Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 5-FEB-2002
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16883 in DVD
• Brand: O'HAVER,TOMMY
• Released on: 1998-12-22
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com
First-time director Tommy O'Haver garnered a lot of critical acclaim for this contribution to the "new queer cinema." But he seems more clued in as to its weight than the reviewers. O'Haver rightly calls Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss a Tommy O'Haver "trifle" in the credits and he's on the money in estimating what his film is worth. For sure, the movie has much going for it; it's wholeheartedly enjoyable and packed with the usual dynamic that saturates most gay-themed films: what does one do when that object of desire is heterosexual? In this case O'Haver at least gives his protagonist, Billy, played by Sean P. Hayes, another obsession besides the Brad Pitt-lookalike, prophetically named Gabriel, who is enigmatically acted by Brad Rowe. This is because Billy is a photographer, as addicted to finding the perfect picture as the perfect man. His world is formed by old movies: From Here to Eternity and Imitation of Life are his criteria and the flirty foreplay by which to gauge whether or not a love will have stamina and staying power. Of course, Billy is bound to be disappointed by gay-friendly Gabriel, who is struggling in his own way as much as Billy. Full of the usual mix of second-string players who inhabit the gay milieu (e.g., the best female friend who has man trouble of her own, and the older, secure pal who has secretly held Billy in his sights for some time), O'Haver's film breaks the mold by keeping to a dark note. It resembles a Pedro Almodovar spectacle initially with its saturated look and primary-color palette. But three-fourths through, Billy and his gang walk into the contemporary gay equivalent of a Gidget movie. The shift is surprising and even sometimes funny. Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss has a lot going for it, but it's still just a trifle, and not a milestone in the genre. --Paula Nechak

From The New Yorker
Billy (Sean P. Hayes) is the sort of gay man who drives the religious right crazy: "I am a homosexual, a film buff with a penchant for women's melodramas," he announces proudly. An unemployed photographer, Billy goes around Los Angeles taking snapshots of everyone and complains about his unsatisfying love life to a female friend named, confusingly, George (Meredith Scott Lynn). When he espies the great-looking Gabriel (Brad Rowe) in a coffeehouse, he decides that the waiter is the perfect lead for his series of classic Hollywood screen kisses, to be photographed with an all-male (half-drag) cast. The movie's strengths are stylistic, from its oversaturated Frida Kahlo colors to its clever use of old-fashioned camera devices. But once you've appreciated the campy details-the matching tones of turquoise in the drag queen's dress, eyeshadow, and lipstick; a pair of earrings made of CDs-you may find yourself longing for the angst-ridden homosexuals of old. With Holly Woodlawn. -Daphne Merkin
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Longing to kiss someone who may or may not want to kiss back
Billy's first Hollywood kiss is the first enchanting romance to come out of the burgeoning gay-themed canon of mainline cinema. And Sean Hayes, who plays Billy, is the character who gives it that charm. What's even more impressive is that Billy maintains this interesting charm smack dab in the middle of a movie with some marginally sympathetic and some downright unpleasant characters wrapped in barbed wire. There's a repugnant Paul Bartels playing a hideous chicken hawk photographer that everyone fawns all over who, in reality, would be thrown off the nearest cliff. And then there's Gabriel who plays the object of Billy's affection, who indeed is kissable, but that's about it. This character is played by Brad Rowe, a jarringly distracting Brad Pitt clone, and I do mean clone. But once you've sorted all this out, and waited patiently through a couple of subplots you're ready to sit back and root for Billy. He's as tied up in knots about love as any of us, but he's so good natured and hopeful, even when he's convinced he will never be kissed at all. There is one universal scene that will cause every gay man who has ever spent the night in the same bed with a beautiful boy you weren't totally sure was gay, and longed all night, awake and heart racing, lightly touching shoulders and panting. Billy managed to get through that, and more, but you keep rooting. This movie is so good, it transcends labels and is just a romance and a good slice of twenty-something life, albeit pre-career, a good date movie, for any couple combination. It has a couple of technical production problems, and a few too many affectations, but Sean Hayes gives a near-perfect take on good natured angst. This movie gets a recommendation from me. See you at the cineplex.

Lovely romantic kitch!
"Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss" offers gay and straight film audiences something quite unique. It is a kitchy romantic love story with a gay twist, and all the trappings of a goofy romance. Sean Hayes absolutely shines as the boy-next-door, hopeless romantic photographer pre- "Will and Grace" days. Beware: Billy is not "Jack", and you will come to love his character just the same! A great supporting cast adds flavor, and the nice twist at the end just peppers a wonderful story overall. This film is creative, inventive, and wildly funny, and it made my personal "Top Ten" list for 1998. And DVD owners watch out! The commentary by director Tommy O'Haver absolutely adds to the magic of the behind the scenes of making this film. Don't miss it!

Absolutely Adorable
This film is great. This film can be compared to other outstanding gay films such as "Beautiful Thing" and "Get Real".

Billy is out to recreate some of the most famous Holywood kissing scenes with a bit of a twist. When he needs to find a model, he finds Mr. Perfect while being served a cup of coffee at a local diner. From then on, Billy is on a quest to claim this new model as his new love and to finish his biggest project yet. There are, however, some complications. Billy doesn't have enough money to finish the project so he needs to find another source of income and Billy doesn't know if his new crush is gay or str8.

Well, I think I'll leave it at that. This is a very adorable tale of gay puppy love. This movie is worth buying.