Stranger by the Lake

When I was just a ten year old whippersnapper (1951), going to the movies at the Roosevelt Theater in Downingtown, PA I used to fantasize about seeing my favorite male actors……nude.  Well folks, that's happened.  And I don't mean porno films, I mean a regular, full production, well acted and written movie.  That movie I saw a few nights ago named "Stranger By The Lake."  

 Well folks let me tell you, be careful what you wish for.  First of all this isn't a "gay" movie.  You know, those cheapie movies done on a shoestring with shaky camera work and a nothing plot usually populated with stereotypical gay actors (the "gay accent" which is a big turnoff to me).  No folks, this movie is an Alfred Hitchock

genre psychological thriller….only with one BIG difference…..plenty of dingle dangle on display.  And I don't mean a 2/10th of a second shot of a man's gentiles   (I don't call a man's genitals "junk", thank you).  And I wouldn't call the genital display gratuitous, it is reality.  Yes folks, we have finally arrived at REALITY at depicting scenes of real life as they are.

I'm not going to do a review of the whole movies other than to say that once I got past all the casual, matter of fact full front nudity (none of that "Full Monty"

scam tease here folks, you do get the FULL MONTY…A LOT), the story was actually quite good.  In fact, I was rather enthralled and surprised by the ending which, to me, is always a sign of a good movie.  

Now some of you (mainly my very nice lady friends) will see this movie and think, "That can't be the way it REALLY is."  Let me assure you (ladies), it is.  Not that I have any first hand knowledge (well, maybe a…..little bit) but I'm telling you, this movie accurately portrays one of the more seamy aspects of the gay "lifestyle" (so to speak).  

To me, this movie was thought provoking on several different levels.  First it showed the banality of total nudity.  I didn't see anything sexy at all about the continual full display of "the goods."  But then, maybe that's me, I grew up with my sexual fantasies.  I've always preferred a bit of sexual mystery.  

Then there is the other level of the main character being attracted to an unattractive (to a typical gay man looking for surface beauty only), pot bellied older man.  I found "Henri"

Franck and Henri

a much more attractive human being than I found Michal, the Tom Selleck look-alike.  But then I never found Tom Selleck attractive either in a sexual manner.  

"Michal" and "Franck" from "Stranger By The Lake"

But that's me, I go for the nerdy, nice guys but not the smart alert Napoleon Dynamite smart assed jerk nerds.  In fact, the Napoleon Dynamites of this world I could smack in the head, they annoy me. There is a reason they're losers but I digress. 

Back to the main course subject at hand (no pun intended).

So so sum up, much to my surprise I found that I rather like this movie a lot.  One of my tests of a truly memorable movie is do I keep thinking about it?  Is it realistic? Does it raise questions?  Does it make me think…..about life and life's choices?  Well folks, this movie surely did.  

Choices

So if you decide to see it don't be put off by the very casual and matter of fact nudity.  Hang up your inhibitions and concentrate on the story….and the scenery.  Yes folks, this movie also had great scenery but no music.  None, nada, zilch.  A zero musical score unless you count the wind blowing…..no pun intended again…through the trees.

This is a haunting movie folks.  I recommend that you see it.  

Gay Movies

Now that I have a lot of time off from work, I’m taking good advantage of my Netflix DVD movie rentals.



Lately I’ve been renting quite a few gay themed movies. One would think this would be a genre rich for exploitation into many fine dramas. However, one would be wrong.



I don’t know why, but almost all of the gay themed films I’ve rented are lousy films. The actors are almost always unattractive actors with stereotypical gay mannerisms. The stories are two dimensional and predictable. The production values are little more than home movies. The movies are an insult to the intelligence of the audience.



However, every now and then I discover a little gem. I found one last night. It is called “Shelter.”



The two main actors are men who just happen to be gay, not the other way around. The child actor isn’t the usually annoying child actor who dominates the movie with their cutsie poo, smart alecky antics. I’ve seen that so often that I’m sick of it. It was very refreshing to have a child actor actually play a real child.



The supporting actors in this movie are all very good. Even the scenes, for a low budget movie (still can’t get away from those low budget gay themed movies) are haunting and beautiful.



For most of my adult life I have subjected myself to watching heterosexual films (many of them excellent of course) that I could not identify with because of my homosexuality. What a pleasure it was to watch a nice little love story drama that just happened to have the main actors gay. It was also nice that the gay characters didn’t kill themselves at the end of them movie, which is usually how Hollywood has handled gay themed movies.

Now the challenge is to find another movie like this.