises homo-erotic urges in Terry, who is accompanied by a transvestite. Terry is the highlight of the cast, stealing many scenes and is funny in a loud role. He spends a night with James and wants to publish his book, too. Grady's most gifted writing student is a pathological liar and also a pot head like himself. His peculiar behavior launches the professor on a odyssey of self-discovery and many misadventures. It all takes place over a long weekend of debauchery of one form or another.

Adapted from Michael Chabon's novel and distilling it to its amusing and melancholy essence, screenwriter Steve Kloves and director Curtis Hanson have created an unsentimental and darkly funny tale. These characters may be down on their luck, but they don't feel sorry for themselves. The cast is exceptional, with Maguire in a great performance and Downey at his manic best. The ending of "Wonder Boys" is a little too trite, but after everything these characters go through, a happy ending seems appropriate. Grady speaks the last lines: "As for me, I lost everything: my wife, my book, my job, everything that I thought was important. But I finally knew where I wanted to go. And now I have someone to help me get there."

Whole New Thing (2005)

Emerson Thorsen (Aaron Webber) is 13 years old and lives with his hippie parents Kaya (Rebecca Jenkins) and Rog (Robert Joy) in their eco-home in the wilds of Nova Scotia, Canada. He recently had his first wet dream, and completed writing and illustrating his first book. But the home-schooled youth can barely add two plus two, so his mother enrolls him in the local school. There he meets Don Grant (Daniel MacIvor), his English teacher. At age 42, Don is a closeted gay loner and has settled into a life of perpetual adolescence. He makes regular visits to a park washroom for dangerous anonymous sex.

In the classroom, Emerson stirs things up and Don sees a bit of himself in his new pupil. Emerson, who is initially scornful of his teacher, quickly develops a crush on Don. The overly confident boy, raised in a household of nudity and sexual openness, is too open for Don, who has to curb Emerson's feelings without crushing his spirit. In the process, both student and teacher learn valuable lessons about surviving growing pains. There is a sub-plot involving Emerson's mother cheating on his father causing their marriage to disintegrate. It is less interesting, though still good, but takes the focus away from the main plot. This Canadian film is very entertaining and well done. It's handled with good taste, intelligence, and the acting is excellent, especially by Webber in his first film role. David Buchbinder composed the original music, Amnon Buchbinder and Daniel MacIvor wrote the screenplay, and Amnon Buchbinder directed.

Juste une Question d'Amour (2005)

Twenty-three year-old student Laurent (Cyrille Thouvenin) lives with his parents Jeanne (Danièle Denie) and Pierre (Idwig Stephane) behind the family Pharmacy. Laurent is gay, though he soon shares an apartment with his "girlfriend" Carole (Caroline Veyt) who accepts his sexuality and serves as a front for Laurent's closeted role with his parents. He is doing poorly studying agriculture because his close cousin Marc died recently and had been disowned by his aunt and uncle for being gay. Laurent must keep his sexuality secret so his parents will not be hurt. His marks in school are so poor that he must do an internship in field agriculture to raise his academic standing. Cédric (Stéphan Guérin-Tillié) is his tutor, an openly gay man with an understanding and loving mother Emma (Eva Darlan) in a garden setting that also serves as Cédric's agricultural research lab. The two become happy lovers until Cédric insists that Laurent be in an open relationship, which means his parents will know his preferences. Afraid that his parents will disown him, he flees and Emma tells Laurent's parents the truth. The trauma of the characters resolves the story. This French made for TV movie is realistic, brave, intelligent, powerful, sensitive, and informative, with an excellent cast and a great soundtrack. It was made for the general public. Charles Court composed the original music, Pierre Pauquet wrote the screenplay, and Christian Faure directed. In French with subtitles, the English title is "Just a Question of Love".

Wilby Wonderful (2005)

Over the course of 24 hours, the residents of the tiny island town of Wilby, Nova Scotia, Canada try to maintain business as usual in the face of very unusual business. A scandal threatens to tear the town apart. Details are scarce, but there are rumors about two central characters in the film. Gay video store owner Dan Jarvis (James Allodi) repeatedly attempts to take his own life, but is constantly interrupted by hunky gay Duck MacDonald (Callum Keith Rennie), the town handyman who is attracted to Dan. The opening scene for the film shows Duck preventing Dan from suicide on a bridge. Real estate agent Carol French (Sandra Oh) prepares for the town festival while her relationship with her cop husband Buddy (Paul Gross) deteriorates. Mayor Brent Fisher (Maury Chaykin) wants to turn Wilby Watch, a gay cruising area, into a golf course. Wilby Watch is about to explode on Wilby when the local paper prepares to print the names of gays caught in an illicit same-sex rendezvous. Closeted Dan is on the list of names to be revealed, and he would rather do away with himself than deal with the shame.

