Another Gay Movie

The recent trend in Hollywood filmmaking of spoofing itself via wacky, poop and fart joke-infested farces has not been particularly well done (Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, Date Movie, etc.). The efforts have certainly not found the level of parody as ’70s flicks like Airplane! and maybe not even that of the early ’90s resurgence (The Naked Gun, Hot Shots). But at least the latest example, Another Gay Movie, a little-seen theatrical release from earlier this year, serves a genuinely new purpose: giving queers their own version of these films, and an occasionally funny one at that. And Another Gay Movie also parodies the parodies, which allows for some (albeit often uninspired) cultural commentary on how America makes fun of itself. In the vein of American Pie, Another Gay Movie features four boys who have just graduated from high school (San Torum High, one of many "wink, wink” jokes found throughout). There’s jock Jarod (Jonathan Chase), brainy Griff (Mitch Morris), queen Nico (Jonah Blechman) and protagonist Andy (Michael Carbonaro). Inspired by their cheerleader screwing dyke pal Muffler (Ashlie Atkinson), the boys make a pact to lose their "anal virginity” by the end of the summer. Hilarity ensues, often in a manner considerably raunchier than in any of its straight predecessors. Sometimes it feels a bit like overkill (see the plethora of "special guests” like Richard Hatch, Matthew Rush and Graham Norton), but you’re often laughing too hard to care. It’s refreshing to see a movie featuring a bunch of gay teenagers without any issues of "coming out” or insecurities about being gay. Just like American Pie, the insecurities of these characters are of the general "teenage angst” kind: they want to get laid but don’t know how. And bonus points as well for Scott Thompson’s hilarious turn as the Eugene Levy character trying to give the boys tips on how to survive their horniness. The DVD features mediocre commentary by director Stephens and producer Jesse Adams, as well as a standard "making of” featurette. But there is also a great batch of deleted scenes (which often seem to have been "deleted” due to their excessive raunch), an interesting "staged screenplay” reading featurette and a bizarre segment called "Pillow Talk With Grandpa Muffler.”