Month: April 2024

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Beautiful Beings / Berdreymi (2022)

2024 Entry #45 04-16-24 “Beautiful Beings” (aka “Berdreymi”) is a 2022 Icelandic coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson. Set in the suburbs of Reykjavík during the 2000s, the film focuses on a group of teenage boys and the violence that surrounds them.

As part of my pursuit of LGBTQ+ inclusive films to enjoy, I often rely on TLA Video and its various catalogs, which specialize in this arena. This year I actually decided to work my way through their most recent catalog and this film was included there. However, I’m not sure there are actually any gay characters in the film, which surprised me. By way of the plot, there is a gay rape that takes place (which is thankfully cut short by the intervention of a friend), but that’s the only representation we have here. I suppose there’s a bit of affection between a few guys, but it just seems friendly to me. I haven’t up to this point included instances that only consisted of male on male sexual violence and I don’t want to make a habit of it, but I did watch this movie and I did enjoy it overall. It had some odd messaging, but it was well done.

On September 30, 2022, the film was announced as Iceland’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards. See less

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Second Skin / Segunda piel (1999)

2024 Entry #44 04-15-24 “Second Skin” (aka “Segunda piel”) is a 1999 Spanish romantic drama film directed by Gerardo Vera, starring Jordi Mollà, Ariadna Gil, Cecilia Roth & Javier Bardem (“Not Love, Just Frenzy”, “Before Night Falls”, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, “Skyfall”). The story mainly follows the married relationship between Alberto (Jordi Mollà) & Eva (Cecilia Roth), along with their young son. What isn’t apparent at first is that Alberto is having an affair with a doctor named Diego (played by Javier Bardem), who is also unaware that Alberto is married.

I’ve owned this movie for 22 years but this was the first time I’d seen it. It plays like an old soap opera, a little too dramatic but still good. All the leads are great, especially Gil, and while Mollà’s Alberto at first just seems like a jerk, there’s something profound bubbling beneath the surface, which boils over into tragedy, yet I it was telegraphed so long in advance that I barely took note of the actual event. Still, I enjoyed this. And it was nice to see Bardem play a bottom with relish.

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The Prom (2020)

2024 Entry #43 04-15-24 “The Prom” is a 2020 American musical comedy film directed by out creative Ryan Murphy from a screenplay by out writer Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, based on the 2018 Broadway musical of the same name by Martin, Beguelin, and Matthew Sklar. The film stars Meryl Streep (“Silkwood”, “Angels in America”, “The Hours”, “Evening”, “Mamma Mia!” / “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”), James Corden (“The History Boys”, “Lesbian Vampire Killers”, “Doctor Who”), Nicole Kidman (“The Hours”, “The Stepford Wives”, “Boy Erased”), Keegan-Michael Key (“Modern Family”, Schmigadoon!”), out actor Andrew Rannells (“Sex and the City 2”, “The New Normal”, “Will & Grace”, “Big Mouth”, RuPaul’s Drag Race”, “The Boys in the Band”, “Our Son”), openly queer Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”, “Schmigadoon!”), Tracey Ullman (“Ally McBeal”, “Will & Grace”), openly gay Kevin Chamberlin (“In & Out”, “Trick”, “Queer Duck: The Movie”, “Taking Woodstock”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “Nip/Tuck”, “Modern Family”), Mary Kay Place (“All in the Family”, “MAS*H”, “Thirtysomething”, “Tales of the City”, “My So-Called Life”, “Further Tales of the City”, “Being John Malkovich”, “Latter Days”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “Jack & Bobby”, “Pushing Daisies”, “Looking”, “Grace & Frankie”, “Shameless”), and Kerry Washington (“She Hate Me”, “Scandal”, “How to Get Away with Murder”), openly queer Nico Greetham (“Glee”, “American Horror Story: Double Feature”, “Love, Victor”), and introduces openly queer Jo Ellen Pellman in her film debut as Emma Nolan.

I saw the musical on Broadway and didn’t think much of it. It was cute but felt like it didn’t quite hit the mark. One of my friends left during the intermission because they didn’t enjoy it. I listened to the soundtrack for maybe a week? When the movie was released I thought it was too soon for me to dive in, which was my reaction again when it popped up in my queue, only then I realized it’s been out for 4 years and I gave it a watch. Through the first half I felt like I’d given it a bad wrap, but I could also see how it was working better as a film than a stage show in countless ways! However, the latter half of the movie did seem to drag quite a bit. And like the Broadway production, there were times when it didn’t quite hit as well as I felt it should, but in the end, it’s pretty entertaining. It will never be a favorite of mine but it doesn’t have to be. It’s just a bit of fluff. Gay fluff. And sometimes that’s what you need.

