Gay-Friendly Blu-rays (1 Viewer)

[ptb2017fr]

Could somebody tell me how I change my occupation from Stunt Coordinator which I have never been and which is defining me on these forums. I am a retired Film Editor. Have had the odd crush on a stunt man but have never done any stunts or coordinated any!

 

[Paul Penna]

Could somebody tell me how I change my occupation from Stunt Coordinator which I have never been and which is defining me on these forums.

You can't. I'd like it if there was an option to opt out of the whole deal.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Anyone a fan of Downton Abbey? Based on Season One, Episode One, I thought there'd be more gay-themed content than there was throughout the run, but I still really enjoyed the show. I finally got around to seeing the film yesterday and have to say was very pleased (and surprised) with how Thomas Barrow's story arc played out. Rob James-Collier and Max Brown. Just WOW!!!

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, Thomas got the happy emotional ending he was denied at the end of the series (almost every other character found emotional fulfillment by the end of the television series except him).

 

[KeithDA]

Thomas got the happy emotional ending he was denied at the end of the series

He almost didn't - read to the end of this piece from the film's director... https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/michaelblackmon/downton-abbey-movie-director-gay-storyline

 

[ptb2017fr]

Yes, Thomas got the happy emotional ending he was denied at the end of the series (almost every other character found emotional fulfillment by the end of the television series except him).

The gay story line was the only good thing about the movie version. The rest of it was tired retread of the series which in itself ran out of steam a while ago.

 

[Matt Hough]

The gay story line was the only good thing about the movie version. The rest of it was tired retread of the series which in itself ran out of steam a while ago.

I disagree completely, but that's OK. To each his own.

 

[Joel Arndt]

He almost didn't - read to the end of this piece from the film's director... https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/michaelblackmon/downton-abbey-movie-director-gay-storyline

Yes, I had read that and pleased they left well enough alone.

I guess Rob James-Collier and Allen Leech who plays Tom Branson are good friends off set as well. Both straight, they're fun to watch in interviews together. Some interviewer joked that the ultimate coupling would be their characters, Barrow and Branson. Hmm!

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I had read that and pleased they left well enough alone.

I guess Rob James-Collier and Allen Leech who plays Tom Branson are good friends off set as well. Both straight, they're fun to watch in interviews together. Some interviewer joked that the ultimate coupling would be their characters, Barrow and Branson. Hmm!

LOL. It certainly would have fulfilled some of my fantasies....

 

[Kenneth_C]

Head's up!

End of the Century, the first feature from Argentinian director Lucio Castro, will be released on Blu-ray next month. It's available for pre-order at Amazon for $20.99.

I have not seen the film, but am blind-buying it based upon excellent reviews. IndieWire called it "the Best Gay Film of the Year" and it currently holds a 96% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.




While we're on the subject of Argentinian directors...

This week I watched the latest film from Marco Berger, The Blond One. (DVD only, unfortunately.) Slow-paced but well-acted, with minimal dialogue -- and sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. Definitely worth checking out if your tastes run to moody foreign dramas, long lingering looks, and scruffy guys.

 

[cinemiracle]

Head's up!

End of the Century, the first feature from Argentinian director Lucio Castro, will be released on Blu-ray next month. It's available for pre-order at Amazon for $20.99.

I have not seen the film, but am blind-buying it based upon excellent reviews. IndieWire called it "the Best Gay Film of the Year" and it currently holds a 96% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.




While we're on the subject of Argentinian directors...

This week I watched the latest film from Marco Berger, The Blond One. (DVD only, unfortunately.) Slow-paced but well-acted, with minimal dialogue -- and sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. Definitely worth checking out if your tastes run to moody foreign dramas, long lingering looks, and scruffy guys.

I saw THE BLOND ONE a few weeks ago and it Is brilliant. Not a boring moment in the film.My tastes do run to foreign dramas as they leave American gay dramas for dead. I also prefer European and Asian films.A pity that Americans can very rarely make a good gay film.

 

[ptb2017fr]

[

This week I watched the latest film from Marco Berger, The Blond One. (DVD only, unfortunately.)

Yes, I'm sick and tired of the number of good, interesting films available only on DVD in some territories. Why is this? With all televison sets being only made High Definition now why are manufacturers not encouraging more people to buy Blu Rays and invest on Blu Ray players? Most television is also now produced in High Definition yet many tv shows are only released on DVD! Why not make Blu Ray cheaper than DVD for a while to encourage people to switch up, or is the public really stupid. My sister actually told me she can't see the difference. I told her to get her eyes sight tested, then discovered she had bought a few years ago an HD ready tv, not an actual full HD one! But the whole Blu Ray release pattern is not encouraging, and with the market seemingly veering towards streaming rather than disc I despair. Streaming is fine if you live i a big city with strong reliable wifi and you can save things to a hard drive, but the majority of people don't have either capability.

