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Reviews
Redwoods (2009)
Love under the Redwoods... you either love it or hate it... you decide...
Writer and director David Lewis takes us through an extramarital affair under the Redwood trees gay style. Romantic and probably too slushy for most peoples taste we follow the drama through the eyes of the main two protagonists played by Brendan Look-into-My-Eyes Bradley as Everett and the more familiar face of the wiry sexy Mr Mathew Closeshave Montgomery as Chase.
While Chase unlocks Everett's heart we like Everett's family just look on and wonder what he's up to knowing full well he is about to rock his domestic boat which includes his young son. The idea was great.
If you are in the mood for slush mixed with a good idea that doesn't quite get there and are prepared to enjoy polite characters in Lalaland who seem to live on another planet under the Redwoods then this is the film for you. I enjoyed it in part, but won't be moving there.
Woken up out of his unhappy or dull 'marital' slumber by Mr Wannabeewriter Chase, Everett soon becomes as confused as we become and still remain. His confusion miraculously resolves itself, yours will not 100%.
This confusion comes to a head at the end of course and if you haven't seen it and manage to get that far into it you're in for a surprise pleasant or otherwise depending on your take of course, but what I will say is that the ending did come as a surprise to me and it was of course the old Romantic novelist's ploy and a copout surprise surprise.
What I will say to the director is you obviously had a story to tell but please please ease up on the sound track for your next movie. Silence would have been a lot more effective in this film. After all the stillness of the Redwoods has all the sound and music you needed.
The Houseboy (2007)
Ricky is distracted by his loneliness to hunt for sex when all he needs is love.
When young twinky Ricky is left alone with the goldfish to housesit and spend Xmas on his own he finds it dreadfully lonely.
As Xmas day looms with all the dread and loneliness that Xmas day can bring, Ricky sitting alone staring at the Xmas tree feels abandoned, rejected and miserable and he has every reason.
Distracted by his loneliness and wretchedness he gets into online dating, cruising and other ways to fill the void, but he's not actually very good at it. The boy is far more of a romantic, simple at heart than just a slut and so he's playing with fire trying to be one. How long will it last? Do we care? I did to a point.
This is a film which attempts to use the fairy lights of Xmas to explore gay self worth, loneliness and self destruction, how well it succeeds is debatable.
Xmas and family are of course supposed to go hand in hand so using this lonely Xmas theme is familiar. I enjoyed most of it once I had accepted it as a good idea - sweet lonely boy goes all slutty and crazy over Xmas at odds with himself- but I needed to suspend disbelief in order to fully accept Ricky was real rather than an idea, a composite character.
Overall it has some good moments especially when Ricky goes home with an older gay man and ends up insulting him. I found that scene oddly tense and distracting, but nothing to do with the character Ricky before that scene or afterwards. He obviously was distracted, but so was the script.
See it for yourself and judge. It did make me think afterwards, but mainly about the style rather than the content.
Breakfast with Scot (2007)
A Xmas film worth watching again and again anytime anyplace. And those pancakes!
On a par with the Belgium film La Vie en Rose and influenced by it too I'm quite sure.
Camp movie, very amusing and emotionally engaging. The principal boy a gem. The two leading males unusual, off beat, not stereotypes and a great supporting cast with good cameos here and there. I particularly liked the boy bully turned protector and his cutting line on the stairs at the end which must have been such fun to say. One he'll remember all his life.
So refreshing not to see children being patronized, but appreciated for who they are and that scene with the well meaning school mistress saying "he needs to watch more TV to get "other" role models" just sais it all!
Yes this is a Xmas film, but one worth watching again & again anytime anyplace. And one for the kids too.
Good on you Canada. The Brits(of whom I'm one) couldn't make this kind of film if we tried as we're far too consumed, controlled and retentive. When I saw La Vie en Rose I thought the same. We're good at making costume dramas for export and kitchen kitsch but an Anglo Saxon Breakfast with Scot would have far too much salt & vinegar I feel.
Sweetest film. And those pancakes!
The Art of Being Straight (2008)
A pilot film for a TV series
A closet 'bottom'(the term used by his friend in the film) finds himself in somebody's dreams. He's all dizzy from a recent breakup with the girl back home and all fresh to LA with his cute big eyes and smile to die for. Who will resist him? The boys are not unaware of his charms and shoot pool, throw balls, get pally and all sweaty with John and wonder why he looks so darn aloof when he walks straight past them looking mysterious and glossy. Little do they know that all our John is really doing is developing his photo career with his boss like any normal boy would, behind their backs.
If only John knew what he was doing getting all tied up in his secret life!
