THEGAYUK

Author: Roger Walker-Dack

  • FILM REVIEW | Ida

    ★★★★★ | Ida

    It’s hard to decide exactly what period this new cinematic masterpiece from Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski is set in with its austere dramatic settings that look like they have remained unchanged for centuries. This unforgiving bleak countryside that seems to have escaped any attempt at modernization is in fact 1962 but you have this sinking feeling that this part of rural post-war Poland is probably still exactly the same today.

    Ida is an 18-year-old Novice at a large decaying rather remote Convent and is just about to take her final Vows. The Convent has been her home since she had been abandoned as an orphaned baby, but now the Mother Superior tells her that she does, in fact, have one living relative, an Aunt who she should go visit before she makes her ultimate commitment to God.

    She has two major shocks awaiting her at the end of her long bus journey when she finally meets her Aunt. Not only does she discover that she is Jewish by birth, but she also quickly realises that her Aunt, is a former high-ranking Communist Party Public Prosecutor who has transgressed into an alcoholic chain-smoking woman who seems to bed every man she meets. The sheltered young nun-to-be, however, seems to take it all in her stride and announces that she wants to go back to her home village just once and visit her parents grave.

    An initially reluctant Aunt agrees to drive her there, as she needs to prepare Ida for the harsh reality of the situation. The parents had been slaughtered in the Pogrom in the War and even now the local anti-Semitic Communist population are in denial of their complicity as in many cases they then stole the lands left by the murdered Jews. This was the case of her own parents and it took the fearless tenacity of the Aunt to uncover the actual facts.

    Along with their road-trip, they give a lift to a handsome young saxophonist who is en route to play at a Ball in the next town. Ida doesn’t realise at the time that he will turn out to be one of the reasons that she questions her vocation and her ‘calling’ to serve God.

    The tense melodramatic story is as uncompromisingly bleak as the landscape it is set in, and it’s twisting plot lines as both women’s lives unfold in front of our eyes makes for compelling viewing. The reason for their sadness is understandable and the outcome is, therefore, inevitable as neither of them can really carry on as before with the knowledge that they have unleashed.

    It is unquestionable one of the most powerfully moving films of the year to date. Completely stunning on so many levels but even so, it is the superb black & white cinematography that so carefully framed each single shot that took this movie to a whole another level. Faultless award-worthy acting by two sublime actors Agata Trzebuchowska and Agata Kulesza who had great chemistry as the two completely different woman who really had so much in common.

    Completely unmissable.

    P.S. The rather surprising detail about this movie that will undoubtedly go down in the annals of Polish cinema as a national masterpiece, is that it’s director and co-writer Pawel Pawlikowskin was born there but has actually lived and worked in the UK and France most of his life. Interesting then seeing the country, as he must remember it from his own childhood.

  • FILM REVIEW | Reaching For The Moon

    ★★★★★ Reaching For The Moon | Elizabeth Bishop was something of a self-absorbed cold fish. When she finished her tenure as US Poet Laureate in 1950, she was 40 years old, alone in N.Y., and suffering with ‘writers block’. At the suggestion of her friend and fellow poet Robert Lowell she decides to go to South America for a long vacation.

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  • Gay Webseries Review | Eastsiders

    ★★★★ | Eastsiders

    Cal and Thom are both in their late 20s and been together for 4 years as a couple in Silverlake California, when their relationship is severely tested after Cal discovers that Thom has been cheating on him with Jeremy.

    As they explore the consequences of how this infidelity will effect them there is a great deal of anger and pain as they try to work through the angst, for what is best for both of them.

    Thom is an aspiring writer and Jeremy is one of the handful of people who turned up his poetry reading and stayed on for a private session afterwards. This handsome young man not only gives Thom the admiration for both his work and his personality that he craves, but he also demands little in return which Thom finds a refreshing change from a hyper analytical Cal who dissects every nuance of their life together to the point of distraction.

    Cal is a budding photographer who works as a receptionist in a Gallery to pay his share of the rent. He also is quite partial to a drink or two and seems to constantly knock back a whole bottle of whiskey before he feels able to tackle anything and everything that upsets him. On one such occasion he goes to confront his ‘rival’ Jeremy. The one Thom cheated with, and the two men get drunk together and end up in bed which, come next morning, is another thing that Cal will bitterly regret.

    Cal constantly turns to his best friend Kathy every time he is having another meltdown but she has her own problems, including an unplanned pregnancy by her boyfriend, Ian, with whom she is petrified at making a commitment with.

