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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

Fireflies
Ramin (Arash Marandi), an Iranian refugee living in Mexico, is trying to come to terms with his past – one that has left permanent scars on his body and soul. As he strolls through the port of Veracruz – a place where transient souls collide in search of a better life – the haunting memories of his long-distance lover begin to fill his heart with a profound sense of loneliness and repentance. Ramin’s friendship with Leti (Flor Eduarda Gurrola), the young woman who runs his hotel and teaches him Spanish, and an attraction to ex-con Guillermo (Luis Alberti) help him find himself as a gay man in a new home. Written and directed by Iranian-born Mexico City resident Bani Khoshnoudi, Fireflies is beautifully shot and strikingly naturalistic.

 

Hawaii
Sexual tension almost spills off the screen in this sweaty, titillating romance from award-winning director Marco Berger (Young Hunter, The Blonde One). Hawaii follows Martin and Eugenio (Manuel Vignau and Mateo Chiarino), two former childhood friends who reunite during a hot summer in the Argentinean countryside. As they work together to restore Eugenio’s summer home, a game of power and desire ensues – and soon the two buddies must grapple with their sexual attraction and reconsider their relationship. With gorgeous cinematography, a lush setting and compelling lead performances, Hawaii is an intimate character study and a slow-burn romance that sizzles from start to finish.

 

Last Summer
Last Summer tells the story of two high school sweethearts, Luke and Jonah (Samuel Pettit and Sean Rose), who spend their final months together over the course of a long, quiet summer in the rural South. Jonah, sensitive, quiet and artistic, prepares to leave his small town for college, leaving Luke behind, but all he wants is for Luke to ask him to stay. But Luke, an athlete struggling through summer school, knows that his boyfriend needs to experience the world beyond their home. A beautiful melancholy romance, Last Summer takes on an almost hypnotic vibe. It’s set in an idealistic American South where Luke and Jonah’s relationship is never questioned or taken as anything other than a normal high school romance.

 

The Prince
The Prince is an explosive homoerotic drama set in a repressive 1970s Chilean prison. During a night of heavy drinking, Jaime (Juan Carlos Maldonado), a hot-tempered narcissist, suddenly stabs his best friend. He is sent to jail for murder. There, alone and afraid, he comes under the protection of a tough older inmate known as “The Stallion” (Alfredo Castro) The unlikely pair begin a clandestine romance, but violent power struggles soon threaten their bond. Easily one of the most sexually explicit recent gay movies, this searing story of survival takes inspiration from Jean Genet’s Un Chant d’amour and Fassbinder’s Querelle. It’s an exploration of masculine aggression, conflicting loyalties and pent-up sexual desires.

 

These Peculiar Days
These Peculiar Days tells the story of eight friends who graduate high school and celebrate by staying in a cabin in the woods. Just before the trip, Isabel (Sofia Sylwin) breaks up with Roman (Gerardo Del Razo) when she finds out he’s been cheating on her with Oscar (Carlos Hendrick Huber). When Roman tags along to try to win her back, it turns this pleasant weekend into a ticking time bomb that will be set off by their unstoppable sexual impulses. Soon, the lines between their sexuality begin to blur as allegiances and love affairs are quickly made and broken. An unabashedly erotic look at modern sexual fluidity between young adults from acclaimed writer-director Chucho E. Quintero.

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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

The Sea
A deeply erotic paean to modern sexuality, director Marco Antonio Nunez’s The Sea tells the story of Lorena and Diego (played by Ana Burgos and Marcelo Gutierrez), a seemingly “straight” couple who, upon moving to the coast of Chile, find their relationship tested. After meeting a handsome young local man named Vicente (Francisco Danobeitia), Diego beings to develop feelings he’s never had before. Soon, these two attractive men begin a passionate clandestine affair. Their newfound love triangle comes to a dramatic, inevitable head when all three go on a camping trip together and the truth becomes too difficult to hide. Ana must soon decide whether she’s willing to open up their relationship… to all sorts of new possibilities.

 

Paper Boys
After making an impulsive decision to change his life, Cole (Kyle Cabral) moves to San Francisco, using his straight best friend’s engagement party as an excuse to escape a dead-end career and memories of a passionate summer fling with a boy from New York. But when he arrives, he runs into that very former fling… and old feelings soon begin to resurface. And after his friend, Daren (Nathan Brown), reveals that his recent engagement only happened by accident, Cole decides to use the mysterious powers of a re-discovered sketchbook to try to put all of their lives back on track. A short six-episode series that plays a little more like a feature, Paper Boys is a charming and thoughtful romance that is sure to leave you swooning.

 

Malila: The Farewell Flower
A sensual drama about desire, grief and spirituality from Thai writer-director Anucha Boonyawatana, Malila: The Farewell Flower fuses gay romance with Buddhist healing. Former lovers Shane and Pich (Sukollawat Kanarot and Anuchit Sapanpong) are both grappling with death in different ways. Shane is haunted by the tragic death of his daughter while Pich is suffering from a terminal illness. As death approaches, Pich dedicates his remaining time to making Bai Sri, a ceremonial ornament while Shane decides to become a Buddhist monk. When the two end up coming back together, their shared history and emotional trauma begin to co-mingle. Soon, the pair begin to sort through the wounds of their past together.

