Category: Review
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FILM REVIEW | Rent Boys
★★★★ | Rent Boys
For well over the past four decades, Berlin’s Zoo Railway Station has been the main stomping ground for the city’s rent boys.
Using archive footage from 1965 this fascinating documentary from gay activist filmmaker Rosa Van Praunheim paints the scene there as it has evolved until the present day. It is a desperately sad tale of the squalid and dangerous lives these boys lead in an occupation that at best leaves them scarred for life, and at worse cost them their lives.
In the early days, in particular, most of the boys that hustled sex for money were victims of sexual abuse themselves and were plying for trade in their very early teens, and some even younger. Their tales were particularly harrowing especially when they were continuously exploited by paedophiles, and were completely unaware of all the inherent dangers of life on the street.
Nowadays very few of the boys are German and are heterosexual immigrants from neighbouring ex-Eastern bloc countries who, discovering that they can make more money from one encounter with a ‘john’ than they could laborfor a month back home, are prepared to become ‘gay for pay’ for the financial rewards. They take the same risks, plus the possibility of being deported too.
Van Praunheim profiled a few of the boys who had been working Zoo Station and the environs for some years now, and despite all the risks, still appeared reluctant to give it up. He went to the hustler bars and talked to the barkeepers who related about the abuse, the violence, the crime and the drug taking in a resigned almost complacent manner. He also followed the workers of SUB/WAY a support group who try their best to help the boys particularly to prevent the spread of AIDS & HIV, and dedicated and hardworking as they are, seemed to be making little headway in getting them off the streets.
The boys’ stories are heart-rending and there isn’t one that has a happy ending. As they eventually drop out/leave fresher naive young boys take their places and the supply chain never seems to be broken. As Van Praunheim’s film shows, the price the pay for their seedy unhappy lives is far too high.
Fascinating, but extremely disturbing to watch.
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SINGLE REVIEW: Will Young – Love Revolution
Will Young winning the first Pop Idol instalment back in 2002 seems like a bizarre memory. It is hard to remember him emerging into the music industry under the wing of Simon Cowell because he has proven himself better than those means and shaken free of the stigma sometimes associated with the X Factor like shows. The second Pop Idol instalment with Michelle McManus is thankfully much more forgettable. Or regrettable, you can delete accordingly.
★★★★
As an artist Will Young has mastered the art of producing a catchy yet vulnerable pop sound, maturing delicately with every new song. His last release Echoes back in 2011 promoted his growth as a talented singer songwriter with the likes of the breathtaking Come On and the underlining dance tones of I Just Want A Lover – the video for which saw him dancing around a supermarket car park partnered with a shopping trolley, unique to say the least. This intriguing music video history sets him aside from other mainstream pop acts around today. We have seen him moving from Blue Peter spoofs to taking part in dog training competitions, whilst causing a scene at an art gallery or making us cry in an emotional courtroom scene. Not forgetting about his portrayal as a pregnant man, of course. It all claps together in applause to his artistry.
Enter Love Revolution, the new single and first release from his upcoming album 85% Proof (scheduled for release May 2015). It throws us a funkier sound that we haven’t seen from him in a while, slightly nodding back to the soulful elements of his 2005 album Keep On. If you think the song sounds familiar then you’d be right, as it is a reworking of the 2002 dance anthem Loneliness bought to us by German DJ Tomcraft. Much less Euro-Dance though, I’m afraid, but much more summer soul that will get you dancing around your garden in no time at all.
The video depicts him as a preaching salesman trying to shift his Love Revolution products onto the apparent lonely singletons. It, albeit cheesy, is an entertaining clip that continues to set him aside from the generic pop routines around at the moment – and who here doesn’t enjoy a bit of cheese every now and then? If you said, ‘I don’t,’ then I have nothing more to say to you.
The timing of this single could be considered apt against the likes of the recent Dolce & Gabbana debacle, or the risk of Northern Ireland’s anti-gay amendment passing, which could have seen it legal to refuse service to any LGBT person. Not to mention the American ‘gay curers’ who were about to embark on our dear nation to cure us all from being our-wonderfully-natural-selves. Let’s follow Will Young’s lead, start a Love Revolution and dance with whomever we want, yeah?
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REVIEW | Horse Wows In NYC
Trying to describe Scottish musician Horse McDonald in words is not the easiest thing to do.If you’ve met her, or seen her live, you’ll understand.
★★★★★
As a performer, Horse is a tour de force. Called “One of the finest singers in Britain” by influential Q Magazine, Horse has been described as an artist “who wouldn’t have been out of place on the Stax or Motown labels in their heyday.”
And tonight at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York is no different. A guest performer of her fellow Scot, Angela McCluskey,when she walks on stage all eyes turn as the lights focus on her and the audience sits up to take notice. Totally at ease with the surroundings, dark wood and great acoustics,she takes us on a musical journey, ably joined by Paul Cantelon on piano and Lili Haydn on violin.
