Rating: 
Summary: A Good, LOW-BUDGET, INDEPENDENT Film
Review: I thought this film was very good...for a low budget independent film. The acting was good overall, though hardly Oscar worthy. The lighting, sound, and video quality were ok. The film is about 3 gay men who find themselves at a very conservative bible college. It deals with the repression, harassment, difficulties, and stresses that exist in such environments, especially when one is coming to terms with being gay. It also explores the friendship, loyalty, happiness, hope, joys, love, and beauty that can develop even in the harshest of places. People considering buying this film should understand that this is a low budget, independent film. It should not be compared with films that have much, much bigger budgets and a lot more resources but instead should be judged for what the actors, writers, directors, and other crewmembers managed to accomplish with the resources at their disposal. I think they did a very good job!
I don't understand a lot of the harsh criticism about this film. I certainly don't believe the "review" that claimed that the owner of a small video chain was removing this video from all his stores because of all the complaints. This is pure bunk!!! I believe that there is more to these types of reviews than meets the eye. Perhaps the "critics" of this film object to the context of this film and the message it sends out. Believe it or not, things like what happened in this film DO happen. I am not a bible-thumping Christian nor am I an atheist. I have no agenda. I'm just a regular guy who enjoys good movies, even low budget ones!!!
I bought this film despite some misgivings. I really believed a lot of the bad stuff that had been written about this film, but decided that it would be, at best, good for a good laugh. Throughout the film, I kept waiting for all of the "bad and horrible" acting, directing, sound and light quality that some "reviewers" said were in this film but none of it ever showed up. To be fair, this film was not perfect. It DID have some major flaws and stuff, but hey, how many "thumbs up" Hollywood films do as well??? And a lot of these bad Hollywood films have huge budgets. This film had a small budget - I can't stress this enough!!!
Generally speaking, I think that the people involved in this film, from the director to the actors to the writers, all did a very good job. This is why I give this film 4 outta 5 stars. I recommend this film. Check it out!!!
Rating: 
Summary: somewhat entertaining, but fails on acuracy/quality
Review: Although I don't regard Last Year as a complete waste, it certainly doesn't present a very realistic view of life at a small Bible college. I spent three years at a small Baptist university in a small town and my spouse spent four years at a moderately sized Presbyterian university, so we spent much of the movie cringing at the conflicts between our observations of reality and the portrayals in the movie.From the description, we expected to see young gay men struggling to reconcile their sexual identity with their religious convictions. Indeed, from comments by the actors and director/writer/producer in the additional material on the DVD, that was the intent. However, two of the gay characters came to the college by mandate of their parents and had little or no religious conviction and the third had obviously discarded much, if not all, of his religious belief as he had embraced his gay identity. The frequent mention of St. Jude and the few seconds he is portrayed on screen prior to the end credits doesn't qualify as reconciliation of gay identity and religious (Christian) dogma. The reference to St. Jude is problematic as well, since emphasis on saints is a Catholic reference and all the other religious references in the film imply the college setting is a Protestant/Fundamentalist, possibly Baptist or Pentecostal. The production quality of the movie is dismayingly amateurish, as is the performance of most of the actors. Although some of the scenes seem to have been actually filmed in the facilities of a small school, which added the benefits of existing ambient sound, the sound effects and score were very lacking. And, as much as I have often joined in condemning movie and television producers who fail to utilize gay actors to play gay parts, it would have certainly improved the quality of Last Year to have cast straight actors in at least some of the straight roles. It was almost impossible to suspend belief and see Robby as anything other than gay. In the most confrontational scene between the gay bashing jocks and Paul, it almost seems like Paul and the lead jock want to kiss as they stand nose to nose. And, in fact, the outtakes include that scene ending with Paul leaning the additional inch in and planting a kiss on the jock's lips. Another criticism I have of the casting is that I saw no chemistry between the actors portraying Paul and Alex, although these are the two characters that develop a physical and emotional relationship as the film progresses. Mike Dolan, who portrays Alex, brings the most professional and close to believable performance to the movie, but it simply isn't enough. As for cautions, I think anyone with unresolved issues about suicide might want to skip this movie. Also the movie really doesn't provide any serious help to resolving gay identity and religious conviction; so if you are struggling with this issue, don't expect too much help there either. If you want to see a movie for light entertainment, I wouldn't discourage you from Last Year. But it is better as a rental rather than a purchase, because I am not sure many would want to devote the time to watching it a second time.
Rating:
Summary: The Little Film Who Could....
Review: Despite what Mr. Moseley says, I know people who did attend Christian colleges while dealing with the issue of reconciling their faith with their sexuality, and this picture is right on target. I also had the opportunity to see a day's filming on this picture and know it was shot on a small budget with people who cared about the subject matter enough to get it onto the screen and make it as real as the 'censors' would allow. I was pleasantly suprised at the final product when I attended the intitial California screening . This is not the slick formula film that Hollywood would want to make on the subject. It is a film that deserves attention and careful consideration of its subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute waste of time
Review: From beginning to end of this shot on video autrosity of a so called film, you will laugh out loud that someone actually reviewed this with five stars, apparently the doings of someone involved with this mess. If your gay? stay away, this is a slap in the face to anyone looking for guidance, your better off going to your local porn shop and renting a POrno...
