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  WINDY CITY TIMES

34th Reeling Film Festival makes America gay again
Extended for the online edition of Windy City Times
by Steve Warren
2016-09-21

This article shared 1831 times since Wed Sep 21, 2016
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Last summer we celebrated the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage. This summer we mourned the victims of Orlando's Pulse massacre.

But on the brighter side, the Republican presidential candidate (Is this really happening or am I trapped in a bad movie?) threw a crumb to the LGBTQ community, even if he couldn't pronounce it.

Whatever happens, some people have to make movies and just about all of us have to watch them. So Reeling goes on, as it has for 34 years, discovering LGBT films and filmmakers before the mainstream does, and offering a queerer alternative to what's on other screens.

The more assimilated we become the less ghettoization there is, in cinema as well as real life. There are still films made by, for and about us; but most can be appreciated by wider audiences now that our secrets are as out as we are.

So why do we need a festival? I wonder that every year, until I start watching the films. Yes, there's mainstream work out there that accepts and includes us; but these films are us. They bring up memories, happy or sad, of being bullied, of being out and proud; the pain of wanting someone you can't have, the thrill of finding out you can have them and the letdown after you do. Loving and losing — or winning — aren't exclusive to us, but sometimes the way we do it is special.

There are stories, real and fictional, that illustrate the steps we've been through on our journeys and remind us that others are still going through the process, which can be just as painful in this more enlightened age. The courage of our predecessors can empower and inspire us as they have others.

I've managed to preview almost two thirds of the festival's features and while I didn't love them all (never trust a critic who likes everything!), there were only a couple I really disliked.

Watching so many films in a short period, one expects to see plot points repeated — a teenager struggling with his/her feelings for another or with gay urges in general; a gay woman or man lusting after someone in a hetero relationship; men whose fathers were gay, whether they know it or not; a man working for his girlfriend's father; a young man working at a gay establishment while living at home with his unsuspecting parents; choosing between life on the farm or being out in the world — but I freaked out when I watched "The Landscape Within" and "Esteros" back-to-back and estuaries (look it up — I had to) played a significant role in both. The coincidence was too much!

For complete festival information including locations, and to buy tickets, visit reelingfilmfestival.org .

CLOSET MONSTER (***) (Sept. 23, 7 p.m.)

Just when you think there can't be another variation on a coming-out story, along comes young Canadian writer-director Stephen Dunn with "Closet Monster."

Oscar Madly (Connor Jessup of "Falling Skies" and "American Crime") is not the most lovable 18-year-old you could wish for. He's unhappy and takes it out on everyone around him. He was traumatized in childhood by his parents' divorce and by witnessing a brutal gay-bashing which, reinforced by his father's (Aaron Abrams) homophobia, keeps him living in fear of his own desires.

Gemma (Sofia Banzhaf) is Oscar's muse and model for his hoped-for career as a movie makeup artist. It doesn't hurt that Dad thinks she's also his girlfriend. They get along most of the time, but the only one Oscar can really confide in is Buffy, his talking hamster. (Well, Oscar hears her. So do we, and if you haven't heard who provides the voice I won't spoil the surprise.)

Oscar's hoping to be accepted by a makeup college in New York so he can get away from his miserable past and present. But meanwhile there's this new guy at work, Wilder (Aliocha Schneider), who's hot and friendly and might even be one of those people Oscar's trying not to be...

If a lot of "Closet Monster" sounds like things you've seen — and perhaps lived — before, you've never seen the story the way Dunn tells it. You may not like Oscar but you'll root for him. Likable heroes are so last decade, and Jessup walks a fine line to keep you on his side — or bring you back to it when he loses you.

An award winner at several festivals, both LGBT and mainstream, already, "Closet Monster" should add to its haul here.

SUICIDE KALE (* 1/2) (Sept. 23, 7:15 p.m.)

