Change Your Image
kfctwix
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Romeos (2011)
A disappointing trans oritented film in plot only
I have seen quite a few movies dealing with MTF trans, but rarely one dealing with FTM. So needless to say, I was very excited to see this. And sadly, I couldn't be anymore disappointed.
This film feels like a straight up gay male film, thanks to a miscasting of epic proportions. While I'm sure Rick Okon is a fine actor, he has no business playing the role he was cast in. There are so many real transgendered actors and actresses out there, struggling to get work like the rest. And yet, they are denied roles that were basically made for them! It seems very hypocritical for a film that wants to express the struggle of being transgendered. They literally slapped prosthetic breasts on a biological male and called it a day. There are no nuances in Rick Okon's performance to give us any clue that we are watching a pre-op transgendered male struggling with his identity. Not even seeing his breasts can fool me into thinking for the briefest second that he is trans.
On top of that, the story was sub par and resembles that of a cheap cliché gay romance flick more than anything. And even that's a stretch, as the romance here is so illogical and poorly done that I was actually irritated when they ended up together. His supposed love interest spends half the film taunting and teasing him, and otherwise humiliating him in public. And then suddenly a light bulb goes off in his head, and we're suddenly supposed to believe that he is instantly redeemed for his transgressions? I don't think so. It is incredibly fake, lacking any semblance of heart.
I also have many objections to the portrayal of trans life and emotions. As a trans person myself, it saddened me to see how pertinent questions and issues were just glossed over to make the film a bit more easily digestible to hetero cis gendered viewers. In a perfect world, this film would clue in cis gendered people as to what many trans people experience and struggle with and feel, while making any fellow trans viewers feel a sense of solace and understanding. I don't expect every LGBT movie to be a "Boy's Don't Cry" style tragedy, but I do expect portrayals of LGBT issues to be respected. This film has no respect and no interest in portraying any issues or struggles a real transman faces in the world.
Lukas is clearly struggling with his transition, and struggling to find his place in the world as a man who still has his female parts. Yet none of the film's events explore that. In fact, the film contradicts itself by not exploring those feelings, trading it in for cheap pseudo-conflict in the form of the mild teasing and taunting he faces. He is striving to be as masculine as possible, and yet the possible conflict he faces while being attracted to a man, which is by the general consensus of society considered "unmasculine", is never really even brought up. It is a simple, watered down portrayal of trans life that I would only recommend to cis heterosexuals that want to watch a film about a minority, without having to ponder their own beliefs and the harsh realities many trans people face everyday.
It's more or less a gay film, with a lead who happens to be trans. It'd be a tad more excusable if there was at least some good drama or romance to be found. And there is not. This could have been an amazing film, and instead it is cheap and even mildly offensive.
Boy Meets Girl (2014)
Charming yet saccharine tale of not just transgender love, but sexuality and acceptance
I really loved this from the start. It is simple, yet dramatic and funny, and real enough that you can relate to it while still testing suspension of disbelief. A lot of viewers faulted this for being a fantasy, and while I can agree with that in some regards, I appreciated there being a trans oriented film that wasn't all doom and gloom and tragedy. There's no denying that is the reality for many trans people, but trans people experience glory and happiness too, just like we all do, so I am glad that that aspect of the trans experience is covered here as well.
I also liked the scope of the film, and the decision to focus on a girl's experience, not only as a transwoman, but as a human being, battling to become comfortable in one's own skin and make sense of love and sexuality, rather than focusing on society and its related subsequent hardships the protagonist will face due to their gender identity. It is very small and very personal, a quality which I loved.
All the good aside, this film does suffer from some glaringly distressing problems, that actually cause this to lose a star from me. This has a real problem with pacing and character development, with things either being drawn out too long or happening too quickly. Certain beginnings and conclusions to the various relationships here really made no sense, building to a conclusion that simply sweeps what we thought we knew under the rug, quickly tidying up the negative plot points and tying up the many loose ends left in drastic and overly saccharine ways.
