Beverly Kills (2005)

Beverly Jackson (Gary Kelley) is an aspiring actor who loses a role in a musical at the Pride Playhouse, a nude theatrical production of "Balls Out."--a revue that promises a same sex marriage ballet and gratuitous male nudity. Furious, muscular cross-dresser Beverly decides to form a cult of revenge after seeking advice from Rocco (John Marlo), his massuer. Meanwhile back at the Playhouse, employee Shane (Rick Sparks) is dumped by his boyfriend, then falls into the arms of Ray (Matthew Herrmann), a lighting designer, and the two are swept into Beverly's bizarre scheme. We encounter broken relationships, lonely guys, new relationships, arrivals to Hollywood from all over the country who long to become stars and end up being "stand-in celebrities" for the tourists along the Hollywood Boulevard.

Beverly gathers the guys and gals who have auditioned and plans a terrorist martyrdom attack at Hollywood and Highland as a means of making a statement about the unstable way of life and irony of the promised land of dreams. The tone changes a lot: it's a comedy, then a drama, then a love story. Of course it all goes awry, but it does so with some very attractive people and some impressive talent.

This very entertaining satire of Hollywood lunatics, fanatical doomsday religious cults, and oversexed gay community theater features lots of cuties, a hot romance and a twisted drag queen. There are plenty of laughs in this edgy comedy, and the over-the-top, silly, ridiculous situational comedies and parodies contain much social comment. All of the men in the movie are gorgeous and either wear absolutely nothing or next to nothing throughout the whole movie. Their nudity includes full frontals. The "Balls Out" musical number is great! Unlike most low-budget gay romantic comedies this one doesn't take itself so seriously, is quite witty, well-acted, and leaves you feeling good. If you are easily offended or don't have an absurd sense of humor, then you should probably look elsewhere as this one is scathing and out there. Viewers comments are mixed. The DVD includes the director's commentary track, which is very entertaining and helps appreciate this movie even more. For some great surprises, freeze-frame the Cult's CD multi-media presentation. A few single frames contain some startling images. Jeffery Alan Jones composed the incidental music, and Damion Dietz wrote the screenplay and directed.

Azuloscurocasinegro (2006)

Jorge (Quim Gutiérrez) and Israel (Raúl Arévalo) are two best friends living in Spain. Jorge wants a suit. Israel wants a van. Jorge's plans are put on hold when his father Andres (Héctor Colomé) has a stroke. For seven years he nurses his father and is forced to take over his job as a janitor while studying part time to get a business degree. When Natalia (Eva Pallarés), his childhood crush, returns from studying abroad, Jorge yearns for something better. He is desperate to find a better job, but no one will hire him because he only has experience as a janitor.

Antonio (Antonio de la Torre), Jorge’s older brother, will soon be released from jail. He is an opportunist who has never gotten along with their father. In prison Antonio meets Paula (Marta Etura), a beautiful young woman in jail on drug charges. Paula has a problem because she flirted with another inmate's boyfriend. Violently harassed in jail, she wants to get pregnant in order to be moved to the jail's safe maternity ward. Antonio just wants to have sex with Paula, soon falls in love with her, but he discovers that he is sterile.

Everything changes when Antonio gets out of prison. He plays on Jorge's good nature to get him to step in during conjugal visits and impregnate his girlfriend Paula. Jorge reluctantly agrees, even though it might get in the way of his long-term relationship with Natalia. Meanwhile, Jorge's best friend Israel secretly photographs men visiting an erotic masseur. He finds out that his father is one of the clients and thinks that he must be gay. Irritated with his father's hypocrisy, Israel starts anonymously blackmailing him. However, he later begins to question his own sexuality when he visits the erotic masseur himself.

Jorge's relationship with Natalia becomes difficult after she tries to get him a job where she works but he is only offered a position as a janitor. Then Antonio finds out that their father has an undisclosed bank account full of money. Jorge makes regular visits to the women's prison to carry out his brother's wishes and falls for Paula. Gradually, they develop an unusual relationship. She gets pregnant and through her, Jorge learns to stop feeling responsible for everything and finally confront his own wishes, ignoring what the world expects of him. He breaks his relationship with Natalia and decides to wait for Paula’s release. The relationship of the two brothers survives Jorge's emotional involvement. Antonio fails to retrieve the money his father has had in the secret bank account and is instead mortally attacked by his father.