"Suicide Kale" has to be the least appetizing title of the year, and there's not much else about the film that tickled my palate either. I'm sure there are some women — and even a few men — who will totally relate and hang on every word, but most will be as bored as I was.

Jasmine (Brittani Nichols) and Penn (Lindsay Hicks) became a couple a few months ago and are still uncertain where their relationship will lead. They're been invited to lunch at the home of a married lesbian couple, Billie (Jasika Nicole) and Jordan (Brianna Baker), who have been together for five years.

Before getting into the lunch table conversation that occupies about half of the film, Jasmine adds some edge to it by finding an apparent suicide note under the other women's mattress. She tells Penn and they decide that rather than being confrontational about it, they'll Nancy Drew their way through lunch, trying to figure out who wrote the note and why.

There's potential in that concept but it's lost in the execution. It's claimed that two-thirds of the film was improvised, and this isn't the sort of dialogue that can be left to chance. Not only are no clues to the suicide note uncovered at lunch, but no leading questions are asked that might evoke them, even when the topic of suicide is raised.

This is the sort of no-budget independent film that can serve as a calling card for everyone involved, when it hits the right combination of skill and luck; but neither is in abundance here. Sometimes the only thing that kept me awake was trying to figure out the characters' names. I think "Billie" was mentioned once and "Penn" twice.

After essentially trivializing and exploiting suicide for the sake of the plot, the filmmakers atone by promoting a suicide hotline during the credits.

"It was an experiment," director/editor Carly Usdin says of the production. "The worst-case scenario would be that we hung out with our friends for a few days, learned some things and produced something that was unwatchable."

It's not quite that bad, but pretty close. I hope they learned some things.

FAIR HAVEN (***) (Sept. 23, 9 p.m.)

"Fair" is the key word in the title of a film that shows your home is not necessarily a haven. James (Michael Grant) returns home to Fair Haven, the Vermont apple orchard that's been in his family for generations, after undergoing conversion therapy by Dr. Gallagher (Gregory Harrison).

The timeline is unclear but James' mother died sometime recently, leaving just him and his father (Tom Wopat — ol' Luke Duke himself). Though Dad is glad James' "problem" has been cured, he's not happy that the 19-year-old wants to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston to study piano instead of staying home to tend the farm.

Flashbacks show some of James' therapy, including the exit interview where he says everything the doctor wants to hear but we can't tell whether he's sincere. At home he tries to live the straight life, including going to church and dating the preacher's daughter. She wears a "promise ring" so he doesn't have to worry about temptation — or performance anxiety.

It's a small town so James can't help running into Charlie (Josh Green), who'd been his boyfriend when he was gay. At first James tells him, "We can't be friends anymore"; but he softens, especially after Charlie is gay-bashed, and they resume their friendship — without benefits, at least at first.

When I say "Fair" is the key word, it's because the screenplay is fair to everyone. There are no villains, except the unseen gay-bashers. Everyone is doing the best they can, according to their beliefs and desires, struggling to change what they can and accept what they can't.

Even Dr. Gallagher, as much as we hate what he's doing, is not painted with horns and a tail. He's practicing Christianity as he understands it and sincerely trying to help people. I was kind of hoping for another flashback that would show him either becoming hatefully extreme or putting the moves on one of his male patients, but alas, this isn't that movie; so hate the therapy, love the therapist.

If you can accept "Fair Haven" for what it is, you can appreciate Michael Grant's fine performance as James and discover that you can understand points of view you disagree with.

REAL BOY (***) (Sept. 23, 9:15 p.m.)

Being a documentary and spanning several years in a young person's life, "Real Boy" might have been called "Real Boyhood." Home videos show Rachel at the age of six and photos even younger. The bulk of the film takes place when she's 19 and transitioning into Ben/Bennett. We want to think of him in masculine terms sooner but his male name isn't revealed until half an hour in, making it more difficult.

