Adolescence – Page 40 – Discover great gay stories.

DEKKOO DISPATCH 049 – ‘YEAH, KOWALSKI!’ AND ‘SEAT IN SHADOW’

Title – ‘Seat In Shadow‘

Director – Henry Coombes

Starring – Henry Coombes, Ross Hunter, Jonathan Leslie, Marcella Mclntosh

Release Date – 2016

Title – ‘Yeah, Kowalski!‘

Director – Evan Roberts

Starring – Cameron Wofford, Conor Donnelly, Kaitlyn Knippers, Annamarie Kasper

Release Date – 2013

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Happy Wednesday Dekkoo’ers! We’re getting closer to the holidays which makes everyone go a little crazy so here are a pair of movies that you might sympathize with:

‘Yeah, Kowalski‘ is a super adorable short film about puberty and first crushes by Evan Roberts. A festival darling back in 2013 it traces a week in the life of 13-year old Gabe Kowalski. He’s a bit of a late bloomer who has two obsessions: Growing armpit hair and impressing his dream-boy, Shane. Shane seems the polar opposite of Gabe. He’s tall, outgoing, and proud of his armpit hair. There’s a lot to love about this film especially the honest depiction of a gay crush at such a young age which hopefully becomes the norm in this day and age.

Next up for your double feature pleasure is ‘Seat In Shadow‘ a film hailing from the UK that has a decidedly mind-bending bent to it. I wouldn’t expect anything less from the feature film debut of artist Henry Coombes whose work has been presented at the Venice Biennale among other prestigious art shows. Collaborating with David Sillars on the screenplay who also plays the role of the therapist Albert they’ve crafted a unique study of mentor-student relationships that can go off the rails.

Albert is an older gay painter and self-proclaimed therapist that lives his own life and doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks of it. He studies unique ways of living and thinking through YouTube videos like how to make your own toothpaste with charcoal and random lectures on Jung. He also gets very high and talks to his plant he’s named Priscilla. When an old friend of his comes to his apartment he reluctantly agrees to help her grandson named Ben who’s going through a rough time and could use someone to talk to. You’d think Ben would have everything going for him. He’s young, good-looking, and goes to parties. Unfortunately Ben is in love with a guy that’s simply a big ‘ole jerk! He uses Ben and then criticizes everything about him.

The film is comprised primarily of one on one sessions between Albert and Ben. In the sessions they delve deep into human emotions like love, sex, and the desire to consume drugs. You can tell that the director has a deep fondness for hallucinogenic drugs. The movie definitely worships them and the filmmaking style reflects a very twisted and warped view of reality. The best part of the film by far is Albert. He’s painted very realistically with all manner of human flaws inherent in an older gay artist. He’s part monster/part angel and the director really manages to delve into that with a real honesty that’s refreshing.

Well I think you’ve got two extremely interesting films to dig into today/tomorrow/this weekend so I hope you’ll do that and let us know what you thought! 🙂

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Watch ’em with: Your mentor

Mix it with: Absinthe!

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DEKKOO DISPATCH 048 – ‘THE RULES OF ATTRACTION’

Title – ‘The Rules of Attraction‘

Director – Roger Avary

Starring – James Van Der Beek, Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Kip Pardue

Release Date – 2002

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On Dekkoo we’re turning our gaze to the glorious year 2002 with ‘The Rules of Attraction‘. While Ben Affleck was soaking up his Sexiest Man of the Year award from People Magazine there was another kind of sexy happening in cinemas. One involving James van der Beek from the legendary ‘Dawson’s Creek’ in an on-screen gay kiss with the smoking hot Ian Somerhalder. The film based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis (who also wrote ‘American Psycho’ and ‘Less Than Zero’ – both of which were also made into movies) follows the lives of 3 students as they make their way through the sexual angst of college.