Israel confronts both of his parents and his own sexual identity, finally achieving some degree of peace. Jorge and Paula have a baby daughter. He moves from the building where he has worked and lived for so many years, finding a new job as a janitor. When Jorge thinks of escaping his dead-end life, he dreams of a suit, which is dark blue, almost black. At the end, he takes Israel’s car, breaks the store window and grabs the dark blue suit.

These two stories are interwoven to demonstrate the struggle between family obligations and individual freedoms, especially at that point in life of coming into one's own. With its subtle wit and homoerotic curiosity, "Azuloscurocasinegro" is a fresh and vibrant discovery reminiscent of its Spanish-language forerunner "Y Tu Mama Tambien". The English title is "DarkBlueAlmostBlack", which is technically called "midnight blue". It's a state of mind, an uncertain future, and a color--a color that we don’t always recognize and which varies depending on the light, the medium and the mood. The DVD extras include interviews with the director and the lead actors. Pascal Gaigne composed the original music, and Daniel Sánchez Arévalo wrote the screenplay and directed. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Get a Life (2006)

"All I want is a straight guy who will be gay just for me," says Jaime (Brian Campbell) to his abusive psychiatrist. This is a statement that propels the plot of a disenfranchised homosexual looking for himself. Jaime desperately searches his hometown of Chicago looking for love, acceptance, and happiness in some interesting and surprising places. Along the way, Jaime meets some fascinating and colorful people, in addition to many hot and sexy guys, both straight and gay, all leading to surprising insights into his own life.

In the seedy Ram Bookstore he meets student Monty (Michael Gonring), a troll-loving bisexual with a girl friend in Boston who says, "I thought I'd take a walk on the wild side for a few months and then go back to her and all this will become a distant memory." Monty becomes Jaime's guide and conscience in a journey through the maze of his broken life. After the bookstore gets busted Jaime ends up in the same cell with his enemy Hal Stevens (Peter Marinelli). The two hate each other because Hal used to steal all his tricks in the bookstore. But they become the closest of friends and decide that there is an alternative to gay life. Hal says somewhere there is a twilight zone of the sexual fringe and that's where they belong.

After a visit to Miss Galena Chanel (Tina Stefano), an expert in making gays popular, they try a variety of gimmicks. From circuit parties decked in zoot suits, to dressing up in drag and trying to pick up gas station attendants, and all the way to a classic betrayal by his new found friend, Jaime is left twice as vulnerable and lonely. Vulnerable enough for Ray Milano (Matt Edwards), a coworker and homophobe, to step in and ruin his life completely. Jaime gets what he wants, including a lover, but not before a spectacular revenge climaxing in a fight in which he beats up Ray in front of all the coworkers. "I am a lowdown c***sucker who just beat the crap out of you! What does it make you Ray?" he asks him, his voice trembling while pinning him down. In the end, Jaime discovers the one person he never thought he would: himself.

Viewers unanimously hate this film. One comments, "There is nothing at all believable or coherent about the narrative of this video...I suppose the tone is supposed to be comic, but most of the humor is so over-the-top as to be unfunny. The only exception is a brief jaunt as desperate drag queens that manages some humor. The acting is mostly poor, the script worse." Another wrote, "It's so bad it's not even campy or laughable. It's just lame. And the acting is awful! And the direction is terrible! Don't waste your time. Or money." Another: "It's not even worth the time to watch the movie. Cheap production. Bad script. Something that one won't even watch if you get paid for it." Here are two more: "This movie is like one of the worst B movies with amateurs trying to act which they can't if their life's depends on it," and "It's just a lame movie with really overly bad acting. I mean, bad acting is actually a compliment for this because the acting is so awful. And no one wants to watch trolls in sex clubs hitting on young boys. No one! So really...don't waste your time with this one." Nick Monson composed the original music, and Toby Ross wrote the screenplay and directed.

บิวตี้ฟูล บ๊อกเซอร์ (2003)

Nong Toom (Asanee Suwan) is a terrific and talented Thai kick-boxer, a young man who is sensitive to the female side of his personality. As his mother says to her husband, "If my son turns out be a transvestite that is our karma. We must accept him for what he is." Born into a tough hard-working farm family in a small village, Toom was taught not to take any crap from anyone, even if it means using his fists to settle an argument. He embarks on his life with the psychological backing and support of his family, a life that places him in a kick-boxing match where he learns that he has a great talent for the sport. After a short stay at a monastery, he becomes a champion kick-boxer, mastering the masculine and lethal sport of Muay Thai.

