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Reviews
Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels (2005)
Cute, easygoing travelogue
If you enjoy Rachael Ray and her Food Network adventures, then "Tasty Travels" will go down easy. It does kind of feel like "$40 a Day" rehashed and if you've watched all or most of that show, then this one will probably feel overly familiar. On the plus side, Ray is a congenial host, the kind of person you'd want to guide you around a strange city. I actually prefer "Tasty Travels" because Ray is freed from having to seek out the lowest-price alternatives to meet a forty-dollar budget; sometimes it pays to spend a little more... (and although Ray seems like a good egg in real life, the tips she is forced to leave on "$40 a Day" are a little skimpy). So "Tasty Travels" is not exactly revolutionary television, but it is a cute, easygoing travelogue.
Fat Girls (2006)
Rough-edged, but sweet
I caught this film at an OutFest screening in Los Angeles in July, 2006. It's rough around the edges (sound recording in particular is wobbly) and often very funny. The script is rather jarringly episodic and ends abruptly, but Ash Christian infuses the film with lots of genuine heart. It's also a refreshing change of pace to have a gay film that doesn't star underwear models obsessed with partying and chasing straight guys. Props to a warmly sympathetic Jonathan Caouette as Mr. Cox, a kindred spirit to Rodney (Ash Christian), the lively and spirited Ashley Finke as Rodney's best friend, and Deborah Theaker as Rodney's mom, who is given the best one-liners in the script and steals her every scene. The film is like its writer/director/starlumpy and a bit odd, but also very sweet.