Trailer: PRINCE OF PERSIA

CRUSH

Director: Michael J. Saul
Stars: Stephen Tyrone Williams, Sean Edwards, Nick Endres, Rob Westin, Jorge Diaz, Marc Siciliani, Dennis Yeap, Kyle Fain
Year: 2009
Rating: N/R

I was fortunate enough to find the trailer for this sweet 2009 independent film (due for release on DVD in April 2010) online, quite by accident, and emailed director Michael J. Saul for a screener for the express purpose of reviewing the film for this blog. That was how much the trailer got to me, and I'm glad to say the film lives up to the promise of the preview; Crush is an effective take on various stages and stories of gay romantic love ... with just enough sensuality to keep things down to earth, as well.

Michael J. Saul tells four stories here, each about twenty minutes or so in length, and the first - "Don't Ask" - deals with the struggle of a young interracial couple, Cameron (Stephen Tyrone Williams) and James (Sean Edwards), who have been together for four years ... even if much of that time has been spent with Cameron overseas fighting in the war. The short film opens with Cameron on a short leave, where he both re-establishes his love and home with James, as well as fends off a war protester in a local bar, who insists on knowing why he continues to fight for an unnecessary war. "Don't Ask" concentrates more on the relationship of the two men, who strive to get in as much time as they can together before Cameron's deployment, and though the film seemed a little on the short side for me, for the mood it was trying to create, what I loved about it was the simple idea it conveyed to viewers: that gay men love just as deeply, and hurt just as much, as anyone else when they send their loved ones back to war, living in fear of whether that person will ever again return. It's a touching tale with no real resolution - much like in the real lives of those in similar situations today.

"Bloodline" opens with a young, cute guy named Gerald (Rob Westin) - a goth boy with pale skin and dark eyeliner - who finally confronts the handsome Asian guy in his class, Christian (Nick Endres), whom he feels has been eyeing him for too long. Goading him into making a move at last, Gerald learns very quickly that Christian is, indeed, interested in him - and that the tall, sensual, good-looking guy also happens to be a vampire. The two become an item, but naturally have to hide not only their relationship but Christian's even-bigger secret from the world ... even as Gerald contemplates where their future together lies, in a short that I only wish had gone on a bit longer; while Westin and Endres are both very convincing and affecting as new lovers (Endres, in particular, doing a terrific job playing the tragic yet sensual kind of vampire Brad Pitt did so well in Interview with the Vampire), I found myself wishing that the film had had more time to devote to the building of their relationship - though, in the end, you can most definitely see where things are going.

The third tale - "Strokes" - is a well-written tale of hero worship that works beautifully, thanks to a great script and a particularly effective performance by actor Jorge Diaz. Diaz - handsome as hell and more than vaguely resembling Mario Lopez, only Diaz's acting chops are sharper - plays art student Michael Lopez, a college kid who has just had the immense good fortune of landing an internship with a painter whose work he's admired all his life, the reclusive and eccentric Robert Brooks (Marc Siciliani). Lopez is soon in for a rude awakening, however, when he learns that Brooks is also somewhat of a prick; a true genius on canvas who treats those around him either like minions or dirt (or both), and soon shatters Michael's hero worship feelings ... even as his aggressive behavior and sheer talent turns Michael on sexually like he's never been turned on before. Siciliani, the irascible painter Robert Brooks, does an excellent job in this piece, fully making you believe in his character - but the film really gives Jorge Diaz a chance to shine, as he creates a complex and wholly believable character viewers will both sympathize with and root for.

