stuartho-67386 Reviews

Bruce (2019)

Jarring annoying actor...

[3/10 · 1 February 2022]

Interesting concept, but completely wasted my time. Actor playing Bruce was just so annoying. Not sure if it was written to be that way or that the actor interpreted it that way. It got marginally better after 50min. Actor playing the father was so bad, worst of the lot. Forced myself to finish the film.

Dragonfly Boy (2021)

A Likeable film ..with temptations to fast forward.

[7/10 · 14 November 2021]

A nice film about the acceptance of orientation and of coming out. I tried to really like it more and was tempted to fast forward. This film is probably most interesting to younger adults, perhaps under 35yrs. The cinematography does have an air of a school project and the actors were good but do appear not very experienced. If you can overlook some of the soliloquize philosophical-like dialogue about one's orientation, the film is quite good. There are a lot of these cliche conversations to tempt one to fast forward. Do not read below, I may have over analyzed it.

The storyline revolves around a young man Graham, 21yr old, and his struggles of acceptance of being gay and of coming out. He has several conversations with one particular friend, Dahlia. The conversations to me sounded just so scripted. There is a beach scene where each of them appear to be delivering a philosophical dissertation on being one's self and acceptance of yourself without mentioning the word gay. The word gay isn't spoken until the film climaxes at the point where he does come out to Dahlia. On reflection I can see that this was most likely intentional by the director given the subject matter of the main character. Even after this scene Graham still does not use the word gay when he breaks up with girl friend. Instead he says, .. I like men the way I'm suppose to like women. Probably the best line of the film. Another quirky small story line is how is it he falls for the Filipino Asian, Connor. He met Connor only twice. Connor get kicked out of the family for his orientation and goes to Graham for solace. Given the story location of Maine, I looked it up to be 94% white and 1% Asian, the chances of these two meeting in a small town seem so unlikely. Is this the attempt of diversity for the film for 2021. In the film Alice his room mate says she is his best friend in a heated conversation yet there is hardly any dialogue between them. One last quirk is why does Graham have no male friends. Is this somewhat a stereotype of a young gay man. The ending is cheesy, perhaps this is a good afterschool special of a film.

Groupers (2019)

Complete mess of a film...writing a review was the only reason to watch to the end.

[2/10 · 30 October 2021]

The start of the film showed some promise despite the painful poor acting. I must be in the wrong frame of mind because nothing of the film is humourous. The first half revolves around a revenge and an avenging for homophobic bullying revealed in the most ridiculous scenario. Then three characters are introduced, one of the three is relatively intelligent. The original premise of the film begins to shift. After 20min of these clowns, another three characters are introduced, again one of three has a sense of intelligent. The introduction of these six characters shifts the film to the acting out of stereotyped derogatory cliched characteristics of society. The baseline of homophobia is reintroduced near the end of the film. I thought it was going to resolve with the original two male leads. The film is absolutely incohesive and just so choppy and poorly executed.

Homewrecker (2009)

This so bad ,... but good enough to kill time on.

[4/10 · 27 October 2021]

There are three leads in the film. The main lead is so bad an actor, makes me wonder if this guy is acting bad or really as bad as he appears to be. His over acting is to the point of being annoying in parts of the film. He virtually spoils the film. The two other leads were passable, a bit overacted. The supporting cast is your typical fill of campy gays. If you follow the film series Eating Out, you will recognise the female actor playing a similar character.

Overall the film is OK if you overlook the main lead. Typical campy gay film. Accept it for what it is and have 1hr40min to kill. Not so bad that I would be compelled to fast forward.

Rounds (2008)

The end makes up for the beginning.

[8/10 · 25 October 2021]

The film was a challenge for me perhaps because I don't relate to having jock like buddies. I didn't understand constant reference to the basketball games until towards the end. The story lines of each of the three leads are perhaps stereotyped average guys. One guy appears to have slept with every girl possible, one guy is in a relationship experiencing issues, and the last guy is having a tough time getting work. There is also one character that briefly comes into a couple scene that I just didn't understand until the end. He also had this weird mouth when he spoke. The way the film progressed I almost gave up, until an hour and half into it there is a slight twist then the jarring end to the film. Even though I made a few fast forward clicks the last 30 min makes up for the long film. Quite a powerful film.

Glamour Dolls (2016)

The inconsistent poor acting is very distracting

[4/10 · 23 October 2021]

A somewhat interesting film. There is something about the flow of the film that made the film off. The storyline of one of the two leads played by a British actor seem plausible and decent. The second lead actor however, was consistently distracting. It appears that he sometimes tries a fake British accent, sounding quite American. Then at other times he sounds like a foreigner with a British accent that cant be pinpointed. One can tell there were breaks in the filming because this actor returns on different scenes with a stronger accent then reverts to sounding American. This coupled with poor acting was very distracting. His most convincing part was at the emotional end of the film. I was momentarily emotionally captivated by this scene. There were so many actors trying too hard to be actors. It was very challenging to overlook this to reach the end of the film. The film is a long 2hrs. The premise of the film is interesting, the script and acing for the second lead was poorly executed.

Phoenix (I) (2006)

There are soap operas better than ths...

