$30 (US 1999)

The Gist:

For his sixteenth birthday, Scott’s father gives him the gift of an hour with a prostitute (young Sarah Gilbert).

Comments 

A short film where we have a closeted boy being given a prostitute for his sixteenth birthday by his apparently clueless father. Clueless because the father has no idea about his son. The "present" is not some sort of perverse "cure" for gayness, but rather something the father feels is normal to do for his son to become a "man."

The situation is messed up and the movie acknowledged this as the kid and prostitute talk and make a connection.

It tells a lot in it's short timespan and is worth a watch. 

Women:

One (out of three roles)

People of color:

No

Gratuitous nudity:

No

• Director: Gregory Cooke
• Writer: Christopher Landon
• Actors: Sara Gilbert, Erik MacArthur, Gregory Itzin
• Short film
• 20 min
• IMDB

Call me By Your Name (US 2017)

The Gist:

In the warm carefree summer days of 1983 in Northern Italy, seventeen year old Elio falls for his father’s latest grad student intern, confident charming Oliver.

Comments (with an attempt to minimize non-obvious spoilers):

As of this writing the movie is getting praise, nominations for awards, and is showing up on best movies of the year lists, deservedly so. Not absolute praise though. While largely loved by professional critics, I do know people who felt the pacing was far too slow.

I don't agree with this critique, but then again i've been known to like "slow" movies. At least I do  when done well and the pacing is for a purpose, which is the case here. The story mirrors the time it takes for the two young men to go from attraction, to hestant flirting, to love, in a manner that echoes summer itself, both languid stretched-out warm days and simultaneously far too short as the end of freedom and return to 'real life' looms ever closer.

So yes, this is not a fast paced sitcom romance dramedy. Rather it's a story of youth's summer love, that by definition must soon end leading to a sense of hesitation, desire and achingness throughout the story.

In addition to the critiques of length / boredom, there's also been criticism of the relationship itself, because of the ages of the protagonists, seventeen and twenty-four. Not surprising given the events unfolding at the movies time of release, of accusations against individuals and growing acknowledgement of a culture of sexual abuse by men in positions of power against women (and younger men).

Aside from them both being over the Italian age of consent, so both "legal," there's also the fact this is not a story of abuse of power, sexual or otherwise, but rather a love story. Granted they aren't the same age, but given the way Elio and Oliver are written and portrayed they aren't that far apart, in some ways being almost the same person, both filled with the arrogance of youth. Another complaint i've seen, that the leads aren't likeable enough.

Which well, they are both far too full of themselves, but again they are both young men from a certain background of higher education, of "comfortable" moneyed class, and again, young, so this is understandable.

This is starting to sound like I didn't like it very much which isn't correct. I thought the movie was great. One of the best of the year, It is beautiful, well acted, well directed, and also rather sensual, filling you as viewer with not only gorgeous imagery, but managing to convey a sense of smell, heat, and touch as well. Not an easy feat for a movie.

Some scenes, including a specific monologue and one that plays out over the closing credits were enough to bring tears to my eyes, and from the noises I heard, made several people in the audience I saw it with cry.

It is definitely worth seeing.

Women:

Yes

People of Color:

No

Gratuitous nudity:

There is some minor stuff happening, for both guys and girls, or more specifically one guy and one girl. Was it gratuitous? Possibly?

• Director: Luca Guadagnino
• Writer: James Ivory
• Actors: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet Stuhlbarg 
• 132 minutes
• English, Italian, French
• Note: I’ve not read the book it is based on, so have no observations about the transition from word to film, but the movie did succeed in making me interested in reading it.
• IMDB

Floating Skyscrapers (Płynace wieźowce) ( Poland 2013)

The Gist:

Kuba, a young man who has trained most of his life to be a professional swimmer, meets and falls in love with another man, throwing his regimented, aggressively controlled life, including his relationships with his mother and girlfriend, into chaos. 

Comments (with an unspecific spoiler that's still a spoiler): 

Set in Warsaw this is apparently one of the first Polish movies to deal with being gay which may explain why while it is contemporary, it feels very old fashioned and somewhat outdated, being a story where coming out MUST lead into a painful situation that can only end badly. 

I don't know enough to comment on the state of Polish gay culture, but it does feel like there are phases that local queer cinema goes through and if this movie is an indication, they are still in a phase where, regardless of reality, in popular entertainment at least, happiness and living openly are seen as incompatible. A phase now past for the most part in American movies. 

