M/M Enthusiast

Gay movie reviews

[mmenthusiast]

Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!

Mangaka: Syundei

Published by: Akane Shinsha

English publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment

Closeted sixteen-year-old high school student Okuto Nakamura harbors a crush on his classmate Aiki Hirose, despite having never actually spoken to him. The strongly introverted Nakamura fantasizes about speaking to Hirose and often attempts to integrate himself into scenarios that would allow the two to interact, though the majority end in comedic failure.

Lately I'm trying to get back into manga reading. I used to read them more when I was younger and it was usually some shounen manga, but now that I've realized there's a whole world out there called BL manga, I decided to explore it a little. This is the manga I had my eye on for quite some time now. I was drawn to it by its cute art style and summary also sounded right up my alley, so I finally read it (both volumes).

The only thing that's a little bit missing here for me is the depth and sense of progression, but that might be 'cause it's only two volumes for now, so I'm leaving it the space to grow. Their daily lives are shown in apparently random order, though there are some details and characters that are recurring. Still, I have the sense that the story was episodic and some (if not all) chapters could also be read as stand-alone chapters too IMO.

The manga itself is really adorable, funny and light and I heard there's an anime adaptation in the making, so fingers crossed for this to happen and I'm looking forward to it.

Rating: 4/5

[mmenthusiast]

Time Out (2015)

Director: Rikhil Bahadur

Stars: Chirag Malhotra, Pranay Pachauri, Vedabrata Rao...

Language: Hindi

Length: 1 hour 38 min

Gaurav finds out that his elder brother Mihir is gay. He is unable to accept this as he looks up to Mihir, a high-school jock whom every girl fancies. Adding to his woes, the girl he fancies ‘friend-zones’ him.

I'm surprised I haven't heard of this movie before. I think it should be more well-known, as I didn't really notice it being mentioned in the media, but then again - it might just be that I'm not following the right media. Anyhow, the movie surpassed my expectations. I really liked the youthful tone of the movie and the drama wasn't too heavy as one might expect from a Bollywood movie.

The music in the movie also definitely deserves a mention - I really ended up liking most of the songs in the movie - especially the ones the actors were performing, both while rehearsing and on stage. I was also pleasantly surprised that Varun stayed by Mihir's side despite the backlash they received after being outed. I expected him to storm out/hide away (as he wasn't in favour of outing themselves in the first place) adding to the drama element, but I'm glad that wasn't the case.

Rating: 5/5

[mmenthusiast]

have you seen of an age?

Hi! Actually, no, I haven't. Noted for future reference, will check it out! Thank you.

[mmenthusiast]

happy to see you're posting again. i always look forward to reading your reviews and trying some of the movies you recommend!

Awww thank you so much! I'm happy you're still here :)

[mmenthusiast]

On se calme et on boit frais à Saint-Tropez (1987)

Director: Max Pécas

Stars: Luq Hamet, Eric Reynaud-Fourton, Leila Fréchet...

Language: French

Length: 84 min

A teenager lies to her parents and goes to the South of France instead of studying for the summer. Meeting with her not-so faithful boyfriend and his DJ friend, she discovers her father is also there - with another woman.

The movie sounds interesting from the summary, but it's really not so great... It's one of those movies that is pretty relaxing though, I'll give it that. If you're looking for a movie where you don't have to think much, just sit back, relax this might be for you. However, I didn't much like the treatment of women in this movie and the reactions of some of the characters (for example, how the girls acted when they found out of their partners unfaithfulness - instead of prioritizing their self-respect and terminating the relationship with the cheaters, they instead forgave them rather quickly, trying to make them jealous in order to win them back etc.).

Also, not much of an LGBT+ representation here and I had the sense that the only character like that was being ridiculed the whole time (though that's supposed to be part of their charm supposedly). I know it's a comedy and probably isn't intended to be taken very seriously, but still I don't think it aged well.

Rating: 2/5

[mmenthusiast]

Nuovo Olimpo (2023)

Director: Ferzan Özpetek

Stars: Damiano Gavino, Andrea Di Luigi, Luisa Ranieri…

Language: Italian

Length: 111 minutes

Two 25-year-old men who meet by chance, fall madly in love, and are then separated due to an unexpected event. For the next thirty years they pursue the hope of finding each other again.