There is a list of gay European films only on DVD I'm longing to see, but hate buying DVDs. Mario, Just Friends, Marvin, Beach Rats (not European but still only on DVD) Entre les Roseaux, Heartstone - an Icelandic summer, My Best friend (Spanish), Consequences, and Dutch film Jongens I've been waiting years to see a good copy of.

 

[ptb2017fr]

I saw THE BLOND ONE a few weeks ago and it Is brilliant. Not a boring moment in the film.My tastes do run to foreign dramas as they leave American gay dramas for dead. I also prefer European and Asian films.A pity that Americans can very rarely make a good gay film.

Have to agree. Europeans in particular have fewer hang ups when it comes to talking about sex, let alone portraying it on screen. Can't think of a single American movie outside of porn that has included an orgasm or a huge close up of an erection, things quite common in European cinema for some years now, and not frowned upon by anyone apart from the Catholic church which has seen it's influence shrink rapidly since the 1980s. Full frontal male nudity is common in French and German cinema too, with huge stars like Gaspard Ulliel stripping off on a regular basis when the story asks for it. Emotionally Europeans deal with sexuality in a very mature manner too.

 

[ptb2017fr]

They've translated this title as The Shiny Shrimps (should be Glittering) but this French comedy about a gay water polo team wanting to go to the Gay games but lacking a coach is very funny indeed. They recruit a highly regarded straight coach, played by a crush of mine Nicolas Gob, whose daughter pushes him into taking the job. So he has to come to terms with his own feelings about gay men as he of course slowly warms to the experience. Very entertaining. Again, on Blu Ray in France, but not elsewhere, as far as I can see.

No doubt there will be an appalling American remake soon!

 

[cinemiracle]

[

This week I watched the latest film from Marco Berger, The Blond One. (DVD only, unfortunately.)

Yes, I'm sick and tired of the number of good, interesting films available only on DVD in some territories. Why is this? With all televison sets being only made High Definition now why are manufacturers not encouraging more people to buy Blu Rays and invest on Blu Ray players? Most television is also now produced in High Definition yet many tv shows are only released on DVD! Why not make Blu Ray cheaper than DVD for a while to encourage people to switch up, or is the public really stupid. My sister actually told me she can't see the difference. I told her to get her eyes sight tested, then discovered she had bought a few years ago an HD ready tv, not an actual full HD one! But the whole Blu Ray release pattern is not encouraging, and with the market seemingly veering towards streaming rather than disc I despair. Streaming is fine if you live i a big city with strong reliable wifi and you can save things to a hard drive, but the majority of people don't have either capability.

There is a list of gay European films only on DVD I'm longing to see, but hate buying DVDs. Mario, Just Friends, Marvin, Beach Rats (not European but still only on DVD) Entre les Roseaux, Heartstone - an Icelandic summer, My Best friend (Spanish), Consequences, and Dutch film Jongens I've been waiting years to see a good copy of.

We all know that most blurays are superior in quality to that of dvds but surprisingly, a lot of people still only have dvd players. That is why dvds are available when a bluray isn't. It is also easier to sell dvds at markets but blurays seldom sell according to a friend who sells both format movies at markets. For low budget European/Asian movies it is unlikely that a bluray would be better than a dvd as regards quality. Blurays still occupy only a very small portion of the space allocated to dvds in shops. In Australia is is extremely rare that a gay dvd is available to buy in the shops.It is a matter of buying online from overseas or going without..

 

[cinemiracle]

Have to agree. Europeans in particular have fewer hang ups when it comes to talking about sex, let alone portraying it on screen. Can't think of a single American movie outside of porn that has included an orgasm or a huge close up of an erection, things quite common in European cinema for some years now, and not frowned upon by anyone apart from the Catholic church which has seen it's influence shrink rapidly since the 1980s. Full frontal male nudity is common in French and German cinema too, with huge stars like Gaspard Ulliel stripping off on a regular basis when the story asks for it. Emotionally Europeans deal with sexuality in a very mature manner too.

In Australia full frontal male and female nudity is allowed to be shown on free- to- air television after 9.30pm (could be 8.30 but unsure) but it is usually the Government owned tv channels that show it. One recent French series was called NUDE and the entire cast were naked..Set in the future when the wearing of clothes was illegal. A very funny series. The entire cast are full frontal the entire time. There are several American movies that had male erections: SHORBUS, DESCRICTED and the rarely seen KEN PARK - released on DVD in Russia many years ago and in English.A brilliant film starring Amanda Plummer and in which a guy is seen masturbating until he ejaculates. Only in the USA did CALL ME BY YOUR NAME have a restricted classification. Elsewhere anybody of any age could see the film. How backward is the American classification board.? I have been to a Korean bathhouse in Sydney and a Chinese bathhouse in Shanghai whereby you leave all of your clothes in your locker. Not even a towel is allowed to be worn..Same for public saunas in Sweden. On an overnight ferry ,back in the seventies, they even had female attendants in the Male sauna section. Naked men and clothed females.Nobody cared.Nudity is regarded as natural in Scandinavia..When in Russia in the seventies,I saw a female attendant in a public male toilet.

