AC/DC Southern-Style - The Advocate recently carried this report about the importance of bisexual sexual behavior in contributing to the spread of HIV among blacks in the American South. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that bisexuality is not in fact rampant in the South, just that your typical conservative Southern MSM -- of any race -- simply can't self-identify as gay.

Which brings me to The Delta, a Sundance festival veteran and Top 10 Gay Film of 1997, which I finally watched after it sat on my TiVo for five months. It's the story of a Memphis teen (Shayne Gray, woof!) grappling with his sexuality by cheating on his high school girlfriend with men, whom he'd meet either at a cruising lane or the local porn arcade. (Obviously, this was pre-Gay.com.) A chance encounter with a mixed-race guy from the wrong side of the tracks develops into something more, with unpredictable effects on both their lives. With budget production values, raw cinematic technique, and a focus on teenage sexuality, the movie reminds me a lot of my old buddy Larry Clark (Kids, Bully), with a bit of Huck Finn's Mississippi River thrown in. Many reviewers found The Delta intriguing but docked it for leaving all the issues it dredges up unresolved. True enough -- but resolution can be overrated if a movie still has you thinking days later. I'd give it a B.