Screen Savor: Us and them

LGBT film festival favorite Henry Gamble's Birthday Party (Wolfe) utilizes the titular shindig as the turning point for most of the characters, particularly Henry (Cole Doman), who is 16 going on 17. The film opens with a "how big are you?" discussion between Henry and classmate Gabe (Joe Keery), which then leads to a masturbation session, supposedly centered around sex with a girl.

Henry, the son of Pastor Bob (Pat Healy) and Kat (Elizabeth Laidlaw), and the younger brother of Autumn (Nina Ganet) and Candice (Kelly O'Sullivan), stands out from his peers in a number of ways. For example, in spite of being raised in a religious household, he thinks that Christian music sucks. He has a podcast in which he plays music by cool, secular bands. Still, that doesn't mean that he doesn't say his prayers before sleep or at the breakfast table with his family.

Before long, the guests begin arriving. Henry and Gabe are already in the pool, and are joined by Logan (Daniel Kyri), newly pregnant Candice and her husband Keith (Travis A. Knight), Autumn's "super-pagan" friend Cheyenne (Zoe Tyson), Heather (Grace Melon) and queer Christine (Melanie Neilan), virginal tease Emily (Mia Hulen), who sports a cross on her bikini bottom, and assorted others. Heather and Christine are friendly with Logan, who is gay, and drop hints to Henry, that they think he might be, too.

Also among the guests are Bob's fellow pastor Larry (Francis Guinan), his prudish and judgmental wife Bonnie (Hanna Dworkin) and their daughter Grace (Darci Nalepa), as well as Rose (Meg Thalken), the widow of Bob's mentor HB, and her troubled son Ricky (Patrick Andrews). With all of these people, some of whose personalities don't exactly mix well with the others, there are plenty of opportunities for drama and fireworks, and Henry Gamble's Birthday Party wraps them all up in pretty paper before tearing them open.

Food is served and cake is eaten before appetites can be spoiled. Just as family secrets are spilled, disagreements, accusations, rumors, gossip, and even blood, flows like boxed wine. In the midst of it all, there are examples of the cult-like recruitment activity of the super-religious and well thought out challenges to Christian college curricula. Henry, who is as sweet as frosting, even gets kissed by a girl and a boy. If you loved Stephen Cone's smart 2011 film Wise Kids (and who didn't?), then you'll appreciate this latest effort, in which Cone truly comes into his own as a writer and director. DVD extras include commentary by Cone, a then and now interview with Doman and the short film Baby.

(Available on Amazon)

In what could be a setup to a joke, a gay couple, a lesbian couple and a straight couple go to Fire Island for a weekend in late September in That's Not Us (Strand). Jackie's (Nicole Pursell) aunt Linda has offered her and her girlfriend Alex (Sarah Wharton) use of her house. They are joined by Alex's BFF James (Mark Berger) and James' boyfriend Spencer (David Rysdahl), as well as Alex's sister Liz (Elizabeth Gray) and her boyfriend Dougie (Tommy Nelms).

In what is something of a familiar device, all six characters will learn something new about themselves and each other over the course of the weekend. For example, Spencer has been accepted to grad school in Chicago, which means that he will have to leave New York and James in order to attend. We watch Spencer struggle with what has become something of a mixed blessing for him. In the case of Jackie and Alex, the dreaded lesbian bed death has set in and the rainbow dildo that Alex packed in her suitcase only serves to remind them of that fact. Interestingly, Dougie's secret – he can't ride a bike! – is the least traumatizing, although he does end up with a broken wrist when Liz tries to teach him how to ride.

Add in Spencer's persistent mother who won't stop calling him while he's on the island, a neighbor with a lost dog, and a case of mistaken house identity, and you have plenty of opportunities for conflict and comedy. That's Not Us is a sweet, if forgettable, movie. DVD bonus features include extended and deleted scenes, a pair of featurettes and the original theatrical trailer.

(Available on Amazon)