Rob Lester

ATTRACTION, INTERACTION, & REACTION IN INDIA They cook, they eat, they pray, they sleep, they ride motorcycles, they text, they wash, warn, and worry. Most of these actions by the people in We Are Faheem & Karun, set in India, are mundane day-to-day doings without much scintillating accompanying dialogue — “Let’s go and eat kabobs….

STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT: TALKING, WALKING, TALKING SOME MORE “A guy walks into a bar…” That action is the first line in a long line of jokes, and it is what happens early on in A Night Like This, but its serious look at sadness is no joke. It takes place at Christmastime, although the…

GAY LOVE, PRIVACY, MYSTERY, NUDITY, AND COWS Those who prefer fast-moving plots, in a confusion-free zone so that it’s always clear what’s going on in the story and in the characters’ heads won’t have only good things to say about Only Good Things, even if they feel drawn in by the film’s drawn-out story centering…

SOMETHING WITH SILLINESS, SERIOUSNESS, SASS, SCHEMING, AND SEX TALK In real life, being patient with impatient, impulsive teenagers who are also snarky, sneaky, disagreeable and disrespectful can age and enrage adults. However, fictional versions of such young folks and their follies and frenzies can be funny and/or dramatically involving. Many movies, novels, plays, and TV…

LOTS O’ LOVERBOYS Eight – count ‘em – eight short films are grouped together for If You Wanna Be My Loverboy, one of several packages in the NewFest offerings of themed sets. Each set will be screened only once, with virtual showings through October 21. This collection, at NYC’s School for Visual Arts on October…

AN OUT OF THIS WORLD ADVENTURE IN THE CARTOONIVERSE Some time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (one that’s pointedly pronounced GAY-laxy in this case), there lived a lesbian princess prone to crying floods of tears and full of fears. It didn’t help her low self-esteem that her girlfriend, Kiki, suddenly broke up with…

SHORT, NOT ALWAYS SWEET: SOMETHING FOR ALMOST EVERYONE Two Black Boys in Paradise starts with its titular twosome in a boat, going gently down the stream, merrily. They’re naked; it’s full-frontal nudity for these thin fellows and later in the film there is a sweet, discreet but definite moment when they get into positions for…

Adolescence and added adversity, with heart in the hardships As a film title, a quote from a poem, a line of dialogue, a life philosophy, or even a song lyric, If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart in Your Mouth and Smile is quite a mouthful. And it’s actually ALL the aforementioned things. Working…

THE BUTLER DOES IT How would you describe the qualities of an ideal butler? He is discreet, dedicated, calm, controlled, self-effacing, efficient — someone who’s ready, willing, and able to humbly respond to the employer’s every need, from serving tea to maybe serving as a confidant. In the charming film Mr. Blake at Your Service…

HIGH SCHOOL HIGHS, AND LOWS AND WOES If you didn’t already learn or experience that the social elements of going to high school can be hell – with the insecurity of trying for maturity, the cliques of cool kids, the miseries of misfits, being bullied, and purposefully pursuing popularity –  the movies are here to…

THE DEPORTATION SITUATION Perhaps more timely than ever, considering the daily reports of ICE agents removing the undocumented people among us, and attacks on them of the verbal variety, The Compatriots is an independent film that puts one specific human face on their plight. In writer/director/co-producer Spencer Cohen’s first full-length feature, the fear factor and…

SHEDDING LIGHT ON A SAVIOR AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR It’s coming to digital platforms on September 15, but the 2023 film Brave the Dark is not recommended…unless you’re willing to be inspired, to have your faith in humanity restored, and to give up your membership in the J.P.S. (Jaded Pessimists Society) when faced with the evidence…