And lastly, there is "Breathe" - the fourth and most touching of the stories, beautifully written and narrated by director Michael J. Saul. Identifiable with anyone who ever fell in love for the first time as a teenager, "Breathe" stars Dennis Yeap as a quiet, keeps-to-himself young gay teen who happens to be in love with the most beautiful, popular boy in the school, played by Kyle Fain. Told without dialogue (but, instead, with lyrical voice-over narration throughout by Saul, as Yeap's character), the film chronicles the absolute ache of the main character, as he falls in love with the perfect boy - then has to deal with the extra pain of having the boy's parents become friends with his, so that the two teenagers are thrown together on a camping trip ... Yeap's character so in love, it hurts to even be in the presence of his object of desire. Saul himself, in an interview found on the DVD extras, admits that "Breathe" is very much autobiographical - based, in fact, on his own experience of falling in love as a boy - and the emotional punch is there throughout the entire film, in the visceral writing Saul infuses the images with, as well as the heart-on-his-sleeve intensity (again, with no dialogue) that young Yeap gives to his angst-ridden character ... as Fain's golden boy remains (seemingly) blissfully unaware of his new-found friend's feelings for him (Fain will be many the object of crushes from those who watch this film; he truly is a beauty). "Breathe" is nothing short of a masterpiece, containing some of the most heartfelt, genuine writing I have ever seen in a film dealing with the innocence and heartbreak of first love, and if the other three stories in this anthology had all sucked beans (and they don't), "Breathe" alone makes the DVD a must-purchase - particularly for any gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered person with an ounce of romance in his or her soul.

Crush works on many levels. And even if a bit uneven, each of the short films included shines a different kind of light on gay love today. More importantly, for those not gay and viewing the film, it should also shed some light on the fact that love IS love, no matter the gender of those doing the loving. The fact that Saul has put together a young, very talented interracial cast of young actors for each short film also speaks of the fact that race matters as little as gender ... when, as the Beatles so aptly said, "love is all you need." A beautiful film. **** - Reel Awesome

Trailer: CRUSH

"Crush" Preview Trailer from michael saul on Vimeo.

Trailer: MARY AND MAX

MOUTH TO MOUTH

Director: Manuel Gomez Pereira
Stars: Javier Bardem, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Josep Maria Flotats, Maria Barranco
Year: 1995
Rating: R

One of Javier Bardem's earlier films - and a terrific (and pretty sexy) caper comedy with some real twists in the tale you don't begin to see coming, Mouth to Mouth (Boca a Boca in Spanish) tells the story of actor wannabe Victor Ventura (Bardem), a down-on-his-luck actor who has moved to Madrid for fame and fortune as an actor, delivering pizzas on the side as he scrambles for parts.

Victor has a lady agent who believes in him almost as much as he does, and in fact pushes for Victor to stay in Madrid, early on in the film, when his delivery bicycle is stolen and he can no longer do his job. It seems a major American film is coming to shoot, in part, in Madrid, and they are seeking authentic Spanish actors - in particular, for the suave and charismatic male lead that would be the perfect role for Victor.

So unemployed and broke, in order to stay in Madrid (at least until the big audition), Victor is forced to take a job with a local phone sex service. Though fiercely heterosexual, Victor's new job has him making love - over the phone - to dozens and dozens of horny, lonely men ... one, in particular, named Bill who becomes Victor's best customer, calling all the time. As Victor's pay is determined by the amount of time he keeps each caller online, Bill alone is a goldmine for Victor, and he puts up with the calls and admiration to support himself.

But when, on one evening shift, Victor gets a call from a sultry-voiced woman named Amanda (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), the young actor finds himself so turned on, he talks her into meeting him in person - a move that could cost him his job, not to mention seriously complicate his life.

Sure enough, Amanda does just that; after one night of pretty amazing sex, Victor finds himself pretty much in love with her. Amanda doesn't seem to return the affection, at first - but soon not only comes to admit her feelings for Victor, but also has a big confession to make: she is the wife of Bill, Victor's biggest phone sex client, and has gone behind Bill's (whose real name is Ricardo) back to call Victor herself. Further, now that she's met and is falling for Victor, she needs his help.

See, Amanda wants to divorce Ricardo and get custody of the children - but Ricardo is both wealthy and powerful, and will make the custody battle especially very difficult for her. So what Amanda proposes, instead, is that Victor talk Ricardo into a face-to-face meeting as he did her ... then take Ricardo to bed and seduce him, while a hidden camera will take photos of the two of them and secure some great blackmail in Amanda's quest to get both alimony and the children.