That aside, the story is told well as we see Kuba attempting to deal with accepting what he wants in love and life with another man verses his actual life with his girlfriend and overly dependent mother. 

The movie is also beautiful to look at, dominated by an urban landscape all grays and blues. 

It's also rather sexual in a no nonsense realistic manner. So the answer to my continual question of does a movie fill the gay flick stereotype of having pointless  gratuitous nudity, is a resounding "maybe."  There's plenty of naked bodies in gym showers and during sex scenes here, but is it strictly unneeded if it helps tell the story? Then again if it had been told without nudity would it have been the same story? 

All in all it would be worth a watch if you have not yet burned out on sad coming out stories.

Women: 

Yes

People of Color: 

No

Gratuitous nudity: 

Maybe? There's plenty of nudity, both male and female, and as I write this I consider it as an artist choice but I could see an argument against this opinion. 

• Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
• Writers: Tomasz Wasilewski
• Actors: Mateusz Banasiuk, Marta Nierdkiewicz, Bartosz Geiner
• 93 minutes 
• in Polish
• IMDB

4th Man Out (US 2015)

The Gist:

On his 24th birthday, a “regular” dude comes out of the closet as gay, throwing his unsuspecting close knit circle of male friends into confusion as they figure out the new status quo. 

Comments:

“Regular” guy comes out as gay confusing his clueless friends and family who all assumed he was straight because he was not feminine is not an uncommon sub-genre of gay films. Unfortunately most of them spend an inordinate amount of time avoiding dealing with the actual queer person in favor of how his news affects all the straight people around him. In other words in this type of the movie the gay man is usually only a minor character in his own movie, so it ends being all about straight angst, and boring as a result. 

This movie is better than most, because while it doesn’t avoid straight angst, it does expand the scope of focus to have two protagonists, both the straight and gay best friends, so in addition to straight angst we have a heavy large dose of gay angst as well. Which sounds like an insult but isn’t intended to be. 

This is emotional drama story time, so angst is a “good” thing here , and not forgetting the movie is actually about a gay man makes it more interesting than most, letting us see our newly out gay mechanic deal with dating men and figuring out how his friendships have changed, as well as showing his straight best friend do the same. 

The movie is totally predictable, with no surprises, and yet it ends up being fairly good, and worth a watch if you’re in the mood for warm hearted drama.

Women:

Yes 

People of color: 

A couple  of very minor roles 

Gratuitous nudity:

No 

• Director: Andrew Nackman
• Writer: Aaron Danncik
• Actors: Parker Young, Evan Todd, Chord Overstreet
• 86 minutes
• IMDB

If Dad Only Knew (Original title: Outing Riley) (U.S. 2004)

The Gist:

Bobby, an Irish Catholic "straight acting" closeted gay dude who lies about being straight to the point he even has a "beard" (a fake girlfriend), decides to come out to his brothers after their father dies. They don't believe him.

Comments: 

This movie is proof that gay sensibility exists, because it totally lacks one. A roundabout way of saying that the creators are straight and it shows. Not because Bobby is a "straight acting" bro who is so straight acting that he likes looking at naked women. Rather it's because of what works vs what doesn't work in the movie. Bobby and his brothers being privileged over aged frat boys is more than believable. What doesn't work is pretty much anything about "the gay." Except for one thing that is. The eldest brother, a catholic priest having issues with Bobby being gay, does make sense. 

There is no rule that a straight person cannot make a "gay movie," but if you are going to make something outside of your first hand experience and knowledge, it would help if you learned about the subject and didn't approach it half heartedly. In this case one aspect of half heartedly means topless women treated as sex objects, presumably there to compensate for this being a gay flick. Thing is, with that word "gay" you'd expect men to also be sex objects, at least when gay Bobby is involved. They're not. The only time men's bodies are acknowledged, it's for comedy. 

Given the large focus on Bobby's family coming to terms with his being gay, this is arguably not a gay story for actual gays, but rather a 'regular' movie with a gay storyline for 'straight' audiences. But even if this is the case, they've gone overboard in making it 'palatable' so we are now actually catering to bro dudes. 

Another problem is Bobby's habit of breaking the fourth wall and talking to the camera. It fails not only because it's not interesting, but also because of the way it's done, framed as "I wish my life were a movie" so his monologues could be him acknowledging this is just a movie, or it could just be that he has an overactive imagination. Like the gay aspects of the movie, it feels like they didn't fully commit to the idea. 

