Greek Pete 2009

Andrew Haigh
UK
English, Greek
2009
Drama
70min
Peter Pittaros, Lewis Wallis, Robert Day, Tristan Field, Barry Robinson, Liam Thompson, Rachel Whitbread

Pete arrives in London with the hope of increasing his business as an escort, always up for it and always horny, a fantasy for those willing to pay. Not only is the Money better in the big city, there are more opportunities to be had and Pete has goals and ambitions. He wants a flat in central London, a decent laptop and some good promotional photos to help with trade. If he works hard and becomes the best escort that he can be, perhaps a nomination at the "World Escort Awards" in Los Angeles could be more than just a vague dream. His plans get complicated when he meets LondonboyKai, a fellow escort on the scene, and starts a relationship. While Pete can easily separate his job from his love life, Kai has a harder time sharing his boyfriend with clients. Both are searching for very different things in life. Greek Pete was filmed over a year using guys working within and around the sex industry and the story is a fictional representation of their world. The process blurs the boundary between fiction and documentary, giving an authentic and intimate insight into the boys' lives, their friends, relationships and clients. Honest, non-judgemental and sometimes explicit, the film aims to create a portrait of a sub-culture hidden from view.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1384774/
5.0/10 52 votes

Le roi de l'évasion (2009)

An oddball comedy about a 43-year-old gay man who makes a stab at going straight, infused with unexpected streaks of whimsy and fantasy.

Armand, a man who sells farm machines in the country, is a popular middle-aged homosexual. Just as he was getting sick of life, he falls in love with a young girl called, Curlie, and goes on the run from her parents and the police.

This inspired comedy chronicles the midlife crisis of a pudgy, gay tractor salesman (Ludovic Berthillot, in a shrewdly and hilariously minimal performance) who, for a change of pace, runs away with a 16-year-old beauty (a charmingly earnest Hafsia Herzi, who also shone in Abdellatif Kechiche’s La Graine et el mulet aka The Secret of the Grain). The young woman finds herself smitten with her unlikely knight after he defends her (with cash, not brawn) from a group of toughs. After a clumsy consummation of their ardor, the unexpected lovers find themselves pursued by the girl’s father, a rival tractor salesman, his associates and the local police. But the pursuit narrative is arguably only an excuse for an exquisite assortment of lovingly drawn eccentric characters, who in this delightful film prove a fully justified raison d’être.

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INFO:
ORIGINAL TITLE: Le roi de l'évasion
ALSO KNOWN AS: The King of Escape (International: English title)
YEAR: 2009
DIRECTOR: Alain Guiraudie
GENRE: Adventure | Comedy
RUNTIME: 93 min | 97 min
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
CAST: Ludovic Berthillot, Hafsia Herzi, Pierre Laur, Luc Palun, Pascal Aubert, François Clavier, Bruno Valayer, Jean Toscan, Mauricette Gourdon, Georges Vaur, Jeanine Canezin
☟
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE:
NUMBER: 1354564
USER RATING: 6.6/10
AWARDS: 1 win
KEYWORDS: Gay Kiss | Underage Sex | Hedonist | Bicycling | Gay Man Has Sex With Woman | See more

VHAGETS (2007, DVD RIP)

Vhagetz is about pre-teens coping with being gay, a story of friendship that blossomed in a squatters' area. Jessie (Alec) is a diligent student who enjoys his father's (Richard Quan) acceptance. He has sworn to his father not to do anything that will disgrace himself and his family. We bet when you leave the theater, you would have memorized by heart the often repeated dialogue of Quan. We even advise you to follow it. Sam (Edeel) prefers dancing to studies, thus alienating himself more from his already uncaring mother (Dexter Doria). Paquito (E.J.) is being maltreated by his father (Mon Confiado) for his being gay and for a deeper reason the son will soon discover. Then there's a lola-lolahan (Cris Daluz) a fag hag, a real late bloomer. Something unexpected happens to Lola Jak and there's the twist in the story. When there are gays, there must be someone they can fantasize about. Enter Jordan Herrera as their friendly neighbor named Efren.

Soundless Wind Chime (2009)

Ricky leaves Hong Kong for Switzerland to look for the lost soul and the past of his deceased Swiss lover, Pascal. Ricky struggles with the confusion of memories, reality and illusion.

In this spare, elegant, and moving film, two men of different races, different backgrounds, and different temperaments find themselves falling for one another. Their love story has been woven into this gorgeous tapestry of a film.

