DVD
Review | Boys Briefs 2
Written by: Kage
Alan
As with Sundance Entertainment, there are other
distributors such as Picture
This! Entertainment who are willing to release films that fall outside
of the
mainstream. What we have here, though, is a double minority
issue. Not only
is this dealing with an alternative lifestyle, but it's a collection
of short
films. Why is that a big deal? Well, short films are
usually good for
getting up and coming talent noticed, but they're rarely released for
the
masses to see on demand. While I thought the first "Boys
Briefs" collection
was average to a little above, this latest bunch is actually downright
excellent.
The first selection is the explicit and humorous "Doors Cut
Down", a Spanish
production and clocks in at 17 minutes. Attractive high school
student
Guillermo is in his hormonal prime and he enjoys having sex with all
the hot
guys in whichever place is convenient, mainly the restrooms at the
local
shopping mall. Between his father walking in on him and a
private English
tutor, getting caught by the authorities and having to go to a
therapist,
Guillermo manages to come out on top and find himself a boyfriend.
In order
to stop his kind of behavior, the mall has the doors to the bathroom
stalls
cut down.
Ireland's 3-minute "Chicken" is next and focuses on two
friends bickering and
joking around with each other until a dare is made, which ends up
working on
two different levels. On one level, both boys must have a
profound trust for
each other while on another level it allows them to get physically
closer
(without being sexual) than they've been before. What will it
lead to? Only
time will tell. The 13 minutes spent in Spain's
"Backroom" are a combination
of humor, sadness, lust and reviling in multiple combinations.
Men cruise
each other in the backroom of a dance club and viewers are given privy
to
their exact thoughts at any given moment. While mean spirited at
times, the
film addresses some very real truths.
In the German production titled "Breakfast?", a shy young
man named Boris
spends 14 minutes allowing his heart to ache for his oddly attractive
friend
Till. Is Till straight or gay, though? If he's straight,
why is he having
sex with men everywhere he goes? For that matter, if he's gay,
why can't
Boris have a shot with him? All those questions and more are
answered. One
of the strangest and yet most profound films in the collection comes
from
Canada under the title "Touch" and runs 30 minutes. A
young man who has been abused both mentally and physically from early
on in life escapes from his
captor and reenters the world. Unfortunately, his ideas of what
love is and
what guise it takes are skewed and the story is heartbreaking.
The final selection, the 38 minute Canadian "Take-Out", is
unlike any of the
others in the collection. High school student Rory runs track,
hates chicken
and works as a delivery boy for a chicken restaurant. One of his
regular
customers is Pete, a middle-aged lawyer who appears to be experiencing
a
breakdown. Is he coming on to Rory or is it all in the boy's
imagination?
Furthermore, why does it drive Rory to uncover things about himself
that he
never bothered to think about before?
Picture This! has delivered some excellent looking Widescreen
transfers of
these films. Video quality is top notch for most of them while
the rest are
the best they are going to look based on how they were originally
filmed.
Audio quality is also exceptional and clear subtitles are available
for all
selections. As for extras, there are trailers and some filmmaker
bios.
"Boys Briefs 2" is, in my opinion at least, far better than
the first
collection. The films are poignant, honest, well written, well
acted and
feature solid production values. While one can't hope to compete
with
typical bigger budgeted films, at least they are putting great care
into
making the smaller ones look and feel like quality was foremost on
their
mind. The only parts that really lacked on the disc were when
host Danny
Roberts ("MTV's The Real World New Orleans") was on camera
introducing each film and then talking a little bit about it when it
was through. While I
found Danny to be a dynamic part of "The Real World", he
isn't able to rise
above acting like he's reading off of cue cards, which is probably
exactly
what he's doing. A little prep time would have helped him.
Film Rating:
A-
DVD Special Features: N/A
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