As I Am

can we have a LGBTQ movies please

source: As I Am

I truly don't see how anyone could give this anything close to a positive review. The production values are horrendous, especially the sound. The acting is all over the board from stiff-as-a-cardboard-cutout (Emmanuel) to embarrassingly over-acted (Emmanuel's mom), and the gay stereotyping (Demetrius's dads) is offensive. Emmanuel is portrayed as someone on the autism spectrum, but that is never mentioned. It's implausible that Demetrius would fall head-over-heels and have an emotional breakdown over Emanuel on their first date. The */sex fantasy scenes during their date are laughable. Stay away, stay far far away from this movie unless you want to hang out and with friends and laugh at how bad it is (while drinking A LOT) the way you would with Valley of the Dolls.

I watched "As I Am" after reading the reviews on this site. I'm not sure why I read the reviews first, and I'm not sure why I watched the movie after reading them, since they seemed to be largely negative. Normally that would have put me off, but the trailer was intriguing enough to me that I decided to give it a go anyway. I won't lie: much of the negativity on here is definitely justified, if maybe a little bit overreactive (several people have complained about the sound quality, for instance, but I did not notice anything particularly amiss about it, and that's something that *would* bother me if it was present). The worst aspect of the movie by far is the writing, acting and direction of the principal adult characters. As the respective parents of Emmanuel and Demetrius, the two young men who are the romantic protagonists of the story, they simply do not resemble any real people on this planet - they are over the top caricatures and stereotypes saying and doing ridiculous things, and I was cringing in disbelief watching their scenes (some of which appear to be intended as comic relief but fall way short of the mark). It's hard to pick who is the worst offender, but my vote would be Rodney Chester as Kevin, one of Demetrius' adoptive fathers who's way too in touch with his inner "sassy black woman". A truly obnoxious performance. The shallow awfulness of these characters and their detrimental effect on the movie as a whole cannot be overstated. Which is too bad, because Emmanuel and Demetrius, whose story this is, are actually interesting and appealing. They could have been better developed (the film is very short for a feature, clocking in at just over an hour, so a little more time spent on the principal relationship would not have been a bad thing), but Andre Myers (playing Emmanuel) and Jerimiyah Dunbar (Demetrius) have a great chemistry together and are very convincing in their roles. Myers has the more difficult part - his socially awkward Emmanuel appears almost on the autism spectrum at times - but he pulls it off admirably, and Dunbar has a natural screen presence, making Demetrius very likable, with both worldliness and vulnerability. The ending is abrupt and very clumsily handled - Emmanuel confronts a familial abuse situation from his past, but it's just barely touched on, and the next thing you know the two romantic heroes are apparently heading off together for parts unknown. I did find it believable that the two characters would fall for each other (primarily because of the actors' skills, I think), but the writer would have done well to flesh out their relationship more. I wouldn't say this is a good movie, but it does have some worthwhile ideas floating around in it, and I did like the two lead actors and the relationship they portrayed. If you watch it, my advice would be to fast forward through any scenes that the parents are in - you won't be missing anything.

This movie was recommended to me by Amazon Prime. I should learn not to click on these. Interesting premise, but poorly executed. Cinematography was hit and miss and the sound was abysmal. The script needed further development, which might have given viewers characters that were more than their one-dimensional portrayals. The two leads were okay, but the supporting cast was bad: from the wooden delivery of lines ("Manny's" parents and coworkers) to the overacting ("Trey's" parents) - to the point of being stereotypical and offensive. In the end, we're not sure if Manny is on the spectrum or just emotionally stunted. So many questions that could have been answered to add to the story, but it is what it is. And what's worse is that we don't even care.

An ode to love both for self and others. Beautifully done, dreamlike. I look forward to more work from Myers and Dunbar. These two have incredible chemistry in this film, also extremely charismatic. I especially want to see more writer/ director works from Bawn, who I think has a nuanced and poetic eye. Compelling mix of harsh reality and dream state. Delicate balance of tension. Lovely use of photography.

I love this show didn't think I would but I do. Being a big fan of As I Am

The acting was phenomenal! It was really a great and fun movie to watch. A true gem.

I love low budget movies, I love gay cinema, I love short films, and I love a movie or story when things turn around and the one you thought was the invulnerable one shows his vulnerable side. IMDb says the budget on this was $10k which is just remarkable, and it kind of shows, in a good way. It reads/shows like a play, on the screen. No fancy effects or anything. If you like theater though, if you like watching a play, allowing the story to be told by actors who are acting, and letting your mind fill in the gaps, then you may like this movie as I did. I was originally giving it 7 stars because I felt I wanted to see more character and story development, but that probably would have meant a 90 minute movie instead of 62 minutes, which may just not have been possible to complete. I changed it to 8 while writing this because it hit such an emotional nerve in a couple of parts that I still have a tear in my eye, and I may have to watch this whole thing again, right now. Thanks, guys. Well done.

The main characters are very believable and do a great job of conveying how these people feel. But, all the other acting is horrible, very over the top and implausible. It is beautifully filmed in Phoenix and Scottsdale Arizona yet the audio quality is amateurish. Very tinny and obviously low budget. Then the movie just stops. As some of the other reviews indicate it does appear to have many parts missing. Did they run out of money and that's why it's so short? Maybe the story really isn't over? Is there more to come?