Unlike ‘American Psycho’ and ‘Less Than Zero’, Roger Avary’s adaptation of the book actually tries to follow Ellis’ crazy narrative structures and wildly explicit views of sex and drugs. The film’s use of slow-mo, reverse motion, split-screen, and intense montage all call to mind the frenetic energy of Ellis’ visionary 1987 novel. The movie focuses on three main characters:

Paul Denton – The gay one. The defiantly gay one I should say. Paul’s attitude towards his queerness is refreshing even to this day. He’s confident in being himself completely even if it ends in being shoved or spit on by a guy he makes a move on. Paul’s love interest in this movie is Sean Bateman who’s in love with Lauren Hynde. Oh did I not mention this was a love triangle movie?? Ah my bad. Yeah it’s a love triangle movie. Paul falls head over heels for Paul’s rugged looks, his ‘slutty’ attitude, and his devil-may-cry attitude towards almost everyone. Personally I think Paul (played by Ian Somerhalder) is the hottest character in the film. He’s constantly wearing the tightest outfits and has permanent pouty-lip syndrome. The shirtless dance scene with his friend ‘Dick’ is easily one of the highlights of the film and worth the price of admission!

Sean Bateman – Enter the psychotic (or is he just a troubled genius?) straight character of the film. Funnily enough Sean is supposed to be Patrick Bateman’s (‘American Psycho’) little brother so it all makes sense why he’s a little unhinged. Sean’s religious views consist of sex, drugs, and more sex. Honestly he’s probably a dream boyfriend for a lot of people. Sean starts getting mysterious love letters from someone just around the time he first runs into Lauren Hynde. The two circumstances align in such a way that trigger a burst of longing and perhaps even love which he chases throughout the film. Oh and there’s a plot line involving him having to pay his drug supplier that honestly I could’ve done without. But c’est la vie!

Lauren Hynde – Ok so Lauren is basically the sweeter version of Daria if Daria did cocaine. Lauren is probably the most grounded character of the film. She’s very much a good girl when it comes to sex, even going so far as to study venereal disease textbooks before parties to discourage hooking up. Perhaps that’s what makes the connection between Sean and Lauren so intense. Her desire to hook up with someone who has so much sex and tame him and his desire to settle down with someone so virginal.

Besides those three adorable human beings you can also look forward to:
-Early career cameos by Jay Baruchel & Kate Bosworth.
-An appearance by the legendary musician Paul Williams as a crazy doctor.
-Legendary actresses Faye Dunaway & Swoosie Kurtz in a hilariously awkward dinner scene.
-Jessica Biel!

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Watch it with: Two friends that you’re in a love triangle with

Mix it with: Beer and cocaine

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DEKKOO DISPATCH 042 – ‘PYOTR495′

Title – ‘Pyotr495‘

Director – Blake Mawson

Starring – Alex Ozerov, Alanna Bale, Juliana Semenova, Max Rositsan

Release Date – 2016

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How was everyone’s Halloween festivities last night? Did you have to take the day off work to recover? Over here at Dekkoo we’re still clinging onto the vapors of October with this week’s short film that really packs a wallop: ‘Pyotr495‘.

The beginning of ‘Pyotr’ starts out simple enough, a really really cute guy named Pyotr (played by Alex Ozerov) is cruising on Grindr one night and is invited over to an older muscle stud’s apartment (decorated in terrible/amazing Russian fashion), but since this is a horror film he of course runs into some trouble, namely a few anti-gay Russian Nationalists that believe that it’s their responsibility to rid Russia of ‘degenerates’ like the gays. A twist towards the end makes the short film extremely enjoyable 😉

There are lots of reasons why this short film has played all over the world: great direction, fantastic cinematography, a great horror twist, and a really cute lead to name more than a few, but it’s the films social commentary about LGBTQ bullying that really ties everything together. The films starts with a message, stylized like the beginning of a Disney fairy tale: “Russia, 2014 – The country’s military has been ordered to invade the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, while the newly-instated LGBT Propaganda Law makes it illegal to present gay life in Russia as normal. President Vladamir Putin’s approval rating is at a six-year high.”