While "Real Boy" doesn't gloss over difficulties, it's basically an upbeat, positive look at the female-to-male transgender experience. Bennett's father and sister stop talking to him and his mother struggles to adjust. There's a wonderful moment early on when she's telling Ben he should accept what he's been given and he retorts, "Is that why you get plastic surgery?" It's a stand up and cheer moment!

After a rough adolescence and early teen years, Rachel gets support from fellow transgenders on the Internet. She meets Joe Stevens, like her a transgender singer-songwriter but who's already transitioned, at a sober support group; and he becomes her mentor. She also finds a friend in Dylan, who is on a similar timetable to hers. They plan to get an apartment together and have surgery on the same day.

There are no major surprises that the camera can't be there for, so the story flows as smoothly as if it were a scripted work of fiction. Kudos to director-producer-cinematographer Shaleece Haas for creating a documentary that plays like a narrative film.

Kudos also to Bennett Wallace, whose sharing of his experience will make life exponentially easier for the next young transgender who's dealing with the same issues.

THE SLIPPERS (** 1/2) (Sept. 24, 1 p.m.)

"The Slippers" is arguably the gayest film in the festival, even though the word "gay" is heard only once, when it's sung by Bing Crosby. But the Hollywood nostalgia is like Turner Classic Movies on steroids, many of the speakers and those they speak about will set off your gaydar, and there's just an overall gay sensibility.

The subject is the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in "The Wizard of Oz," and how they've helped create a boom in the movie memorabilia business. Actually there were at least four pairs (some say up to twice as many), plus a test pair in a different style.

MGM was sold in 1969 to Wall Streeter Kirk Kerkorian, who wanted to clear the "junk" off the lot so he could sell the real estate. This kind of thing was happening all over town, and while many big-ticket items were sold at auction, all sorts of nostalgic treasures were shipped off to landfills.

More would have been lost if not for the "memorabilia underworld," people who "looted" the studios to preserve items that might have been lost forever. Chief among these was costumer Kent Warner, who became an early AIDS fatality in 1984. Among countless items he rescued were some of the ruby slippers from MGM.

As they rise in value from $15,000 to $600,000 to priceless and some are donated to museums, each pair develops a mythology and sometimes a controversy. Collectors, historians and archivists gush over them in this film by Morgan White, seemingly in competition to exaggerate the shoes' cultural significance.

A "B" storyline involves Debbie Reynolds (represented here by her son, Todd Fisher) spending all the money her husbands didn't get in alimony to buy memorabilia in hopes of opening a museum, which she could never get financed.

The film's structure becomes annoying when it's mentioned that a pair of slippers on loan to the Judy Garland Museum in her birthplace of Grand Rapids, MN, was stolen; but we have to wait half an hour or so for details (Film at 11?).

It's also sad that White couldn't have gotten better quality clips from "The Wizard of Oz," when he includes so many, albeit brief ones. Not that most of us can't rerun the movie in HD in our gay brains.

This is a typical example of a great hourlong documentary stretched into a good hour-and-a-half feature.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING, HABIBI? (** 1/2) (Sept. 24, 3 p.m.)

The title sounds like something Donald Trump would say to a Muslim at the border, but it's said jokingly in Berlin (Talk about building a wall!) to a German-born man of Turkish descent. He's Ibo/Ibrahim (Cem Alkan, who resembles Antonio Banderas when he was starring in Almodovar films), who just graduated with a business degree but can't get a good job because of serious prejudice against Turks.

So he works in a gay sex shop. Even though he lives with his family, his parents don't know about it until his bitchy sister outs him. Fortunately Ibo has an uncle who's understanding because he works in the theater, so he has a place to live.

But the main storyline concerns Ibo's friendship with Ali/Alexander (Martin Walde), a soft hardened criminal. Ali's family will have nothing to do with him and he can't walk down the street without being assaulted by enemies, but those aren't red flags for Ibo. He joins a gym to be able to wrestle with Ali, even if it's not the way he'd like.