Esteros
Sexy and heartfelt, Esteros follows two former childhood friends who reunite as adults in their hometown on the banks of the Uruguay River. The summer before high school, Matias and Jeronimo (Ignacio Rogers and Esteban Masturini) found their friendship growing into a mutual attraction, but they soon parted ways. More than a decade later they meet again, and the chemistry between them is palpable, but now Matias has a girlfriend who has traveled home with him for carnival. Seeing his old friend, now so comfortable and confident, reawakens Matias’ feelings. This unexpected opportunity forces him to reassess his choices and to figure out whether he can turn his back on marriage in favor of the man he’s always loved.

 

I Am Happiness on Earth
Julián Hernández, one of Mexico’s premier gay filmmakers (Raging Sun, Raging Sky), wrote and directed this steamy tale of a film director struggling to find the barrier between his sexually charged reality and his equally arousing cinematic creations. Will lead character Emiliano (Hugo Catalan) be able to sustain his relationship, or will his lust for beauty and meaning lead him elsewhere? Furious couplings between gorgeous men include an exhilaratingly explicit play-within-a-play. An explosively sexy and heady film Hernández’s boldly poetic romance compares with such films as Fellini’s , Godard’s Contempt and others exploring the connections between love, sex, creativity and filmmaking.

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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

The Perfect David
Sixteen-year-old David (Mauricio Di Yorio) is much like any teen, but his boyish good looks rest upon a hulking, muscular body. His weightlifting obsession is driven by his mother (Umbra Colombo), a troubled artist whose only goal is to have her son reach physical perfection by his next birthday. With countless hours spent at the gym, David desperately searches for what it means to be a man while also navigating his burgeoning sexual desires. Soon his buddies offer him some performance-enhancing shortcuts, sending David into a dangerous spiral. The Perfect David is at once a delicious ode to the beauty of the male form, a warning of the dangers of seeking absolute perfection and a striking character study of a young man in trouble.

 

Martyr
For Hassane (Hamza Mekdad), a young man from an impoverished neighborhood, life has stopped making sense. All he has left is a close group of friends, brought together by a shared sense of marginalization and hopelessness. Hassane’s strange sudden drowning at Beirut’s rocky shore sparks a mob procession and soon strips apart the bond of youth and friendship. His closest friends find themselves grappling with a sense of loss and powerlessness – and with the cold heavy truth of their friend’s dead body. The funeral is transformed into a heartfelt farewell to the beauty and sensuality of life, youth, friendship and love. The second feature film by Lebanese writer-director Mazen Khaled, Martyr is masterful, visceral study of grief.

 

The Acrobat
Montreal is snowed under. While the downtown cranes dance their ballet, two strangers meet randomly in an unfinished apartment. Their chance encounter leads to a violent attraction and a dependency beyond reason. One man is a Russian-born professional acrobat whose future is jeopardized by a broken leg. The other is a buttoned-down, well-groomed man of few words. Which one dominates? Which one manipulates? As it turns out, love is painful and human relations are complex. Staggeringly sexy, this new film from French-Canadian provocateur Rodrigue Jean (Love in the Time of Civil War) features real, completely unsimulated and incredibly explicit gay sex scenes. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.

 

Lose Your Head
Luis (Fernando Tielve) leaves his partner and flies to Berlin from Spain for a weekend of partying, experimenting with drugs and casual physical encounters. When he meets Viktor (Marko Mandic), a mysterious man, he allows himself to be overpowered, submitting to him with a trusting passion. Shortly afterwards, Luis is confused with a missing Greek student named Dimitri, who happens to be Viktor’s ex-partner. Viktor has no explanation for his disappearance. Plagued by nagging suspicions, Luis nonetheless becomes further entangled in Viktor’s capricious and powerful aura of control and submission. This draws him into a quagmire of mysterious signs and dangers where soon even reality itself begins to seem like an illusion.

 

Teenage Kicks
In the final moments of his seventeenth year, Miklos (Miles Szanto) finds his entire world crumbling. His plans to run away and escape the hold of his migrant family are brutally undone by the accidental death of his older brother… and only Mik knows what led to this tragedy. As far as he can see, there is only one person to blame: himself. Mik wants nothing more than to head north with his best friend Dan (Daniel Webber), with whom he’s entangled in a particularly confusing homoerotic relationship. However, he feels an obligation and a major sense of guilt that suggest he should stick around to mend his broken family. Can he fill the shoes of his adored brother, or is he destined to bring ruin upon everyone he loves?

 

 

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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

Bringing Him Back
After he learns that his mother has passed away, Moi (Ricardo Gomez) travels to his family home with his boyfriend Biel (Eneko Sagardoy) by his side. Despite arriving to the warm embrace of his sister (Bruna Cusi), Moi struggles to come to terms with his new reality. His tricky, unexplored new issues also start to put a strain on his relationship with Biel. When his sister’s seductive new boyfriend (Joe Manjon) surprises everyone with an unannounced visit, their delicate seclusion is suddenly shattered – replaced by a tense and potentially sensual mood. A deeply affecting film about loss, love and human connection, writer-director Borja de la Vega’s Bringing Him Back is a rich character drama with a surprisingly erotic sting.