This film paints a reality for many LGBTQ people living in Russia. They don’t feel safe in the same spaces that most of us in the U.S. feel safe in. The wrong hookup can lead to devastating consequences. Charlie David from Border2Border (who helped bring Pyotr to a wider audience online) interviewed the director Blake Mawson and asked a question about why the film is so important in this day and age:

With what we’ve seen is happening in Chechnya with the anti-gay purge and concentration camps for gay men, these human rights abuses by Chechen authorities where journalists covering the story are receiving death threats and being forced to flee the country – this is obviously a very clear sign that things are not getting any better and are in fact worsening in many parts of the globe. While I’m not claiming that our short film is solving any of world problems, I do think it is important that we use our voice as artists and as people in any way possible to draw attention to these injustices and continue to raise awareness.

I think if I can use genre-type film to put an audience in the shoes of the people who are experiencing this type of terror and hatred, make them uncomfortable and have them realize that this is actually not so make-believe in the end, that this type of horror is real – then we can begin to open people’s eyes and reach an audience in unexpected ways.

Check out ‘Pyotr495‘ tonight and do your part in kicking the asses of Russian bigots!!

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Watch it with: Your horror buddies.

Mix it with: Russian Vodka of course!

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DEKKOO DISPATCH 041 – ‘FURIOUS DESIRES’

Title – ‘Furious Desires‘

Directors – Simone Bozzelli, Denisse Quintero, Ricky Mastro, Rodrigo Alvarez Flores, Fabio Leal

Starring – Edilson Silva, Carlos Eduardo Ferraz, Gregorio Musatti, Jose Pescina, Hoze Melendez, Fabio Leal

Release Date – 2017

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Just one more week until Halloween!! Do you have your costume picked out yet for that gay rager? Since I’m a bit of a movie nerd I think my Halloween celebrations will be quite classical and consist of pumpkin carving, movie watching, and scaring as many trick-or-treaters as possible with a ‘Goodnight Mommy’ mask I have somewhere in my closet.

This week on the dispatch I’m diving into the year’s sexiest collection of short films: ‘Furious Desires‘. The collection covers the gamut from first love to the perils of immigration to Mexican coming-of-age rituals. There are five in total. I’ll break ’em down below and I guess I’ll give them a rating too, why not!

1. ‘Daytime Doorman’ – Well if you like nudity this is the short film for you! Marcelo is your typical constantly horny Brazilian guy who loves to hang out with friends and party. Marcio is a little more reserved and is the doorman of Marcelo’s building. When Marcelo invites the ‘straight’ Marcio out for a drink they end up hooking up which starts a string of hot (and sometimes sweet) encounters. I enjoyed all the sex, but I couldn’t really connect with the main character. He’s definitely painted as a bit ‘ditzy’ which did annoy me slightly. But like I said earlier – very sexy and tons of nudity!
3/5

2. ‘Xavier’ – This is a very sweet film about a father who while trying to understand why his son is being anti-social at school comes to the realization that he might be gay. The evidence presents itself to him as he spies his shy son suddenly smiling and opening up to an older boy, but his theory is confirmed when he invites family friends over who bring a boy that Xavier can’t keep his eyes off of. The father’s understanding and acceptance of his son’s feelings is really adorable and makes the short film a gem.
4/5

3. ‘The Other Side’ – Probably the highlight of the collection, ‘The Other Side’ covers a wealth of topics in its short run time including immigration, closeted relationships, and young love. Felipe & Claudio meet randomly while cruising on a bus and eventually fall in adorable puppy love. After shit goes down Felipe is forced to make the decision between staying home or following his love across the border to ‘The Other Side’.
5/5

4. ‘The Tigers Fight’ – I always enjoy films that feature a heavy dose of history and culture and this one does that by exploring the customs involving the transition from childhood to manhood and also pledging your romantic interests towards another. The story focuses on Nicolas as he prepares for his ‘Tiger Fight’, a custom that encourages young men to spar with each other in full costume which by doing so invigorates the spirits to provide water for crops. He gets help from his best friend Pablo who is still mourning the death of his father. The short film has a great balance of family life, village life, cultures, customs, and boys wrestling in the rain 😉
4/5

5. ‘Loris is Fine’ – I’m a sucker for gorgeous cinematography and gorgeous guys and this Italian short film has both! Sadly that’s about all it has in my opinion. The main character (while he is extremely hot) is self-absorbed like whoa and pretends to have a boyfriend (Or is he real? Can someone enlighten me??) who’s HIV positive, but can’t love him fully until he’s HIV positive as well which then leads to Loris inviting HIV positive men over so he can seroconvert. I don’t think it’s the worst thing ever, but I just didn’t understand a lot of what was going on. Oh well.
2/5

So there you have it! A nice strong collection of sexy short films that you should definitely binge tonight or this weekend.

