I see as many "gay movies" as I can, and have accumulated quite a collection of DVDs. I think it comes from having grown up and been a young adult and even not so young adult at a time when there were few gay characters in movies, let alone a genre called "gay cinema." As people who know me are aware, I'm pretty forgiving as a theatergoer/film-goer, and often manage to see good even in plays and movies that have gotten mostly negative reviews.
Tonight I saw a movie that I can rave about without reservations, Jonah Markowitz' Shelter, a film every bit as fine (in all respects) as those which get nominated for Independent Spirit awards every year.
Shelter is the story of Zach, a 20ish surfer/skateboarder/artist with a dead-end job and a dead-end life. With an older sister more interested in going after the wrong men than in taking care of her 6-year-old son, it falls on Zach's shoulders to be the father figure in young Cody's life. (Zach and Jeanne's mother is dead, and their father pretty much non-existent since injuring his back.) Zach has a best friend, Gabe, and an on-again-off-again girlfriend Tori. The return of Gabe's older brother Shaun makes Zach realize something about himself that he'd managed to avoid thinking about, and soon the two end up "more than friends." What makes Shelter such a fine film, besides Markowitz' gifts as a director/writer, the quality of its music, editing, and art direction, and the excellent performances of its cast (and that's already saying a lot), is the way it deals with seen-that-done-that themes in new and non-clichéd ways. Yes, it's a coming out story, yes, Zach has trouble accepting who he is, yes, Zach's sister doesn't react well to having a gay brother, but no, Zach's best friend doesn't desert him, and no, his girlfriend doesn't have a hissy fit when she learns the truth, and in the end, Zach turns out to be quite a man.
Ultimately, Shelter treats its gay romance pretty much like any straight indie film would treat a boy-girl one, and if ever there was a film which shows how "love makes a family," Shelter is that film.
Trevor Wright (Zach), Brad Rowe (Shaun), Tina Holmes (Jeanne), Ross Thomas (Gabe), Katie Walder (Tori), and young Jackson Worth (Cody) couldn't be better and deserve to be remembered in award season, as do the filmmakers.
Keep a copy of Shelter handy to loan to anyone who bemoans the state of gay cinema in 2008. It's alive and well, thank you very much.
(Note: Rowe and Holmes made their marks in two of 1998's best gay films, he in Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss and she in Edge Of Seventeen. It was his 2nd, her 1st movie, and the beginning of successful Hollywood careers for both. It's great to see the two of them return to the genre 10 years later in such an outstanding film.)
Tonight I saw a movie that I can rave about without reservations, Jonah Markowitz' Shelter, a film every bit as fine (in all respects) as those which get nominated for Independent Spirit awards every year.
Shelter is the story of Zach, a 20ish surfer/skateboarder/artist with a dead-end job and a dead-end life. With an older sister more interested in going after the wrong men than in taking care of her 6-year-old son, it falls on Zach's shoulders to be the father figure in young Cody's life. (Zach and Jeanne's mother is dead, and their father pretty much non-existent since injuring his back.) Zach has a best friend, Gabe, and an on-again-off-again girlfriend Tori. The return of Gabe's older brother Shaun makes Zach realize something about himself that he'd managed to avoid thinking about, and soon the two end up "more than friends." What makes Shelter such a fine film, besides Markowitz' gifts as a director/writer, the quality of its music, editing, and art direction, and the excellent performances of its cast (and that's already saying a lot), is the way it deals with seen-that-done-that themes in new and non-clichéd ways. Yes, it's a coming out story, yes, Zach has trouble accepting who he is, yes, Zach's sister doesn't react well to having a gay brother, but no, Zach's best friend doesn't desert him, and no, his girlfriend doesn't have a hissy fit when she learns the truth, and in the end, Zach turns out to be quite a man.
Ultimately, Shelter treats its gay romance pretty much like any straight indie film would treat a boy-girl one, and if ever there was a film which shows how "love makes a family," Shelter is that film.
Trevor Wright (Zach), Brad Rowe (Shaun), Tina Holmes (Jeanne), Ross Thomas (Gabe), Katie Walder (Tori), and young Jackson Worth (Cody) couldn't be better and deserve to be remembered in award season, as do the filmmakers.
Keep a copy of Shelter handy to loan to anyone who bemoans the state of gay cinema in 2008. It's alive and well, thank you very much.
(Note: Rowe and Holmes made their marks in two of 1998's best gay films, he in Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss and she in Edge Of Seventeen. It was his 2nd, her 1st movie, and the beginning of successful Hollywood careers for both. It's great to see the two of them return to the genre 10 years later in such an outstanding film.)