Toom's gender bending becomes more and more apparent to his fans as his talent and stature rises in the Thai kick-boxing world. His fans take his wearing makeup and outlandish colored trunks as a gimmick, even when he takes to kissing his defeated opponents. But when Toom decides to pursue a surgical transformation some are outraged, but most see it as insulting and besmirching Thai manhood.

As he lives with his coach and other fighters, a situation that offers no privacy, Toom struggles with taunts that he is demeaning his sport, acting more as a clown, and becomes increasingly aware of people trying to manipulate him. Following a traumatic event in his life, Toom faces his greatest challenge yet, a high-profile fight with a much larger woman wrestler in Tokyo. Toom/Parinaya retires from boxing when he becomes more of a woman, a kathoey (male-to-female transgendered person). Her post-boxing career is acting and modelling.

Based on the true story of Thailand's famed transvestite kick-boxer Parinaya Charoemphol, "Beautiful Boxer" tells through flashbacks about her childhood and teen years before her sex change operation, when she was Nong Toom. This action drama is a touching, funny, ironic, graceful, gritty, and realistic high-concept movie. Shot in 9 provinces across Thailand and in Tokyo, the film also features a series of explosive matches where Nong Toom knocks out most of his opponents in Thailand and Japan. The fight sequences and location shots are beautifully photographed, with many special effects that add to the dramatic effect of the story. A fascinating transgender movie, it also contains lots of eye candy for gay males. It won numerous film festival awards, a GLAAD award, as well as a "best actor" award for Suwan from the Thai movie board. DVD extras include a "making of" featurette, info on the fight sequences, interviews, and a music video. Amornbhong Methakunavudh composed the original music. The screenplay was written by Desmond Sim and Ekachai Uekrongtham, who also directed. In Thai with English subtitles. The English title is "Beautiful Boxer".

Boys Life 5 (2006)

The fifth installment in the successful series of gay-themed short films anthology collects four short films produced between 1990 and 2005. This collection avoids the alternating callow humor and dull self-seriousness of previous installments. Each feels like a first-rate mini-feature rather than a student experiment or a Hollywood audition.

In "Fishbelly White", directed by Michael Burke, alienated rural youth Duncan (Mickey Smith) mistreats farm animals and explores his homoeroticism with a hunky older boy (Jason Hayes), only to learn some harsh lessons about nonconformity. With its rural setting, offbeat protagonist, and less-is-more approach to both dialogue and sexual tension, this entry could hardly be confused for a typical gay indie. It features subtle insights into adolescence and sensuality. Burke uses "Fishbelly White" as the basis for his feature "The Mudge Boy".

"Dare" was written by David Brind and directed by Adam Salky. Hunky high-school star Johnny (Michael Cassidy) has the lead in the school play "A Streetcar Named Desire" but is having trouble remembering his lines. Nerdy "Light boy" Ben (Adam Fleming) likes to look at the very popular boy, and to spotlight him on stage. The irritated female lead of the play refuses to give her co-star a ride home, and "Light boy" volunteers. Once there, champagne gets opened poolside and both boys are soon in the pool, and the daring occurs. The final shot is deliciously sly. "Dare" offers the most explicitly gay subject matter of the collection, yet it shares with the other films a tension between childhood innocence and erotic awakening.

In "Late Summer", written and directed by David Ottenhouse, photographer Adam (Augustus Kelly) recounts the genesis of one of his photographs, in the process revealing much about his adolescent self (Erol Zeybekoglu). It begins in an art gallery with a photo show of Adam's work and proceeds to a lengthy flashback leading to an image not for sale. The photo shows the photographer's older cousin Josh (Christopher Nee) with whose family the photographer stayed after his parents' deaths. The younger Adam is hero-worshipping and shy, but not a pushover. The cousin goes skinny dipping, and he doesn't keep his shorts on as the boys in "Dare" do. Josh appears totally naked in the swimming home scene. But the film is restrained, with its gayness a matter of sensibility and subtext rather than overt content. This short is a rare example of a flashback story whose framing sequences actually add to its emotional heft, providing an intriguing suburban contrast to the farmland lyricism of "Fishbelly White".

"Time Off" was directed by American-born Israeli Eytan Fox. A soldier receives some unexpected insights into the private life of his dictatorial lieutenant. The "Time Off" of the title is between the end of basic training and deployment to Lebanon during the First Lebanon War in 1982. We see a lieutenant (Gil Frank) putting his men through annoying exercises. He seems to be picking on a pleasant-natured sensitive recruit named Yonatan (Hanoch Reim). On leave in the city, Yonatan wanders into a known gay pick-up spot and guess what? It was shot in Hebrew a decade before any of the other films. With its military setting and political backdrop, "Time Off" engages with the real world rather than just its characters' inner lives. Yet its subtlety and ambiguity fit in perfectly. Fox would go on to explore similar themes with the full-length "Yossi & Jagger".

