TLA Releasing: ANOTHER GAY SEQUEL: GAYS GONE WILD!

I found it surprising that after the moderate success of it's predecessor, that ANOTHER GAY SEQUEL: Gays Gone Wild (dir. Todd Stephens, US, 2008, 97 mins.) wasn't as ably produced, if not more so. However, I enjoyed it, in spite of its clunkiness. Most of the credit for keeping me involved in the little farce goes to returning cast member (and executive producer) Jonah Blechman, with no small effort from the film's beleaguered director, Todd Stephens. Though a little bit of Blechman's character can go a long way, there is a comedic void that definitely needs to be filled.


The other three co-stars, though adorable, do seem a bit lost (all of which is fairly explained in the commentary). Supporting roles by gay porn figures work actually smoother than some of the co-stars. Brent Corrigan, in particular, displays an unexpected charm and innocence as Stan, the Merman and Colton Ford and Michael Lucas fill their roles with the requisite gags. However, Perez Hilton seems to be last-minute stunt-casting (replacing the character meant to be Muffler, played by Ashlie Atkinson, who was unavailable, except for an all too brief appearance), and he doesn't have the chops to justify the irrelevant subplot. It is a shame, too, that Stephens did not replace nearly the only female character in the film with a woman! What happens is that as the episodes continue to spool away, I got a bit weary of watching another gay male character act out! It needed some balance, or grounding in a not-so-gay-testosterone world. Ironically, though RuPaul and "Lady Bunny" are in the cast in full drag, it is Blechman's Nico that carries the burden of giving us an escape from "the boys", and he is more than able to do it. His fantasy musical number (featuring a terrific dance solo by Blechman!), which is literally the climax, is worth the price of a rental! It is the one sequence in which all the production values and Stephens visuals come together successfully!

And it is the commentary track by director Todd Stephens and producer Derek Curl that makes the DVD worth the price of purchase! Stephens and Curl don't hold back about the near catastrophy the production faced in its first couple of weeks. They are generally kind and gracious about the participants and more forgiving of the "stumbling blocks" in casting than the film is itself. (The opening dream sequence in which the original cast is "replaced" is fabulous!) There are also three "making of" videos about the BIG Musical Number, "Stan, the Merman" and the appropriately named, "Puke Fest". There is the complete end-credits music video by Perez Hilton, where he displays more energy than he did in the film. Deleted scenes are included, which are exceptionally minimal, seeing as this is the "Uncut Theatrical Release". (Oh! Speaking of... Be aware that if you rent this from Blockbuster, you will see a censored release, according to the commentary!)

The transfer is in anamorphic widescreen and the colors pop more than they probably did on screen! The sound design is clear and not a syllable is lost, though at one point, dialog sounded overly looped.

Overall, as hesitant as I might be to recommend the film itself, the complete DVD package is worth the $24.99 MSRP. It releases from TLA Video on December 9.

Maxxxxx says
re ANOTHER GAY SEQUEL: GAYS GONE WILD!: "Dooby dooby doo-ooo!"