Ah, to remember the past. Sure, I realize East Side Story came out (on DVD) in 2007, and probably made way before that, but it was surely stuck in the early 1990s. The themes: coming out, closeted individuals, family acceptance of homosexuality, stereotypes and racism is sooo 1992. And you know what? It was refreshing.
It was a nice and warm reminder to days past. And this low-budget, independent gay-themed movie was actually well made (filmed) and held enough interest to watch to the end. Sure, it had a familiar plot, enormously stereotypical characters and predictable outcomes, but, strangely, enjoyable.
The movie begins with two closeted characters, Diego (enormously hot, but unfortunately straight, Rene Alvarado) and confused real estate agent, Pablo (David Beron) roll-playing sexual encounters. It's obviously doomed, and Diego has to learn to live on his own.
His parents passed on and he lives and works with his grandmother at an apparently authentic Mexican food restaurant in a very depressing, racist and homophobic neighborhood. Diego wants out and over to Phoenix. (Side Note: I wished he had at least visited the Valley of the Sun, as I am currently living there. So few films are shown here.) He meets the new neighbors and it's predictable that he falls for attached Wesley (Steve Callahan.) It takes awhile, but you know what's coming.
The movie is hard to watch, for some of the racist jokes/statements and throws you a curveball for being a "light romantic comedy" and then shows scenes of explicit sexual encounters or nudity (just backsides and bare chests,) even though the movie begins with a dark-shot blow-job, most of the movie could've been shown edited on LOGO.
A friend had been recommending East Side Story to me for a long while, so I finally got around to seeing it. I'm glad I did. It's not groundbreaking, but had some decent acting (though I never truly believed Diego was an educated chef, despite them "telling" us he was,) very funny dialogue (at times,) good eye-candy and a touching throwback to the early 1990s gay-themed film-making. It's harmless fun, if you can understand where the characters are coming from and know soap operas aren't necessarily reserved for heterosexuals.
It was a nice and warm reminder to days past. And this low-budget, independent gay-themed movie was actually well made (filmed) and held enough interest to watch to the end. Sure, it had a familiar plot, enormously stereotypical characters and predictable outcomes, but, strangely, enjoyable.
The movie begins with two closeted characters, Diego (enormously hot, but unfortunately straight, Rene Alvarado) and confused real estate agent, Pablo (David Beron) roll-playing sexual encounters. It's obviously doomed, and Diego has to learn to live on his own.
His parents passed on and he lives and works with his grandmother at an apparently authentic Mexican food restaurant in a very depressing, racist and homophobic neighborhood. Diego wants out and over to Phoenix. (Side Note: I wished he had at least visited the Valley of the Sun, as I am currently living there. So few films are shown here.) He meets the new neighbors and it's predictable that he falls for attached Wesley (Steve Callahan.) It takes awhile, but you know what's coming.
The movie is hard to watch, for some of the racist jokes/statements and throws you a curveball for being a "light romantic comedy" and then shows scenes of explicit sexual encounters or nudity (just backsides and bare chests,) even though the movie begins with a dark-shot blow-job, most of the movie could've been shown edited on LOGO.
A friend had been recommending East Side Story to me for a long while, so I finally got around to seeing it. I'm glad I did. It's not groundbreaking, but had some decent acting (though I never truly believed Diego was an educated chef, despite them "telling" us he was,) very funny dialogue (at times,) good eye-candy and a touching throwback to the early 1990s gay-themed film-making. It's harmless fun, if you can understand where the characters are coming from and know soap operas aren't necessarily reserved for heterosexuals.