Drama – Page 103 – Discover great gay stories.

DEKKOO DISPATCH 069 – ‘FINDING NEIGHBORS’

Director – Ron Judkins

Starring – Michael O’Keefe, Catherine Dent, Blake Bashoff, Julie Mond

Release Date – 2013

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Welcome to dispatch number sixty-nine! I welcome you to please insert your favorite sixty-nine related joke/snortle here… Today we’re taking a look at a lovely feel-good mumblecore film shot in Los Angeles about the struggles of an aging marriage and the trials of struggling creatively. It’s true this film does come from a straight perspective, but a lot of the film’s focus comes from a gay next-door neighbor who has his own gay marriage problems.

Meet Sam, he was once a successful graphic novelist, but lately he’s hit a massive creative crisis which is taking a toll on every aspect of his personal life. His last book was a failure and now he’s in trouble with his publisher because he’s late on his new one. One day while procrastinating at a cafe he meets Jeff, a fellow “househusband” who’s acclimating to the “wonders” of married life (aka boredom). Technically it isn’t their first meeting, but their first pleasant meeting as the previous one was a middle-of-the-night misunderstanding wherein Jeff thought Sam was spying on him. It turns out that Jeff is a big fan of Sam’s early works and they strike up an easy friendship. Sam’s wife is a therapist so as you can imagine she’s constantly trying to analyze his current mid-life crisis. She suspects he’s sleeping with this really cute girl next door and has no clue that he’s really just spending all his time with Jeff.

I thought this movie was pretty darn cute. It definitely has a rough “indie” feel, but you can really tell that a lot of love went into this film. The pressure to constantly be a creative force in your professional life is something a lot of people can relate to and the character of Sam does a great job of relaying that to the audience. I do wish they’d dressed Jeff in clothes that actual gay men would wear and not those horrid button down dress shirts, but hey, straight people can’t do fashion as well as the gays! There are a lot of fun actors in these roles: Sam is played by Michael O’Keefe who was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting work in ‘The Great Santini”. Mary, his wife is played by Catherine Dent who you probably will know from ‘The Shield’. And in the role of Jeff’s husband Paul you’ll definitely recognize the hunky Sean Patrick Thomas from ‘Save the Last Dance’ and ‘Cruel Intentions’.

I’ll leave you today with the director’s statement on the film which will give you a bit more of an idea behind his inspiration for the film:

How does someone remain “relevant” in a youth-obsessed culture? How do people nourish intimate relationships long after the honeymoon is over? Is there a difference in the nature of love in gay vs. straight relationships? How do we maintain a sense of humor and grace while negotiating many of life’s setbacks?
The character of Sam in the story is any one of us who wonders if the creative edge that he once took for granted will still serve him. Mary is any one of us who as the dutiful spouse is forced to question whether the trust in her marriage is well founded. Jeff is any young man whose fixation on his past immobilizes him. Sherrie is any woman reveling in the heady powers of her sexuality, but yearning for more substantial relationships. These characters are people that I know.
I don’t see many filmmakers addressing these questions. But I know that the audience is there. I am the audience.
I’m smack dab in mid-life. Some of my peers are retiring, some “passing by the wayside,” and more than a few are feeling that modern culture has somehow passed them by. And in a large sense it has. But I consider this a great opportunity, because I am a member of one of the greatest underserved film audiences of all time: the aging baby boomers.
The studios produce very little content for this generation. Independent producers provide even less. And all the while, millions of us go to the theaters, rent DVDs and download to our flat screens, week in and week out.
But when I began writing Finding Neighbors, I wasn’t thinking about audiences or targeting markets. That’s really not my forte. I merely wanted to write and create something to which I could relate, something that concerned itself with issues that are close to me.

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Watch it with: Your hus-bear!

Mix it with: Some chardonnay – the perfect suburban drink.

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One Great Gay Shot – ‘Boy Undone’ (2017)

‘Boy Undone’ is available now to stream only on Dekkoo!

New This Week – 4/27/18

Set against the background of a broken U.S. immigration system, ‘A Place to Be’ is a love story between two young men, Abel & Diego. When tragedy strikes and Diego’s immigration status is revealed, Abel and Diego discover the power of love during uncertain times. From the Award Winning filmmaker Tadeo Garcia comes a love story for our time. Watch ‘A Place to Be’ now on Dekkoo one month before DVD!

