Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Fun in Boys' Shorts (2008)

Saturday, June 21, 11:00 am, Castro Theatre)
Sunday, June 29, 2:00 pm, Castro Theatre


Bongo Bong: a quiet gay man finally responds to his gossipy neighbors. Upbeat, amusing, recommended.

Babysitting Andy: "What does fellatio mean?" Two gay men babysit their 9-year-old niece, who will not take "when you're older" for an answer. The girl steals the show. Cute, highly recom­men­ded.

Hirsute: A man is in his study, poring over pages of equations, trying to solve the problem of time travel. He resolves to return to this place and time when he figures it out. Suddenly a notably less hairy version of himself appears. I love sci-fi and particularly time-travel stories, but this one was too weird and esoteric for me to recommend. No recommendation.

Silver Road: Two lifelong friends take a drive down the back roads. The rural closetedness, the impulsive attempt to connect, the awkward silence, are all palpable. Recom­men­ded.

Pat's First Kiss: an autobiographical animated account of the filmmaker's first kiss. Engaging story, but incredibly annoying animation. Not recom­men­ded.

Overstuff: two boyfriends are browsing the thrift store and get into a tiff. An annoying film about two annoying people having an annoying argument. Not recom­men­ded.

In the High School (En el Instituto): a teenaged boy knows what he wants and asks for it. The furtive glances are incredibly expressive, leaving no need for any more than the single line of dialogue. Highly recommended.

Screening Party: a journalist, tasked to write a review of Pretty Woman, gets together a group of friends to watch it together. The pace is frantic, and the film tries way too hard to be witty, ending up with a grand total of zero laughs and only a couple of tepid, half-hearted bemused smiles. I cannot express how glad I am that none of my friends is remotely like any of the characters in this film. Not recom­men­ded.

The Window: if you live in a gay urban area, you've probably seen some of your neighbors putting on impromptu "window shows," or at least read about them in Craigslist ads. The Window divides the screen into three panels, with subtly choreographed interplay among the men at the windows. A cute diversion from the filmmaker who brought us Chalk! Recom­men­ded.

"Fun in Boys' Shorts"

Bongo Bong, dir. Ken Wardrop, 2007 Ireland 5 min.
Babysitting Andy, dir. Pat Mills, 2007 Canada 11 min.
Hirsute, dir. A.J. Bond, 2007 Canada 14 min.
Silver Road, dir. Bill Taylor, 2007 Canada 13 min.
Pat's First Kiss, dir. Pat Mills, 2007 Canada 4 min. animated
Overstuff, dir. Keith Wilson, 2007 USA 8 min.
In the High School (En el Instituto), dir. Xavi Sala, 2006 Spain 3 min., in Spanish with English subtitles
Screening Party, dir. Chil Kong, 2007 USA 25 min.
The Window, dir. Philippe Gosselin and Ronald Regina, 2008 USA 6 min., no dialogue

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2 comments:

  1. 'Not recommended' for Screening Party? Way harsh dude !!! SP was fun ! the pacing was fine, and there were some clever lines. (the group i was with thought so when we talked at dinner)...so it ain't just me. Our impression: a + rather than -. (for some reason, this rating seems out of context with all your others .... ???) Fun little blog, you spoiler you. Just stumbled across you a little while ago while doing research on the festival...)

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  2. A comedy that didn't make me laugh once; that about sums it up. I'm glad you liked it, but it really didn't work for me.

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