DVD/VHS

The Trip

Los Angeles, 1971, two years after Stonewall. Alan (Larry Sullivan) is a conservative and deeply closeted young journalist who meets Tommy (Steve Braun), an openly-gay free spirit with radical politics, long hair, and a flamboyant best friend (Alexis Arquette). Even as he’s writing articles against homosexuality, Alan falls in love with the attractive activist. Fast-forward to 1977 when the gay community is first flexing its political muscle over the attacks of Anita Bryant. Alan and Tommy are now openly lovers and gay activists, but when Alan’s old antigay writings mysteriously resurface, he is fired from his job, and Tommy leaves in anger and shame. Seven years later, Reaganism is in full bloom, and Alan is living in the mansion—and bed—of a powerful, closeted businessman (Ray Baker). Alan’s mother (Jill St. John) and old girlfriend (Sirena Irwin) tell him that Tommy is in Mexico and dying of AIDS. Alan rushes to his side and tries to bring him home, but when the airline refuses to let Tommy board the plane, the two men find a car and begin their final trip together. • 2002. Directed by Miles Swain. Available at www.tlavideo.com. From TLA Releasing (www.tlareleasing.com). More info: www.thetrip-themovie.com. —Troy Carrington

Children of Hannibal

Hapless Domenico (Silvio Orlando) decides to start a new life by robbing a bank and fleeing to Switzerland. But things go wrong, and he finds himself with a hostage, businessman Tommaso (Diego Abatantuono), who is as eager to leave Italy as he is. Tommaso convinces Domenico to head south, where a friend will help them sail to Egypt, but the friend (Flavio Insinna) turns out to be a policeman . . . and Tommaso’s secret gay lover. To complicate matters, Tommaso’s adult daughter (Valentina Cervi) suddenly appears, determined to join them. New mishaps befall the gang with each passing mile, creating a lively road comedy that revels in the changing Italian landscape and offers some of the best and most unusual gay characters ever seen in an Italian film. • Variety says Children of Hannibal is a “warm-hearted tale [that] has spontaneity and wit all too rare in Italian comedies.” • 1998. Directed by Davide Ferrario. Italian with English subtitles. Available at www.tlavideo.com. From TLA Releasing (www.tlareleasing.com). —Suzie Lynde

Luster

The film opens with Jackson (Justin Herwick) waking up in a sea of bodies after an all-night orgy. He thinks he has just found true love with Billy (Jonah Blechman), but Billy has a twisted sexual appetite and just wants to be friends. At the same time, a hunky cousin (B. Wyatt) arrives, a cousin that Jackson didn’t even know he had. Jackson wonders if sex with a cousin is incest if it’s gay. Complicating matters are a straight-acting guy (Sean Thibodeau) who’s infatuated with Jackson; his best friend and boss (Shane Powers) who is so fond of Jackson that he questions his straightness; a lesbian friend (Pamela Gidley) who is fascinated with the cousin to the dismay of her partner (Susanna Melvoin); and a closeted rock star (Willie Garson, Carrie’s gay friend in Sex and the City) who wants Jackson to ghost-write his lyrics and who knows Billy. Eventually everyone gets sorted out in a surprisingly charming, though occasionally heartbreaking, ode to artistic temperament and the search for love amid lust. • 2002. Directed by Everett Lewis. Available at www.tlavideo.com. From TLA Releasing (www.tlareleasing.com). —TC

Danny in the Sky

Newcomer Thierry Pepin plays Danny, the son of a closeted father and supermodel mother, who died of an overdose when Danny was a child. When Danny comes of age, against his father’s wishes, he too pursues modeling, but all-too-quickly falls prey to the fashion world’s dark side. He becomes vain, then ruthlessly competitive. He starts abusing drugs. Falling into depression and disillusionment, he perverts modeling into exhibitionism by becoming a stripper and lap dancer. In what becomes a completely futile search for self, he dabbles in porn. In this jaded netherworld, far from the glamorous runways where he started, Danny finds love with Karine, a photographer just as lost as he is. But this affair can only be temporary, as Danny’s final destiny still awaits him. • 2001. Directed by Denis Langlois. French with English subtitles (the DVD has an English-dubbed version). From Picture This! Entertainment (www.picturethisent.com). —TC

Coming Out Party

Coming Out Party is a celebration of love, life, and freedom as seven gay men and lesbian comic storytellers share their personal stories of coming out to family, friends, and coworkers, and living out and proud. Features Jackie Beat, Rene Hicks, Sabrina Matthews, Dan Renzi, John Riggi, Bob Smith, and Terry Sweeney. Their insights about gay culture will make you laugh out loud, their experiences of first loves and heartaches might move you to tears, and their honesty will inspire you. • DVD format only (www.comingoutpartydvd.com). 2003. From Creative Light Entertainment (www.crlight.com). —SL

Killer Kid

The darkly prescient Killer Kid tells the story of Djilali (Teufik Jallab), an orphan from Lebanon, whose father was killed by Israelis. Preying on his rage, terrorists recruit the boy and train him to be an assassin. They teach him to shoot, fight, hate, and be a soldier. And Djilali is an exceptional student. He is smart, cunning, and with the terrorists’ help, willing to kill in cold blood. When he goes to Paris to assassinate the French president, Djilali is introduced to Karim (Younesse Boudache), a poor boy from the Arab section of the city who is being unwittingly used to help Djilali assimilate. Karim knows nothing of terrorism; his interests are those of most boys his age: rap music, skateboarding, cheeseburgers, and 16-year-old girls. The boys become close, vowing to remain friends “dead or alive.” But eventually Djilali must choose between executing his mission and saving the life of his friend. • DVD format only. 1994. Directed by Gilles de Maistre. French with English subtitles. From Picture This! Entertainment (www.picturethisent.com). —TC

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