[rating=3]
US: 90 min • Peccadillo Pictures • DVD

A gay screwball comedy and love story that is satisfying enough.

It’s worth noting that the film, released in a pre-Will & Grace era, was rare for its time in that it presents a group of characters, some of whom are gay, in a fairly understated way.

[rating=4]
US: 117 min • Paramount Pictures • 2009

The story of Quentin Crisp after his reloaction to New York in 1981 is ambitious and ultimately succeeds in its ambition.

It’s the heartbreaking performance from Jonathan Tucker as groundbreaking gay artist Patrick Angus that becomes the sweet focus of the movie. Taking him under his wing, Crisp uses his celebrity status to help Angus land a show. The characters make an odd couple in their age difference and varied sexuality, but they share a common love/hate affair with loneliness.

[rating=4]
UK: 96 min • Red Union Films • 2009

A triumphant film about the lure of hooliganism.

What sets Awaydays apart from its peers are its inherent themes, such as unrequited burgeoning love, grief & isolation, culminating in a tragic denouement for the central pair that will change their lives forever.

[rating=5]
US: 126 min • Paramount / Spyglass / Bad Robot • 2009

The Star Trek reboots kicks the increasingly antispectic elements of the franchise into the gutter.

The changes to the underlying scenario of the Trek universe enables it to start over. It is this audacity that is the key to Abrams’ achievement with this remarkable motion picture.

[rating=4]
US: 104 min • Mirimax • London Lesbian & Gay Film Choice

An impressive and disturbing fim in which a priest is accused of child-abuse … and Meryl Street steals the show (again).

Meryl Streep is one of those rare actors whose presence is commanding, superlative one could say, in everything that she does. She is like Ian McKellen in this.

[rating=3]
US: 94 min • TLA Releasing • DVD

Teen angst, self-discovery and homosexuality with a love of Stevie Nicks thrown in.

Even though at times the film gets rather clumsy, jumping from one encounter to the next with often predictable results, it is an engaging film due to some very good performances from the central and supporting cast.

[rating=5] (ironically scattered stars)
US: 152 min • TLA Releasing • DVD (2 Disc)

If Sunset Beach was over-run with sex-crazed ineffectual vampires with a penchant for same sex proclivities, you would have The Lair. What’s not to like?

It’s a ‘Class A’ Guilty Pleasure which is incredibly addictive and has scene after scene of ‘wtf?’ moments such as the Sheriff’s reaction to the discovery of yet another dead body in the ongoing murder case. His deadpan assessment of the situation is, “We got a young John Doe. Naked… Dead… Makes a good looking corpse”.

[rating=4]
US: 88 min • TLA Releasing • DVD

A coming of age film that is well-scripted and dodges sentimentality.

Dorian Blues has won to date fourteen Film Festival Awards, and deservedly so. It is a beautifully scripted and shot movie. Every beat of the dialogue rings with a truth, which often leads the story and characters in a direction that other directors wouldn’t have the courage to go..

[rating=4]
US: 83 min • Verve Pictures • DVD

This documentary about the career of Harvey Milk is fascinating and compelling, as well as being essential viewing.

“The Times of Harvey Milk is an honourable and fitting tribute; and not just to the man, but the very idea of him and what he stood for. It is about his part in a movement, a candidacy. If every movement needs a martyr to remind it of its ideals, and what it can be, such a figure is to be found in Harvey Milk.”

[rating=4]
US: 85 min • TLA Releasing • DVD

An endearing tale of political and emotional awakening .

The sexy and punky Sadie inducts Anna into the world of her activist group C(i)A, Clits in Action, whose guerrilla actions are designed to inspire women to follow their lead and fight the system. The group is made up of three other young women and one trans man, but that does not mean the story is weighed down by abstract issues of sexuality and race.