At first Victor - needless to say - balks at the idea, but when Amanda stresses that he won't actually have to do anything with Ricardo, except perhaps kiss (the fact that Ricardo is half-naked with another man, in bed, will be enough), that and the reality that he and Amanda can be together afterward convinces Victor to give her crazy plan a try. Victor indeed meets up with the very nervous, overly-cautious Bill/Ricardo (Josep Maria Flotats), in a funny attempt at seducing the married, closeted man ...

But things go a bit awry from there, when a sinister-looking man enters the apartment with a gun, determined to kill both men ... and suddenly Victor and Ricardo both are flung (along with the plot) in a hilariously all-new direction, as nothing ends up what it seemed to be, and struggling actor Victor Venture finds himself on the run with a hired killer after him - without a single clue as to why, and as his audition for what could be the biggest break of his career draws near.

Mouth to Mouth is funny, charming, suspenseful, sexy, and full of quirky characters that drive a very well-thought-out plot. Bardem is pitch-perfect as the hapless yet sexy Victor - a potential leading man if he doesn't blow it with a sex scandal, or by getting himself killed - and the supporting cast that follows him is equally good, and equally funny. The film never bogs down in slapstick, keeps a great pace that will have you guessing throughout, and never goes too far to either stereotype or parody in dealing with the "gay thing" of either Ricardo's character or Victor's job. It's also a wonderful testament to Bardem's flair for comedy - as well as a nice peek into the early work of a truly gifted actor. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See

SUPERMAN RETURNS

Director: Bryan Singer
Stars: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden, Parker Posey, Frank Langella, Sam Huntington, Kal Penn
Year: 2006
Rating: PG-13

Having been both a fan of Christopher Reeve and the original Superman films (well, at least the first two films), I was kind of both resistant - even as much as I like Brandon Routh - and curious to see Superman Returns. Especially having heard both good and bad things about not only the film, but Brandon Routh's performance.

The performance I had no problem with; Routh very nicely fills the shoes left behind by Reeve, both physically and in acting chops. As written, Clark Kent and Superman are both all-American(ized) boy scouts out to help/save the world, and neither character has really been developed in the same way of those of darker background/origin like Batman or Spider-Man. Superman is a bit of a goody-two-shoes, the supreme boy scout, and he's no less here ...

Once he gets back to Metropolis, that is. See, Superman has been away for a number of years, revisiting what remains of his home planet of Krypton; sort of trying to "find himself" and his purpose in it all. His departure was evidently without so much as a goodbye to the city - or to his one true love, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth, totally miscast in - and too young for - the role), who gets so hocked off at being ditched by the Man of Steel, she writes an article for The Daily Planet entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman" that wins her the Pulitzer Prize. Indeed, by the time Superman returns to earth/Metropolis - just in time to save Lois' butt again, no less - not only has Miss Lane moved on, she's also the mother of a young son, and has a hunky long-term boyfriend name Richard (James Marsden), the nephew of the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Perry White (Frank Langella).

Superman watches the happy little family from afar, still pining for Lois and trying to figure out how to get her to at least forgive him for leaving her ... even as the evil Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey), having bilked a dying widow out of her fortune, is now using his millions to invest in a scheme to not only find Superman's crystallised home base on earth - but to also use the superhero's own strengths against him, by using the crystals to form new land masses on earth, rising from the depths of the sea. Land that will push out and destroy the current continents and countries, killing billions of people and leaving Luthor (literally) in charge of a whole new world forged on planet Earth. It's an ambitious plan, and when Lois accidentally stumbles across it and gets captured by Luthor and his gang, Superman's investment in saving not only the world but the woman he loves bumps up the suspense.

Or, at least, it should. While not as "action-packed" as its previous incarnations with Reeve, that's okay; the story and plotlines here are more cerebral anyway, and that's not the film's flaw. But with that mentioned, it has to be said (for me, at least) that this film just dragged on and on for me, revealing too slowly what Luthor's big plot was. I also found myself a little irritated when no major explanation was made for why Superman suddenly left - or how no one thought it was a big deal when Clark Kent was suddenly able to get his job back at The Daily Planet, with no explanation, when he popped back up in town at the same time. Parker Posey, as Luthor's sidekick chick Kitty, is given extraordinarily little to do - and has one nonsensical scene with Superman himself that comes off more silly than funny; other than that, she's relegated to a lot of dramatic looks and whining in the film, and is overall such a passive character you could almost dismiss her entirely.