Ron Petronicholas especially, is a horrible actor, as is director, Jeff London..BARF!
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst films I have ever seen
Review: I cannot believe this so called "film" even was released on video, which it was obviously shot on.Everything rubbed me the wrong way. The unattractive cast, the horrible script, the bad sound and score, and totally ludicrous premise. And why do they cast an obviously [homosexual] kid to play a straight role? More proof to point out how bad this film is. A slap in the fact to an openly [homosexual] actor, such as me.Even the two good reviews on the dvd's box fails to reveal the name of the reviewer which means it could have been anybody.Honestly, I have seen porn with better production values.Forget this film and instead watch a good film in [homosexual] cinema such as "The trip", "Trick" or "Edge of seventeen." This film insulted my intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Cheapy dumb film
Review: I thought this film was about the worst thing I have ever seen. Ron Nikolas was ok, but script, the lighting, sound and directing was worse than a high school film project.The rest of the cast looks like they are reading their lines from cue cards and the concept of the plot is stupid. Honestly I usually do not write online reviews but this lame excuse for a movie upset me so much I had to write something about it.There has been a huge step forward in the quality of gay themed films, and this thing sets it back it zero.It doesn't even deserve one star. It deserves a big fat zero!I don't know what the director, Jeff London, was thinking when he made this complete mess, but he obviously didn't have much to loose as it was obviously shot on video with home-made music to boot! (...)STAY AWAY from this thing! That's all it is...A THING! Calling it a "movie" gives it to much credit and makes "The attack of the killer tomatoes" seem like an acclaimed epic. I actually yelled at the manager of the video store when I returned it and he said he is pulling it from the small chain of stores he owns as many people have complained about how horrible it is. Seriously, it makes it look like anybody with a video camera and a bunch of misfits can release a movie, which should not be the case! A ZERO! AN "F" on a report card!!..FLUNKED! FAILURE! GARBAGE!
Rating: 
Summary: Well Worth Seeing
Review: It is best for Christian ethicists to see this- those who will probably not watch it- but the situations are well portrayed in an almost "DEBATE"-like mode, presenting many sides of the situation, very contrived at times though. Therefore, the generalized Homophobia is presented within a Christian format but with a well documented rebuttal.
The main actors deliver REALLY good performances while the minor acting is very stilted. There is some good skin but no nudity. There are problems with the "video" of the film- very "soap-opera-ist". Well-done cinema angles.
The anti-right wing argument is well presented verbally and visually... as is vice-versa. The emotions are real...but if lessons are to be learned-- it may not be by those who need to learn them. It's not nice but it is presented well as the "reality" of our times for anyone not subscribing to the American "status quo" ... tho' many will deny it.
Rating:
Summary: Well Worth Seeing
Review: It is best for Christian ethicists to see this- those who will probably not watch it- but the situations are well portrayed in an almost "DEBATE"-like mode, presenting many sides of the situation, very contrived at times though. Therefore, the generalized Homophobia is presented within a Christian format but with a well documented rebuttal.
The main actors deliver REALLY good performances while the minor acting is very stilted. There is some good skin but no nudity. There are problems with the "video" of the film- very "soap-opera-ist". Well-done cinema angles.
The anti-right wing argument is well presented verbally and visually... as is vice-versa. The emotions are real...but if lessons are to be learned-- it may not be by those who need to learn them. It's not nice but it is presented well as the "reality" of our times for anyone not subscribing to the American "status quo" ... tho' many will deny it.
Rating:
Summary: a big let down
Review: Ron Petronicholas, is a fine actor, and is the only reason to watch this movie. But considering how bad this movie is, I still cannot reccomend it. It's just a horrible movie. It's sad when you see a lead actor do such a great job is a horrible film, but i guess that's proof Ron can rise above a bad(very very bad) script) and shine.Besides Ron, the rest of the actors here are lame. And the movie drags on and on.Lets hope Ron moves on to bigger and better movies as the guy does have talent! But as far as the other cast members and production team, this film is so terrible, it is amazing!Ron, keep going, man! You rock! You are PROOF that a good actor can shine in a total piece of crap! As for everybody else, go get a job at Wallmart and forget about making movies...
Rating:
Summary: A STINKER! TERRIBLE MOVIE!
Review: The film looked like it was shot on a VHS camcorder. The acting was terrible, the directing laughable, the sound quality hissed and was alful.The story could have been good, but this production was not even low budget--it was NO BUDGET! I embrace gay cinema and wanted to like this, but it was a mess. The "special features" section of the DVD show a giggly, inexperianced bunch of cast members rambling on and acting silly and gave a bigger impression how unprofessional this so called production is. Well intended, but this film falls flat on it's face. Nice try guys, but this is just a big mess and a waste of time. If you buy this crap, remember, you were warned!
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