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Watch it with: A bunch of friends that love short films

Mix it with: White wine all around!

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DEKKOO DISPATCH 040 – ‘A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE’

Title – ‘A Closer Walk With Thee‘

Director – John C. Clark, Brie Williams

Starring – Aj Knight, Gregory Shelby, Kelsey Boze, Megan Hensley

Release Date – 2017

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Lordy, lordy look what just turned 40! The Dekkoo Dispatch! We’re officially into daddy territory now and couldn’t be happier… We’re still butt deep in Halloween season so it’s time for another blood-curdling gay horror film to spice up your week courtesy of your friends at Dekkoo 😉

Last week we took you to Spain and into the minds of queer killers with ‘In A Glass Cage‘. This week we’re heading to Los Angeles where four Evangelical missionaries live together and work to convert the agnostic (that means they’re heathens sweetie) neighborhood they’ve set up shop in. Dubbed as a ‘Homoerotic Evangelical Exorcism Film’ – ‘A Closer Walk With Thee‘ is a devious piece of low-budget horror filmmaking with some great acting and some very lusty set pieces.

Aj Knight stars as Jordan, a simple missionary trying to do God’s work, but unfortunately gets distracted by Eli, the handsome pastor leading the mission. When Jordan is caught masturbating to Eli’s naked self in the shower the group gradually starts exploring the theory that his homosexual urges could be the work of a demon possessing his body and soul. The movie is full of awesome sexual awkwardness between the two and once it gets to the exorcism scenes you’ll definitely be enjoying yourself.

The directors (a gay and a lesbian! super awesome!) explain why they made the film: “We began ‘A Closer Walk With Thee‘ with a basic idea: a religious horror film depicting ‘gay-conversion’ exorcisms, a fringe practice within the Evangelical community that has been growing steadily in recent years. We wanted to take the already emotionally charged experience of coming out of the closet and place it in an even more heightened environment — amidst a group of fundamentalist young people living together in a house church performing exorcisms on their fledgling congregation.

As the story began to take shape, it became the story of one character, Jordan, experiencing a struggle that so many people face: being in a deadlocked battle between desire and religious conviction. The journey of the film is his journey — at first quietly uncomfortable, increasingly disorienting, guilt drenched, and ultimately madness-inducing. What started off as an idea to make a fun, weird religious horror had developed into a more complex drama/genre film, and it was one that we were excited to explore.”

Whenever I can invite a guest analyst to take a more academic approach to a film on Dekkoo I make sure to and this week I managed to snag one of the biggest contributors (both in filmmaking and with wild appreciation) to the world of Queer Horror, Michael Varrati who has this take on the film: “Amid lingering shots of male physicality and heightened sequences of youthful lust, ‘A Closer Walk With Thee‘ expertly threads an ever encroaching sense of unease throughout its narrative. By showcasing the schism caused when rigid ideology and primal desire clash under the same roof, the film exponentially magnifies that sense of unease felt by queer individuals forced into situations wherein they are not able to be their true and authentic selves.

More so, the film never goes out of its way to directly condemn the actions of the missionaries, and a gruesome, supernatural third act lends itself to a morally gray read of the movie overall. Perhaps though, this is A Closer Walk With Thee’s greatest strength as a horror film. Rather than visit the terror onto one individual, none are entirely absolved from the evil inhabiting their world. Shocking, thoughtful, and subversively sexy, ‘A Closer Walk With Thee‘ is the kind of movie that makes you want to free yourself from sin…if only so you may sin again.”

