The Television and Movie Recommendation/Discussion Thread!

[mollyig]

I'm actually waiting for the But I'm a Cheerleader dvd to arrive by post into my needy little hands any day now. I hope I get it before tomorrow. It'd be a pleasant way to spend the weekend!

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[runnerbird]

Thanks for the info on "An Intimate Friendship"... I'll see if I can rent it from Netflix (which is an excellent suggestion)... I pride myself on seeing ever "lesbian/gay" themed movie/tv show out there... I've actually sat through "Claire of the Moon" three times ('cause three different friends wanted to see it) and I actually paid money to see "The Monkey Mask" in the theater ('cause I will see anything Marton Csokas is in)...



My two cents.. first...

"But I'm A Cheerleader" is a great little film that's just fun... great art direction and some nice, sweet chemistry between Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall...killer soundtrack too...



And second...

I saw "Kissing Jessica Stein" twice last night (once with the audio comment, once without...) and I think I like the film more now... the film isn't politicial or about the "gay" experience... it's about these specific people living their lives. And in the end, I believe the film was true to its characters than perhaps any film I've seen in the last five years. Sure, I would have loved to have seen Helen and Jessica walk off into the sunset together, but it just didn't "fit" for Jessica.



In the end, Jessica is much more open to new experiences and more open to life in general... which was made possible through her relationship with Helen... and in a sense that IS a happy ending.



I like the film because it points out the inherit problems with trying to fit unique people and relationships into nice, neat categories... straight/gay, friends/lovers.. but it does not seek to answer these problems..



Edited to add:



BTW....



Has anyone posted anything about this new internet "lesbian-themed" sitcom called The Complex... check out the trailer it's looks interesting...



thecomplex.tv/

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"There's only one instant, and it's right now, and it's eternity"

Waking Life (2001)

Edited by: runnerbird at: 9/19/02 12:35:57 pm

[Indygo]

You didn't like "The Monkey's Mask"? Ok, so I may be just a tad biased in favour of Susie Porter who I think is the most devine Australian actress, and I love Samantha Lang who directed it. AND some of the scenes were shot near my front doorstep.



But I still loved it. The only odd thing in it was Kelly McGillis IMHO. She was the most unsexy femme fatale I've ever seen in film.



Indygo

[mscheckmate]

Kelly McGillis was sooo sexy in "Top Gun," and absolutely luminous in "Witness." But, she just seemed so hard in "Monkey's Mask." I found her completely unconvincing as the object of anyone's affections.

Xander: "Tara, nice axing." Tara: "My first."

Edited by: mscheckmate at: 9/19/02 11:55:04 pm

[vix84]

Quote:

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Now 'But I'ma Cheerleader' was a great movie. I don't particularly like the blonde haired girl/lead character but Clea and the rest of the cast easily made up for my dislike of her.

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I totally agree with KISMIC. It has some great lines, and the final scene is very sweet. See it!

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Willow: Those darn Salem judges. With their less-satanic-than-thou attitude.

Tara: Oh, honey, let’s change it. The Discovery channel has koala bears.


Intervention

[KISMIC]

God, 'The Monkeys Mask'? I could barely finish the book, I wouldn't even contemplate seeing a MOVIE based on the book :


The final scene of 'BIAC' is definately the best scene of the movie...The cheer, awww!

[hopey]

i saw "...jessica stein" yesterday and didn't like it very much. the story is ok, but i don't know... jessica goes through all that trouble to find after that what she wanted was a good friend and a male lover? i don't know, it sounded kind of bad for me...

i also recently saw "lost and delirious", which was awesome. the cast is brilliant, the story heartbreaking. i really loved it.

the last of the recent gay/lesbian movies i saw was "better than chocolate", and i found the screenplay very badly developed.

[concrete]

American Pie 1 on 'Yorin' -Dutch t.v.- tonight at 21:00hrs...

Just thought I'd mention it

It's not so much that I'm always right, it's just that I'm never wrong
Time cannot erase.....the memory of your face

[famer]

Not a recommendation b/c I haven't seen it yet but there's an online lesbian soap opera starting October 1, 2002. Apparently, it was developed for gay cable channel that didn't come to fruition. [Maybe they should try the Canadian gay cable channel?]



It's described as "a quirky, sexy, lesbian sitcom cum soap opera. The series follows the romantic misadventures of five eccentric, single women who live in a Hollywood courtyard apartment complex.



