THEGAYUK

Category: Review

  • FILM REVIEW | Hidden Away, A Spanish Teenage Gay Love Story

    Don’t be fooled into thinking that Hidden Away is just another boy meets boy love story with a less than great cover photo of its two male leads. It’s a very well told and acted Spanish teenage gay love story that’s very heartwarming and enduring as well. ★★★★

    Hidden Away is not told as a simple coming of age story, and it’s not told in chronological order, which makes understanding and piecing the film together a bit confusing. Director Mikel Rueda has decided to tell the story in a way in which is supposedly meant for the viewer to put themselves into the characters shoes. So it opens with Ibrahim, a 14-year-old young man, walking along the road hitchhiking, escaping from something which we won’t know until the very end. He’s from Morocco, but had gone to Spain a few years back looking for a better future. He’s been living in shelters, hoping to get his official papers so that he can stay in Spain. He lives in Bilbao, fully settled, attending school and living in a shelter for boys just like him. Then there is Rafa, also 14, Spanish, living with his parents. Rafa hangs out with boys just like himself, yet there’s one thing different about Rafa. He doesn’t like girls. There is one girl in particular who practically throws herself at him, but he just doesn’t reciprocate, much to the horror of his friends. Even though Ibrahim and Rafa’s paths initially cross (at one point in a club urinal), they don’t meet until a bit later in the film. And there’s a spark. A spark that at first betells an evolving and very close friendship between the young men, but then evolves into more than that. While there is no actual sex scenes in this film, Rafa and Ibrahim’s bond appears to be more than just physical, it’s emotional as well.

    Ibrahim gets mixed up with a local gang that gets him to sell drugs, while Rafa whiles away the time looking for any reason to be with him. They initially bond over a cigarette, but their friendship, and romance, blossoms after they spend a day together hanging out and going bowling. It’s a relationship that we know is too good to be true. And when Ibrahim receives a letter from the government wanting to extradite him back to Morocco, he sees no other way but to run away, with Rafa by his side.

    It’s the performances that make this film fantastic. German Alcaruz as Rafa brings an innocence to his part, a young man who knows what he wants and doesn’t care what his friends think. His facial expressions will melt your heart – Alcarazu gives a believable and touching performance. Adil Koukouh is also very good as Ibrahim. He’s bigger and more mature looking than Rafa, but he also has a special something that makes Rafa’s attraction to him seem very credible. Also very very good is Joseba Ugalde as Rafa’s best friend Guille. He knows he’s losing Rafa to Ibrahim and he’s OK with it, even when Rafa and Ibrahim have to go on the run, there’s a very touching scene when Rafa and Guille say goodbye to each and Guille tells Rafa that’s he doesn’t quite understand what is going on.

    Hidden Away is a bit difficult to comprehend in the beginning as the scenes do jump around, and the subtitles on this film are quite small and at times hard to read, but stick with it till the very end and you will be rewarded with a love story that’s unique in it’s telling and at it’s very core is a film that tells the story of young love, young love that we’ve all experienced.

    Hidden Away is now available to buy on DVD.

     

    by Tim Baros

  • FILM REVIEW | Hidden Away, A Spanish Teenage Gay Love Story

    Don’t be fooled into thinking that Hidden Away is just another boy meets boy love story with a less than great cover photo of its two male leads. It’s a very well told and acted Spanish teenage gay love story that’s very heartwarming and enduring as well. ★★★★

