200 American (2003)

A gay owner of an ad agency is nursing a broken heart and to escape his dreadful melancholy, he hires a rent boy for sex one evening. He is surprised that the guy he hires is actually decent, sweet and smart so he finds him a position in his company. He then learns that he is actually Australian and he is only hustling to raise a certain amount to obtain an American green card. On the other hand, the owner's right hand man has fallen for the hustler and vice versa, that's when the tension starts amongst those involved...

An honest simple story that is worth seeing... maybe not as great as the other films you watch but it ain't bad compared to most independent films. Considering the budget constraints and everything, the only flaw I find is that all three major characters are good-looking. I'd expect the owner to look more ordinary so that it would be more credible to use his greens to have some overnight fun. But I bet the presence of good looks is purely a marketing strategy.

In the Gloaming (1997)

The directorial debut of the late Christopher Reeve is a made-for-cable movie about the effects of AIDS on a family. Danny (Robert Sean Leonard) returns home to his parents to be with them in the final days of his battle against AIDS. The stress of the situation brings out the tensions and anxieties that the family members have been quietly bearing for years. Danny's mother (Glenn Close) grows closer to her son through the tragedy. His father (David Strathairn) struggles with the reality of his son's life and illness.



Also starring Whoopi Goldberg and Bridget Fonda, IN THE GLOAMING is a simplistic film that is precisely directed to perfection that it won't waste a second of your time. All scenes in this one-hour piece are equally important; and Glenn Close and Robert Sean Leonard's performances make it more than just another AIDS-related family film.

Save Me (2007)

A deft exploration of the controversial ex-gay movement, the story follows Mark (Chad Allen), a drug-addicted young man who overdoses and finds himself at the mercy of his disapproving family. Their solution to Mark's problems is to check him into a Christian run ministry overseen by Gayle (Judith Light), who believes she can help cure young men of their 'gay affliction' through spiritual guidance. At first, Mark resists the efforts of Gayle and her loving husband Ted (Stephen Lang), but soon finds solace and brotherhood with several of the members, including Scott (Robert Gant), who is battling family demons of his own. When Mark and Scott begin to find their friendship developing into an unexpected romance, both are forced to confront the new attitudes they're beginning to accept, and Gayle finds the values she holds as an absolute truth to be threatened.



I have mixed feelings about the story of the film probably because of the presence of religion but I was immensely affected by its lead charaters as the actors' fine portrayal of the roles made the film worth watching from beginning to end.

Clay Farmers (1988)

Mike, a young hired hand in California is working a small farm with a close friend, Dan. Mike is content on the farm and obviously attracted to the handsome Dan. Dan seems to be attracted to Mike as well but is a drifter and not happy as a farmer. He longs to finish out the contract and move on to a big city, perhaps with Mike. Gary, a boy from the next farm over, befriends them during their daily chores. Gary lives with his abusive father, a stepmother and a stepbrother. Gary is drawn to the camaraderie of the young farmhands in part to avoid his problems at home. When an innocent session of skinny-dipping is misconstrued by the boy's father, the young hired hands soon find themselves unjustly suspected of wrongdoing in a suddenly hostile small town.



CLAY FARMERS is definitely worth one's time though it has some flaws which is rather acceptable being aware that it's a low budget production. The story has so much depth in it that you ought to understand it with your heart & brain at the same time. The two leads' acting is definitely commendable!

Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

Two socialites find their view of the world changed when a young gay man takes advantage of their preconceptions in this thoughtful comedy-drama. Flan and Ouisa Kittredge (Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing) are a married couple who have built highly successful careers as art dealers catering to Manhattan's upper crust. The Kittredges are entertaining friends one evening when a young black man named Paul (Will Smith) appears at their door. Paul says that he's a close friend of their children, with whom he attended boarding school, and he's just been mugged and needs to get off the street for a moment. Flan and Ouisa invite him in, and they are immediately taken by Paul's intelligence and charm; he offers to prepare dinner, regales them with stories about his father, Sidney Poitier, and ends up spending the night at their apartment. However, the next morning Flan and Ouisa discover that they've been had; Paul is actually a con artist from the streets who has been pulling the wool over the eyes of many of their friends -- and his actions are beginning to have serious consequences.



SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, an adaptation from a stage play, is an intellectual dramedy that made me laugh out loud from the beginning to almost the end. It is a film you should not miss!

