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Last Updated: Aug 28, 2009 |
DVD Reviews By Duane Simolke
Simolke lives in Lubbock, Texas, and has received three StoneWall Society Pride in the Arts Awards StoneWallSociety.Com.
Besides writing these reviews for This Week in Texas, he has written the books The Acorn Stories, Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure, Holding Me Together, and New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio.
He also edited and co-wrote the spin-off The Acorn Gathering, a fund-raiser for cancer research. Visit his website, DuaneSimolke.Com for an excerpt and more information.
Not | Gay brings together four gay short films with a common theme: they all involve a relationship between a gay man and a presumably heterosexual man. The thread gives this DVD the cohesiveness of collections like Boys to Men and the first Boys Life DVD.
The gay characters defy stereotypes, from a rugged cowboy’Äîin Cowboy Forever’Äîto a painter who can’Äôt stand for another man to touch him’Äîin Float. The heterosexual characters surprise the gay characters with their acceptance, or with their mixed signals. Details about these outstanding stories follow.
The Best Men. Directed by Tony Wei. 2006, 13 minutes. Introducing the collection with a traditional setting, this American film involves a groom and his best man. However, the best man is obviously in love with the groom, and they seem to share a few secrets. The groom's sister and mother both seem understanding of the two men and the difficult changes in their lives. Perhaps more than any of the other films in this collection, this one relies heavily on unspoken words and suggestive looks. It also manages some awkward humor amid the rest of the awkwardness.
Cowboy Forever. Directed by Jean-Baptiste Erreca. 2006, 27 minutes. This French film is the only one in the collection to use subtitles; the dialogue is in Portugese, with a first-person narrative in English. Based on a true story, it follows the growing friendship between two Brazilian gauchos. Though it often looks and feels like an American Western, it offers glimpses into Brazilian culture and landscapes. The photography is as captivating as the emotional connections between the characters. The film’Äôs gay character learns to accept himself and the local gay community, but also finds acceptance within his ’ÄúCowboy Forever’Äù community.
Float. Directed by Kareem J. Mortimer. 2007, 34 minutes. This film from the Bahamas involves a gay artist, Johnny (Rukenka Demeritte). After Johnny’Äôs teacher prods him into vacationing at her beach retreat, his hopes of reaching his artistic potential become complicated by the arrival of Romeo (Stephen Tyrone Williams). Besides forming an interracial friendship, they also seem to become a couple. Unfortunately, Johnny lives in fear of germs, intimacy, change, and almost everything else that his vacation seems to offer. Worse still, Romeo’Äôs girlfriend sees Johnny as a threat. As with Cowboy Forever, the cinema photography alone should keep viewers watching, but the quiet acting and believable emotions make it even more appealing.
Katydid. Directed by Scott Boswell. 2004, 13 minutes. This American comedy is one of the shortest in the collection, and easily the funniest. Young Skye’Äôs twin brother Leif keeps interfering with his love life, seemingly stealing all his dates. However, Leif might not prefer girls after all. Some of the acting is a bit stiff at the beginning, but it quickly improves as the film’Äôs emotional dialogue and shifting focus quickly reveal secrets. Like the other three stories, the gay character finds surprising acceptance; still, the sibling rivalries here keep everything believable and complicated.
Released by Frameline.
Buy: NOT | GAY
Duane
Simolke, author,
A
Science Fiction Adventure Degranon: editor and co-author of
the fund-raiser The
Acorn Gathering: Writers Uniting Against
Cancer.
© This Week In Texas
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