The romantic comedy Eating Out was one of the most popular films at the 2004 Fairy Tales Film Festival. So it was with a great amount of excitement that I recently curled up with my boyfriend to preview its sequel, Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds, which will be screened as part of OutFest in April.

Kyle (American Idol’s Jim Verraros) is back, pretending to be an ex gay now turned heterosexual, to land bi-confused cutie Troy (The insanely hot and tragically straight in real life Marco Dapper). Assisted by friends Gwen (Emily Brooke Hands) and Tiffani (Rebekah Kochan), Kyle tries to play straight while lusting after Troy. Meanwhile, Kyle’s ex boyfriend Marc (Brett Chukerman) is horrified at the plan and decides to pursue the confused Troy with his own tactic - being his out gay self.

The movie is sexually charged, has lots of shirtless scenes, and has many parts that are downright hilarious. The movie hits a bit of a groaning moment towards the end as it tries to rush a happy ending, but it quickly redeems itself with more twisted humor.

"I was the editor on the first Eating Out, and Allan (Brocka, writer-director of Eating Out) was a fan of my short film Crush," director Phillip J. Bartell told GayCalgary & Edmonton. "He asked me if I had a good idea for part two, and he and Michael Shoel (producer of both films) loved my idea and I immediately started on the script. ...Why do a sequel? Because the first one did so well that Michael figured, ‘Let’s see how a sequel does.’ There’s never been a gay American sequel, so he thought it’d be fun, being the first. And I liked the idea of twisting the idea of the first film, where a straight guy played it gay. It is such fun to see a gay guy playing straight, which we can laugh at more now that we’re in an era where that doesn’t happen as much as it used to. And plus, for me it was the opportunity to direct my first feature and see if I could adapt my style to the world Allan created in the first movie, while still putting some of myself into the film. The movie, with its crass humor, isn’t for everybody of course. But those who are willing to jump aboard our hot, politically incorrect train seem to have a blast."

Bartell has a great deal of experience in the editing role, working on past films like The Wedding Planner, Being John Malkovich and Psycho. Working under many great directors helped prepare him to step behind the camera himself

"My background is as an editor, and working on movies directed by Gus Van Sant, Spike Jonze, and Robert Altman were invaluable learning experiences, and to this day still give me good stories to tell at parties. Being in the editing room is one of the best places to learn about directing - you study performance, composition, and how to tell a story in the most economical way... thus, my screenplays usually end up being lean and mean. And on a 10 day shoot, since I had a good idea of how the scenes were going to cut together, I could shoot as little as possible and still know when I had something covered."

It’s also given him the chance to rub shoulders with J-Lo. We got off topic slightly when discussing the woman who has planned many of her own weddings.

"I met Jennifer when we went to do her ADR in New York. Did you like how I just called her ’Jennifer,’ like we’re tight? Haha. We worked together for two days and had lunch with the director, Adam Shankman, on the second day, so there’s no way in hell she’d even be able to pick me out of a line-up. She was cold the first evening we worked together because she’d spent the entire day working on the J. Lo album and was understandably tired. But on day two she warmed up and I actually got it, her particular kind of charm. And she was stunning to look at - flawless skin, and I wanted her cashmere jump suit."

Now, I have a confession to make. I think I may have fallen for Marco Dapper. His infectious aww-shucks grin, incredible body, accent... oh, and he gets naked. As he stood there in all his glory, I paused the movie and stared at the screen. I almost thought he was wearing a prosthetic...

"It’s all real, baby. 100% real. The boy is blessed."

Ok, so Bartell spent ten days surrounded by very hot guys in various states of undress. A tough job I am sure, and I had to ask how he managed to not jump half his cast.

"I had a couple of crushes, I’ll admit. But when you’re shooting a feature in 10 days, it’s difficult to spend any time with anyone who is not involved in whatever shot you are doing at that particular moment. Plus, I have one rule in life: no dating actors.... although you said ’jump,’ not ’date.’ No rules about jumping."

Based on the title of the film, you can make a guess about some of what takes place in the movie. So I asked Bartell what one person he would eat out?

"Angelina Jolie, because maybe there’d be some remnants of Brad there. Ewww, I just grossed myself out! Oh wait, you said one ‘person,’ but because of what happens in the movie, I figured you meant a woman. As for men, God, the list is endless, but Ryan Squared (Philippe and Reynolds) probably top the list. Or bottom, as it may be."

I prepared myself for my final question. Quite possibly the most important question asked in the history of this magazine. Can I get Marco’s phone number?

"310-555-- Oh, oops, I seem to have misplaced it..." Teasing bitch.