Perhaps the outwardly homophobic Ali is a closeted bisexual all along, but his evolution is hard to believe, even as we wonder how far it will go. There's a lot that's hard to believe in the screenplay co-written by director Tor Iben, but I couldn't help enjoying the movie, even when I was hating it.

SLASH (** 1/2) (Sept. 24, 5 p.m.)

Bisexual characters are rarely sympathetic, except when they married someone of the opposite sex before accepting that they're gay and now realize their error. In real life we often resent bisexuals because we assume they're having twice as much sex as we are.

"Slash" is the story of two high schoolers who may be bi, or may just not have figured it out yet. Everything about Neil (Michael Johnston), 15, screams gay, from the way he's bullied at school to the Slash (gay erotic) fan-fiction he writes obsessively.

But he's drawn to Julia (Hannah Marks), 16, who also writes erotic fan-fic and encourages him to post his online. She claims to be bisexual but dates guys.

As much as I hate stereotyping, I found it hard to believe Neil and Julia could be more than friends; and because of their ages the consummation of their friendship is left to our imagination. Neil is still curious, but it looks like his best chance to try it like the heroes in his stories is with Denis (Michael Ian Black), a man more than twice his age, at a Comic-Con.

If "Slash" encourages kids to experiment — safely and consensually — instead of accepting the binary choice society imposes on them, it won't be a bad thing; but I found the situation presented here hard to believe. If I had known as much about gay sex as Neil does before ever trying it, I would have become the man I am today ten years sooner.

RETAKE (***) (Sept. 24, 7 p.m.)

Four words I never thought I'd say: "Vertigo" meets "Pretty Woman"!

Middle-aged Jonathan (Tuc Watkins) hires a young male prostitute (Devon Graye) for several days to ride with him from San Francisco to the Grand Canyon. The youth is to role-play as Brandon, the great love of Jonathan's life, and the trip is a recreation of one they took in 2005.

We don't learn the deets until later, but it obviously ended badly, leaving Jonathan emotionally traumatized and unable to move on with his life. His new "Brandon" isn't in much better shape, essentially putting off starting his life.

If this were "Pretty Woman" they would fall in love; if it were "Vertigo" someone would fall in the Grand Canyon. But this is "Retake," which shows life isn't as simple as movies (although I swear, after the haircutting scene I half-expected Kim Novak to emerge from the bathroom!).

Director and co-writer Nick Corporan puts a new twist on the road trip genre, focusing more on the travelers than the people they meet on the road. Watkins, with the square jaw of '50s actors like Dana Andrews and Frank Lovejoy, makes the emotionally distant Jonathan hard to like, but lets us sense there's a good man behind the wall he's built. Fun-loving but sympathetic, Graye (who could be the next Steve Buscemi) might have been discovered on the same corner where Jonathan finds him — and that's a compliment.

"Vertigo" is one of my all-time favorites and "Pretty Woman" is so iconic you have to love it, even if you don't like it (I like it); so I found their love child irresistible.

HEARTLAND (***) (Sept. 24, 7:15 p.m.)

A stunning performance by co-writer Velinda Godfrey anchors "Heartland," but certainly doesn't weigh it down. In addition to "acting," she does all kinds of subtle, natural things that bring her character to life. She looks like an all-American version of Alice Braga ("Queen of the South") and I could imagine her recreating some of Elizabeth Taylor's great roles.

But about "Heartland." After her girlfriend dies, Oklahoma is not OK to Lauren (Godfrey). Losing her job and home, she moves back in with her mother (Beth Grant), who never accepted her partner. Maybe it's a good thing that "There's no place like home."

Lauren's brother Justin (Aaron Leddick) comes for a visit with his girlfriend Carrie (Laura Spencer). They work together for Carrie's father's company that's opening a winery in the area, making their relationship look more business than personal.