 

The Carnival
From acclaimed, prolific filmmaker Marco Berger (The Blonde One, Young Hunter, Taekwondo), The Carnival is a clever new pseudo-documentary which centers around two men who grew up in the town of Gualeguaychú, a city in the east of Argentina near the border of Uruguay. Every summer, they participate in the town’s traditional carnival, which transforms the men of the community into Dionysian figures via costumes, glitter and feathers. While Berger captures the action – and the mostly straight male participants’ bodies – he also blurs the line between fiction and non-fiction, adding his unique cinematic spin, homoerotic themes and eye for dynamic male relationships to color and comment on the proceedings.

 

Dry Wind
A gloriously erotic new film from Brazilian director Daniel Nolasco, Dry Wind follows factory worker Sandro as he escapes his rural boredom via secret trysts with his co-worker Ricardo – and through elaborate sexual fantasies that would make Tom of Finland himself blush. Though his sex life is in full swing, Sandro shies away from any emotional attachment, preferring to imagine worlds of anonymity, leather and unbridled fetish-play – which Nolasco brings to stunning life in color-drenched widescreen glory. When a new arrival to town – a certified hunk straight out of Sandro’s dreams – sets his sights on Ricardo, Sandro finds himself brimming with jealousy and fearing exclusion from the kind of romance he never thought he wanted.

 

Utopians
From provocative Hong Kong-based filmmaker Scud, Utopians follows Hins (Adonis He), a dreamy young student of literature and philosophy who finds himself in thrall of his charismatic teacher Antonio (Jackie Chow). Antonio soon drags Hins and his religious girlfriend Joey (Fiona Wang) into uncharted erotic territories. The intriguing appearance of Swan (Moe Chin), a beautiful intellectual woman, only adds to their entanglement of sensuality and lust. What once seemed like a path towards a surreal and unrestrained utopia is now barred by a lifetime secrets and a lie of the heart. Will Hins lose himself amid the chaos of eroticism? Packed with nudity and graphic sex scenes, Utopians is a heady pansexual drama.

 

Last Summer
Last Summer tells the story of two high school sweethearts, Luke and Jonah (Samuel Pettit and Sean Rose), who spend their final months together over the course of a long, quiet summer in the rural South. Jonah, sensitive, quiet and artistic, prepares to leave his small town for college, leaving Luke behind, but all he wants is for Luke to ask him to stay. But Luke, an athlete struggling through summer school, knows that his boyfriend needs to experience the world beyond their home. A beautiful melancholy romance, Last Summer takes on an almost hypnotic vibe. It’s set in an idealistic American South where Luke and Jonah’s relationship is never questioned or taken as anything other than a normal high school romance.

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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

Jump, Darling
The late, great Cloris Leachman delivers one of her finest film roles in this moving, critically-acclaimed comedy-drama. Jump, Darling follows Russell (Thomas Duplessie), an up-and-coming drag performer who, on the run from his boyfriend, escapes to the country and into the arms of Margaret, his aging grandmother (Leachman). As Margaret fights to avoid being put in a home, Russell decides to move in and help. He also takes to the stage once more, using a local bar to showcase his glamorous skills and strike up a new romance with an attractive bartender. An award-winning film festival hit with humor and heart to spare, Jump, Darling is a true must-see about love, family and maintaining your dignity – no matter what your age is.

 

He Loves Me
Director Konstantinos Menelaou‘s sexually explicit relationship drama He Loves Me is an exploration of the unconventional nature of love and its ability to survive against the fear of loneliness, psychological traumas and the problems that come with life in the big city. The collapsing relationship shared by two men finds an outlet for escape on an isolated beach. Once there, they feel free to expose their deepest emotions. Their wounded relationship might not survive the vacation, but it’s certainly a glorious place to feel things out. Super-sexy lead actors Sanuye Shoteka and Hermes Pittakos were a real-life couple at the time that He Loves Me was shot – and the script was greatly influenced by their relationship.

 

Jess & James
Jess (Martin Karich) is a bohemian youth with secrets to hide from his shrewd parents. James (Nicolas Romeo) feels trapped living with his irritable mother. After meeting for a sexual encounter, the two young men set off on a spontaneous road trip across rural Argentina to reunite with Jess’ estranged brother. On their journey, they confront strange occurrences and engage in a ménage à trois affair that brings them closer. Their newly found affection grows, all while discovering a fresh vision of freedom and happiness. From talented writer-director Santiago Giralt Jess & James is a sexually charged road-trip movie, a love story and a coming-of-age tale, all set against the mythical landscape of the Argentinian Pampas.