I came to love and root for Francesca and Ricky as a couple. While I certainly predicted she would end up with her friend just because of genre tropes, we barely get to know him. I spent most of the film getting attached to and learning about Ricky and Francesca, so for Ricky and Robby to end up together and Francesca go off with her transphobic meathead of a fiancée, really did not resonate or sit well with me. Speaking of him, it is really poor character development, how they simply erased his apparent history of anger and trans/homophobia in favor of giving Francesca her typical "happy" ending. The whole "everyone gets what they want and live forever without a care in the world" ending really left a bad taste in my mouth and really lessened my retrospective enjoyment of the film.
Another problem for me was Michelle Hendley's performance. She is without a doubt very beautiful and talented, and she handles the film's pinnacle of drama and emotion with a remarkable sense of grace. However in the film's lighter scenes, she really struggles with natural delivery and getting into a sense of chemistry with her co-stars. She has so much potential and I hope she continues to learn and grow into the star I know is in her.
Overall, it is a very cute, if a bit clichéd romantic drama with some very great dialogue pertaining to the cis perception of gender and sexuality. I wish we could have got some more realistic character development and a more real, or at the very least not so sickly sweet, ending. The ride there was very fun and enlightening though, and this film has definitely earned it's place as a lighter entry into the ever growing narrative of transgendered people in film.
White Girl (2016)
A typical drugged up film of descent, with a final shot that changes everything
It is hard to talk about a film like this, one that is full of tropes, clichés, and ideas that have been done hundreds of times before, to much better effect. Reading the description, I instantly knew what I was in for and what was going to happen in this film. And I wasn't wrong.
These tales of youth are dime a dozen, and this doesn't really bring a whole lot of anything new to the table. It has the typical emotional beats one would expect from a film like this. Girl ends up on wrong side of the tracks. Goes crazy, bad things happen, blah blah.
I know right now it sounds like I am ragging on this but truth is, I quite enjoyed it. At the very least all that I ask from a film is to give me characters I can care about and become interested in. And this film certainly gave me that. I don't really know why, but the way Leah's downward spiral was portrayed was downright hypnotizing at times.
And then there's the ironic ending and final scene, which really elevated this film from a 6 to a 7 for me. Leah's struggle was certainly real, and her journey of addiction that leads to rape among other things, was certainly tumultuous. And yet, nothing really truly devastating ever happened to her. I faulted that to bad writing, but really that's the whole point. After getting out of jail, her boyfriend almost immediately ends up back in custody, for killing in self defense. After all that hard work and trauma Leah subjected herself to, to get him out, and it's all in vain. And Leah herself? Well, nothing happens to her. The final shot is her just sitting in class, life moving on as normal. Which for as simple as it sounds, that scene held A LOT of impact and brought new depth to the whole of the film.
I definitely read it as some commentary on white privilege. Her Latino boyfriend ends up in jail facing many years for just mere possession, whereas the ubiquitous white girl not only possesses, but sells copious amounts of drugs, and she never even once has so much as a finger pointed her way, let alone an arrest.
Maybe I am reading into it too much, but that scene really changed everything for me. I've seen many films like this before, but this was a particularly arresting tale of an archetypal white person who rejects a life of privilege in favor of a hard knock life. Why? Who knows. This film isn't about why. It's about consequences. Or rather, the lack of consequences some people will/won't have to face, due to status and color of skin.
Modern Love Is Automatic (2009)
An obscure and unknown indie gem that is a must see for fans of observational dead pan
What can I say, this is one of my all time favorite films. I struggle to think of another film that is even remotely similar to this in terms of tone, humor, and design choices.
It has a completely fresh and remarkable style, in terms of it's visuals, direction, plot, and editing. It is hard to pin point what exactly it is. Not really a drama. Feels weird to call it a comedy. But it doesn't matter what you call it, because this is truly brilliant.