    Hidden Away is not told as a simple coming of age story, and it’s not told in chronological order, which makes understanding and piecing the film together a bit confusing. Director Mikel Rueda has decided to tell the story in a way in which is supposedly meant for the viewer to put themselves into the characters shoes. So it opens with Ibrahim, a 14-year-old young man, walking along the road hitchhiking, escaping from something which we won’t know until the very end. He’s from Morocco, but had gone to Spain a few years back looking for a better future. He’s been living in shelters, hoping to get his official papers so that he can stay in Spain. He lives in Bilbao, fully settled, attending school and living in a shelter for boys just like him. Then there is Rafa, also 14, Spanish, living with his parents. Rafa hangs out with boys just like himself, yet there’s one thing different about Rafa. He doesn’t like girls. There is one girl in particular who practically throws herself at him, but he just doesn’t reciprocate, much to the horror of his friends. Even though Ibrahim and Rafa’s paths initially cross (at one point in a club urinal), they don’t meet until a bit later in the film. And there’s a spark. A spark that at first betells an evolving and very close friendship between the young men, but then evolves into more than that. While there is no actual sex scenes in this film, Rafa and Ibrahim’s bond appears to be more than just physical, it’s emotional as well.

    Ibrahim gets mixed up with a local gang that gets him to sell drugs, while Rafa whiles away the time looking for any reason to be with him. They initially bond over a cigarette, but their friendship, and romance, blossoms after they spend a day together hanging out and going bowling. It’s a relationship that we know is too good to be true. And when Ibrahim receives a letter from the government wanting to extradite him back to Morocco, he sees no other way but to run away, with Rafa by his side.

    It’s the performances that make this film fantastic. German Alcaruz as Rafa brings an innocence to his part, a young man who knows what he wants and doesn’t care what his friends think. His facial expressions will melt your heart – Alcarazu gives a believable and touching performance. Adil Koukouh is also very good as Ibrahim. He’s bigger and more mature looking than Rafa, but he also has a special something that makes Rafa’s attraction to him seem very credible. Also very very good is Joseba Ugalde as Rafa’s best friend Guille. He knows he’s losing Rafa to Ibrahim and he’s OK with it, even when Rafa and Ibrahim have to go on the run, there’s a very touching scene when Rafa and Guille say goodbye to each and Guille tells Rafa that’s he doesn’t quite understand what is going on.

    Hidden Away is a bit difficult to comprehend in the beginning as the scenes do jump around, and the subtitles on this film are quite small and at times hard to read, but stick with it till the very end and you will be rewarded with a love story that’s unique in it’s telling and at it’s very core is a film that tells the story of young love, young love that we’ve all experienced.

    Available to by from Amazon

     

  • TV REVIEW: Grace And Frankie, Intelligently funny

    “If anyone gets to sit on Ryan Gosling’s face it’s me…” And with that iconic line, I hereby crown Grace and Frankie, the new Netflix Original, a hit.

    Chalk and cheese duo Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin), can’t stand each other, however for the last 40 years, they’ve been in each other’s life’s. One thing is now forcing them to re-evaluate their relationship, turning their lives’ upside down. Their business partner husbands (Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) are leaving them, for each other – and they want to get married.

    Intelligently funny, but lacks the comedy pace of sayUnbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Grace and Frankie has its share of ‘old women’ jokes but looks not to diminish the women’s newly single existence, nor bang the drum for gay rights and same-sex marriage, which is one of the critical issues being fought in the US right now.

    Whether Grace and Frankie is to become an overnight success will remain to be seen, it seems that Netflix are playing the long game with its creations, crafting a raft of programming to reflect its massive audience. Some are instance success like House Of Cards some are grower like Marco Polo. The audience for which this show is aimed isn’t so clear-cut. Is it Golden Girls? Is it Modern Family? The New Normal? We’re not so sure. But it is good. Very good. Plus you get to hear Jane Fonda say f**k. I mean that’s worth the view right?

  • FILM REVIEW: From Beginning To End

    There is good taste, and then there is incest.

    It’s surprising that we can sit and watch a lot of suspect and even deviant behaviour amongst (consenting) adults on the silver screen, but this is one topic that we feel is just a tad too icky even for us. Especially when it comes in the form of a melodramatic Brazilian telenova that is short on both substance as well as clothing, and is to all intents and purpose nothing more than a pretty piece of soft porn.