John's confusion takes him to that familiar architype 'the predatory queen' who with that man's man look(no girlyboy for him)is probably in post boyfriend fallout and keen to shift John into gay gear and top him. This seduction scene is the best scene in the film of course. Very very funny. And so well done.
The whole film would make a great sitcom and as others have already pointed out here, the fact that it ends suddenly and all too soon could be its cue here in my opinion.....more to come? Yes please.
Three cheers to its director, main lead and writer who may have unwittingly introduced a much needed theme to our movie screens...bisexuality, but notice how everyone in the film assumes that if the main character John sleeps with a guy he is automatically gay. Why? Is this the point the script is making or is that true to life? Is it not possible for John to like both equally? None of his friends say its cool to dig both. They think in black or white it seems to me. But that's the point...why?
Obviously its nice to be left thinking a film has ended, but clearly there's much more ground to cover...so go for it Mr Rosen sir. Develop the plot in a part two, three four....
Does John coming out as a Gay man mean he'll be saying goodbye to his obvious enjoyment sleeping with females? Or will he now be the exclusive Gay he never realised he was? See what I mean? No. Then see the film or think about it please. There are some questions here that further episodes could play with...
It is my humble opinion that once you see the film you may like me feel that John's fratpad may expose some further closet 'bottoms'. I'm thinking of the character Jon played by Jesse Janson who kept picking on our hero and calling him gay etc. And in these days of Bromance if Mr Rosen will not write the next bit, then I will. Here is a tremendous opportunity to open up a few more bisexual closets or even a gay one or two along the way.
This is a good pilot film for a promising TV series...if not...well then it should be...I rest my case.
Venkovský ucitel (2008)
A village school teacher who has a secret.
Excellent film. I would watch it again.
The secret world and the way it seeps through into the real world.
If like me you are happy watching beautiful skies and haystacks then beware of a scandalous old flame who may enter stage left and starts to set fire to the whole plot, not just the haystack. Spoiler alert! Maybe. But then you may be relieved the plot never goes where you think it will.
This is a very clever film posing as dumb in many ways.
I'm a sucker for pastoral flicks. Those leaves rustling in the trees and sunny haystacks make me want to move right there, but will I still want to live in the village by the time the film ends?
A cute geeky schoolmaster from the big city lies on top of a haystack with poetic yearnings and I thought of Mr Housman dreaming of his Shropshire Lad and wondered will the lad get up there with him?
Watch it and see...and have a cushion to hide behind.....if you don't like it rough...
The Horse Boy (2009)
A modern day autistic adventure that puts autism where it needs to be.
This is an excellent documentary with a message about the need for diversity in which an autistic boy with a love of animals is the main focus.
A young couple and their autistic four year old boy Rowan take a pilgrimage to a sacred lake at the heart of the great Mongolian Plain where tradition has it, shamans still practice ancient healing rituals that may help heal their son of his autism. Rowan seems keen enough, but are they barking up the wrong tree?
As we take the journey with them so we start to understand what the boy's parents are really up against. Who are they and why are they making such a public show of their autistic son? Do they have something important to say to justify their family adventure? The answer is yes.
Their energy, determination and openness throughout the whole film is spoken to a friendly and compassionate camera and having previously documented the plight of the Bushmen, Rowan's father is clearly going to be in his element. But is it just another documentary for him?
Rowan's father is clearly on familiar territory as a journalist having previously visited remote tribes and other remote parts of the world, but here he is completely unable to walk away from the subject matter like any other a job; here his hands are tied. Why are we doing it? How will it end? Are we crazy subjecting ourselves and our son to such(public) expectations? We share their doubt.
For me the wild landscape of the high Mongolian Plain captured perfectly the wilderness and inner vulnerability of dealing with autism in the modern world. From start to finish one wonders where will it end and marvels at how Rowan's parents cope. Amazing stamina but sustained by true love and compassion.
The films greatest strength is its vulnerability; for this is no easy fiction. A film which could so easily have fallen into the modern day pit of an obsession for awkward personal exposure resounds with love where personal revelation reaches far wider and may touch you as much as it did me.
Well paced and nicely edited this is a motion picture about autism that had to be made and has to be seen, that puts the vital worth back into autism as part of the greater diversity of our expansive human soul.
Running with Scissors (2006)
Good actors at the mercy of a dreadful score otherwise good.
Mr Augusten Burroughs has used his experience and obvious talent to capitalise and reinvent what to him must have been hard to bare at the times. His attention to detail and love of camp has transformed horror to humour, real people into playthings. That no doubt was a cathartic exercise when he wrote Running With Scissors. Meanwhile he has had a wonderful cast to further reinvent his memoir and clearly a sympathetic director to transform this never a dull moment story into film. Whether this has fully worked is open to debate.
