manila gay guy

The Pink Film Festival, coming to Manila’s Gateway Cineplex 10 on October 13-15 & 20-22, 2006, is featuring Boy Culture by Q. Allan Brocka (Eating Out).

I have not seen the movie but below are the synopsis and review I got off the web.

Also, the Manila organizers of the filmfest are looking for volunteers who can help — those interested you may contact Mr. Diondy Palagtiw of Mowelfund, through email [email protected] or by calling (+63-2) 4104545 or 7271961 loc 122.

Now, back to Boy Culture.

* * *

“Boy Culture is a fresh, playful film brimming with strong performances, a charismatic cast, and a witty, incisive voice,” said Raymond Murray, president of TLA Releasing. “We’ve always been strong supporters of Q. Allan Brocka’s work, and his newest film shows an invigorating, sleek style; very similar to a major studio film, in fact. He is a talented filmmaker and definitely someone who’s going to continue creating amazing work.”

Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Matthew Rettenmund and adapted to film by Brocka and Philip Pierce, Boy Culture is the candid confession of “X” (Derek Magyar), a male escort who gets romantically entangled with his two roommates, Joey (Jonathon Trent) and Andrew (Darryl Stephens of Noah’s Arc and Another Gay Movie), and a reclusive, elderly client, Gregory (Patrick Bauchau of Panic Room). But before Gregory will agree to sex, he tells an unsettling love story spanning 50 years and dares “X” to try something he hasn’t felt in years: emotion.

Producer Stephen Israel (Swimming With Sharks) said, “I’m delighted about our collaboration with TLA Releasing. Their dedication and passion in distributing films like Latter Days and Another Gay Movie shows that they are a company who knows how to handle a film like Boy Culture and will go the extra mile to make it a success.”
Boy Culture won the Jury Award for Best Feature at the 2006 Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the Jury Award for Best Screenplay at 2006 Outfest in Los Angeles.

* * *

From Variety, excerpted from a review by Ronnie Scheib:

A strong cast, formal visual style and cynical voiceover that propels the action help elevate this Seattle-set gay romp from the ranks of the stereotypical. Based on the novel by Matthew Rettenmund, Q. Allan Brocka’s sophomore feature wryly recounts a tragicomic dance of displaced desire as three roommates circle each other warily, uncovering layers of denial, defensiveness and role-playing. Too devoid of angst and too enmeshed in the ironies of gayness to cross over to a wide aud, “Culture” is nevertheless slick enough to assure niche release.
Hero-narrator X (Derek Magyar) is a 26-year-old hustler with a large bank account and an exclusive clientele of 12 (his “disciples,” as he sardonically calls them).

Avoiding non-monetary relationships like the plague, he is nevertheless attracted to his sexy black roommate Andrew (Darryl Stephens), who has not quite come to terms with his sexuality. Meanwhile, his other roommate, an outrageous teen twink named Joey (Jonathon Trent), is madly in love with X, while screwing anything that moves.

Latest elderly disciple, Gregory (the always-urbane Patrick Bachau) refuses to sleep with X until the desire is mutual. By denying a money-for-sex exchange, Gregory begins to break down the walls X has built around himself.

Thesping is excellent, all four of the main players able to infuse familiar types with believable emotions. Ably supported by Philip Pierce’s and Brocka’s screenplay, the actors intelligently incorporate defensiveness into irony. Magyar’s X smolders with repressed sensuality, and the attraction between his character and Stephens’ Andrew is so palpable as to render their difficulties almost comic.

Ultimately, what makes “Boy Culture” so likeable is its presumption of intelligence; no matter how idiotically a character behaves, helmer Brocka suggests a certain distance between how he acts and how he thinks. Ultimately, the characters’ true affections for each other are realized less by sentiment than through intellectual epiphany.
Amid pro tech credits, production design by Cecil Gentry, even at its campiest, possesses a cerebral quality. Tech credits are pro.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Movies & Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

 

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