Blue Briefs will include the following six short films:

Requited – Directed by Sal Bardo (20 minutes)
“How do you get over something you never had?” That’s the question facing Nicolas as he tries to decide if he should go to the wedding of his best friend from high school, with whom he’s always been quietly in love. Winner – Best First Time Filmmaker, Reel Affirmations: Washington DC’s International LGBT Film Festival; Official Selection – NewFest, Seattle International Film Festival

Boys Like You – Directed by Daniel Armando (12 minutes)
A young man struggles with the boundaries of friendship when he finds himself in an intimate situation with his roommate. Winner – Best Male Short, North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival; Official Selection – Spokane Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

We Once Were Tide – Directed by Jason Bradbury (18 minutes)
On an island off the South Coast of England, Anthony and Kyle spend their last night together before Kyle moves away, leaving Anthony to look after his terminally ill mother. Winner – Best Screenplay, MiMi LGBT Film Festival, Barcelona; Official Selection – NewFest, BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Torino Film Festival

Revolution – Directed by Abdi Nazemian (16 minutes)
Jack, a 16-year-old Iranian boy growing up in 1989 Los Angeles, learns how to stage his own revolution within the confines of his traditional family. Official Selection – Outfest, ImageOut: Rochester LGBT Film and Video Festival, Frameline

The In-Between in – Directed by Alain Hain (10 minutes)

Jared has found his first live-in boyfriend, but begins to suspect that the man he is in love with isn’t as faithful as he would hope. Has his paranoia got the better of him, or are his instincts dead on? From the director of the award-winning Curious Thing. Official Selection – Frameline, Outfest, NewFest

Frozen Roads – Directed by Mark Pariselli (17 minutes)
As a trio of friends comes of age in a rural, conservative Canadian town, they must confront escalating desires for one another that threaten to destroy their delicate bond. Official Selection – NewFest, Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival, BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

“In selecting the theme for Blue Briefs, we responded to the high quality of work that took interesting and unique looks at relationships. These provocative films may not have happy endings, but their emotional impact cannot be denied,” said Rodney Johnson, co-founder of Guest House Films.

The dark-themed Black Briefs, the first in the Guest House Films series of short-film compilations, debuted at #1 on the TLAGay.com Gay DVD Bestseller chart. At the same time, critics responded to the collection’s ability to showcase gay short films. Gay Celluloid wrote, “That compilations of this nature offer new filmmakers a badly needed international platform on which to showcase their work, let alone safe guard many a title from vanishing into the cinematic void, cannot be stressed enough,” while Baltimore OUTLoud stated, “Guest House Films should be applauded for making these shorts available to the public.”

“With the success of Black Briefs and the outstanding selection of work on Blue Briefs, we see a wonderful opportunity to continue working with filmmakers to share their gay-themed short films with viewers, especially since these films usually cannot be seen outside of film festivals,” said Rob Williams, co-founder of Guest House Films.

For more info check out there website: http://www.guesthousefilms.com

Falling & Flying by 360

All my life I’ve resisted the temptation to delude myself with phoney white guy cred by getting into rap or hip hop music, not that there haven’t been plenty of opportunities over the years.  In the end it wasn’t Eminem, or the Hilltop Hoods, or even Sir Mix-A-Lot that got me over the line, but an emerging artist who calls himself 360.

Who?

Turns out 360 is another one of those artists who has plenty of familiar songs, but I’ve not really heard of him, or realised that it’s all by the same dude.  BTW, I’m much more confident calling someone dude now.

Absolutely not taking anything away from the main man, but the strength of songs like Just Got Started, Throw it Away, and Boys Like You is the collaborators.  He’s picked the right voice for the song every single time, and I’m a big fan of the Aussie accents all over the shop.

As if to prove that he’s more than capable of holding things together on his own, 360 is at his best in Child, Killer, Falling & Flying, and Run Alone.

To my ear, there’s nothing in this album that rap music gets criticised for – being boring, or just talking, or all sounding the same.  Other than Big Audio Dynamite, who would have thought that the key to making songs that people like is rhythm and melody?

I feel the need to mention that this is also my first CD featuring the C-bomb.  And it’s not like there’s one or two tucked away in a corner in the likes of Hammer Head either.  So edgy for both 360, and for me.

This is probably the toughest pick so far, with a good few songs that I really like, and I’ll definitely be checking him out at Groovin’ the Moo this year.  Hopefully my homes don’t disown me for backing away from Killer due to my soft spot for beats.

Standout track from Falling & Flying by 360 (featuring Gossling) – Boys Like You

Welcome back to another session of “Much Louder Than Words” with your host, Tmas.

At the moment I have a few albums that I am listening to a fair bit. My Album of the Week though is 360’s ‘Falling and Flying’. It is his debut album and really stretches the Aussie Hip Hop genre. I dig that. So often with albums, the songs will sound similar and repetitive, making it hard to listen to the album in its entirety for any length of time. However, ‘Falling and Flying’ is a diverse mix of Hip Hop, Pop and Rap. The album was released a fair while ago and I am still listening to frequently which highlights its awesomeness. If you are totally repulsed by his music (or his tattoos) then this album is definitely not for you. However, if you’re a fan of ‘Boys Like You’ or Aussie Hip Hop in general, it’s well worth a listen. This song is called ‘Child’ and is one of my many favourites on the album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn9sVxmxQxo

My Song of the Week is by a man I know literally nothing about except that he goes by the name of Eden Mulholland. I discovered this song on Triple J one day and loved it. The song is called ‘Shanty Town’ and can be accessed on the right hand side of this page: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/EdenMulholland I would liken his sound to an electronic, kind of poppy Whitley, who, if you are unaware, is AMAZING! If you’re a fan of Whitley I would highly recommend listening to this song, and conversely, if you enjoy this song I would recommend listening to some Whitley.

Earlier this week, Jay-Z and Kanye West released an alternate video clip for their song ‘Niggas In Paris’. The clip comes with a warning that it may trigger epileptic fits, so you know it’s gonna be sick! And that is why it is this weeks Music Video of the Week. I personally think these two guys are massive wankers however they make good music and apparently good music videos! Even if you don’t like the song you will surely like the film clip (assuming of course that you are under the age of 30). It’s a fun, upbeat lighting frenzy which will surely put you in the mood to dance (and seize, apparently). http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/new-video-jay-z-and-kanye-niggas-in-paris/

Until next time,

Tmas

Do we all agree on the chorus part being catchy????? The chorus part? Yes?