Romance, the closet, China! Raymond Yeung's happy/sad gay love story FRONT COVER opens

What happens when an ace stylist (gay, of course:"All the good ones are," he explains early on) for a major fashion magazine in New York City gets the job of styling a shoot involving a red-hot and very popular Chinese actor who's just a little bit uncomfortable around homosexuals? Given that the movie under consideration is a gay film, you can probably choose among several typical scenarios and come pretty close to correct.

What makes FRONT COVER charming and entertaining, however, is its combination of decent dialog, good performances, deft direction and an insistence, where the home stretch is concerned, on believability over feel-good.

The writer/director here is one, Raymond Yeung, aka Ray Yeung (shown at left), a Hong Kong-based filmmaker with a few earlier films to his credit. His latest explores Asian identity and sexual identity, both East and West versions -- in China (via that popular leading-man actor) and here in the USA (from the POV of our fashion stylist). Neither one, it turns out, is all that comfortable behind the mask that he has created for himself. All of which proves nothing much new, but the way Mr. Yeung handles his tale is appropriate, often fun, and finally surprisingly moving.

In some ways the movie is quite a typical gay film. Our hero, Ryan (Jake Choi, on poster, top) is surrounded by stereotypical characters, from his diva boss at the fashion mag (Sonia Villani, above) to his BFF (played by Jennifer Neala Page, below). Both actresses do what they can with limited and rather obvious material, but fortunately the movie concentrates most of its mind and heart on its two leading men.

These are played by Mr. Choi, as the Asian-American stylist who only has sex with white guys, and James Chen (below) as Ning, the hot young Chinese actor, who is himself constricted by his "image" and constantly surrounded by female hangers-on.

After a rocky start, the two men begin to warm up to each other and an interesting bond is formed. Yeung's style -- via both dialog and visuals -- is mostly graceful and loose, which makes it easy for us to willingly tag along. And the performances of Chen and Choi are lovely, too: funny and smart, with both men uptight in different ways for different reasons.

Ryan's parents (Ming Lee and Elizabeth Sung, above) get into the picture, and while their behavior may seem typical to Asians, for us Americans, they appear just different enough to raise the interest level a notch or two. And if the ensuing relationship between the young men seems initially a little too easy, wait a bit.

Plenty of drama and good/bad possibilities are provided when a photo, above, is surreptitiously taken and released to the media. The outcome may divide audiences between those who demand their feel-good fix and those who prefer some reality with their romance. For me, the finale proved not merely bittersweet but downright sad, lifting the movie out of typical gay rom-com fluff and into something richer and deeper -- out of which a dose of genuine character might even be built.

Front Cover -- from Strand Releasing and running 87 minutes -- is worth a watch. After screening at various GLBT festivals, it opens theatrically this Friday, August 5, in New York City at City Cinema's Village East Cinema, and the following Friday, August 12, in Los Angeles at the the Sundance Sunset Cinema. To see other currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters listed, click here and then click on Screenings on the task bar midway down the page.

Jessica Oreck's BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO opens at Film Forum

The Film Forum press kit for Jessica Oreck's one-of-a-kind documentary BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO bears this caveat: WARNING: You may look more kindly upon your roaches after viewing.

TrustMovies didn't. On the other hand, he doesn't look at roaches in any par-
ticular dastardly light, either. In fact, Oreck's movie got him to thinking more about our dis-
tant neighbors, the Japanese, than anything else. The mysterious east seems even more so after a bout with Beetle Queen.

What is it with the connection between the Japanese and insects? Ms. Oreck (shown at left), in this, her first film, attempts to enlighten us: It's part of that island empire's history, as well as its philosophy, poetry, art (that's an enormous beetle sculpture in metal, below) and general connection to the natural world.  There are some other, less immediately obvious, ideas wiggling around the parameters, as well: entrepreneurship, religion, and the purifying of the race by blocking out all foreign influence.  Each of these bubble to the surface in this odd, sometimes endearing but often unfocused and repetitive documentary.

BQCT begins with men hunting insects (with, annoyingly, no subtitles) and we come back to this again and even again, as the film continues.  Then we see an examples of one of those "crazes" that seems to hit Japan -- and, to be fair, many other countries -- from time to time (Pet Rocks, anyone?).  But in this case, it's a craze for live beetles.  Everyone seems to want one: men, women, especially children.   I wager this is something you have never seen here in the U.S., for the Japanese citizenry seems to treat these insects as we would our cats and dogs.  (Do they take them for walks, I wonder?)

Other things that will surprise, delight, alarm or enchant you include how comfortable Japanese children seem in the touching and handling of their insects, the use of dragonflies (above) in this culture's art, and especially one scene set at night in which fireflies flicker to some lovely music.  I wish that Ms Oreck's film were a bit more focused; her organization seems scattered at best. But you'll not question her attraction to and probable love for insects (according to the press information she is a life-long insect lover and animal keeper at the American Museum of Natural History). 

This quite different example of Beetlemania, from Argot Pictures, opens Wednesday, May 12, in New York City at Film Forum for ONE WEEK ONLY -- so don't lose out, Beetle fans, by expecting the usual second week that Film Forum generally offers with its theatrical debuts.  Ms Oreck herself will be appearing live (along with some live insects!) at several of the FF screenings. Click here for dates and times.

Insects lovers across the country can indulge themselves, too, it turns out, for Argot is releasing the documentary in a number of nationwide venues in the weeks and months to come.  Click here then scroll down for the cities and theaters so far scheduled.

(All photos, except that of Ms. Oreck, are from the  film itself, 

courtesy of Film Forum and Argot Pictures.)