Here I go watching another one of Özpetek's movies. I had no idea I would get so acquainted with his works, but now that I did, I can safely say this is my favourite work of his.

I have a complicated relationship with emotional dramas because on the one hand I hate it when movies make me cry, but I also somehow like it as well. I usually try to hide my feelings behind criticising those kind of movies as overly sentimental and/or melodramatic, however this time I just couldn't deny how deeply it touched me.

I love everything about it. I like that it's set in Europe, that it's in the past, the visuals are great, the story and characters as well. Of course I would've preferred a happy ending, but I learned to be humble with these gay movies, so I'm at least happy nobody suffered a violent death LOL. Also, this kind of ending is just more realistic to me and fits the overall atmosphere better.

For me, this is a movie about fated connections and missed opportunities. You try to move on, time passes, eventually you settle for something else and if you have the luck to run into the person some other time in life and try to relive the experience and continue where you left off, you get a painful reminder that it's just impossible to turn back the time, so you're left with this perpetual reminiscence that the movie captured so beautifully in my opinion.

Rating: 5/5

[mmenthusiast]

Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)

Director: Matthew López

Stars: Taylor Zakhar Perez, Nicholas Galitzine, Clifton Collins Jr…

Language: English

Length: 118 minutes

When the feud between the son of the American President and Britain's prince threatens to drive a wedge in U.S./British relations, the two are forced into a staged truce that sparks something deeper.

Even though I was kinda indifferent to the book, I successfully predicted that the movie adaptation, if it ever gets one (because at that time I didn't even know if the movie adaptation was planned) is going to be great. It is exactly as I imagined it and I liked everything about it.

At 118 minutes running time, the movie might seem long to some, but I wished it could go on for even more because I just love a good romcom and this definitely is one. It goes straight up to my favourites in the genre.

At first I didn't really recognize that one of the main actors Nicholas starred in other LGBT+ movies I watched. I just kept thinking the guy looked familiar to me from somewhere. Only when we talked about the movie at the bookclub I'm in, one of the participants mentioned that it's Nicholas and mentioned other movies he's in, then it dawned on me why he's familiar and that I've seen his other movies.

Rating: 5/5

[mmenthusiast]

Smiley (2022)

Creator: Guillem Clua

Stars: Miki Esparbé, Carlos Cuevas, Pepón Nieto...

Language: Spanish

Length: approx. 36 mins per episode

Álex has just suffered a love disappointment and sends a voice message to his boyfriend in anger but the voice is received by Bruno. This mistake ends up making them meet and what begins as a date ends up having greater significance.

The show has its really good moments, but somehow it felt a bit soulless to me despite the effort. I also felt there was some unnecessary content and the dialogues/scenes sometimes seemed a bit vulgar to me. On the other hand, those good moments it had managed to get to me and move me in an emotional sense. I like the fact that I watched it now, as I think it's best to watch it around the holidays season due to its vibe and motifs.

The dynamics between the characters of Bruno and Alex reminds me of Bros because there again we have the jock x nerd relationship at the core of the movie and they both exhibit similar characteristics. The jock dude, in this case Alex, is more extroverted, fun, loves the gym (obviously) and is more relaxed and open, while on the other hand we have Bruno who is more of an introvert, an intellectual, shy and can come across as an opinionated snob at times.

I couldn't really understand the behaviour of characters at times, i.e. why Bruno insisted that he wasn't attractive when that's not the case at all, or why they constantly played mind games with each other instead of just taking it more slowly and being more honest? When it comes to other characters, I really really liked the Ramon dude and I wish the show gave him a more complete and satisfactory ending, or just elaborated more about what happened after as some side characters just don't get any kind of resolution to their situation.

On the other hand (and I'm probably in the minority here), a lot of thought has been put into the Ramiro character, for whom I just didn't care that much and found it an unnecessary addition to an already complicated bundle of relationships we had going there. Same thing for the Albert x Nuria story. It just seemed too much at once for me, the show only has 1 season and 8 episodes. I guess I just prefer a slower, more gradual approach.