 

Blurred Lines
Janik and Samuel (Emil von Schonfels and Mekyas Mulugeta) are best friends who are enjoying their final year of high school. Though they share a tight bond, they come from different worlds. Janik’s parents are responsible and somewhat uptight. Samuel comes from a broken home. The two teens seem to want what the other has. While Samuel looks for order and discipline, Janik seeks out chaos in his day-to-day life. When a thoughtless incident puts their relationship in jeopardy, the pair decide to leave Germany and set off on a long-planned trip to Istanbul. While there, the boys look to enjoy their freedom, try out a new life and figure out the true depths of their friendship. Blurred Lines is a sexy and thought-provoking drama.

 

Screwed
A gorgeous debut from director Nils-Erik Ekblom, Screwed takes us to the Finnish countryside for an unforgettably romantic summer. Seventeen-year-old Miku (Mikko Kauppila) is trying to come to terms with his sexuality and find his place in the world. After his parents find out that he threw a wild party while they were away, he is ordered to spend the summer with them at their cottage. A flirtation soon develops between he and Elias (Valtteri Lehtinen), the irresistible boy next door. As they spend the summer together, escaping the turmoil offered up by their uniquely dysfunctional families, a passionate relationship quickly blossoms. But the boys soon realize that love is not as easy as it seems… especially when it comes to first love.

This Weekend’s VOD Favorites: Friday the 13th Edition!

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. As it’s FRIDAY THE 13TH (muahaha!), we’re spotlighting THIRTEEN of our favorite gay-themed horror and thriller flicks – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY! These aren’t our all time favorites necessarily, but just a handful of flicks we want to highlight that you can watch RIGHT NOW.

 

Arrebato (Rapture)
Arrebato (Rapture) is a dimension-shattering blend of heroin, sex and Super-8 film. Made in 1979, this towering feat of counterculture was the final feature of cult filmmaker and movie poster designer Ivan Zulueta. It is a film that defies genre and just so happens to be Pedro Almodovar’s favorite horror flick. Horror movie director Jose (Eusebio Poncela) is adrift in a sea of doubt and drugs. As his belated second feature nears completion, his reclusive bubble is popped by two events: the sudden reappearance from an ex-girlfriend and a mysterious package from past acquaintance Pedro (Will More) – containing a reel of Super-8 film, an audiotape and a door key. From there, the boundaries of time, space and sexuality are erased as Jose is once more sucked into Pedro’s sinister orbit. Together, they attempt the ultimate hallucinogenic catharsis through a moebius strip of filming and being filmed.

B&B
B&B earned praise from LGBT horror/thriller/suspense fans at festivals and now it’s available to watch at TLAgay! Lovers Marc and Fred (Tom Bateman and Sean Teale) initiated a major legal battle after they were refused a double bed at a remote Christian guest house. They came out of their court case victorious and now they’re back at the establishment to claim their conjugal rights. Triumph, however, quickly turns to terror when a scary Russian neo-Nazi also checks in. Their weekend of celebratory fun soon becomes a bloody battle for survival. B&B is a whip-smart and brutally funny dark comedy-thriller that has earned rave reviews from critics – some of whom have even compared it to the work of Alfred Hitchcock. The Hollywood Outsiders, specifically, called it “a film Alfred Hitchcock would be proud of.” The Horror Society said it’s “frickin’ fantastic and a trailblazer for LGBT cinema.”

Black Briefs
Curated by prolific writer/director Rob Williams, Black Briefs features six award-winning short films with pretty dark, horror or horror-adjacent stories and themes. When it comes to short film compilations, there is always something to recommend. If you don’t like the first one, chances are good there is a short just around the corner that you’re going to appreciate more. In Black Briefs, we really like Hong Khaou‘s steamy Spring, about a young man who meets up with a stranger for a little exploratory sadomasochistic sex. Our favorite, though, is Greg Ivan Smith‘s Remission. A man, all alone in a secluded cabin, awaiting the results of a serious medical test, is haunted by a terrifying presence. It’s genuinely chilling and it’s one of those rare movies that can create dread and unease even in its scenes set during the daytime.

Bloody Knuckles
Canada, our neighbor to the north, is not known for cinematic carnage or gore comedies, but first time director Matt O. shakes things up with Bloody Knuckles, a deliriously offensive, gory and happily un-PC horror-comedy. Travis (Adam Boys), an underground comic book artist with a penchant for obscene caricatures, upsets a thin-skinned crime lord, who responds by cutting off the young man’s hand. A despondent and now alcoholic Travis wallows in post-severed hand depression. Will criminality reign supreme? Will Travis give up his acerbic pen and live alone as a bitter one-handed man? Not if the slightly rotted hand, now alive and determined to exact revenge, teems up with his former body and a masked, S&M-loving gay superhero to rid the city of evil!

