Alonso's Deadline was a bit strange. A six minute short, the film was about a young janitor's (Elias) infatuation with a professor at a university (Dr. Alonso). Although he didn't star in the picture, there was a HOT latino actor, Pedro (I forget his last name), who sat just a few rows ahead of us for the feature. He was delicious! Sadly, he didn't get much air time. In general, it was so-so.
"BAGGAGE"
Director: Maxime Desmons
Trevor's Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
What a quirky little short. Eleven minutes in total, it begins a bit Hitchcock-ean, with the main character, Martin, being chased around his office by a mysterious suitcase -- his baggage that he must reckon with. It's cute, although perhaps a bit contrived at times. But the opening few minutes, with the bag appearing mysteriously around corners, is hilarious -- very entertaining. I didn't find the ending particularly satisfactory. But hey, it was eleven minutes. Good fun.
"THE COUSIN"
Director: Nick Oceano
Trevor's Rating: 5 / 5 Stars
What a treat! This is really a wonderful short film -- I was engrossed from the start. Clocking in at 16 minutes, this delightful short tells the story of a budding Latino teenager, Mark, who pays a visit to his older cousin Luis' house. Their parents go out, the boys smoke a joint, and head out for a night on the town. Luis is intent on corrupting his straight-laced (and potentially homosexual) younger relative, and so he winds up paying a woman to have sex with him (after he had sex with her first, of course). The actor playing the main character (Daniel Marin), a young, chubby-cheeked cutie, did an outstanding job bringing everyone in the audience back to akward moments from their adolescence. Similarly, the actor playing the older cousin Luis (Manny Montana) pulls off a kind of tough / aggressive / yet slightly sensitive masculinity that is easily (and often) played unconvincingly on screen. It's beautiful, very touching.
"DOLLS"
Director: Randy Caspersen
Trevor's Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
This was a beautiful short, although at times the cinematography / color was a bit lackluster. The story here is of a young boy growing up, yet finding himself not quite ready to part with his Ken dolls when his mother has a garage sale. Although at times it felt a bit like it belonged on Lifetime, I really enjoyed the main actor's (Joshua Brail) performance that was always incredibly subtle. It would be easy to have made his character overly bratty and petulant when his mom tries to take his dolls away, but he instead reads vaguely hurt (while obviously scheming to get his dolls back in the back of his mind). I enjoyed this flick!
UPDATE: Director Randy Caspersen e-mailed to say: "Thanks for the nice things you said about my short film, 'DOLLS', that you reviewed on your blog. You said: 'At times the cinematography / color was a bit lackluster.' I'll say. Frameline struck a print of my film from the Digibeta master and the it looks like the color got screwed up in the transfer. There was even some digital artifacting. The cinematography (much crisper than the version you saw) and color are lovely in the original." And there you have it!
This film was beautifully shot (it premiered at Sundance) -- the color and cinematography is all incredibly well done and appropriate. Named after a small town in NY, the colors in this flick are all a bit overexposed, giving it a kind of nostalgic feel that serves the film well. In 16 minutes, it introduces us to a young girl, her brother, and her brother's possible boyfriend. It's all very lovely and touching, and all the performances here are solid. I'm not sure exactly why this film was put under the header "Young and Evil," it's actually quite cute / innocent / fresh -- almost like an extended ad for a new cologne. Nonetheless, it was quite good, and incredibly well made.
Via iTunes and Sundance, you can purchase the film for viewing for $1.99 here.
"MARS"
Director: Jim Martin
Trevor's Rating: 2 / 5 Stars
Okay, so I feel bad for giving a film that was self-made by a (I think) 16 year old on his home computer, but really, it was pretty trite. The film is a meandering attempt at poetry, a boy's lamenting over the stigma overshadowing his desires for other boys. It's cut with imagery from Fred Phelps' "God Hates Fags" so-called "ministry," which just comes off as a bit over the top. I applaud this young man's attempt at queer cinema, and hope he continues to make films. But this film -- his first effort -- just isn't that good. And hey, who can blame him for it? He's not even out of high school!
Wow! Holy canoli! This film was almost missed by half the audience, as we began filing out before it began thinking the previous film was the last one. But thank goodness we caught it, because it really was tremendously powerful. It tells the story of a young black gay man named Stanlake (played by who loves Diana Ross and enjoys putting on glittery drag make-up, who lives with his mother in a working class apartment complex in England. A group of thugs hang out at the playground in the middle of the complex, terrorizing anyone who crosses their path, including Stanlake's mother. After being harrassed -- and after they rip his mother's dress -- the boy snaps, applies make up, and goes outside to meet the boys face to face. He kicks the crap out of them, in an intensely violent scene that's interspersed with his memories of the army coming to his former home in Africa (country not named). Apparently, Stanlake was a former child soldier and knew a thing or two about how to inflect pain. The army forced his family out of their home at gunpoint, and made Stanlake kill his own father. Oof. It was intense. A must see. Really poignant.
"THE YOUNG AND EVIL"
Director: Julian Breece
Trevor's Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars
Trailer:
This film was super intense. It's probably the reason I attended the short collection, as it dealt explicitly with HIV and gay men. The movie opens with an AMAZING scene in which the main character, played by a ridiculously svelt, gorgeous young Black actor, is confronted by a group of older, "thuggish" Black guys (who it looked like were training a dog for dog fights -- too soon?). The actor is sucking a red candy sucker, which he drops when one of the guys calls him a faggot. He turns around, and starts masturbating while oggling the guys' chests. AMAZING. This really was an amazingly well done scene. The remainder of the film is provocative, but left me wanting more (which is a good thing, I suppose). It's the story of this young Black gay man's efforts to contract HIV, and his unabashed desires for "risky," drug-laced bareback sex. It's intense. Definitely a must see.
Hi trevor,
just happened to come across your review for last year's "El Primo (the cousin". Just wanted to say thanks for the kind words. Truly appreciated.
DM.
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Hi trevor,
just happened to come across your review for last year's "El Primo (the cousin". Just wanted to say thanks for the kind words. Truly appreciated.
DM.
Daniel: It was my pleasure. Thanks for bringing such a wonderfully touching character to life!