Three films I saw at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2013 with gay male-related content – and my short reactions to them!**  There are mild spoilers. Pls. don’t read if you don’t want to be informed.

I Do

[youtube]http://youtu.be/HzJKp-BX4oo[/youtube]

“I Do” poses the question about what an attractive gay man must do if he’s to stay in the U.S. and get his green card once his visa extension has been denied. An interesting set-up where the man in question, Jack, (David W. Ross) has also been helping a female relative raise a young girl, which is given as the main reason he wants to stay in New York. (Honestly, thoughout the film, I’m thinking, who really would want to stay in such a hateful country with such antiquated rules and with no acknowledgment of GLBT relationships, etc., but I digress – but honey, I would be on the first plane out.)

So Jack marries his lesbian pal (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) who you know best as Meadow Soprano and less best as Turtle’s girlfriend in a season or two of Entourage. Needless to say, there are complications, not the least of which is the appearance of a serious but Euro-handsome Spaniard named Mano. So Jack is left to make some pretty important decisions about his future, and along with “Any Day Now” (below) I think the filmmaker Glenn Gaylord (and Ross as the writer) made the less obvious choice, and I like that. Also, of the three movies, Jack has the least gay-stereotypical day job, in that he’s a hardworking  photo-assistant type who longs to be a photographer in his own right, as opposed to (see below) working in a porno shop (Beyond the Walls) or being a drag performer (Any Day Now).

Beyond the Walls

[youtube]http://youtu.be/yT94GR_sYNQ[/youtube]

Okay, I’ve lived this movie. Not literally, but I’ve sure been the one who, at the beginning of a relationship, is not terribly interested, then becomes totally invested once the object of affection moves on. This film, about two gay men in Paris (Matila Malliarakis, Guillaume Gouix) by David Lambert felt real to me. I mean that in the sense that it was authentically about gay male relationships as I’ve known them throughout my life. From the instant, alcohol-fueled attraction, through the fantasmagorical lust phase, through the settling out of whether or not there is actually going to be a possibility of something lasting. To be honest, I really enjoyed that the younger character (Guillaume) seemed to want an older partner (hello, daddy!). Specifics are unique to this film and not my life, thank goodness, as they involve prison and drugs and melted candle wax (ouch). Well worth seeing, I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did. And, of course, it’s set in Paris, which gives it some at-the-outset romance.

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Any Day Now

[youtube]http://youtu.be/7ghwGOuuNy0[/youtube]

Honestly, I do believe that 50-75% of straight America must think that all gay men possess  this marvelous knack for dresses, makeup and drag performing – if the characters you see in gay movie after gay movie are to be believed! I don’t have that talent, but I do know some men in L.A. who do – but out of literally hundreds of acquaintances, I could probably count this bunch on one hand.

Okay. But we do know colorful, feisty characters are good for movies, and so it is with “Any Day Now,” where Alan Cumming plays the aforementioned Rudy. He’s hooked it up with idealistic lawyer Garret Dillahunt, and together they embark on a journey to adopt a neighbor boy with Down’s Syndrome, a boy (Marco) who’s abused by his drug addict mother and her male friends.

I found the movie (which is a period piece set in the late 1970s) tremendously entertaining, the set-up guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings, and I do give credit to the filmmaker Travis Fine who took us in some very unexpected directions.

** what, no snarky comments about these movies? What’s happened to you? Well, full disclosure, I work a temp gig with the Festival, so thought I’d not bite the hand that feeds. Plus, I have nothing but happy things to say about these 3 films. So STFU.