This isn’t couple drama or sappy lesbian “issue-oriented” comedy. The Complex is about lesbians you know. They’re not having babies or brunches. They’re pretty. They’re partiers. They’re predators. They’re coy, catty, funny, foibled and fucked-up."



What do they mean they don't brunch??!!



You can download the trailer at thecomplex.tv

Edited by: famer at: 9/24/02 9:21:33 am

[runnerbird]

I'm here to thrown in another recommendation for François Ozon's 8 Femmes. *MILD SPOILERS AHEAD*



8 Femmes is not for everyone. (Well, if you like staring at 8 incredibly attractive and talented women for a couple of hours than maybe it is for you, but ...) A highly stylized, comic musical murder mystery (say that three times fast) was just about the most enjoyable time I've had at the cinema in a long time.



Ozon is taken his love for classic Hollywood cinema (particularly the films of Douglas Sirk and William Wyler) and created a loving homage as well as highly subverse, self-conscious parody. Ozon accomplishes the latter by taking known Hollywood archetypes (i.e. the loving grandmother, perfect daughter, the bad-seed femme fatale, the spinster, the black maid) and completely turning them on their head. I don't want to give too much away but lets just say .... incest, bisexualty, lesbianism, affairs, alcoholism, drug-addiction and just plain old nasty greed all manage to seep their way into the techincolor facade of the perfect family.



There are many scenes to love, but the one that everyone was a-buzzing about after my screening was one that takes place in the latter half of the film when a cat fight between Catherine Deneuve's Gaby and Fanny Ardant's Pierrette evolves into an erotic-charged, passionate kiss. A couple of people in the audience actual started to clap as the kiss happened.



So, if you are fan of any of these talented eight women... see this movie. If you love classic Hollywood melodrama... see this movie. If you get a kick out of seeing Catherine Deneuve kiss anyone in a dress...see this movie. You won't be disappointed. But if you want serious French cinema... just stay home and rent Renoir's Grand Illusion.



Oh, and if you want to turn your weekend into a "Viva La France" movie weekend.. like I did.. might I suggest...



Les Voleurs (1996) ... Catherine Deneuve in one of her fabulously serious roles as professor in love with a female student.



Three Colors Red (1994) ... my favorite foreign film of all-time. Great, great, great film.



Un coeur en hiver (1992) ... starring Emmanuelle Béart in a beautiful tragic film.



Une affaire de femmes (1988) ... starring Isabelle Huppert about the last women to be executed in France via the guillontin.



Enough of my incoherent babbling...



Edited 'cause i have no grasp of the English language

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"There's only one instant, and it's right now, and it's eternity"

Waking Life (2001)

Edited by: runnerbird at: 9/30/02 1:25:05 pm

[Hemiola]

Well, runnerbird, as long as we're recommending fine French films, I think I'll add a few of my own favorites:



1. You correctly mentioned "La Grande Illusion". It belongs at the top.



2. "La Belle et la Bête"--probably the best film of a fairy-tale ever made. Cocteau's film has a brilliant score (by Georges Auric), and far surpasses the Disney treatment of the same story.



3. "La règle du jeu"



4. "Jules et Jim"



5. "Prenez vos mouchoirs" (shown in the U.S. as "Get Out Your Handkerchiefs")



6. "Cyrano de Bergerac"--the version with Gérard Depardieu, far superior to the 1950 film with José Ferrer.



7. "Le retour de Martin Guerre"--far superior to its American remake, "Sommersby"



8. "Belle de Jour"--in French, but made by a Spanish director (Luis Bunuel)



9. "Amélie"--of course



10. "Les Visiteurs"--the far superior French original of "Just Visiting"



and, although they are not, strictly speaking, "French", they were directed by famous French directors and exhibit all the hallmarks of their respective styles:



1. "This Land Is Mine"--the only wartime film that is remotely on the level of "Casablanca" in its serious treatment of moral choices. Directed by Jean Renoir.



2. "I Married A Witch"--the delightful, sparkling comedy with Veronica Lake. Directed by Rene Clair.



3. "Cat People"--the original treatment of this creepy story, directed by Jacques Tourneur, is superior in every way to the re-make from the 1980s

[slayer747]

hemiola,

I've watched "Amelie" and I definitely recommend it! I mean it... definitely... great film!