Rating: 4/5

[mmenthusiast]

Saltburn (2023)

Director: Emerald Fennell

Stars: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike...

Language: English

Length: 2h 11m

A student at Oxford University finds himself drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate, who invites him to his eccentric family's sprawling estate for a summer never to be forgotten.

This is one of those movies whose premise is more interesting than the actual movie, at least that's how it was to me. Yes, the last scene was iconic and I couldn't get the song out of my head for a couple of days, but the rest of the movie I'm not as fond of, which is a shame 'cause story-wise I think it was interesting. I liked the idea of an antihero/villain character outsmarting the guys who wanted to use and discard him (that's how I interpreted it at least) for their own selfish reasons of keeping up appearances and staying in their own bubble, but I can't not admit how pretentious it all seemed to me.

There were a lot of unnecessary scenes whose main purpose was just aesthetics. To me personally, the movie would've been better if it was more simplistic and direct in telling the actual story. When I realized that the movie started going in the artsy direction, I started losing interest and wanted to skip through all that in order to find out what actually happens next.

Rating: 2/5

[mmenthusiast]

Sublime (2022)

Director: Mariano Biasin

Stars: Martín Miller, Teo Inama Chiabrando, Azul Mazzeo...

Language: Spanish

Length: 1h 40m

Manuel (16) lives in a small coastal town. He plays bass in a band with his best friends. One of them is Felipe, with whom he shares a strong friendship from a very young age. Manuel is dating Azul, a relationship that they are intensely exploring. But when it comes time to have their first time together, Manuel feels something completely new that makes him see things with different eyes.

I don't know why, but on the first glance I thought this was a French movie, so imagine my surprise when they started speaking Spanish xD. It's a cute coming-of-age drama that's not heavy, which is why I like it - it has a happy ending, although it somehow felt like the main character was settling with less than what he deserves. I have a feeling he's way more into Felipe than the other way around and that when in the end Felipe kissed him, it might just be a curiousity for him, while Manuel might be risking getting hurt if Felipe one day decides that it was just an adventure to him and that he'd rather go with the girls in the long run. Another thing that I liked is how they incorporated the music theme in the LGBT coming-of-age story. I haven't seen many LGBT movies like this where the boys/characters are playing in a band, so this was great to me and it gave the movie a youthful touch.

Rating: 4/5

[mmenthusiast]

Heartstopper season 2 commentary

*contains spoilers*

I already wrote a little something about Hearstopper, which was season 1 back then, so I’m not going to be rating it again, but instead I’ll just write some commentary on season 2 impressions overall.

Right off the bat I liked the season 2 better because Charlie and Nick are already together by now so there’s more romance overall, and also the whole Paris field trip really just added so much more charm to the show IMO.

Tao looks great with the new haircut. I know his old haircut probably gave him a more authentic look as a character, but tbh I never really liked it on him, so this was definitely a good change as far as I’m concerned.

I also feel like the show is trying to be inclusive, which is nice (as we now have all different types of characters and topics showcased, like trans, asexuality, eating disorders etc.), but I hope it doesn’t spread its web too thin and lose its focus.

I rooted for Isaac and his bookworm friend to get together (as I didn’t read the novel, so I’m not even sure how closely the show follows the book), but it didn’t work out :D At first I found it cool how Isaac is always having a book with him, but later on it started to annoy me a little because it didn’t seem very realistic to me - who brings a book to a prom?

Nick’s brother David is awful, but I liked how Charlie’s sister handled him ;) Nick’s mom on the other hand is lovely and seems like such a warm person. Nick’s dad I don’t have such strong feelings about - he’s not present enough in their lives, alright, but at least he’s not a downright douche as David (not that we had a chance to see for now).