This film doesn't explain exactly what happened, but instead drops hints along the way. “Islanders” are less tolerant then “mainlanders", two words heavily thrown about in the film. It's a funny dark comedy, filled with moments of gravity, with great acting and ensemble chemistry. The film succeeds by asking questions not only about the potential of small-town gay life, but about the difficulty of changing entrenched attitudes, values and behaviour in oneself and in others. Duck sums everything up by saying to Emily Anderson (Ellen Page) about her mother: "She wants to love and be loved, just like all of us". As if to acknowledge the concessions that must be made, this independent film ends not with a kiss but with a tentative embrace. Michael Timmins composed the original music, and Daniel MacIvor wrote the screenplay and directed.

Forbidden Letters (1976)

Larry (Robert Adams) is a cute, young, and innocent gay man whose lover Richard (Richard Locke) is in prison. Richard writes to Larry about the emptiness of prison life. As we hear Richard's letters, we see him jerking off behind bars. Larry writes to Richard, but his true feelings are written in letters that he cannot send because they will endanger his lover. The non-linear narrative of "Forbidden Letters", which skips back and forth in time, is told with these letters. They tell how Richard changed his life, causing him to discover the joy and pain of love with an older father-figure. Larry lives in San Francisco, just a stone's throw away from Alcatraz Prison where Richard is incarcerated, and he walks the streets in search of pick-ups. Two of his tricks, where Larry is a top, include Willie Bjorn in a tin-walled room and John Gustavson in a hippie pad. We see them walking through Land's End, hugging, kissing, and having sex.

The opening sequences are filmed in black-and-white, appropriate for the jail scenes and the metaphor of separation. Although the sex scenes are explicit, this is more of a love story than a porn film. It's a timeless display of the human condition, loss, fulfillment, and the search for and discovery of real love. There is a heavy reliance on voice-over narration, with some original corny-sounding folk songs. The music score is by Jeffrey Olmstead. Arthur J. Bressan Jr. wrote the screenplay and directed. Parts of the movie were actually filmed in Alcatraz. Jeffrey Olmstead composed the original music, and Arthur J. Bressan Jr. wrote the screenplay and directed. This film is no longer available.

Straight Jacket (2004)

In 1950's Hollywood, closeted gay actor Guy Stone (Matt Letscher) enters into a sham marriage with studio secretary Sally (Carrie Preston) when the tabloids start to question his sexual orientation as the "most eligible young bachelor". He spends most of his time prowling the gay bar scene for the next available hunk. In fact, Guy is so shallow that he doesn't even bother to learn the names of the star-struck men he sleeps with. His agent Jerry (Veronica Cartwright) struggles to keep him in tow, aware that if his sexual preference becomes public his acting career would be over. Soon after the marriage, Guy falls in love for the first time with Commie Rick Foster (Adam Greer), who has written Guy's latest movie script. They become lovers and the political and conscientious differences between the two are forgotten until their pairing is discovered. Guy is asked to go before the TV cameras to confess his homosexuality (which is equated with Communism) and to give names of others who are also gay.

Director Richard Day wrote a script based on his own stage play and filled it with wit and absurd situations. He casts a scathing eye on anti-gay prejudice, Hollywood phoniness, Red-baiting, and superficial relationships. The musical score is not good but it suits the era. Stephen Edwards composed the incidental music. This is an entertaining, thoughtful, and overlong film with an important re-enactment of a scary time in Hollywood. The conclusion resolves in a way to show comedy is related to tragedy.

Chuck & Buck (2000)

Chuck (Chris Weitz) and Buck O'Brien (Mike White) were childhood friends and sex partners until Chuck moved away at age 11. Sixteen years later, Buck visits Chuck (now called Charlie) in LA when Buck's mother dies. Buck is a man-child who never really grew up. He sucks on lollipops obsessively, and is now fixated on Chuck, who wants nothing more to do with his childhood best friend. Charlie is a music record executive and Buck begins stalking him and his fiancé Carlyn Carlson (Beth Colt) until Charlie is forced to re-examine their childhood relationship. Buck tells him, "When it's just you and me here, it's like I'm OK. And all this other stuff makes me feel dead. And I don't want to feel dead." He also writes a play and hires Beverly Franco (Lupe Ontiveros) to direct it for $25 per hour. It's titled "Frank and Hank", and Beverly tells Buck, "It's a homo-erotic misogynistic love story."

