Inspired by the French. Neorealism style of film making, John tells the struggling story of LGBTQ sex workers in Hollywood, LA. It's a thought-provoking, emotionally charged journey through a world that remains largely hidden from mainstream cinema. Personally, I have never enjoyed. That style of film making and I am also not sure what really was the maker trying to tell us through this film. There have been many more better made documentaries that show us the plights of LGBTQ sex workers. John is an eighteen year old Latino male prostitute, living in the poorest area of Hollywood, L.A. He ..read more

I have mixed feelings about this show. These days there are plenty of murder mystery shows and it's important to keep viewers engaged in the story. The show opens with the brutal murder of a gay sex worker in the toilet of Mahim train station and this is where the story begins. The show and story is good but the show takes forever to come to a point. There are so many side stories and every 5 minute conversation is starched into  20 min scene. The show tries to educate and empathize with gay community in India because still it is considered a big taboo in that society. The show takes a ..read more

Wren Boys (UK) It’s the day after Christmas, and Father Conor, a priest from County Cork, drives his nephew to prison to visit one of the inmates. The surprise is that the nephew is there to marry his boyfriend who is in prison, but within the prison walls different rules apply, and life is often overshadowed by the threat of violence. What a brilliant short film!! In such a short time, the way the characters arcs are developed and shown are sometime not reached in full fledged films.  Adán y Esteban (Argentina) A simple short of two best friends, one getting drunk on a night and sed ..read more

I remember enjoying Durango series a lot and was hopeful that there will be follow up to this. I got my hands on second season titled "Rūrangi: Rising Lights". In addition to the tile we also saw some actors changing from original season. Caz's friend/boyfriend Jem and his father are now played by different actors; but that doesn't impact the show negatively in any way. At 5 episodes of about 20 minutes each, this show is still very much worth a watch. The first season concluded on a cathartic, hopeful note. And, while it was clear the characters would still have significant external conflic ..read more

I had been looking for this film ever since I had heard of it running in a few film theaters. The makers recently released the film on Muni, which gave a lot of people an opportunity to eventually watch this film. Jaggi is traumatic, triggering, and shakes you to the core. But it’s also raw, touching, and unnerving. It is definitely not gay cinema, but the subject that says "Story of a schoolboy’s impotence leads to accusations of being gay, triggering relentless bullying" was something I really wanted to see. Id also like to say that the film has some very disturbing scenes that could be tr ..read more

This documentary from 2023 charts the development and journey of the Aids Project Los Angeles (APLA) from 1982 through to the current day. It offers a timely oral history of the AIDS epidemic from those who lived it. The talking heads doc puts the words of the LGBTQ+ community front and centre while revisiting the peak AIDS years. The film starts usual with a thorough account of the mysterious early days of AIDS, reports about gay disease, how it was perceived and archival clips stress the homophobia that ran rampant amid the uncertainty of the disease’s transmissibility. Survivors recall i ..read more

Oh wow ! I cannot believe thatches widely popular short story collection series is coming to an end on DVDs. I hope that they will continue in some format on OTT or digital. Appropriately titles "Happy Endings", it is a bit of a mixed bag, but that is not a slight to the quality of the films. Every entry is worthwhile and well made; it is more a matter of personal taste. The best shorts in the anthology feature two guys navigating sex, love and desire. Many of them deliver the happy ending of the title, but a few shorts may leave viewers wanting more. Aloof (Israel) Flip-flopping between sc ..read more

Why o why was this film made? With a running length of almost 2.5 hours, the only thought that comes to mind after having finished watching the film is WTF!! Not only was the story problematic , but worse was the execution of the film. The makers probably have never heard of the role of an editor. So many scenes would just go on and on forever, really really testing patience of the audience. No wonder it Tok me a few years to even find this film since it was released and having seen it now, I would loudly scream to not waste your time. A simple young man Liam works in a hotel and the settin ..read more

After watching the film, it feels like the film is full of metaphors, some that I understand but many that I probably did not. There are some odd moments story-wise, which seem out of place, and it is slow at points, but the film is nevertheless interesting to watch. Homosexuality issues are naturally mixed with religion and the authoritarianism of a patriarchy, showing us a snapshot of the society in a very small town of Northern Argentina. The movie also shows how important the legends of the country people are for that society and how they try to survive with that great weight and trying ..read more

El Primer Beso (Spain) [The First Kiss] Andi, a teenager lives in a small town. No one knows that he is gay, except his older brother. Today is a special day because he is going to Madrid where he has a date with a boy his age whom he has met online. Things end in a drama, but with. Positive message acceptance and hopefully love. Ili-Ili (Philippines) [Little One] A pregnant mother, unsure of how to raise a child, arranges an interview with her two gay dads but fate intervenes when his dad suffers a heart attack. Her dad reflects on their family’s history, captured on an old camcorder. A ..read more