After the loss of his dog, a teenager takes out his troubles on the local townspeople. Jordan Alexander’s “Bubblegum and the Texas Belt Buckle,” is a 16mm coming-of-age film, darkly funny yet sincere in its tenderness. The scene sets as a soft piano plays. Garret lives with his aggravated older brother in the Thousand Islands, a New York state oddity made of small towns and 1,800 islands in the St Lawrence River. The young man is mourning the death of his dog, John 316, named for his favorite wrestler, Stone Cold Steve Austin. At his pup’s memorial site, Garret exposes his testicles to cars passing by—a rejection of the town that has rejected him, all except for one young woman. Youthful romance, small-town angst, and the quietness of younger sibling rage, playing like a melody. Alexander finds magic in the unique backdrop and effortlessly charming lead, Collin Bittle. -JM. Director: Jordan Alexander. Cast: Collin Bittel, Jessie Pinnick, Jason Shelton, Keith Poulson. DP: Hunter Zimny. Producer: Galen Core, Myriam Shroeter. Costume Designer: Emily Costantino. PD: Charlie Robinson.