I think like many commentators here I have my reservations preferring the serious to the comedy when the two seemed to split away from each other especially towards the latter part of the film. Certainly the actors were doing their thing on a totally serious note while the score was off somewhere else in dreadful song land. A silly last minute cop out which makes me wonder what the cast thought too when they saw the final cut. Did boy Burroughs or ma Burroughs know what music they were acting to as they freaked out? See what I mean?
Humour is the best way to survive a crisis and three cheers for Mr Burroughs for being able to reinvent his past with the mixture of horror and camp that this film attempts so well and much like the book I understand. Its a daunting task. How many of us could do such a thing unless we had the art to do so? And that's presumably the point here. Art. Writing. Expressing the inner trapped victim. A play within a play. That sort of thing.
His story of reinvention and the rewrite of his childhood exposes the bogus science called psychiatry which the human race has too much respect for in my opinion, a world run for the most part by the authorities and the drug companies and this point comes over well in the film I thought...with humour of course.
I enjoyed the reference to Shock Corridor. Where rain falls in Shock Corridor snow falls on Augustin's mother. It was also another red herring but hey ho.
That real feeling was overdubbed with the likes of Elton John upset me. In fact the score on the whole threatened to sink it. Not necessary. Tired devise.
If we are to take anything seriously we have to remove the mask of humour which lies thinly on this production. Depending on your mood, you will either keep nervously smiling with its author or take it to task having walked out maybe too. I stayed the whole distance and give a higher mark here mainly for the successful efforts of its very fine actors.
Wonder Boys (2000)
Why are more men interested in this small masterpiece?
Here 9 years after its first release any retrospective comments on "Wonder Boys" would seem to be rather late in the day, however I'm interested to note that from the voter page or user ratings page here on IMDb to date there have been 15,567 male voters compared to 5,182 female votes which is a significant difference, so what does this mean?
The film is clearly at its strongest when it comes to its males characters and certainly they get more airplay, the main female characters however are also strong. A professor's wife and a young female student are well written leading parts whose characters are unemotional, rational and mentally autonomous without falling into any of the usual traps of weeping and screaming when things get out of hand completely dependent on the boys, not so here. Bravo to the writer! And when we do see a vulnerable female propping up the male ego its in the form of a transvestite! Bravo again to the writer for thats one you may have missed.
Michael Chabon who wrote Wonder Boys is quoted as saying "... people can't be put into categories all that easily"....and this to me is one of the main thrusts behind the plot, what we first see is not what we necessarily get. A film full of surprises along the way and full of fun, one that will continue to resound for a long time.
I found this film refreshing, but I'm curious why more women haven't voted here on IMDb as it seems a film good for women too being completely void of stereotypical female ineptitude.
If you want clearly defined safe roles with predictable reactions that prop up the stereotype of Hollywood don't watch this film. 10/10.
You'll also notice here on IMDb that the film's appeal lies clearly outside the USA. I suspect that American audiences have been so far away from continental cinema for so long with a drip diet of Hollywood that they can't see a good thing when it hits them in the face. They expect rubbish. Three cheers for the writer, the director and its actors and another for all IMDb USA voters who have picked up on this small masterpiece from their own rich soil.
Flawless (1999)
Hitchcock is turning in his grave
Pure cartoon from start to finish where violence is all bugs bunny's bouncy castle and ham acting rules OK.
Made for straights and not to be taken seriously. Dated 80's feel which I liked.
The main actors had good support while the script played havoc with their sequins and wigs.
Only Hollywood can make these sort of films that rely on one cliché after another, but that was the point I suppose.
Silly films can be fun. This was such a film. Trashy fun.
Never have I seen a stomach punched so hard. Was she winded? NO. Pure cartoon. Enjoy it as such but beware if you try to get serious.
Whirlwind (2007)
Beware of dinner tables!
No running over the hills with Julie Andrews in this film.
Instead urban living, superficiality versus hard earned truth. A very worthwhile movie in this respect.
The nearest we get however to healing nature is a scene in a park towards the end after the whirlwind has struck! So full marks for a film about urban claustrophobia and all that it brings. I was gasping for fresh air. But that was the whole point of the film.
And when fresh air finally came, after the whirlwind had struck I would have liked to have seen sunlight on the water, or mist rising over the hills and not just a park bench! An opportunity missed I feel.
With a little contrast, more visual poetry taking us away from the claustrophobia of endless interiors of clubs and bars and dinner tables after the whirlwind has struck and truth restored we're back to that wretched dining table again where we started! Once the tall dark man has gone we're left where we started out with the boys, having dinner, and I wanted to scream and scream and wasn't totally convinced! Why not under a clear blue sky. OUTDOORS! not that dinner table..... Otherwise I enjoyed it tremendously.