Ignoring the how's of what is being told, what is being told is a simple coming out story where the protagonist's family has issues with acceptance. The 'wrinkle' being that his family doesn't believe him at first because he's "normal." The problem here is that having a 'regular dude' gay lead is not as unusual as the the people involved making the movie seem to think it is. 

The acting and production are acceptable resulting in a movie that is 'whatever.'

In the end I guess my primary issue is that despite supposedly being a gay coming out story, it's actually a straight teen sex comedy. Only with thirty and forty something year-old adults who act like teenagers, no sex, a lead who is gay, but not too gay, and with lady boobs tossed in to make up for that miniscule amount of gay. Not really a combination of words I'm interested in. 

Women: 
The protagonist's plot-moving-forward sister and his fake girlfriend.

People of color:
"In story" everyone in Chicago is white.  During a breaking the fourth wall sequence however, one of the crew members is African American. 

Gratuitous nudity: 
Yes. Topless women and a couple of male butts, though as mentioned in the comments, in this movie women are meant to be ogled, while men's bodies are things to laugh at.

• Director: Pete Jones
• Writer: Pete Jones
• Actors: Pete Jones, Nathan Fillion, Stoney Westmoreland, Julie Pearl
• 99 min
• Note: I found no explanation for the title change from 'Outing' to 'Knowing.' Admittedly I did not spend much time looking for an answer. Presumably the newer title, being more 'heartfelt' would attract more viewers, as well as being less obviously "gay"
• IMDB

Curious (Australia / U.S. 2006)

The Gist: 

After a huge fight with his fiance Beth, Ryan accidently ends up in front of a gay club and enters to satisfy his curiosity, and now must decide if he is perhaps not actually straight. 

At least that's more or less the synopsis of the movie I've found online. A more accurate description would be: Dude goes to a gay bar, does drugs, gay soft-porn sex happens, people are jerks, then he leaves the gay bar. 

Comments with unimportant spoilers:

The reason spoilers are unimportant is because there is no "real" movie here. While advertised as a movie about a man realizing he's gay and what that means for him and his fiancé, it is actually just an essentially plotless, gay, soft-porn flick, consisting of a series of overly long porn scenes featuring men touching each other's chests and arms while moaning and making strained orgasm faces. The closest it comes to a story is through the use of voiceovers at the start of the movie explaining the dude had a fight with his girlfriend, then again at the end once the sex scenes are over explaining that yes he is gay. 

While I don't have an issue with porn, the misleading description of the movie made it a disappointing / annoying view. Beyond the misdirection, the other major problem is that it's bad. The acting is terrible and there's an over dependence on voiceovers to explain what is happening rather than just showing it. Worst of all, it's dull. A problem faced to an extent by all soft-porn movies I guess. An hours worth of men doing nothing but rubbing each others chests and arms and not much else gets boring rather quickly. 

The best thing in the movie is a scene where you get to hear a go-go boy's thoughts as he makes lusty faces at himself in a mirror, rubbing his chest and arms, while thinking about how much he loves being ogled by his customers. You can tell the scene is artistic because it's shot in black and white. It's so over the top serious, it ends up unintentionally hilarious. Unfortunately it, like all the other porn scenes, goes on for too long and so quickly becomes as boring as the rest of the movie. 

So in the end, as a regular movie, there's nothing there. As porn it's dull. Not worth watching. 

Women:

One 

People of color:

Maybe? 

Gratuitous nudity:

Is nudity gratuitous in a porn movie? Surprisingly, or not, while there is a lot of skin, butt shots are about as risqué as it gets

• Director: Jaime Hendrix
• Writer: Jaime Hendrix
• Actors: Tristian Hamilton, Libby Butler, Paul Peredes, Kieth Hamilton
• 74 min
• Color, and Black and White
• Note: The actor playing the lead, Tristian Hamilton, is apparently better known as porn star Rogan Richards
• IMDB

Dream On (U.K. 2013)

The Gist:

In 1988, painfully shy, teenager Paul is dragged along by his overbearing mother to a Welsh campsite. There he meets his polar opposite, loud, brash outgoing teenager George, who has parental problems of his own. The two boys have an immediate deep connection and make a pact to return to the campsite one year later to run away together. A year passes and Paul returns in search of George. 

Comments (with minor spoilers):

This movie was adapted from a play, although unlike some other play-to-movies I've seen, this one makes the transition fairly well. It's not overly obvious that it wasn't a movie to begin with; no long heart-bearing monologues directed at the camera/audience, or other oddities that work better on stage.

