Little Ashes provides a look at the 1920’s love affair between painter Salvadore Dali (Robert Pattinson) and poet Javier Beltrán (Federico GarcÃa Lorca). While in school the two become attracted to one another but drift apart as Dali seems to have problems with the relationship and a desire to go to Paris to achieve wealth and fame. General impression: an OK movie but seemed awfully long.
The Dying Gaul
The Dying Gaul, the movie, not the statue, has Robert (Peter Sarsgaard) a struggling young writer finally having a chance to sell his somewhat autobiographical script. The complication is that the producer wants to replace the character of his dying male lover with a woman to make it more sellable. Further complicating things is Jeffrey (Campbell Scott), the bi-sexual producer, starting an affair with Robert. Then of course, Jeffrey’s wife, a former screen writer, becomes fascinated with Robert and starts stalking him anonymously in online chat rooms, eventually finding out more than she really wanted to know.
Ryan O’Neal was Dr. Howard Bannister in the 1970’s film What’s Up Doc? trying to win a grant to study his musical igneous rocks and caught up in a whirlwhind in the form of Barbra Streisand who’s Judy Maxwell turns his life upside down. The scene where he’s in his boxers and bowtie is an all time favorite of mine. And it’s still a pretty funny movie.
The third installment of the “Eating Out” series, All You Can Eat, continues with the confusion of who’s who with straight guys pretending to be gay for various reasons. Casey (Daniel Skelton) comes to town and falls for Zack (Chris Salvatore). When Casey is too shy to approach Zack, inveterate fag hag Tiffany (Rebekah Kochan) convinces him to meet Zack online and further urges using pictures of her ex-boyfriend and stripper Ryan (Michael E.R. Walker) in a fake profile to get to know Zack. Then before Casey can make his move, Ryan comes back to town and the confusion begins. Amusing with lots of skin.
Everett (Brendan Bradley) is in a lackluster relationship with Miles (Tad Coughenour) and seems to be sticking around because of their son and possibly the fact that their small town only has about a dozen people and pickings may be a bit slim. Everett is left at home when Miles takes their son to visit the grandparents. That’s when Chase (Matthew Montgomery), a writer looking for a place to revitalize himself, gets lost and stops to ask Everett directions. Everett appoints himself Chase’s tour guide and the two start to fall for one another. Even Everett’s parents and brother Shane (Simon Burzynski) start to fall for Chase, but will Everett leave his comfortable if boring life? Good movie, but not wild about the way it ended. Redwoods.
Olaf ‘Gunn’ Gunnunderson (Keith Jordan) is out at college but straightens up when he heads home for Christmas break with his mid-western parents. Meanwhile, his boyfriend Nathan (Adamo Ruggiero) whose own parents go on a last minute cruise ditching him for the holiday, decides to surprise Gunn by showing up unannounced, not realizing that Gunn isn’t out to his Christmas crazed mom (Kelly Keaton) and stoner dad (Derek Long). Make the Yuletide Gay is a great movie with a humorous look at coming out at Christmas time.
Bobby (Colin Farrell), Jonathan (Dallas Roberts) and Clare (Robin Wright Penn) form an unconventional family. Jonathan is a gay man living in New York when his childhood friend / adopted brother Bobby comes to live with him and his roommate Clare. Clare loves Jonathan, Jonathan loves Bobby, and Bobby wants to make eveyone happy. Clare gets pregnant and the three go to Woodstock to raise the kid.
Paul Morriessey’s Flesh for Frankenstein retells the “Frankenstein” story with Udo Kier as Baron Frankenstein trying to create a super race of Serbian zombies who will worship him as their master. Part of his plan is creating a male and female creature and having them breed his new subjects. In seeking a head for his male monster, he picks a man, Sacha (Srdjan Zelenovic) he sees in a brothel, mistaking him for some sort of super stud, not realizing that he’d been dragged there by his buddy Nicholas (Joe Dallesandro). Unfortunately for the Baron’s plans, Sacha’s eyes were only for Nicholas in the room full of naked women. Once Sacha’s head is in place, the Baron finds he has no interest in the female creature. Meanwhile, Nicholas has caught the eye of the Baroness who needs some “company” while the Baron is at his work.
