Movie Review - House of Boys

Since the last two movies I reviewed focused on lesbians I decided to do this movie review on "House of Boys" which centers around gay teens.  It promised to focus on a young runaway who is hired as a dancer for a gay club so I was really looking forward to some award worthy drag performances.  However, I was sorely disappointed because the movie was anything but.
I began to sense that I wouldn't like the movie within the first ten minutes.  There are so many scene changes and unexplained character introductions that it's dizzying trying to follow it all.  Finally, we get to see our main character, Frank who is played by Layke Anderson, end up at the House of Boys.  He is introduced to Jake, played by Benn Northover, who is to be his roommate.  There's just one thing, Frank falls for Jake even though Jake is straight!
From this point things go from bad to worse and perhaps it's because there were three writers, Jean-Claude Schlim who was also the director, Christian Thiry, and Robert David Graham.  It seemed like the vision for this movie was ill conceived because the plot is slapped together haphazardly.  It's a shame because the actors are great and the characters fit together well, but the writers focused too much time on horrendous drag routines, unessential characters, and superfluous sex rather than on character development and dialogue.  By the end of it we find ourselves in the middle of a campaign to raise awareness of AIDS.  I don't have a problem with raising awareness, but it's not what the description promised.
Unfortunately, I can't even say the costumes or music were any better.  They were both hit and miss for me and some were downright cringe worthy!  At least the camera man knew what he was doing because the cinematography was very sharp and professional.
At the end of the day my favorite part of this movie was the transgender character Angelo who becomes Angela, played by Steven Webb.  Unfortunately, that's just not enough to change my mind or raise my rating.  I give this movie two stars and I wouldn't recommend it to watch.

Movie Review - Blue is the Warmest Color

Since my first introduction to this film was actually a negative response video on YouTube, I was understandably apprehensive about watching “Blue is the Warmest Color.”  However, my morbid curiousity got the better of me and I’m glad it did because I love this movie.

Interestingly enough the original writer, Julie Maroh, felt much the same as the YouTubers and hated the film.  She wrote it as a black and white graphic novel with only highlights of blue and thought that Abdellatif Kechiche, who adapted it to a screenplay and directed the film, misconstrued the concept.  She accused him of making it into a cheap, sexual fantasy rather than focusing on the raw emotion.

I have to disagree!  I think that the emotion between Adele, played by Adele Exarchopoulos, and Emma, played by Lea Seydoux, is subtle yet electrifying!  It’s painful yet beautiful to watch Adele grow into herself, first with the help of Emma and then startlingly alone.  Rather than spell out everything she is going through, the entire film is characterized by deep conversations and subdued foreshadowing to guide your understanding of the phases of Adele.  The beauty of this quiet approach is that it allows the viewer to draw on their own experiences to relate to the characters and form their own conclusions.

To complement this very stylistic approach the movie does use the color blue in much the same way as the graphic novel to highlight the passions, or lack thereof, of Adele.  The music is also very quiet and subtle, almost imperceptible, to subliminally enhance your emotions without distracting from the raw, gritty realism picked up by the camera.

Overall, I think this movie is incredible and I give it 4.5 stars making it a must see.  I recommend it on a night when you wish to be swept away by nostalgia to remember the whirlwind of your first romance.