    Amid all the drunken outbursts that seem to permeate throughout this intriguing dark comedy about the sad and funny mess that this tight wee group of LA folk seem to make of their lives, we are never sure if any of their slightly precarious relationships will survive. With Cal and Thom it is essentially a case of whether the lies tear them apart or if they are just stubborn enough to stay together for ever.

    Written, directed and produced by Kit Williamson, who also played the neurotic Cal, this whole story started out as a Web Series in December 2012. Appropriately the first episode was about an ‘End of The World Party’ ostensibly as it takes place on the day of the supposed Mayan apocalypse, but it ends up taking on a totally different meaning for Cal after Thom drops his bombshell. The first few episodes soon attracted a great deal of attention and a Kickstarter campaign to fund the filming for the rest of the series before it was picked up by LogoTV to run on their website.

    The impressive and somewhat surprising thing about all the episodes being joined together now is that there is a such a remarkable fluidity with all the individual scenes that the plot flows seamlessly into one very absorbing whole movie. What’s even more compelling is that Williamson has very successfully created an edgy and intense dramatic comedy that shows a slice of contemporary gay life in L.A., which refreshingly does not just focus on his characters sexual orientations as his major plot point.

    He shares credit for the success with the talented cast that he assembled which included Van Hansis (‘One Life to Live’) playing Thom, Constance Wu (‘Stephanie Daley’) as Kathy, John Halbach (‘Wallflower’ TV Series) as Kathy’s boyfriend Ian, and Matthew McKelligon (‘Interior Leather Bar’) as Jeremy ‘the other man’. Mr Williamson himself has an impressive resume which includes playing Ed on TV’s Mad Men.

    Watching this won’t make you want to move to Silverlake or crack open a bottle of whisky, but it will intrigue you enough to want to see how the story continues if and when there is another series/movie.

  • FILM REVIEW | Wish I Was Here

    ★★ | Wish I Was Here

    Aiden is evidently a very lousy actor. He’s so bad that even though he lives in LA he hasn’t managed to score even a bit-part role for some years now.

    He does insist though that he must ‘follow his dream’ and selfishly refuses to give up even though his nearest and dearest must pick up the slack for him. His wife Sarah has a monotonous data-processing job at the Water Company just to put food on their table, and his father pays the fees for the private Jewish school that both of his children, Grace and Tucker, attend. This however now has to change as his father announces that as he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and wants to spend all his money on alternative therapies, he can no longer fund the kids’ schooling.

    Aiden’s response to this new development is to try and get accepted as a charity case at the school hoping they may forgo the fees, and when this fails, decides he will home school the children instead. It’s something that he clearly has no skills for, but then again, it’s obvious that he’s not actually qualified to do much at all beyond attending auditions.

    Pre-teen Grace who is a very earnest honours student wants to continue learning how to become a devout Jew, whereas her younger sibling Tucker would rather play video games than participate in his father’s attempts to teach him anything. Meanwhile, Sarah has to work in a cubicle with a creepy man who insists on talking about what he calls his penis voice and when she complains to her boss, she is just rebuked and told that she should be grateful she even has a job. Aiden’s father’s treatments fail and his health is now declining rapidly and he is desperate to make amends with Aiden’s slacker brother who seems to hate the entire world, except for the cute woman next door. But somehow Aiden still manages to make most of this all about him.

    There are more than a few similarities between Aiden on screen and his creator/writer/director Zach Braff (although Mr Braff is a good actor) as both are well-meaning and full of good intentions but in this movie are ultimately doomed to fall well short of their goals. This comic drama about the angst of a middle-class Jewish family ‘struggling’ in LA is at best mildly amusing, but for the most part is very flat and annoying. The fact that Mr Braff totally funded his sophomore movie from Kickstarter donors may be the clue as to why this rather undisciplined story, free of any Studio input, seems to have allowed him to indulge him in taking swings at many of the things in LA that seem to really peeve him with such an unfunny script.

    There are touches of the disarmingly charming Braff who has delighted audiences in his TV sitcom Scrubs for years, but not even a glimpse of the wit or humour of Woody Allen that he claims to want to aspire too. The high points are the poignant performance by Mandy Patinkin as the father, and a resilient Kate Hudson doing her best with the little she had been given as Sarah.

    After being so enamoured with his debut movie Garden State, a break-out Indie smash ten years ago, I was so looking forward to Braff’s follow-up, and it is just a disappointment then to find it is so less accomplished and enjoyable than one would have expected.

  • FILM REVIEW | The Perfect Wedding

    ★★★ | The Perfect Wedding

    Paul used to be a drunk. He also used to be Roy’s boyfriend. Two years later and both men have moved on with their separate lives. Paul goes to AA Meetings regularly and is now sober, thanks to Zack his Sponsor, and he lives at home with his very supportive parents in the their rather lush waterfront home in Florida.