    It starts with two young half brothers, one 6 years old and the other 12, who are a little too close to each other for our comfort zone, and for their mother too who suspects there may be more here than what meets the eye. Flash-forward to the boys as grown men, one of the fathers dies, then the mother passes away too, and the boys seek solace in each other. Well that’s their excuse as they have barely stopped lusting after each other since they were kids.

    We are convinced that it’s not just lust, but real love, which is put to the test when the younger brother who is a potential Olympic swimming champion is told by his coach that he must move abroad to train. To Russia no less. Oh come on coach, you mean to tell us there are no decent swimming pools closer to Brazil?

    Love conquers all though and even a very pretty girl cannot steal the old brother away from his one true love, and this all plays out to a rather deafening over-laden heavy strings soundtrack. And we guess they will happily ever after? Who knows? More importantly, who cares?

    Why see it at all? Well the boys/men are rather stunning beefcakes that even with this limited script prove that they can actually act, and also writhe around naked together looking very sexy but without doing the act (it’s soft porn after all). It was a big box office hit in Brazil when it was released in 2009, and it has now surfaced on Amazon where you can waste £4.49 and more importantly 90 minutes of your time.

     

  • TRAVEL REVIEW | Hot In Palm Springs

    Why not revel in Palm Springs, where you are surrounded by some of California’s most breathtaking settings.

    Choose from an unparalleled array of hotels and resorts to stay at including this highly recommended East Canyon Hotel + Spa. Nestled in a quiet residential street this haven is a stone’s throw away from the bustling nightlife where the temperatures continue to rise after hours. Embrace luxury in one of East Canyon’s incredibly clean, lavish, spacious exquisitely stylish suites.

    Restore body and soul in their heated 24-hour pool and Jacuzzi along with their spa menu to compliment your relaxation. Enjoy the very height of excellent service, complimentary continental breakfast that is highlighted by the ultra-friendly environment that you cannot help but to embroil yourself in. Experience for why this inspiring haven is quite simply Palm Springs new level of supreme perfection for the professional gay clientele.

    Travellers that are staying in Los Angeles will find that Palm Springs can be a convenient getaway as a vacation from a vacation. The most convenient way to get to Palm Springs from Los Angeles is to drive.

    Driving time will take 2 hours with no traffic (approx 120 miles from Los Angeles).

    Palm Springs is also served by a small International airport, therefore continuing your journey by air within the USA from Palm Springs is possible.

    Palm Springs is a desert city, therefore, the heat here can be extremely over bearing, occasionally you will feel a breeze, however, it will be conditioned with high temperatures of heat!

    Many businesses (including the East Canyon Hotel + Spa) have water misters in the outer areas that will dust sprinkle mist to keep you cool. All venues have air conditioning.

    Don’t let the heat put you off, after you have soaked yourself in the hotel’s pool venture out to the local attractions such as The Aerial Tramway, Joshua Tree National Park, Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Canyon Drive and the highly recommended Red-Jeep tour, where you will be guided by a local, transporting you in a red jeep discovering the gems that make Palm Springs a place that is blissfully manicured.

  • FILM REVIEW: Girlhood

    Life is pretty bleak in this concrete jungle of soulless tower blocks of shabby apartments on this housing complex in a poor rundown suburb of Paris.

    Sixteen-year-old Marieme is hoping that one day she will break out of there so for a better life so she does her school work, plays American football, and then goes home to look after her younger siblings whilst her mother is out all hours doing cleaning jobs to keep the family together.

    However when Marieme learns that her grades are not enough to continue high school she gives up being a good girl and falls in with a gang of three girls who seem to wreak havoc wherever they go. At first, Marieme sits on the sidelines observing the girls led by a real toughie who calls herself Lady, but she soon gets drawn into their questionable activities when they slack off school every day. She swaps her braids for a more glam look and starts copying their more outrageous dress style. It’s not long until she is the one menacing other kids on their way to school to relieve them of every cent they have to fund the gang’s nefarious agenda.