The film feels very observational in nature, with a hard to discern plot that centers more on the emotional developments of it's two leads more than anything else. It gave me the feeling that I was listlessly drifting through a surreal world, almost like I was directly viewing the film through the eyes of it's own protagonist.
The humor is so on point here. So dry, with the strangest comedic timing and abrupt editing that at times will amuse you just for the lone fact of how strange it is. Scenes start quickly, and almost end just as soon, with many strange moments to be found, and many scenes consisting of characters trying to interact with the ever apathetic, silent, and uncaring Lorraine, with non-existent yet hilarious results. Adding to the humor is the strange death metal soundtrack, alerting us to the end of most scenes and serving as an anti-laugh track of sorts. I absolutely loved the contrast of the mostly quiet and sometimes plain silent film and the loud raucous growls and heavy guitars of the soundtrack.
Humor and ridiculous BDSM oriented plot aside, this film does paint some really beautiful and tragic characters. For as much as Lorraine seems to sleepwalk through her existence, thanks to Melodie Sisk's absolutely stunning portrayal we get to see that she is in fact alive, and desperately in need to connect to the world and to feel, as we can see in her deliciously indifferent and strained attempts to connect herself to other people. And then there's the lovable yet annoying and homely Adrian, who dreams of being a model and has an almost indestructible sense of hope that she will become famous, despite her only job credit being a mere prop of morally ambiguous seduction to entice men to purchase mattresses. It is all darkly humorous, yet so touching on many levels.
I cannot reiterate enough how amazing Melodie Sisk is in here. She delivers a truly nuanced performance for a very difficult character. It's all too easy for a portrayal of indifference and disconnection to come off as one dimensional boredom. And yet she nails it.
It's been very hard for me to articulate what this film is about and what I liked about it even, as it is just so out of this world. Just know that if you love strange and unconventionally funny films in the slightest, you have to see it. As long as you are prepared for a very strange and at times disconcerting ride, I'm sure you will not be disappointed.
Pet (2016)
A must see for those who like their psychological horror peppered with gore and twists to traditional genre tropes
This really took me by surprise. I read the description, and I thought I had it figured out, with a clear idea of what kind of film I was in for. I couldn't have been more wrong.
It starts out typical enough, with a loner pro/antagonist. Pretty girl is stalked and abducted, blah blah blah. I thought I knew exactly where it was going, and this does a brilliant job at setting up the clever yet clichéd in their own way twist.
It is a real cat and mouse themed film, with cat becoming mouse, and mouse becoming cat, and back again, vice versa, ad infinitum. There is some fun and well utilized gore effects here, but a gross out throwaway horror flick this is not. It is all quite psychological, with emphasis placed heavily on dialogue more than anything, and plenty of perversions and subversions of the roles captive and captor play. A lot of people might find this very boring due to the dialogue heavy and shockingly unexploitative nature of this film, but that is precisely what I loved about it.
It elevates itself from a film that leaves you asking the typical questions of, will she make it out alive, to making you ask just who the hell are these people and what are their intentions? What is real, and what's not?
I can't help but feel this was missing something though. A certain element to the relationship dynamic at play that could have made this even more shocking. And I don't know, despite how brilliant I feel like the twists were, at the same time it can feel a little on the nose, like it's escaped from falling into one genre trap, only to get stuck in another. And to top that off, the ending left much to be desired, kind of just plopped down in front of you just for the sake of getting just a bit more disturbing, and coming full circle in a sense.
It was extremely hard to believe that Holly was indeed some vicious killer. Which is brilliant in some ways, as it makes the reveals of the twists all the more shocking, as well as adding to the horror of it, making you think about how deceiving looks can be. But still, maybe it's just Ksenia Solo's portrayal that I wasn't digging too much, but something much better could have been done for her character.
If you have the patience and the guts, this is a nice twisted little film that I highly recommend to those who enjoy exploring the psychology of prey and predator in horror films as much as they love flat out horror and gore.