Brüno (2009)
Hollywood's Darling does not fool me.
It seems Mr Cohen has found himself at the spearhead of Hollywood's propaganda machine which is a shame.
Hollywood's Darling 2009 for his achievement to entertain and incite further hatred, contempt and violence towards another soft target. But that's cool, that's socially acceptable.
And gays know how to laugh at themselves so what the heck!
Bruno certainly received the most hype to date of all his movies which of course is the ultimate endorsement by his employers who steer and control public attitude behind what is glibly called the "Entertainment Industry".
This film is yet another example of talent prostituting itself to incite increasing hatred of soft target minorities which uses humor to do so and humor like sex is THE fundamental tool to get the message over loud and clear. What message?
That Bruno was approved by the media to ridicule and demonize is proved by the vast hype the film has received prior to release.
Should the main actor care to get a little closer to home and choose a character that is closer to his heart he would not have had the same career he now has.
So what does the mask or character that is called "Bruno" have to say? Don't you think I'm fabulous?
Most queens will tell you that humor is their protection to get through life as stress free as possible. Gays are the masters of camp after all. So if you are gay and found yourself sitting in the audience laughing don't worry, that's what you're supposed to do. If you found yourself forcing a laugh don't worry that's OK too or if you walked out in disgust don't worry about that either because Sasha's employers took that into consideration too.
If you are a parent of a gay person or have a close friend who is gay the same applies to you of course so just watch this space. Watch public attitude now and see how along with all the other facets of soft target demonization Mr Cohens contributions filter down to the lowest levels of control at the grass roots. Gays need to wake up here. It's not what you think it is.
I'm not fooled by this film. I'm not fooled by the actor playing the fool because I'm impelled to see the industry that created this funny haha mask which simply demonizes another soft target dressed up as entertainment. So if you don't mind I'll refrain from voting on this movie here on this excellent site because it deserves far more attention as a work of fact than a work of fiction.
Were the World Mine (2008)
Visa Versa goes back to school.
This is a film for the young at heart be you gay or straight or just curious. And did you see that Peter Ustinov 1948 film "Visa Versa"?
If you like modern day fairy tales, musicals and films set in boys boarding schools then enter Shakespeare's Dream for a boy who is different.
After watching it you too may also wonder if this is exactly the sort of film that could be useful to schools since it reverses the idea of what is "normal" when it comes to sexuality.
I particularly enjoyed the way the story unfolds. Very clever. Now you see me now you don't. Like magic!
"All the world's a stage" says the fabulous Wendy Robie between watering her naughty weedy seedlings(no cctv) and standing up to the schools silly head. She's great! If there were more Ms Tebbit's around the world would be a far more enchanting and tolerant place to live. And at the end of the film when she says "Well now that you've had your fun" our dear lovely Puck finds his spell's true implication.
We are left after the curtain goes down resounding like tuning forks! So please watch this film if you haven't already done so and if you have maybe watch it again ... I'm going to.
Dog Tags (2008)
Dog Tags. Straight bate. Finding dad
If you are prepared to suspend disbelief on this low budget film then you may have enjoyed Dog Tags as I did. While the primary thrust of the film is self awareness, the buddy stuff jogged along nicely in its wake and those makeup disputes, the baby that never cried and unconvincing ending never managed to take a firm hold on me partly because I was so determined not to let them. I think that if you make a conscious effort to just enjoy the ride, you can and seeing this film without knowing anything about it was like that for me. I then found it easy to let Mr Paul Preiss dangle his doggie tags at me without asking too many questions. The Military Chaser may have been getting ready after seeing the film's poster of Nate's pecs and tags, but I wonder if something a little more up front would have been more in order or if another poster entirely would have been more appropriate. The gay audience was obviously targeted, although it was more a film about friendship than anything else. How important is a poster? If Nate had joined those other Marines flashing themselves all over the internet strapped for cash and waving their doggies around, it would have been another film entirely and the film tried to make this point and succeeded to some extent. I suspect if it had gone up that path it would have had more appeal, but instead it chose a more interesting and difficult route, that of moral support between a gay and a straight male, both "Tags" or labels if one thinks about it. I let this buddy film entertain me. It has a good heart even though it lacks real discussion. It is well acted for all the minor weaknesses in the script. Those endless cool one liners and knowing looks also made me laugh. The films main strength was in the camera-work which gave it a sense of real poetry. A surprisingly good and well made low budget film. Keep'em coming!