Finally Charles makes a deal with Buck. They kiss, have passionate sex, then separate forever. Buck is heart-broken, but seems to start growing up. The film's strength lies in characterizing Buck not as a caricature but as a real person we can pity, and even see a little of ourselves in. Chris Weitz, better known as a screenwriter, is reminiscent of Tom Cruise in every way. Director Miguel Arteta's film is somewhat unsettling, and scene after scene plays with discomfort. It's weird, creepy, fascinating, and never false. A shot-on-video indie about a sick infantile gay stalker obsessed with a childhood friend, it does pick up nicely as it progresses. This movie is watchable, funny, edgy, but often sad, and it sometimes stretches credibility--but movies often require us to suspend our disbelief. Gregory "Smokey" Hormel, Tony Maxwell, and Joey Waronker composed the original music. Mike White wrote the screenplay, and Miguel Arteta directed.

In & Out (1997)

Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is a high school teacher in a small town in Indiana with a good job, an attractive fiancé named Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack) and respect from everyone. Everything changes one night when a former high school student of his named Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), now a famous actor in Hollywood, makes an acceptance speech after receiving an Oscar for his portrayal of a gay army soldier and 'outs' Howard Brackett as his inspiration for the role. A media circus begins as Howard desperately tries to keep his life from falling apart by protesting that he is not gay and that the whole thing with Cameron's speech is a simple misunderstanding. While most of the townspeople want to believe Howard, Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck), an openly gay TV reporter who arrives in town to cover the story, suspects that the teacher is in denial. Howard is fired, but attends the graduation ceremony to support his students. When the students learn that he was dismissed for being gay, they proclaim themselves to be gay themselves to show their support for Howard. His family follows suit, as do his friends, and all the townsfolk assembled.

This romantic comedy was inspired by Tom Hanks's speech when he accepted his 1994 Oscar for his role in "Philadelphia", and mentioned his high-school drama coach Rawley Farnsworth, and his former classmate John Gilkerson, "two of the finest gay Americans, two wonderful men that I had the good fortune to be associated with"--unaware that Farnsworth was still in the closet. This is one of Hollywood's few attempts at a gay comedy, and was notorious at the time for a 10-second kiss between Kevin Kline and Tom Selleck. The film ends with everyone dancing to the Village People's song "Macho Man". Marc Shaiman composed the incidental music, Paul Rudnick wrote the screenplay, and Frank Oz directed.

Best of Boys in Love (1998)

This is a compilation of 7 short films selected from "Boys in Love" and "Boys in Love 2". The original has 3 fictional political shorts, and the sequel has 6 that are more eclectic and edgy. The first in "Best of" is "Achilles", an animated film about Achilles and Patroclus who battle the Trojans and love each other. "Boot Camp" is about a shy gay (Mathew Solari) who sees a leatherman (John Cantwell) go into an S & M bar. They meet and break into a song! It's a cute gay parody of 1930's musicals. "Death in Venice" features a repressed academic who is seduced by his landlady's stepson. "Dirty Baby Does Fire Island" shows an animated baby-doll among deer, weightlifters, and humping men in a bedroom. Dirty Baby snorts poppers, hallucinates, and rolls outside into a pool. She tries cocaine, which causes her to freak out and fall down a hill to the beach. Later the doll is launched into space. In "Karen Black Like Me" nervous Emil (Ira Rosenberg) receives a huge dildo with a cock ring on it. After a visit from his mother, he is chased by the evil "King Dong". It's a comic homage to the cult film "Trilogy of Terror". Next is "SPF 2000" about two friends, J.J. and Pucci, who sunbathe in a park near cute young Kip and his mother. All the boys go swimming and a silver faced alien named Suroh tries to communicate with them by applying sunscreen to everybody.

In "Twilight of the Gods" a Maori named Toa (Greg Mayor) finds many dead tribesmen and soldiers in the jungle. One of the soldiers is alive and Toa nurses him back to health. They have a gay romance, and this exotic and violent entry is the treasure of this collection, the most explicit and with the best production. These aren't slick big-budget productions and some of them look quite cheap. But most are also funny. They are not raunchy sex films, but humorous and sometimes sweet stories of flirtation, love and occasionally sex. Avoiding homophobia and coming-out stories which have been done to death, the short films avoid such tedium in favor of imaginative and entertaining stories in which homosexuality is a given, not a cross to bear.