film review (Boy Culture)
Nov. 7th, 2009 08:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
floatingleafHi, everyone. I'd like to share another happy Netflix experience today.:) A clever, funny and touching love story called Boy Culture. It's a gay movie, of course. I LOVE gay movies. No surprise there, I guess.:) But I just need to say it again, and I can't say it enough: the abundance of gay films these days makes me HAPPY. I still remember a time when the very thought of a gay relationship depicted on screen seemed somehow outrageous. Now it's practically commonplace - and of course that means plenty of bad gay movies in addition to the good ones. I've seen my share of both. But, over the years, I seem to have developed a knack for picking out the good ones. Out of the dozens of gay flicks I have rented through Netflix, there were maybe 2 or 3 that I would consider a complete waste of time. Most were interesting, to say the least. And some were real gems. Here's one.
Title: Boy Culture
Year: 2006
Country: USA
Genre: romantic drama with a touch of humor
Director: Q. Allan Brocka
Screenplay: Q. Allan Brocka, Phillip Pierce
Actors: Derek Magyar (X), Darryl Stephens (Andrew), Jonathon Trent (Joey), Patrick Bauchau (Gregory)
Rating (1-7): 5
What's it about: Gay men and the different ways they approach life, relationships, sex, emotions... The central character in the story is a professional hustler, who refers to himself as "X" (for the sake of anonymity, as he informs the viewer at the beginning of his narrative; since the entire film consists of a series of his "confessions"). He is a rather exclusive escort, who has only 12 regular clients (also referred to as his "disciples" ;P), and doesn't "sleep around" outside of work.:) He lives with two roommates: a flaming 18-year-old twink Joey, who explores his sexuality with a vengeance, and a gorgeous "quiet type" called Andrew, who has recently broken up with a girl. X fancies Andrew, and suspects Andrew might also be gay, but will not make a move, because he is terrified of rejection and only used to sleeping with people for money (he has never had a romantic relationship, or even casual sex, with anyone other than his clients). Joey is helplessly in love with X, and all his wild escapades are little more than a childish call for attention. While Andrew is a mystery - at least at the beginning.:) There is also a charming older gentleman called Gregory, one of X's clients, who gives him a new perspective by sharing his life story. It is thanks to Gregory's intervention that X and Andrew finally - after some trials and tribulations - sort out their feelings for each other. Another important element of the story is a gay club in Seattle called - unsurprisingly - Boy Kultur. In a way, the film is a realistic, believable portrait of the gay community and the alternative definition of "family" it has created. Both X and Andrew feel responsible for the much younger Joey and act almost as "father figures" towards him - and yet there is an obvious sexual undercurrent to it all. There are other interesting nuances, too - like X's interactions with Gregory, for example - but I'm not planning on writing this review until the wee hours of the morning, so I have to stop now.:P
Music: Typical gay club hits, mostly. I loved the credit song - it had hilarious lyrics - but I have no idea who performed it.:(
Best: The humor. X's sceptical, self-deprecating musings provide a running commentary to the events, and to the gay scene at large. I almost wish I'd taken notes of the more poignant observations.;) Some of the dialog is brilliant as well.
Worst: Not enough make-out scenes between X and Andrew.:P
A Memorable Line: X, disgruntled by his inability to deal with emotions and browsing through the lesbian section at a bookstore: Lesbians have it easier. Yeah, well, they do have all this dyke drama - but that's because they actually give a shit about each other. As opposed to the gay boys, who supposedly don't - or pretend they don't, because they like to act oh-so-tough. Which is what the whole movie is really about.
A Memorable Role: Andrew, played by Darryl Stephens. Let me quote X again: I'm not usually into black guys, but Andrew is hotter than the 7th plane of hell. And now let me paraphrase him: I'm not usually that much into guys at all - except for Viggo and precious few others I could probably count on the fingers of one hand - but Darryl Stephens is hotter than the 7th plane of hell.:) Seriously. Take a look:
Btw, he is actually gay. I mean, the actor. I Googled him, of course, and this is what I found.:) I watched the cast interviews included on the DVD, and all the other actors are obviously straight guys who talk about how much they "learned about the gay community" by doing this movie. While Darryl only says that he has been in other gay movies before, and that he can do either a flaming queen or a butch type - whatever the role requires.:D
Notes: I have also seen Darryl in one of his other gay roles - he is a background character in Another Gay Movie, an outrageously silly spoof of The American Pie. Which I have never seen, and probably never will. I mean, after seeing the spoof, I'm pretty sure I'd be more grossed-out than amused.:P Don't get me wrong - the gay version was funny, and the main romantic pairing was very sweet; but, generally speaking, this type of totally crude, in-your-face circus humor isn't really my thing. I prefer a little subtlety and brain stimulation with my entertainment, you know.;)
But I digress. My point is, in Another Gay Movie Darryl was a professional club dancer who moved like the incarnation of sin.:P And I almost didn't recognize him in Boy Culture, because there is nothing "obviously gay" about Andrew - other than the way he looks at X.:)
Will I see it again? Probably. I hope so.
