| | |  | The Click List: Best in Short Film | Home » » » Boys Briefs 5: Schoolboys | | | | | | | Description: | | The fifth collection in this ever-popular series includes six short films in their entirety: 'Kali Ma', 'You, Me & Him', 'yeah no definitely', 'Benny's Gym', 'Secrets', and 'Flatmates.'. | | | Product Details: | | | Format:
| Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen | | Language:
| English, French | | Subtitle:
| English, Spanish | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Picture This | | Run Time:
| 114 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| December 16, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 5 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 5 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Misleading cover; decent collection.Jan 03, 2009
By Elliot
"Son of Nietzsche"
The latest addition to this generally strong series of short films from around the world lives up to its now-established standard (if not to its theme). As to the latter, 'schoolboys' is, disappointingly, something of a misnomer. Of the six short films, only two have actors under the age of 20. 'Gay interest' is also loosely-defined; a significant proportion of the shorts being devoted more to intense male-male relationships than actual homoerotic attraction. Nevertheless, an intriguing, eclectic collection.
Other reviewers have summarized the six shorts; special mention to 'Kali Ma' (a superbly original take on a common theme), 'Flatmates' (homoerotic, poignant and well-executed) and 'Benny's Gym' (the only short in the collection to consider an emotional bond between two preteens).
Overall, this is an excellent compilation of international shorts, even if it does fail to live up to the promised theme. There *are* some short films out there worth tracking down that do offer much-needed attention to the realm of genuinely youthful sexuality (such as 'Mon Copain Rachid', 'Oranges', 'Fishbelly White', 'Freunde' and 'Zucht') - but they are few and far between. Directors/script-writers: time to show some courage in your art.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A Pretty Decent CompilationMar 20, 2009
By Robert Byrd
I won't go into descriptions of the storylines of these films - others have done that very effectively. Suffice it to say that this is a pretty good collection of short films that's definitely worth your viewing. The two standouts are KALI MA, a robustly humorous and touching film about an East Indian-American mother's unconditional love for her son, and the superb Norwegian film BENNY'S GYM, that tells a beautifully compelling story of blossoming friendship between two pre-teen boys.
Give these films a look. They're really a notch above most gay shorts I've seen
 Not as good as the others...Apr 21, 2010
By R. Gawlitta
"Coolmoan"
I've seen many in the Boys Briefs series, and this one wasn't as enjoyable. I liked "Kali Ma" very much, but the rest left me flat. The DVD I rented has no link for subtitles, so I didn't get a lot from the others. The Norwegian, Brazilian and Finnish episodes looked fine, and you could fairly well understand the situation. I've been interested in short film, but these shorts, though pretty to look at, weren't as good as others in the series. Just my opinion; subtitles would help.
4 of 7 found the following review helpful:
One of the better compilations of gay shorts.Dec 18, 2008
By Bob Lind
"camelwest"
The latest compilation of six short gay films, from PictureThisVideo,
focuses (mainly) on gay men of high school or college age. If you view all six simultaneously, there is a brief introduction by a generic twink that I found distracting; you avoid the intros by selecting to view each short individually.
The first selection, "Kali Ma" (US, 2007), is likely the best. A shy, gay 15 year old Indian-American student is repeatedly intimidated and beaten by a hunky classmate. His heavyset, strong-willed Indian mother decides to put a stop to it. Amazing. Five stars out of five.
"Flatmates" (Norway) has the familiar scenario of a young gay man sharing an apartment with his straight best friend. The friends always have been platonically affectionate, but close quarters makes the vibe change, for the worse. Four stars out of five.
Five teen friends playing cards, three guys and two girls. "Secrets" (US, 2007) emerge that threaten to break some friendships. Nice acting and photography, not much of a story. Two stars out of five.
Film festival favorite "You Me and Him" (Brazil, 2007) demonstrates
the change in a gay couple's plans when one becomes the guardian of his 10 year old brother, after his parents' death in a car crash. Can they become one big happy family? Stay tuned. Four stars out of five.
In "Yeah No Definitely" (US, 2007), outgoing Kiff decides to take a
road trip with his best friend Cam, who has a habit of suppressing his emotions to the point where they are ready to explode out of him. A weekend at a beach house is the scene for an emotional scene that brings the platonic friends even closer. Three stars out of five.
The final selection, "Benny's Gym" (Norway 2007) chronicles the growing friendship between the leader of a group of bullies and their frequent target, shy little Alfred. The relationship helps both boys, until Alfred gets hurt when his friend refuses to acknowledge their friendship in front of the other boys. Simple but emotional. Four stars out of five.
One of the better compilations overall. DVD includes interview with
directors of several of the films. Average rounded up to four stars
out of five.
0 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 Boys Briefs 5 - A series of Boys BriefsDec 24, 2008
By Mark T. Von Seggern
"Marky Marker"
I am really not into the films that are being put out for boys Briefs. In this case. For this set of short films the first one was good. The boy was doing his usual looking at other guys in the boys locker room when I guy this kid was look at attacked him with a magic marker. Wrote al over this kids body. Well the mother found out and ended up attacking the Kid that attacked her son. I still have to finish looking at the last film but it is a few kids picking on this one kid that likes to draw and I am not sure what all else, but it seems like a good film.
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