    Paul’s sister Alana is engaged to be married and is coming home for the Christmas holidays to start planning a lavish June wedding. Besides her overly-enthusiastic mother, Alana also has her two best friends coming to help work out the details too, trouble is, one of them is Roy, her brother’s ex, and both men are nervous at meeting again for the first time after their messy breakup.

    Roy is also concerned that as he is still single, he may be perceived as a loser, so he persuades Gavin another ex boyfriend to tag along and pretend that the two of them are a couple.

    There was a time a decade or two ago, when almost every gay movie dealt with the ‘A’ issue i.e. AIDS.

    Thankfully at least cinematically we have moved on and this rom-com tackles three more big ‘A’s ‘ instead: alcoholism, adoption, and Alzheimer’s. It almost seems at times with this issue packed story that bestselling romantic author Suzanne Brockman had deliberately penned a script (with her husband Ed Gaffney) about two guys falling in love where being gay was so ordinary that it is almost over looked.

    The Gaffney’s actually wrote this for their gay son the actor Jason T Gaffney who did his mom and pop proud with his turn as Gavin who everyone seemed to fall in love with at some time or another.

    And in case you had guessed that Paul and Roy had seen the error of their ways and fallen back together, then you would have been wrong. The couple whose marriage rounds out this film (after Alana’s had hers) is that of Roy’s two exes who found each other irresistible.

    Thanks to some good performances, a very impressive location and some deft direction from newbie Scott Gabriel this small-budgeted indie movie is definitely one of the better ones of this genre. Touching and tender with very likeable characters that one wanted to find happiness… even if it’s the kind that only happens in the movies… and not a single stereotype in sight.

    It had plenty of eye-candy, and for once they didn’t keep disrobing when the story lagged at all.

  • WATCH | Gay web series: My Gay Roommate

    One of the hottest things online these days is the hit web series My Gay Roommate that follows the life of Nick a young gay man as he navigates his move into adulthood.

    Now in its third season, the series has already followed him during his first year in college with his straight roommate James, and started with Nick losing his virginity and finding the joys of Grindr. In the second season the story line followed Nick and his hilarious exploits spending a summer vacation at home with his family.

    In the latest season that started recently, Nick decides to take some time off from studying and hot-footing it to New York, and searching for a new straight roommate too. What’s refreshing about this whole series is that co-creators Austin Bening and Noam Ash who based it on their own experiences, they made sure that this wasn’t just another clichéd situation about a gay man developing a crush on the straight man, or the hetro deciding that he is really a homo. Its simply about a very genuine friendship between these two boys who have very different tastes when it comes to falling in love.

    Last week’s final episode in the present season was probably the hottest to date. Titled “Coital Logistics,” it deals with some issues in the bedroom between Nick and his cowboy lover… and who better to help remedy these ‘problems’ than gay porn star Levi Michaels who provides a cameo as well as some expert advice on being a power bottom. Things naturally don’t go as planned but it makes for great viewing and more than a few laughs.

    Here it is, and we guarantee after viewing it you want to check out YouTube for all the previous episodes

  • FILM REVIEW | Wakolda

    ★★★★ | Wakolda

    In the opening scenes of this historical drama we see a distinguished looking German gentleman accosting a travelling family of five to ask if he may follow behind them as he is unsure about driving alone on the desolate dirt roads in the middle of the vast plains of Patagonia.

    The year is 1960 and they are heading south to the small lakefront town of Bariloche to re-open a Hotel that once was a thriving concern when another generation of the family ran it. The German never reveals much about his own destination or any of his plans for staying in this country far from home.

    When they finally arrive, the German, who the family are learning is either a Doctor or Scientist, insists on renting a room from them and to overcome their reluctance sweetens his request by overpaying as he has sensed that the family is cash poor. Eva the heavily pregnant mother is German speaking, as are so many of the local residents – as the best school in the area was the German one, and she welcomes him into their home. Her husband Enzo is a struggling doll-maker and although a man of few words and simple tastes, he is the only one in the family who is not impressed with the charm onslaught from this very creepy stranger in their midst.

    The ‘Doctor’ is particularly taken by Lilith the 12 year old of the family who has always been much smaller than the norm for her age ever since she was born 2 months premature. Soon he is trying to persuade the parents that with the hormone treatment that he has been working on, he can improve Lilith’s growth rate dramatically. They are all initially reluctant to even consider this course of action but Eva relents after Lilith suffers another brutal day of taunting at her school because of her size. However she insists that they keep the news of this change of heart from Enzo until at least Lilith starts gaining some height.

