Endgame (NR – 2003 – 113 mins. – Drama/Thriller )
from Amazon.com…
Sex is currency. It commands power and can instill fear. Tom (Daniel Newman), a young man with a troubled past finds himself sucked into a seedy underworld by George Norris (Mark McGann), a now super villain with a sadistic streak. A helpless pawn in one of Norris’s narcotic scams with a bent cop, Dunston (John Benfield), Tom is dragged deeper into a vicious circle of blood money, vice and ruthless violence from which their seems no way out. Until fate gives Tom a glimmer of hope. When Norris is killed in his apartment, Tom seizes his chance to escape. Terrified and covered in Norris’s blood, Tom heads downstairs to his neighbours, Max (Corey Johnson) and Nikki (Toni Barry) his new friends in the city. With going to the police out of the question, Max and Nikki speed Tom to their desolate cottage deep in the Welsh countryside. With the luxury of space, Tom begins to realise a long-forgotten dream; a return to happier times before his innocence was shattered. Suppressed emotion flood back provoked by Tom’s attraction to Nikki, a beautiful women fascinated by Tom’s past. Yet how long can this last with Dunston desperate to hunt down Tom before he exposes the corruption ? It’s only a matter of time before his deadly past catches up with him again. But just how much is Tom willing to sacrifice…

from The Liberty Musings…
Slow to get going, this film does eventually deliver a good story about a rent boy caught up in circumstances beyond his control. Although resident rent Tom is not my type, and too young, I had a hot dream about him the night after I watched this movie!

Stars
Daniel Newman, Corey Johnson, Toni Barry, Mark McGann, John Benfield, See more

Drift (NR – 2000 – 86 mins.)
from Amazon.com…
At his agent’s party, Ryan, a young screenwriter, and Joel, Ryan’s boyfriend, meet Leo, an aspiring novelist and a college student. During an intense conversation about serial killers, Ryan feels viscerally connected to Leo as if everyone in the party has vanished. Out on a limb, Ryan leaves Joel’s apartment on the fateful morning and drifts into three different possibilities of a love triangle.

from The Liberty Musings…
Breaking up on the eve of their third anniversary is about all that makes sense in this film. It’s called “drift” for a reason — it causes you to drift in and out of consciousness and each time you snap back, the story is different. At first you do a double take… WTF? Are they repeating scenes? They are and the scenarios play differently each time, each just as boring as the previous. There is not much sense to this movie where the acting is mediocre and editing leaves much to be desired.

Stars
Reggie Lee, Greyson Dayne, Jonathon Roessler, Desi Del Valle

Boyfriends (R – 2000 – 81 mins.)
from Amazon.com…
Paul, Matt, and Will (in their 30s) have been friends for years. They converge at the seaside for the weekend, each with a boyfriend in tow. Paul is with Ben, his companion of five years: their relationship is on the rocks after months of Paul’s moodiness since his brother Mark died. Matt brings Owen, whom he’s dated for three months and wants to live with; to everyone else, they seem singularly incompatible. Will brings Adam, a 20-year old one-night stand, to meet “happy, well-adjusted homosexuals.” As the six men, joined by Mark’s lover, James, sort through their own relationships as well as new ones begun during the weekend, happiness and being well adjusted prove elusive.

from The Liberty Musings…
This is basically six randy gay guys go away for the weekend, British style. And bring British, there is very little in the way of on screen sex. The plot is old and very predictable. As the story unfolds you know at some point everyone is going to hook up with everyone else or has done so at some point in the past. It has been called humorous and a comedy. I didn’t find much to laugh at.

Stars
James Dreyfus, Mark Sands, Andrew Ableson, Michael Urwin, David Coffey

Eating Out (NR – 2004 – 90 mins.)
Guy likes girl. Girl only likes gay guys. Guy’s gay roommate persuades him to date girl’s gay roommate. Guy’s gay roommate hopes in the process he can hook up with girl’s gay roommate who won’t give him the time of day, thus making way for guy and girl to hook up too.

With all the hype over this movie, I prepared myself to not like it, but had to see what the fuss was about (and the full frontals of Ryan Carnes and Scott Lunsford). Once it got going, I found I did like it. It was a bit raunchy, a bit campy, a bit funny and a bit serious, but with a cast of actors who knew their stuff and pulled it off without going to much over the top. This film also features out ‘American Idol’ castoff Jim Verraros who could have a promising acting career. Although Carnes got the brunt of the hype, the real star that shines in Lunsford.

Stars
Scott Lunsford
Jim Verraros
Emily Stiles
Ryan Carnes
Rebekah Kochan
Jillian Nusbaum
Billy Shepard
Christopher Michaels
Tyler Roberts

Circuit (NR – 2002 – 130 mins.)
A cop that leaves his small-town job and life behind in search of a more gay-friendly environment discovers the dark side of gay life. Arriving in California, he hooks up with a hustler who gives him a crash course in living fast and partying hard.

The premise of the movie from director Dirk Shafer is a good one, but could have been better. The film, which delves deep inside the darker aspects of circuit parties, sex and hard-core drug use, is slow to start. It does eventually get around to telling the tale of a man in search of a better life, but finds it’s not always rosier elsewhere. Thorns can cut very deep wounds. If you’re expecting a splashy, flashy and deep drama the likes of ‘Queer As Folk,’ look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you’re up for a gritty indie portraying the making of a circuit boy, check it out.

Stars
Jonathan Wade-Drahos
Andre Khabbazi
Brian Lane Green
Kiersten Warren
Daniel Kucan