Oct 23, 2009  |  By: Staff & Wire Reports  | COMMENTS     

One in Ten’s Reel Affirmation’s LGBT film festival continues today and Saturday. Here are our reviews of most of the final films. Movies reviewed by the Blade’s Rebecca Armendariz, Robbie Barnett, Amy Cavanaugh, Jaimie Schock and Jeanni Centofanti.

TODAY

Equality U
Harman Center
5 p.m.
1 hour, 30 mins.

Editor’s note: This movie is being shown in place of “Rivers Wash Over Me,” which is listed for this slot in the Reel Affirmations program.

“Equality U” chronicles the journey of 33 young activists on the inaugural Soulforce Equality Ride, which traveled cross-country for two months and is a project of Soulforce, a nonprofit that aims to free the LGBT community from religious and political oppression through nonviolent resistance.

The activists visited 19 conservative and military colleges, where they peacefully protest and sometimes get arrested for trespassing. Activist Jacob Reitan tells viewers that there are 200 colleges in the country where one can be “kicked out simply for being gay,” which motivated him to join the organization. The film focuses on seven Equality Ride participants, the majority of whom count themselves as Christians. A- (RA)

St. Trinian’s
Harman Center
7 p.m.
1 hour, 37 mins.

This mostly fun comedy about a school of “bad girls” is actually the sixth entry in a long-running British film series, but is virtually a remake of 1954’s “The Belles of St. Trinian’s.”

 When foreclosure looms over the school, the delinquent student body concocts a plan to heist the famous “Girl With a Pearl Earring” painting and sell it on the black market. While the better parts of the film invoke more than a few chuckles, it is not the laugh-out-loud romp it has been touted as. 

The British humor is fuzzy to interpret at times and a small part by the unfunny Russell Brand — who thankfully drops his trademark crude humor here — adds nothing to the comical elements of the story. 

Rupert Everett is a highlight as he chews the scenery in a dual brother/sister role (he dons drag in the part of the sister — that of headmistress). Not unlike John Travolta in “Hairspray,” Everett in drag is a freak show of curious proportions.

Released in the U.K. in 2007, “St. Trinian’s” makes its U.S. debut with this year’s film festival. C (RB)

Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
Harman Center
9 p.m.
1 hour, 33 mins.

It’s movies like “Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat” that make me feel older than my years — though I don’t think silly, raunchy movies have ever been my thing.

The third movie of the “Eating Out” franchise, this one is about Tiffani, who meets Casey, a gay boy new to town, and takes him under her blonde, Playboy bunny-esque wing. Casey runs into a guy, Zack, and falls immediately in love, but doesn’t quite know how to go about snagging a date.

Tiffani convinces Casey that he should talk to Zack online, but he uses a photo of Tiffani’s ex-boyfriend to lure him in. I think we all know that’s going to go awry. There are some amusing moments, to be sure, but “Eating Out” is predictable and filled with offensive jokes. While I’m sure that that’s some people’s thing, I couldn’t help but cringe during waxing scenes, three-way hookups with straight men and disastrous funerals. C (AC)

SATURDAY

Searching 4 Sandeep
Harman Center
1 p.m.
55 mins.

The story of Poppy, a 28-year-old lesbian living in Sydney, is really a documentary about dating in the 21st century. Poppy hasn’t had much luck with love, so she logs online and starts chatting with Sandeep, a 31-year-old closeted lesbian who lives with her parents and sisters in England.

After months of talking online and on the phone, the two decide to meet for a vacation. Sparks fly, and soon they’re in a long-distance relationship that can only go somewhere if one woman decides to move.

Watching a real relationship unfold and someone start to come out onscreen is something we’re used to in the era of reality television. But the relationship in “Searching 4 Sandeep” is much more poignant and sweet than those we find on Bravo or MTV. The documentary is alternately giddy and heartbreaking, just like in real life — because it is. A- (AC)

Butch Factor & Brighton Bandits
Harman Center
3 p.m.
1 hour, 6 mins. and 40 mins. Respectively

This double feature includes the engrossing documentary “Brighton Bandits,” which is about a soccer team in England. A study of masculinity and the belief that gay men don’t play sports, “Brighton Bandits” explores coming out, homophobia and the British gay community. B+

“Butch Factor” wasn’t available for screening, ...