The story of the only heterosexual flamingo and his desperate attempt to find love. Watch the wonderful animated short, ‘Flamingo Pride’ on Dekkoo!

David, the host of a local gay radio show in Buffalo, New York, struggles with self-doubt when his single sister asks him to be the father figure for her soon to be adopted Brazilian child. Stream ‘The David Dance’ now on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: A brand new chilling homoerotic thriller.

DEKKOO DISPATCH 068 – ‘ANOTHER GAY SEQUEL’

Title – ‘Another Gay Sequel‘

Director – Todd Stephens

Starring – Jonah Blechman, Jake Mosser, Jimmy Clabots, Aaron Michael Davies

Release Date – 2008

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In the spirit of the Avengers sequel (times 5!?!) coming out this weekend I wanted to touch on a sequel the gay community was graced with back in 2008. ‘Another Gay Sequel’ is the follow-up to the 2006 smash success ‘Another Gay Movie‘ which I profiled way back in Dekkoo Dispatch #20. I’m a big Todd Stephens fan so it was really incredible to hear that he was heading up the sequel. Too many times sequels are usually handed to someone else with the original director either uninterested in the project or just excited to move onto a fresh story. But Todd was eager to thrust us back into the lives of Andy, Nico, Griff, and Jarrod.

We last left our awkward protagonists in a state of pure orgasmic bliss. They’d just fulfilled a group promise to all lose their virginity over the course of a summer after high school graduation. Griff and Jarrod became boyfriends, Nico found an older daddy, and Andy ended up getting double penetrated by Griff and Jarrod’s ex-dates. Not bad for first times! The sequel starts with a ‘gag’ dream where Griff, Jarrod, and Andy all ‘die’ horrible lubed up deaths. Nico wakes with a start in a his bed and realizes it was all a dream… or was it? Because in fact we quickly realize that the actors that played the three hunky guys in the original look a little… different. Welcome to an industry where agents tell their actors that, “if you play two gay movies in a row people might think you’re actually gay”. Nico writes off the change of actors as a good thing, “Actually, they’re a lot cuter than I remember” and everyone immediately gets excited about SPRING BREAK IN FORT LAUDERDALE!!!!

That’s the focus of our gay sequel folks. A rowdy, dirty, and wild trip to sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida during spring break where the boys are shirtless all the time and the drinks flow until daybreak. Just like the original our sequel packs in the antics AND the cameos. We’ve got RuPaul, Perez Hilton, Lady Bunny, Brent Corrigan, Amanda Lepore, Colton Ford, Jim Verraros, & Michael Lucas just to name a fair few! The boys first stop after their ‘Snakes on a Plane’ moment on TransAmerica airlines is their adorable retro hotel filled with fellow gays on spring break. There they meet RuPaul or as she’s known in the film, Tyrell Tyrelle, who lets it be known that they’ve stumbled upon a grand event simply known as ‘Gays Gone Wild!’. The objective of the game is to rack up as many ‘fuckstamps’ as possible during the week by, ya know, fucking. Unfortunately there are complications. For one Griff & Jarrod as a couple have to figure out if they can participate, also there’s the Jaspers. The three Jaspers (Jasper and his two cronies: Jasper Chan and Jasper Pledge) are the reigning champions of the competition and won’t give up their title so easily.

Andy, who now brags about his sluttiness with gusto, gets to work almost immediately on collecting his fuckstamps. Nico on the other hand runs into an ‘unlucky tiki’ and thus is out of the game so to speak. Griff & Jarrod start to experiment with being in an open relationship which causes frictions within the group, but also creates an opening for a fantastic 3way cameo with Colton Ford. Sooo funny! Other fun problems include Perez Hilton running around the place trying to convince people to NOT have sex (he was hit over the head with a buttplug) and Andy’ dad (played by the incomparable Scott Thompson) trying to keep up with the boys in the competition. The whole movie is a hoot and while it might not be quite as fantastic as the first which was hilarious and compassionate in equal measures it still does an admirable job at making you laugh and squirm in equal measures. And the hot naked guys are an added plus for sure!

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Watch it with: All of your gay friends!

Mix it with: Mimosas, Martinis, whatever it takes!

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One Perfect Gay Shot – ‘Al Berto’ (2017)

‘Al Berto’ is now available to stream on Dekkoo.com months before its release on DVD!

