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Amos Lassen wrote on 05/16/2012:

I must start this review with a few words about the guy responsible for it. Rob Williams has come a very long way since I first reviewed him some five plus years ago when he released “Long-Term Relationship”. I remember thinking that this guy is going somewhere and he has done just that. Each and every film has been a success and he is one of the most important directors around today. He and partner created Guest House Film to release Rob’s opus but now they have expanded the company to the release of other films as well. Recently they released “Black Briefs”, short dark films and now follow up with “Blue Briefs", short films about relationships. There are still more colors of the rainbow, so I am pretty sure that there will be more compilations.
“Requited” (Sal Bardo, director) is about 20 year old Nicolas who has to make a decision—his best friend, Aaron, from high school is getting married and he has to decide whether or not to go to the wedding. Nicolas loves Aaron and in fact is in love with him but things went bad a few years ago when Nicolas kissed Aaron’s girlfriend. When Nicolas looks at Aaron, he sees who he remembers Aaron to be and not who he is today and in doing so Nicolas is destroying his own chance at happiness. Nicolas is faced with getting over something he never ever had. Nicolas has no idea of what to do and verbalizes how he feels. I wanted to tell him to shut up and think and begin to find a way to deal with the issue.
“Boys Like You” (Daniel Armando, director) is about the boundaries of friendship. What does one do when he becomes intimate with his roommate—do things change or is the business forgotten?
“We Once Were Tide” (Jason Bradbury, director) is a stunning short about friends and lovers, Anthony and Kyle, as they spend their last night together. Kyle moves away and Anthony is left to take of his mother who is terminally ill. Using the theme that we do not know what we have until we no longer have it, the film is an exceptional look at unspoken words and intimacy. The film is set on the Isle of Wight and it is almost claustrophobic as we spend their last twenty-four together with the guys. Looking after his mother has caused Anthony to become stressed and tense. Kyle, on the other hand, seems preoccupied with his camera and can’t be bothered with his boyfriend’s mother. We see the last moments of a relationship and what happens when boredom sets in.
“Revolution” (Abdi Nazemian, director) is a coming-of-age story about Jack, a 16 year old Iranian who is growing up in Los Angeles. His traditional family will not be able to handle his sexuality and so he is left to deal with it alone and through his own revolution.
“The In-Between” (Alain Hain, director) also explores boundaries. Jared has moved in with his boyfriend but is suspicious that he is not as loyal as he should be. Is he correct or is he dreaming is what is left for us to decide.
“Frozen Roads” (Mark Panselli, director) tells of Balthazar, Christian and Lyla are best friends and they are facing adolescence in their rural Canadian town. It is their feelings for one another that could destroy everything and the theme here is what happens when we stop our hearts from running free. The film explores the emotional results of just that. Christian is beginning to accept his homosexuality while Balthazar is very uncomfortable with his own feelings. While at a local party, everything comes to a boiling point when the two find themselves alone together and can show each other how they feel. The question is how Balthazar will react when he acts on something he is afraid of. The problem is that if the boys allow themselves to partake of sex together, they know that there is no moral support for them as the town is very conservative. We move back to the days of childhood when sex was not an issue and happiness and fun were all that mattered and then forward to where the boys are now. There are numerous religious references here and Balthazar’s father is intolerant but voices no overt homophobia. The film does not end optimistically (but then life is not always optimistic).
These are some of the most emotional short films that I have ever seen and the quality of the work is superior—each film is a gem and seeing them together is quite a treat. It has been quite a while since we have had a new compilation of short films and to me it is very important that we continue to do so. In my cases the only people who get to see sorts are those to go to festivals. We owe Rob Williams a great deal for making these available to us. I always feel that the director of a short film will one day give us the full length film that will define our lives and our lifestyle.











Heavy in religious references, both verbal and visual and here cue the devout mindset of Bal's intolerant father, but oddly without any direct signs of homophobia, even if hints of such abound, the result and by no surprise offers few glimmers of hope. Yet whilst the open ended conclusion is far from optimistic, the emotional damage caused when you repress your homosexual calling, is all but clear. And that is a message worth repeating, even if Kyle Mac's beautifully played "wanting to get to know you" eye movements steal the show, in the pivotal scene in which actions speak louder than words.