 

[ptb2017fr]

In Australia full frontal male and female nudity is allowed to be shown on free- to- air television after 9.30pm (could be 8.30 but unsure) but it is usually the Government owned tv channels that show it. One recent French series was called NUDE and the entire cast were naked..Set in the future when the wearing of clothes was illegal. A very funny series. The entire cast are full frontal the entire time. There are several American movies that had male erections: SHORBUS, DESCRICTED and the rarely seen KEN PARK - released on DVD in Russia many years ago and in English.A brilliant film starring Amanda Plummer and in which a guy is seen masturbating until he ejaculates. Only in the USA did CALL ME BY YOUR NAME have a restricted classification. Elsewhere anybody of any age could see the film. How backward is the American classification board.? I have been to a Korean bathhouse in Sydney and a Chinese bathhouse in Shanghai whereby you leave all of your clothes in your locker. Not even a towel is allowed to be worn..Same for public saunas in Sweden. On an overnight ferry ,back in the seventies, they even had female attendants in the Male sauna section. Naked men and clothed females.Nobody cared.Nudity is regarded as natural in Scandinavia..When in Russia in the seventies,I saw a female attendant in a public male toilet.

Stranger by The Lake was censored on Channel 4 tv in the UK with the orgasm removed and Sebastiane had the erection shot cut. Yet both films were shown well after the 9 p.m. watershed. The American movies you mention are art house when I was really thinking about more commercial releases. Even those big name American actors who take their clothes off, never turn round but just display bare ass. Like Armie Hammer in Call Me By Your Name. Kevin Bacon did a shower scene in the 90s in a movie whose name I can't recall now, but can't think of another actor of that calibre showing it all off. In Spain and France erections have featured in many movies, Sex y Lucia comes to mind, huge widescreen close up of a very large penis growing hard. Even Gaspard Ulliel shows off his impressive equipment in Les Confins Du Monde a recent huge hit here in France that has him taking a shower, then later when making love to a Vietnamese girl there is a brief erection shot! (Merci Gaspard who I adore, sex on legs!)He danced about naked in Saint Laurent, one of the biopics of the fashion designer made a few years ago, and seems to want to take his kit off in most of his movies! Not sure Russia these days would be as liberal as when you were there though. I mean according to Putin there are no gays in Russia, right? Same with Arab countries, and I lived in Morocco for a year, and have visited Tunisia and Egypt, and I can assure you Arabs and sex with men are not strangers!

 

[Tino]

The gay story line was the only good thing about the movie version. The rest of it was tired retread of the series which in itself ran out of steam a while ago.

Disagree 100%. I was riveted thruout the entire series and film. One of the best TV series ever.

 

[ptb2017fr]

Disagree 100%. I was riveted thruout the entire series and film. One of the best TV series ever.

Well you're American. British class society and the divide between servants and the wealthy aristocrats is of constant fascination. Not so for most of us Brits, and we have seen similar series before, Upstairs Downstairs in the 70s for example. The standard of writing on Downton was also not great as nobody expected series one, which was I admit very good, to be such a success, and Julian Fellowes was pushed into writing another series in a very short time. Diminishing returns followed as in all sequels. Perhaps Dan Stevens was right to jump ship when he did after all!

 

[Will Krupp]

Well you're American. British class society and the divide between servants and the wealthy aristocrats is of constant fascination.

According to Wikipedia, the series averaged approximately 10 to 12 million viewers per episode for its run in the UK so they must have been doing something that appealed to the home country, too.

Avg. UK viewers (millions)[3]
Series 1 7 26 September 2010 - 7 November 2010 9.70
Series 2 8 (+1) 18 September 2011 - 6 November 2011/25 December 2011 (special) 11.68
Series 3 8 (+1) 16 September 2012 - 4 November 2012/25 December 2012 (special) 11.91
Series 4 8 (+1) 22 September 2013 - 10 November 2013/25 December 2013 (special) 11.84
Series 5 8 (+1) 21 September 2014 - 9 November 2014/25 December 2014 (special) 10.40
Series 6 8 (+1) 20 September 2015 - 8 November 2015/25 December 2015 (special) 10.42

You don't like the show and that's fine, but there's no need to diminish an opposite but equally valid opinion with something as dismissive as "well, you're American."