Stephen Israel Movies
A male prostitute who has dismissed the need for love in his life learns a lesson about affection from one of his customers in this independent comedy drama from filmmaker Q. Allan Brocka. X (Derek Magyar) is a gay hustler whose enigmatic name reflects his emotional distance from the world around him; he doesn't much believe in love, and isn't interested in sex unless he's being paid for it. X has a dozen regular customers he calls his "disciples," and shares his home with two roommates -- Andrew (Darryl Stephens), whose good looks sometimes tempt X, though he's still uncertain about his own sexual feelings, and Joey (Jonathon Trent), an uninhibited and outré teenager who openly lusts after X, to no avail. Gregory (Patrick Bauchau) is an older man who regularly hires X for companionship, but he refuses to have sex with the hustler until he's willing to acknowledge that their attraction is mutual. X isn't about to admit to any such thing, but one day Gregory shares a story with X that forces him to reconsider his thinking. Boy Culture received its North American premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Magyar, Patrick Bauchau, (more)
Death & Texas mixes humor and drama in order to tell the story of a football player who ends up on death row. However, when his team begins to lose without him there is a movement to get him released. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Durning, Steve Harris, (more)
A Sunday afternoon quest to find the perfect American dream home finds a group of wannabe homeowners embarking on a series of strange misadventures in this real estate musical from Slamdance Film Festival founder Dan Mirvish and starring Sally Kellerman, Anne Magnuson, and James Duval. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Rapp, Sally Kellerman, (more)
Originally screened at Telluride as The Buddy Factor, Swimming With Sharks is an uneven but engrossing picture, and a possible warning to anyone with plans to break into the motion-picture business. When Guy (Frank Whaley), a recent film-school graduate with big ideas, takes a job as assistant to major studio executive Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey), he believes his ship has finally come in; little does he know it's a slave ship, for his boss is indeed worse than a slave driver. Buddy delights in abusing his boy-toy (exemplified by the scene in which he forbids Guy to go to the bathroom as he pours water back and forth from a glass to a pitcher). Meanwhile, Guy struggles to push his idea for a script and feels he's finally made it when Buddy congratulates him on a job well done. However, much to his chagrin, his conniving boss actually takes sole credit for the project, pushing the young assistant to wit's end -- he breaks into Buddy's Beverly Hills showplace and takes him hostage, then proceeds to torture him in a number of demeaning and horrifying ways. The whole film stands as a sort of parable about the value system in Hollywood and the cost of reaching the top; it doesn't play like real life, but it's not supposed to. The real reason to watch the film, however, is Spacey's performance. He manages at once to be terrifying, hateful, and hilarious, and he makes Buddy Ackerman a character the audience won't soon forget. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, (more)
