Reel Pride reviews

BTL's Assistant Editor D'Anne Witkowski takes a look at three of the highly anticipated film festival's offerings. For more info visit ReelPrideMichigan.com.
Dorian Blues
There's a reason "Dorian Blues" is screening twice at Reel Pride Michigan. Quite simply: it's fantastic.
"Dorian Blues" completely demolishes the "been there, done that" feeling evoked by coming of age films about gay teens. It's funny, fresh, and original with superb performances throughout.
Dorian (Michael McMillian from WB's "What I Like About You") is a slightly awkward, anxious, though quite likable high school senior. He knows he's gay, but doesn't know how to tell his family: his All-American jock star brother Nicky, his distant mother, and his conservative father.
Along the way he gets advice – good and bad – from a host of colorful characters. His family priest tells him to read the Bible, a singing stripper teaches him to swing dance, and an alcoholic counselor tells him therapy is overrated.
When he finally comes out to his brother, Nicky urges him to stay in the closet. When Dorian points out that some kids at school already think he's gay, Nicky tells him to keep denying it.
Nicky, misguided but well-intentioned, tries to help Dorian "go straight" by teaching him to fight, taking him to a strip club, and stopping him from saying "fabulous."
But once Dorian leaves for college he's on his own and has a lot to learn about himself and his family.
It's hard to find something not to like about "Dorian Blues." My biggest complaint is Dorian's hair and clothes. Early on he calls himself a stereotypical gay, obsessed with fashion. But his look evokes a straight guy in need of a Queer Eye, not the other way around.
Director Tennyson Bardwell has managed to make a gay comedy that is, quite simply, sublime. It is a film that will hopefully be seen far and wide after making the rounds on the gay film festival circuit and is likely to become a cult classic. Do not miss it.
Dorian Blues will play Saturday Jan. 29 at 11:15 a.m. and Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak. The Jan. 29 show is free to youth age 21 and under. Free tickets available only at the door.
Intentions
Falling in love can change your life – especially if you're a married college professor with two children and the object of your affection happens to be one of your students.
That's just where Drama Professor Renee Higgins (Katherine Lee) finds herself after she casts Eve (Deidre Kotch), an openly lesbian student, as the lead in the play she's directing. The two spend a lot of time together, and before you know it (seriously, it's pretty rushed) they've begun a secret affair.
Of course, their relationship doesn't stay secret for long and Renee's life is torn apart as her husband, her department chair, and her children find out that she's involved with, and possibly in love with, a woman.
"Intentions" is the debut full-length feature by writer, director, and producer Luane Beck. It's a fully independent affair – in good ways and bad.
Making a film isn't easy and it isn't cheap. It's clear that more heart than money went into this production, so if you're looking for a slickly-produced Hollywood blockbuster, "Intentions" isn't for you. It's not a flawless film. The dialog swings from wildly unrealistic to exceptional, the acting is uneven, the music is overwrought, there are some gaps in the story, characters aren't as fully developed as they could be, and there are a lot of questionable and awkward camera shots (Beck seems obsessed with framing shots in mirrors and windows, and the closeups of Eve and Renee flirting at the coffee shop are anything but subtle).
If you can look past all that, at the heart of "Intentions" is a complex and important story that many lesbians – especially older lesbians who came out after getting married and having families and younger lesbians with teacher crushes – can identify with and probably have never seen on screen before. "Intentions" is a film moved by the story, not the craft. And until mainstream studios decide to make multi-million dollar films about issues real lesbians face, independent features like "Intentions" are all we have and festivals like Reel Pride are the only place to see them.
For more info visit www.zernusproductions.com.
"Intentions" will be shown Saturday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak.
Harry and Max
If you ever wondered what it might be like if ex-Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and pop idol Aaron Carter were not only brothers, but lovers, "Harry and Max" is the film for you. The film isn't based on the Carter brothers, but the ages and the career trajectories of the film's characters bring them to mind.
Harry (Bryce Johnson) is a quickly-fading, self-destructive boy band star watching his younger gay brother and yoga aficionado Max (Cole Williams) follow his path to teen stardom with a successful solo career. The brothers have a very close relationship with no real boundaries between them.
Writer and director Christopher MŸnch's "Harry and Max" is an exploration of love, lust, trust, dysfunctional families and human failings wrapped up in an incest drama with really cute boys.
The film doesn't glorify incest – nor does it condemn it. Instead, the sexual relationship between the brothers is used as a vehicle to explore their dysfunctional relationship and who they are as individuals. "You love someone and your good sense goes right out the window," Harry tells Max. How the two brothers deal with their relationship – and where it eventually leads – tells us a lot about them.
"Harry and Max" is more than just a controversial script, however. The film is shot in a breezy and casual style that is crisp, vibrant and makes the film look better than films with ten times its budget, thanks to director of photography Rob Sweeney ("Big Eden"). The acting is solid across the board. Johnson and Williams work beautifully together as they traverse the wide-ranging complexities of their relationship.
Where the film falters is in the script. Big time lapses are noted with a subtitle that disrupts the flow of the film. The ending seems rushed and not particularly creative or inspired, as if MŸnch wanted to wrap everything up with no loose ends. Which is a shame, since loose ends are the film's strong point. We don't necessarily want to understand the confusing and destructive ways some humans behave. However, we are inclined to curiosity and often can't look away.
"Harry and Max" will be shown Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 9:30 p.m. at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak.