The Second Coming

Director(s): Jack Walsh
Writer(s): K.M. Soehnlein, Jack Walsh
Producer(s): Jack Walsh
Starring: Al Girordano, John Connally, Jeff Constan

Ben and Carlos are two high school boyfriends living in a time when racism and homophobia reigns supreme. While a group named the Allied Forces of God becomes popular across the nation, those in minority and marginalized communities band together in an underground community to form a resistance. With stock footage of Nazi Germany juxtaposed against the fictional future, this experimental film delves into a dark subject matter about how the underlying fear of difference in a country as progressive as the US could eventually boil over into a second holocaust.

The filmmaker takes a slight postmodernist view towards filmmaking by making the narrative as complex and indiscernible as possible. While obviously a reaction to the era of war in the 20th Century, this 1995 film seems like its trying to sum up the last century and warn others about the next century. This film did make me think about the values I look for in good queer cinema. While this has neither the high production value, plot structure, and character development that I crave, it had the ability to make me think on a deeper level of hatred in the US. In which case, the film is definitely a post modern film. Could the world ever get so bad that outright homophobia and racism in the US becomes the norm once again? And how fragile is our government? History is all about the rise and fall of one empire after another. When will the US empire crash and which empire will be the next?

When Darkness Falls / The Best of Care

Director(s): Jeff London
Writer(s): Jeff London
Producer(s): Jeff London
Starring: Mike Dolan, Matt Austin, Ron Petronicolos

In "When Darkness Falls", Kevin, a manizing prankster invites his most recent boy toy, Danny, to his parent's summer home in the woods. Danny, the antithesis of Kevin, is a fearful, sweet, one-man guy naive to the likes of Kevin and his friends. Kevin gets a kick out of scaring Danny about the local folklore surrounding his house and the zombies that supposedly roam the adjacent cemetery. When darkness falls, noises outside the house begin to scare the two shitless. Even after Kevin's friends reveal they were behind the creepy happenings, things continue down a scary spiral revealing the true story of the zombies that wander the night.

An Establishing shot! Finally. The filmmaker, Jeff London, does a superb shot of setting the scene. Just when you think the movie will take place in this lush, green haven from the city, London flashes the creepy cemetery briefly, creating an eery sense of suspense and fear. It is in small instances like this that London is able to create actual fear in viewers with a subject matter that would otherwise seem very kitsch. Zombies are hard to do and pull off well. Although their presence in the film is brief and limited, the zombie aspect was pulled off very well and rather classy avoiding the cheese and camp that comes with the genre. The film had just the right amount of the paranormal before ending, making this short a good recommendation for a night in with the boys. The acting, thought stunted and stalled in many scenes, definitely felt natural. There was one scene when one character asked the other two characters if they had cell phones three times. And their response to him was the same all three times 'There is no signal/service". Three times is definitely way too much. We got the point after the first.

Aside from "Hellbent" and the Here! TV dramas "The Lair" and "Dante's Cove", queer horror is rarely done. It seems that queer horror could be a definite expanding genre. It provides a refreshing change to the general plots of normal queer films usually dealing with coming of age, coming out, or finding that someone while still dealing with self-identity. in horror films, a character hardly has time to come out and find himself when an axe wielding villain is on his tail trying to get some tail. Thus you find in queer cinema, gay characters already know who they are, what their stance is in life, and only have one major concern: getting out of the situation alive.

In "The Best of Care", Jeff London works his suspenseful magic once again and creates tension between a crotchety, dying man and his partner who faithfully cares for him, day after day after day after day. Mike Dolan stars again as Billy, the loyal but annoyed partner trying to enjoy life while his partner bitches about his meds. When the constant complaining pushes Billy over the edge, he kills his partner. Just when Billy thinks his problems are over, things start to get eery and his problems get worse than it can possibly get.

Once again, London has a knack for creating suspense and building tension. His opening shot alone with the eery sound of a running shower spooks viewers before the plot is even developed. Sure the sound mixing could have been better and the lighting was dark in some scenes, but the fact remains that the film is a noble if not successful attempt at queer horror inspite any production flaws. The juxtaposition of Dolan in the previous film to this film shows the range of Dolan's acting ability. Coming in under 25 minutes, this short is something worth the time it takes.