Geeeez... those movie-review posts are sooo time-consuming. How did it get past midnight?... *blinks* Oh well. Enough rambling for now.:) Good night.
Title: Boy Culture
Year: 2006
Country: USA
Genre: romantic drama with a touch of humor
Director: Q. Allan Brocka
Screenplay: Q. Allan Brocka, Phillip Pierce
Actors: Derek Magyar (X), Darryl Stephens (Andrew), Jonathon Trent (Joey), Patrick Bauchau (Gregory)
Rating (1-7): 5
What's it about: Gay men and the different ways they approach life, relationships, sex, emotions... The central character in the story is a professional hustler, who refers to himself as "X" (for the sake of anonymity, as he informs the viewer at the beginning of his narrative; since the entire film consists of a series of his "confessions"). He is a rather exclusive escort, who has only 12 regular clients (also referred to as his "disciples" ;P), and doesn't "sleep around" outside of work.:) He lives with two roommates: a flaming 18-year-old twink Joey, who explores his sexuality with a vengeance, and a gorgeous "quiet type" called Andrew, who has recently broken up with a girl. X fancies Andrew, and suspects Andrew might also be gay, but will not make a move, because he is terrified of rejection and only used to sleeping with people for money (he has never had a romantic relationship, or even casual sex, with anyone other than his clients). Joey is helplessly in love with X, and all his wild escapades are little more than a childish call for attention. While Andrew is a mystery - at least at the beginning.:) There is also a charming older gentleman called Gregory, one of X's clients, who gives him a new perspective by sharing his life story. It is thanks to Gregory's intervention that X and Andrew finally - after some trials and tribulations - sort out their feelings for each other. Another important element of the story is a gay club in Seattle called - unsurprisingly - Boy Kultur. In a way, the film is a realistic, believable portrait of the gay community and the alternative definition of "family" it has created. Both X and Andrew feel responsible for the much younger Joey and act almost as "father figures" towards him - and yet there is an obvious sexual undercurrent to it all. There are other interesting nuances, too - like X's interactions with Gregory, for example - but I'm not planning on writing this review until the wee hours of the morning, so I have to stop now.:P
Music: Typical gay club hits, mostly. I loved the credit song - it had hilarious lyrics - but I have no idea who performed it.:(
Best: The humor. X's sceptical, self-deprecating musings provide a running commentary to the events, and to the gay scene at large. I almost wish I'd taken notes of the more poignant observations.;) Some of the dialog is brilliant as well.
Worst: Not enough make-out scenes between X and Andrew.:P
A Memorable Line: X, disgruntled by his inability to deal with emotions and browsing through the lesbian section at a bookstore: Lesbians have it easier. Yeah, well, they do have all this dyke drama - but that's because they actually give a shit about each other. As opposed to the gay boys, who supposedly don't - or pretend they don't, because they like to act oh-so-tough. Which is what the whole movie is really about.
A Memorable Role: Andrew, played by Darryl Stephens. Let me quote X again: I'm not usually into black guys, but Andrew is hotter than the 7th plane of hell. And now let me paraphrase him: I'm not usually that much into guys at all - except for Viggo and precious few others I could probably count on the fingers of one hand - but Darryl Stephens is hotter than the 7th plane of hell.:) Seriously. Take a look:
Btw, he is actually gay. I mean, the actor. I Googled him, of course, and this is what I found.:) I watched the cast interviews included on the DVD, and all the other actors are obviously straight guys who talk about how much they "learned about the gay community" by doing this movie. While Darryl only says that he has been in other gay movies before, and that he can do either a flaming queen or a butch type - whatever the role requires.:D
Notes: I have also seen Darryl in one of his other gay roles - he is a background character in Another Gay Movie, an outrageously silly spoof of The American Pie. Which I have never seen, and probably never will. I mean, after seeing the spoof, I'm pretty sure I'd be more grossed-out than amused.:P Don't get me wrong - the gay version was funny, and the main romantic pairing was very sweet; but, generally speaking, this type of totally crude, in-your-face circus humor isn't really my thing. I prefer a little subtlety and brain stimulation with my entertainment, you know.;)
But I digress. My point is, in Another Gay Movie Darryl was a professional club dancer who moved like the incarnation of sin.:P And I almost didn't recognize him in Boy Culture, because there is nothing "obviously gay" about Andrew - other than the way he looks at X.:)
Will I see it again? Probably. I hope so.
Geeeez... those movie-review posts are sooo time-consuming. How did it get past midnight?... *blinks* Oh well. Enough rambling for now.:) Good night.
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Date: 2009-11-08 02:21 pm (UTC)Thanks for doing this!
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Date: 2009-11-08 05:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-09 06:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-10 01:53 am (UTC)