Buy Boys Life 7 on DVD

Boys Life 7

Strand Releasing / Year: 2010

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Synopsis

The Young and Evil (2008), 15 mins
Written and directed by Julian Breece
An intellectual, but troubled black student sets out to seduce an older black man.

Spokane (2004), 29 mins
Written and directed by Larry Kennar
A straight guy meets an openly gay man at a wedding and finds himself the willing subject of a seduction that turns into an awkward night in a motel room.

First Date (2006), 20 mins
Written and directed by Gary Huggins
A volatile ex-con will stop at nothing to keep a date with the underage boy he met online. A darkly comic fable about twists of fate.

Raw Love (2008), 16 mins
Written and directed by Martín Deus
The chronicles of two friends at the end of high school and the secret love that is threatened by the closing of the school year.

Review

The seventh installment of the amazing Boys Life series is driven by sexual tension (and, in some cases, release). Featuring four stellar, auteur-driven short films selected from the Sundance Film Festival, this compilation showcases gay male desire with style. You don’t want to miss it.

Julian Breece's The Young and Evil manages to be sexually titillating while tackling some extremely controversial subject matter. Vaughn Lowery exudes a master's level of confidence as Karel, a sex-addicted gay black teen who seems to be immune to the HIV virus. Writing on the bed like an animal in heat, clad only in a pair of tighty-whities, he attempts to seduce a much older AIDS prevention advocate in an effort to contract the disease. With abrasive editing and tense exchanges of dialog, this shocking short is completely arresting and ultimately unforgettable.

If you've ever been in a sexually suggestive situation with a straight guy, you'll be able to relate to writer/director Larry Kennar's Spokane. Openly gay David (Jason Waters) is approached by the cautiously curious James (Kyle Bornheimer) at a wedding. When the two sneak off to smoke pot during the reception, the subject of David's sexual orientation is brought into the open. A drunken night of bonding soon follows - leading to some heated experimentation in David's hotel room. Waters and Bornheimer deliver realistic performances in what turns out to be a scorching hot depiction of uncomfortable, though invited, straight seduction.

The highlight of First Date - writer/director Gary Huggins' engrossing, though ultimately unfulfilling anti-morality tale - is the sensational performance by lead actor Santiago Vasquez. Playing an ex-con willing to lie, steal and physically harm others in an effort to keep a date with an underage boy he meets online, Vasquez adds just the right level of machismo-driven ignorance and self-denial to make his character fascinatingly deplorable. First-time actor Tian Wei is also worth watching as the object of Vasquez's desire. This short seems to suggest that you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find that you get less karmic retribution than you deserve.

Last up in this stunning collection is Argentinean filmmaker Martín Deus' Raw Love (Amor Crudo). A major hit at film festivals around the globe, this film follows two high school boys (Valentino Arocena and Juan Felipe Villanueva - both of whom are featured on the DVD cover) in an undefined relationship. Are they best friends with benefits or gay lovers? Even while laying naked in each others arms, neither knows for sure. They only thing that they do know is that high school is coming to and end and they will soon separate. Ah, but isn’t it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all? Raw Love is a colorfully composed, insightful tale of first love that is sexy, sad and romantic all at once.

-- Robert O'Neill

Product Format Information

DVD : $22.49

Availability: Usually ships in
5-10 days
Region Code: 1
UPC: 712267292028
Catalog #: DV3137852

Studio : Strand Releasing

Languages: English (Primary) , Spanish , English Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen

Customer Reviews

Doesn't measure up

Bob in Mpls wrote on 01/10/2011:

Strand should have quite with Boys Life 6. This set doesn't measure up to the previous ones.

New Shorts by New Talent

Amos Lassen wrote on 10/02/2010:

“Boys Life 7”
New Shorts by New Talent
Amos Lassen
I wonder if Strand Releasing knew that when they started their “Boys Life” series that it be so successful and still continuing. I thought that when they released the five disc set that that the whole thing would be over but then we got “Boys Life 6” and now we have seven. This collection consists of four short films that had previously screened at the Sundance Film Festival and each is a reflection of the new and emerging directors’ lives.
“The Young and Evil” from France and directed by Julian Breece is about a young black intellectual who has the goal of seducing an older male so that he can get HIV. Agreed that the premise of this film sounds depressing but what this film does is look at the way we live. This film is beautifully executed and very powerful and has some very fine acting. We see that the youth’s desire and most likely successful attempt to acquire HIV/AIDS is an attempt to feel something. He needs to feel the touch of another man, the connection to other people, the pain of the disease—things he has had no connection with.
“Spokane” from Larry Kennar is about a straight man who meets an openly gay guy at a wedding and the two end up in a motel room. David flew to Spokane to attend his brother's wedding. At the he meets James who senses that David is gay. As the two get to know each other, David suggests they go smoke some pot in James' car. When stoned James asks how “fags” have sex. The conversation is one that almost all of us have had to deal with. We see that James' homo-curiosity is more than obvious, but he is unwilling to run with it. Davis takes him to a strip club and then they go back to David’s hotel bit right before they are to split, there is a kiss and David takes James back to his motel room. Up until now everything has been fine and then during the course of fifteen minutes David seduces James by having straight porn on the TV, drinking, kissing and undressing and then having oral sex with him, But James is uncomfortable with the idea of having sex so the two mutually masturbate. With morning James is gone. My major complaint is that the lighting was poor and if the sex scene was meant to titillate the audience it did not because we saw nothing. (I do not complain because I could not see but because we were tricked into believing that we would). It is hard to see what this movie is about. There are possibilities like it may be about hookups or sex or whatever but to me at least it seems to be a look at the way we are isolated and often lose our sense of self. Intimacy does not always mean communication as many of us in the gay community know too well. Looking past the technical imperfections, this is the mirror of Spokane and our lives. This is a bold and daring film.
“First Date” by Gary Higgins looks at internet hook ups and focuses on an ex-con who is determined to keep a date with an underage boy that he met on line. Filmed in Kansas City, Kansas the movie has a fascinating plot and some very fine acting. Tome it a moral fable about both internet dating and gay life.
“Raw Love’ by Martin Deus is a look back at the end of high school and a secret love that could end with graduation. In just sixteen minutes we get a beautiful love story and the emotions and secrets that go with it. Young live can be bittersweet and that is what we see here.