Jet Boy (2001)

A thirteen year old street hustler (Branden Nadon) searching for love hooks up with a man (Dylan Walsh) of questionable past. Gradually, a bond forms between the two, but will their old ways keep them from developing true love and respect for each other?



JET BOY may have some flaws but it is certainly a very moving film that will touch your heart. A good watch this holiday season to remind us all that we should love our neighbours... every single day in our existence.

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Wonder Boys (2000)

A fed-up wife, a missing Marilyn Monroe jacket, a murdered pet, a pregnant lover, a stolen car, a thoughtful student, a transvestite date, an insistent editor, an unfinished novel... just some of the issues English Professor and novelist Grady Tripp has to deal with one weekend. Then he discovers a new wonder boy, James Leer, his most gifted student. Soon, the aging wonder boy rediscovers himself...

WONDER BOYS... a truly brilliant film... an experience of a lifetime!

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Trembling Before G-d (2001)

Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are either gay or lesbian, this unprecedented feature documentary shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality and religious fundamentalism. It portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma on how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality. As the film unfolds, we meet a range of complex individuals -- some hidden, some out -- from the world's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi to closeted, married Hasidic gays and lesbians to those abandoned by religious families to Orthodox lesbian high-school sweethearts. Many have been tragically rejected and their pain is raw, yet with irony, humor, and resilience, they love, care, struggle, and debate with a thousand-year old tradition.

TREMBLING BEFORE G-D is an international project with global implications that strikes at the meaning of religious identity and tradition in a modern world. For the first time, this issue has become a live, public debate in Orthodox circles, and the film is both witness and catalyst to this historic moment. What emerges is a loving and fearless testament to faith and survival and the universal struggle to belong. Certainly this film is a MUST-SEE!

(In ENGLISH, YIDDISH & HEBREW with ENGLISH & SPANISH subtitles)

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Quinceañera (2006)

This film takes a real look at what happens when teenage sexuality, age-old rituals, and real estate prices collide. It is fueled by the racial, class, and sexual tensions of a Latino neighborhood in transition. Magdalena (Emily Rios) is the daughter of a Mexican-American family who runs a storefront church in Echo Park, Los Angeles. With her fifteenth-birthday fast approaching, all she can think about is her boyfriend, her debutante dress, and the Hummer Limo she hopes will carry her on her special day. But a few months before the celebration, Magdalena becomes pregnant. When her father learns about it, she is thrown out of the house immediately without any second thought. She then runs to her great-great uncle Tomas (Chalo Gonzalez), an old man who makes his living selling champurrado (a Mexican hot drink) in the street who is already looking after Carlos (Jesse Garcia), her cousin, a tough-looking cute cholo who was thrown out by his parents for being gay. When a crisis arises, the three of them pull together as one family.

It’s no wonder why QUINCEAÑERA grabbed the major awards in Sundance for it is no ordinary film. It is a film that has given a better insight of the Latinos living in the US and remarkably, the majority of great acting is provided by amateurs. Brilliant!

(In ENGLISH and some parts in SPANISH with ENGLISH subtitles)

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The Journey of Jared Price (2000)

19-year-old Jared Price (Corey Spears) leaves his home in Georgia to start a new life in Southern California. With only a backpack and a few hundred dollars in his pocket, he sets out his journey. He checks in to a youth hostel with very little privacy and a prostitute for a roommate. He befriends Robert who also stays in the same hostel but he soon discovers that Robert wants more than friendship. Jared gains employment as a personal caretaker for Mrs. Haines, a wealthy, old blind woman and he unexpectedly falls into a deceptive relationship with her affluent 35-year old son Matthew (Steve Tyler). When the relationship becomes personally destructive, Jared once again sets out another journey... his admittance of his sexual preference and the realization of who he really wants to be with...

THE JOURNEY OF JARED PRICE is an independent film that is a cross between drama and erotica obviously with a lot of romance and hot sexual scenes. It is just an ordinary film enjoyed by the many...

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Caffeine (2006)

Inside the Black Cat Café, a coffee house in London, a neurotic young man unexpectedly runs into his ex-girlfriend while whacked out on killer dope, a highly strung lawyer finds out that her husband-to-be is a transvestite, a friend reveals that he's been arrested for exposing himself in public, a possessive boyfriend discovers that his girlfriend is an ex porn actress, an elderly lady goes ballistic when she mistakes a patron for her ex husband and the manager of the cafe struggles with the revelation that her boyfriend cheated on her in a threesome... a string of incidents happen in just one day!