So we have two teenage boys who fall in love during a summer holiday, which sounds like an overly sweet romance story. This isn't that. It's actually a somewhat depressing melodrama. Lots and lots of drama stemming from the (obvious and not too spoilery) fact that both boys, though mainly George, have a lot of baggage to deal with. 

Frankly the over the top nature of the melodrama was a bit too much for me. It quickly gets exhausting. Other negatives included not always being able to understand dialogue due to thick accents, the somewhat slow pace of storytelling, the two lead actors looking more than a touch older than sixteen, and the fact that the older I get the less I believe in the idea of true immediate, soul-mate, type love, at least not when said true love involves teenagers. 

If that last bit hasn't happened to you yet, you can look forward to someday deciding that Romeo and Juliet is not the greatest love story every written and is is actually a cautionary tale about what happens when two drama queen teenagers who fall in love at the drop of a hat, meet and disaster ensues. 

Back to the movie, on the plus side, it is more or less an interesting story of a teenager working his way towards adulthood, discovering who he is as a man. Granted an overly soap opera style DRAMA filled one for my taste, but still, in the end even if I didn't overly enjoy it, I can admit that it is, if not actually a very good movie, it is at least an okay one. 

Women: 
Yes

People of color:
No 

Gratuitous nudity: 
A butt shot 

• Director: Lloyd Eyre-Morgan
• Writer: Lloyd Eyre-Morgan
• Actors: Bradley Cross, Joe Gosling, Janet Bamford, Emily Spowage
• 94 min
• IMDB

Speechless (Wu yan)(Hong Kong / China 2012)

The Gist:

A mute, naked, western man is found along the side of a river in a town in mainland China. After being taken in by the police, he is sent to the local hospital where he and Xiao Jiang, a nurse, develop a bond with each other. When it is eventually decided to send the mysterious man to a mental asylum, Xiao Jiang decides to take a risk and flee the town with the mystery man in tow. 

Comments (with some spoilers):

The movie is rather good. The story is interesting, it is gorgeous to look at, is mostly well done, and well-acted. Not to say there are no issues with the movie. There are, mainly with pacing. 

Towards the end of the movie there is an extended flashback explaining what happened to traumatize the stranger into muteness, so spoiler, the mystery is solved. The problem with this is that the flashback is long enough that it changes the flow of the movie, and the transition from flashback back to the current story ends up feeling somewhat awkward. The final fate of the characters is also somewhat confusing, to me at least. They are just in a new situation with no explanation given as to what happened between the climax of the story and the end of the story to put them there.

Once the stranger’s backstory is shown it also made it hard to keep up the suspension of disbelief thing going. Essentially, the fact that the police can’t figure out who he is makes them seem incompetent. 

It is sounding like I didn't like the movie, which is incorrect. These issues don't negate that the movie is good and the story intriguing. It's definitely worth trying. Assuming you don’t mind subtitles (or speak Mandarin that is).

Content wise aside, the story behind the making of the movie is interesting as well. It seems that because permission to film it would be denied by the government, it was filmed in secret in mainland China. 

Women:

Yes

People of color:

Yes

Gratuitous nudity:

There is some nudity in the movie, but I would argue that it is not gratuitous as it is used to help tell the story. At the beginning highlighting the mute man's sense of innocence, and during later scenes to well, esplaining that would be a spoiler.

• Director: Simon Chung
• Writer: Simon Chung, Lu Yulai
• Actors: Pierre-Matthieu Vital, Qilun Gao, Yung Yung Yu, Jian Jiang
• 92 min
• Mandarin and English (at least that's how it's listed on IMBD, actually there's barely any English dialogue)
• IMDB

Love's Coming (ใช่รักหรือเปล่า)(Thailand 2014)

The Gist:

Four teenage boys, Zee, Arm, Pid, and Gump are best friends, and things are great, except that Gump hasn't been around lately because he is always too busy tutoring his neighbor Nai. Because of this sudden prioritizing of his hot male neighbor over his friends, Zee begins to wonder if Gump is gay, so he gets the group, and a gay 'uncle' (who prefers to be called Aunt Alexandra), to come up with a series of overly complicated plans to find out the truth about Gump and Nai.

