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  WINDY CITY TIMES

Knight at the Movies: Another Gay Sequel; 'Ice Blues: A Donald Strachey Mystery'
by Richard Knight, Jr.
2008-09-03

This article shared 5700 times since Wed Sep 3, 2008
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Here's what I wrote about Another Gay Movie in August of 2006:

'Another Gay Movie, a queer cross between American Pie and a male Little Darlings, is a fizzy, brainless waste of time that's the cinematic equivalent of one of those impossible to drink frozen summer concoctions they're always pushing at the bars this time of year. You don't really want to drink the Strawberry Twisty Frizz Whirly Freeez Tassle Von Frozen Frappe with 26 different kinds of fruity vodka but what the hell? You're out with your gal pals, looking to get laid or at the very least have a good time. Why not lay down the $12.50 for the two ounce shot cause you wanna get liquored up quick and have some fun already?

'That's the kind of picture Another Gay Movie is. The plot revolves around a quartet of four 'loser' high school friends determined to lose their anal virginity before summer ends and their big dyke friend's latest orgy/party. These four take to their assignment like ducks to water and before you can say 'K-Y' they've all reached their goal. Crude and about as funny as the straight gross out sex obsessed teen comedies, Another Gay Movie is also just about two steps away from out and out gay porn.

'But for a movie which I approached with such low expectations, I laughed a lot more than I anticipated and there's a lot of hunky eye candy to pass the time. That, and a bevy of gay guest stars like Lypsinka, Graham Norton, Scott Thompson, and a perky theme song sung by what sounds like a technically altered Nancy Sinatra make this a good way to kick off an evening's entertainment.'

So two years later, what's different about Another Gay Sequel? ( pictured ) Well, other than substituting three of the four original leading men with similar handsome specimens ( Jonah Blechman as Nico, the nellie of the group, is the only returnee ) and sending our sex-loving quartet vacationing in sunny Florida, not much. The movie has the same candy-colored visuals, another gallery of gay celebrities—RuPaul, Lady Bunny, Perez Hilton, Scott Thompson, some gay porn stars in cameos ( Colton Ford, Michael Lucas, Brent Corrigan ) and a lot more movie parodies tucked into the brainless plot ( this time we get The Wizard of Oz, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Showgirls, 10, and Mommie Dearest ) . There's even a blatant variation on Heathers, with a trio of beautiful but bad boys who compete with our leading quartet.

The plot is again whisper-thin, and centers on the lads trying to win a hot slut contest by having sex with as many partners as possible. ( This ain't exactly a movie for those into abstinence. ) Will our guys outdo the nasty Jaspers in the sleaze department? Will threeways add or detract from the relationship of the hunk and his nerd boyfriend ( signified by his glasses ) ? Will the power bottom ever get the cute Hispanic guy to tap his booty? Will Nico ever get laid? These are the weighty questions the movie poses, and director-writer Todd Stephens ( also returning for a second go round ) knows that this brainless, horndog stuff is just what his audience wants—and he makes sure plenty of hot, simulated sex arrives like clockwork and that the screen is filled with enough male eye candy to keep even the most finicky queen salivating. There's also a very funny gay twist on zombie pictures set in a bathhouse; a 'Singin' in the Rain' type musical number that finds Nico praising the glories of golden showers; and even Nancy Sinatra returns to sing another perky theme song.

Though Another Gay Sequel is not particularly funny ( the laugh-out loud moments are the exception rather than the rule ) , and though the movie embraces the gross-out stuff a little too heartily for my tastes ( a vomit scene is directly cribbed from 'Little Britain' and there's an overdose of references to crabs, Hershey highways, etc. ) , there's enough vitality, frolicking and genuine shameless good will to recommend a return visit.

On the television front, gay actor Chad Allen who has played gay detective Donald Strachey in three previous outings for the Here! channel, and returns this week in a fourth, 'Ice Blues: A Donald Strachey Mystery.' In this outing, which quickly follows on the heels of On the Other Hand Death ( which is still playing on Here! and featured a crack performance from Margot Kidder ) , Strachey's lover Timmy ( Sebastian Spence ) at last becomes central to the plot. A pet charity of Timmy, who plays an aide to a senator ( the action is set in Albany, N.Y. ) , suddenly loses its funding. That's no problem for dynamo Tim, who quickly starts raising money to save the charity, a group of safe harbors for homeless kids. Tim is approached by a young man who claims to represent an anonymous donor who's ready to pony up $3 million but the young man ends up being murdered by a mysterious assailant on the spot. When Tim receives a package with $3 million in untraceable bonds and the young man's body ends up in Strachey's car suddenly Tim's life is in danger and Strachey has a hot case.

As usual, director Ron Oliver keeps the action moving right along and though the case itself is rather standard-issue, Ice Blues is entertaining enough, enlivened by Allen in the lead role. As the distracted Strachey, he again turns in a deft performance ( and Sherry Miller, again playing an anguished mother as she did on 'Queer As Folk,' is a standout ) but I wish that the script called for more intimate moments between Donald and Tim. Ironically, given that the case revolves around Strachey's lover, who has remained in the background in previous outings, this episode offers the least amount of heat between the two actors. A hotel love scene between the duo was the perfect chance for Oliver to gives us a little man-on-man action, but the camera chastely turns away. Perhaps the next edition will find Strachey solving the mystery of the camera-shy gay couple!

Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site, where there is also ordering information on my book of collected film reviews, Knight at the Movies 2004-2006.

See www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com for an interview with Another Gay Sequel's Jimmy Clabots.


This article shared 5700 times since Wed Sep 3, 2008
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