CAFFEINE simply is a film about some characters we probably have encountered in our lives and how they attempt to repair fractured relationships. It's certainly a nice film to watch over a cup of coffee.

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EuroTrip (2004)

This is a story about Scott Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz) who is devastated after being dumped by his girlfriend Fiona (Kristin Kreuk) who has been sleeping with the lead singer of a college band (Matt Damon). To avoid more humiliating pains, he joins his three friends -- Cooper Harris (Jacob Pitts), Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Jamie (Travis Wester) -- travel across Europe in search of his German pen pal Mieke (Jessica Böhrs), whom he initially mistakes for a guy, when "he" is really a girl. Realizing he has feelings for her, they visit London, Paris, Amsterdam, Bratislava, Berlin, and Rome, getting into all manner of awkward and embarrassing situations along the way.

EUROTRIP is a 2004 American comedy that is really surprisingly hilarious and what makes it really funny in general are the wrong notions of Americans about Europe and the Europeans. Unfortunately, it’s not for family viewing as some scenes and some of the languages used are not meant for minors.

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Trick (1999)

A young gay aspiring musical theater writer/composer searches in vain for someplace to bed down with a sexy go-go dancer in this sweet-natured romantic comedy set in Manhattan. Gabriel (Christian Campbell) wants to compose musical comedies whilst his best friend and confidante Katherine (Tori Spelling) wants to star in his productions. On the way home from a local gay cruise bar, Gabriel notices Mark (Jean Paul Pitoc), one of the dancers from the club, catnapping in the subway. After flirting and exchanging sloppy stares at one another, Mark joins Gabriel at the latter’s small one-room apartment only to find themselves disturbed by a pet dog and Katherine and his heterosexual roommate and his roommate’s girlfriend. Their attempt to find a suitable boudoir leads them from one location to another and along the way they discover that their attraction might extend beyond a one-night stand affair.

TRICK is obviously unrealistic but definitely one entertaining film. The fine acting of the three leads combined with some witty lines and funny moments not to mention the comical musical numbers are enough to make you feel good whilst enjoying the film.

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The Graffiti Artist (2004)

Floating on a skateboard through the wet streets of Seattle and Portland in the small hours of the night, Nick (Ruben Bansie-Snellman) is like a prophet who denies the existence of the world. A high-school-aged graffiti artist with no family or friends, Nick steals what he needs, sleeps where he becomes tired and wanders the city at night with no other idea than perfecting his tag, "Rupture." So when Nick meets Jesse (Pepper Fajans), another tagger and they start up a friendship, his hopes and desires are like the art he has left on back street buildings, abandoned railroad cars and lonely walls: beautiful, but hidden.

If you decide to watch THE GRAFFITI ARTIST, you ought to place yourself in Nick's shoes, otherwise, you'll be out there questioning yourself what is the purpose of having the film made. I am sure there would be a lot of mixed feelings and those who have the "artist" in them would surely find this a real treat as they would easily relate to it.

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Park (2006)

Ian (Dave Fenner) and Krysta (Izabella Miko) are pet groomers, but the latter is just here for a fling with a lawyer named Dennis (William Baldwin), who is cheating on his wife Peggy (Ricki Lake) who is sitting in a car with her best friend Claire (Cheri Oteri) spying on him. Not far away, four co-workers pull up in a van. Sheryl (Melanie Lynskey) and Meredith (Anne Dudek) both have a crush on Nathan (Trent Ford) who runs around nude with Babar (Maulik Pancholy) who has been secretly admiring Trent, too. Meanwhile, April (Dagney Kerr) is trying to kill herself, and Darnell (Treach) the tow-truck driver will be called in to help clean this mess up whilst Javier (Francesco Quinn) will be escorting someone home. All of this takes place during a lunch break one day and after this, you'll never look at you local municipal park quite the same way again...

PARK is a humorous ensemble comedy blent with some drama about honesty, sex and relationships that will surely entertain its audience. All actors portrayed their roles to a T.