Carrie's a city gal, too cool for the country, but loosens up when she and Lauren get drunk together. Carrie isn't ready to check "It's complicated" on her Facebook profile, but when two women are hunkered down together during a tornado alert, what else is there to do? Then it's really complicated.

The consequences, with revelations and confrontations, make up my least favorite part of the film; and a few scenes are cut together without logical transitions. Eventually things are resolved in a way country folk have of doing things that we city slickers wouldn't understand.

"Heartland" is the first feature for director Maura Anderson, who does a generally fine job and may one day get credit for "discovering" Velinda Godfrey, who's been toiling in the business for over a decade. Anderson should sign her to a lifetime contract.

DEPARTURE (** 1/2) (Sept. 25, 1 p.m.)

Your tolerance level for artsy pretension will determine how much you like "Departure," which generally does it very well. It's the first feature written and directed by British stage director Andrew Steggall, who shows a definite flair for the medium.

I was put off by the opening sequence. It's almost a trailer for the movie, combining the actual first scenes (out of order) with intriguing visuals that appear in context much later.

If you make it through that, be prepared for a story that makes clinical depression seem like a joyride. Elliot (Alex Lawther) and his mother (Juliet Stevenson) are in the French countryside to empty out their vacation home, which is being sold. It appears that mum's marriage may be ending too, though that's one of many things they don't talk about.

Elliot notices — and quickly fixates on — a local boy, Cl�©ment (Ph�©nix Brossard), who's a little older and a lot more worldly than he is. Cl�©ment is visiting from Paris, though it's hard to imagine him fitting in there. It's soon obvious that Elliot, a budding poet, is gay. If Cl�©ment is too, he hides it well behind a homophobic mask.

Elliot's other obsession — can't fly on one wing — is with a deer his mother may have hit with a car in the opening montage. We get it, kid: you're sensitive.

Lawther is a terrific young actor who probably makes Elliot more sympathetic than he's supposed to be. His age is never specified and the actor looks younger than he is. He was probably 19 during filming but at first glimpse I thought he was about 12, and by the end of the film maybe 16.

Stevenson, too rarely seen in the States, is spot on as the mother, though the character is not pleasant to watch. She's emotional, but being English she keeps a lid on it most of the time.

If nothing else, "Departure" may teach you something about who's gay in French literature, as well as a new use for carrots that gives new meaning to Bugs Bunny's catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?"

JONATHAN (** 1/2) (Sept. 25, 3:15 p.m.)

"Jonathan" is a gay love story, but not the one you expect. In fact, there's likely to be an armed uprising by unwary viewers when the title character (Jannis Niewohner) has sex with the woman he's been flirting with. (We hoped he was going through a phase.)

Even the ugly farm where most of the film takes place is beautifully photographed, as of course is Niewohner, who should win the festival's Handsomest Leading Man award. What? They don't have one? Well, they should.

Aside from the hetero love story, most of the film's first hour consists of people looking melancholy and avoiding conversation. Jonathan is taking care of the farm and his father, Burghardt (Andr�© Hennicke), who is dying a slow, painful death from cancer. Jonathan knows nothing about his mother, who died when he was young, and his father won't talk about her.

At one point a stranger shows up at the farm and is chased away at gunpoint by Jonathan's aunt.

A spoiler alert is warranted before discussing the real plot, which isn't revealed until the final half-hour. The stranger returns. Ron (Thomas Sarbacher) was the great love of Burghardt's life and he's back to share his last days.

This story should resonate with older gay men who spent most of their lives in the closet, and there are more of them than you might imagine. Whether they'll want to be reminded of their past and their mortality is another question.

As long as you know what you're getting into, "Jonathan" isn't bad; but if you go hoping to get into Jonathan, you'll feel like a bait-and-switch victim.

UPSTAIRS INFERNO (***) (Sept. 25, 7 p.m.)

There are queer slasher flicks, but the real LGBT horror movies are the historical documentaries. The young need to learn and the old to remember how things were for us less than half a century ago.

