Q Cinema starts its 16th annual gay and lesbian film festival in Fort Worth with opening night on Thursday, and continuing throughout the rest of the weekend. We’ll have a full write-up of most of the movies in Friday’s edition, but you can also find out about the opening films — Club King and The 10 Year Plan — right here, with reviews from contributor Steve Warren.
Enjoy the festival!
Club King. Club promoter Mario Diaz moved to New York in the ’90s and started planning parties for bars in the East Village. He brought sexy back a decade before Justin Timberlake, and reminded the AIDS-ravaged community how to have a good time, pushing the envelope while Mayor Giuliani was pushing the other way, trying to Disneyfy Manhattan. Ripped off by a (straight) silent partner, Diaz moved to Los Angeles in 2001. They weren’t quite ready for the New York edge he brought with him, but they learned to love it. His Big Fat Dick parties have been a regular event at Fubar for 11 years and Full Frontal Disco recently marked five years at Akbar. He’s also found work acting in commercials and dancing on television.
We learn that — as well as stories about Diaz’s macho father, alcoholic mother and bipolar sister — in this frenetic documentary, which begins with a rapid-fire photo montage that gives you a subliminal impression of drag queens and hot shirtless men having fun. More of these montages are peppered throughout, but even the slower parts between don’t give you a lot of time to catch your breath.
I would find Diaz pretty hot if he didn’t so obviously find himself hot. Even one of his best friends notes he can be narcissistic at times. It’s sporadically interesting and there’s lots of hot manflesh on the screen, but it’s disorganized, and director Jon Bush jumps around too much and encourages Diaz’s vanity to a shameful degree. At the Rose Marine Theatre, 1440 N. Main St., Fort Worth, Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m. Get tickets here.
The 10 Year Plan. Two friends make a pact that if they haven’t found lifemates by a set deadline far in the future, they’ll settle for each other. The friends in this case are Myles (Jack Turner, an adorable cross between Ryan Reynolds and Tom Cruise) and Brody (Michael Adam Hamilton). Myles’ 35th birthday is the expiration date for their 10 year plan. Myles is a romantic who scares his dates off by getting too serious too fast. Brody’s a slut who won’t call a guy again, even if he likes him. A month before the deadline, they haven’t changed a bit, except that Myles is now a lawyer and Brody’s a cop. (Cue the nightstick and handcuffs jokes.) Myles is still looking for love and Brody’s still avoiding it. Each has a straight friend at work, one male one female, who will discover each other while our heroes are still exploring alternatives.
There’s one surprising twist and several that are not so surprising on the way to an ending that will surprise no one, except in how sloppily it’s executed. This is the kind of movie writer-director J.C. Calciano (eCupid, Is It Just Me?) specializes in — a passable entertainment for undemanding gay viewers. Once it was all we had, aside from the occasional Brokeback Mountain or Milk. That has changed, but Calciano, like his characters, hasn’t. At the Rose Marine Theatre, 1440 N. Main St., Fort Worth, Oct. 9, at 8 p.m. Get tickets here.