Luthor's vision is as ugly and brutal as he is, and though Spacey definitely gives the character a lot more dimension and depth than even Hackman did in the Reeve films, it all feels a bit wasted in what results in a ridiculous scheme that, when things finally do start to happen, may well have viewers asking themselves, "He went to all this trouble for this?!"

The film also gets ugly and dark in the last third, both figuratively and literally, and there's a plot point/twist in the film that I won't reveal here - but to me, made me more than unsettled that director Bryan Singer and the scriptwriters took quite that much liberty with such an iconic character (at least, on film).

It was also unsettling to feel as if you've come in on a sequel, when you'd never seen the first film. The opening credits of Superman Returns will have you more than a little nostalgic for the Reeve films ... but as the movie goes on, the pervasive feeling is that you're watching characters (and actors) that have that sort of familiarity to you, because you've seen the same situations before - yet feel totally alien, because you've never dealt with these actors playing these characters before. It's as if Singer was trying to pick up where the original franchise left off, to a degree, without a glitch - yet you can't help but feel the glitch when no one on-screen feels familiar in that character's skin. Sorry, it's hard to explain, but for me that element - the feeling that the film was trying to "pass off" these actors as the same characters played by Reeve, Margot Kidder, etc. - was just jarring enough to make the film seem off-kilter.

Ultimately, after two hours and thirty-four minutes, the film was just an over-long, one-note disappointment that left me tired and feeling more than a little unsatisfied. I know, in the age of the Dark Knight and Spider-man vs. Venom, that superheros on film have turned to their darker roots of origin for a more intriguing and three-dimensional story.

But there was always something a bit joyous about Superman. Perhaps the Americana he represented, or his innocence at coming from another world and only wanting to save this one. But none of that joy is in this film, which is overall too dark and too bleak ... and, in the end, not all that cerebral. ** - Reel Mediocre

THE BAT

Director: Crane Wilbur
Stars: Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon, Lenita Lane, John Sutton, Harvey Stephens
Year: 1959
Rating: N/A

Famous mystery writer Cornelia van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) has rented a rented out a lovely country home called The Oaks in which to write her latest novel. Staying there only with her assistant and the bare bones of staff she was able to hire locally, it means nothing to Cornelia to learn that the house was - in the past - the scene of some brutal murders committed by a criminal only known as The Bat; to her, this is even more fodder for her writing, even if the home's legend has handicapped her a bit in finding more local people willing to work for her there.

Meanwhile, the current owner of the home, bank president John Fleming (Harvey Stephens), is on a hunting trip with his friend, Dr. Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price), when he confesses to Wells that he's embezzled over a million dollars from his bank in negotiable securities, and wants Wells' help in faking his death (in exchange for half the money) so he can get away with his crime. When Fleming confesses, however, that he's hidden the money somewhere in The Oaks, Wells kills Fleming instead, determined to find that money and keep it all for himself.

And soon The Bat is back, face covered with a dark cloth and clutching a large, claw-shaped weapon in his hand as he stalks those living at The Oaks in search of (presumably) the million dollars. Soon another murder occurs in the home, revealing to Cornelia's sleuthing mind that the money is hidden somewhere in the house, and though at first viewers of the film will just assume The Bat is Dr. Wells, the film goes through a few twists and turns, until you're unsure of just WHO the villain is ... or who his next victim may be.

Call it corny or sometimes even melodramatic - this film is a lot of fun. Agnes Moorehead, terrific in everything she touches, is no less terrific here with the B-movie script, and Vincent Price adds the perfect blend of menace and humor to the film as Dr. Wells. Even through the story's holes and the occasional character doing something that seems a little illogical, the film holds up with some truly suspenseful moments, and a satisfying ending that will keep you guessing the identity of The Bat until the very end.

This was the kind of Saturday afternoon movie you'd eat up on TV as a kid, fun and suspenseful, and you should enjoy it no less now. B-movie making at its best. *** - Reel Cool