Comments:

It's a largely cute movie with a plot that doesn't make too much sense because instead of a series of ever more elaborate traps and goofy shenanigans to get Gump to come out of the closet, they could have simply just asked him at the beginning of the story if he was in love with Nai or not. Then again that would have made for a very short movie. As is, this is wacky teen comedy so some silliness is to be expected. Also, these are teenage boys, more so straight teenage boys, and teenage boys are known for doing stupid things, so this is less of an issue here as compared to other movies where everything could have been resolved in ten minutes had people just actually talked to each other like real adults instead of movie adults. 

Which leads us to 'Aunt Alexandra.' He's very much a movie version a person, more so a movie version of a camp gay man. Luckily he's written just slightly deep enough to be more than just someone to be laughed at. You get to sympathize with him as well. 

While he isn't really an issue for me, there are some problematic "comedic" scenes. The most glaring being when, as part of the "is he or isn't he" hijinks, the straight teen boys find themselves at a pool with some speedo wearing gay guys showing off their bodies. The boys reaction to the sight of non-hetero men wanting to be objectified is to freak out and get physically ill. Gay panic is funny you all. Yes. Sarcasm. 

Despite this and some other clunker scenes, for the most part the movie is harmless fluff, and mostly positive as it becomes clear that the boys care about their friend Gump and will support him whatever the truth turns out to be. 

Women: 

Mothers, and a girlfriend, so yes

People of Color:

Yes

Gratuitous nudity:

No. Though there are lots of shots of shirtless and swimsuited Thai guys if you're into that. 

• Director: Naphat Chaithiangthum
• Writer: Naphat Chaithiangthum
• Actors: Korn Khunaitpapisiri, Suraphat Kirivichien, Norrapat Sakulsong, Chanon Santinatornkul, Suttinut Uengtrakul
• 108 min
• Thai
• 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 

The Four-Faced Liar (U.S. 2010)

The Gist:

Five college-age people, two straight couples and a womanizing lesbian meet in an Irish bar, not as the lead into a bad joke, but rather as the start of a romantic drama, where after becoming friends with the lesbian character, one of the straight women realizes that she does not have to live the life that was planned and laid out for her in excruciatingly exact detail from birth to wedding to death.

Comments (with one big semi-spoiler):

The one big semi-spoiler is this: (Possibly?) in order to make the protagonist seem less of a "bad person" for having an affair with her new lesbian best friend, the story has her boyfriend do some terrible things to help "accidentally" push her away from him. Which I only bring up because this creates a huge problem for me in that he crosses lines which should have made him a pariah in his circle of friends rather than just being treated as the poor guy whose girlfriend dumped him for a woman. 

Other than that, this is essentially a standard romance drama following many of the standard romance drama rules of people falling in and out of love, acting stupid, misunderstandings, and predictability before the couple you expect to end up together finally end up up together. 

Women:

Several (a good thing considering this is a lesbian love story)

People of color:

None. It seems New York City only has white people living in it

Gratuitous nudity:

Not really

• Director: Jacob Chase
• Writer: Marja-Lewis Ryan
• Actors: Marja-Lewis Ryan, Daniel Carlisle, Todd Kubrak, Emily Peck, Liz Osborn
• 87 min
• IMDB

Cloudburst (Canada 2011)

The Gist: 

Stella and Dot, life partners for 31 years, face being forcibly separated as Dot's granddaughter wants to put her grandmother into a special care home. They decide to fight for their right to stay together by taking off to Canada to get married.  Along the way they pick up a male hitchhiker. Dramedy ensues.  

Comments with an unimportant spoiler:

We are in deep in Hallmark style movie territory here with a story of two older women working to overcome an obstacle. In this case a crisis created because one of the women never came out to her granddaughter. A granddaughter who apparently has never realized that grandmother's curmudgeon, take no shit from anyone, butch dyke roommate is actually her grandmother's long time lover. 

Despite touching on serious subjects such as the lack of rights faced by many elderly queer couples, over all it is a rather goofy movie tending to focus more heavy on the comedy aspect of "dramedy" rather than drama.

Besides the two women, there is also the young hitchhiker. The spoiler is this: he remains a bit of a cypher. Apparently the guy is no longer welcome in his family home, but the reason why is never quite explicitly spelled out. Because he is gay? Bi? Straight? A dancer? A hustler? Who knows? Then again, it doesn't really matter as the movie is appropriately enough not about him, but rather about the two women. 

While not a must see movie, its not bad for what it is, a melodrama of the week style flick, and if nothing else, Olympia Dukakis seems to be having a grand time playing a cranky, strong willed, foul mouthed old dyke. 