Shiner

Director(s): Christian Calson
Writer(s): Christian Calson
Producer(s): Christian Calson, Carl Strecker, Jon Teboe, Jaymes Thompson, Pyongson Yim
Starring: Scott Stepp, Derris Nile, David Zelina

Shiner is a story of three pairs of people that blur the lines of violence and sex. Danny and Tony are two amateur fighters who get their kicks from tormenting others. While they seem like common, everyday bullies during the day, at night they share a secret fetish. Danny gets off when he is beaten by Tony and Tony gets a thrill from beating up Danny. Linda and Reg are a hot steamy straight couple that can't get enough of each other. When Linda starts to let her aggression out in the bedroom during sex, their relationship feels an overwhelming pressure. Tim is an amateur boxer who has a set routine for training. For the last four years he has knowingly been stalked by Bob, a shy parking lot attendant always looking to catch Tim in the shower or locker room. Tim grapples with his feelings for Bob while still coming to terms with his need to be stalked.

The best way I can describe this movie is "Fight Club" meets "Love Actually". These three stories somehow loosely intersect to create a semi-community of violence-based sexually charged men and women. Now what this films lacks is the emotional drive and plot development of "Fight Club" and the clever intertwining of stories that "Love Actually" offers. While the production value is rather amateur, the filmmaker does make a valiant effort of using light and cinematography to differentiate the three sub plots. The green haze in the scenes with Tim and Bob paint an eery feeling of jealousy and lust. The blue tint to scenes between Danny and Tony create an overwhelming essence of testosterone while evoking a level of secrecy. The washed out bright yellow filter of Linda and Reg create an intimate space that produces a sense of trust and love.

Now what the filmmaker does that bothers me is that he seems to have studied from the "Yours Emotionally!" school of film where everything in the first few minutes is shot in extreme close-up. While yes, things shot in extreme close-up are rather cool to look at as individual clips or photos, they rarely work in a narrative spliced together. The first scene should be establishing and we should get more from a character's full body mannerisms than from the enormous monologue-esque prologue or the quick banter about inane subjects that pertain nothing to character development or plot. Thus. . . Shiner is yet another grad school thesis film focusing on a subject matter that has yet to be fully expanded in cinema and queer cinema.

Yours Emotionally!

Director(s): Sridhar Rangayan
Writer(s): Niranjan Kamatkar, Sridhar Rangayan
Producer(s): Saagar Gupta, Niranjan Kamatkar, Sridhar Rangayan
Starring: Premjit, Jack Lamport

Ravi and Paul leave their comfortable Western world of Lester, England to travel the gay life of Bangalore, India. Upon arrival their gay friend, Jai, introduces them to an underground, secretive world where gay men and the hijjra community are able to live in peace at least for one night. When Ravi gains the attention of the gay godfathers, Murthi and Anna, both he and Paul wind up in an upscale Indian home where gay men flock for advice from the wise tenants. Ravi falls for Mani, a man destined to marry a woman to help his family. Friendships are tested and relationships face a perpetual obstacle course, but in the end Ravi learns the true nature of being gay, Indian, Sikh, and a man growing up in the West.

Ok. So did you ever play pretend with your friends when you were a kid? Well when I played pretend I would be the director of a movie. I would put the thumb and forefingers on both hands together to form a rough letterbox shape and imagine landscapes and cool shots. And I would say things like "Wouldn't it be cool if the camera started down here and then moved super close to your face and then turned to show the tree." Now imagine if that imaginary movie I was making as a kid was actually made. Tada! You have Yours Emotionally! The filmmaker has this aversion to establishing shots or shots that aren't either a close-up or extreme close-up. The first ten minutes are so close-up you don't recognize the antagonist when you finally meet him in a medium and long shot. The acting. . . well imagine those friends in your kiddie movie getting paid for their kiddie acting skills. It is as if they took two gay men off the streets and said "Hey want to act in a movie? We'll take you to India!" And those two gay men "Sure, why not? I have time to kill before the next White Party"

The only reason I would endorse or support this film is because for once I see a gay man on the screen that looks a little like me. Not enough to buy it, but enough to rent it and watch it. While there have been some memorable gay Indian characters from films like My Beautiful Laundrette, Touch of Pink, Chutney Popcorn, and Chicken Tikka Masala (not a suggestion, just noting memorable gay Indian characters), that have done far more for the Queer South Asian cause, this film focuses less on characters and more on. . . I dunno editing perhaps? Either way, it was worth watching for representation recognition, but not much more than that.

On_Line

Director(s): Jed Weintrob
Writer(s): Andrew Osborne, Jed Weintrob
Producer(s): Adam Brightman, Tanya Selvaratnam
Starring: Josh Hamilton, Harold Perrineau

John and Moe have created a new website that allows others to sign on and live out their fantasies with a person signed on and waiting just for them. While John struggles to get over his ex-fiancee, he finds solace in watching a mysterious online girl through her webcam. Ed is a teenager struggling with his sexuality in a small town in Ohio. He signs online to connect with Al in New York and together they develop a net-based relationship. Ed's friend Moira is a suicidal addict who develops a relationship with Moe, but realizes that Moe is being unfaithful with Jordan, an online fantasy provider who happens to be hitting it off with John. Worlds collide when Moira attempts overdosing on pills while streaming herself online. The characters prove just how small the digital world is and how there is only two degrees of separation between you and your favorite online obsession.