"Upstairs Inferno" tells a story I thought I knew — I remember the night it happened — but I learned a few things, in addition to reliving the emotions of that night, from Robert L. Camina's ("Raid of the Rainbow Lounge") well-made film.

On June 24, 1973, an arsonist torched the Up Stairs Lounge, a New Orleans gay bar on the fringe of the French Quarter. More than two dozen people died on the scene and the final death toll was 32. The local Metropolitan Community Church congregation had worshipped there until recently, and many members still socialized there. Two of their clergy and several members were among the fatalities.

I was attending a Sunday movie night at an MCC in Atlanta and remember the shock when word came in about the fire. It was the third MCC (after Los Angeles and Nashville) to be arsoned in six months, but the first where anyone was killed.

Rev. Troy Perry, the church's founder, flew to New Orleans from L.A. with activist Morris Kight, and they were met by MCC Atlanta pastor Rev. John Gill. They took charge of memorial activities and addressed the press, to the chagrin of some bar owners who didn't want the closeted community exposed by outside agitators.

The fire marshal continued investigating for years while the chief of police closed the books on the case within months. The apparent arsonist was identified but committed suicide before any charges were filed — if they ever would have been. He was Rodger Dale Nunez, an internalized homophobe who'd been thrown out of the bar earlier in the evening.

The city's mayor, the governor and the Roman Catholic archbishop were strangely quiet about the event after having been quite vocal following two other recent fires whose combined death toll equaled half of this one. If we thought like our opponents do, we might say Hurricane Katrina was God's belated punishment of New Orleans for the city's general lack of compassion.

Books have been written about the fire and their authors contribute to this documentary, as do survivors who escaped the blaze and various others, including Troy Perry, as emotional and charismatic as ever.

The narration, mostly at the beginning before the talking heads take over, is handled by Christopher (son of Anne) Rice.

Like so much of our history, "Upstairs Inferno" evokes anger and tears, and determination to keep fighting until we have full equality; but it also gives us cause to celebrate all we've achieved so far.

BEFORE THE FALL (** 1/2) (Sept. 25, 7:15 p.m.)

Austen-tatious is not the word for "Before the Fall," which borrows little from "Pride and Prejudice" but character names, or variations thereof, and the clich�© of having the designated lovers resist each other throughout.

This is "Pride and Prejudice" without zombies, and with far fewer women. Instead of being set exclusively among the upper classes, it mixes relatively well-to-do attorneys with the working poor, and one guy who doesn't care about money.

Lee Darcy (Chase Conner) is hot, even when he puts down his welding torch. He's also an alcoholic who makes war, not love, on the woman he lives with. When he's in court for beating her he catches the eye of gay lawyer Ben Bennett (Ethan Sharrett). Darcy's own attorney, George Wickham (Jonathan Horvath) later dates Ben.

There's a new stud in town, Chuck Bingley (Jason Mac), an unlikely choice for the low-paying job of executive director of the Nature Foundation, which has wealthy board members like Ben. He's quickly scooped up by Ben's girl friend Jane (Brandi Price).

We learn early on that Darcy was traumatized as a boy by seeing his dad and another man go into a gas station restroom together. As a result he's been drinking and fighting the urge to do the same thing. At least we assume he has that urge, since Ben's obsessed with him and if there's going to be anything proud and prejudicial about this movie, a Darcy and a Bennett have to get together.

Instead of stately mansions we get a lot of Virginia's beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains as settings. (The characters go hiking a lot.) Instead of Austen's wit we get mostly serious dialogue, with a pair of flamboyant fags brought on occasionally for comic relief.

Not that writer-director Byrum Geisler has done a bad job; he just needed to lighten things up a bit. His worst mistake was in the casting. Sharrett and Conner are okay individually but never look like a couple, or a potential couple. I needed more, to cite another Austen title, "Persuasion."

