Eating Out - 2004

Eating Out - 2004 (US)

A nice comedy with gay drama, and funny stuff. 

I watched this movie because Netflix suggested it and it was fun. 

The story is mostly a group of gay men, fag-hag, (ex)partners and stereotype all messing around together for a comedy where being gay is the center of it. 

It’s a mix of teen movie, high school movie, coming out to family and dive in the sea of stereotypes. 

The main story goes around the dynamic I love him who loves you and one of them pretends to be gay to hit on a girl. 

The story flows smoothly and made me laugh. 

Not much to think about stuff that emerges in the plot,as I generally like, but it’s a nice comedy for a relaxing time on tv. 

My vote. 2.5/5

Torch Song Trilogy - 1988

Torch Song Trilogy - 1988 (US) 

This is an old movie that I had the opportunity to watch many times during my life. It’s kind of a step stone for camp culture so I watched it many times during the years with different people. 

The story has its place is the 80s where the gay movement was still young, there was no marriage and no visibility. The gay life was something that was happening at night in hidden part of the city. 

The main character is a drag queen and he comes from a Jewish family where he’s considered poor and living a terrible life. 

His life is pretty decent actually and he seems pretty happy with it. 

The movie is the story of many years of his life passing through love relationships, parenting a foster child, struggling for the love of his apparently cold steel mother. 

When I watch the movie I can identify with the main character and his struggle to be in a relationship: it was very similar for me too and it’s very interesting how the writers are dealing with this. 

What I like about this movie is the type of awareness that in the 80s was able to provide: drag queen’s life, casual sex, relationship, grief for the loss of the beloved ones, difficulty of communication between generations that keeps far away the two different visions of life between parents and offspring. 

The movie is also full of camp humor that makes everything, even the most difficult part of the plot, hilarious and lighter. 

Another very good moment is the one when mom and son are confronting each other in their mutual not allowing the other to explain or help. It’s so well-done by the gay attitude of the 80s of forcing others to accept one as a gay man no matter what and the “homophobic” part on pretending that this “argument” is just a little side note. I must say that Harvey Fierstein did a great job on displaying this on both sides of the “war”… it’s a very good point and I hope this made a lot of gay man question their approach on this matter. 

The movie flows very well between the different parts of the action and the different moments of the life of Arnold, the main character. 

One thing that I love of this movie is that it shows you that you can use sarcasm and laugh in many situations of your life., the hardest ones and the lighter ones. Also it’s another movie that tells you: “ be yourself!”, and this is always very good to know and refresh. 

To be a movie out in the 80s, Torch Song Trilogy, talks about bisexuality and open couples. It’s very good that a movie at that time was able to show and talk about this side of the sex life of people. The context is borderline gay, but the point it makes is pretty good, even if in the end it’s always a big funny mess ;) 

Another very good point is an early talk about adoption by homosexual couples: a very interesting argument for the 80s … that’s for sure!

In the end this story shows how the life of gay men is not too different from the one of everyone else: very similar struggles and emotions in a lack of rights environment. 

Anne Bancroft plays the difficult role of Arnold’s mother and she is really amazing in that part. She is a believable jewish mother who fights with all herself against the “poor life” of his son trying to deal with her strong vision of what is right in life and the love for her son. The casting for her role find an amazing actress that gives life to an amazing character.  Wow!

Thank you Harvey Fierstein for giving us a so nice story. 

My vote: 4.5/5

Mambo Italiano - 2003

Mambo Italiano - 2003 (CA)

Can Italian people be drama free for real? Not for this movie!

I’m Italian and this movie talks about Italians… and it’s freaking hilarious and it touches your heart. 

A nice drama/comedy that has its location in Montreal. 

As Angelo, the main character, says as some point: “There is nothing worse for Italians to be gay”.

This is the story of Angelo’s life from his childhood to the present moment. The Italian cultural background that immigrants have is very well depicted and and it can be pretty hilarious. 

The movie is a comedy but is dense of a lot of struggle that are part of the Italian culture and the actors are showing very well the various relationships. 