Holding the attention of a New York crowd is a feat in itself, and she managed to pull it off to the sell out show with her trademark songs, relentless energy and a voice that gets better with age.Like her strikingly unusual moniker, Horse’s voice is completely original; it’s raw and powerful, emotive and honest,
The passion Horse sings with stems from legendary performers whom she credits as inspiration,from Joan Armatrading to Jose Carreras.Her intensity could also be credited to the material itself, which is largely autobiographical. “Careful was originally a love song but it is also the song that I sang to my mum as she was dying, so for me it has taken on a whole new meaning.”
Although the vibe is open and unpretentious, the clientele isn’t there to dance or mingle, making it clear that Rockwood is all about the music and tonight the music was all about a woman called Horse.
by Elsie Maud
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TV REVIEW | Newzoids, Flat Dull and Unfunny
Watching the leaders’ debate gave opportunity for more satire than ITV’s latest offering, Newzoids, in last night’s debut of this long awaited, much anticipated show.
Promises of 80’s ingenious were expected, or rather hoped for, but Newzoids failed to deliver and don’t blamed the subjects, just because Margaret Thatcher isn’t around anymore doesn’t mean you can’t make political satire funny.
And stop already with the inane Clegg/Cameron housewife/underdog situation, it’s been done… Done I tell you.
In a Twitter age where we’re expecting fresh content every nanosecond, Newzoids, felt positively ancient as it dealt with the first leaders’ debate, Jeremy Clarkson and Russell Brand – these are all so last week/month/minute.
Browsing my Twitter timeline it looked as though many agree that Newzoids is as awkward as the puppets’ CGI’d mouths.
Apparently Spitting Image wasn’t an overnight success, so perhaps Newzoids will become a grower.
And that Andy Murray sketch was just downright weird… So maybe…
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Forgotten Fast Cars: Fiat Tipo Sedicivalvole
Ask anyone to name a hot Italian hatchback and they’ll probably say Lancia Delta Integrale. The Tipo Sedicivalvole shares much with the legendary Lancia. Not the turbo and 4 wheel drive sadly but much of the platform and a normally aspirated version of the 2.0 twin cam. But what does Sedicivalvole mean? Only the most important thing in late eighties/early nineties hot hatch badging; sixteen valves.
The Tipo had been around since late 1988 and was a big step on from its predecessor the Strada/Ritmo, even if it did share the same basic platform (as did the Delta). The boxy styling gave exceptional room inside, it was 70% galvanised to stop the rust bunnies and even won European car of the year in 1989. Sadly what the car was lacking was a proper Golf GTI rival. Fiat produced a lukewarm 110bhp 1.8 litre 8 valve from 1989 and a warmer 1.8 16v with 138bhp from 1991, unfortunately the Tipo was a bit tubby.
Although we don’t think of 1180 kilos (2601 lbs) as heavy for a modern car, back in the early 90s it was positively obese for a smallish hatch. Fiat had no choice but to drop in the 2.0 litre 16 valve lump from Lancia, upping power to 148bhp and reducing 0-60 to 8.4 seconds. As with all the best Italian engines, it looked pretty damn good too. Thanks to a slippery drag co-efficient of 0.31 top speed was 128mph, more than the Golf 16v. Handling was improved with 15″ alloy wheels and uprated suspension, braking was dealt with by all round discs that were vented up front.
To distinguish it from the cooking models, the Sedicivalvole got more aggressive bumpers with a red pin stripe, side skirts, a more open grille and body coloured mirrors. Inside you avoided the questionable digital dash of some models, gaining a smattering of analogue dials instead along with a leather Momo steering wheel and the option of Recaro seats. According to the wonderfully 90’s dealer information video, there was a strong eco push too, the car receiving a 3 way catalytic converter that allowed it to comply with the 1983 American clean air act. Wow.
So it was roomy, pretty well equipped, didn’t rust and was reasonably fast. So why has it been forgotten? For a start it looked a bit too much like the smaller Uno, for seconds the Italians still had a bit of a reputation when it came to reliability and for thirds it just wasn’t exciting enough. Still, if you do fancy one they can be found cheaply. The last one I saw was only £1450. I am strangely drawn to owning one however I fear it could only end one way, expensively.
by Alan Taylor-Jones
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FILM REVIEW | The King Of Escape
★★★★ | The King Of Escape
Tubby French tractor salesman Armand is having some sort of mid-life crisis.