Women:

Yes

People of color:

No

Gratuitous nudity:

Yes, though oddly enough for a "lesbian" movie, only of the male variety. Then again, all the scenes involving nudity are done as comedy since it seems nothing is more hilarious looking than a naked man.

• Director: Thom Fitzgerald
• Writer: Thom Fitzgerald
• Actors: Olympia Dukakis, Brenda Fricker, Ryan Doucette
• 93 min
• IMDB

Oy Vey My Son Is Gay!! (US 2010)

The Gist: 

A gay man comes out to his family. A family that is not merely Jewish, but are instead JEWISH! His boyfriend is already out to his family who are similarly not merely Sicilian, but SICILIAN! The two families must learn to accept each other as the boys look to not only to live a life together, but to do so as adoptive fathers. 

Comments: 

The acting and production are more or less okay, but over all the movie is not so much more or less okay as much as it's boring. 

Boring for a couple of reasons. It is not merely an "I'm both gay and ethnic and ain't that a hoot" comedy, but one doubled, so that both gay guys have over the top families allowing for a lot of over the top ethnic jokes, and frankly there's a very low limit to how many Jewish and/or Italian jokes can be chucked at the audience before it gets monotonous. 

The other issue pushing it towards dullness is that the focus of the movie is primarily on the Jewish parents, dealing with the "shock" of their son being gay. What did we do wrong? How could he do this to us? My son better be the "man" of the relationship!  How will my gay son affect my social standing in the community? Why is he choosing to embarrass me this way? The usual predictable stuff, that has been rehashed repeatedly in this type of movie to the point where I could not be bothered to care about anything happening on screen anymore 

Women: 

Several 

People of color: 

Not really 

Gratuitous nudity 

No

• Director: Evgeny Afineevsky
• Writers: Evgeny Afineevsky, Menahem Golan
• Actors: John Lloyd Young, Jai Rodriguez, Lainie Kazan, Saul Rubinek
• 90 min
• IMDB

The Wishmakers (U.S. 2011)

The Gist:

A dancer goes to West Hollywood and moves in with two friends from college. All three make a wish to find love, then more or less ignore this as they instead try to find success in their careers. People talk, talk some more, then two men dance. 

Comments (with unimportant spoilers): 

The movie is sort of "meh." The acting is okay, and production values adequate (except for a lone cheap looking green screen scene that is). The main problem seems to be that there just isn't much here. 

The dancer is given the most "plot." Meaning that he is saddled with a quick blink-and-you'll-miss-it coming out story combined with dating shenanigans. Unfortunately it's all old territory, nothing new, and ends up being the dullest of the three storylines. 

The other two friends have occasional scenes that hint at a much more interesting movie, but they aren't really expanded upon. One friend is only interested in sleeping his way to success, but his character is never developed beyond being a jerk. The third friend is genderqueer? Asexual?  It is never made clear, and as he is written as a performance artist "weirdo" who is never NOT performing, the value of whatever he says is largely negated by his outlandish appearance.

These hints of a better movie are just that, short bits and pieces, leaving the majority of the movie a boring slog as it rehashes old jokes about bad dates and how "everyone in Los Angeles is a horrible person," and fills up the running time with montage after montage.

Women:

One overbearing crazy actress played by Sally Kirkland, who apparently is the only woman living in Los Angeles

People of Color:

Everyone in Los Angeles is white except for one person

Gratuitous nudity:

A butt shot

• Director: David Grotell
• Writer: David Grotell
• Actors: Justin Martindale, Ari Sorrentino, Vincent de Paul, Sally Kirkland
• 88 min
• Note: The movie is occasionally referenced online as Wish Makers of West Hollywood. This appears to be the original (if not final) title of the movie as well as the title of a short film by the same director made in 2010. The Wishmakers is presumably the short film expanded upon.
• IMDB

Date and Switch (U.S. 2014)

The Gist: 

High school seniors and best friends Michael and Matty have the traditional teen sex comedy movie problem, they are "still" virgins. So they decide to deal with it in the traditional movie way and pledge to lose their virginity by prom. Except that they aren't in a traditional teenage sex comedy and things get confusing for Michael when Matty comes out of the closet and life goes off in directions he was not prepared for. 

Comments: 

Looking around online it seems a lot of people didn't like the movie that much, or at least that critics didn't much like it. I on the other hand thought it was a fun goofy twist on a high school based comedy. 