The part I like much is when the parents, as immigrants, are talking about their choice to move to Montreal (the fake Canada that is also the fake America). the different vision between the parents who immigrate and the offspring that was born in Canada. 

I also like the difference in perspective between the average gay who built and like the gay village and the main character who dislikes the village wanting and kind of straight relationship with his partner. That in my opinion is a very good point of the movie. No perspective wins and this is also a good point. 

I liked the rawness of the situation when all the parents are trying to change their sons' behaviour and everything that goes with it. I can say that, nonetheless this is a comedy and wants to make you laugh, it’s also a very good way to see all the pressures that are coming from a homophobic culture both on the person himself and on the parents. 

For me both laughs and dramatic moment are very good and this made me love this movie very much.  

Ginette Reno is wonderful in her portrait of an Italian mom, and Paul Sorvino is a great Italian Father and husband. They are conveying the emotional manipulation that is part of the culture in an amazing way. 

In the end the message of the movie is: “be yourself and be happy!” … and “do what others want you to do and be sad and in an emotional prison for the rest of your life”.

pretty great!

my vote 4/5

Weekend - 2013

Weekend (UK) - 2013

This movie is a hidden gem. 

Finally a movie where dialogues and acting are the very center of the movie itself. This for me is delightful.

The movie is about a connection as well as a love that starts around the time of a weekend. One guy lives a normal life with a normal job and he lives his life alone. 

A few straight friends with family and kids. 

He doesn’t share his life, the emotional one, with his straight friends. Possibly because “they couldn’t understand” or possibly because “they are not interested”. …just an assumption by the way.

It’s a classic compartmentalized life of a gay man integrated and not so much. He questions himself, his life, but staying at the window and not going completely into it. 

When he met the “other” guy, after the sparkle of lust and sex, something weird starts. The other guy is an artist, a guy who questions and provoke almost anything and everyone. 

The artist asks him to share his thoughts about the approach and the attraction towards the artist himself, as part of a project he’s conducting for his art. This starts a very interesting set of discussions that start breaking apart his life and he does the same in a little part for the artist. 

Their discussions are the centre of the movie, where we can see two men going through their life, personality, to merge and share their views and approach to life, sex, goals, childhood and more and getting both enriched by this weird back and forth of dialogues, sex, pot and nudity. 

The director puts some sex scenes, both of the main character alone and with his mate. In my opinion, the use he does of the sex is amazing because it’s natural, it’s part of what happens in everyday life and this makes you, the watcher, and the two guys who are sharing the sex together in the same scene and emotions. It’s not what makes the movie appealing or interesting, but what talks about another aspect of the connection. 

The problem of the plot is that the artist is going away for a big period of time to study in US and this will bring him abroad. What started as a simple sex is now more than that and the connection puts the two guys in trouble with the leave that is supposed to happen and the end of the weekend. 

Another thing I loved when I saw it is the main character not sharing his big concerns with his straight friends. It’s good that the straight friend questions the main character on this topic. This makes the connection they have finally deeper and the “gay guy” can see that his sex and emotional life related to men is something that is worth to share and not an inconvenience that should be uninteresting. This is a very good point that many gay guys are falling into. It was showed very well in the movie. 

The other good thing that I saw in the movie is the power of the art to transform, impress and destroy the status quo. I love this and I think that this is the deepest aspect that art has no matter what the media is. 

The movie is shot in apartment locations as well as in some public places. The whole locations gave me a nice taste of the normal everyday life that the main character lives. 

The care for many details of the movie, life the furniture of the main’s character apartment or the great bike he rides are well done. They talk about him very well. 

The main actor, Tim Cullen,  is a straight man in the real life and his portrait of this gay man is impressive. The scenes where he kisses his mate are very passionate and he did a great job on giving life to this character. The other actors are pretty good themselves as well. The artist is portrayed by Chris New, a great actor who really looks and acts like the pain in the ass artist the character is. They create situations that look very real. 

In the end this is a great movie that left me good emotions, interesting thoughts and giveaways and I could sympathize with the characters. 

A pretty good movie. 

My vote: 4.5/5