New This Week – 4/20/18

It’s the summer of ’75 in Sines, Portugal. Al Berto, the writer, embodies an entire moving generation. He and his friends exude youth, eccentricity and hope for the future – but right after the fall of Portugal’s dictatorship system, the country is not yet ready for his love story. ‘Al Berto’ is now available on Dekkoo two months before DVD!

A funny, sincere, slice of life about a couple just trying to figure it out. Mateo and Will invite their friends over for Will’s 30th birthday. After a few surprise visitors, they get through the day, but realize that doubting your partner isn’t nearly as scary as doubting yourself. Stream ‘Turtle Hill, Brooklyn’ now on Dekkoo!

A small-town loner’s fascination with the new kid in town leads him into something much more sinister than he could ever have imagined. Watch the gay short film, ‘Bugcrush’ now on Dekkoo.

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Coming next week: From the Award Winning filmmaker Tadeo Garcia comes a love story for our time.

DEKKOO DISPATCH 067 – ‘BUGCRUSH’

Title – ‘Bugcrush‘

Director – Carter Smith

Starring – Josh Caras, Donald Cumming, Eleonore Hendricks, David Tennent

Release Date – 2006

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Well it’s a very dark and yet exciting day here in Dekkoo-world with the launch of Carter Smith’s award-winning short-ish film from 2006 ‘Bugcrush‘! This is absolutely, positively, my favorite short film ever – it’s disturbing, sexy, and gorgeously made. The photography, sound design, and choice of locations all come together to reach a level of perfection for my particular aesthetic interests. The short premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film! Based on his success at Sundance Carter Smith went on to direct the Summer blockbuster horror film ‘The Ruins’ and later in 2014 the intimate ghost love-triangle film ‘Jamie Marks is Dead’.

‘Bugcrush‘ is set in a small town in the forest-heavy state of Maine. We meet Ben – a mousey nerd-ish loner type who happens to be the first person to talk to the dark, mysterious, and sexy new kid in school, Grant who immediately upon arrival gets an immediate detention for smoking. What does Ben do then? He gets detention on purpose so he can stare at Grant for a couple of hours. Ben’s friends try to talk him down from his obsession with Grant. They warn him that he’s just a straight guy that’ll beat him up if he knew Ben was into him. But none of this deters Ben who proceeds to work up the courage one school day to propose a hangout with Grant that leads to a very bumpy night to say the least…

The film is an adaptation of a short story by Scott Treleaven, an artist who founded the queer pagan punk ‘zine ‘This is the Salivation Army’ back in the 90’s. It was collected in the queer horror anthology ‘Queer Fear 2’ which is where Carter Smith first read it. “The moment I read the short story the very first time, it was like being hit by a bus,” Carter Smith said, waiting in a Dallas airport for a changeover flight to Salt Lake City. “I was like, ‘This is the film that I can make better than anybody else. This is the film I have to make.’ It just sort of clobbered me over the head.” Before making ‘Bugcrush‘ Carter Smith was a professional fashion photographer and commercial director. He was certainly able to bring over his keen instinct for stylization and photography to create a dark and foreboding landscape of teenage angst and sexuality.

The film was shot on 35mm and the color timing is some of the best I’ve ever seen. Greens have a corpse-like quality to them (except when it comes to Ben’s eyes which seem to be leaping out of the screen at you) and the roads at night are a gorgeous yellow-grey color. Another part of the production that leaps out at you is the sound design. The entire film is filled with eerie moans and distorted childish voices that promote the escalating tension in everyday normal situations like school hallways. The idea to un-synchronize the sound during the driving scene at night is totally brilliant! And so was the idea to have lots of whispering voices giving you additional info about characters. Turn up your volume!!

This movie has everything! Pretty guys, teenage crushes, weird drugs, sexy smoking, metal music, awkward hidden sexuality, creepy straight guys, and cockroaches! Watch ‘Bugcrush‘ with your ‘crush’ tonight!

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Watch it with: Someone you have a dark crush on…

Mix it with: Vodka.

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New This Week – 4/13/18

Set in Sri Lanka, where old colonial laws permit the imprisonment of gay and lesbian people, ‘Frangipani’ tells the story of two young men and one woman entangled in a lustful – and incredibly dangerous – love triangle.

Twelve year old Erik goes swimming with Sofie and her dad. Sophie wants Erik as a boyfriend but he seems to pay more attention to her dad. Watch ‘ Breath’ now on Dekkoo!

