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.

The Green Plaid Shirt (1996)

In 1978 Philip (Gregory Phelan) meets Guy (Kevin Spirtas) at a yard sale where they both want the same green plaid shirt. Shortly afterwards they become lovers. Their relationship is "open", allowing both partners to have outside sexual contacts. Philip finds that he is not as "open" as Guy, but they only cease to be lovers when Guy informs him that he's moving in with another man. Their friendship continues, however, until Guy's death of AIDS in 1988. Friends Devon (Russel Scott Lewis), Jerry (Richard Israel), and Todd (Jonathan Klein) also die of the disease. Even though the film's focus is on their relationship, it handles it without sentimentality.

The cheeky wit of the characters is one of the movie's highlights. Because of a low budget, this film has sound that warbles between indistinct and tinny. Also the camerawork and music are poorly done and distracting. It's mostly a flashback movie and events are sometimes shown out of chronological order, with scenes presented in a disorienting sequence. A green plaid shirt is worn in almost every scene, and it becomes an annoying gimmick rather than a symbol. This film has a passionate and clear message, but is not very well dramatized. Norman Noll composed the original music, and Richard Natale wrote the screenplay and directed.

The Dying Gaul (2005)

Based on the play of the same name by screenwriter and director Craig Lucas, this film is about gay screenwriter Robert Sandrich (Peter Sarsgaard) who has a tragic affair with bisexual movie executive Jeffrey Tishop (Campbell Scott) . Robert's lover has just died of AIDS and Jeffrey offers a fortune for his autobiographical screenplay. Of course it must be changed into a heterosexual script. Jeffrey says, "America hates gay people", although he approaches Robert for sex and and his wife Elaine (Patricia Clarkson) learns of their affair--leading to deceptions, confessions and betrayals. A pessimistic movie with three unsympathetic characters viewers will love to hate, it's about what happens when people choose money over integrity and sell out. There are no easy answers regarding compromised principles, the price of greed, and the closeted nature of Hollywood. Scott, Clarkson and Sarsgaard give great performances, but the film is too complicated, with a tragic climax. The title is taken from an ancient Roman statue, which is a copy of an earlier and lost Greek statue. Steve Reich composed the music.

Johns (1996)

Two homeless street hustlers in Hollywood with different ideals and goals struggle through a tough night in this bleak edgy drama. It's Christmas Eve, the day before John (David Arquette) turns 21. He wants to spend that night and the next day at the expensive Park Plaza Hotel, so he ripped off a drug dealer for $300 to pay the bill. But as he's sleeping, someone steals his shoes with the money in them. Meanwhile, Donner (Lukas Haas), a hustler new to the streets, is infatuated with John and wants to leave the city with him for Camelot, a theme park in Branson, Missouri, where they can work as lifeguards. Donner admits his homosexuality, but John believes that despite his occupation he's really straight, and he has a girlfriend Mikki (Alanna Ubach) to prove it. John tries to hustle the money for the hotel and pay back drug dealer Jimmy the Warlock (Terrence Howard), keep his girlfriend placated, and figure out how to deal with Donner's friendship. They meet several street people, including Crazy Eli (Christopher Gartin) and Homeless John (Keith David), and find a few customers, ranging from a closeted businessman (Elliott Gould) to others looking for violent, dangerous sex.

"Johns" is the first feature film for former TV documentary director Scott Silver. It is intelligent and realistic, with good performances, uneven editing, out of place symbolism, and a sad and tragic ending. Charles Brown and Danny Caron composed the original music, and Scott Silver wrote the screenplay and directed.

Du er Ikke Alene (1978)

A student strike at a Danish boys school in the 1970's is the backdrop for "Du er Ikke Alene", considered one of the best coming-of-age films ever made. The focus is on the conflict between the headmaster's old fashioned views and the liberal views of the boys. It explores the relationship between 15-year-old Bo (Anders Agensø) and 12-year-old Kim (Peter Bjerg), the younger son of the stern boarding school headmaster (Ove Sprogøe). Kim sneaks out into Bo's bed late at night where an intimate relationship begins. It is portrayed as something natural, and they do not hide it from the other boys, who consider it normal. Then a student is expelled for displaying pornographic posters and the other students decide to protest and hold a strike. Kim and Bo decide to "come out" to the school, and in front of parents and classmates show a video they made about their relationship that concludes with a long and passionate kissing scene. This film was made during a time when gay-themed movies were all but forbidden, and it is a brave, delicate, tender, unpretentious tale of the bonding that occurs between two boys. The story develops slowly, so some viewers find it somewhat boring. Directors Lasse Nielsen and Ernst Johansen made a groundbreaking film about first love without sentimentality, with depth, candor, and a sensitive handling of a controversial theme. The English title is "You Are Not Alone".

Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story (2004)

Set in the fictional working-class town of Inniston, Canada, this film is about Marc Hall (Aaron Ashmore), a popular student who manages to avoid harassment as a gay teen in a small town. However, when Marc decides to take his boyfriend Jason (Mac Fyfe) to the prom, he finds he has stepped over the line at the Catholic school he attends . Suddenly, with the spotlight of the nation's media on his struggle, he discovers he is battling not just for his right to date, but for the rights of gay people everywhere. The battle reaches all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court. We hear of Mark and Jason's breakup, but we never really see it, and the eventual court ruling comes via fax. The soundtrack often doesn't suit the dialogue, and the dance music sometimes is too loud and annoying. Based on a true story, this made for TV movie with a limited budget explores the clash between religion and sex, and shows gay teenagers are coming out at earlier ages, becoming increasingly politically active, and are more accepted by their peers. Gary Koftinoff composed the incidental music, Kent Staines wrote the teleplay from a story he wrote with Michael MacLennan, and John L'Ecuyer directed.

Morte a Venezia (1971)

In director Luchino Visconti's adaptation of the Thomas Mann novella, composer Gustave von Aschenbach (loosely based on Gustav Mahler) travels from Munich for a rest cure in Venice in 1911. He is suffering from a heart condition. In the lounge of the Lido hotel he spots a Polish family, headed by Mrs. Moore (Silvana Mangano) and finds himself attracted to her beautiful 14-year-old son Tadzio (Bjorn Andresen). Gradually his obsession increases while a cholera epidemic threatens the city. The pestilence represents the corruption that compromises and threatens his ideals. There are long periods without dialogue, and much of the story is told visually, with Gustave's lingering looks at Tadzio, crowds at the beach, and hotel dining rooms.

The film is elegant, sumptuous, lush, moody, and slow-paced, with little emotional center. Mahler's music is used in this film, although he was not homosexual as far as we know. Thomas Mann is alleged to have been gay or bi, and much of the storyline is supposedly based on Mann's own experiences. Dirk Bogarde portrays Gustave as an aging homosexual voyeur rather than Mann's disturbed artist struggling with an attraction to a boy that he does not understand. Not all of the dialogue is in English. Tadzio's family speak in Polish, and some of the minor characters speak in Italian. Subtitles are provided in ten languages. Luchino Visconti and Nicola Badalucco wrote the screenplay derived from the novella by Thomas Mann. Luchino Visconti directed. The English title is "Death in Venice".