cc's pink film festival

from diva cinema to pink film festival.

since last week, i've been doing much catching up on gay-themed movies. i used to be such a big fan of american gay indies, especially when it was still too hard to get a copy. i would order over at amazon for the dvd's. im proud to have original dvd's of big eden, trick, parting glances, latter days. yeah, bragging rights then because it was quite difficult, and expensive, to get copies.

but when pirated copies started becoming available in pink shops like top&bottom, the thrill of owning one died down. and i wasn't as curious anymore about the films. also, there didnt seem to be titles that were generating buzz among my friends.

being in touch with an old friend again, a friend of ex actually, re-acquainted me with western pink cinema. with the advent of torrent, all the films are just hours away (hours of downloading, that is). old friend has been busying himself with pink movies, and ebooks, during his spare time. and he started recommending titles again.

so im back to watching some choice pink films that ive downloaded, giving my two-centavos worth for each. i present them in the order i watched them. but i end this with one pinoy indie pink film that i watched last week.



this 10yo film ive been seeing long ago. but the reviews were never really positive. so i've put off looking for the film. well, i decided to download this just because i finally wanted to see dean cain play a gay character.
it's an attempt to be gay steel magnolias (a film they mention). gay bonding. gay issues presented in a light way. the dialogue is not particularly funny. but the nice thing about the movie are the actors they got. aside from dean cain, you will recognize mainstream actors (not necessarily leads) like timothy olyphant (whom i just saw in i am number four), justin theroux (can't forget him as joe in six feet under), ben weber (skipper in sex & the city), among others. di ba ensemble cast? lol i wouldn't even call this 'feel good', though.



this film was probably within the same year as broken hearts. and it had some heavy-weight support from lisa kudrow, cristina ricci and doris roberts. even adam goldberg for those who know him. old friend was saying that the romantic in him liked the opposites attract plot. well, for me it wasnt as much as opposites attract but one severely dysfunctional guy (the hottie) trying to get it on with another. so it was getting tiresome after his hotness wore off. it's set under a 'quest for love' storyline that is the gay man's holy grail. so nothing heavy. nothing outstanding. but the sucker in me still loves the old-fashioned happy ending.



this one i watched with pc, cuddled up in bed during a rainy Saturday evening. this was the most recent (2010) of all the movies. and i chanced upon it as the earlier movie from the producers of eCupid, the film i blogged earlier. let me spoil this for you. nerdy-writer-columnist dreams of meeting the one. hooks up online (their planet romeo) with the one. but the one thinks he is nerd's hot gogoboy roommate. he didnt have balls to tell the one who he really is. and the plot unwinds. pc was fast getting annoyed due to his dilemma of dishonesty. and while the one looks really cute and hot, his cuteness and texan drawl sounds so put-on. while all this dishonesty was going on, it suddenly hit me. good grief. this is my story with talented mr ripley! i was taken for a ride online (one hell of a ride that was) by a guy using pics of another person all the while we were chatting.

and while this one, again, ends happily and superbly cheesily (in the most barf-inducing way), of course, my story didn't. i found myself questioning whether the one could actually get over the deception and fall in love with nerd. i certainly couldn't.

for the nice display of gogoboy's bod, go watch it.



we immediately followed 'is it just me?' with this one. joseph gordon levitt has been doing gay indies for a while. he was the straight mormon in 'latter days', if you recall. the start of the movie had pc's eyebrows raised. an alien abduction in a gay movie??? seriously?? but as the story developed, we began to see how all the pieces started to fit. i must say that i was terribly impressed with this film. i wouldn't even call this pink cinema, per se. i found myself being revolted by the ploy as it became clearer. haunted by the idea. and the final scene actually made me teary-eyed. but that's just me and my psych background.



i end the pink film festival with a tribute to the producers of zombadings. i was amazed at how packed the ccp main theater was during the unholy 1130pm screening. it was gay central that night. and the film did not disappoint. it amused me no end. the timing, the little touches and quips, the soundtrack was perfect. the main actor was flawless as remington. and despite the scathing review from someone who doesnt get the humor, i know that most everyone i know had a great time during the movie.