Which is not to say it's a great movie. The jokes don't all work, the story and editing could be tighter, and as is traditional for a high school flick, the leads all seem far too old to play teenagers. Also somewhat distractingly, the actor playing Matty either gained or lost weight during the filming. Given the way movies aren't shot in chronological order, it is noticeable (and amusing) how he occasionally gains or drops a few pounds from scene to scene. 

All this aside, it still ends up being a better example of a high school virgin sex comedy. Not that there's a lot of sex going here, since the whole losing your virginity in time for prom thing is just a loose framework to support the real core of the movie, of learning to grow up and dealing with life changing. 

While I liked it, I'm not sure I'd recommend it, or least not without the caveat that you already be predisposed to liking high school comedies, otherwise the angst filled teens will only annoy rather than amuse.

Women: 

Yes, moms, girlfriends, students, workers,...

People of color:

A few

Gratuitous Nudity:

Very brief booty

• Director: Chris Nelson
• Writer: Alan Yang
• Actors: Nicolas Braun, Hunter Cope
• 91 min
• IMDB

Loose Cannons (Mine Vaganti) (Italy 2010)

The Gist: 

Not wanting to be part of the family pasta business, young Tommaso has figured out a way to be free of family obligations. He will come out to his family during an important business dinner and get disinherited by his homophobic father, allowing him to return to Rome to be with his boyfriend. Just as he is about to do so, he is beaten to the punch by his older brother who comes out instead, giving their father a heart attack and throwing both family and business into turmoil. 

Comments:

This is a beautiful movie. Scenes of Italy, of homes, villas, towns and beaches are all travel brochure gorgeous. It makes you want to visit. 

The people in the movie however aren't quite so picture postcard perfect. Everyone is not merely a character, but a "CHARACTER;" drunkard aunt, diabetic wise grandmother, both of the gay brothers, business associates daughter, you can't swing a cat without hitting someone with both a major character flaw and a hidden past. The grandmother's past making up the "emotional heart" of the story as the movie shows people trying to figure out a way to balance family obligations and self fulfillment/personal happiness. 

On top of this the movie spends far too much time with the parents reacting badly to their son coming out of the closet. At one point a character complaining about the provincial homophobic attitude of the parents, exclaims "It's 2010!"

Meaning that they should get over themselves and be more accepting of their son. The exclamation could apply to the plot line itself. This specific type of coming out story, well-to-do parents more concerned about their social standing and facing fears of embarrassment, has been done over and over again, so that these sections of the movie end up being dull.  

So over all, the movie is mostly good, if flawed and occasionally boring whenever it focuses on the parents. Then again, the beauty of Italy largely makes up for the dull coming out plot. 

Women:

Several

People of color:

Not really, just a couple background extras with no lines

Gratuitous nudity:

No

• Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
• Writer: Ivan Cotroneo, Ferzan Ozpetek
• Actors: Ricardo Scamarcio, Alessandro Preziosi, Ennio Fantichini
• 110 min
• Italian
• IMDB

GBF (U.S. 2013)

The Gist:

The top three ruling popular girls at a high school, having learned from magazines, TV, and movies that every woman needs a gay best friend (GBF), try to out maneuver each other to swoop up the only (accidentally) out gay on campus, nerdy boy Tanner, to ensure that they, and not their two rivals, will be prom queen.

While dealing with his sudden found popularity, Tanner also has to figure out how to deal with his best friends who are now all angry with him. 

Comments (with a mild not really surprising or relevant to plot spoiler): 

The story description has all the earmarks of potential horribleness, but it surprisingly manages not to be. Which is not to say that it's particularly good. Cute would be a better adjective. Also fluffy. Cute and fluffy. 

It's decent quality wise and is amusing, if not laugh out loud funny. 

There is also a lesson in it somewhere. Something about being true to yourself, or accepting people as people and not objects, or something something high school something something, but well, the lesson isn't perhaps super important when there's so much cuteness going on. Also fluffiness. Cuteness and fluffiness. 

Oddly it's rated R, because as cute and fluffy as the movies is, apparently the sight of two teen boys kissing means that actual high school teens are presumed to be too young to see it without adult supervision. Spoiler, you get to see two high school "age" boys kissing. 

Joke aside, the rating is rather annoying, because compared to most high school teen movies, this one is rather sweet and innocent, leaving "the gay" as the only reason for the R. 

