Anata-ga suki desu, dai suki desu / I Like You, I Like You Very Much (1994) Hiroyuki Oki, Chano, Kazunori Shibuya, Hisanori Kitakaze, Drama

anata-ga-suki-desu-dai-suki-desu-aka-i-like-you-i-like-you-very-much-1994
This groundbreaking drama, one of few to feature gay lifestyles in a Japanese context, is the work of writer, editor, cinematographer, director and co-star Hiroyuki Oki, an avant-garde filmmaker. In the liberal enclave of Kochi City, Japan, a gay college student, You (pronounced using two syllables as “Yo-ooh”), is living a contented life with his lover and classmate. Then he spies an attractive young man at a train station, and their meeting leads to a subsequent sexual encounter. Although You confesses his infidelity to his boyfriend and even seeks the advice of an ex-lover, he does not completely break off his new relationship, leading to a love triangle that forces each of the men to question his sexuality and identity. Running barely one hour long, I Like You, I Like You Very Much (1995) was short for a feature-length film but earned critical respect for tackling what remains an extremely sensitive cultural issue in its home country.
Read More »

The Dying Gaul (2005) Craig Lucas, Peter Sarsgaard, Campbell Scott, Patricia Clarkson, Drama, Romance

the-dying-gaul-2005
The gay screenwriter Robert, who is grieving the recent loss of his lover, writes a screenplay based on his biography and tries to sell it to the Hollywood producer Jeffrey. He offers one million dollars for his work, provided changes in the story replacing the dying man per a woman to make a commercial film. Jeffrey shows the screenplay to his wife Elaine, who loves to write and to plant flowers, and she is also delighted with the story. Robert works introducing the required modifications and Jeffrey, who is bisexual, has an affair with him. Meanwhile Elaine finds the gay website where Robert writes and she creates a fake profile to have conversation with him pretending that she is his deceased lover. Soon she learns the affair of her husband and she decides to leave him. But when the gay Robert discovers the truth, he has a breakdown and takes vengeance for Elaine with tragic consequences.
Read More »

Going Down in LA-LA Land (2011) Casper Andreas, Matthew Ludwinski, Allison Lane, Michael Medico, Comedy, Drama, Romance

going-down-in-la-la-land-2011
Based on the novel by Andy Zeffer, “Going Down in LA-LA Land” is a riveting and uncensored look at Hollywood. It is a story that reveals how friendships sustain us and keep us going. It is a tale that reflects our celebrity-obsessed culture. It is a revealing look at some people’s desire to be loved, adored, and adulated at any cost. Readers have grown to adore the flawed and imperfect, yet earnest and likable characters of Adam and Candy. Now movie audiences will have the same opportunity to follow their rocky ride through Hollywood, and all the laughs that go along with it.
Read More »

Psy / Dogs (1992) Wladyslaw Pasikowski, Boguslaw Linda, Marek Kondrat, Cezary Pazura, Action, Crime, Drama

psy-aka-dogs-1992
In good old days Franz Maurer and his partners from secret police used to live like kings. Now, they all must adapt to new post-communist environment where they are scorned and losing all the privileges. Some, like Franz, are like ordinary police fighting against drug dealers. But Franz would soon find that some of his friends are on the other side.
Read More »

Mentiras y gordas / Sex, Party and Lies (2009) Alfonso Albacete, David Menkes, Mario Casas, Ana de Armas, Yon González, Comedy, Drama

mentiras-y-gordas-aka-sex-party-and-lies-2009
A youth group is preparing for what the summer of their lives will be, including secrets, lies, pickups, sex, confusion, and especially great night party. Most teenagers are not aware that once you begin this journey of initiation, you can not turn back, and often the lies will become increasingly large, and sometimes love means to hurt.
Read More »

The Monster and the Girl (1941) Stuart Heisler, Ellen Drew, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas, Crime, Drama, Horror

the-monster-and-the-girl-1941
Scot Webster tries to save his sister Susan from the clutches of gangster W.S. Bruhl. When Scot comes to Bruhl’s rented room, one of the gangster’s henchmen collapses into his hands, killed by a gunman. The murderer tosses his gun to Scot and disappears. Since all the evidence points at him, Scot is arrested, tried and sentenced to death. A mad scientist uses his brain to transplant it into a gorilla. After the operation Scot wakes up in the body of a gorilla, eager to get his revenge…
Read More »