The fifth and most consistently rewarding entry in the "Boys" Life series of anthologies focuses on the inner contradictions and unspoken longings of their protagonists. These four films collectively explore issues such as unrequited love and allow the "Boys Life" series to grow up. The bittersweet featurettes offer homosexual men a chance to identify with non-archetypal characters instead of drag-queen confidants or suicidal closet cases.

Cachorro (2004)

Pedro (José Luis García-Pérez) is an attractive gay dentist who lives a cosmopolitan life in Madrid. He's a well adjusted, kindly, and independent "bear" who thinks nothing of having his two best friends have sex in his bed while he takes a shower--sometimes even participating in a threesome. His older sister Violeta (Elvira Lindo), an ex-hippie, leaves her son Bernardo (David Castillo) to stay with Pedro when she impulsively decides to take a two-week jaunt to India with her latest boyfriend.

Soon the two form a strong attachment and their life together seems to be going well. Bernardo cooks for Pedro, but his nephew's presence forces him to take a break from his otherwise extremely active sex life. Even his boyfriend Manuel (Arno Chevrier), who suddenly pays Pedro a visit and who shares his penchant for leather and latex, is basically rejected. But when Doña Teresa (Empar Ferrer), Bernardo’s paternal grandmother, arrives on the scene, she begins to resent Pedro's closeness with the boy. Doña is a lonely and embittered old woman who blames Violeta for her son's drug-related death. She's also eager to re-establish a bond with her grandson, who doesn't like her. She's concerned about the influence that Pedro may be having on the boy and wants to take over Bernardo's upbringing by sending him to a private school in Valencia where he can learn English. The boy, however, is reluctant to leave his uncle and vows to stay with Pedro.

News arrives that Bernardo’s mother has been arrested in India for drug smuggling. She may be facing a prison sentence of thirty years, and Pedro is just as shocked at this news as Bernardo. Nevertheless, he realizes that he is now responsible for the boy. There suddenly are so many things to organize, such as repairs to the house and finding a school for the boy, that Pedro hardly misses the life he used to lead. Gradually he succeeds in rekindling his sex life, but in a less excessive form.

Then Doña demands custody of Bernardo. After illegally obtaining his medical history revealing that Pedro is HIV-positive, and hiring a private investigator who obtains pictures of Pedro at a gay club, she threatens him with both. Pedro lets her put Bernardo in a boarding school. When his grandmother goes to visit him and reveals Pedro's HIV status, Bernardo says that he already knew and that his mother is HIV-positive as well. She then reveals that Pedro is in the hospital with pneumonia. He tells her that he hates her and that it's her fault that he's in the hospital, because he wasn't there to care for him.

Three years pass, letters go back and forth between Pedro, Bernardo, his mother, and his grandmother. We then see Bernardo and his friends at a funeral, and a casket being lowered. Shortly after, a cab pulls up with Pedro in it, out of the hospital and healthy, then revealing that it was the grandmother's funeral they were attending. After a brief conversation, Bernardo goes and hugs and kisses his friends goodbye, then he and his uncle reunite and ride away in the cab together.

"Cachorro" defies all expectations and never passes judgment on any of the characters, not even on the villainous Doña Teresa. And there's no puritanical scorn about Pedro's supposed inappropriateness as a guardian and role model. In fact, Pedro goes out of his way to live his life as he would a single man: We see him going to bars, cruising back rooms, flirting with shop attendants in front of Bernardo, and even inviting his friends over for marijuana and coke-induced gatherings. The film also explores Pedro's relationship with a flight attendant and part-time lover who wants a commitment that Pedro is unwilling to make. Throughout all of this Bernardo is either oblivious to what is going on, takes it all in his stride, or even offers Pedro romantic advice.

