Forty-something-year-old Dan’s (James Roday) life seems to be at something of a crossroads. He is a long time AIDS survivor who has been HIV positive for some 22 years, a fact that he is still reluctant to admit too even though he lives in San Francisco. He is an author suffering from writer block so gets by working as a bouncer at his friend’s run down club where Dan also still insists on hosting a weekly Poetry Slam even though no-one ever shows up.  Well, that is accept his roommate/best friend Paula (Robin Weigert) but then she has her own issues as her attempts at dating are so abysmal she now lavishes all her attention on the pet monkey, Dan bought her.

Dan’s mother, a voice at the end of very regular phone calls always expressing her maternal concern, mails him a $100 check for his birthday which unwittingly disqualifies him for his vital medical insurance for his expensive drug regime as such is the banality of the system.  He will be able to get back on in a few weeks time, but meanwhile he is expected to find his half of the prescriptions which comes to $3000 which as he is rather broke, is not going to happen. Faced with no real alternative plan he just keeps visiting the Pharmacy everyday in the hope that he will be served by a different counter clerk who will not bother to check the validity of his medical card.

Meanwhile his boss/friend (Danny Glover ) at the club is having his own dramas since his wife (Khandi Alexander) threw him out after their most recent row and so Dan steps into help to resolve the problem for him.  Plus he keeps bumping into Mike (Tom Riley) a very good looking blond man in the neighborhood who holds out the promise of a relationship, something that Dan has avoided since his late partner died a few years ago.

This is filmmaker Tom E. Brown‘s first feature length film so it was a brave decision to make what he labels as the first ever AIDS comedy, but as he succeeds so admirably, it was a good call after all.  He cleverly focuses on all the varying dimensions of Dan’s different relationships which, like many gay men, consist of a birth family and also his family of choice that he has collected over the years. Brown imbues each scene with a strong vein of ridiculously funny black (ish) humor that really succeeds in finding the comedy in Dan’s haphazard life without continually focusing on why he needs to keep taking all these now elusive medication.

He chose his cast wisely, and the chemistry between Roday as Dan and Weigert as Paula was pitch perfect, and made one wish that we saw the really talented Weigert forsake the small screen for the big one much more often in the future.

It’s not easy to categorize Pushing Dead, which is currently playing LGBT Film Festivals,  other than to say that it is a very funny quirky wee movie that was beautifully made, and so deserves to find its audience.

It seems very apt that this highly emotional documentary that tells the poignant stories of 8 gay men who are long-time AIDS survivors is the work of The South Francisco Chronicle as it is Northern California’s largest newspaper and as such was always reporting more than most from the front line of the pandemic.  Since 1981 when the first death was recorded in the city, some 20000 people in the City, mostly gay men, have died from AIDS. The film, the first one that the paper has ever produced, is part of a larger special report featuring interactive digital and print features by Chronicle reporter Erin Allday.

When these eight men were diagnosed back in the 1980’s all the medical advice they were given was ‘prepare to die very soon’, but they didn’t, and instead they had to sit by helplessly as their lovers and all their friends faced excruciating deaths instead. “By the time they died they were ready to let go, but I was never ready to let them go” said one very plaintively.  They were all unprepared to survive the fierce regime of drugs that has left its marks …..one has neuropathy as a result.  Now friendless and alone and approaching senior citizenship but without any of the usual savings or nest eggs,  and with their disability allowances about to be drastically cut, they face major financial problems too.

Two of the men are partnered again, but for the most part what comes over in this very compelling film, is the overwhelming feeling of sadness from them. The tagline of the film sums it up beautifully  “They had the remarkable luck to survive AIDS, and the brutal misfortune to live on.” One of men professes that there is not been one single day in the past three decades that he has not thought of suicide. Another is struggling to come to terms that he has been evicted from his home of 30 years on Castro and now he has to move to a trailer in Palm Springs as he simply cannot afford to stay in the city.  He actually dies before the film is completed.

