B/P Movies Reviews and Links

Tom (Scott Speedman, from TV’s “Felicity”) has just found out that he’s HIV-positive. A married man who’s been living the “straight” life, Tom had sex once, years earlier, with a man named Dan (James Marsden), and now he’s on a mission to find him. His plan: kidnap Dan, take a blood sample and see if it comes back positive; if so, he’ll kill him. The stage is set for a supreme battle of wills in this drama based on Tony Piccirillo’s play.

After his beloved junkie bandmate (Franck Victor) dies in his arms, the distraught Antonin (Hubert Benhamdine) retreats into the seediest corners of Parisian nightlife, where he becomes a prostitute who inevitably falls for his clients. But another unlikely romance beckons when he falls for the beautiful but unbalanced Juliette (Caroline Ducey). Writer-director Hormoz’s provocative erotic drama also stars Christine Boisson and Hicham Nazzal.

In this dizzying French film starring Nathalie Richard, Cyrille Thouvenin and Vincent Martinez, three men and two women try to figure out what — and who — they really want. Christophe and Laurence both lust for Alain, who wants bad boy Marc. But Marc is eyeing Babette, so Alain works on Marc’s behalf to court Babette so he can befriend Marc. When Alain starts to fall for Babette as well, an already messy love chain grows even more entangled.

Helen (Renee Pietrangelo) and Mike (Vincent De Paul) travel to the island of Contadora for a romantic honeymoon. Upon arrival, the couple is greeted by charming Gabriel (Anthony Sago), a romantic dreamer in search of his true sexual identity, and the alluring threesome soon develop an intimate relationship. Exotic scenery heats up the sexual exploration in this steamy romp directed by Jorge Ameer.

[Jaman] Two men reflect on their lives as they reach their retirement years. One a former teacher and the other a somewhat infamous football hooligan, they wonder where the time went and how they became so old. Through their discussions, they make some startling revelations that cause them to face some of their demons. Maybe their lives aren’t ending after all. Maybe this is simply the start of a new chapter.

[IMDB] Young Tim Cornish’s life has begun with great promise. Blessed with extraordinary good looks, Tim enjoyed much attention and cared little of broken hearts. At University he was a favored student in a prestigious creative writing course, but a chance meeting, a stolen kiss and a sudden flare of passion sets Tim on a journey of betrayal, heartbreak and murder. In a flashback, he tells his story of cruelty, love and a soul-destroying guilt that offers little chance for redemption.

Two sheepherders — Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger) — meet and fall in love while working together near Wyoming’s Brokeback Mountain in 1963. Over the next 20 years, their lives take different courses: Jack becomes a rodeo cowboy while Ennis remains a ranch hand. Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid and Michelle Williams co-star. Ang Lee directs screenwriter Larry McMurtry’s adaptation of a short story by E. Annie Proulx.

When Elena discovers that her husband Alberto is having a passionate affair — with a man named Diego — Alberto tries desperately to convince Elena, and himself, that the affair was a mistake. But Alberto soon realizes that his feelings for Diego are real … and when Diego encourages Alberto to be true to himself and start a new life with him, this passionate triangle takes an unexpected turn.

In this comedy set in contemporary Dublin, Clara (Fiona O’Shaughnessy) is stunned when she finds her boyfriend kissing someone else (Fiona Glascott), setting in motion a string of romantic mishaps for the heartbroken woman and several other lovelorn characters. Marriage, casual encounters and everything in between are explored by this group of relationship-challenged people who ultimately just want the same thing: someone to call their own.

Born into an Indian expatriate family and raised in Glasgow, Nina (Shelley Conn) flees to London to avoid an arranged marriage. But when she returns home to run her family’s struggling restaurant after her father’s death, she discovers a new kind of love. Joining forces with the chef, Lisa (Laura Fraser), she works to win a cooking contest her father entered and save the restaurant. Soon, her blossoming feelings for Lisa take her by surprise.

After auto mechanic Vince Hopgood (Paul Hogan) learns that he must pony up a bundle in back taxes, he turns to longtime pal Ralph Williams (Michael Caton) for help. It seems there’s a new law granting retroactive tax breaks to gay couples, so the two men masquerade as homosexual mates to end Vince’s financial woes. But they may rue their decision when an auditor (Pete Postlethwaite) arrives to investigate their claim in this quirky Aussie comedy.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author (for The Hours) Michael Cunningham’s earlier novel about a troika of close friends who enter into an unconventional living arrangement gets deft treatment. Boyhood pals Bobby (Colin Farrell) and Jonathan (Dallas Roberts) both love the same woman (Robin Wright Penn), but in different ways (Jonathan is gay). Undaunted, they all try to make a life together — and even have a baby — in 1980s New York.

In this romantic comedy, a young pregnant woman named Marga (Emma Suarez) is grieving the loss of her boyfriend in a car accident. When her baby is born, she decides to reinvent her life after meeting a gay man named Inaque (Juan Diego Botto). Immediately, the two forge a special bond as friends, but they soon find there’s more to their relationship than just friendship in this film from directors Alfonso Alacete and David Menkes.

Gus Van Sant’s indie hit hones in on the friendship between Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves), two hustlers living on the streets of gritty Portland. Scott’s lifestyle is his way of embarrassing his rich, oppressive father; Mike, a narcoleptic who’s in love with Scott but maintains he’s straight, is content to struggle from day to day. Their relationship stumbles when they hit the road to find Mike’s mother and Scott falls for a woman.

Irish construction worker Johnny (Jimmy Smallhorne) seems to have settled into a new life in America — until the demons of his subconscious threaten to destroy everything. Working for his uncle (Chris O’Neill) by day and escaping into drugs and booze at night, Johnny soon finds his life spiraling out of control as he discovers his repressed bisexuality and is tormented by nightmares of his past. Winner of the Cinematography Award at Sundance.

