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[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

[mmenthusiast]

Le fate ignoranti / The Ignorant Angels (2022)

Creators: Ferzan Özpetek, Gianni Romoli

Stars: Edoardo Purgatori, Cristiana Capotondi, Luca Argentero...

Language: Italian, Turkish

Length: approx. 50 minutes per episode

When Massimo, Antonia's husband, is killed in an accident, she discovers he was having an affair with a young man, Michele.

After watching the movie from 2001 on which this series is based, I decided I’d like to watch the series too, to see how they compare, and I’m glad I did. To me personally it’s a great improvement and a build-up of the movie, which remained kinda flat to me (I still don’t know why though, probably because my expectations were different at that time) so in this series it all deepened - the characters, the story. I found the added elements really nicely incorporated and the whole visual atmosphere felt more contemporary to me, which probably made it easier for me to connect with it. I like the fact the director kept the actress who plays Sierra because I liked her in the first movie, and I also noticed there were more comedic elements in the series than I noticed in the movie, which was really nice because there’s also a lot of dramatic parts in there too, so you get a good mix of both and that’s life I guess, chaotic at times but always interesting. :D

I think the series is crafted beautifully, I found the focus on details to be important here, because once you watch the movie first and then the series you learn to appreciate all the details and notice how the director kept most of them at their place and how important they are for the overall impact. I would say that in the series the supporting characters come more to life, and I really liked this portrayal of a ‘chosen family’ way of life they all decided to share together. If you look at it at close, it’s a story about a lot of things, but it all comes down to it being a story of life itself and I think that’s the greatest thing there, the way it was captured so beautifully. Even though I finished the series - I don’t think the series actually finished itself, you know what I mean? Those characters and the story were so vivid to me that I have a feeling they’re still living out there somewhere. This mix of Italian joie de vivre and Turkish emotional sentiment proved to be extremely original to me, because I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this atmosphere in a movie or a series before. I would definitely like to explore more of Ferzan Özpetek’s work in the future and I’m looking forward to that.

The only downside of the series to me would be that, because of its atmosphere and dynamics, it can get slow at times (at least for the average contemporary viewer that’s used to Hollywood-style movies packed with lots of action).

Rating: 5/5

[mmenthusiast]

Marie Sexton: A to Z (Coda Books #2)

Dreamspinner Press, 2010

Zach Mitchell is stuck in a rut. His college boyfriend left him ten years ago, but Zach still lives in the same apartment, drives the same car, and feeds his ex-boyfriend's ungrateful cat. His Denver business, A to Z Video Rental, is struggling. He has annoying customers, eccentric neighbors, and an unfulfilling romance with his landlord, Tom. A combat boot-wearing punk with an attitude, Angelo Green was raised in foster homes and has been on his own since he was sixteen; he has never learned to trust or to love. He doesnt do relationships, so when Angelo takes a job at A to Z Video, he decides Zach is strictly off-limits. Despite their differences, Zach and Angelo quickly become friends, and when Zachs break-up with Tom puts his business on the line, its Angelo who comes up with a solution. Together with Jared and Matt, their friends from Coda, Colorado, Zach and Angelo will find a way to save A to Z, but will they be able to save each other too?

This is a second book in the Coda universe by Marie Sexton, but the books don’t actually have to be read in any specific order. You can read them as stand-alone novels, too. However, if you’ve read the first book, then you might recognize some of the details and/or side characters in the second one and so on. You can read more about the timelines of the Coda books on the author’s web page.

Again, I really enjoyed the book and I like the author’s writing style. It’s very fun and dynamic, however, now that I’ve read the first book before this one, I have to compare and say I liked the first one better, which isn’t to say that this second one is not good, it’s just that the first couple (Matt and Jared) stayed more with me. I also really like the detail about the stories overlapping and that the couple from the second novel got to meet the couple from the first one through the story.

Rating: 4/5

[mmenthusiast]

Uncoupled (2022 - )

Creators: Jeffrey Richman, Darren Star

Stars: Neil Patrick Harris, Tisha Campbell, Brooks Ashmanskas...

Language: English

Length: approx. 30 mins per episode

Michael's life seemed to be perfect, until his long time partner blindsided him after 17 years of being in long time relationship. He has to confront the nightmares of losing his soulmate and suddenly finding himself as a single gay man in his mid-40s.