La persona de Leo N. / The Person de Leo N. (2005) Alberto Vendemmiati, Documentary

la-persona-de-leo-n-aka-the-person-de-leo-n-2005
As a twelve-year-old boy, Nicola de Leo already knew she wanted to become a woman. Today, the now forty-year-old transsexual lives in Venice and has changed her name to Nicole. She has undergone a hormone treatment and grown breasts, but she still lives inside the body of a middle-aged man, including a penis, a beard and a substantial Adam’s apple. This is why Nicole is applying for a sex change through official channels. ‘I never thought it would be so hard. I thought making the decision was enough,’ she says. During five tense years, Nicole fights her emotional and physical struggle in the presence of director Alberto Vendemmiati’s camera. Working as an actress, a seller of carnival masks and a prostitute, she finances her cosmetic treatments and looks forward to the subsidised sex change operation. Meanwhile, she turns to her elderly mother for support, who has a hard time accepting that her son will soon be a daughter.
Read More »

Les Gants blancs / The White Gloves (2014) Louise Traon, Luís Miguel Cintra, Documentary

les-gants-blancs-aka-the-white-gloves-2014
Louise Traon never films Manoel De Oliveira directly. Instead, she chooses to avoid him, skirt round him, skim past him and keep her distance, yet all the while drawing close to the art of cinema itself, homing in on its very essence. Her film tells the story of a girl who grew up with the images of an old gentleman, and who now wants to show her own images. This touching self-portrait gives insight into a man who appears to have lived many lives, showing his work through a remarkable link with time.
Read More »

Far North (2007) Asif Kapadia, Michelle Yeoh, Michelle Krusiec, Sean Bean, Crime, Drama, Romance

Far North (2007)
In an indefinite time somewhere in the Arctic with Soviet soldiers, the nomads Saiva and her stepdaughter Anja are permanently moving seeking a safe place in the arctic tundra. They camp in a remote area far north where Saiva believes they will be safe and survive fishing and hunting reindeer and small animals. Their lives change when Saiva finds Loki, a frozen stranger that is dying in the ice. Saiva brings him to their tent and recalls when she met her boyfriend and his tribe; how soviet soldiers have slaughtered them and raped her; and how she rescued Anja and killed the aggressors. When Loki is recovered, he and Anja fall in love with each other, affecting her relationship with Anja.
Read More »

Yoyo (1965) Pierre Étaix, Claudine Auger, Philippe Dionnet, Comedy, Drama, Family

yoyo-1965
A man has everything: dozens of servants, a palace, vast woods, gardens, a lake, mechanical toys, private entertainment troupes of musicians and dancers. He has it all – but love. When alone, he sits at a desk, sighing, and looking at a photograph of a pretty girl. One day, the circus descended onto his palace, and amidst all the fun it brought, he recognized the Amazon on the white horse – the girl in the photograph. The girl is now the mother of a small boy, Yo-Yo, whom she considers that looks like the millionaire, even under a clown’s make-up. The boy will spend some time in the palace, in awe of so much riches, but he will leave (in a dream-like scene) on the tusks of the elephant. Time passes – and one day Yo-Yo will be the owner of his father’s palace in decay. Starting from scratch, he will rebuilt it, and be praised as a great clown, an artist, a film-maker, a millionaire.
Read More »

Electroma (2006) Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, Peter Hurteau, Michael Reich, Helena Stoddard, Drama, Sci-Fi

electroma-2006
Daft Punk’s Electroma is an odyssey of two robots who journey across a mythic American landscape of haunting, surreal beauty on a quest to become human. Their symbolic quest, which takes them from endless two lane highways to small idyllic towns to the arid desert, finds Daft Punk once again resisting conformity and developing new ways to highlight their inventive vision. A silent feature-length film that made its international debut at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Electroma will interest Daft Punk fans and film enthusiasts alike. With its breathtaking cinematography, innovative filming techniques, and above all its underlying search for humanity within a dystopian environment, Daft Punk have delivered a film that finds a common thread with their previous work while exploring new horizons as directors of their first feature film.
Read More »

De Flat / House Call (1994) Ben Verbong, Renée Soutendijk, Victor Löw, Hans Hoes, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

de-flat-aka-house-call-1994
Roos Hartman is a young doctor who lives with her son in a large apartment complex. When a fellow tenant is brutally murdered, the police and Hartman’s friends suspect her mysterious neighbour, Eric Coenen. As she becomes romantically involved with Coenen, she doubts he would commit such a crime, but soon she begins to investigate the case further and discovers some startling facts relating to his involvement…
Read More »