Openly gay with a penchant for mature married men that he picks up in a cruising area outside of the country town where he lives, his life takes a dramatic turn when he jumps to the defence of a teenage girl who is being attacked by four thugs. 16-year-old Curly is the daughter of Daniel one of Armand’s work rivals who is less than grateful for Armand’s bravery (in which he had paid the thugs rather than physically beating them off). Curly, however, is thrilled, and sees in Armand a knight in shining armour who she persuades to rescue her from her controlling father and an oppressive home life.
What happens next in this wonderfully bizarre oddball comedy is a fair stretch of the imagination but thanks to the collection of odd larger-than-life characters, you cannot fail to be charmed. Bored Armand is easily persuaded by an excitable and very sexy Curly that he should try batting for the other team. He does manage to lose his ‘straight cherry’ helped by some magical enhancing roots he digs up in the woods where most of the sex (and there is a lot of it) takes place. Before he does take off however despite the fact that Armand is really a lazy slob, he still manages to persuade his straight boss with a deadpan face to let him give him a blowjob.
When Daniel persuades the local police chief to put a tracking bracelet on Armand he retaliates by running off with the horny teenager with half of the local community in hot pursuit. However, when both the novelty and the effects of the chewing the roots wear off, Armand is very keen to dump his young new girlfriend and go back to his world of tractors and old men. There is a hilarious end to the story with a lot of the latter and all naked.
The movie made in 2009 by writer/director Alain Guiraudie has now been released on VOD/DVD following the phenomenal success last year of his award-winning very explicit and controversial Strangers By The Lake. The abundance of sex in this earlier movie, however, is played more for laughs and cannot be described even in slightest as being mildly erotic or sensual. What Guiraudie does succeed at so well is making his gay characters devoid of any of the usual clichés and has them simply blending in with all the other locals without anyone raising an eyebrow about their sexuality.
Be prepared to laugh a lot and also be shocked by all the nudity.
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THEATRE REVIEW | Rise Like A Phoenix
★★ | Rise Like A Phoenix
Things have changed a great deal since the days of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, Kevin Elyot’s My Night with Reg and Tony Kushner’s brilliant Angels in America. HIV is something we can talk about more openly, people don’t die anymore, and, with treatment, can live a pretty normal life, though there is still a lot of stigma attached to it.
Paul Emelion Daly’s new play, Rise Like a Phoenix, is billed as a comedy, but, apart from some admittedly hilarious one-liners, it actually takes itself rather seriously, maybe too seriously. As an HIV negative man, maybe I found it hard to identify with the five gay men, all of them HIV-positive, in Daly’s play, but I’m pretty sure that the majority of my HIV positive friends would have a problem too. Too many of the characters were fixated on the blame game, how they acquired the virus, who gave them the virus, and indeed, not giving too much away, much of the story revolved around a love triangle, in which one of the characters had unknowingly given it to one of the men, who then unknowingly gave it to another.
I was hoping that a new play about HIV would take a more positive stance, but it seemed to me, that, for all the talk of the success of antiretroviral therapy, emotionally the play was still stuck in the 90s, with its reminders of those tombstone adverts. But the whole landscape has changed since then and we live in a far more positive world (in both senses of the word) than we did? Why was there no talk of TasP (Treatment as Prevention), of PEP or PrEP, the once a day pill that stops you getting HIV?
I’m afraid I found it all rather dispiriting and negative.
Performances were good, but Tim McArthur’s usually faultless sense of pace seemed to have deserted him this time round and the play dragged for too much of the time.
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FILM REVIEW | Brotherhood
★★★★★ | Brotherhood
Lars is a young Danish soldier who is resentful because he has been thrown out of the Army after being accused of making a pass at some of his men.
Frustrated at being back home with his pushy interfering mother, and at a loose end and unsure of where his life is going, he becomes easy prey for a local gang of xenophobic neo-Nazi thugs looking for new recruits. Although somewhat reluctant at first, he naïvely allows himself to be drawn into the group and is soon recognised by the leaders as being a brighter than average convert who they want to install as a fully-fledged member.
Lars’ quick rise through the ranks doesn’t sit well with everyone, particularly as he is foisted onto the group’s hard-nutted lieutenant Jimmy who is bitterly resentful of Lars for usurping the position that he felt his psychotic brother should have got received. The angry Jimmy is ordered to be his trainer but the hate he shows however soon turns into lust, which ultimately turns to love in this most unlikely setting.
This award-winning movie shows the sheer brutality, and the depth and bitterness of the far right’s racism and homophobia in a powerful and moving way. It’s both explicit and shocking and its subject matter is unquestionably disturbing, but the way that this drama unfolds, juxtaposing vitriolic violence and hatred with its edge of tenderness in the love that comes through, makes this film totally unmissable.
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TECH REVIEW | Bloc & Roc Galvanise Headphones
★★★★★ | Bloc & Roc Galvanise Headphones
Sometimes, just sometimes, this job gives you the chance to get your mitts on some really lovely kit. This is one of those times.