SPA NIGHT (** 1/2) (Sept. 25, 9:15 p.m.)

For most LGBT youth the road to self-awareness and self-acceptance has grown infinitely shorter, smoother and better-lit over the last few decades.

But there are exceptions. David Cho (Joe Seo) is one of them. The 18-year-old is the only son of Korean immigrants whose restaurant in L.A.'s Koreatown goes out of business. His mother becomes a full-time waitress and his father a full-time alcoholic. As their hope for the future, David enrolls in a class to boost his SAT scores so he can go to college.

An academically-challenged Asian is a real stereotype-buster, but David fits an older movie stereotype, the "inscrutable (pardon the expression) Oriental." His blank face is as emotional as a robot's. This may be because actor Seo actually lacks personality, or because David is afraid to express himself for fear of revealing the parts he's trying to keep hidden.

For more than half of "Spa Night" you may think it's in the wrong festival. It's more like a serious episode of "Fresh Off the Boat" than a gay film. The only hints of David's proclivities come when his friends catch him peeking at their genitals.

At last David discovers the spa his family patronizes is a very different place after dark. He takes a part-time job there without telling his parents (who would surely wonder where he is when he works the night shift).

While not yet participating in the sexual goings-on, David facilitates hookups by declaring the sauna "closed for cleaning" after he sees two men enter together. Eventually a customer complains, the police are called, and David is ordered to report any shenanigans he observes. (It's not clear whether his boss is really that na��ve or just putting on a show.)

The politeness and modesty associated with Asians are on display here with brief bits of nudity and coy suggestions of sexual goings-on. The one Big Sex Scene would have looked pretty hot a decade ago but could probably be shown on network television today.

The positive aspects of "Spa Night" — and there are many — have less to do with its gay story and more to do with the tale of an immigrant family failing to realize the American Dream.

bwoy (***) (Sept. 26, 7 p.m.)

Anthony Rapp should be a familiar face by the end of the festival, with two starring films on display. This is the good one.

It's also perfect for those annoying people who have to check their phones during a movie, because for the longest time it's almost entirely made up of text messages and shared photos. Then Brad (Rapp) and Yenny (Jimmy Brooks) start video-chatting.

First they have to meet, on Men2Men. Brad, 42 — well, 39 on his profile — isn't having much luck as "Masculine Male Seeks Same" from Schenectady, so he changes his headline to "Daddy Top Seeks Sexy Young Man" and his location to Jamaica.

His screen lights up with messages almost immediately and the photo that appeals to him most is Yenny's. Brad tells a few lies about traveling to Jamaica on business, and soon they're in love, with Yenny insisting on being called "My Jamaican Pussy Boy" by "Daddy Brad."

Anyone who's ever received an email from a Nigerian prince will know Brad's going to be taken. He should know too, since he works in a call center for a collection agency and it's his job to get people to part with their money.

Meanwhile they're having sweet and sexy exchanges and at least one of them is falling in love.

But Brad has some secrets of his own, so while each has surprises for the other they both have surprises for us.

Writer-director John G. Young ("Rivers Wash over Me," "Parallel Sons") builds his mystery subtly in the midst of the apparent obviousness unfolding before our eyes. Considering the amount of electronic communication between the two men it's amazing that it never gets boring. You can get caught up in the romance like Brad, or admire Yenny's technique, but either way there's a lot to appreciate.

I just have one question: WTF does that title mean?

THE LANDSCAPE WITHIN (**) (Sept. 26, 9 p.m.)

I like to go to museums, where I can study art at my own pace. I don't like films that force me to watch someone else's idiosyncratic idea of art at their pace. I'm talking to you, Andrea Capranico.

Coming from the head-up-your-own-ass school, enabled and popularized by social media, filmmaker Capranico withholds the most basic information. Her subject, Eric Estampador Cabales is identified only as "Eric (Nui)" in the body of the film. We're told that we're in several specific places, but I'll bet 98 percent of Americans won't know they're in the Philippines.