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Watch it with: Friends that love sexy men and scary movies

Mix it with: Sacramental wine blessed by your local sexy priest

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DEKKOO DISPATCH 039 – ‘IN A GLASS CAGE’

Title – ‘In a Glass Cage‘

Director – Agustí Villaronga

Starring – Günter Meisner, David Sust, Marisa Paredes, Gisèle Echevarría

Release Date – 1986

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Darkness. A house containing evil and secrets. Innocence lost. A desire for revenge and murder. ‘In a Glass Cage‘ takes no prisoners and instead marches onwards through its self-made carnage towards a delicate balancing of art-house sensibilities and an exploration of twisted humanity. In fact this film is so disturbing that even John Waters said, “I’m too scared to show it to my friends!”

Agustí Villaronga made the harrowing film in 1985 and partially based it on Gilles de Rais, a companion to Joan of Arc and a notorious and self-confessed murderer of children (supposedly in the hundreds!). Like Pasolini’s ‘Salo’, Villaronga decided to set his tale at the end of WWII and utilizes a Nazi as the twisted figure at the center of the film. The film starts without remorse with Klaus (our resident evil dude) taking photos of a boy hanging from a rope. He’s naked and bears the marks of repeated tortures (I never said this was an easy movie to watch!!). After dealing the killing blow to the young boy Klaus seems to have some sort of revelation and immediately runs up to the roof of the house and jumps. Meanwhile someone was watching the proceedings and steals Klaus’ scrapbook/diary of his evils.

Fast-forward a few years and we’ve found that Klaus, while still alive, is now living inside a large iron lung. A device that controls his breathing. Without it he dies. His wife (played by Almodovar regular Marisa Paredes) and young daughter have been taking care of him in a country house in Catalonia where they try and avoid the Nazi witch hunt taking place in the rest of the world that would surely condemn them. Suddenly an invader boldly infiltrates the house and locks the door where Klaus is kept. When the wife demands to be let in she finds Angelo, a brooding young man petitioning to become Klaus’ nurse. Much to her dismay Klaus insists that Angelo stay to be his nurse and we eventually find out that it’s because Angelo is the one that knows all of Klaus’ secrets.

What follows is a dangerous lesson in power dynamics and the nature of evil itself. The beginning is dramatic, the middle is disturbing, and the end of the film is incredibly hypnotic and moving.

Besides the fantastic acting and writing, the cinematography is really what stands out to me in this film. Jaume Peracaula has lensed almost all of Agustí Villaronga’s films and he manages to find a perfect balance between light and dark and most of all the color blue which I’m sure has some symbolic meaning that I can’t quite figure out (I’m being honest at least!). The transfer that we’ve brought to Dekkoo is the latest High Definition remaster which really is miles better than the old DVD that used to exist where you could barely make out what was happening in half of the film.

While the themes are difficult to handle I truly love this movie. Top 25 for sure! To me it seems like ‘Salo’ as directed by Dario Argento and Pedro Almodovar and I’m crazy excited that it’s finally here on Dekkoo where you can challenge yourself to Agustí Villaronga’s masterpiece.

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Watch it with: Probably just yourself.

Mix it with: Water.

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New This Week – 10/6/17

Julian, a 13-year-old seminarian will endure a hard spiritual journey to reach ‘Perfect Obedience‘. The order’s founding father, captivated by his fragility and innocence, will take him to live together with him in his private home for a year. In that time Julian will wander the most intense and contradictory phase of his life while his mentor guides him to complete psychological and physical surrender. (subtitled)

In the award winning short film ‘Welcome to New York‘, five young New Yorkers visit the a therapist to work through their crazy first experiences in the Big Apple.

‘Child of the ’70’s‘ is the story of gay Italian-American Carlo Perdente who ends up working as a personal assistant to his 1970’s TV idol, the neurotic and over-the-top KiKi Lawrence.

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Coming next week: A profoundly entertaining (and often arousing) collection of stellar short films from an array of staggeringly talented international filmmakers.

DEKKOO DISPATCH 037 – ‘CENTER OF MY WORLD’

Title – ‘Center of My World’

Director – Jakob M. Erwa

Starring – Louis Hofmann, Jannik Schümann, Svenja Jung, Sabine Timoteo

Release Date – 2016

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It’s officially Fall now, but it feels like Spring over at Dekkoo because we’re in LOVEEEE!! ‘Center of My World‘ has officially arrived to Dekkoo hot off of its festival tour around the globe where it captivated the hearts and souls of thousands of people who got off their butts and went to their local LGBTQ Film Festival. But if you were lazy (or if you happened to be in South Dakota at the time) now exclusively on Dekkoo you can finally watch it a month before DVD!

