Punks

"PUNKS" is a great little flick done on a fairly shoestring budget. It's not perfectly polished; it's not full of visual effects or innovative camera tricks; but what it does have plenty of is Character! Character and Charisma; enough to go around a few times!

These guys may not be to everyone's taste, but if you give them a chance, you'll see yourself at some point in someone in this film, and that's what movies are about, after all, right?! Seeing the truth of your own life...

Being gay in this society is tough; being gay and a person of color just compounds every aspect of living freely and truly. "Punks" has truth from start to finish, truth that affirms all of our lives and revels in our uniqueness amongst one another. Even if you don't find it easy to relate to queer folks (or even L.A. folks; and that can be a challenge in itself!), the time you invest in watching this film won't be spent in vain. You'll come away with a better understanding of a wider circle of your fellow human beings. For that alone, "Punks" is well worth the time!

Patrick, many, many kudos to you for a wonderful piece of work. The screenplay as well as the performance of the cast was great! The story was a real adaptation of much of Black gay life in most major cities. I'm sure many of us have a close inner circle of friends that could easily be any of the four main characters in the story (me personally, I'm Marcus-smile). I also liked the fact that each of the characters had their own separate identities, without one having to stand out as more tragic than the others. Each character was able to eventually recognize, and successfully deal with his own drama, resulting in a positive outcome for all. This movie also illustrated that true friendship is rare, whereas "lovers" will come and go. I think that's a point that many people in this lifestyle overlook. We sometimes get so wrapped up in searching for love, that we sometimes sacrifice the love of our friends for a few moments of temporary happiness.

Overall, I look forward to the nationwide release of Punks, as well as it's video release-I'm definitely buying this one.

Punks attempts a daunting task -- staying true to the varied spirits of gay black males -- while staying accessible to a wide audience. The film introduces the audience to an entire spectrum of what it means to be a black gay male at this point in time and does so most assuredly. This film takes its place alongside other groundbreaking queer cinema such as "Parting Glances" but goes beyond that film in quality of its production. The cinematography, costumes and makeup are first rate and serve in and of themselves as character. The cast is simply a great group of actors who you cannot take your eyes off of. Rockmond Dunbar and Seth Gilliam give great lead performances as do Dwight Ewell (from "Chasing Amy" fame) and Jazzmun, who nearly steals the film. Director Patrik-Ian Polk wisely presents a balanced film that is humorous, thought provoking and disarming to any notion that the men in this contemporary West Hollywood are any less worth caring about simply because you've never taken the time to know them. Punks is an important film, one worth seeking out and supporting. Executive producers Kenneth "Babyface" and Tracy Edmonds are to be commended for providing the budget this film deserved. Check out "Punks".

Not bad for a low-budget film, but not great either. It's about three black gay males and one gay Latino male searching for sex and/or love in L.A. It is good to see an (almost) all-black cast in a movie not involving drugs, guns or non-stop profanity. Also, this is one of the few movies dealing with GBMs. Still, it's acting is erratic--some of the guys play it too straight, others camp it up WAY too much. There's absolutely no complexity to the characters' motivation or desires; the plot is, to be nice, old and done to death; and the direction is horrid. Also some really bad sound muffled a good portion of the dialogue. I saw it at a gay/lesbian film festival with a mostly black/white GM audience, and even they weren't too thrilled by it. A few good lines and some cute guys help. Still the low budget hurts and the movies not as funny or as clever as it thinks it is. I don't like blasting a movie like this, but I really didn't like it. Still, it's one of the few of its kind.

This film taken in its proper context, low budget and Patrik-Ian Polk's first film, is an extremely fun and realistic look at a segment of the population that continually gets neglected by the media (film, television, etc). The humor is specific which might make this movie hard to catch for some. I saw it in Los Angeles and the audience laughed out loud the entire time, a definite crowd pleaser. A classic fairy-tale story with a to-die-for ending, possibility the fantasy for just about anyone breathing. The movie explores complex issues, placed in a comedic context. The costumes for the "Sistas": fabulous. Rockmond Dunbar: flawless. Seth Gilliam: fantastic. Everyone should see the movie for the pure experience. Did I mention, Rockmond Dunbar?