Saturday, July 12, 2008

What I'm Watching #151


shelter
Originally uploaded by Randuwa
Wow! Did I stumble upon a wonderful film?!

"Shelter" is the brainchild of Jonah Markowitz: he wrote it, he directed it.

It's a very straightforward picture, whose plot lines fall before you like a wad of toothpicks spilled on a table. There's the irresponsible older sister, Jeanne, who can't help but assert her authority, even though being in-charge is the last thing she's willing or able to do. There's her son, Cody, who takes the life he's been given and just goes with it--but at 5, that's not so unusual. There's her kid brother, Zach, guilt driven to do what's right for others while struggling to discover what's right for himself. There's his longtime girlfriend, Tori, best friend, still a virgin after all these years. And there's the older brother (Shaun) of his best friend, Gabe; both young men living on the "other" side of the tracks--90210 side of the tracks--and Shaun's homosexuality a known but little valued fact in this circle.

Like the toothpicks the members of this world cross paths here and there and through it, the kid-brother Zach, manages to not only liberate himself from his fears, but everyone else he cares about, too.

This is such a beautiful movie. I can't recommend it enough.

There's a cool trailer online @:

http://www.heretv.com/sheltermovie/

My only caveat is in the sex scenes between Zach and Shaun. And it's the kissing. The kissing is so frankly fake. Peck. Peck. Peck. -- No passion. But as complaints go, it's not going to stop me from enjoying this film again or sharing it with friends.

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