And now for the Ben part of the story - I know he did Charlie wrong in the first season and I’m not trying to excuse him in any way (I don’t even remember all the details from the first season anymore lol), but somehow I felt bad for him and found Charlie to be overly harsh when Ben was trying to make a sincere apology to him. It would’ve been better for both of them if Charlie accepted the apology and just moved on with his life for his own sake at least, but now it seems like Charlie is just bitter over it, which doesn’t seem like a very healthy mechanism of dealing with it, especially coupled with the possible eating disorder he’s facing.

[mmenthusiast]

Mine vaganti / Loose Cannons (2010)

Director: Ferzan Özpetek

Stars: Riccardo Scamarcio, Nicole Grimaudo, Alessandro Preziosi...

Language: Italian

Length: 1h 50m

Tommaso is the youngest son of the Cantones, a large, traditional southern Italian family operating a pasta-making business since the 1960s. On a trip home from Rome, where he studies literature and lives with his boyfriend, Tommaso decides to tell his parents the truth about himself. But when he is finally ready to come out in front of the entire family, his older brother Antonio ruins his plans.

When I was reading the plot summary for this movie, I realized I already watched the exact same movie before, only the remade Brazilian version of it from 2021 (which I didn’t know at the time, of course xD), so when I started watching it, I already knew what to expect plot-wise, at least in general, and I guess there weren’t many differences in that department. I don’t remember much details from the remade version, but it seems to me that the original Italian version brings more emphasis on the character of the grandmother and her side story if I were to compare the two versions. Everything else was pretty similar IMO, and if you’ve seen some other works of Özpetek, you can recognize familiar characteristics in this movie, too - there’s the mixing of dramatic and comedic elements, the portrayal of life as unexpected and chaotic with sudden changes and revelations, focus on families (be they chosen or biological), the slow pace and so on.

What I didn’t mention before when watching Özpetek’s movies that only now came to me was that this sentimental atmosphere that he creates, combined with slow-paced dynamics and occasional melodramatic lines on the voice-over somehow reminds me of soap operas. Half a year ago I didn’t even know about this director and now I ended up getting quite familiar with his work and watching several of his movies/TV shows (three for now). There’s one more I’d definitely like to see, but it’s been kinda hard to find it, though I’ll keep searching and if I watch it, I’ll be sure to write about it.

Rating: 3/5

[mmenthusiast]

The Holiday Sitter (2022)

Director: Ali Liebert

Stars: Jonathan Bennett, George Krissa, Chelsea Hobbs...

Language: English

Length: 1h 24m

Sam babysits his niece and nephew before the holidays, and when he recruits help from their handsome neighbor Jason, he finds himself in an unexpected romance.

I know I’m running late with these Christmas movies, but I’m glad that there’s quite a few of them by now that I haven’t yet watched, so I have some homework to do if I ever decide to explore the genre. This one in particular stars Jonathan Bennett and I just happened to stumble upon another one of his Christmas movies on TV (which isn’t gay themed though). As for the movie, I really can’t describe it as anything extraordinary. I found it to be generic, as most of these Christmas TV movies are. I liked Sam’s goofy character, but aside from that, there’s not much else I could say about the movie. It’s nice and cozy, which I always like, but I’ll have to watch some more gay Christmas movies to see how they compare, as I feel there’s still enough space left for new interesting movies in the genre.

Rating: 3/5

[mmenthusiast]

In from the Side (2022)

Director: Matt Carter

Stars: Alexander Lincoln, Alexander King, William Hearle...

Language: English

Length: 2h 14m

Following a drunken encounter, two equally attached men from a cash strapped and divided gay rugby club unwittingly sleepwalk into an adulterous affair but must conceal their growing feelings or risk destroying the club they love.

I liked the sports setting and the idea of a gay rugby club, but somehow I felt like the dramatic effect was over-emphasized in the movie. I think the main characters knew (or should have known) exactly what they were getting into when they started the affair and so the ending didn’t quite get to me emotionally, especially since one of the characters was in an open relationship to begin with. The only character I actually really liked and sympathized with was Henry.

Rating: 3/5

[mmenthusiast]

Leynilögga / Cop Secret (2021)

Director: Hannes Þór Halldórsson

Stars: Auðunn Blöndal, Egill Einarsson, Sverrir Þór Sverrisson...

