Lloyd Neck: program guide: "Alex has a crush on her brother's friend Jesse, but Jesse likes Alex's brother Taylor." Cute, sweet coming out story, well written, well filmed, highly recommended
Dolls: (not to be confused with the feature of the same title) Thomas is roped into helping his mom with a garage sale. Not only does he have to spend the day working, she also makes him sell his dolls, but that's not the end of it. Exquisitely captures Thomas' character in only 10 minutes. MUST SEEThe Cousin (El Primo): Mark is visiting his older, tougher cousin Luís in Laredo; Luís decides Mark needs some help being a man, but it's not that simple for Mark. Recommended
Alonso's Deadline: A college professor and a young school janitor make eyes at each other. Well made, but insubstantial; recommended
Baggage: Martin's suitcase has started stalking him, forcing him to deal with some baggage from his childhood. Interesting premise, but I didn't feel it quite came together. No recommendation
Mars: program guide: "a short film about the passion, disappointment, and discrimination involved in love." Shot with a washed-out overexposed look, left me cold. No recommendation
Souljah: a fresh new short from the writer/director of Metrosexuality, an effeminate young man and his mother must run a gauntlet of drug-dealing thugs to cross the playground outside their apartment building, but the young man has a secret weapon. Highly recommended
The Young and Evil: an otherwise intelligent 18-year-old sets out on a mission: to get infected with HIV. You get a visceral sense of his troubled state and the abhorrence with which his would-be partner views his desire, but no real sense of why on earth he would want to get infected. Not recommended"The Young and Evil" (shorts program)
Lloyd Neck, dir. Benedict Campbell, 2007 USA 16 min.
Dolls, dir. Randy Caspersen, 2008 USA 10 min.
The Cousin (El Primo), dir. Nick Oceano, 2007 USA 16 min., in English and Spanish with English subtitles
Alonso's Deadline, dir. Mario Galarreta, 2007 USA 6 min.
Baggage, dir. Maxime Desmons, 2007 Canada 11 min.
Mars, dir. Jim Martin, 2007 USA 8 min. [not in IMDB]
Souljah, dir. Rikki Beadle-Blair, 2007 UK 10 min.
The Young and Evil (short), dir. Julian Breece, 2008 USA 15 min.
Technorati tags: The Young and Evil, Frameline32, LGBT Film
Oh, no! We completely flip on this one. If I could "Must See" two films they would be El Primo and Young and Evil. The former for it's sweetness and humor (and perhaps b/c I'm latina) and the latter for its boldness (though my heart was in my throat the entire time). I'd seen El Primo once before down here in my city, and still quite enjoyed the relationship between the two leads. The younger boy's vulnerability was heartbreaking. On the other hand, it was our first time seeing Young and Evil, and the raw fatalism of it all brought me to tears, as I've worked with young men gay men of color in my work. Not to mention it was quite beautifully filmed and acted. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a walk in the park, but this and Transforming Healthcare are the two short that I'd call "important," for their incisive social statement.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Lloyd Neck would perhaps come after these as Highly Recommended. It was very sweet.
I agree with your recommendation for Lloyd Neck and might even have given Souljah a MUST SEE. But I would only rate Dolls a Recommended.
ReplyDeleteI didn't care for Alonso's Deadline even though it was well done — the professor was just too creepy. The janitor seemed to have at least some reciprocating interest, but they barely seemed to connect to each other. I would have given it a No recommendation.
(I was referring to Linc's reviews. Libby posted between the time I read the blog and completed my own message.)
ReplyDeleteIt's not always clear how and why we (individually) relate or connect to different movies, but that's what makes life interesting.
Linc, if I don't see you in line could you save me a seat?
the young and evil is definitely a MUST SEE. The cinematography and acting was amazing, especially the opening scene. If you didn't catch it at FRAMELINE 32, you can catch it at http://OUTFEST.org on July 10th and 20th in Los Angeles at DGA.
ReplyDeletefilm website is here http://theyoungandevil.com and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1238780/