Reel advice: Burning rubber(s)

In theaters

Don Jon (Relativity/Voltage), multi-hyphenate Joseph Gordon-Levitt's feature length debut as a writer/director, is a Saturday Night Fever for the Internet porn age. Don Jon, is also an indication that Gordon-Levitt, who has worked with queer filmmakers Gregg Araki, C.Jay Cox, Lee Daniels and Kimberly Peirce, as well as other notables including Rian Johnson, Marc Webb, Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Levine and Steven Spielberg, has been paying close attention all these years. Combining solid storytelling, fresh camera tricks and a unique perspective from behind the lens, he does his previous directors proud.

New Jersey stud and borderline compulsive Jon (Gordon-Levitt) knows what is important to him. The list includes his family, church, his buddies, his ride, his workout regimen, girls and, in the top position, porn. When he's not watching porn, he's in church at confession or breaking bread with his father Jon Sr. (Tony Danza), mother Angela (Glenne Headley) and silent sister Monica (Brie Larson) or at the gym (where he combines his workout with his penance) or cussing out drivers from behind the wheel of his vintage Malibu or hanging at the club with pals Bobby (Rob Brown) and Danny (Jeremy Luke) where he maintains a streak of never going home with the same girl twice.

Everything changes when Jon meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), a dime (a 10) in his book. But Barbara is no easy mark. She makes demands of Jon, including no sex until he meets some of her standards. She wants their friends to meet. She wants them both to meet their respective families. She wants Jon to improve himself by enrolling in night school. Most of all, she insists on complete honesty.

Here is where the conflict arises. It turns out that Jon gets more satisfaction from his porn orgasms than he does from those with actual sex partners. So, after Jon and Barbara become sexually intimate, he is unable to sideline his porn predilection, even though he promised her he would.

Just as things begin to look hopeless for Jon he strikes up an unlikely friendship with widow Esther (Julianne Moore), a night school classmate prone to tears. Esther, whose husband and son were killed in a car accident more than year earlier, identifies with Jon as a fellow lost soul. As their unconventional relationship develops, the healing effect that they have on each other is a remarkable thing to witness.

With Don Jon, Gordon-Levitt not only establishes himself as writer/director to watch, but he also continues to maintain his status as one of the finest actors of his generation. He also deserves kudos for getting a nuanced performance out of Moore, a relatively restrained acting job from Danza and for giving Johansson the opportunity to stretch her comedic skill by channeling Barbra Joan-era Streisand.

Rush (Universal): What could have possibly possessed actor/director Ron Howard to make the ear-splitting and mind-numbing (drag) race epic Rush? Was it low T? Maybe he longed for the simpler days of his feature-length debut Grand Theft Auto? Whatever it was, Howard is a long way from the days of Splash, Cocoon, Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind.

Focused mainly on the 1976 ruthless rivalry between Formula 1 racecar drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth, an actor too pretty to play mere mortals) and Niki Lauda (the almost unintelligible Daniel Brühl ), Rush is sure to appeal to the NASCAR nation while leaving the rest of the audience fuming. Neither Hunt nor Lauda has the first clues about social skills, but boy can they drive fast. Constantly sniping at each other like bitchy queens, after years of fierce competition, it comes down to one race, on a wet track where they have to decide if they are prepared to die trying to make their mark. As you might have guessed, that doesn't end well, with Lauda barely surviving a devastating crash.

Rush is neither entertaining nor informative. Is it worth seeing Rush for the multiple shots of Hemsworth's bare butt, the way Howard's camera lingers suspiciously on his biceps, and the scene in which he wears track pants without any visible means of support? Maybe you (and your eardrums) would be better off waiting until the Blu-ray or DVD where release where you can control the volume and the pause button.

At home

Turtle Hill, Brooklyn (Believe Ltd.) Co-written by and co-starring Brian W. Siebert and Ricardo Valdez, the queer rom-com-drama Turtle Hill, Brooklyn (Believe Ltd.) is the kind of movie that can restore one's faith in low-budget indie gay films. Its effect is the complete opposite of, say Scrooge & Marley. It is proof that a film can be created on a shoestring budget without looking frayed or knotted.

Young gay couple Will (Seibert) and Mateo (Valdez) cohabitate in the Turtle Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. Will wakes up the morning of his 30th birthday to find Mateo holding a cupcake with a single lit candle. A birthday party is planned for the day ahead in which numerous guests will be present to celebrate in the couple's colorfully decorate backyard. What would a party, involving the intake of various substances, both legal and not, be without conflict? Fortunately, Turtle Hill, Brooklyn has plenty to spare.

The first high drama moment occurs when Will's homophobic sister Molly (Jeanne Slater), stops by unexpectedly with her husband and young daughter. Surprised to find a shirtless and kilted Mateo at Will's (he's not out to his family) she launches into a toxic tirade and is asked to leave. The next bearer of bad news is Luis (Ariel Bonilla), who announces that he's moving to Spain with his boyfriend. A lying theme also emerges, as various friends talk about the virtues of dishonesty. There are also topical discussions involving politics (one deluded guest is a proud Log Cabin Republican), gay marriage and other hot button issues.

Turtle Hill, Brooklyn also has its share of humorous moments. The piñata pummeling is quite funny, as is the leak in the kiddy pool. But it's ultimately the conflict, including the return of Molly or the revelation of Mateo's affair with personal trainer Mauricio (Josh Marcantel), which gives the movie its energy, more than filling the bill. Like The Boys in the Band, another classic gay film set at a birthday party, Turtle Hill, Brooklyn makes good use of the multi-character storyline without ever losing focus of the main characters' needs and motivations. Because of that, it's worth scoring and invitation to this party and paying a visit to Turtle Hill, Brooklyn. The DVD includes feature commentary by Seibert and Valdez, as well as director Ryan Gielen and cast members, and more.