    Now the ‘Doctor’ has gained Eva’s confidence he turns his attention to her, especially when he discovers that she is going to give birth to twins as we eventually find out that he has some plans of his own for these yet unborn babies.

    This movie from Argentinian filmmaker Lucía Puenzo, adapted from her own novel, never hides the fact that the Doctor is none other than Josef Mengele the notorious Nazi who did barbarous and inhuman genetic experiments on the inmates of Auschwitz earning himself the moniker ‘The Angel of Death.’ This highly believable fiction is based on the fact that after the War he, like so other high-ranking Nazis, fled to South America where he continued his cruel work on pregnant women and children until his death in Brazil in 1979.

    Puenzo slowly unravels her story and builds the tension by insinuating what the Doctor really is up too as he slowly manipulates his way into this family’s lives. It is only the German School Archivist that suspects and confirms his true identity and she is anxious that he is caught and out in trial for his war crimes just like Eichmann who Israelis had recently captured. Unfortunately, as he is protected by a wide network of loyal Party supporters he will always manage to completely avoid this.

    This chilling tale succeeds mainly due to the combination of a convincingly sinister performance by Spanish actor Àlex Brendemühl as the menacing Mengele, and also the bleak remote landscape dramatically captured by cinematographer Nicolás Puenzo, who is also the Director’s brother. This was Argentine’s official submission for Best Foreign Picture Oscar, and although it didn’t end up with a nomination, it was definitely worth a consideration.

  • Joan Rivers, A Tribute

    “Comic genius, legend, diva, icon, trailblazer and one of the best and funniest friends the gay community has ever had”

    As the tributes come flowing in on the sad death of Joan Rivers comic genius, legend, diva, icon, trailblazer and one of the best and funniest friends the gay community has ever had, we have decided to reproduce our review one of The Gay UK’s most favorite movies of this Grande Dame. I had the pleasure of being at its Sundance Premiere in 2010 where it had been reported that Joan was not happy with the way that the movie portrayed her as a friendless figure. As the final credits rolled the audience unanimously gave it a rapturous standing ovation, the same reception it received when the movie played world wide, especially in front of gay audiences. Joan loved that we loved it, but then what’s not to love.

    The opening shots of “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” are of an extreme close up of Joan’s face, without makeup first thing in the morning. This so succinctly sets the tone for this exhilarating bare-all movie that documents a roller-coaster year in the life of this comedic tour-de-force. Joan allowed the filmmakers complete access into her world, letting the cameras capture her numerous failures and joyous successes.

    The result is one of the most wonderfully truthful and funny documentaries about a show business legend that we may ever see.

    Here is Joan at 75 (as she continually reminds us) and she has not lost one ounce of her energy and vitality. Though she is as we expect, blisteringly funny, we see the depth of her ability to laugh at herself and also discover her relentless work ethic, her vulnerability and her compassion. As we have learnt from her stand-up, absolutely no topic is sacred even when she is being serious, and she is completely upfront about everything from her marriage, daughter Melissa, to her fall out with Johnny Carson and eventual blacklisting from NBC, and naturally her plastic surgery.

    If you admire Joan’s work, then you’ll end up really liking the woman too, and if you are already a fan, then you will positively love her after this endearing movie. Totally unmissable!

  • FILM REVIEW | A Most Wanted Man

    ★★★★★ |  A Most Wanted Man

    In Dutch filmmaker Anton Corbijn’s take on John le Carré’s spy thriller we are very much aware of who ‘the most wanted man’ is, but like Gunther Bachmann, a German Intelligence Officer in Hamburg, we never know why he has earned this title.

    Gunther is very much the ‘good man’ in this intricate web of international spy/terrorist catching. Gruff, scruffy, chain-smoking and a fiercely independent operator in charge of a Specialised Terrorist Unit, he is trying to get information from Issa Karpov a half Russian & half-Chechen Muslim illegal immigrant before the police or other authorities can capture and imprison him.

    Karpov has escaped from a Russian prison where he was brutally tortured and he is portrayed as being the innocent victim of the fact that his father was a notorious terrorist/criminal. Via a sympathetic lawyer, Karpov leads Gunther to Tommy Brue a wealthy Merchant Banker who is trying to extract himself from his late father’s dubious clients who he has inherited. This includes Karpov Snr. who still has a major nest egg stashed away in the Bank. Gunther wants to use Brue and these illegal millions to trap a respected Professor who he suspects is the head of a cell of terrorists. Although both the German Authorities and the CIA. reluctantly agree to give Gunther time to do things his way, they obviously do not mean it at all.