A Closer Walk with Thee
Jordan (AJ Knight), a young Christian missionary, gets caught watching his handsome pastor Eli (Gregory Shelby) in the shower. The rest of his church ostracizes him until Eli (who happens to be a fledgling exorcist) suggests it may be demonic possession that’s giving Jordan his ungodly homosexual urges. What starts as an exorcism to save their friendship quickly descends into psycho-sexual madness. An award-winner at film festivals, A Closer with Thee has earned some rave reviews from horror-savvy critics, Cineounx said it’s “like what would happen if someone handed Todd Solondz as exorcism script and said, ‘knock yourself out'” and Parade said it “Mixes exorcism, homoeroticism and evangelistic angst in a combo that clearly doesn’t cater to the Sunday School crowd.” Plus, the “hot young pastor and obedient church boy” dynamic is undeniable dirty fantasy fuel.

Der Samurai
Jakob (Michel Diercks) is a policeman in a village deep in the woods, where little happens… until the arrival of a mysterious wolf that is causing havoc. Working the night shift, Jakob is tracking the wolf, only to discover that the lupine lurker is actually a man clad only in lipstick and a ladies’ slip – and toting a samurai sword that he uses to lop off the heads of the townspeople, including Jakob’s tormentors. Jakob and the transvestite samurai seem to share a bond, and as the night gets darker, events get even weirder. Unlike any other horror film you’re likely to see, Der Samurai is a German mind-bender about shape-shifting cross-dressers, bloody decapitations, repressed sexual desires and small town life. It’s a surreal mix of dark comedy and eerie creep-out fun that recalls David Lynch and pays homage to, while often improving upon, the synth-soundtrack-packed horror classics of the 1980s.

Devil’s Path
In the early 1990s, two strangers (Stephen Twardokus and JD Scalzo) meet in a wilderness park where gay men cruise for sex. What seems like an innocent and random meeting quickly descends into a horrific nightmare. With recent disappearances and attacks, the two men soon find themselves in the terrifying position of being the next victims in a deadly game of cat and mouse. As they flee further into the woods to escape the danger, they begin to understand that the greatest danger of all may be closer than either of them realize. Will these two strangers be able to work together to defeat the darkness that has settled in on Devil’s Path? Or will their own secrets and lies lead them to be the next two missing persons in this perilous park? This riveting new gay thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Knife+Heart
Easily one of the most acclaimed gay cult films in recent memory, this sexually explicit throwback thriller from visionary writer-director Yann Gonzalez is an absolute must-see! Vanessa Paradis is incredible as Anne, a savvy French woman who produces third-rate gay porn. After her editor and lover Lois (Kate Moran) leaves her, she tries to win her back by shooting her most ambitious film yet – with the help of her trusted, flaming sidekick Archibald (Nicolas Maury). But when one of her actors is brutally murdered, Anne gets caught up in a strange investigation that turns her life upside-down. Shot on 35mm and featuring a killer retro score from the band M83, Knife+Heart is an ultra-stylish and blood-soaked ode to 1970s-era Brian De Palma, Dario Argento and William Friedkin.

Like Cattle Towards Glow
Dennis Cooper and Zac Farley‘s Like Cattle Towards Glow is a 93-minute film consisting of five independent, thematically and emotionally interconnected scenes. The film is a complex, intimate, strangely serene, wide-ranging, and always challenging exploration of sexual desire as a hiding place. In these unique, stylistically and temperamentally diverse scenes, each one featuring its own set of characters and storyline, sex makes a promise of something so intense and untenable to the characters that they feel they must enter it in secret – through an act of violence, or under the guise of an unrelated transaction, or by rationalizing its dangers away with the help of politics, or through utilizing it remotely as material for a purely aesthetic project. Like these characters, and like sex itself, Like Cattle Towards Glow is as deep, knowing, and unknowable as it is raucous, original, and explicit on the surface.

Rapture in Blue
Like a David Lynch thriller filmed through a queer lens, writer-director Ryder Houston‘s Rapture in Blue follows a young man’s quest through flickering neon and hazy noir shadows to find his true self. After Jason (Bryce Lederer) tries to use his childhood home for a steamy rendezvous with his girlfriend Valerie (Sarah Greenfield), they discover it has been newly occupied by the smoldering Sebastian (Tanner Garmon), who eagerly warms up to anxious Jason. Wracked with desires he’s long tried to ignore while also being pressured by his girlfriend’s sensual advances, a growing sense of unease and dread permeates his life. After receiving an “impossible” photo of him embracing Sebastian, Jason realizes he needs to confront the madness consuming him from all sides.

Rift
Paying homage to classic art-house horror films like Robert Wise’s The Haunting and Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, Rift is an enticing, well-acted and expertly-directed mystery-thriller from Iceland that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Gunnar receives a strange phone call from his ex-boyfriend, Einar, months after they parted ways. Einar sounds distraught, like he’s about to do something terrible to himself, so Gunnar drives to the secluded cabin where Einar is holed up and soon discovers there is more going on than he imagined. As the two come to terms with their broken relationship, some other person seems to be lurking outside the cabin, wanting to get inside. Eerie and stylishly crafted, Rift proved itself a big hit at film fests – not just LGBT festivals, but general horror film festivals as well, where it has earned rave reviews.