Co-written and directed by stand-up comedian Jason Stuart, ‘Mentor’ follows a middle-aged gay Jewish man and a straight, starry-eyed kid who form a friendship while trying to make a name for themselves in the cold, hard business of Hollywood.

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Coming next week: A film about Portuguese poet Alberto Raposo Pidwell Tavares arrives on Dekkoo weeks before DVD!

DEKKOO DISPATCH 066 – ‘SHORT FILM ROUNDUP!’

Title – ‘Turn It Around‘

Director – Niels Bourgonje

Starring – Valentijn Avé, Tonko Bossen, Timo Dries, Faye Gunther

Release Date – 2017

Title – ‘Breath‘

Director – Margien Rogaar

Starring – Yannick de Waal, Moo Miero, Roeland Fernhout

Release Date – 2007

Title – ‘It Gets Better?‘

Director – Stephen Riscica

Starring – Gys de Villiers, Luka Fric, Samuel Ashkenazy, Adam Davenport

Release Date – 2016

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Three short films – Three snapshots of queer life at three different points in a gay man’s life. I’ve been focusing too much on features lately so this week I decided to take a glance backwards at some of the short films that have been added to Dekkoo’s catalog. I found three recent additions that speak of love at different stages in life and they’re all exquisitely crafted! I’d recommend starting from young to old. In this case from ‘Breath‘ to ‘Turn It Around‘ to ‘It Gets Better?‘.

‘Breath’ is an heartwarming poetic coming-of-age short film from The Netherlands. Infused with a warmth you can only get from shooting on real film, ‘Breath‘ focuses its camera on 12-year old Erik. He’s fascinated by the world around him and constantly observes his surroundings with the remnants of child-like awe. His friend Sophie invites him to the beach where he meets her handsome and playful father. Clearly Sophie has a bit of a crush on Erik, but Erik has his eyes on her father. Margien Rogaar definitely has an eye for colors, occasionally flashing us with bright swatches of color reminiscent of scenes from ‘Beginners’ by Mike Mills. The whole film felt like falling into a dream for me – a dream that put me in the shoes of my childhood self and reminded me of what having a crush at that age was like.

Ten years later in the same country Niels Bourgonje created ‘Turn It Around‘. A film set squarely in the post-‘It Gets Better’ world with the coming out process being awkward rather than difficult. In the short 15-year old Bram is attending a house party with his girl crazy friends. We can tell immediately that he’s your typical closeted gay teenager – lazily reacting to girls his friends point out as ‘hotties’. But then Bram spots Florian at the party and immediately falls for him. In the span of just ten minutes we’re witness to the beginning of a really adorable love story. If you can only watch one of these shorts make it this one! Soooo cute and heartfelt.

Lastly we enter old age with ‘It Gets Better?‘. Getting older is something very few people (especially gay people!) want to happen to them. This feeling is programmed into us from a very young age where being attractive and youthful is prized above almost everything else. Slowly, but surely more narratives are changing that view point and ushering the values of old age corresponding to wisdom and insight into the cultural consciousness. In this short we meet an older man who’s watching an ‘It Gets Better’ video on the internet. In the video we see a teenager repeating the same monologue we’ve heard a million times before, but it’s affecting this man differently. Instead of being calmed by it he’s agitated by the teenager’s words. After drinking a heck of a lot of wine we finally hear what’s on his mind. Gys de Villiers (who is actually a pretty famous South African actor) is unbelievably compelling as the anonymous older gay man who tries to impart some of his wisdom (and melancholy) to a jaded modern culture.

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Watch it with: A friend or two!

Mix it with: A glass of white wine.

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New This Week – 4/6/18

Ian McKellen delivers an award-winning performance as Hollywood horror director James Whale. It’s 1957, and Whale’s heyday as the director of ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ and ‘The Invisible Man’ is long behind him. Retired and a semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. When a handsome young gardener (played by the beautiful Brendan Fraser) enters the picture, the pair develop an unlikely friendship. Watch ‘Gods And Monster’ now on Dekkoo!

When the fifteen year old Bram meets Florian at a house party, he immediately falls for him. There’s only one problem: nobody knows Bram is gay. Watch ‘Turn It Around’ now on Dekkoo!

A successful stay-at-home graphic novelist, has hit a mid-life and creative crisis. When his wife begins to suspect an affair she is surprised to learn he’s spending all of his time with his gay neighbor. ‘Finding Neighbors’ is now available to stream on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: A gay story from Sri Lanka, where being gay is illegal.