This Weekend’s VOD Favorites
The Gay Cinema Video On Demand experience at TLAgay.com has your entertainment needs covered! We’re always working to expand selection of new and old gay-themed movies available for your viewing pleasure. Here’s just five of our current favorites, from various years, that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY! These aren’t our TOP 5, by any means – just a handful of flicks we want to highlight.
Death in Buenos Aires
A big hit in Argentina, where it was filmed, Death in Buenos Aires is a gripping police thriller about corruption, paranoia, and the secret gay lives of the wealthy elite of Buenos Aires during the politically tumultuous 1980s. At the scene of a murder of one of the city’s high society figures, veteran police inspector Chavez (Demian Bichir) runs into Gomez (Chino Darin), a.k.a. El Ganso (The Goose), a handsome young rookie cop with dreams of advancement. When Chavez discovers that the murder may be linked to a small-time hustler, and the gay nightclub La Manila, the detective sends the rookie undercover to pose as a newcomer on the prowl for an older benefactor. As they come close to luring out the killer, the erotic charge of their new surroundings triggers changes in both Chavez and Gomez. Director Natalia Meta‘s deeply involving debut film delivers rich, multi-faceted characters that match the complexity of its riveting story.
The Dream Children
The challenges of a young gay male couple who decide to have a baby are explored in The Dream Children, an Australian melodrama set in the early 2000s. Hunky architect Alex (Nicholas Gunn) wants a child while his partner, TV game show host, Steven (Graeme Squires) – who is closeted at work and not all too keen on exposing himself to public scrutiny. Adding to the problem is the government’s policy against same sex adoptions and their own, far from settled, home life. The decide to illegally hire a surrogate mother to carry the baby, but the woman, a bit homophobic, plots her own scheme to get more money from the two. Director and producer Robert Chuter has earned a reputation as a distinctive and unique filmmaker who is constantly tests his audiences with complex and visually stunning productions.
The Adonis Factor
Chiseled bodies, flawless skin, sculpted jaw lines. At a time when popular culture objectifies men more than ever, it’s hard for them to avoid the pressure to possess such physical traits. In his follow-up to The Butch Factor, director Christopher Hines exposes how far some will go attain “The Adonis Factor” – the kind of god-like masculine beauty only seen in ancient Greek sculptures. Hines takes viewers on an eye-opening journey through circuit parties, gay porn, and avant-garde fashion photo shoots, all of which promote their own kinds of idealized physiques. By capturing a diverse range of voices – from those who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of mainstream male beauty, to those who openly spurn it – The Adonis Factor ultimately poses the question: does a man’s fixation on body image make him any happier?
Flight of the Cardinal
Grady (Ross Beschler), a recent city transplant, has his hands full fixing up his recently acquired lakeside resort lodge, hidden away in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. With only local boy Beetle (David J. Bonner) to assist, he inaugurates his hotel by inviting a group of college friends for the weekend. He also invites his recently aloof boyfriend Andy (Matthew Montgomery) to join in the fun. Instead of the anticipated cheeriness of a relaxing weekend, troubling events, strange behavior and an increasing sense of doom begin to trouble the already emotionally vulnerable Grady. He gets dumped by his boyfriend, begins to question his friends’ reasons for being there and becomes wary of the outwardly jovial but potentially threatening Beetle. Is his paranoia warranted or is he the problem? When a violent storm keeps anyone from leaving the hotel, the pervading sense of doom intensifies.
Everlasting Love
Each day after work, Carlos (Joan Bentalle), a language school teacher, frequents the heady surroundings of his local cruising ground. One evening he encounters a teenage boy from his class named Toni (Aimar Vega), and the two engage in a brief sexual tryst. As the relationship between teacher and student begins to develop, some dark truths emerge about the young man and his mysterious group of friends. Much like Alain Guiraudie’s recent gay classic Stranger by the Lake, writer-director Maral Fores‘ follow-up to his acclaimed debut Animals continues to explore the perils of illicit sexual encounters, but with an edge of youthful impudence. Characterized by meticulous long shots, Fores’ disturbing mystery has a languid visual approach often at odds with the thrills on screen, which are guaranteed to shock and excite in equal measure.
