Change Your Image
bigbearphx
Reviews
Rock Haven (2007)
Sweet, romantic story ... but ENOUGH with the waves already!
The plot of "Rock Haven" (2007) is simple and realistic, though far from original: is being gay an impossibility if you consider yourself a Christian as well?
Brady is a shy, introspective 18 year old spending the summer before going away to college in a small coast town in Northern California. He is there with his widowed mother, who is a devout Christian in the process of establishing a religious school for the local pastor. Brady spends most of his time either reading the bible or staring off at the waves crashing on shore, until he meets a neighbor's free- spirited visiting son, 19 year old Clifford. While we later find out that Brady had some early inklings that he was somewhat attracted to other boys, he never before felt drawn to anyone as he feels to Clifford, and the other boy makes it clear that the feeling is mutual. Sensing his apprehensions and inexperience, Clifford lets their relationship develop slowly over the course of the summer, and, although he kids Brady about being a "nerd" in many of his interests, is careful not to express a conflict with his religious upbringing and convictions.
A beautifully written story by director/writer David Lewis ("Under One Roof"), capably acted by a talented Bay Area cast. While the basic plot is not original, and the story development somewhat predictable, it is told in a well-paced, sweet and romantic manner that lets the viewer feel the emotions experienced by the characters. The one negative I must point out is Lewis' seeming obsession with numerous extended scenes of waves crashing on the beach (Waves wash out like past experiences, wash back to erase what was on the sand before, metaphor for life going on, new beginnings, yadda yadda yadda ... WE GET IT! The ocean should not have more screen time than the actors!) Other than that, I enjoyed the film and recommend it, especially for those who may be going through a similar dilemma.
DVD has deleted scenes, production stills and trailer. No director commentary, which would have been nice (I'd have loved to hear what he says about the ocean scenes. :)
The Young, the Gay and the Restless (2006)
Hilarious spoof of soap operas with gay content
In this clever, over-the-top satire of daytime soap operas, "The Young, The Gay and The Restless" (2006) especially pokes fun at the current trend of including gay characters in such shows, by providing a storyline where everyone seems to be gay, married to someone gay, flirting with someone gay, or contemplating murdering a gay character. And, like actual daytime "soaps", there's several plots going on simultaneously, as well as instances of cheating spouses, sexual predators, people holding grudges, incest, sluts, suicide, jealousy, gold-digging relatives worried about their inheritance, a secret criminal record, and even a bisexual foursome as a bit of icing on the cake.
In charge of this extended dysfunctional family is elderly but feisty and rich matriarch Victoria Gaylord, who brings everyone together for her birthday celebration, which is cut short when she has a fainting spell. Her husband, Francis (who has some skeletons in the closet as well), calls Dr. Bender who arrives on scene and proceeds to argue with Francis about who has her best interests in mind. Daughter Cynthia arrives at the party late with her husband Phillip, who is concerned that his wife is a bit TOO close to one of her brothers, and is also afraid of being "hit on" by gay brother Nicholas. Meanwhile, flirty gay houseboy Andrew is juggling a couple of prospective future as well as one former boyfriend, all of whom show up to court him, as does a young lady who wants to be Andrew's "try it once" woman. Dr. Bender's sassy assistant, Nurse Jones, arrives last, but her treatment plan for Victoria isn't exactly what others had in mind.
A well-written, campy, tacky, sarcastic, (intentionally and brilliantly) overacted and hilarious treat, not to be missed! The only negative is a technical gaffe: the background music is way too loud, and sometimes drowns out the dialogue. But I can't hold that important enough to give this creative confection less than a full five stars out of five! DVD has no extras, other than chapter stops.
Official site, with trailers: http://web.mac.com/jescofilm/iWeb/YGR%20Site/About%20YGR.html
Wedding Wars (2006)
Sugar coating made an important message go down
Lots of people in the gay and straight press berating this film for being too "fluffy" and making light of an important subject. The film reminded me of Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats.
Let me explain ... when I was a kid, I would fight any attempt by parental figures to get me to try any nutritious, whole grain cereal like Shredded Wheat. Even when told I could sprinkle sugar on the big pad of shredded wheat, it had about as much appeal to me as chewing on a piece of wood. But when they came out with Frosted Mini Wheats, smaller bite-size shredded wheat with sugar frosting on one side, it made it palatable enough for me to try.
I think that's what this made-for-TV movie was striving to do (and mostly succeeded): to take a BIG issue that isn't palatable to most people out there (gay marriage), sugar-coat it (do a fluffy comedy with stars popular to many TV viewers), and serve it up in small portions over a two hour period. IMO, this approach had the potential to educate people MORE about the issue than a gaggle of gay rights advocates and GLAAD spokespeople giving speeches could ever hope to do.