The Skin of the Teeth
Get Out meets Grindr in The Skin of the Teeth, a sinister new drama-thriller from writer-director Matthew Wollin, who evokes the feel of a contemporary film noir. When Josef (Pascal Arquimedes) arrives at John’s (Donal Brophy) apartment for a date, their prickly energy slowly gives way to an unusual and genuine chemistry. But after Josef swallows a pill with unclear effects, the night starts to take a shocking turn. Josef is suddenly plunged into a surreal world where he is forced into a literal and figurative interrogation of just who and what he is. While evoking the surreal work of David Lynch, this wild new film examines race, sex, love and identity in a mind-bending way – and the lead performance will keep you holding your breath from beginning to end.

The Year I Lost My Mind
From prolific German director Tor Iben (Love Kills, The Passenger, The Visitor) comes a brand-new thriller about a lonely young man who becomes dangerously obsessed with a perfect stranger. After encountering him during a burglary, Tom (Alexander Tsypilev), a disturbed young man prone to wearing creepy masks that obscure his quite handsome features, begins stalking and antagonizing the attractive young Lars (Julien Lickert). When Lars finally discovers that Tom is on his tail, and that his intentions may be somewhat sinister, he manages to turn the tables on him, leading to a unexpected game of cat-and-mouse and a shocking confrontation. Sexy and unsettling in equal measure, the tension is palpable in this stylish drama with shades of Alfred Hitchcock.

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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

My Best Part
French superstar Nicolas Maury (Call My Agent!, Knife+Heart) wrote, directed and stars in this coming-of-age dramedy as Jérémie, a hypersensitive struggling actor who seems to suffer from uncontrollable bouts of jealousy. Grappling with personal loss, a love life in shambles and a faltering career, he returns home to the loving arms of his clear-headed mother (played by ten-time César Award nominee Nathalie Baye) for support – all while scoping out some potential new companions and preparing for his next big audition. A critically-acclaimed hit on the international film festival circuit, don’t miss this auspicious and touching directorial debut, an official selection from the 2020 Cannes Film Festival now available in the United States.

 

Nowhere
Adrian and Sebastian (Miguel González and Juan Pablo Castiblanco) live an openly gay life in New York as immigrants. When Sebastian’s visa is rejected, the two must decide whether to return to Colombia – where they face rejection and persecution for their sexual orientation – or do whatever is necessary to stay in the United States. Either way, the thoughts and discussions associated with the decision will have a profound effect on the couple. Hitting upon hot button issues, Nowhere is a riveting new romantic drama that places its characters within the context of the difficult immigration situation in the US – as well as a furthering sense of homelessness and lack of belonging, which consistently haunts out main protagonists.

 

A Dim Valley
Ecology grad students Albert and Ian (Whitmer Thomas and Zach Weintraub) are spending the summer collecting samples with their curmudgeonly advisor (Robert Longstreet). At his woodsy cabin along the Appalachian Trail, close quarters foster comical friction and unexpected bonds between the two young men. When three mysterious, enigmatic female backpackers (Rachel McKeon, Feathers Wise and Rosalie Lowe) crash into their lives, they push the men to open up to one another and their true feelings soon begin to deepen. A clever new indie gem from writer-director Brandon Colvin, A Dim Valley is partly a queer allegory, partly a hilarious stoner comedy and partly a transcendental meditation on mysticism and love.

 

Grimsey
After his break-up with Bruno (Richard Garcia), Norberto (Eugenio Sanz) decides to leave everything behind and disappear to Iceland. Bruno, however, won’t give up on their relationship and he travels to Reykjavik on a mission to find his ex. Following his arrival, Bruno meets Arnau (Raul Portero), a fellow Spaniard who is working as a tour guide. The pair set off on a journey that will take them around the country and ultimately to the remote island of Grimsey. The stark beauty and desolate isolation of the Icelandic landscape provide the perfect backdrop for the quiet contemplation that is at the heart of Garcia and Portero’s emotionally affecting film.

 

The Revival
A secret relationship between a preacher and a young drifter challenges the equilibrium of a church. When Eli (David Rysdahl) begins preaching at his father’s old church, he is desperate to open the minds of the Old Testament-obsessed, fire-and-brimstone congregation. His plans are quickly derailed when he strikes up a relationship with a fascinating drifter (Zachary Booth). Tensions soon come to a head, with simmering resentments and repressed emotions all leading to a revival that will shake this sleepy Arkansas town to its core. The Revival  originated on the stage as a very successful off-Broadway play. Director Jennifer Gerber adapts the story into a film that is edgy, thought-provoking and essential.

 

 

 

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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

The Blonde One
In the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Gabriel (Gaston Re) has just moved in with his colleague, Juan (Alfonso Baron). Shy and reserved, Gabriel is reluctant to follow Juan’s wandering hands and meaningful looks. With a revolving door of beauties streaming out of Juan’s bedroom, his machismo seems firmly in place. However, the attraction between the two men is undeniable. What starts out as a sexual relationship based on convenience of location soon develops into the engrossing evolution of a tender and intimate relationship, which is as sweet as it is heartbreaking. But, as reality begins to set in on their homemaking fantasy, something needs to give… or does it? Argentine writer-director Marco Berger (Plan B, Hawaii, Sexual Tension: Volatile, Young Hunter) is one of our absolute favorite filmmakers and The Blonde One might just be his best work to date.