Spare, elegant and moving, the love story of Pascal and Ricky has been woven into this gorgeous tapestry of a film. Told through flashbacks and memories, the emotionally rich, Soundless Wind Chime tells of the journey of Ricky, searching for his own lost soul and discovering the past of his Swiss lover, Pascal. With the love story as the central anchor of the film there are other fragments swirling around that make for a perfect, completed puzzle. While this sounds confusing, the film is so gracefully constructed by writer/director Kit Hung, it all works. Ricky is Chinese and Pascal, Swiss. Their love story is told in English, as that's the language they spoke. Pascal was rough street trade; his abusive boyfriend sent him to the streets to pick pockets. Tiring of his creepy partner, Pascal flees their seedy apartment. At a street café he meets a very shy Ricky, a waiter. Breaking through Ricky’s private nature, their shared attraction took hold. Their relationship was marred by jealous spats, punctuated by intensely passionate lovemaking. Shot with an intimacy and intelligence seldom seen in an indie, Soundless Wind Chime is a superb debut feature from Kit Hung; one that will open new doors for all those open to its pleasures.

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INFO:
ORIGINAL TITLE: Soundless Wind Chime
YEAR: 2009
DIRECTOR: Wing Kit Hung
GENRE: Drama
RUNTIME: Germany:110 min (Berlin International Film Festival)
COUNTRY: Hong Kong | Switzerland | China
LANGUAGE: English | German | Cantonese
CAST: Bernhard Bulling, Li Fong, Wella Zhang, Wong Siu Ying, Yulai Lu
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INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE:
USER RATING: 6.8/10
KEYWORDS: Switzerland | Hong Kong | Prostitute | Beijing China | Parkinsons Disease | more...

Monaco Forever (1984)

An American jewel thief in Monaco encounters various characters while trying to set up a robbery.

Absolutely ridiculous film that is notable for being not only Jean-Claude Van Damme's screen debut, but also his debut as a gay man on screen! Laughable.

This cheesy short film, from the director of Skatetown USA, has recently been released on video with Jean-Claude Van Damme's face and muscles prominently displayed on the cover. Tricky promotion, because Van Damme is actually in the film for only a little over two minutes -- but what a two minutes! With the credits naming him "the gay karate man," our hunky star-to-be plays a driver of a XK150 Jaguar who picks up a hitchhiker, makes some "advances" by placing his hand on the hitchhiker's crotch and when he is rebuked and threatened (the passenger was obviously deranged), tears off his shirt and teaches the unresponsive tease a lesson.

The version of this that I saw was 23 minutes shorter than the runtime listed in the IMDb, so, these comments may be only half valid. It was a multi-lingual effort, with English subtitles when the dialogue was in French, German or Italian - no dubbing. (The narration was in English.) Perhaps we are to be impressed with the language skills of the leading man. It's set in Monaco in the second half of the 1950s, about twenty years after the guy went from his native Germany to Washington, D.C. It fits that this occurred because of his mastery of linguistics. But then he returned to the fatherland to participate in WW II, his memories of which are shown to parallel much of what he experiences today. Now he is a jewel thief, and, we share some of his encounters on the day after a partially successful swipe: while hitchhiking, he is picked up by a gay, martial-arts-accomplished, French-speaking John Claude van Damme; he woos a lady-photographer, who, it turns out, is a pick-pocket, herself; and he demonstrates that craft, with a trio of females as his victims. My only negative impression is an occasional over-attempt at humor. Otherwise, it's a fairly unobjectionable depiction on film.
KDWms from Pocono Summit, PA (in IMDb)

This is a rare copy and I sincerely believe that's the only film of Jean-Claude Van Damme that you can't find in the net.
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INFO:
ORIGINAL TITLE: Monaco Forever
ALSO KNOWN AS: Gay Karate Man
YEAR: 1984
DIRECTOR: William A. Levey
GENRE: Comedy
RUNTIME: 48 min
COUNTRY: USA
LANGUAGE: English
CAST: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Charles Pitt, Nancy Brock, Danielle Rome
☟
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE:
USER RATING: 3.1/10
KEYWORDS: Masturbation | Homosexual | Independent Film

PINOY GAY-THEMED MOVIE - SHOWBOYZ (2009)

The manager of a failing gay bar and his macho dancer boyfriend are having relationship troubles as their business collapses around them.But things turn around when a provincial young man arrives looking for a childhood friend and becomes a part of their lives.
*links are now up!

PINOY MOVIE - M2M QUEER FAIRY TALES (2009)

The hit M2M series brings to you a variation of the most famous childhood fairy tales that you might have read already. Bizaare and with a lot of twists. Queery Fairy Tales is a collection of short fables and tales that are campy as well as sexy and hot.What kind of a prince or princess or queen or king, or even beast are you? No matter what, love and even sex, will find its way to you. So wear your fantasy crowns and let us begin our hot tales for the queer fairies.