Humpday
I was sad at the end of the film, but hey, I should not have expected anything else – we are talking about two straight guys attempting to, err, have sex. How can that not become a funny disaster?
Amazon is full of reviews of normal people (seems like “Humpday” tends to be watched by people who tend to be “normal” instead of film buffs who seem to be used to even more shocking crap than opera-goers) who are either bored or appalled at the film. The one I found the most interesting was this gay man whose feelings were hurt because he had to sit through two men literally talking about how disgusting they find each other. lol If the same story was played with a gay man and a lesbian woman, it might have required a little more of a brain twisting, but ultimately would have worked just as well. I don’t think I am hurt by the concept that some guy might find my body repulsive if it is because he’s gay.
Enough ranting though, because the film does not deserve it: It was really great. I laughed out loud quite a few times and thought that the actors (who seemed to be more or less playing themselves or at least not be professionals to me) were doing a wonderful job at looking awkward. The guy who played Andrew was the best – how is it even possible to improvise these lines that make me laugh so spontaneously? “Humpday” could have been the perfect PIFF movie, but it’s alright, we’ll find something else thanks to Gorp’s brilliant recommendations. Unsurprisingly, this one was one of his recommendations too.
For unknown reasons, this film also prompted me to finally get my hands on “Les amours imaginaires”, another one of those triangle stories. (Though this one isn’t really.) In the past it seems like I have either loved or hated them, but in general I should probably say that I like the tension that arises from relationship stories involving more than one person – Humpday is no different, and funny movie is almost always better than one which is not.
By the way, I stumbled upon the term “mumblecore”. Now that is spot-on in the best sense of the term! (If that is even possible.)
this movie is lmao.
and also such a surprisingly sincere and spot-on film about estrangement between former friends?!
i can also recommend “Old Joy”, if you want to see more mumblecore!
I think the both of them came pretty much to the conclusion that they were pretty similar after all, just going different routes in life. But yeah, surprisingly sincere indeed!
On the other hand, I don’t even know if I want to watch any more mumblecore. Hahahaha. At the end of the day, the biggest strength of Humpday was that it made me laugh, and I am not sure if that applies to other indie films which seem to take themselves all too seriously. I am interested in “Old Joy” though – the topic is still intriguing.
haha, Old Joy is BASICALLY like Humpday…without the gay porn part. It is also not as funny! But it is very very pretty and well written and acted!
I remember seeing this movie with my male best friend. Suffice to say, it made for awkward post-movie discussion. Heh.
I don’t recall the movie rating though, M18? R21? Homosexual topics always face cuts or outright ban over here and I would be upset if I missed out some scenes. Then again, since it was showing in the cinema, I figured there wouldn’t be any sex involved.
Pity I’d rather watch these kinds of “alternative” love stories alone since my friends are straight up conservative. :(
>> If the same story was played with a gay man and a lesbian woman
That would be awesome indeed.
Haha that is awesome. Too bad I am not male and have no male best friend to experience *that*. I don’t think you have to be conservative to understand the film or identify yourself with the characters. I probably would feel exactly the same thing with a woman – not because I am all so shocked and conservative, but more like because I am sexually wired that way.