And the message *was* definitely there, though sugarcoated and inserted in small portions throughout the two hours on A&E: (1)that "civil unions" are better than nothing but fall far short of marriage in terms of equal rights and protections, (2) the fact that a majority wants something doesn't mean it is right, and even some elected officials who may personally feel that same sex marriages should be allowed are often forced into pandering to the conservative majority in this country in order to stay in office, (3) that it is likely that you have a gay or lesbian member in your family, although they may not be "out" to you, because they suspect a negative reaction (which is caused, in no small part, by the fact that so FEW of us are out to everyone, so many people don't get to actually "know" anyone who is openly gay), 4) that even some gays have a problem reconciling the concept of committing to another man "till death do us part", mostly because we have been conditioned by society not to see that as an option, and (5) just KNOWING a family member or friend is gay is different than accepting them without reservations (illustrated by the interaction between Stamos'character and his straight brother, played by Eric Dane.)
As far as the "gays on strike" concept goes, as ludicrous and unlikely as that was portrayed in the film, it still made the point that there are a hell of a lot more of us around than people think, and (contrary to what that cartoonish TV reporter thought) we are not all hairdressers, decorators and florists, but pretty much cover the entire gamut of professions and industries, making up a fairly good size chunk of this nation's economy. In the film, the "gay strike" looked like it would make it impossible to put on a big wedding, even when the event was to be held at the home of the governor of the state.
I got that some of the humor was deceivingly tongue-in-cheek, such as the magazine covers and newspaper front pages signifying that the "strike" was picking up nationwide support. If you look closely, the content of each page matches the stereotype of that publications: sensationalism for the NY Post, a fashion spread for Out, Stamos standing shirtless on Genre, as a rock star for Rolling Stone, etc. A few memorable lines (e.g., when the director on a news show decides to join the protest, the anchor repeats what he sees on the TelePrompter: "Up next, I'm out of here too, a**wipes!") I also thought that the choice of "It's Not Unusual (to be in love with anyone)" as the first song we hear at the wedding party was clever, a connotation of that song I never thought about before.
Was it a great movie? Hell, no; it was a tacky and cheaply made as MOST made-for-cable films today. Despite a few cringe-inducing scenes (his singing, pointing out that this was a good day for him to picket and show off his calves, etc.), John Stamos did a good job overall in the role of a non-stereotypical gay man (certainly as good as, or better, than anything we've ever seen on "Will & Grace"), as did Sean Maher as his lover (who wasn't sure if he was ready for marriage). But it wasn't meant to be a documentary, wasn't meant to intelligently argue the pros and cons in the gay marriage debate. It was meant to entertain the average American cable viewer and - along the way - perhaps spoon-feed them some aspects of the issue they might otherwise never have paid attention to hear. IMO, that makes the film worth acknowledging and worth encouraging others to see.
Another Gay Movie (2006)
Hilarious, but over-the-top on bad taste
Reviewers have called it "the gay 'American Pie'", but a more proper name might be "Gay Anerican Quiche" as that dish is used in the same way as an apple pie in that teen flick. And, believe it or not, that is NOT the low point of the film!
The basic plot of the film: A group of gay friends are graduating from high school, and form a pact to make sure they lose their "anal virginity" before the summer is over and they go off to college. The main character is Andy, who has a crush on a Russian teacher (played to the hilt by Graham Norton) and whose father (played by gay comic Scott Thompson) tries to keep him from stealing all of the carrots and cucumbers in the house, by buying him a HUGE buttplug. Jarod is a varsity athlete, Griff the shy closet romantic who dreams of having a "bubble butt", and Nico is a queeny punkish partyboy, with a blind girlfriend and a mom who seems clueless to her son's sexuality. They get advice from their bulldyke best friend Muffler, who seems to be able to seduce any woman, straight or gay. Their dates include guest stars Matthew Rush, Richard Hatch and James Getzlaff ("Boy Meets Boy").
To be honest, ANOTHER GAY MOVIE is often hilarious in its outrageousness, and the (I'd bet 100% gay) small crowd at the theater during the showing I attended laughed a lot and seemed to enjoy it, though I doubt any of them would have rated it higher than I did. In my opinion, the humor would register more with older gays (30+) who can identify (Been there, done that) with the cluelessness of the young main characters, as opposed to informed teens and 20-somethings who grew up in more open times and with resources like the internet. Also, I'd bet that there was at least one or two scenes most viewers would have preferred weren't there, be it the ongoing bathroom humor (Nico decides to take THREE Fleet enemas before his date, and later Graham's character defines the term "Belgian chocolate"), a naked Richard Hatch playing waiting for Nico to have sex with him, or the two guys at the bar with NAMBLA (a group that advocates sex with young boys) t-shirts advising Griff that he is "way too old" at 17.
Beyond the sight gags and gross-outs, the story is predictable, with a lot of overacting, scenes meant to shock rather than add anything to the film, and lots of unrealistic scenarios. But I did love the theme song, "Another Gay Sunshine Day" sung by Nancy Sinatra. :)
Not rated, but would be courting an NC-17 due to abundant frontal nudity, simulated sex, graphic sex talk and over-the-top S&M content (Trust me: you'll never see Graham Norton quite the same way again!) Not likely to go into wide release but, FYI, the DVD release date was just announced to be November 21st. I give it 3 stars out of 5.