Review of      "BUDDIES 1 - Moving In"      by Chris

This is the story of three friends, Filip, Jakub and Dominik, sharing a flat in Prague that belongs to Peter's father. Peter, 25, is the son of a Czech diplomat working in Mexico : he was Filip's first boyfriend and is willing to help him when he learns that Filip is being kicked out by his own dad. But he's worried by Filip's heavy partying and it takes Jakub's very intimate intervention to convince him to let them both move in. Jakub is a student and needs to get out of his campus apartment because he's fed up with his straight roommates. Jakub and Filip are just fuck-buddies, so while Filip often finds tricks outside (Ondra, a co-worker ; or Robert, a handsome stranger he meets at a ski resort over a weekend), Jakub prefers to bring friends over : that's how Dominik, a classmate of his who also met Peter, enters the picture, attracted by Jakub's sexual skills and the nice apartment he'd like to share with him. Jakub loves to cruise gay chatrooms and that's how the three friends (Filip likes Dominik too) find themselves involved in a 4way with Boris, who's been invited over by Jakub. When Dominik encounters someone from his past, Tomas, a childhood mate who tried to rob a gas station and just spent two years in jail, Filip, who finds them in the apartment, gets very angry and kicks Tomas out. Is it just because he knows who Tomas is, or could he be jealous ? We'll find out how this first falling out between buddies is resolved, as well as many other things, in the second episode of the series.

This wonderful film is the natural development of what Robert Boggs has been doing in his AYOR Studios films since the fall of 2004. This is about very beautiful young guys having the hottest sex in realistic settings (from a trendy gay club to a housing project in the suburbs) and in the most natural way. These characters exist, they have names, a full identity, so that when they meet and get together, what happens between them, the sparks that fly on those occasions, are a thousand times more effective than routine sex between porn stars doing the job they are paid to do and nothing else. (Not that those guys are not stars, every single one of them !) This comes most directly from Tales, all of it, but particularly the sequence of Tales 2, 3 and 4, and even more so Tale 3. (Indeed the love theme of Buddies 1 was first heard in Tale 4.) The new idea, a take on reality shows and their confession sequences, has the characters addressing the camera (and even on one occasion answering its questions), but still in character. One of the most remarkable achievements here is how well each one of them finds his place and is given all the attention he deserves. Filip (Mark Zebro) is truly a most impressive creation and he dominates the film from beginning to end, even if Dominik comes on very strongly at the end. The 4way, to take just one example, works perfectly : first the newcomer Boris (Johny Hunter) is made welcome by his new friends, then they all go at each other like crazy, trying to give and take as much pleasure as possible.