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Wassup Rockers (2005)

A story based on real life experiences of a group of Latino teenagers who, instead of conforming to the hip hop culture of their gang infested neighbourhood, wear their clothes tight, ride their skateboards, and listen to punk rock. Constantly harassed for being different, they have to fight to be themselves. One morning, they take two city buses from South Central to skate the famous "Nine Stairs" at Beverly Hills High that they always see in the popular skateboard videos. Whilst they are there they catch the attention of some rich Beverly Hills girls, which leads to trouble with the girls' boyfriends as well as the police. The police bust them simply because they're there and they escape into Beverly Hills where they meet up with the girls and a variety of characters, getting into really big trouble as they are chased by the police and the residents. The boys have to get away and try to make their way to the relative safety of their own neighbourhood.

Considering WASSUP ROCKERS' description from the producers, I'd say that it's quite an entertaining piece of documentary about Latino youngsters. Most importantly, this film succeeded in showing what true Latino brotherhood really means... and it's really somethin'...

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Flyboys (2006)

Inspired by a true story, this film is about the brave young American men that volunteered to join Escadrille de Lafayette, a fighter squadron of the French Air Service formed in 1916 during World War I. Why did these Americans volunteer when their own country was not even at war and that the Germans were stronger as they were more equipped than the French? That was the time when men believed that dying for a cause was certainly more honourable than dying of non-heroic reason. Blaine Rawlings (James Franco) was forced to leave his home in Arizona after the family ranch was foreclosed by the bank. Blaine sees a newsreel of fighter-pilots in France and decides that he has nothing to lose. Briggs Lowry (Tyler Labine) can't do anything right and is shamed into joining his rich father. African-American boxer Eugene Skinner (Abdul Salis) had been living in France, a racially tolerant country, for many years, wanted to give something back to his new country. These Americans were under the command of French Captain Georges Thenault (Jean Reno) and American Squadron Leader Reed Cassidy (Martin Henderson).

The FLYBOYS is a film that will take you back a century ago when men then were more "men" than now. It will let you experience what men ultimately want at that time -- "je vois tout." A film of courage and feelings that is recommended highly for the men of today.

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Rock Haven (2007)

Brady (Sean Hoagland) is a young, spiritual man who moves to the coastal seaside town of Rock Haven with his overprotective mother Marty (Laura Jane Coles), who is setting up a Christian school nearby. When Brady meets worldly, seductive Clifford (Owen Alabado), there's an instant mutual attraction, even though homosexuality conflicts with Brady's devoutly Christian beliefs.

Religion, sexuality and romance are the main issues that are depicted in ROCK HAVEN... how they all collide in Brady's life as he experiences his first true love. It is quite a sensual and honest coming out story that you'll tend to care about his future and wish for a happier ending, I suppose...

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2 Minutes Later (2007)

This sexually charged thriller concerns an insurance adjuster named Michael Dalmar (Michael Molina) who wrestles with his feelings of homosexuality. After an assignment takes him to Philadelphia, he makes contact with his licentious brother Kyle. When the brother turns up missing, Michael pretends to be him in order to investigate. Soon Michael finds that he enjoys his brother's libidinous lifestyle.

2 MINUTES LATER has been badly reviewed and I am trying to understand why. Is it a kind of marketing strategy or is that bad, really? Jessica Graham's portrayal as Abigail the lesbian detective is quite good. The photography is far better than average. It certainly has some good laughs and some very sexual moments. It's an Indie film... and I wonder why so many people would want to see it with all those negative reviews. Well, judge for yourself!

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A Four Letter Word (2007)

With its breezy shots of male genitalia and characters nicknamed Long John and Tripod, this is a surprisingly endearing romantic comedy that explores gay relationships with low-budget verve. The film’s swishy centerpiece is Luke (Jesse Archer), a promiscuous “gay cliché” who works in a Chelsea sex shop along with his friend Zeke (Cory Grant). While Luke chases sexual oblivion, Zeke engages in social activism and a running commentary on Luke’s moral shortcomings. But when Luke falls for a less flamboyant lover named Stephen (Charlie David) and decides to cut back on the sparkles, he soon discovers that his new boyfriend is even more old-fashioned than he thought.

A FOUR LETTER WORD to my belief is a sequel to Slutty Summer with practically the same lead characters minus Markus & Tyler who are supposed to be living happily in Europe. I have to be honest that in terms of laughs, I prefer the older one but in terms of the total film, I certainly would vote for this one. I wonder if they'd make another sequel... if so, I definitely want Luke & Zeke in it again and I think Marilyn had enough as she really bored me this time!

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