 

Tell No One
From writer Roberto Proia and director Ivan Silvestrini, the charming and funny Italian family comedy Tell No One bubbles over with an irresistible romantic playfulness. Italian-born Matthia (Josafat Vagni) is about to move to Madrid to be with his gorgeous boyfriend Eduard (Jose Dammert). By all accounts, their relationship couldn’t be more perfect. Before Matthia moves, Eduard decides to make a grand romantic gesture. He’s going to travel to Italy to surprise Matthia and finally meet his family and close friends. There is only one problem: despite assurances otherwise, Matthia has NOT actually come out to his loved ones! Now, Matthia has to juggle expectations on both sides while trying to keep his perfect, sexy boyfriend from leaving him all together. Tell No One tells a heartfelt story about how it’s never too late to truly be yourself.

 

Center of My World
After a summer away at camp, Phil (Louis Hofmann) returns home to find that his mother and twin sister (Sabine Timoteo and Ada Philine Stappenbeck) aren’t speaking to one another. Not willing to confront his family during the last days of the summer holidays, Phil escapes to hang out with his best friend Kat (Svenja Jung), eating ice-creams and playing dress-up. As the school year begins, a new student arrives – the handsome and mysterious Nicholas (Jannik Schümann). Smitten, Phil watches his crush as he runs around the track after school, and he’s thrilled when Nicholas returns his feelings. However, when first love’s volatility comes to light, Phil realizes he must deal with the problems of his past in order to deal with the issues of his present. A swoon-worthy coming-of-age comedy from Germany, Center of My World was a huge hit on the film festival circuit.

 

The Last Straight Man
It may be taboo, but many gay man share the fantasy of sleeping with a straight man. And if that straight man happens to be your best friend and secret crush… it’s even hotter! Writer-director Mark Bessenger allows us to watch this scenario unfold in The Last Straight Man, checking in with two characters having a secret affair over an extended period of time. After a night of heavy drinking at a bachelor party, best buddies Cooper (Scott Sell) and Lewis (Mark Cirillo) end up in bed together. The two men decide to meet in the same hotel suite on the same night each year. The film takes us through four of those nights, spanning a twelve year period depicting how their relationship changes as time goes on. The Last Straight Man is sort of like Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy… only a lot hotter… and a whole lot gayer, of course.

 

Men to Kiss
Funny, fresh and unpredictable, this light-hearted romp through queer Berlin and a few of its colorful characters is an absolute delight. New in town, the serious-minded Ernst (Frank Christian Marx) finds his work and personal life thrown upside down after he meets and quickly falls in love with Tobi (Udo Lutz), a flighty, high-energy extrovert and performance artist who lives for the city’s wild nightlife. The two are not exactly a perfect match – actually more like opposites – but they want to make it work and need all the help they can get from Tobi’s coterie of alternative friends. But when Ernst’s friend Uta (Alexandra Starnitzky) arrives on the scene, she thinks Ernst could do much better and schemes to break the lovers apart, setting off a frenzied battle of the fashionista divas. Men to Kiss is an adorable, sun-splashed rapid-fire comedy.

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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

 

Desire: The Short Films of Ohm
An award-winning international photographer, filmmaker and educator, Ohm Phanphiroj uses his heady artwork to deal with controversial issues – social injustice, human rights, sexual exploitation, sex positivity, identity and desire. Now, for the first time ever, you can see four of his most stunning (and sexually explicit) films in one place. The collection Desire: The Short Films of Ohm includes his infamous Desire Trilogy, The Meaning of It All, Journey and The First Conversation Between Frank & I. Each of these works explores male desire in a singularly artful, erotic and forthcoming way. In Ohm’s own words: “If my work touches you, moves you or makes you feel uncomfortable, then I have done what I came here for.”

 

 

Available Light
A sexy, funny and disturbing experimental feature by filmmaker Todd Verow (the same prolific director behind Anonymous, Vacationland, Goodbye Seventies and many more), Available Light follows several unconnected people in different cities as they try to escape their loneliness through love, lust or some combination of both. The film was shot in real locations using only available light. The viewer is both a voyeur, watching the characters in intimate situations that are not meant to be seen, and an active participant, imagining what the characters are going through and making connections between them that may or may not be real.

 

 

Shadowlands
From director Charlie David, Shadowlands is an anthology film that explores love in three separate stories – a couple renegotiating a relationship, a narcissist grasping to comprehend it, and star-crossed lovers mourning its loss. The collection begins in 1928 with Alex, a self-obsessed plastic surgeon hell-bent on perfection who is hosting a house party with an assortment of colorful guests. Fast forward to 1951 and we meet a gay military couple exploring the idea of opening up their relationship while on a remote camping trip – where they encounter a mysterious stranger. The stories conclude in 2018 when a painter, mourning the loss of his lover, becomes obsessed with creating a realistic painting of him.

