FILM FESTIVALS


REVIEWS

AUDIENCE RESPONSE, FILMSTOCK International Film Festival 2008
Captivating, intimate, strong performances, when will people remember its about the person not simply sex. Great film.
So heartbreaking and real. Loved it from beginning to end. The human relationship is always amazing to explore.

ALLISON BEDA, filmmaker
Compelling energy and great performances. Who would have thought two people talking in a room would be so gripping. Beautiful script.

Short but Sweet by DAVID LAMBLE
Thirteen or So Minutes In a nervy little talk fest that adherers to its own special clock, two straight, well put-together guys find a sinful attraction they never expected to encounter in another guy. Branden Blinn smartly cuts to the bedroom just as the shy bottom guy, Hugh (Carlos Salas), exclaims, "What just happened here?" to his self-assured top, Lawrence (Nick Soper). Lawrence thinks the heart can trump primal fears, taboos, even DNA – feelings that square with Walt Whitman's "adhesiveness." Beginning with lust, and climaxing, perhaps, in a thing called love, this story reaffirms our fondest dreams. (Fun in Boys' Shorts, Castro, 6/20, 27; Bi Request, Roxie, 6/24)

GREG SHAPIRO
“Str8 Men and the men who love them 2” (Ariztical)—You know what they say about not judging a book by its cover. But when it comes to DVD shorts compilation “Str8 Men and the men who love them 2,” judge away. As is not uncommon with a compilation of this nature, of the nine shorts, only a couple of them are worth the time investment, brief as it may be. The best of the bunch, writer/director William Branden Blinn’s “Thirteen or So Minutes…,” which graces the cover of the DVD, begins just as Hugh (Carlos Salas) and Lawrence (Nick Soper), two supposedly straight guys who met in a bar and bonded over a variety of conversation topics, are having a queer post-coital bedroom moment.   In “Soldier’s Choice,” Damon (Matthew Steffens), a Hell’s Kitchen muscle boy meets John (Mike Lavoie), a Marine on leave and falls head over heels in love with him, leading the service man to have to make a difficult choice. Although far from perfect, “The House of Adam,” about a gay man working in a smalltown diner, is the best of shorts programmer and filmmaker Jorge Ameer’s movies collected here. And the version of Ameer’s “Courtship at the Office,” about a boss’s romantic pursuit of an employee, feels incomplete, as if a longer version is lurking out there somewhere.

STINKYLULU
Two attractive guys, secure in their heterosexuality, discover a surprising chemistry that results in "thirteen or so minutes" that change their ideas about who they are and what they want, possibly forever. This short film operates from basically implausible scenario, the sort one reads about in formulaic print porn, in which two straight guys fall into bed together and, in so doing, fall in love. It's a vision of sexual idealism in which homoerotic masculinity is unburdened by anything so distracting as gay identity. (I know. Feh.) Which makes it all the more remarkable that this film is as engaging as it is. The leads are hot. They spend much of the film mostly naked. And the utterly unbelievable dialogue somehow works to spin a very appealing spell. The basic message of the film is that erotic feelings derive from an essence of truth and love, and that things like straight/gay or normal/sick are irrelevant to the experience of the truth of erotic love. (It's a very Buddhist kind of thing and there is something quietly spiritual about this film.) The two actors maneuver the nearly impossible, and quite abstract, dialogue with aplomb. They're both very attractive, although not in any superhuman sort of way, and they are filmed to highlight their basic appeal, not their extraordinary beauty. It's not the most sophisticated or witty film, but it seems to draw from an appealing spirit of eroticism, optimism and openness. A compelling, sexy and surprising vision of the possibilities of gay male love.

S. JAMES WEGG g
Awarded the Best Short Film of the 2008 Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, Thirteen or So Minutes was a surprise and a delight. Written and directed by William Branden Blinn. Two straight guys have a great and satisfying roll in the hay. And they talk about it afterwards, because after all, they are not gay, neither of them. Right?
This short was exceptionally well done. With a grand total of six camera set-ups, one location and two actors, Thirteen... is a paradigm for the bare essentials of good filmmaking: good writing and good performances. Blinn wastes no time beginning his tale at the exact moment of a turning point for his characters. Actors Carlos Salas and Mark Soper perfectly counter balance each other with freaked out and calmly curious reactions to the situation. They verbal intercourse is both honest and emotionally engaging. The piece was so simply, yet so well done.

Christa M., Berlin
What a moving love story, perhaps without an ending, perhaps happy?, perhaps a bit sad?, but very intensive and highly emotional. Beautiful. I was stunned - and am very, very glad that you are a mature filmmaker and not a movie buff.
The story of Nick and Carlos is new, brandon new. I have never seen it added to a discussion about homosexuality or -phobia or -philia. Never. The beginning reminds me of Lubitsch, who preferred to let the imagination dance around, while he closed the door. Beautiful. My imagination is often, most of the times, much better than what is being presented (there is one love scene in filmmaking, which is truely beautiful: in Nicolas Roegs "Don't look now" - Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie). Normally they in bed look as if involved in exercises with oil added to make them shine. See? Lubitsch or Roeg's film, we expect the routine. So when we hear and then see Nick and Carlos - wow: big surprise. The tension rises more and more, when it is revealed that it is a first for both of them. The dialogue is beautiful - and then the idea with the wrong shirt is terrific. While watching I was scared about the ending. No idea. And then ... how soothing. Brandon, a beauiful film. I would say exactly that, even if your president had made it or Chip Oberndorf or that fool Portnoy of Hiff - I would be shocked in their case, perhaps faint, but praise nevertheless. (I just want to make sure that you don't think I praise and glow because I know you. No way. You are right when you said that you expect honesty and nothing held back.). Alright, you are glad that Hiff takes your film. But they should be glad that you are honoring them with your work. Start seeing it like that. I love the pace of your film, the editing - what wonderfully long breath there is. No speed, no stealing away images - just peace and a focus on everything that is important. Two people and fear, a high amount of tenderness, surprise, shock - how great those reactions.
I love this film!!!
Christa M., Berlin