Reviews
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)
To Wong Foo, Thanks For Nothing !
How can I put this nicely. I hate this movie. I loathe it. And
this is unusual for me, because I can get some enjoyment out of
most movies, and I will usually give anyone the benefit of the
doubt. I appreciate creativity and originality. I admire
talent and intelligence - whoops! wrong movie!. These awful
characters,spawned of a brainless script, are so sickeningly
sweet. Even the tarty John Leguizamo character unfortunately
develops a conscience in the tradition of the best American
family film - which by the way this is not! Call me picky -
but it's just impossible to buy this concept. OK - here's the
deal: 3 drag queens in full regalia and being pursued by the law,
suffer a car breakdown in a small rural American town, where
they are promptly adopted as guardian angels by the towns
populace. Fine! Now, where is the humour? Where is the bite?
(think "Priscilla" - so much of which is ripped off, but with no
panache at all) Where is the style, that may have lifted this
slightly above the dross that it is? These glamour babes are
so goody-goody that you could be forgiven for thinking you had
stumbled into some Mary Poppins Twilight Zone. And I have to
admit, there were several dreadful moments when I was just sure
Patrick Swayze was going to burst into song, and with a full
orchestra blazing away in the background, start skipping down
the street. Actually his performance and characterisation
particularly nauseated me, what with his Little-Miss-Fix-It
character, breezing into town and sticking her nose into
everybody's business and solving all their problems. Very
trite in every respect, and superficial beyond belief. Only the
intellectual giant portrayed by the usually flawless Stockard
Channing, has the slightest inkling as to the original gender of
her new friends. As for the rest of the town - are we to
believe that these simple country folk are too unsophisticated
to recognise a big burly man in a dress? Let's face it,
Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes are built like footballers, and
putting a dress on them, no matter how well tailored, no matter
how fabulously colour coordinated, does nothing to disguise
this simple fact. Most irritating moment of all - Patrick
Swayze declaring the day a "say something hat day" Pass me
that airsick bag !! Quick !!
As Time Goes By (1992)
Subtle, warm and charming.
What I hate about American comedy series is the perceived need for a punchline every 15 seconds. What I love about this series, is the gentle, ambling approach the script takes, as it follows its characters through their daily lives. And they are characters - wonderful ones - but never caricatures. Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer are just perfect in their portrayals, and they are ably supported by a talented cast. Every now and then there is a good, solid belly laugh to be had, but for the most part the humour is subtle and very clever. I feel very warm towards these characters. If they were real I think I should like to invite them to tea. Dench and Palmer appear to enjoy their roles, and when they exchange glances it seems to be not acting, but genuine regard that they show towards each other. May they live happily ever after...........
The Brady Bunch (1969)
I want to be adopted by the Brady's.
I always wanted to be a Brady. I could see myself flying down
that staircase in the morning to be handed my school lunch in a
brown paper bag by Florence Henderson. I thought the house
could manage 7 kids as easily as 6. That was my dream and my
aspiration. The thing was, I identified very strongly with
that show. I knew it was lame brained, even when I was the
same age as the youngest of the Brady kids. I also knew that
its heart was in the right place and it represented to me,
everything that I did not have. Of course, I was living in the
REAL world, and that is not always easy to take. Nearly 30
years later, I have fond feelings towards this series and
occasionally can be seen watching the inevitable reruns. Many
people feel the same as I do, I'm sure, so they must have done
something right.
Funny Girl (1968)
Hello Gorgeous ! Hello Barbra !!
I have seen this movie countless times, and yet each time I do I
am simply blown away by it. It's hard to imagine anybody but
Barbra Streisand playing Fanny Brice - she lives and breathes
the character until it's hard to know where Barbra begins and
Fanny ends. Although "funny" is not a word that sums up this
movie in it's entirety, there is plenty of "funny" to be had in
the first half. The Roller Skate Rag is hilarious, as is
Fanny's first nervous foray into the world of theatre.
Throughout the piece we see Fanny's self deprecating humour
disguising her lack of confidence. When she wins Nick, she
blossoms and gains confidence, and her career soars. This is
where we enter the sadness of Fanny's life, and for me this is
where Barbra displays her versatility as an actress. With simple
gestures, and a much darker humour, she conveys the pain she is
struggling to overcome. Overcome it she does, but it is not a
victory by any means - because she has lost a part of herself.
The acting throughout is wonderful, but I find Omar Sharif is
overwhelmed by Miss Streisand in full flight. Let's face it, was
it really fair to expect him to sing a duet with one of the most
perfect voices in popular music, when he can barely carry a
tune? The music is powerful and used to great comedic and
dramatic effect - what more could a musical hope to achieve.
The Ziegfeld number is a real stunner - and makes me wish I had
been around to see the real thing. It's a shame that this movie
was the last great success in traditional movie musicals, but at
least the genre w
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Disco Dollies Shake Their Groove Thangs
This movie is certainly original - after all how many movies
have been made about two drag queens and a transexual travelling
through the Australian outback to lipsync a variety of ABBA
songs and disco classics in outback towns, Aboriginal settlements and resorts. I can't think of any myself! The
humour in this is pretty black, and bawdy to say the least, but
I think for the most part it is hilarious and the more
outrageous the better. The movie is full of great lines, most
of which I would not dream of repeating. The acting is first
class all around, and what a surprise Guy Pearce (pre LA
Confidential) turned out to be. The costumes are brilliant
works of art and a dress worn by Hugo Weaving made entirely of
thongs has to be seen to be believed. The theme of self
acceptance, and acceptance within a wider community are explored
well with the heroes/heroines receiving acceptance and brutal
rejection in roughly equal quantity. There is no sugar coating
in this piece of confection - unlike "To Wong Foo Thanks For
Everything- Julie Newmar" which covers similar territory with
embarassing results. "Priscilla" is one to watch with an open
mind, a sense of humour, some high heels and your grandmother in
another room. And everybody sing along "Mamma Mia, here I
This Life (1996)
"This Life" is real life without the boring bits!
This is one of the most addictive, amusing and involving TV
series I have yet seen. It has a kind of cultish appeal, and I
know a lot of people who follow it closely and discuss each
weekly installment as if it was real life. That's the key I
think. This series is based in reality. A group of very
different personalities share a house in South London and the 2
year story shows their growing relationships and their
interraction with various friends and colleagues mainly in the
legal profession. It's fairly graphic stuff with sex in
various forms, nudity, bad language and drug use presented in a
very matter of fact way. The characters are believable and
appealing despite the warts and all presentation, and the lines
are often bitingly clever. Daniela Nardini as Anna gets the
best lines by far, delivered in a wonderful Scottish brogue for
maximum effect. All good things must come to an end however and
the series concludes with the happy group disintegrating after a
massive row. But it was good while it lasted. What a
stunning, intelligent and
The Women (1939)
Great fun - full of humour, intended and unintended!
I saw this movie recently in a theatre/restaurant with a group
of about 60 people. The dialogue crackles after all these
years, and the audience got right into the spirit of the piece,
laughing in all the right places and, to add to the fun - in
some of the wrong places too. Of course, some of is dated - and
that is now part of it's charm. How could you take seriously
the advice of Mary Haines' (Norma Shearer) mother or the
emotional outburst of her fretting daughter. But listen
carefully to the lines - Joan Crawford is a complete vixen, and
I also liked Paulette Goddard as the streetwise divorcee. Not
to mention Rosalind Russell in a part that veers towards
slapstick. I hope the remake does not happen - Meg Ryan? No! Julia Roberts? No !!! let's keep at least one of the classics