If you think my synopsis of the film is somewhat stunted and confusing, consider it an honest portrayal of the film itself. Sure the film does a good job of conveying the interconnectedness of the internet. While six degrees of separation may be the norm for the physical world, the internet world has to be divided by simply two degrees. Sure, online we are more connected than ever, but emotionally connecting with someone is just as hard as in the real world. It is rare that a true connection ever comes from signing online, yet more and more people today turn to sites like craigslist, eharmony, match.com, gay.com, etc, to meet that special someone. Some have luck, but most have this false sense of community that seems to be driven by selling oneself for some sort of validation. Having written extensively about biographical representation in the digital world, I could go on on this subject for hours. I'll save you all the undergrad lecture and save it for if and when we do meet. . . via the internet.

I pondered the thought of watching this film because of two main reasons. The first being that it was released by Wolfe Releasing, known for some notable LGBT films. The second reason is that the emphasis of internet relationships and the struggle to physically connect in today's world happens to be the subject matter for a film that my company is putting out...if and when we can get it made. I can honestly say our film will be a lot lighter and more romantic than this film. In a way I cannot say that our film is better than this film, but I can say that the internet has enough material in it to inspire dark films like On_Line as well as our romantic-comedy scheduled to hit theaters in 2011 (once we find a studio willing to make it).

Creatures From the Pink Lagoon

Director(s): Chris Diani
Writer(s): Chris Diani, Basil Harris
Producer(s): Chris Diani, Lisa Anne Glomb, Peter Torr
Starring: Lowell Deo, Evan Mosher, Nick Garrison

When a group of gay men get together at a buddy's house in Pink Lagoon, they find themselves amidst an epidemic that is turning all the gay men cruising a local rest stop into zombies. Their weekend of casual sex and catty comments is cut short when a particularly pesky pack of queer zombies attack their lagoon-side celebration. As the group slowly lowers in number, true feelings are exposed and two friends find love.

It was campy, it was kitsch and definitely amusing for the brief 1 hour and 11 minutes of the film's duration. Sure it wasn't as insightful as The Others or The Sixth Sense, or definitely not as thrilling as Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, but it was amusing nonetheless. The annoying aspects of the film became funny after establishing a routine of repetition. What I think is probably the best part of the film is the friendship the characters have. It may be that my birthday is approaching, on which I try to surround myself with my friends as much as possible. As I get older, I envision having those rare get togethers with my friends where we not only catch up but we resume things as if time and distance never affected us.

Eleven Men Out (Stakarnir Okkat)

Director(s): Robert I. Douglas
Writer(s): Robert I. Douglas
Producer(s): Julius Kemp, Ingvar Poroarson
Starring: Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson

Ottar is the David Beckham of Iceland's reigning championship-winning soccer team. Ottar comes out of the closet surprising not only his teammates and parents, but also his pre-teen son, Maggi, and Maggi's drunken mother, Guggu. When his teammates and the team owner decide to ban Ottar from the team for being gay, Ottar joins an amateur team that attracts other gay players to join as well. Pretty soon Ottar's team is the first all-gay soccer team in Iceland history. While sports may come easy for Ottar, it is the challenges of being a good father, son, and a new member of the gay community that Ottar must overcome. In the end, Ottar's team must face the very team that spurned him in the beginning. Of course, in some random twist of timing, the game occurs on Gay Pride Day!

Following in the trend of movies like "Iron Ladies" and "Guys and Balls", this film links the sweat and action of sports films with the common prejudices of being gay in the world today. In contrast, this film depicts little, if any, game scenes making the primary focus of the film about the relationships Ottar has and the development of a group of men struggling to be something more than just gay players. The film is a blatant look at homophobia in the sports world and lacks any sort of character development for the antagonist. In the end I found the primary plot of the film to be about Ottar and Guggu finally growing up from their former fame and becoming true parents to the a child that genuinely thinks they are neglecting him.

It was nice to take a break from the gay stereotypes often associated with gay sports films. Sure the film seems undeveloped and rather short. Coming it at 1 hour and 25 minutes, the film leaves a rather small amount of time for character arcs and plot development. However, the film does a great job in looking at the way gay players are viewed in societies world wide and briefly stirs the conversation about whether gay players are as good at their straight teammates. Don't ask me who wins. . . the movie ends before the big game starts.