[3/10 · 21 October 2021]

IMDb lists the film as colour but I viewed in black and white. The film opening in black and white looked promising and intriguing. In the end, what a stupid film it is after all. A young guy, Dylan, celebrates birthday with his older boyfriend with hopes of being his forever boyfriend. Boyfriend disappears so Dylan decides to look for him in Phoenix. Turns out boyfriend is married to a guy. Young guy and married guy are a bit distraught but end up hooking up. Married guy has a meltdown, young guy decides to leave. The whole premise is just ridiculous, and the film ends like a real bad soap opera. The acting was equally bad, a little over dramatic in parts, and they throw in a gay couple, old married geezers in an open relationship. The film ends with young guy driving away with a hint of smile, I guess to show he learned a life lesson, the married guy is left feeling tormented. Can it be any worst than this. Watch the film only if you are curious or bored.

Blue Citrus Hearts (2003)

Thank goodness this is not a polished Hollywood film

[8/10 · 17 October 2021]

There appears to be many negative critiques and critics of the film for its film quality and production. Once you overlook this you may realise in the end it actually adds to the somber tone of the subject of adolescent life in the era of the film. At first I did find the motion of the camera distracting and disturbing but once the film develops into the set of a small town rural setting pre cell phone days it adds to the story.

I am glad I watched this film. It does capture the essence of high school life and adolescence, the relationships, the pressures of being popular or unpopular. The home life of each family is well portrayed, The escapades of the the main characters were well done. The actors playing Paul and Jilien were excellent at portraying the internal turmoil of their characters. Certainly brought back memories for me. The film really looked like it was done with a home video camera. This gave it such realism for the era of the film.

Those who lived a life such as this film, where home is not ideal, may find the film quite emotional, perhaps even endearing in the end. Its probably difficult for those did not live this to identify with the film, hence the many harsh critiques. If the film was polished Hollywood style it would completely lose its emotional relatable depth. As I said, the hand held camera nature of the film really brings one into the retro pre cell phone time of the film. If have to give one critique it would be the dialogue of the girlfriend, I'll blame it on the poor script not just bad acting.

Henry Gamble's Birthday Party (2015)

24hrs before Sunday....

[5/10 · 16 October 2021]

The film opens with two kids in bed on a sleep over. The title of the film leads you to think the story will be about Henry. The title should have been 24hrs before Sunday church. As I watched I wondered if this is what a non secular Christian life is like. I've known a few pastors and church going people. The film is littered with saccharine stereotypical Christian thoughts and lines. Why exactly is there a Black kid in the story. He also seem to have your typical step parent of a family. Watching him reminds me of myself being the only nonwhite family in the community as a child.

In terms of character development of Henry, there is very little. Instead we get the revealing of the many flaws of each character in the family and friends in this weekend party. It was nicely percolated but lead to nowhere except that life is not perfect. There is virtually no development of Logan the Black kid, he floats around in the film. Henry occasionally makes eye contact in his direction. The young girls talk about one of the gay hookup at church school, such the shocker. I thought Henry had his eyes on one of the other boys. What was the reason for having the boy with the mental illness other than creating drama. After 80min of drama the film end with Henry and Logan in bed, is he going to have the same dialogue as the start of the film. As I watch the film I wonder how a Christian person would view it. It seems just so stereotypical white Christian, what is the writer or producer trying to portray.

The Accompanist (2019)

Resist temptation to watch

[1/10 · 16 October 2021]

Absurd storyline and premise. Why would a young dancer go for a 50yr old, then bounces back and forth to jealous boyfriend. The old guy is gifted with a special power, give me a break. We learn about boyfriend's upbringing towards end of film. The acting is barely tolerable, particularly the actor portraying Brandon. Sadly he's not even good looking to make it forgivable. The dramatic sound track at the end of the film is just so overdone. I fast forwarded several times, my curiosity for a better end was denied with such a disappointing close to the film. Really a complete waste of time.

Pit Stop (2013)

To many story lines.

[4/10 · 9 October 2021]

This was an interesting film with too many story lines of supporting characters. Throughout the film one questions the point of the two leads, how are they going to connect. It does give a decent sense of small town Texas. The film reveals who the two main characters are but their development seem to lead to nowhere until the last 15min when they actually meet. Not much substance between the two which I guess makes the title of the film appropriate. It wasn't a complete bore as I did not fast forward. As someone else noted, foreign films would do much better with this subject matter. American film throw everything into the stock pot and expect a great film.

Lady Peacock (2014)

Just a funny film

[8/10 · 20 September 2021]

Just a fun film. If you're looking for a polished production, you will need to lighten up. Not the best acting. The drag lip sync and sound track makes this fun. I wonder if these guys had fun making the film. I'm sure the audience was also a sound track, at least that's what it sounded like. Total cliché gay film.

At the End of the Day (2018)

Painfully cheesy

[4/10 · 14 June 2021]

If this was a maple tree it would run out of sap. So much stereotypical LGBTQ issues and church homophobic issues I wanted to fast forward but held off. The best part of the film was the back story to one of the characters at 1:30hr into the film. The main character should have been gay, but then that would have made it even more predictable. The subject of the ending of the film was good.

The subject matter of the film is good, the writing and cheesy acting made it almost unbearable. The cinematography is better than many low budget films.