The reason we’re so excited about this film here at Dekkoo is because it’s very rare in the realm of cinema to encounter a big budget, high-quality gay romance film. In fact we probably only get 2-4 per year if we’re lucky! ‘Center of My World‘ is exactly that.

Based on the 1998 novel of the same name ‘Center of My World‘ follows Phil – your average out-of-the-closet German High School student (it’s 2016 don’t forget!) who’s just survived a summer of French Language Camp and wants nothing more than to horse around with his best friend Kat and his sister/twin Dianne until school starts back up. But after arriving home he finds his house/mansion (dubbed ‘Visible’) in disarray. A huge storm trashed his town and Glass (Phil’s mom refuses to be called ‘Mom’) and Dianne aren’t speaking to each other. Normally this is where Phil would figure out what the heck is going on, but thennnnn…

Yeah. This guy shows up on the first day of school. Hey you’d be incredibly distracted too! Thus Phil gets flung into a fling with the man-of-his-dreams (and the rest of ours…) named Nicolas. Nicolas is everything Phil wants, tall, gorgeous, muscular, outgoing, and most importantly: a top! But seriously these two guys have the most amazing chemistry together. I can’t remember the last time I watched a gay film where the leads seemed this flawlessly attractive. It’s mildly distracting sometimes. I’ve seen it three times and sometimes I just get lost in their eyes……. Damn I’m doing it again!

The film doesn’t solely focus on the romantic angle the whole time and does circle back around to the family dynamic between Phil, Dianne, and Glass. There’s a lot of hurt in the family paired with an avoidance of truth especially on Glass’ part which makes for great cinema.

If you like the film (we think you’ll LOVE it) please tell your friends about it and let them know that Dekkoo is the only place to see it online. Next month it will also be available to own on DVD and Blu-ray.

Danke and good night!

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Watch it with: Everyone! Your friends, your neighbors, your mom!

Mix it with: Wine all around! Maybe a German Riesling perhaps?

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One Great Gay Shot – ‘Center of My World’ (2016)

‘Center of My World’ – Coming to Dekkoo tomorrow, 9/26/17!

DEKKOO DISPATCH 036 – ‘BOYS’

Title – ‘Boys’

Director – Mischa Kamp

Starring – Gijs Blom, Ko Zandvliet, Jonah Smulders, Ton Kas

Release Date – 2014

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Monday of next week we’re releasing one of the sexiest gay romantic films of 2017, ‘Center of My World‘ almost a month before it hits DVD! To prepare you for the insane sexiness you’ll be checking out next week I thought a small appetizer would be a good idea to ‘whet’ your appetite.

‘Boys‘ is a captivating coming-of-age/romance from the Netherlands. Originally produced as a TV movie it was so well-made that the producers were able to expand its reach to theaters in the Netherlands and eventually it made it’s way to other countries as well. Could it be because of the two incredibly good looking leads? Gijs Blom & Ko Zandvliet are extremely magnetic by themselves, but together they present a vision of what young gay love really will look like in the future.

Sieger lives with his father and brother. It quick becomes apparent that Sieger is living with the recent grief of his mother. In order to tune out the tensions that exist between his motorcycle-obsessed brother getting into fights with his dad Sieger participates in track & field with his local high school. One day a new kid joins the team, Marc, which inspires a new array of feelings to confuse Sieger even further. Pretty soon afterwards they share their first kiss while swimming at the local lake. Marc seems confident in his attraction, but Sieger struggles to accept the relationship.

Making the film shine even brighter is brilliant cinematography and toe-tapping musical selections from M83, Foo Fighters, and Katy Perry!

I know the wait for ‘Center of My World‘ has felt like forever, but it’s almost here! Watch ‘Boys‘ to tie you over 😉

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Watch it with: A friend who loves romantic films

Mix it with: A glass of white wine

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