Light and funny TV series. I appreciate the theme as it’s not very often you see a show or movie about gay single men in their 40s trying to date and find a partner. However, I do have to say that many of the support characters seemed stereotypical to me. There’s the shallow sex-obsessed friend, the eternally supportive girlfriend, the artsy/intellectual gay man, etc. Also, it seems the show portrays mainly higher income families and individuals, so it might not be as relatable to other people who do not fit into the category. The oldies/jazz/blues soundtrack fit well with the classy atmosphere the show tries to portray. Some characters were more likeable to me, some less - personally, I didn’t connect much with Billy and I didn’t feel sorry for him at the end when the last episode tried to turn it into the viewer sympathizing with him because his younger boyfriend left him. I say he had it coming with that attitude. I’d be curious to continue watching and see how the show develops, but I’ll be honest and say that since it was starring Neil Patrick Harris and the creators were famous for their previous projects, I guess we might have been expecting something more out of it, but I’m giving it the space to grow in the future.

Rating: 4/5

[mmenthusiast]

4th Man Out (2015)

Director: Andrew Nackman

Stars: Parker Young, Evan Todd, Chord Overstreet...

Length: 1h 26m

Language: English

A car mechanic in a small, working class town comes out of the closet to his unsuspecting, blue-collar best friends.

From my experience, movies with a strong coming out of the closet theme often make me anxious. Those moments in the movie when you feel like there’s a quiet before the storm and you’re anticipating what’s going to happen next, how the family or the friends are going to react, they always have an emotional, even slight adrenaline rush to them.

What I liked about this movie is of course its positive and optimistic approach, which I always endorse. I liked how the gay character is portrayed like this next-door type of guy which made him feel pretty relatable IMO and it was just nice and refreshing to see this type of a character for a change, after watching many movies where gay men are portrayed in a stereotypical manner. Other than that, there were some genuinely funny moments to me, like when he tries dating and meets all these weird guys. His friends also get more funny as time passes and they get more comfortable with the idea of their friend being gay.

It’s a positive movie, but unlike some others out there, it’s not unrealistic, which is a combination that I guess is really difficult to achieve, so hats off to the director.

However, there were some things I found annoying and that’s when all these supposedly grown-up characters act and live their lives immaturely and when all they do and talk about is who’s sleeping with who, who’s scoring, and when they make their life mission to get laid. I’ve never been a fan of this type of humour. ********prude much********** LOL but honestly, instead of my friends trying to set me up with random dudes, I’d rather they just back the hell off and let me go through my things alone, especially if we’re 20-something like in this movie.

Rating: 4/5

[mmenthusiast]

Sin ti no puedo / Can’t Live Without You (2022)

Director: Chus Gutiérrez

Stars: Mauricio Ochmann, Maite Perroni, Alfonso Bassave...

Length: 1h 31m

Language: Spanish

It’s hard to find gay thriller movies, so when you come across one, you learn to appreciate it because of how rare they are. Luckily, there’s more of them nowadays and I hope there’s going to be lots more in the future.

When I first started watching this movie, I didn’t immediately recognize the main actress, but later I had this feeling like I know her from somewhere and then I remembered that she was the main actress in this soap opera that I used to watch with my grandma on TV when I was a child :D The TV series was called Cuidado con el ángel and it was enjoyable for that time, but I was more focused on the main actor of the series William Levy than I was on Maite Perroni :D

As for this movie, it was okay and decent, but I could kinda suspect what was going on and who the bad guy was very early on in the movie. Also, I would have appreciated more gay romance scenes and I’d prefer it if the ending gave me more closure, as it remains kinda open and I didn’t really get it as to what happens next.

Rating: 3/5

[mmenthusiast]

Le fate ignoranti / The Ignorant Fairies (2001)

Director: Ferzan Özpetek

Stars: Margherita Buy, Stefano Accorsi, Serra Yilmaz...

Languages: Italian, Turkish

Length: 1h 46m

AIDS doctor Antonia's husband is killed by a car. She gets depressed until she learns he had been cheating on her with a man. Following her newly born curiosity for life, she goes to see her husband's lover, Michele, and finds a huge apartment that he shares with gay and transgender friends, including a Turkish immigrant and a prostitute. Antonia is reluctant to tell these people of her relationship to the dead man, but needs prompting to move on to a new phase of her life.

Earlier this month I was on vacation in Italy so I decided I wanted to continue the cultural experience by watching this Italian movie I stumbled upon recently. By reading the summary of the movie, I thought it was going to be entirely to my liking as the story and idea sound really interesting to me, but somehow while watching it I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I thought I would. I don’t know why, though. There wasn’t anything bad about it. I just guess my expectations were different. The best thing about this movie to me were all the cute guys in it :P

There’s also an Italian TV series that’s come out recently, which is based on this movie, and it’s also by the same director, so I’ll be very curious to watch that too and see how they compare.

Rating: 3/5

[mmenthusiast]

I miss your recommendations! Hope you’ll find the time to update soon :)

Aww, thank you so much! ♥ Yeah, I have some new movies that I plan on watching, hopefully it'll be soon :)