The film opens with a spectacular number by a dance troupe, but we can't focus on it because the voiceover narration is in Tagalog or whatever, so we have to read subtitles. I very rarely object to subtitles, but this is one instance.

Cabales is, we're told, a body-painter, costume designer, photographer and conceptual artist. We see the results of his work, much of it quite beautiful, and we see him at work. That makes up maybe 40 percent of the film. (I'm being generous.)

If we knew something about Cabales we might have some interest in his private life. (I'm guessing he's gay because the film's in this festival and he wears a "Las Vegas Pride" t-shirt in one shot.) Knowing only what lovely art he creates it's hard to make the leap to caring when he spends much of the rest of the film mourning his late grandfather and dying uncle. We see photos and home movies and watch him sulking and crying.

There's also a lot of nature footage, rides in cars and boats; and a side trip to the Island of the Mystical Healers, where an herbalist and natural healers are interviewed. It might be a little more interesting if we knew what part of the world we were in, but Capranico knows so we don't have to.

"The Landscape Within" could be recut to about half an hour, focusing on Cabales' art, and I would recommend it. As it stands it will appeal only to the nichest of niche audiences.

DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN (*) (Sept. 26, 9:15 p.m.)

There's no sugarcoating it: director Joshua Tunick's screenplay is one of the worst ever brought to the screen. I found it a painful viewing experience. From horribly long speeches to dumb mistakes (the dinner count, the gift that "isn't ready yet" but never turns up) to a happy ending that ignores time constraints to "Dawson's Creek" references that suggest it was written a decade ago when the show was remembered, it's just a mess.

It doesn't help that there's negative chemistry between the leading men, Daniel (Anthony Rapp) and Christopher (Jonathan Bennett). The story takes place on the eve of their wedding, when they give a dinner for family and close friends. You know the drill for these special-occasion movies: secrets are spilled, conflicts are contrived, everything blows up and then settles down again.

Essentially Daniel and Christopher go through couples therapy — and drag us through it too — as their dinner guests help them over a silly rough patch.

The actors aren't at fault. No one could have made these words and situations convincing or pleasant to watch; and even if we could believe Daniel and Christopher as a couple, we wouldn't accept the things they say and do.

The festival should have shown Do You Take This Man on a Thursday, because it's a throwback to the kind of movie we grudgingly accepted when we were starved for gay content. Now that there are better options everywhere you look, this is just pathetic.

FIRST GIRL I LOVED (***) (Sept. 27, 7:15 p.m.)

It's been over 20 years since Maria Maggenti gave us "The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love," and would you believe it? Girls are still falling in love with each other, and it still feels incredible! Or not. Sounds like it's time for a new movie.

"First Girl I Loved" could have been made by a latter day John Hughes, or his twin sister Jane, but it was made by Kerem Sanga, who uses a novel narrative style that jumps backward to fill in gaps you didn't know were missing. I'm not sure all the dots are connected at the end but I had a good time getting there.

It's clear from the first shot that Anne (Dylan Gelula) is crushing on Sasha (Brianna Hildebrand), their school's softball superstar she's stalking with a camera, ostensibly for the yearbook. When Anne tries to tell her best friend Clifton (Mateo Arias) about her crush she finds out he's been crushing on her all this time.

With the situation established, all three characters are free to behave stupidly, as teenagers do today but you and I never did when we were their age.

The course of true love doesn't run smooth and some reactions and overreactions are genuinely surprising. The female stars are lovely and good actresses, although Sanga's script leaves Sasha less developed than I would have liked.

If you're looking for hot sex scenes, look elsewhere. What happens is left to our imagination, because of the possibility that it only happens in our imagination. If you can accept those boundaries, get ready to relive the agony and ecstasy of your first same-sex crush. "The fundamental things apply, as time goes by."


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