From first opening the package, to fitting these kitten soft headphones on my my head was all pure, unadulterated pleasure. The looks, the feel, the… but I’m getting carried away here.
The brand is a new UK based purveyor of audio excellence. Based just outside London, this group of individuals have done their homework, and have been willing to put the hours in to design and manufacture something truly wonderful.
I got to road test the Galvanise S2 in grey and fell in love almost immediately but you can view both new styles at the website (address below) and choose between the S1 or S2.
Lets consider the design of these puppies. Each set has been crafted from British aerospace grade aluminium and the softest leather I’ve ever seen (or felt!). They weigh nothing and really do caress your ears – I don’t think I could ever go back to plastic in-ear type again. The contrast between the black leather and matt metal with a flash of red inside is sheer genius – the look may be industrial chic but the feel is pure handmade.
The cord is a woven nylon, giving them a slight retro feel, and they come with both a soft and hard case for storage or travelling. All in all, a well thought out product.
I don’t pretend to understand some of the technical aspects of headphones, I’m more a looks and sounds man. The Bloc & Roc site talks about customised 40mm dynamic drivers being enhanced to deliver a powerful and well-balanced audio experience, all I know is they simply sound wonderful and envelope you in whatever you choose to play.
Could be a foreign language to me – but features like the fit, the cord being fabric and not cheap plastic, the inbuilt mic that allows you to take calls, and the near perfect sound they allow you to enjoy are all I need to know. The technical stuff, I leave to those that understand it, but these headphones deliver, in spades!
Technical Specifications:
Headphone: On-ear, closed-back.
Speaker: 40mm dynamic neodymium
Sensitivity: 116 ± 2dB
Frequency: 20Hz-20kHz
Impedance: 16Ω ± 15%
Cable material: nylon-type fabric
Cable length: 1200mm
Audio connector: 3.5mm gold-plated
Total weight: 215gMy only gripe? I still like my music loud, and there is some noise leakage with these, so avoid the quiet coach if travelling by train, otherwise, crank it up and let the world hear your choice.
The Positive
▪ The design
▪ Craftsmanship
▪ The extras (both hard and soft cases)The Negative
▪ Some noise leakage at high volumePrice: £129..95 (plus £5.00 p&p to UK addresses)
Note: they do ship worldwide, so contact them for details.
Available from the site:
http://www.blocandroc.co.ukI’m rating these a 5. Why? Firstly, I am sick of seeing that headphone with the B everywhere. Secondly, they are a UK product that shows design at its best. Thirdly, and most importantly, they work and work well.
Our Rating: ★★★★★
BUY FROM Amazon
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FILM REVIEW | Drown, a film that sinks to new depths
★ | Drown
Three lifeguards pal around until things turn ugly one night in the new film ‘Drown.’
‘Drown’ is a film with very ugly overtones. And it’s not even a positive portrayal of a young gay man who continues to get beaten up and up by an evil homophobic asshole. Handsome Jack Matthews plays Phil. He’s the newby lifeguard in a team that includes the unpredictable and very volatile Len (Matt Levett). They form a trio with fellow lifeguard nick-named Meat (Harry Cook), and together all three bond, in some sort of strange way.
Len has some kind of strange fascination for Phil, it’s either because Phil is gay and Len doesn’t like it or because Len is secretly attracted to Phil, though won’t admit it to himself. Len is also jealous of Meat, because of his very large penis (not shown unfortunately). But when Phil beats Len in a Lifeguard competition, it causes Len to fume with anger and more jealously because he was beaten by a homosexual.
Len’s anger grows even more after Phil’s very handsome boyfriend Tom (Sam Anderson) enters the picture.
Drown is told in flashbacks beginning with their night out to celebrate Phil’s win. But it’s a night out that turns out to be both dangerous, and extremely absurd.
In flashbacks taking us away from that night out, we see Len beating Phil up, but Phil denies Len ever doing so, and we’re not told why. Surely an extremely homophobic lifeguard with sadistic tendencies needs to be shown the door? And perhaps arrested? Meat is an accomplice to Len’s evil doings – he’s the bitch that Len seems to desperately want. Len even orders Meat to take off injured Phil’s clothes off on a deserted beach? Including his underwear. And most of the time the dialogue is ridiculous, especially in the moments when Len and Meat are discussing Meat’s large penis.
I was just hoping Len would either put it in his mouth or take it up his arse, just to relieve some of his sexual anxiety. And while there are beautiful images of the men swimming, and sunsets, and a woman who swims and swims out to the ocean with the likelihood that she won’t be coming back used as a metaphor for Len’s personality, it all makes for a highly uncomfortable and almost unwatchable 93-minute film.
Order Drown from Amazon | Amazon Instant | iTunes