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Please Baby Please (2022)

2024 Entry #42 04-14-24 “Please Baby Please” is a 2022 American musical drama film directed by Amanda Kramer, who co-wrote the screenplay with Noel David Taylor. It stars Andrea Riseborough (“Black Mirror”), Harry Melling (“The Old Guard”), Karl Glusman (“Stonewall”, “Nocturnal Animals”), openly non-binary Ryan Simpkins (“A Single Man”, the “Fear Street” trilogy), openly sexually fluid Jake Choi (“Front Cover”, “EastSiders”), openly non-binary Cole Escola (“Nurse Jackie”, “What We Do in the Shadows”, “Big Mouth”), Jaz Sinclair (“The Boys” / “Gen V”) and Demi Moore (“The Butcher’s Wife”, “Ellen”, “Will & Grace”).

Wow. That was interesting. My reaction during the film was that it felt like an odd crossing between David Lynch, John Waters and Bruce LaBruce. The film plays with gender, perception, sexuality and wraps it all up in greaser chic. Amanda Kramer and Noel David Taylor wrote the screenplay in 2018; Kramer has said that she was able to convince producers to finance the film by calling it “the gay West Side Story,” which Kramer described as “a lie” and “a Halloween trick”. I paused the film to get something to eat and my partner asked me what I was watching; I expressed interest in a certain event happening by the end of the movie – and without spoiling it – I got what I wanted. I’m not sure if it was great or not, but I was entertained. The only part I disliked featured the death of a character, which felt out of place, even if it was meant to highlight something or lead to something else later in the film; I had issues with it, but not enough for it to completely ruin my experience.

“Please Baby Please” won the 2022 Outfest Grand Jury Award for North American Narrative Feature and was named one of the “10 Best Unsung LGBTQ Films of 2022” by GALECA. The film also received a 2023 Queerty nomination for best Indie Movie.

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The Monkey’s Mask (2000)

2024 Entry #41 04-13-24 “The Monkey’s Mask” is an international co-production 2000 thriller film directed by Samantha Lang based on the 1994 verse novel of the same name by celebrated Australian lesbian poet Dorothy Porter. It stars Susie Porter and out lesbian actress Kelly McGillis. Porter plays a lesbian private detective who becomes entangled with a possible suspect (McGillis) in the disappearance of a young woman.

I’d seen this once before but I barely remembered anything about it, save that it featured Kelly McGillis, a lesbian storyline, and that the film was set in Australia. I also remembered that I didn’t like it as much as I’d hoped to. This second time I felt like I might have been too harsh in my earlier reactions as I enjoyed most of the movie. However, it stumbles horribly at the end, in which the “killers” are revealed but are then painted (via voiceover) as accidental killers, when the actual revelation is played as far more malicious and randomly, graphically, sexual. I think this might be the only movie I’ve ever seen in which the shaft of a lead actor’s cock (or maybe a stunt cock) is suddenly displayed, with none of the other bits, just as a crime is confessed. Even if the killers didn’t murder the victim on purpose, they hid the body and they played out some pretty twisted shenanigans after the fact – including threatening a detective. And that ending would be fine – if there was some resolution beyond it, but there’s nothing.

The film, which only just preceded the release of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, features two actors from those films: Marton Csokas, who played Lord Celeborn in all 3 films and John Noble, who portrays Denethor in the latter two films. Csokas also played Xena’s lover Borias in “Xena: Warrior Princess”.

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The Swimmer (2021)

2024 Entry #40 04-12-24 “The Swimmer” is a 2021 Israeli sports drama written and directed by Adam Kalderon, who is openly gay. Omer Perelman Striks stars as Erez, a gay competitive swimmer, torn between desire, success and self fulfillment in the shadow of the discrimination that he faces in the world of sports.

Interesting. Another film in which I’m not sure the ending lands exactly as I’d have chosen, yet far more successful than “Punch”. Also, this film features several creative flourishes which really made me pay attention. First there was a scene in which the lead masturbates under a blanket (as is often the case, understandably, on screen) but as the camera moves down the actor’s legs, the blanket moves with him and his erection is fully realized in the shadow cast on the wall. Perhaps it was fake, but it was still surprising to see. Soon after this there is a shot of the swimmers, their faces in the water, with the camera upside down – it looked incredible. These little moments were few and far between but entertaining as I began to watch for them. And then the ending went so far over the top that I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. During the final race, the competition transforms into an imagined dance off in an empty pool, which reflects what is actually happening in the race. It nearly killed the movie for me, before I realized that I kind of liked it. I found some of the imagery confusing and I’m not sure I completely understand the mental transformation that takes place in the film’s final moments. This project feels like a few different things forced to exist in the same film and I guess I wish that they’d embraced these highly stylized elements more and allowed these different aspects to coalesce into something more cohesive. There are some brave choices on display here and they deserve to be seen, but their fleeting use makes the otherwise well made bit of the film seem bland by comparison.

