Go Go G-Boys (Dang Wo Men Tong Zai Yi Qi) (Taiwan 2006)

The Gist:

Hong decides to pretend to be gay and join the "gays only" G-Boys contest, hoping to use the winnings to pay off his ever increasing credit card debt incurred by his shopaholic girlfriend. His best friend Shin joins the contest because being gay he is of course hopelessly in love with Hong and will do anything for him, since that's exactly what the gays do; martyr themselves whenever possible for straight dudes. 

As this is going on other things are happening. Minor unimportant stuff like a crazy man threatening to bomb the contest. 

Comments:

I spent a few minutes looking around online for information about the movie and didn't find too much, and no actual professional reviews. What I did find were people commenting how funny the movie was, how sexy the actors were, and how much they loved finally finding a non-depressing gay movie with a happy ending.

I guess I'm a stick in the mud because while admittedly the leads are cute, I thought the movie was bad. 

The story is flat and considering it is a romantic comedy it is not that funny, despite all the crazy, wild antics going on. Perhaps worse, the romance you are supposed to be rooting for, given it involves a gay guy dead set on being a victim in his desire to have a tragic unrequited love for his idiot straight friend, is problematic at best. 

On the plus side, a subplot about a young guy finding love and having to come out to his father because he joined the contest was sort of sweet, even if it made no sense (it didn't occur to the young man that joining an all gay contest would tip his father that he was gay).

While the movie spends far too much time making dumb gay jokes, once it settles down and begins to focus on the contest, it actually treats the contestants as "normal" characters instead of gay caricatures. Well, almost at least.  

So I guess depending on viewpoint it's either a fun non-depressing movie or it's not really worth watching. 

Women:

One

People of color:

Yes

Gratuitous nudity:

No, though there are several men in skimpy swimsuit scenes. 

• Director: Jong-jong Yu
• Writer: not listed 
• Actors: TAE, Chen-Kang Tang, Yu Fa Yang 
• 90 min
• Cantonese
• IMDB 

The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho) (Brazil 2014)

The Gist: 

Leonardo (Leo) is a young blind teenager who is beginning to rebel against the restraints put on his life by his overprotective parents. Also, his relationship with his best friend Giovana is strained when a new classmate, Gabriel, enters their lives. 

Comments:

I pretty much loved everything about the movie, from story to actors, it is fun, romantic, and well, utterly and totally adorable. The movie is super cute. Which could mean utterly schmaltzy and corny, but luckily doesn't. While it is sweet and charming, it manages to not be too saccharin. 

It is also well acted. Ghilherme Lobo does a particularly good job at portraying someone who is blind. The way the movie is shot enhances this. Many scenes are primarily close ups or filmed so that things in the distance are blurred with only the immediate foreground in focus, recreating in a way the way Leo 'sees' the world. 

While the majority of reviews and articles I've seen about the movie are positive and glowing with praise, I have come across a couple of, if not entirely negative, at least not overly impressed comments. It seems some people felt it unrealistic because a few bullying classmates are 'merely' mean jerks instead of being physically violent. An opinion I don't agree with it. Bullying does not have to be physical and as is, some bullies are just common every day assholes who'd find it funny to make fun of their blind school-mate instead of beating him up. 

The movie is based on a short, I Don't Want to go back Alone (Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho) (2010). Based may not be exactly the best description since the short was apparently made as a sort of pilot to raise funds for the feature film. The short is essentially a simpler version of the story and if possible, even sweeter. 

Both are definitely worth seeing. 

Women: 

Yes

People of color:

Yes 

Gratuitous nudity:

Minor nudity, but what there is in my opinion straddles the line of gratuitous and natural. 

• Director: Daniel Ribeiro 
• Writer: Daniel Ribeiro 
• Actors: Ghilherme Lobo, Fabio Audi, Tess Amorim
• 96 min
• Brazilian Portuguese 
• The American title, The Way He Looks, presumably references both that Gabriel is cute and how Leo "sees" the world.  It is not a literal translation of the original Brazilian Portuguese title, Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho. That would be something more like: "Today I Want To Go Back Alone," apparently referencing Leo's feelings of wanting to be independent.  
• IMDB 

Stud Life (UK 2012)

The Gist:

When 'Stud' lesbian JJ falls for femme fatal Elle, her life is thrown out of whack. As this goes on her best friend Seb makes poor choices of his own when it comes to men. 

Comments with a minor spoiler:

We are big time lesbian drama here, of the Stud variety. If you're unfamiliar with the term, a stud is essentially a very butch dyke.  More so, JJ is an uber butch, a stone butch. She is so butch that this source of strength for her becomes a weakness in that she ends up being overly rigid in life which is where the drama comes in,  as even though Elle is a femme and theoretically they should fit fine as a couple, it turns out that being with Elle may force JJ to be more flexible in her expectations of life and love. 

Despite being set in modern day London, the movie feels sort of oddly old fashioned. I'm guessing much of this comes from the strict Butch and Femme pairing, as if this were a 1950's period piece when it was survival tactic for a lesbian couple to only be a femme paired with a butch who could pass as a man if needed. 

This "old fashioned" interpretation of the movie is just me however, coming from my own biases, since JJ's world of strict butch / femme determination of roles is foreign to my experiences. The lesbians I know in real life joke about femme and butch rather than follow them as strict guides. Interestingly, to me at least, while I am unfamiliar with that aspect of the movie, another part, one where lesbians and gay men get to be best friends is totally in my realm of experience. One where queer women and men don't spend their lives isolated from each other (vs. how many 'gay' movies portray the world, as a place where queer men barely know any women at all let alone lesbians, let alone be friends with them). 

In the end the movie is okay for what it is, an average quality romantic melodrama.  

Women:

Yes

People of color:

Yes, much of the cast

Gratuitous nudity: 

Yes

• Director: Campbell X
• Writer: Campbell X
• Actors: T'Nia Miller, Kyle Treslove, Robyn Kerr
• 91 min
• IMDB

Scenes from a Gay Marriage (U.S. 2012)

The Gist:

A newly single man, Darren, obsesses over the gay couple who live in the apartment above his, as he tries to sort out his own life.

Comments with minor spoilers: 

This is kind of a low key movie. Which is not a bad thing. Compared to how "aggressive" some movies can be in telling their story, low key can be a good thing. Then again it can be bad if it leads to inaction and dullness. This movie manages to avoid that and keeps the balance of calmness and interesting. The acting is fine, and the story as Darren learns to live his life on his own, is engaging enough.

There is a strange bit though, in that being kept, where one partner in a relationship has all the money and power and "keeps" the other person, is oddly normalized here. A couple of examples are given in the movie and while they are not shown as ideal or particularly healthy, they are not treated as being unusual either. This happens again in another of director/writer/actor Matt Riddlehoover's movies: West Hollywood Motel, where one woman is "keeping" her girlfriend. 

While not the theme of the either movie, it ends up being notable because it contrasts strongly with how not common it is in real life. Well, at least in real life as I've experienced or have knowledge of it. 

Unlike other movies with the words "director, writer, and staring in lead role as actor" this is not a bad movie, and while I would not say that everyone has to immediately go see it, I would say that it is interesting and pretty good. 

Women:

One. It's a fairly limited cast, so not quite as bad it may seem

People of color:

No

Gratuitous nudity:

No

• Director: Matt Riddlehoover
• Writer: Matt Riddlehoover
• Actors: Matt Ridlehoover, Jared Allman, Tashana McQuiston, Carson Nicely
• 83 min
• IMDB