Movies

Water Drops on Burning Rocks

Starring: Malik Zidi, Bernard Giraudeau, Ludivine Sagnier, Anna Levine Synopsis: A 20-year-old falls in love with an older man, who shows more cruelty than love. And just when the two men can barely stand living together, their ex-girlfriends enter the picture. Water Drops on Burning Rocks was Fassbinder’s first play, written at age 19. Shelved and apparently forgotten, it was discovered among his papers after his death and languished until French director François Ozon (Sitcom) decided to film it. Apparently the prolific Fassbinder never wanted it produced, either as play or film, because it was too personal, based on a scandalous real-life relationship he had with an older man.

Wonder Boys

Starring: Michael Douglas, Tobey MacGuire, Frances McDormand, Roberty Downey Jr. Katie Holmes Synopsis: A professor who once wrote a great book deals with a life going nowhere on a climatic weekend that includes a suicidal, probably gay, student with great potential. Adroitly adapting Michael Chabon's novel and distilling it to its droll, melancholy essence, Kloves and Hanson have fashioned a briskly unsentimental and darkly funny tale; these characters may be down on their luck, but they sure don't feel sorry for themselves.

WTC View

Starring: Michael Urie, Jeremy Beazlie, Jay Gillespie, Liz Kapplow Synopsis: Eric, a gay man, places an ad for a new roommate on Sept. 10, 2001 for his apartment, which has a view of the World Trade Center. Obviously, things change the next day. Brian Sloan's finely wrought drama, adapted from his off-Broadway play, is full of little details that will remind Gothamites of those truly strange days and weeks after 9/11, when the smell of burning chemicals lingered in the autumn air.

X2000: The Collected Shorts of Francois Ozon

Starring: Francois Delaive, Jeremie Elkaim, Camille Japy, Sebastian Charles, Sebastien Charles Synopsis: Four short films by director Francois Ozon look at many gay, and straight, angles to life This collection of four short films by Mr. Ozon (WATER DROPS ON BURNING ROCKS), one of France's most celebrated filmmakers of the 1990s, is characterized both by the director's startling imagery and the frankly humorous way he approaches his characters' sexuality. The first short, "X2000" finds three nude couples milling around a deserted skyscraper the morning after the millennium. The second, "Truth or Dare," finds four curious teenagers playing truth or dare until someone's dare stuns all of them. The third film, "Little Death," is a serious and intensely moving drama about a young gay photographer who finally resolves his difficult relationship with his father after he dies and the son finds a box of his old photographs. The final film, "Bed Scenes," is a series of comic vignettes on lust and sexual etiquette.

Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too)

Starring: : Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna Synopsis: Yes, there are two hot guys, and yes, there is some nudity. And then there's that kiss. But, what makes this film stand out is the social commentary hidden openly in the plot. That helps it overcome the fart jokes. Y Tu Mama Tambien (translated to And Your Mother Too) is a raucous, sexually liberated road trip into the heart of Mexico. In the same vein as most road trip movies, fun and self-discovery await its participants. However, writer/director Alfonso Cuaron (Great Expectations, A Little Princess) and co-writer Carlos Cuaron (Love in the Time of Hysteria, Who the Hell is Juliette?) want more.

Yes Nurse, No Nurse (Ja Zuster, Nee Zuster)

Starring: Loes Luca, Paul Kooij, Tjitske Reidinga, Waldemar Torenstra, Paul de Leeuw, Beppe Costa. Synopsis: A nurse tries to keep her evil landlord from closing down her home for eccentric characters. This Dutch import will have you humming with its catchy tunes, even if they are rather old fashioned and in a foreign language, laughing at all the wacky character, incidents and dialogue, and drooling over the hunky lead actor playing Gerrit (Waldemar Torenstra) who does a scene in a pair of briefs that will revolutionize the way you think about underwear.

Z (1969)

Starring: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Charles Denner. Director: Costa-Gavras Synopsis: A gay man and his friend plot to assassinate a leading leftist politician and then hide from justice with the help of the police. One of the most politically insightful films ever made, exposing government hypocrisy and cover-up in the wake of a political assassination. Z won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film of 1969, was 14th in terms of box-office success, and hit an international nerve in the age of social unrest, government cover-up, and political assassinations.

Zerophilia

Starring: Alison Folland, Gina Bellman, Kyle Schmid, Marieh Delfino, Taylor Handley, Dustin Seavey Synopsis: In this provocative teen comedy, Luke, a young man insecure about his masculinity discovers he's a Zerophiliac, with the ability to change sex at will. Join Luke as he journeys into the extraordinary world of Zerophilia where so many crazy questions arise, only one question matters: "Whom do you love?" Luke, an inexperienced young college student, has a random first sexual encounter while camping. This triggers his rare genetic condition, Zerophilia, which will soon force him to confront his deepest insecurities about his masculinity and sexuality.