Language: Icelandic, English, Mandarin, German

Length: 1h 38m

A tough super-cop, in denial about his sexuality, falls in love with his new partner while investigating a string of bank robberies where nothing seems to have been stolen.

Now this is a plot line you don’t come across often :D action comedy movies with a gay theme are very rare - at least I didn’t see many of them, so this was an interesting one for me. Even though this is an action comedy and you might be expecting something big with lots of special effects, especially if you’ve been exposed to lots of American blockbusters (and generally when it comes to action comedies I think America has this reputation of being famous for these types of movies), in this movie it’s pretty toned down. There are special effects, yes, but somehow it’s not all in your face, the characters aren’t that loud/obnoxious and the humour is different than the usual American action comedy. It’s a spoof movie and the humour tends to be more of an ironic nature rather than being overly slapstick.

Rating: 4/5

[mmenthusiast]

Bros (2022)

Director: Nicholas Stoller

Stars: Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane, Guy Branum...

Language: English

Length: 1h 55m

Two men with commitment problems attempt a relationship. One of them is more of an intellectual type, while the other one is more of a jock, so it’s an unusual combination at the first glance, but I’d say it has its charms, too. Despite the characters seeming to come from two different worlds and not having many shared interests, somehow their relationship manages to hold up and for the most part I would say it was a fun ride.

I found the quirky main character of Bobby to be a refreshing touch to bring into a mostly generic atmosphere of a rom-com movie, although his grumpiness can get too intense at times. I think the actor embodied the character great - it seemed very natural on him, to be honest. On the other hand, Aaron (the jock guy) is more of a bland character, he doesn’t stick out too much, rather it seemed like he’s there mostly to emphasize the quirkiness of the main character, and in that way it worked good, but if you’re to look at Aaron as a separate character, then I guess he doesn’t make too much of a presence in my opinion (other than the fact that he’s smoking hot ofc, LOL). If I’m gonna be shallow here, I have to be honest and say I really liked the pairing of Aaron and his high school crush Josh because they just seemed to me like a very natural couple physically speaking.

On the downside, although there were some funny moments throughout the movie, it wasn’t as funny as I think it could’ve been based on the premise. I guess there can also be some political overtones found, especially since the main character is pretty opinionated about basically everything xD. Not too many downsides here for me, though. It’s not the greatest movie I watched, and I probably won’t remember it as anything too special, but it was okay for the most part and I'm always up for another gay rom-com. :D

Rating: 3/5

[mmenthusiast]

Les amoureux / Lovers (1994)

Director: Catherine Corsini

Stars: Nathalie Richard, Pascal Cervo, Olaf Lubaszenko...

Language: French

Length: 1h 28m

A handsome 15-year-old looks to his worldly, adventurous, older sister for guidance but finally takes charge of his own life as he comes to terms with his homosexuality.

A relaxing movie with nice rural scenery. The sister is at first portrayed as some kind of a free spirit, but later it turns out it might just be a mask that she’s wearing and that she’s more troubled than it might seem on the first glance. When she returns home after some time that she’s been away, her brother is very happy to see her again and her presence makes their sleepy little town a bit more joyous (which later turns chaotic). We do not find out too many details about the sister’s past as to what exactly she’s been doing before her return home, where was she, what was her childhood like etc. so she remains a bit of a mysterious figure. The relationship she has with her younger brother is a strange one. They almost seem too close to each other, kissing and cuddling often and I found that a bit uncomfortable to watch, to be honest. That’s the thing I’d say I disliked about this movie (flirting with incest as well as some nudity scenes) because I found it unnecessary and pretentious.

But for the most part I think this was a good movie, especially from the point of the brother and his part of the story, because I would say that it truthfully represents the coming of age story of a gay adolescent trying to come to terms with his sexuality while being trapped in a rural town with very limited options for self-realization and self-fulfillment, and all the problems that arise from it. Even though I’m often not a big fan of open endings, here I really liked the ending to the brother’s part of the story (him entering the discotheque alone, appearing lost and confused as if searching for somebody or something) because I think it fits the general atmosphere and the state of the character at that moment in his life.

Rating: 4/5