There's a lot of love among Pedro's "bears", and though the movie is occasionally over-talky and light on the drama, there's still lots of warmth and humor. It's an important movie, groundbreaking because we are given an intelligent and perceptive insight into a part of the gay community that has been marginalized by the wider gay community. Bears are a sub-culture that have received little or no recognition in gay-themed movies. However, one viewer commented, "Don't be deceived by the blurb, because this isn't a nice gay film at all. On the surface it appears frothy, but underneath it's a sleazy film of betrayal, deceit, and a man's lost love that he'll never get back. It has it's funny moments, most of which you'll have seen on the trailer, but the rest is a gritty, rather sad little down-beat film that'll appeal to those who like it real." Lucio Godoy composed the incidental music. The screenplay was written by Salvador García Ruiz and Miguel Albaladejo, who also directed. In Spanish with English subtitles. The Spanish word "cachorro" describes any young, furry animal such as a cub or puppy, and the English title is "Bear Club".

Cover (2007)

A young married couple and their daughter move to Philadelphia to build on their life together. However, once there, the father Dutch Maas (Razaaq Adoti) starts to have the moves put on him by his ex-girlfriend. Little by little, his naive church-going wife Valerie Maas (Aunjanue Ellis) starts to suspect, with the help of her protective friend, that Dutch may not be as faithful as he’s pretending to be.

When a man is murdered on New Year's Eve, the prime suspect is Valerie, whose life unravels when she discovers that her husband of 15 years has been leading a double life. Dutch is actually a closeted homosexual. This leads to a great deal of emotional trauma for both the wife and the husband--as well as to a murder investigation subplot that's used to frame the story. Valerie is arrested and charged with murder. Things become complicated when its clear the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case doesn't care if she's guilty since he's looking to win the up coming election. Her strength of character and faith keeps the family alive as the investigation threatens to destroy all that they have known.

This is a well-meaning and well-intentioned film, but its attempt to deal honestly with a serious social issue often falls victim to slick melodramatics. Many scenes will have you rolling your eyes in disbelief, even while conceding that some of the points the movie is making are valid. The film does give a fair hearing to each of its torn and conflicted characters. It's like an urbanized African-American version of "Brokeback Mountain"-- only this time told from the viewpoint of the spouse rather than the two male lovers. There are many clichés and stereotypes, such as the cheating husband, the broken wife, and an angry female best friend. Plus, the acting tends to be over-the-top and there are too many "dark secrets". The redeeming aspects of this entertaining film are its twists and it adresses an important topic rarely talked about or shown in the cinematic world. Kurt Farquhar composed the music, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas wrote the screenplay, and Bill Duke directed.

Avril (2006)

Avril (Sophie Quinton) is a novice in a convent of "Baptistine" sisters, a monastic order which was officially dissolved at the end of the nineteenth century but is kept alive by Mère Marie Joseph (Geneviève Casile), the sadistic superior. The rule she imposes on the nuns is particularly strict but this is all Avril has ever known since she was born. She was an abandoned child raised by the nuns with the intention of making her one of them. Mère is unhinged and violent, and thinks nothing of throwing temper tantrums in chapel and even less of stabbing Avril. With the exception of Soeur Bernadette (Miou-Miou), a sympathetic sister, all the nuns are of pensionable age. While Avril is on retreat, locked in for a fortnight in a chapel prior to taking her vows, Soeur Bernadette discloses a secret to her: she has a twin brother and she encourages her to go looking for him.

She leaves the convent to find him and experiences secular life. Along her journey she meets people who open her eyes to the outside world. If that isn't enough, she falls in with Pierre (Nicolas Duvauchelle), a young traveling hardware merchant who accompanies her through most of her sabbatical and develops a crush on her. She finds her gay brother David (Clement Sibony) and his lover Jim (Richaud Valls) in the company of Pierre. The unlikely foursome form a tight bond during a vacation by the beach in a holiday atmosphere. Avril gradually discovers her body and ends up bathing in the nude, but vulgarity is never on the agenda. Pierre and Avril meet and mix with gays, but nothing "dirty" is ever shown.

This is a very good-natured charming film about a nun who escapes from her convent to spend a weekend by the sea with her long-lost brother, his boyfriend, and a handsome man she meets along the way. One of the themes is of a young nun awakening to secular life, which could have meant some smutty details, but this never happens. There are surprises throughout the story and we never know in advance where the skilfully devised plot is going. The characters are three-dimensional, and the beautiful Normandy locations serve as a perfect backdrop to the sweet narrative. Dialogue is natural, unrushed, unpretentious, and the lead character grows before you over a 2 week period in a completely believable way. The DVD includes a "making-of", plus two short films, including one that is not on the French DVD. Gérald Hustache-Mathieu wrote the screenplay and directed. In French with English subtitles.