 

 

French Kisses
Get seduced by a collection of incredible gay shorts from France. In Apollo, we follow a teen, riddled with insecurities, who fantasizes about an ever more muscular body – and an even bigger banana. Herculaneum concerns two men and a volcano that growls. In The Body of Angels, Remi listens to the birds and falls asleep in the hedges while, Gabriel does something far more sinister. In En Retour, Jean-Marc meets Simon, a younger man, for dinner. After a promising start, the evening plunges into extreme drama. Ruptures follows Gabriel and Andre, ex-boyfriends who cross paths for the first time in ten years. Finally, in Electric July, Thomas and Victor visit an abandoned bridge and face their most secret fears and desires.

 

 

Altered Innocence: Vol. 1
The cult studio label Altered Innocence is dedicated to releasing gay films with an artistic edge. Nearly three hours of LGBTQ and coming-of-age short films and music videos await you in their new cinematic mixtape supreme! Films from established auteurs like Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy, In Fabric), Cam Archer (Wild Tigers I Have Known), Joao Nicolau (From John) and Yann Gonzalez (You and the Night, Knife+Heart) join fresh new voices such as Alexis Langlois, Shaun Hughes, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel. Cruising, dancing, naked wrestling, trans terrorism, first love, bullies, femme fatales, band practice and much more is in store! Altered Innocence: Vol. 1 is a badass, must-see new collection!

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 that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY!

 

Give or Take
Martin’s (Jamie Effros) is a pragmatist who’s checked the boxes of an acceptable life yet feels disconnected, especially from his father, Kenneth, a distant man Martin could never figure out. Their relationship got more complicated when Kenneth came out after his wife died. For the first time, he was able to live openly and honestly as a gay man. He found love with a younger man, his lawn guy, Ted (Norbert Leo Butz), and they’d been living together in Ken’s house on Cape Cod ever since. When Kenneth dies, Martin goes home to sell the house while sharing it with Ted. Grieving, they circle each other, butt heads and negotiate how to remember the different man they both loved and the significance of what he left behind. Give or Take is a touching, award-winning film about love, loss, connection, acceptance and what it truly means to be home.

 

Cousins
From writer-director-star Thiago Cazado, the creator behind the 2017 gay romance About Us, comes this controversial, but supremely sexy coming-of-age love story. Lucas (Paulo Sousa) lives with his religious Aunt Lourdes (Juliana Zancanaro) in a quiet country town in Brazil. The young man spends his days gardening and playing keyboard, always avoiding his aunt’s attempts to match-make him with the local girls. Everything starts to change when he’s joined by a trouble-making distant cousin named Mario (Cazado), who has recently been released from prison. Forced to share a bedroom, these two cousins find their personalities clashing… until their aunt leaves for a religious retreat. The two soon find themselves becoming friends – and much, much more. Packed with male nudity and sexual tension Cousins is a romance that is not afraid to push boundaries.

 

Flatbush Luck
Former Wall Street hotshot Jimmy (Tanner Novlan) and his buttoned-up cousin Max (Robby Stahl) make meager livings as telephone repairmen in their native Brooklyn neighborhood, slaving away to meet the demands of their increasingly yuppie clientele. Jimmy wants nothing more than to return to his fast-paced lifestyle, while Max is starting to have second thoughts about his upcoming – and very expensive – wedding. When Jimmy overhears illegal insider trading during a routine house call, he convinces Max that they should tap the phone line to cash in on the scheme – hoping the money will solve their problems. But when stock tips turn to murder plots, the hapless men are unable to go to the police and soon find themselves in over their heads and flat out of luck. Flatbush Luck is a charming romantic comedy crime caper from prolific director Casper Andreas.

 

A Skeleton in the Closet
Prodigal gay son Manuel (Facundo Gambandé) returns to his hometown for his parents’ wedding anniversary. The reason he’s really there, however, is to ask his parents for money so that he can move to Denmark with his boyfriend. It’s been a while since he has been home. The last time he saw the family, he came out of the closet. This revelation caused an unfortunate rift in their relationship. Manuel’s plans get ruined when his boyfriend unexpectedly dumps him. He soon finds himself in the middle of an existential crisis. This trip then becomes an opportunity to rebound and re-discover his love for his family and the family business… and ultimately find his own sense of being. From Argentine writer-director Nicolás Teté, A Skeleton in the Closet is a tender and thoughtful family comedy about coming out, coming of age and coming around.

 

Handsome Devil
An unlikely bond forms between two teen boys at an Irish boarding school in this touching comedy-drama from Irish writer-director John Butler. 16-year-old Ned (Fionn O’Shea), with his spiky red hair and ambiguous sexuality, is the music-geek outcast more smitten with David Bowie than with kicking balls around the pitch. Given his frequent skirmishes with the resident jock bully, he goes to great lengths to distance himself from his athletic new roommate Conor (Nicholas Galitzine), who is struggling to reconcile his own conflicting interests. When the boys come together and find an unexpected connection, they learn that they are stronger together. An award-winning crowd-pleaser, Handsome Devil offers a touching reminder of the importance of loyalty, bravery, standing up for yourself and making sure that your voice, no matter how different, is heard.