Newcastle (2008) - Overly laid-back surfer boy guilty pleasure

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Four well-shaped surfer boys very closely knit together on this poster for Dan Castle's Newcastle

A group of friends take the gay twin/black sheep along with them for a weekend trip in the dunes with surfing on the menu.

 

Newcastle is written and directed by debuting Dan Castle (...Lost. (2000, short)).

It is a surfer movie with handsome surfing footage - and (too) much of it. But the film's problem more lies in the story around the surfing, which is too scattershot and drowsy to awaken significant engagement from an audience.

The pretty, swearing Australian cast are cultivated, - especially the well-shaped guys, - by the camera, but the story isn't chiefly about Fergus the gay dude, (who regrettably doesn't get to have a romance.) It is a bit about the former star big brother Victor; a bit about the sexual exploits of the heteros, - including one scene of unsafe sex, which isn't followed up on, in a kind of reckless manner. It is also a bit about a coming surfing competition and a bit about the group's good-looking klutz, who has a driving accident with the tent dragged after the automobile! Israel Cannan (Home and Away (2004-05)) is sexy as the insecure character and truly looks like a pretty but not too bright surfer bum.

Newcastle is a harmless skin-centered flick, a bit of unfocused diversion.

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 260k $

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 0.52 times the cost)

[Newcastle premiered 25 April (Tribeca Film Festival, New York) and runs 107 minutes. Shooting took place around April 2007 in New South Wales, Australia. A projected low budget cost of 500k $ would rank the film as a huge flop theatrically. Australia was the film's biggest market with 138k $ (53.1 %); Japan 2nd with 114k $ (43.8 %); and UAE 3rd with 4k $ (1.5 %). Figures from the North-American release are unreported; the film's 4th and last (minor) market was Lebanon. Castle has since made a documentary and B/W Hollywood romance Can't Be Undone, which hasn't been released. Newcastle is fresh at 61 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Newcastle?

Shelter (2007) or, Surfing Out of the Closet

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A bright seaside setting, bared chests and bedside gay romance is promised on this poster for Jonah Markowitz's Shelter

Zach is a breakfast chef, who makes some street-art on the side and tries to keep the peace with his unsatisfied girlfriend, when his good friend's big brother shows up and sweeps him off his feet.

Shelter is written and directed by debuting Jonah Markowitz (Hung Up (2003, short)). It is a low-budget indie, which plays out among Californians, who are a bit stuck in their lives but still have to get out surfing and being on the beach on an almost daily basis, which makes them very hard to relate to for me at least.
Zach's sister is very unreasonable and adds some opposition to the story for a while, but fatally for Shelter, the two actors who play Zach and Shaun, the guy he falls for, don't have much chemistry or attraction cinematically.
Shelter is well-meant but seen better elsewhere before and after its release, essentially a banal coming-out movie.

Watch a trailer for the film with Spanish subtitles here

Cost: 0.5 mil. $
Box office: 142k $
=  Mega-flop (returned 0.28 times its cost)
[Shelter premiered 16 June (Frameline Film Festival, San Francisco) and runs 88 minutes. Shooting took place in 21 days in California, including Los Angeles. The film grossed 142k $ in North America and does not have listed grosses from any other markets. Markowitz has not directed a feature since but has moved more into production design. Trevor Wright (Special Ed (2005)) returned in Vacancy 2: The First Cut (2008); Brad Rowe (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2005, TV-series)) in 4 TV credits prior to his next theatrical acting credit in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007). Shelter is rotten at 58 % with a 5.72/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Shelter?