Day Zero (2007)

Set in the near future where a state of global terrorism has forced the military to reinstate the draft, three young friends have just received their induction notices and have 30 days to report for duty. They must battle their political views before making a decision that will change their lives forever. Aaron Feller (Elijah Wood), George Rifkin (Chris Klein), and James Dixon (Jon Bernthal) learn what it means to "serve with honor".

Wimpy novelist Aaron prepares for the life of a soldier with the help of a Bowflex machine and therapist Dr. Reynolds (Ally Sheedy). Corporate attorney George (Chris Klein) wishes to stay with his wife Molly (Ginnifer Goodwin), a recent cancer survivor, rather than fight in a war that he believes is wrong. He has decided not to go, but avoiding service is not easy. Streetwise cabdriver James (Jon Bernthal) is the most fearless and free of doubt, raring to fight for freedom, but he falls in love with sociology student Patricia (Elisabeth Moss), and suddenly issues that always seemed black-and-white to him are not so simple. As reporting day, or day zero, draws nearer the three friends fight, fall out, come together, and comfort each other.

The movie takes place over 30 days and during that time, these young men and their loved ones experience a wide range of emotions, and each struggles to come to terms with the blow they've been dealt. Aaron makes a list of things he wants to do before he dies. George thinks of various excuses: cutting off his fingers with a meat cleaver, pulling favors with a family friend, and fabricating a gay lifestyle. He freaks out during a head-scratching trip to a gay bar because the Gays are all exempt from service, "just for having a sausage party!" He fights and gets pummeled. Aaron asks him, "What's a sausage party?" James ruminates in private.

In the final scenes the movie opens up, dropping the characters into what appears to be an actual anti-war protest in New York. Aaron goes to a roof, runs to the edge and leaps to his death. George and James meet at Penn Station. We never learn if they have come for induction or to say goodbye to each other. Neither knows that Aaron is dead. The unsatisfying conclusion is wrenching and shocking, and illustrates the real-life impact of the draft.

"Day Zero" is an intriguing concept with a message, but it's stuck in a film that rarely digs deep, and never quite hits the mark. It slowly gains a foothold as it moves along. The formula driven characters enjoy a bit more development, and the plot takes some simple turns from our expectations. It's somewhat melodramatic, too generic, serious, slow, shallow, but compelling and entertaining. There are some funny scenes mixed with emotional scenes. It is not a political film and relies too much on the audience being American, with the feelings that come with drafts, wars, and duty to country. Many viewers love it and it has great cinematography with a strong soundtrack. Erin O'Hara composed the original music. Robert Malkani and Tom Touchet wrote the screenplay, and Bryan Gunnar Cole directed. Cole said: "I think part of the fun of doing a film like "Day Zero" is that you get to stir the pot a bit. I don’t think it's a film that has a big red bow on it and comes neatly packaged and is digestible as the feel-good war movie of the year. I think that it’s got some heart, it takes you on an emotional journey...some people are going to love it, some people are going to hate it."

Férfiakt (2006)

Tibor (László Gálffi) is a frustrated middle-aged writer who leaves his actress wife (Éva Kerekes) for 19 year-old androgynous male prostitute Zsolt (Dávid Szabó). They meet one evening in a large library in Budapest, and Zsolt says he is Ukrainian and his parents died at Chernobyl. Inspiration finally comes to the older writer, but so do danger and despair as the boy skillfully insinuates his way into the writer's home and heart. His new life begins to unravel in sad and unexpected ways in this unusual character study. The relationship leaves him feeling heady with lust and his creativity re-awakens, but threatens to destroy his life.

Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice" is the prototype for this affair between Tibor and the beautiful boy from another world who becomes a muse for the artist. Tastes in music, literature, and food remind us that age is not the only thing that separates the two lovers. Zsolt, it turns out, is also interested in girls, and will jump anything that moves: teenagers, johns, and even Tibor's wife. His friends are petty criminals, thieves, and blackmailers. Yet he is also seductive and very good at telling lies to the writer, who is inspired to restart his career. The author continues to pursue the relationship even after Zsolt becomes contemptuous of their affair. Tibor eventually confronts the reality of his own failed marriage and of Zsolt's criminality and unavailability.

Filmed in the streets of Budapest, "Férfiakt" is about the fate of two men in worlds and ages that separates them. It's a dark, sexy, and provocative drama, a curiosity with a somewhat incoherent scenario. There is some "nudity", consisting of a few bare torsos and buttocks. The soundtrack is classical music (Schubert, Malher, Verdi) embellished with rock. Károly Esztergályos wrote the screenplay and directed. In Hungarian with English subtitles. The English title is "Men in the Nude".