    It’s a well told thrilling intricate story, although a tad confusing at times, and it keeps you completely engaged until the very end. It’s very much Gunther’s story, which is appropriate as the great Philip Seymour Hoffman plays him magnificently in this, his final movie role. I’m unsure if Corbijn actually re-edited the movie as a result of Hoffman’s untimely death which occurred after its Sundance Premiere, but anyway Gunther is rarely off the screen. It’s a powerful swan song from this talented actor and even more poignant because he plays yet another dishevelled character that seems to be such a perfect fit for him in his very distinguished career.

    The cast is made up of Rachel McAdams as the liberal lawyer/social worker, Robin Wright as the cold-hearted double-dealing CIA. Agent, Willem Dafoe as the Banker plagued by the sins of his father, Nina Hoss as the very matter-of-fact loyal assistant to Gunther, and handsome Grigoriy Dobrygin as the hunted man who is forced to decide between his life and his religion when he is made to shave his shaggy beard off.

    We came away believing the real possibility that if the Gunthers of this world were actually allowed to use Intelligence as opposed to the usual knee-jerk response of sheer brutality to try and deal with the whole scenario of terrorists, then things may even start to get resolved. And the other totally different thought ingrained in our minds as the final credits rolled, was that the world will never quite be the same after the loss of such a very fine actor.

    A Most Wanted Man opens in the UK on the 12th September 2014

  • OPINION | Ice bucket challenge – enough is enough

    I’m all for giving to charity as much as the next man, but now that every major (and too many minor) celebrities are jumping on this latest bandwagon, we think maybe enough is enough.

    We hate to pour cold water on anybody’s good ideas, but think perhaps that the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has got a little out of control. We know we are not alone on this and were so happy to watch this Broadcast on the WIN TV Channel in Australia when reporter Lincoln Humphries articulated our feelings so perfectly.

    Handsome Lincoln explains in some detail about the many ways that we can all help people in need without using up water, which is still a precious commodity in many parts of the world. He lists many ways that we can all give effectively and quietly without all the glare of publicity. We would encourage you to watch his wee piece to the very end, as we completely endorse his ideas of what we all should really be using ice cubes for.

    But just before we say goodbye to this worthy charity jape that has got out of hand, we would like to share just one more participant’s very worthy effort.

    Steve Grand the rather sensational gay singing cowboy who’s You Tube All American Boy went viral last year has just done his Ice Bucket Challenge NAKED! I mean, it would be impolite not to support him after he bared his all just for us … ooops, we mean for Charity.

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • FILM REVIEW | I’m A Porn Star

    Filmmaker Charlie David‘s light-hearted rambling review of the burgeoning gay pornography industry could never be mistaken as a serious piece of investigative journalism. After speedily racing through the whole history of the business from its birth in the 1930s up to present day, the documentary focuses on four of the most successful performers today. They have probably earned the accolade of ‘star’ but then again this grossly overused title has now been claimed by everyone who has ever had a bit part in a movie or video. And there are a lot of them. In our internet based culture there now an estimated 370 million porn websites online contributing the bulk of a $13 billion business worldwide!

    All of David’s subjects are very affable men and happy enough to candidly share their views on controversial topics such as barebacking, HIV, social stigma, fetishes and escorting. The whole question of gay-for-pay was also discussed by them and not always in a positive manner. Whilst Colby Jansen’s attitude regarding his evolving sexuality was refreshingly honest, Johnny Rapid’s constant reminders of not only how straight he was (‘When I am being f..ked by a guy, I keep thinking of my girlfriend just so that I can remain erect’) became very tiresome.

    And with interviews with Ryan R a leading director (and a heterosexual) who claimed as others did that he did gay instead of straight porn because it was financially more lucrative, David never pushed him or anyone else further on this issue. The fact that there are seemingly so many straight men either side of the camera seems to indicate that as a community we still haven’t dispensed with all our internalised homophobia.

    The most likeable, and by far the most level-headed of the pornstars featured, was the young-looking 29 years old Canadian Brent Everett. He’s not only an out proud gay man, but a happily married one who also has the full support of his parents for his chosen line of work. Everett, quite a charmer, is very effusive about his very successful career and doesn’t proffer any hint of regret or become an apologist for his roles like so many of his peers. He revels in the fact that it his work is fun and that he is clearly committed to making it as entertaining and sexy as possible for his legions of fans.

    And that was probably David’s motives in making this titillating movie with its explicit scenes of sex and a seemingly endless parade of erect penises that often distract you from some of his narration. He also succeeds in making the industry look like a well-run corporate type business far removed from its old sleazy and seedy back-street image. It’s an enjoyable and diverting lively romp that will fascinate and amuse anybody with the slightest interest in the subject i.e. all gay men!