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Punch (2022)

2024 Entry #39 04-12-24 “Punch” is a New Zealand gay sports drama film written and directed by Welby Ings (“Sparrow”, “Boy”). The story follows the central character Jim (Jordan Oosterhof), a highschool student and aspiring boxer whose former professional boxing father Stan (Tim Roth) is now an alcoholic whose health is fading. Jim befriends Whetu (Conan Hayes), an openly gay Maori boy who is an aspiring singer. The two face multiple hardships, some of them quite shocking, before a not completely satisfying ending.

I enjoyed most of this film. Though it was clearly a drama, I was a bit surprised by some of the serious events which were depicted, but it managed to keep a mostly positive outlook… which, I’m sorry to say, seems to have hurt the ending of the film, which seems rushed and nonsensical. I suppose this ending could have worked if the film took the time to set it up but there are a dozen details that are just wrong. For example, it appears that Jim is editing a video for Whetu during this finale (which he suggested earlier in the film was something he’d love to do for Whetu), but it’s made up of footage in which Whetu was alone – and SPOILER – just before the character was viciously gang raped. So tacking that on to a “happy ending” felt completely tone deaf. Perhaps they meant to imply that they recreated that time together for some kind of healing through Whetu’s art, but that doesn’t seem to make sense either, as Whetu leaves town to become a singer without saying goodbye to Jim – and openly kisses another guy during the concert at the end, which is played over Jim editing the video. It sucks, because as dark as the subject matter gets at times, this movie gets more right than it does wrong…so seeing it fall apart at the end like this is a bit frustrating. Any example I could have listed here would have been an unfortunate misstep if it were the only one, but combined they topple the film which had been running aggressively forward to the promised finish line just a half hour before.

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Chaperone (2022)

2024 Entry #38 04-12-24 “Chaperone” is 16 minute 2022 short film which was written and directed by Sam Max which stars Russell Kahn & openly gay actor Zachary Quinto (“Six Feet Under”, “Star Trek”, “American Horror Story: Murder House”, “American Horror Story: Asylum”, “Star Trek Into Darkness”, “I Am Michael”, “Star Trek Beyond”, “Hannibal”, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “Big Mouth”, “The Boys in the Band”, “American Horror Story: NYC”, “Down Low”). The story concerns Zachary Quinto’s mysterious chaperone who picks up his client (Kahn), accepts his money and after checking to see if the client has followed his instructions, takes him to an out of the way house where the client does drugs, has sex with the chaperone (via a toy) and when ready, is taken into the countryside where he takes a pill which seemingly fulfills its intended purpose and kills him. The chaperone covers everything up. The audience is not privy to why the young man wanted to die or why he went to such great lengths to do so. And the thoughts and feelings of the chaperone are suggested but remain a mystery.

Interesting, dark and well made. This is the kind of short that usually has a slew of comments from gay men who are pissed that it was included in a collection of gay shorts (“Boys On Film 23”) – the same ones that tend to rant about any inclusion of HIV related stories. Yet the tale being told is definitely queer. I like variety so I was pleased. And though I doubt I’ll ever watch this again, it was entertaining & creepy – and I like both.

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Eden (2020)

2024 Entry #37 04-12-24 “Eden” is a 17 minute nearly silent 2020 short film which was written and directed by Sven Spur (“Tom and Niel”, “Hot Water”, “Follow Me”, “Burn”). The film follows a central character played by Mustaf Ahmeti, who is credited as “Wolf” in the film, though this name is never said. He spends time hooking up with several men in several different places.

I thought this was a bit disappointing. I had seen the poster before seeing the film and though it was obviously sexy, I had thought it rather evocative of several possible avenues for exploration, but it ended up being mainly just some sex scenes strewn together – which may have well been the point, but it is a point that may have been achieved various other ways which I would have found far more interesting. As it stands, I like the poster far more than I like the film, which isn’t good.

This short is available in the 2023 gay short film collection “Boys on Film 23: Dangerous to Know”.

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Budapest, Closed City (2021)

2024 Entry #36 04-12-24 “Budapest, Closed City” is a 13 minute 2021 Hungarian short film which was written and directed by Máté Konkol. The story concerns Péter (Péter Dániel Katona) as he takes his British friend Adam (Adam Wadsworth) on a personal but political tour around Budapest. After getting drunk in an underground club, Adam kisses Peter but things don’t go as expected.

This was fine. It’s not great. It’s not horrible. Some of the activity was reminiscent of the short “No Strings” which I watched just days ago…and this film suffered by that comparison, because this one feels far more staged and much less natural – though I’m sure they were both staged. Lol There was nothing for me to get lost in here. Perhaps if it had been a longer film.

This short is available in the 2023 gay short film collection “Boys on Film 23: Dangerous to Know”.

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