Great Movies - Angora Ranch

Angora Ranch is a movie about gay men that was shot on a budget, but kept me interested and laughing the entire time. It was produced, written and directed by Paul Bright, who also stars as a 46-year-old gay man from the mid-west. It is listed on Amazon.com with the following description:

Angora Ranch is a sweet, heartfelt, movie about love that transcends age, stereotypes and meddlesome family. While driving to a business meeting young and handsome Justin runs off the road to avoid a rabbit. Lucky for him he has ditched as Angora Ranch, a farm owned by hunk Jack, a man almost twice Justin's age. Just and Jack feel the heat between them immediately, while the issue of their difference in age slowly melts away they face another problem: each of their meddling fathers. Jack's dad is nosy, pushy and waiting for Jack to settle down. Justin's father is all business and never thinks his son will amount to anything. Justin and Jack slowly discover that each is what the other has been searching for all their lives, if only they can figure out what to do about their fathers.

Angora Ranch was made by Silly Bunny Pictures, which bills itself as Movies about real men from the Heartland, which is an apt statement. The gay life is not all about being a 'big city' 20-something gay, with bars and LGBT centers. There are plenty of us who don't live within an hour of a gay bar, and no gathering place to meet with other gays.



Bright just oozes with charm, and I also think he is quite hot. As I put this post together, I ordered two other DVDs from Silly Bunny Pictures, Theft and Aaron...Albeit A Sex Hero. You can find out more about Silly Bunny Pictures at their website here.

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Great Movies - Shelter

Shelter is everything a great movie should be - a wonderful story told with great emotion and clarity. It is the story of a young man, Zach (played by Trevor Wright), born on the wrong side of the tracks, as he comes to grips with his being gay. He struggles hard as his family can't cope, and might cause him to lose contact with his nephew, Cody (played by Jackson Wurth). He falls for his best friends brother, played by the gorgeous Brad Rowe.




It is the directorial debut of Jonah Markowitz, who also wrote the script. And while both Rowe and Wright are str8 boys, they do an excellent job acting.



The soundtrack featured the music of several LGBT artists, including the singer/songwriters Shane Mack and Stewart Lewis. Mack did the main theme, Lie To Me, which I featured in an earlier post. There is also the song Remember To Forget, More Than This, and I Like That.



You can purchase the DVD at either Amazon or TLA. The soundtrack is available on iTunes.

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Great Movies - Parting Glances & My Beatiful Laundrette

The reason I grouped these two movies together is because they were my post-breakup movies. When I had an affair of the heart that didn't particularly go well, I would whip out one of these movies and start the process. The always made me feel better. I originally had them both on VHS tape, and now have the DVDs.

Top - Gordon Warnecke and Daniel Day-Lewis from My Beautiful Laundrette
Bottom - Richard Ganoung, John Bolger, Steve Buscemi from Parting Glances

My Beautiful Laundrette was released in 1985, and starred a young Daniel Day-Lewis as Johnny, the punk boyfriend of Omar (Gordon Warnecke), a son of Pakistani immigrants. Together they must fight the prejudices of society to see their dream come true, that of self-reliance in London as they open a laundrette called Powders. They hide their love from friends and family to reach their goal, only to have the truth come out. Fighting and destruction of property ensue.

Parting Glances was released in 1986. It is a rather simple love story, confused by the times in which the characters lived. Michael (Ganoung) lives with Robert (Bolger) but is still in love with his ex, Nick (Buschemi). Nick, an up and coming rock star is having trouble dealing with HIV positive status. Robert is scheduled to leave town for work, hoping that while he is gone, Michael will be able to sort out his feelings for Nick. This was the first movie I had seen to deal with the AIDS crisis, but it is really about relationships, not the illness. Kathy Kinney, who later went on to play Mimi on the Drew Carey Show, played best friend to all, Joan.

Both movies spoke of love between men in a way I hadn't seen before, in different ways. Laundrette was about the struggle, the sociopolitical, financial, and familial issues the boys faced. But Parting Glances was about personal decisions, and living in NYC at the beginning of a health crisis. I had friends who were sick and who were dying. I was living in Park Slope, Brooklyn, not far from where it was filmed. I understood and related to these characters in ways I had never done before. I was in the process of breaking up with the man I was living with, and these movies became the go-to thing for me, reminding me that love was not only possible, but desirable.

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Great Movies - Big Eden

I just love this movie! It positively drips with charm and grace. Both Henry and Pike are adorable and sexy, and I wanted a SamPa of my own. I have the DVD, and watch it every so often, and it reminds me life is good. Originally released in 2000, Big Eden won awards at film festivals across the country as it played to critical praise and audience cheers.

Starring Arye Gross, Eric Schweig and Tim DeKay and set in a fictional Montana town, it is a touching and romantic movie, with lots of joy to be found for Henry, played by Arye, an artist living in NYC who returns to his hometown to help out his ailing grandfather. There he gets to see Dean, now a father of two, but back in high school something happened that left Henry aching to see Dean again. And there is Pike, the tall Native American man who is so very shy, but manages to make dinners for Henry and Sam. Another character is the gorgeous scenery, and the inherent charm of the cast and themes.

You can purchase it here for less than $20!

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Movies - 9 Dead Gay Guys - A Comedy

OK, for a change of pace, I thought I would occasionally throw in some of my favorite movies. I will start with 9 Dead Gay Guys, a movie that still makes me laugh no matter how many times I watch it. It is irreverent, politically incorrect, and laugh-out-loud funny.

It is the story of two Irish guys who go to London, thinking the streets would be paved with gold, and they would be able to drink to their hearts content. The next thing you know, members of the community around them starts dropping like flies, and the movie plays out. Outrageous doesn't begin to describe it.



I will admit it won't be for everyone, and was not particularly well-received when first released. But I just don't care - it made me laugh.

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Interview with Azar Shelman (Chev, Tony Dyson OBSS)

Tony Dyson, known for his work in special effects, notably in movies such as "Star Wars" with R2-D2, has come to Second Life under the name Azar Shelman. Thanks to a friend, he agreed to an interview.

Check out the story in MACE.

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Rezzable Search for the 12 best SL Machinimas

Rezzable is searching for the 12 best Machinimas made in SL.
From now till September 30th this blog is open to people nominating who -they think- is the best 12 to be represented in the upcoming Machinima Festival. Machinimas eligible for consideration are those that have been made between September 1, 2007 and September 30th, 2008 taken in Second Life.
So yes this means new, just released machinimas are eligible.
On September 30th, the nominations will be narrowed down to the top 24, where then voting will take place by YOU in deciding which 12 will participate in the festival.

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Tube2SL

Smell the popcorn and mingle with the celebrities check our Explore for a briefing.

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