From whatever standpoint you come from, this movie is very tough to watch.  It makes you remember those that we have personally lost to the epidemic and how we would have so loved them to have survived too.  It also brings you up sharply to know that these eight men represent a whole generation that are now having to come to grips with the fact the virus didn’t kill them as 50% of those with HIV/AIDS in the US are now (mainly men) over 50 years of age.

The documentary written, produced and directed by Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin does its best to end on a positive note at a Dance that has been mounted for the long-time AIDS survivor community (there are some 6000 in SF) and for one brief moment they forget their worries and just go with the music.  It gives them, and us, some hope.

It seems very apt that this highly emotional documentary that tells the poignant stories of 8 gay men who are long-time AIDS survivors is the work of The South Francisco Chronicle as it is Northern California’s largest newspaper and as such was always reporting more than most from the front line of the pandemic.  Since 1981 when the first death was recorded in the city, some 20000 people in the City, mostly gay men, have died from AIDS. The film, the first one that the paper has ever produced, is part of a larger special report featuring interactive digital and print features by Chronicle reporter Erin Allday.

When these eight men were diagnosed back in the 1980’s all the medical advice they were given was ‘prepare to die very soon’, but they didn’t, and instead they had to sit by helplessly as their lovers and all their friends faced excruciating deaths instead. “By the time they died they were ready to let go, but I was never ready to let them go” said one very plaintively.  They were all unprepared to survive the fierce regime of drugs that has left its marks …..one has neuropathy as a result.  Now friendless and alone and approaching senior citizenship but without any of the usual savings or nest eggs,  and with their disability allowances about to be drastically cut, they face major financial problems too.

Two of the men are partnered again, but for the most part what comes over in this very compelling film, is the overwhelming feeling of sadness from them. The tagline of the film sums it up beautifully  “They had the remarkable luck to survive AIDS, and the brutal misfortune to live on.” One of men professes that there is not been one single day in the past three decades that he has not thought of suicide. Another is struggling to come to terms that he has been evicted from his home of 30 years on Castro and now he has to move to a trailer in Palm Springs as he simply cannot afford to stay in the city.  He actually dies before the film is completed.

From whatever standpoint you come from, this movie is very tough to watch.  It makes you remember those that we have personally lost to the epidemic and how we would have so loved them to have survived too.  It also brings you up sharply to know that these eight men represent a whole generation that are now having to come to grips with the fact the virus didn’t kill them as 50% of those with HIV/AIDS in the US are now (mainly men) over 50 years of age.

The documentary written, produced and directed by Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin does its best to end on a positive note at a Dance that has been mounted for the long-time AIDS survivor community (there are some 6000 in SF) and for one brief moment they forget their worries and just go with the music.  It gives them, and us, some hope.

Moises Serrano is 24 years old.  He has lived in North Carolina for the past 22 1/2 years and is as American as apple pie. Except that he is not. His parents smuggled him and his two sisters across the Mexican border when he was just a baby, and he has been treated by the US Authorities as an undocumented resident ever since. He has also never really fit into any of his peer groups throughout his life.  As he explained,  as a light skinned Mexican he had trouble assimilating with either other immigrants or the local caucasians, and the fact that he was also small and  gay made him even more of a misfit.

On the brink of suicide in his darkest moments when he was 21 years old he discovered that he had a ‘voice’. and all the indignities and inequities that he, and other undocumented residents came up against,  now spurred him into fighting for justice. Suddenly this young man with just a basic high school education who had been barred from attending community college, had limited job opportunities, unable to get a driving license and concerned about being picked the authorities, became an outspoken activist. As the anti-immigration climate worsened with the rise of the Tea Party (the Klu Klux still hold meetings in his town)  Moises,  at a great personal risk, helped establish El Cambio, an organization committed to immigrant and migrant rights in North Carolina. Then there was no stopping him in as he found himself giving keynote speeches in schools, to community groups, local business leaders, city councils etc etc.

At the same time he also fell in love.  It turned out that there was (literally) one other gay man  in Yadkin County the rural backwater Moises lived  in, and luckily Brandon turned out to be the perfect boyfriend.  His new relationship is one of the reasons that Moises story goes from despair to one full of hope and a bright future, as he also lands himself a fully paid scholarship to a Liberal Arts College in N.Y.

