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travka79
Reviews
Oxygono (2003)
I liked it!!
A mother who has a sexual relationship with her son-in-law, a family divided over land, and a son's rebellion and homosexual relationship with an older gentleman. The film explores the underbelly of a traditional Greek family after a tragic car accident where a daughter is killed. I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns of this film. The story moves fast, but once you get a hold of who's betraying whom, you become enthralled by the lives of this wonderfully despicable family. The son, Christos, plays the central character. The actor plays him marvelously; full of teenage angst, confusion, and only wants to detach himself from the family drama that surrounds him. The many characters in the film each with their own set of drama plays out well with a very uncompromising ending that leaves you wanting more. Go see this film if you want to see family dysfunction at its best. It's a great contemporary Greek tragedy.
Slutty Summer (2004)
Could be better
So the cover of the movie says its the gay sex in the city...I beg the differ. Yes, in premise there are similarities such as set in NYC and about four friends dealing with finding and losing relationships. Throw in a gay hook, instead of high manhattan-ites, they are waiters pretending to be models, writers, and actors. Seeing past the low budget production, I was quite disappointed that the characters discussed nuances of gay culture that neither provided new insight nor tackled real relationship issues. Instead we are bored with conversations like how many people constitutes an orgy and what does the phrase "sleep with" mean. These shallow and unfunny moments take away from the plot of a protagonist dealing with a break up all gay men can identify with. Whats even worse the dialogue at best was un-witty, and drab. No wonder these gay men are waiters, they talk like they couldn't pass the 11th grade. Given the actors were natural and very hot, the movie is cute and entertaining. But Honey...this was no Sex in the City. *snaps fingers*
Rent (2005)
Disappointing at Best
I really wanted to like this film. When learning that Chris Columbus was going to direct the play, I knew inherently the movie could not be as good as the play. The movie was unimaginative, boring, and forced. And while I liked the idea of casting the original members, they seemed too old for the parts, and even their voices seemed aged as compared to the original cast recording. Their voices lacked that youthful spunk I remember when first watching Rent in college. The musical score was changed and did not do the original score justice. Poor Jonathan. While Chris tried to portray New York's raw and gritty environment which came out (sort of), the cast members/directing made each character stand out from their surroundings rather than being a part of the community that Jonathan was trying to portray. Where were all the other drag queens? The other drug abusers? The other artists for god sake? Chris should be ashamed of himself. As a rock opera I think everything should have been sung like the play. Turning it into dialog made it laughable. And what is up with the side commitment ceremony scene between Joann and Maureen? That was just plain crap. I will say though that the message was there and anyone who sees the movie will come away with the message of peace and love no matter who you are or your situation. But as far as artistic value, it lacked depth and I only have the writer and director to blame.
Anatomie de l'enfer (2004)
A great movie go see it
I wasn't too surprised when I read that so many people did not like this movie. Yes, while the premise of the movie was not realistic, it provided a symbolic backdrop for the characters to discuss sexual politics. The dialog and explicit sex was meant to transcend the movie plot to insight emotion of the audience.
Americans are so used to going to a movie for entertainment, what is so wrong about watching a movie that forces you to confront your own prejudices about sex and female genitalia? I don't think the gay man was exhibiting straight behavior but exhibiting male behavior that even as a gay man, men in general are raised to think a vagina is meant to objectify. And when a women asserts her sexual identify, men are to call her a bitch or slut.
What Catherine asserts in this movie is nothing new to cinema although sexual politics is usually portrayed in a he said/she said romantic comedy crap that Americans so easily fall prey to. We laugh at it, but when movie as hard hitting the explores the true relationships between men and women, then we hate it.
Shame on you for not appreciating this movie that exposes the hypocrisy and misogynistic views of our American culture.
True Love (2004)
Great Shorts!
Of the gay shorts genre hanging around these days, this one is by far the most well directed and beautifully written shorts I have seen. Each short represents a snap shot of gay life; growing up, growing old, and falling in & out of love. Although, the title "True Love" may not fully speak for the wide spectrum of perspectives in gay life shown in the 7 shorts, it does represent what each short's character was trying to find. Kudos especially to the shorts "History" and "He Was Perfect". Both well written, directed, and performed. If you are looking for shorts with gratuitous nudity or sex, this is not the film to check out. But if you are looking for a film that explores an array of gay issues without being an After-school special, this is the film for you. Michael Saul is definitely one to watch over the coming years.
Elektra (2005)
Good, not great movie
Although a huge fan of Jenifer Garner since playing Sidney Bristow on Alias, her performance in Elektra, at best, was uneven. I think she struggled with how to portray a character who is a cold hearted assassin on one hand, and a character who falls in love with a little girl (who can't act) and her father (who has no sex appeal). This could only be due to bad writing/casting. I was hoping the fighting scenes would make up for the bad writing but unfortunately it does not. Average fighting, and average script. What made this film good is that Garner is hot and she did her own stunts. Typhoid was the most interesting character and we didn't need those dumb flashbacks to understand why she became what she became. Although in keeping in the tradition of Eleckra by way of Daredevil, maybe the next movie should be Typhoid by way of Elektra. Probably won't happen, which means I should probably by the comic.
Boys to Men (2001)
Gay Shorts
Crush is the origin story of how fag hags came to be. Light and funny.
The Mountain King explores the sexuality of two men. One drug addict gay for pay, the other repressed homo. The give and take (no pun intended) between the characters is great and the sex scene is erotic but not raunchy.
...Lost is three minutes of jaw breaking eye candy. I liked it but lacked depth like the other three shorts.
The Confession was my favorite. There is a lot of subtext in this film and if you are not catholic you might not get it. My friend is catholic and explained what they were doing and I was better able to understand the short. It was nice to see the internal struggle between the two characters.
Overall, I enjoyed each film. Go watch it.