$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

Gaydar (US 2002)

The Gist: 

Randy comes across the ultimate yard sale find, a “gaydar” gun that can tell if a person is gay or straight. Something that would come in handy in figuring out the facts about Jack, the cute man at work that everyone, gays and women alike, has a huge crush on. 

Comments:

A comedy short film where gaydar, the ability to tell if someone is gay or not, is not only real, it’s a goofy looking handheld appliance.  

There’s appearances by Charles Nelson Reilly and Jim J. Bullock, and the lead Terry Ray is amusing as our childish fey lead. In truth there’s not much to the story, just goofy silly fun.

Women:

Yes

People of color:

Yes

Gratuitous nudity:

No

• Director: Larry LaFond
• Writers: Larry LaFond, Terry ray
• Actors: Terry Ray, Bryan Dattilo, Charles Nelson Reily 
• Short film
• 20 minutes
• IMDB

Bed Buddies (US 2016)

The Gist: 

Three best friends wake up from a night of drinking and realize they might have accidentally all slept with each other. 

Comments:

In this short film we have three men, best friends, waking up from a night of heavy drinking, to realize they’ve crossed the boundaries of friendship, so try to figure out what this means by talking about it. A lot. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing except that the dialogue drifts from things actual real people would say into monologues that while they sound deep and meaningful, also sound a bit fake.

While our boys tend to get a bit melodramatic about their situation, it is just sex after all, there is some merit to their freaking out over the possibility of screwing up their friendship. Unfortunately, the acting and writing dilutes this concern, so while the movie is cute and sexy, it feels like it could have been better.  

Women:

No

People of color:

One of a cast of four 

Gratuitous nudity:

Implied nudity along with implied sex 

• Director: Reid Waterer
• Writer: Reid Waterer
• Actors: Dylan Wayne Lawrence, Daniel Lipshutz, Enzo Nove
• T15 minutes
• Short film
• Color and Black & White
• IMDB

This Car Up (US 2003)

The Gist:

Two men, who both believe in chance or is it fate, have a chance encounter or was it fate?

Comments:

This is a short film told in a visually interesting style of having the screen split into four quadrants, allowing us to simultaneously see both men and their thoughts. Thoughts ruled by this idea of random chance / fate as shown by spinning slot machine wheels as they can’t stop thinking of their chance meeting.

The plot is essentially just the story of two men meeting, a simple ‘meet cute,’ but the visual trick makes it more interesting than it would have been otherwise. 

It’s cute. It’s short. It’s fun. 

Women:

Yes, barely. To be fair, other than the two men there are barely any roles, and even the two men barely speak. 

People of color:

No

Gratuitous nudity:

No

• Director: Eric Mueller
• Writer: Eric Muller
• Actors: Mike Booth, Brent Doylke
• Short film
• Note: the title is a reference to elevators 
• 16 minutes
• IMDB

Sauna of the Dead: A Fairy Tale (UK 2016)

The Gist:

A bored man goes to a bath house just in time for a zombie attack.

Comments:

A short film where we have men getting together for sex turning into a zombie horror story. Considering this setup I expected the movie to turn into a metaphor about AIDS. It didn’t, which I guess says more about me than the movie, specifically my age, that my first thought was of course a story like this would use zombies as metaphor either for AIDS or fear of AIDS.   

But again, it doesn't. There is metaphor happening, but for a much more modern (or not) issue of making a human connection instead of just using each other for meaningless sex, which could count as spoiler, but I’m deciding doesn’t since the movie broadcasts this idea fairly quickly early on in its short run time. 

I’m not a huge horror person, but this is done rather well and worth checking out. 

Women:

No

People of color:

Yes 

Gratuitous nudity:

No, everyone manages to keep a towel on, even when turned into flesh eating undead 

• Director: Tom Frederic
• Writer: Tom Frederic
• Actors: Tom Frederic, Kumar Muniandy
• Short film 
• 21 minutes
• IMDB