He is one one of the lucky ones though. As  federal and local politicians continue to reject any reasonable approaches to improve the lot of young undocumented residents and they actually bring in more draconian laws and practices then most undocumented residents  such  as Moises’s tax-paying law-abiding parents, will always live  in real fear of losing their very existence and maybe permanently separated from their families.

This new documentary from filmmaker Tiffany Rhynard  is the sheer joy that it is as Moises is this extraordinary selfless young man who is so passionate and emotional about every aspect of his life.  Whether it be when he is on his soapbox demanding rights for his community, or nervously opening the letter from School to see if they will give him a scholarship, or just  the coy way that he responds to Brandon’s acts of tenderness.  He put the welfare of others before his own personal needs for so long, it just feels right that by the end he is making headway in both.

Forbidden is one of those wonderful feel-good movies that makes you appreciate that as long as there are Moises Serrano’s in the world, there is hope for all of us.

Veteran French filmmaker André Téchiné may be the wrong side of 70 now but he shows in his latest movie that he still has a very firm grasp of the sensibilities of teenage boys coming of age. He is perfectly assisted by his co-writer Céline Sciamma the writer/director of quintessential adolescent gay movies such as Tomboy  and Girlhood.

This is the story of two strikingly different high-school boys living in the French Pyrenees.  Damien (Kacey Mottet Klein) is a pale effete boy who sports a diamond stud earring and excels at his academic work and cooking and self-defense. Tom (Corentin Fila) is a a biracial boy living with his adopted parents in a remote mountain farm that entails a 90 minute journey by foot and bus to get to school every day. He is determined to train to be a veterinarian when he graduates, but his school grades are so poor that he may have to abort that ambition.  It seems that the only thing that these two total opposites have in common, is that they are both unpopular with their classmates and are always the very last two to be picked to play basketball. 

For some unexplained reason the two boys loathe each other, and soon end up actually fighting in the school yard which almost gets them expelled. Unaware of this Damien’s Doctor mother Marianne (Sandrine Kiberlain) has to pay a house call on Tom’s mother Christine (Mama Prassinos) who is pregnant. As she has a history of miscarriages, Marianne has her hospitalized , and then suggests that Tom move in with her and Damien so that he can been close to both the hospital and the school.

This arrangement only serves to antagonize both boys who since their second warning by the School Principal have promised not to fight again, so instead they agree to sneak off into the mountains to battle it out once and for all.

They are both young men of few words and although they have a problem discussing how they feel, there is obviously a great deal of sexual tension just lying beneath the surface.  Hate in this case, covers love, and when Damien eventually finds the courage to speak up, he tells Tom  “I don’t know if I am into guys, or just you”.

Téchiné never ever lets us in as to where this relationship will lead too until the very end, but this uncertainty runs true because both boys are constantly struggling with recognizing their own sexuality.  Both sets of parents are distracted …Tom’s by the impending birth, and Damien’s with his army helicopter pilot father becoming a casualty of the war in the Middle East … so the boys must deal with some of the more awkward aspects of growing up on their own.  To their defense, they actually do quite a good job of it.

Superb performances particularly from young Klein and Fila, with the latter actually making his movie acting debut. The chemistry literally sizzled between them even when they were so angry with each other and seemed so removed from fulfilling the passion that was causing all this angst. Sandrine Kiberlain the two time César Award Winner (+ 6 nominations) was pitch perfect as the well-meaning mother who deals with an ever absent husband by relying so much on Damien as an outlet for her own feelings.

And then of course there was the very dramatic mountain settings that we first saw in the middle of a brutal winter ending up in a glorious summer.

Being 17 is nothing less than a superb coming-of-age story that is completely riveting to the very last frame, and will probably be come to be recognized as possibly Téchinés best movie to date.

