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.
Socrates
After his mother’s sudden death, Socrates (Christian Malheiros), a 15-year-old living on the margins of São Paulo’s coast, must survive on his own. As he faces isolation because of his sexuality, his search for a decent, worthy life reaches a breaking point. Filmed with a micro budget of under twenty thousand dollars, Socrates is the debut feature film from Brazilian-American director Alexandre Moratto. It is also the first feature-length film produced by the Querô Institute in Brazil, where it was co-written and produced by at-risk teenagers from local low-income communities (many of whom are also performers in the film), with the support of UNICEF. The film earned rave reviews from critics and won numerous awards at film festivals all over the world – along with the coveted “Someone to Watch” award at last year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Speedwalking
From the director of the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo comes a pitch-perfect coming-of-age period piece. In a quirky small town in Denmark, situated on the outskirts of just about everything, 14-year-old Martin (Villads Boyd) is getting ready for one of the most formal transitions from boy to man: the communion. The year is 1976, music is in the air and hormones are blossoming. But in the midst of it all, Martin’s mother suddenly passes away – and her tragic death triggers a series of events that not only change Martin’s life forever, but also affect everyone else in the community. On top of everything else, Martin is also experiencing a sexual awakening with his buddy. Speedwalking is an intense, humorous, and evocative story about how life and death demand a transition in us all.
A Reunion
In the tender gay romance-comedy-drama A Reunion, two estranged friends (Michael Lovan and Josh Watson) take an emotional and eventful road trip from Los Angeles to Chicago to attend their 10-year college reunion, facing their complicated past along the way. Their nostalgic journey across the country leads to confessions, contradictions and conflicts as they struggle to reconcile their shared past and connect with one another in the present. Their road trip becomes an exploration of male friendship and intimacy, as well as a soulful search for one’s identity along the American landscape. Don’t miss this smart, endearing, well-written, dialog-driven and sadly-underseen indie gem from up-and-coming writer-director Hermando Bansuelo.
Alex and Leo
Alex and Leo is a German comedy that features six characters in search of love. Alex (Andre Schneider) walks in on his boyfriend having sex with someone else – and out he goes, much to the relief of his friends Tobi (Udo Lutz) and Steffi (Sascia Haj). Delicious German porn star/actor Marcel Schlutt stars as Leo, who, after a dinner party, reveals to his girlfriend that he’s got sexual feelings for men and it’s best that they break up. Six weeks later they all have a wild night at a Berlin performance art club. Leo goes out with his friend, who happens to be a patient of Steffi’s and Alex goes out with his friends. Tobi is smitten with a gorgeous waiter, but he loses the power of speech whenever he sees the man. On a wondrous night, Alex meets Leo, and Tobi discovers his waiter (and they go home together). But what about Steffi? Alex and Leo vibrates with the energy of the hip Berlin streets and clubs where it was filmed.
Grimsey
After his boyfriend, Norberto (Eugenio Sanz) breaks up with him and runs away to Iceland, heartbroken Bruno (Richard Garcia) decides to follow, trying to find him and win him back. Travelling from Spain, he arrived in Iceland and soon meets Arnau (Raul Portero), a handsome local tour guide in Reykjavik, who is determined to help Bruno in his exceedingly idealistic search. Their trip will become a grieving process for them both, until they reach the remote island of Grimsey. There, Bruno will have to learn what love really means in order to move on with his life. Written and directed by lead actors Raul Portero and Richard Garcia, Grimsey is a romantic passion project with a whole lot of warmth – despite the freezing cold, snowy setting.
