moonspinner55

Quick, compact documentary from writer-director Michael Stabile and Breaking Glass Pictures introduces many of us to Chuck Holmes, a gay young man from Indiana who relocated to San Francisco in 1972 to achieve his dream of working in the world of gay pornography--but not as a performer, as a producer. Holmes' Falcon Productions changed the face of gay porno by ditching the black-and-white 8mm loops and putting his actors in exotic and colorful locations (a ski chalet, a castle, etc.). By scrubbing the models clean, shaving off their chest hair (a must in the early-'80s) and dyeing their locks blonde, Holmes made a fortune out of eschewing the previous decade's idea of machismo and giving the gay scene a sleek new look: trim, muscular 18-year-olds who all looked like they came out of the same jar. That was fine with Holmes, who enjoyed and was a purveyor of the fantasy. A volatile man, Holmes enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle with his partner, but who was also guarded about his homosexuality and unable to escape an inner loneliness. Falcon Productions was, naturally, affected by the looming AIDS crisis, which is touched on here rather than tackled head-on--even with its founder contracting HIV. Interviews with loved ones, employees, and politicians who benefited from Holmes' late-in-life philanthropic nature are personable and moving, and yet the film really isn't slanted towards a tear-jerking conclusion. It's aim, I believe, is to be titillating for its target audience while at the same teaching us a little something about the man behind the scenes. It gets the job done. **1/2 from ****

An intimacy develops between a sexually-curious 17-year-old and his father's research assistant who is staying with the young man's family in Northern Italy during the summer of 1983. Unexpectedly lyrical affair without the slightest hint of fabricated melodrama. What needs to be said is conveyed cogently, and what doesn't need to be said but instead be felt is expressed effortlessly. James Ivory's screenplay, adapted from the book by André Aciman, doesn't go in for valentines and roses--there is some poetry, though the film isn't flowery. A lovely experience, and Luca Guadagnino's direction is so focused that the picture overcomes its bland, travelogue design simply by zeroing in on what matters most: the slow-building friendship and eventual desire between the two principal characters. *** from ****

In strife-ridden West Berlin, 1977, the disappearance of a student from the dormitory of an exclusive dance academy has left an open spot for a new girl, a dancer from Ohio whose magnetic audition attracts the attention of the school's choreographer, whom the other students both fear and adore. This well-intentioned occult thriller, inspired by Dario Argento's 1977 cult horror film of the same name (its title translated from the Latin as "Sighs"), has mood and ambiance to spare, but a non-actress (Dakota Johnson) in the leading role. For horror fans, there's a great deal of gastrointestinal clutching, moaning and bloodletting; also several visual shocks assuredly pulled off which are ultimately at odds with an obtuse narrative so "shuddery", one is eventually worn down by the histrionics. ** from ****