    They use the money to check into a hotel to try on all the clothes they have stolen from the mall, get wasted on a diet of booze and pot noodles, and give a full rendition of Rihanna’s Diamonds. It’s their idea of a high life, sad as it is.

    Things change when Lady gets roundly beaten in a fight with a member of another gang, so an emboldened Marieme … known by the girls as Vic … steps up to the plate and takes on the victor and beats her up. It delights Djibril one of her brother’s friends who she has been hooking up with in secret, but it infuriates her bully of a brother, and when he threatens her, she knows it is time to leave home.

    In this situation the only way out is to start selling drugs, which she does for another gang in return for a share in a safe house in another neighbourhood. As tough she has become, this is very much a man’s world, and despite all her efforts, she is still a girl.

    It’s the third feature from French filmmaker Céline Sciamma and although it doesn’t quite have the same resonance of her award-winning Tomboy but it does nevertheless pack a powerful punch. It’s a bleak grim reality that these tough bad girls inhabit and come-of-age in but Sciamma does at least infuse it with a glimmer of hope…. and some compassion too. It’s zillion years away from the cosy life of Boyhood!

  • FILM REVIEW | Blackmail Boys

    When gay art student Sam ‘came out’ to his parents they disowned him and cut him off without a cent.

    Faced with high tuition fees, rent and living expenses to find in Chicago, he resorted to turning tricks as it pays so much better than any other manual labour. However when Aaron his long-term long-distance boyfriend moved to town and in with him, he resented the way that Sam earns his living.

    The first time one of Sam’s paying clients came for his weekly rough and tumble, the more worldly Aaron recognised him as an infamous gay-bashing bigot that had just written yet one more book denouncing the ‘evil ways of homosexuality. After his ‘appointment’ was over Aaron suggested that when the man came back for his next hook-up, that he should secretly film the whole naked encounter and use it to blackmail him. Not only would it possibly expose the hypocrite to the whole world, but if he wanted to buy the tape to keep them quiet, they could make enough money to insure that Sam could retire from his call boy career.

    It was a rather inconsequential plot for a lightweight movie made by the somewhat anonymous Shumanski filmmaking brothers from South Africa. Like their previous gay-themed movie Wrecked there is an abundant amount of full frontal nudity and explicit sex that at times just feels like porn with a plot. Its redeeming feature is its mumble core approach to filming (not often used in gay movies) that gave the whole piece an edgy feel to it.

    On the acting side indie actor/director Joe Swanberg who’s first ‘big’ feature Drinking Buddies was recently released to critical acclaim, plays the angry client Andrew Tucker. Looking at Swanberg’s resume to date you can see that he rarely keeps his clothes on through a whole movie, so it seemed no big deal for this straight actor to have explicit gay sex on screen. Interesting also to see young Nathan Adloff (playing Sam) in front of the camera after being so very impressed with his own writing/directing debut in a delightful sleeper from last year’s Nate & Margaret.

    It’s a harmless piece of boy-lite fare that by trying to push our buttons by what it thinks is daring, will only have us reaching for the remote control to skip over all those parts which fall flatter than some of the sexual encounters, to get to the end quicker.

  • W1A Series 2 Returns Roaring Its Timid BBC Head

    W1A roars back onto our screens with a laugh a minute. Okay, cool, yeah.

    Life it seems, goes on – at a snails pace sometimes at the BBC.

    BBC 2’s hit comedy, W1A triumphantly returned to our screens last night in a laugh a minute episode, which saw the ‘way ahead taskforce’ and a clueless PR, plan a visit, in the ‘Frankie Howard room’ from royalty.

    An episode in which not a lot happens, which seems to be the running joke. The BBC also needs to sex up its Wimbledon offering as the corporation is in danger of losing its contract. Siobhan Sharpe the PR genius, comes up with brand hash… Mixing brand BBC with brand Wimbledon.

    “Yes,”

    “Brilliant,”

    “Cool,”

    “Great…”

    “The fact is this, it needs to be better.”