40 year-old Dean is trying not to have a mid-life crisis, but his chances of succeeding are slim.  He’s a very successful graphic designer in Silverlake California who is starting to loath his good paying clients because of their poor taste levels.  Now because the lazy eye he’s had from birth is playing up, his eye doctor has just prescribed tri-focal glasses which he is having great difficulty adjusting too.  Then his rather solitary and seemingly empty life is suddenly disturbed by an email that arrives totally out of the blue.  It’s from Alex an ex-boyfriend who broke his heart when he walked out of his life 15 years ago, and then totally disappeared off the grid never to be heard of again.

Dean’s initial reaction is one of anger, but he is so intrigued as to why Alex should now decide to get back in touch after all this time, that he responds quite politely.  After a couple of emails flying back and forth, Dean swallows the bait and invites Alex to join him for weekend as his desert hideaway near Joshua Tree.  They never make it inside the front door before clothes are being ripped off starting a very long and passionate bout of lovemaking as if they had never been apart.

Despite some deep and bitter regrets over their break-up all those years ago, they are both obviously able and keen to consider taking up where they left off.  If only it was that simple, and first they both have to discover the baggage and commitments that they have each accumulated over the past 15 years to see if that would be even be possible.  If they can deal with each others secrets and truths, they may have a chance or burying the past and starting anew, but is this too much to ask?

This riveting new drama is written and directed by Tim Kirkman who proved in his earlier work such as the delightful Loggerheads that he has quite a remarkable skill at making heart tugging stories, and this one is no exception. What is exceeding clever here is that once the totally charming (and very hot) pair meet up again, we have have no clue whatsoever how their story will pan out.  The idea of wanting to know how our lives would change if the major love of our life came back for a second round is such an intriguing one that so many of us can relate too and this makes us even more invested in the outcome of Dean and Alex’s own story.

In what is essentially a  two-handed drama, Kirkman cast well with Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as Dean who even though he has the biggest secret to share, comes over as the more honest of the two, and Alex played by Aaron Costa Ganis always seems that there is much more to his story about the past 15 year that he will never let on. Both men give sterling and utterly convincing performances that ensure we are engage right until the final credits role.

This rather wonderful compelling drama is a must-see for any and every hopeless romantic who will always wonder what would have happened if things had worked out differently.

When Joey wakes up in Rayna’s trailer home the next morning she quickly discovers that her party-animal ‘date’ is in fact a married mother, with two young children, whose truck driving husband is out of town.  As she hastens to leave, Rayna asks that Joey keeps what happened last night on the down-low, but it’s quite clear that even after this one brief encounter, Joey is already smitten.

Joey’s older siblings warn her that Rayna has a hard-earned reputation for being trashy and has had more than her fair share of bed partners, including Joey’s own brother. However she pays no heed and starts hanging out with Rayna as often as she can even though the woman is petrified that people will discover the true nature of their friendship.  In fact when they are caught making out in the farmers barn, it costs Joey her job.

Her infatuation with Rayna makes her now re-think about joining the Army as it will mean leaving her, but the older woman encourages her to enlist as the pay could enable her to leave her husband and set up home with Joey instead.   Once Joey is in the services and doing her basic training before being shipped off to serve in Afghanistan, Rayna changes her mind again, and that’s where the title of the movie comes in.

The intriguing movie directed and co-written by newbie filmmaker Deb Shoval was developed from a short movie that she made in 2010.  The story of an inexperienced young lesbian making bad choices after falling for a much older woman is not new, but her angle with economic hardships making both women so vulnerable, gave it an interesting fresh angle. Joey’s risk-taking decisions were always made from the heart and at the encouragement of her older lover who’s own chosen path was guided by her internalized homophobia and her finely honed survival skills that would always result in her callously using people for her own ends.

The drabness of these women’s existence living hand-to-mouth was perfectly portrayed with this image of depressed small-town life which somehow seemed totally unchanged for decades, a little like the whole concept of closeted lesbians marrying men. Kirke put in a fine convincing performances as an irrational Joey whose blinkered vision was a tad too hard to accept even though a first love can often make you do some wildly aberrant things, and Wool playing the annoying self-centered Rayna,  was excellent too.