RAUNCH REVIEW: SUMMERBOYS

as a purveyor of things raunchy and sexual, ive had my share of watching gyrating men, branching their skimpy and often see-through skivvies in front of an audience. there's something very "transcendental" about these dances. The dancers often put themselves in a trance to get through the dance but also manage to entice and bring the audience to more private place in their minds. not so much hypnotic, but for a dancer to succeed, ive always thought that it takes more than a big dick to do that--energy, charisma and the capacity to put on a make-believe world for his audience within a 3-4 minute track.

sad to say, such a make-believe world easily happens more on stage than on the film, SummerBoys.

the direct-to-video flick seems promising in its trailer and cover. the requisite hunky men most of which already have starred in gay-indie flicks are in it. the premise of these hunky men cavorting in the sweltering heat of summer also provides a good environment for imagination to run wild.

the film starts off with the question of what men do during the summer and plays out the visual story of a barkada who visits a friend in the province and spends summer there. it takes us from the boys getting to the place, two of them picking fruits, a basketball scene, a nightfall by the river scene and of course a pool scene. the camera does a great work of following the boys, most especially their bodies in various stages of nakedness. however, that's all there is to it--great camera work. the boys fail to connect with the camera; they go through the motions and quite convincingly do the oblivious to the camera stance right--a way too oblivious though. they fail to entice the viewer to take part of the visual feast that is their bodies. the camera moves nicely, slowing and focusing where it needs to focus but the actors remain static. like a bad dancer, this is one of those whom one knows is just too eager to get off the stage.

lastly having said that, here's a very personal opinion--and maybe ive watched too many porn, but when i get a direct-to-video flick i expect some cock shot. true, one of the actors (jeff luna) showed it but what about the other guys? come on, direct to video stuff doesnt get as much strict rules as TV or movies, so why scrimp on the skin? even the pool scenes, showed them boys in skimpy tight trunks but not one of them had a hard-on. sorry, but these types of videos are obviously sold on the point of carnal desires--so why pull back?

films are supposed to connect and bring us to a make-believe world. and when the make-believe world is something as basic as our instincts, a lot of us would think it's really easy. truth be told, it takes sensitivity to make out the subtle stuff that allows us to connect to one another. sadly it's the one thing summerboys missed