Phoenix (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)PHOENIX is the third feature by Michael D. Akers as a director and writer (here sharing the credits with Sandon Berg) and as with his other two features 'Matrimonium' and 'Gone, But Not Forgotten' there is a sense that Akers knows how to tell a good story, a story based on universal themes but just happening to be using gay characters to explain a similarity in all manners of love whether they be straight or gay.
LVN Dylan (Chad Bartley) is celebrating his 23rd birthday by setting his apartment with flowers and dinner, expecting his love of one year to arrive for the surprise. The love is Ken (Gaetano Jones) who arrives late and barely notices the setting, giving Dylan a clay vase as a gift and then telling him he must dash off to Phoenix for a failing real estate deal. Dylan is hurt then angry and breaks his gift, sending Ken off to Phoenix in a miff. Sorry for his behavior Dylan takes the money enclosed in a Birthday card from his folks and flies to Phoenix to apologize to Ken. But surprises arise in Phoenix: Ken is missing, Dylan traces the broken vase to discover chef/ceramist Demetrius (Jeff Castle) and learns that Ken and Demetrius have been partnered for seven years! Neither Dylan nor Demetrius is pleased with Ken's lying and cheating but they gradually admit to finding solace with each other and spend time together, including a physical encounter that leads to others as the two prolong Dylan's stay. How the love triangle is broken but remains influential is the resolution of the story.
Akers has the sensitivity to not make the story have the happy-wappy Hollywood ending: he also has the talent to capture love encounters in a very sensual way. The actors are all attractive men and given the lack of prior experience each has had, they offer fairly strong performances - especially Chad Bartley. The film is desperately in need of editing as there are extraneous scenes galore (the landscape scenes are far to brightly sun drenched for the desert locales captured. But in the end the film is successful in that it does present the joys, trials, and disappointments in love relationships in the gay community that could have easily been in a straight character movie - and that is refreshing! Grady Harp, March 07

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Two Brothers and Two Others Review

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(More customer reviews)"'Two Brothers' and Two Others" is a DVD with three very different movies on aspects of contemporary gay life.
The feature film, "Two Brothers", is a micro-budget, black and white relationship drama with comic interludes set mostly in beautiful Vancouver, BC.
Producer, writer, director, and cameraman Richard Bell was took four actors, one voice, one editor (Dennis Tal), and one sound person (Paul Moniz de Sa) and $545 Canadian dollars to create this hour-long film. With these limited resources, one must overlook items like graininess, the spartan gay bar, and some stray street or airplane sounds and instead look to the script and acting. (The sound and music were actually pretty good, considering.) The money was so tight, even getting a pizza was worth a mention in the fine commentary track provided in the extras.
"Two Brothers" begins with younger brother Riley (21, played by Norbert Orlewicz) giving the eulogy at his mother's funeral. He settles the estate behind the scenes and then drives from Ashcroft, BC, to the apartment of his older brother Chad (Cody Campbell) in Vancouver. Along the way Riley picks up hitchhiker Gavin (Kevin MacDonald) who is also going to Vancouver. At Chad's place, Riley meets Chad's girlfriend Tobie (Karen Rae). We learn that Riley is gay. Later the group goes out to a gay bar where Gavin reappears and makes himself agreeable to Riley. Old family stories come out. When the brothers' strict father died, Chad moved away, leaving Riley alone to care for their sick, unstable mother. Gavin says he's eager and disease-free, but Riley has fears. Tobie acts as catalyst for everybody. Playful gay sex scenes; romantic straight ones. Twists, turns, and a mostly plausible ending. (The Riley-Gavin resolution needed work.) There is a summation in the voice of the dead mother Ruth Adamson (Wendy Vitter), taking a modified version of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 paired up with past scenes.
The story is engaging, and the characters are appealing. Extras include a trailer, out-takes, photos, director (including Tal and Rae)'s commentary, and a making-of short. Norbert Orlewicz does an especially good job of making Riley the key figure with a deft mix of light and serious touches.
"Birthday Time" has a bigger budget, more cast members, and color. Gay Topher (i.e., Christopher, played winningly by Cory W. Grant) wants desperately to be kissed before he turns 18 shortly. He doesn't quite manage it at school and gets himself kicked out of the bathroom of a gay bar. When his mother takes a trip to Pittsburgh, a classmate's father, Tom (well played by Simon Wolley), arrives as babysitter. Topher had seen Tom at the bar. Unexpectedly, Topher finds out what a real daddy does. Dressing, showering, and fantasy scenes provide eye-candy. Nicely ambiguous, happy ending. There is a behind-the-scenes and a photo gallery.
"Cruise Control" is a six minute elaborated joke set in a gay bar. The film illustrates the notion that some men may be great to look at, but as soon as they open their mouths... The beefy hunk first attracts and then repels several guys, until one figures out the magic, storied solution. For me the highlights were the comments made by the never-attracted Flotilla Debarge and Hedda Lettuce, playing Stall Queens. There are no extras to this short.

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