    Brilliantly observed we assume and expertly delivered. I laughed at least 5 times in this 1-hour mud flinging, stinging satire on what exactly is wrong with our broadcast services in the UK

     

  • FILM REVIEW: Drink Me

    ★★★ | Drink Me

    Young gay couple James and Andy seem to have everything, especially an extremely busy sex life.

    Life in the rather comfortable house they share couldn’t be more perfect and James wants to make it all even more permanent by getting down on his knees and proposing marriage. However timing is everything and Andy fesses up that he has just been laid off from his job, which puts a dampener on any ideas of paying for an expensive wedding right now.

    After he has trouble finding new work, money gets tight for the couple so James suggests taking in a lodger. Sebastian a handsome stranger moves in and all seems well until housebound Andy realises that the new member of the household is hiding a secret. He suspects that Sebastian could be the killer who has been stalking the streets of their neighbourhood and responsible for so many people seemingly disappearing into thin air. He will not have to wait long to find out the truth.

    This brand new thriller made on a micro-budget on by husband & husband team Daniel & Richard Mansfield is a rare genre i.e. gay vampire drama. Strangely enough it is not nearly as frightening as the overly dramatic soundtrack intonates it should be, and the slight plot unfurls at such a slow pace that there are neither any real scares nor surprises. It does however possess more male full frontal nudity than I have ever seen outside of a porn movie, and full credit to both director and cast, as they ensure that most of it is highly erotic.

    The movie following on from The Secret Path that the Mansfields made last year proves again that this young couple of talented British gay filmmakers are definitely a pair well worth watching.

     

  • FILM REVIEW: Tin

    This innovative independent film takes a simple storyline of intrigue and shenanigans and gives it a slight twist and does so on a micro-budget.

    (more…)

  • Long Lost Hatches: MG Metro Turbo

    Back in 1983, the affordable sports car was pretty much dead. A once thriving market was at its knees and MG was suffering. The MGB had been axed in 1980 and the Abingdon factory closed. The badge would live on although initially in a very different guise, a 3 door city car.

    Austin had introduced the Mini Metro in 1980 with the intention of replacing the much loved Mini. It was more spacious, safer and had much more contemporary styling, perfect ingredients to compete with Ford’s Fiesta and Renault’s 5. Seeing as there were hot versions of both of these, it made sense for British Leyland to go after them with an MG version of the Metro.

    The MG Metro was launched in 1982 with a worked over version of the venerable 1275cc A-Series. A cam change, head work and a bigger carb saw 71bhp from the 4 cylinder OHV motor. Clearly this wasn’t enough as in October of that year the MG Metro Turbo was introduced with 93bhp thanks to a Garrett T3 turbo. Lotus even had a hand in the uprated suspension and advanced (for the time at least) boost control.

    Metro Turbos were even entered into the British Touring Car Championship in the early 80’s. The race cars had around 200bhp, still from under 1.3 litres, and initially had full works support. Drivers included Tony Pond who would go on to compete in Group B rallying with the bonkers Metro 6R4 and F1 driver Martin Brundle. Although there were no major successes, they often kept up with and beat much larger more powerful machines.

    The Turbo was produced until 1990, with a facelift in 1984, the car suffered from problems throughout its life. The main reason why it needed the complex boost control was to lower torque below 4000rpm by limiting boost to 4psi. Above 4k, a controlled boost leak tricked the turbo’s wastegate into rasing pressure to 7psi, giving the headline power and torque figures. This was supposed to protect the standard 4 speed Metro gearbox from eating itself, something which still happened far too easily. Add poor build quality, frequent rust issues and unsurprisingly low residuals into the mix and they are a very rare sight on UK roads.

    Although technically a failure, British Leyland should be applauded for trying to produce a fairly sophisticated hot hatch with a limited budget at a very troubled time. It’s a fantastic slice of 80’s retro inside and out with its red carpets, red seatbelts, model-specific alloy wheels and subtle bodykit. Besides, handling by Lotus can never be a bad thing.