Gay Films on DVD and Video - Page 2

The three gay male shorts on this video compilation include: The Disco Years (1991, 30 min, US, Robert Lee King); A humorous coming-of-age tale set in the 1970s about a high school student who falls in love with another male teen and decides to tell mom all about it. A Friend of Dorothy; (1994, 31 min, US, Raoul O'Connell) A NYU student finds sex increasingly preoccupying his thoughts (helped by his hunky roommate). He finds solace of the anonymous kind and discovers a new friend in an icon named Judy. Pool Days (1993, 29 min, US, Brian Sloan); Sexy and sensitive, this short follows the coming out of a 17-year-old when he takes a summer job as a lifeguard/attendant. The steam and naked flesh soon proves too much for the boy!

Catching the recent wave of gay-themed films which eschew troubling subjects like AIDS, homophobia and coming out for a more sunny, cute-boys-in-love romanticism (Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, I Think I Do) is this sugary, determinedly optimistic love story. At times funny, and occasionally charming in its innocence, the film can be a bit much for those jaded by relationships and toughened by sexual oppression. The story revolves around the ambitions and loves of three wide-eyed dreamers trying to become a success in Manhattan. They include aspiring actor Marc (Michael Shawn Lucas); his mop-headed best friend and would-be musical composer Robert (Aaron Williams), who's secretly in love with Marc; and Marc's ditsy Greenwich Village roommate Christina (Mara Hobel, the young Christina in Mommie Dearest), an exuberant shopaholic and the only one of the three with some serious emotional problems. Will the two young men get together, or will the sexy new stud in town steal Marc's heart? For most viewers, a pleasant romantic gay comedy. But one gripe; are gay filmmakers, bred on films that used stereotyped homosexual characters for comic relief, now using women (with jokes on their weight, inability to get a man and their mental state) in that offensive role?

In his feature film debut, openly gay writer/director Greg Berlanti (co-executive producer of Dawson’s Creek with Kevin Williamson) has crafted a funny, touching slice-of-life portrait on the lives and loves of a group of gay West Hollywood friends. The characters include Dennis (Olyphant), a promising photographer, his housemate Cole (Dean Cain of TV’s Superman), a charming man-stealing actor; Benji (Zach Braff), a punkish gym bunny fancier; analytical grad student Howie (Matt McGrath, Lonny in Boys Don’t Cry); cynical quipster Patrick (Weber) and his lesbian sister whose lover (Long) wants his sperm; and Taylor (Porter) whose long-term relationship goes on the rocks. They all hang out at a restaurant run by the group’s unofficial patriarch, Jack (John Mahoney of Frasier) and play together on a softball team coached by Jack (a part-time drag performer). Drama abounds, especially when Cole seduces and abandons the fragile, just-out-of-the-closet Kevin (Keegan) leaving Dennis to help pick up Kevin’s emotional pieces. A witty and entertaining comedy/drama that offers an attractive cast and a touching story of gay men’s romances and friendship.

This was East Germany's first gay-themed film, which reportedly received it's premiere on the same night the Berlin Wall came down. It's a gripping story of a very handsome young man - Phillip- searching for his true sexual identity. Philip is a "straight" schoolteacher whose repressed homosexuality is ignited after meeting an old school chum with whom he had a gay affair. Phillip makes a late night visit to a gay/drag bar and goes home with Matthias - they make love through the long, slightly drunken night. The next morning he returns to his girlfriend and in homosexual panic, marries her. Phillip cannot get Matthias out of his head and becomes obssesed with the beautiful memory of their one night together. Obviously his marriage breaks up and he comes out of the closet, taking great risks with his career in repressed East Germany. There's lots of love-making in this tender tale that is reminiscent of the quasi-autobiographical films involving schoolteachers Taxi Zum Klo and Nighthawks. This is a sentimental, sexy and frank tale which offers a rare glimpse into the "perils" of homosexuality behind the now destroyed Iron Curtain. (German with subtitles)

This earnest low budget drama centers around a college student who is forced to come to terms with his closeted gay sexuality. Griff (Daniel Chilson) is a seemingly happy jock who blends in comfortably with his sex-starved, towel-snapping, group-showering fraternity brothers at a Southern California University. But, in reality, he’s a gay man who has been clandestinely involved with Pete (Don Handfield), his cute boyhood friend. An argument ensues after Pete begins to pressure him to be more open about their relationship. After they part, Pete is attacked by gay-bashers, an action which leads Griff to question his life of lies. While the plot outline may seem like a gay After School Special, the film does raise some important issues. It is most effective in debunking the myth that the trauma of coming out is a thing of the past or affecting only those in rural or suburban settings — it demonstrates quite well that accepting one’s sexual self can be just as difficult for inner city college students today.