Saturday, December 17, 2011

Can anyone recommend a good gay movie?

Can anyone recommend a recent release say within the last year?

Here is what I am looking for...

An intelligent (feel-good a plus) film about complex relationships and familial/traditional expectations... and the surprisingly adult outcomes when a family is confronted with a nontraditional family situation.

Here are three movies I am already considering:

Weekend:  This frank drama centers on the cautious relationship between two gay men -- one a genial lifeguard, the other a lusty art-gallery worker -- who contemplate turning a passionate one-night stand into something more meaningful.

Circumstance:  Iranian teens Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri) and Shireen (Sarah Kazemy) explore their forbidden attraction to one another against the backdrop of modern-day Tehran's subcultures in this Sundance Audience Award winner for Best Drama. Atafeh's brother, Mehran, returns home after drug rehab and is soon dismayed by his sister's newfound sense of liberation. Giving up on his dreams to become a classical musician, Mehran joins the morality police.

Beginners:  Based on indie director Mike Mills's relationship with his father, this intriguing drama tells the story of Oliver (Ewan McGregor), a graphic artist coming to grips with the imminent death of his father (Christopher Plummer), who, at 75, has one last secret: He's gay. Both inspired and confused by his father's determination to find true love at last, Oliver tentatively pursues a romance with commitment-shy French actress Anna (Mélanie Laurent).

Here are two fairly recent movies that I've seen that I highly recommend:

Plan B:  After his girlfriend, Laura (Mercedes Quinteros), dumps him and takes up with handsome charmer Pablo (Lucas Ferraro), Bruno (Manuel Vignau) plots revenge: He tries to come between the new lovers. But his plan -- which entails a growing friendship with Pablo -- soon takes an unexpected turn. Though Laura still goes out with Bruno now and again, his sexuality comes into question in this Argentinean import from first-time director Marco Berger.

Undertow:  Writer-director Javier Fuentes-León sets this offbeat romantic ghost story on the rough-hewn but gorgeous Peruvian coast, where a married fisherman must come to terms with his love for another man, despite the strict moral codes of his homeland. This winner of the World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic at Sundance is a vivid examination of the ways in which affairs of the heart supersede social strictures and all other forms of logic.

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