Women:

Yes

People of color:

Some

Gratuitous nudity:

No

• Director: Darren Stein
• Writer: George Northy
• Actors: Tanner Daniels, Brent Van Camp, FAwcett Brooks, Shely Osgoode, Caprice Winters
• 92 min
• IMDB

Eleven Men Out (Strákarnir Okkar) (Iceland 2005)

The Gist:

Ottar Thor, a star football (soccer) player comes out of the closet during a magazine interview in order to improve the odds of his being the cover story. He gets the cover, but is also kicked off the team as well. While dealing with the repercussions, he joins a gay amateur football (soccer) team and soon enough they will play an exhibition game against his old team, on gay pride day appropriately enough. 

Not really spoilery comments: 

While from the description it sounds exactly like the "Outted athlete joins a gay team to victory" sub genre of gay movie I've joked about before, this doesn't quite exactly follow the path laid out for it. 

For one thing, for a sports movie, very few games are actually played. Another reason, an unfortunate one, is that it spends quite a lot of time with how other people, his friends and family, deal with Ottar's announcement of being gay, rather focusing clearly on him. Unfortunate, because it was a bit annoying watching his parents and others freaking out about how his being gay would negatively affect their lives.

The division of time spent on Ottar's vs everyone else also means that by the end of the movie, he remains the same vague and undefined jerk as he is at the beginning. 

Interestingly, this is not a romanticized view of Iceland. As seen here the entire country is cold, dark, and wet from near constant downpours, and there is little to do other than get drunk. Not exactly a tourist board postcard view. 

In the end it's not a bad movie, just one that ends up being a little boring. 

Women: 

Yes

People of color: 

Some

Gratuitous nudity:

Locker room shots

• Director: Róbert I. Douglas
• Writer: Róbert I. Douglas
• Actors: Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Helgi Björnsson, Arnmundur Ernst Björnsson
• 85 min
• IMDB

Why not me? (Pourquoi pas moi?)(France 1999)

The Gist:

A group of 20-something, lesbian and gay, French expat friends living in Barcelona decide to finally stop lying and come out to their parents. Further, they figure the best way to do this is at all at once at a party for mutual support, both for themselves, and their parents as well. Little do they realize that the drama they were expecting, of potential parental disapproval, would be the least of what happens that night. 

Comments:

It's a cute fun movie with a large cast. Hmm, considering we are talking about a lothario lesbian in danger of running out of available women in Barcelona, a football (soccer) playing gay man 'crushing' on a team member, a Star Wars obsessed woman, her educated-to-the-point-of-unemployable girlfriend, a "straight but not narrow" secretary, all their parents (who are another long list of attributes and quirks), and all their potential love interests, make that a very large cast. 

There's a "Almodóvar-lite" feel to the movie, with the brightness of it, strong female roles, wild coincidences, and high drama, though admittedly, not with the same quality or skill. It also plays with elements of fantastic realism, but in the end the main qualities that struck me were again, that it was cute and fun. 

It's worth a watch.

Women:

Many. 

People of color:

A couple.

Gratuitous nudity:

Extremely minor.

• Director: Stéphane Giusti
• Writer: Stéphane Giusti
• Actors: Amira Casar, Julie Gayet, Bruno Putzulu, Alexandra London
• 96 min
• French, Spanish
• IMDB

Just A Question Of Love (Juste Une Question D'Amour) (France 2000)

The Gist:

Laurent works very hard to convince his family that he is straight, even pretending his best friend is a serious girlfriend. His school work on the other hand, does not receive quite as much effort on his part, to the point that he is danger of flunking out of agricultural college. As a last chance he is given an internship working under a researcher, Cédric, sparking events that will bring family, truth, friendship, and love to a dramatic conclusion.

Comments (with an unsurprising spoiler):

The spoiler is this, the protagonist spends the majority of the movie repeatedly saying it will not go well when his parents and family finds out he is gay. His parents and family are repeatedly shown verifying that yes, they will react badly when they find out he is gay.

Given this, it's a bit much that characters (the same ones who'd been promoting his coming out) are surprised that Laurent's parents and family react badly when he finally comes out to them. 

That aside, it's well done. Not earth shattering good, but good enough. Although given that it is not merely a romance drama, but rather a coming out romance drama, a lot of time is spent with Laurent's parents dealing with his news which can get a bit tiresome, but overall still worth a watch. 

Women:

Mothers, aunts, family, friends, so in a word, yes.

People of color:

Nope

Gratuitous nudity:

Minor

• Director: Christian Faure
• Writer: Christian Faure, Annick Laboulette, Pierre Pauquet
• Actors: Cyrille Thouvenin, Stéphan Guérin-Tillié
• 88 min
• TV Movie
• French
• IMDB