Mambo Italiano

I watched Mambo Italiano and couldn't quite understand the "R" rating. Oh yes, it was about gay relationships. The problems with staying in the closet and coming out in a good Italian family are the source of the humor and pathos of the film. I enjoyed it immensely and you don't have to be gay to enjoy the conflict in a family as the children grow up and become who they are.

Broken Sky

Broken Sky or El Cielo Dividido is what montage should be in a movie. With very little dialogue the movie is filled with movement and romance as two men fall in and out of love. This is acting and film at its best.

Shock to the System

Chad Allen and Sebastian Spence as a couple. A movie only needs both of them to get me to watch. But the topic of reparative therapy is portrayed sensitively in this film noir. And the couple is shown, with flaws and successes, to really care for each other. And there is mystery and romance and gunfire and suspense all of which make a good detective movie.

Dream Warrior

Dream Warrior is a straight to DVD movie. But I liked it. I can't give it a resounding endorsement because there were a lot of flaws - script, acting, directing, continuity. What can I say in favor - I liked it. Maybe it's because I like Daniel Goddard from the TV show Beastmaster, but since he kept his clothes on it's not just because I'm attracted to his body. So... watch or don't watch. It's probably going to be a favorite for a very few people and their friends will just be asking "Why?"

Gods of Olympia

After watching Travelling to Olympia I had to watch Gods of Olympia just to see if the second was the same train wreck. It had the same appeal as watching a film by Ed Woods. One wonders why any money would be spent on such wooden acting, ponderous dialogue and preachy script. Certainly I agree that people should get more schooling, but a herd of rampaging elephants would be more subtle than the way this was inserted into an uninteresting plot. I like good diction but the actors came across as sounding out each word from cue cards rather than clearly pronouncing the words. Line such as 'He didn't like the politics, one of the partners was Baptist" show that the author doesn't know the difference between religion and politics or that there are a number of varieties of Baptist denominations. I could go on, but I won't consider watching this film as one of those by Ed Woods - an experiment in finding the ways perfectly good ideas can be ruined.

Sideline Secrets

Yes, I get movies because they have a gay theme. But I'm sometimes sorry about that and watching Sideline Secrets was one of those times. I kept watching to see if it could get any worse. And it did. Loose ends in a plot are supposed to be tied up in the denoument. All the loose ends in this movie were so in knots that all that happened was the noose around the dead body couldn't be removed. A lackluster script with worse acting pretending to be a suspense movie without one thrill. Skip the movie, please.

Travelling to Olympia

I generally have tried to go through every Gay and Lesbian film that Netflix has. But in this case that plan was a mistake. With a slow setup to insipid music, tepid writing, montage sequences for no discernable purpose except to fill time, and jejune acting the only redeeming interest was the gratuitous sex. The whole crew would be better off doing porn - oh, wait... I nearly fell asleep during the explicit sex - well... maybe something other than film.

Andre's Mother

This film was one of those serendipitous arrivals that happen with Blockbuster and Netflix when the movie you want doesn't arrive - the sleeve arrives with a different movie. Regarding Billy, which I was looking for, and Andre's Mother are very different movies even as they deal with homosexuality. I'm still glad I watched Andre's Mother rather than just returning it. It may not have been what I wanted, but it was a glimpse into being human with all our flaws and successes that I enjoyed. Wanting to love and knowing how to do it are different things, but one can try to love and improve as this film shows.

9 Songs

9 Songs is a film about passion. The passions in the film are music, sex and science. But the point is not about the explicit sex, but the expression of passion in life. 9 songs is about living life rather than getting through it.

The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines

They're not great films, but then I don't always want to watch a great film. Sometimes I want to watch a film that's fun. Noah Wylie in both of "The Librarian" films provides just that sense of fun. There's a charming lack of sensibility in the story, but a lack of belief is essential to any story of pure fun and adventure. It's not something that's a great movie, but it certainly is worth watching more than a couple of times.

School of Flesh

I believe in the benefit of watching foreign films if only for the chance to recover my long lost and, even when being taught, limited knowledge of the language, yet School of Flesh is more than an excuse to pretend I can actually understand French. It's a look at passion and discovery and changing relationships. I'll watch it again.

Nine Dead Gay Guys

I loved the film Nine Dead Gay Guys, while it may be hopelessly self-referential and full of stereotypes it also laughs at itself and with us. With cameos from some gay icons and good acting from Brendon Mackey and Glen Mulhern, it's worth watching.

Say Uncle

I watched the new movie by Peter Paige of Queer as Folk fame. And mostly I enjoyed it. The movie seemed insipid at times but there were a lot of great character actors doing great sketches. Unfortunately the talent was worth watching rather than the movie. I'd prefer both. But it's worth going to see for the great character acting.

Borat lawsuit

I probably won't go to see the new Borat movie. It just doesn't sound like my sort of film. But there's a ridiculous lawsuit against the movie. Evidently some young men are embarassed because of comments they made on film about slavery and minorities.

The movie features a scene in a motor home where Cohen gets drunk with
three frat boys who go on a racist rant about how they wished they had slaves
and how minorities in the United States "have all the power."

Frankly I think the 'frat boys' should be embarrassed about their comments and should feel humiliated. But they shouldn't sue because of those feelings. They deserve them. Being drunk is no excuse for racist comments or approval of slavery. If they didn't want to have those feelings they should have kept their mouths shut. Supposedly they're in college.... well if they're smart enough for that they should be smart enough to know what is and is not appropriate behavior.

Oh well, I guess they'll live and learn and college is certainly one of the places in which to do just that.

Deliver us from evil

I’m pretty sure that I don’t want to see the film ‘Deliver us from evil’ but I probably will if it comes to my area. What I’ve heard of it comes from a review in The Stranger. It sounds like a documentary that everyone concerned about child abuse should see. The film focuses on one particular man and his disassociative disorder – in other words he doesn’t put the pieces together about what he’s done and how it affects his victims.

Do I want to see the film? No.

But I still think I should, and I think you should also go see it.