When Jeffrey (Campbell Scott), a slick Hollywood studio exec, offers gay screenwriter Robert (Peter Sarsgaard) $1 million to transform a screenplay’s homosexual protagonists into heterosexuals, Robert takes the bait — and ends up sleeping in Jeffrey’s bed. But complications ensue when Jeffrey’s wife, Elaine (Patricia Clarkson), begins unraveling her husband’s secrets, with nail-biting consequences. Craig Lucas directs in his feature-film debut.

Ten years after British glam-rocker Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) fakes his assassination onstage and disappears from view, tabloid journalist Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale) is dispatched to deconstruct the legend of the bisexual pop star. In the process of interviewing Slade’s cohorts and colleagues, Stuart gradually strips away the veneer of makeup and glitz, revealing the empty core of both the man and the music.

Three friends from tragic backgrounds come to rely on one another in this poignant tale. To care for her dying mother, prostitute Stephanie (Stephanie Michelini) returns home, where she’s haunted by childhood memories. She’s joined by army deserter Mikhail (Edouard Nikitine), who relives the horrors of war, and hustler Jamel (Yasmine Belmadi), who longs to return to his family. To ease their pain, the three find comfort in one another’s arms. Note: contains nudity.

After breaking up with his boyfriend, rebounding college student Kyle (Jim Verraros) turns his attention to Troy, a handsome male model in his art class. Farm boy Troy claims to be straight, but an unconvinced Kyle decides to take him to a campus support group for “reformed” gays to find out the truth. Kyle’s silly attempts to prove that Troy is gay lead to a series of confusing hookups and farcical situations.

Twenty years after beloved comedy team Vince (Colin Firth) and Lanny (Kevin Bacon) split up, journalist Karen O’Connor (Alison Lohman) investigates the mystery behind the duo’s demise in this crime drama. Back in the 1950s, Vince and Lanny were the darlings of showbiz, but then a beautiful girl was found dead in their hotel room, and though both funnymen had alibis, their longtime friendship ended. Can Karen uncover the truth behind the tragedy?

John Duigan helmed this sexy film starring Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron as Gilda, a flighty-but-charming socialite who finds her true match in Guy (Stuart Townsend), an intellectual Irishman who wants to battle in the Spanish Civil War — and who convinces Mia (Penelope Cruz), Gilda’s confidante, to do the same. But Gilda has other plans that may, in the end, endanger her life more than supporting the war.

In this romance about the fluidity of love and sexuality, a writer and his female friend from college act on their growing attraction — despite the fact that they both have boyfriends. When bisexual travel writer Nathan (Cole Williams) invites Maggie (Amber Benson) to join him on assignment through romantic Napa Valley, the two carry on their affair free of their unsuspecting partners. But tangled feelings and commitment issues soon lead to discord.

Jovovich stars as Kat, a beautiful bad girl with a passion for guns and danger. Stuck in a life of crime and controlled by her ruthless, drug-dealing boyfriend Big Al (Macfadyen), she wants more than what he has to offer. When Kat starts making her own deals and Big Al’s sidekick (Dorff) professes his love for her, tensions rise and jealousy explodes. Desperate to start a better life, Kat knows revenge is the only answer. Now, she will stop at nothing to take down Big Al once and for all.

Liam Neeson provides a fascinating portrait of theorist and zoologist Dr. Alfred Kinsey, whose name has been associated with human sexuality ever since he interviewed thousands of people about their sex lives and released his findings in a groundbreaking 1948 book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. The book caused ripples in the scientific community and paved the way for further inquiry into the subject. Laura Linney and Peter Sarsgaard co-star.

An 18 year old boy named Peter who takes a journey through a conservative southern all-male university in order to discover himself. With the help of his roommate, Joe and his roommate’s girlfriend, Bess, Peter begins to explore more about himself and his values only to be crushed by those who love him. The path becomes blurred and treacherous and Peter learns that only by relying on the strength of strangers will he be able to heal himself. The decisions he makes when confronted with this new truth will affect him forever.

Director John Cameron Mitchell delivers an unbridled look at the New York City underground, focusing on a group of hipsters who frequent a downtown club renowned for its lascivious ways. Through graphic polymorphous sexual couplings — and using an ensemble cast composed largely of first-time actors — the film chronicles each character’s erotic journey of self-discovery in a raw and riveting fashion.

Stuck in a terrible job, recent college grad Art Bechstein (Jon Foster) struggles to enjoy the last summer of his youth. Things begin to look up when he meets a beguiling couple (Sienna Miller and Peter Sarsgaard) who show him a new side of his hometown, Pittsburgh, and of himself. But as he and his new friends get into increasingly intense situations, Art is forced to choose between family, friendship and love.

Gary (Thomas Jane) is a street hustler who’s just trying to make it to the next day. But a seismic shift occurs in his life when he meets Valentino (Vincent D’Onofrio), an actor in porn movies and even more of a castaway than Gary. In addition to their ever-precarious living situation, the budding relationship must contend with a free-spirited waitress named Mary Carmen (Salma Hayek), who’s Valentino’s girlfriend and never very far away.

Tired of sleeping with his young girlfriend and older female lover, bisexual Christos (Yannis Tsimitselis) hops into bed with Yiorgos (Akilas Karazisis), a bureaucrat who controls a plot of land belonging to Christos’ dysfunctional family. Of course, the homosexual liaison is just part of his brother-in-law’s plan to get the property back into the family’s hands … or is it? Nena Menti and Alexis Georgoulis also star in this Greek potboiler.