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"Sometimes things happen between people that you don't really expect. And sometimes the things that are important are the ones that seem the weirdest or the most wrong, and those are the ones that change your life." - Jessie "Once and Again"

[starlitefaeriegrrrl]

Also, I love the film Pourquoi Pas Moi? It's hilarious and super-cute. There's a group of friends, three lesbians and a gay guy and none of them are out to their parents except one of the girls (and they're all in their twenties), so the mom who knows decides to invite everyone up to her cottage to get the kids to tell. It's a really nice, romantic film. Plus, two out of the three girls are totally with the hotness. *Yum*

[slayer747]

okay, i haven't watched "But I'm A Cheerleader" cause it's really hard to find in this freakin' homophobic country!



anyway, I dunno how relevant this film is, but my friend watched "Enough" and said that she'd turn gay for Jennifer Lopez. lol

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"Sometimes things happen between people that you don't really expect. And sometimes the things that are important are the ones that seem the weirdest or the most wrong, and those are the ones that change your life." - Jessie "Once and Again"

[lelak]

I don't think I'll be able to rewatch The Monkey's Mask since my girlfriend mentioned that she used to do theatre with Susie Porter.

I know it's a degree of separation, but it's still too much like watching one of your cousins getting nekkid now.



Ick ick.

[miawillow]

Last night I came across a new show on the WB called "Everwood". One of the main characters in the show is Amy Abbot, played by Emily VanCamp. Emily played Victoria's little sister in "Lost and Delirious" , one of the best movies ever. The show was actually pretty good. It is a family show, and does not seem to have any gay/lesbian story lines, yet!

Tara: Every time I... even at my worst, you always make me feel special. How do you do that?
Willow: Magic

[Diebrock]

I saw Kissing Jessica Stein a couple of month ago and am a little conflicted about it.

While watching it I really liked it. It was funny and touching.

But after the film ended and the lights went on, I just sat there and thought "That's it??"

It wasn't so much that Jessica seemed (to me at least since I obviously totally missed any vibe with that girl at the bookstore) to go back to the old bf.

I just kinda felt cheated because I spend the last one and a half hours watching how they got to know each other, the problems and errors and discoveries they made about themselves and each other, only to see them briefly in the end together with other people (that in the case of Helen's lover I'd never seen before).

So I left the theatre with a feeling of "what was the point in watching?".

I realize that that's totally my gut feelings and the other people who discussed the movie made good points regarding character development and so on.

Still, I wouldn't watch it again because I really didn't like the feeling that movie left me with.

_____________ There is no gravity, the earth just sucks.

[Arafel the Witch]

Here a few more points I wanted to make about KJS, given some of what was written above.



First, the movie isn't just about Jessica finding out she wants a male lover and female friend. It is also about Helen figuring out that she is gay. And there is no indication what is going to happen with Jessica; everything is very up in the air.



Also, the thing with Helen and her new lover. There were a couple scenes cut of Helen going to a gay bar as she is in the process of breaking up with Jessica, and it is there that she meets her lover.



I still love it. To each their own I guess.

[Indygo]

Quote:

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Also, the thing with Helen and her new lover. There were a couple scenes cut of Helen going to a gay bar as she is in the process of breaking up with Jessica, and it is there that she meets her lover.

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Damn, I wish they'd left those in! That would have been interesting. I found while watching the film I wanted it to be more equal, to be as much about Helen as Jessica because she was just as interesting... but I guess that would have made for a very long movie!



Indygo



(Edited for typos galore... *sigh*)

Edited by: Indygo at: 10/8/02 11:26:33 pm

[Diebrock]

Quote:

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And there is no indication what is going to happen with Jessica; everything is very up in the air.



Also, the thing with Helen and her new lover. There were a couple scenes cut of Helen going to a gay bar as she is in the process of breaking up with Jessica, and it is there that she meets her lover.

---

Maybe it's that up in the air feeling I didn't like, I don't really know.

The cut scenes would have probably helped because without them she was just suddenly there, you know?

Was there any indication of how much time had passed between the breakup and the bookstore/wake-up scene (like a written "two month later" or something)? I can't remember.

Quote:

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I still love it. To each their own I guess.

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I never tried to imply that anyone should feel differently about this movie. It was just my personal reaction to it.

_____________ There is no gravity, the earth just sucks.

[themagicpixie]

Uk Kitties: Watch "Tipping the Velvet" tonight on BBC 2!

[concrete]

Ditto for the Dutch ones!

This is the most insane day of my life!
Well, if you don't count each and every other day...

[KISMIC]

And to the UK and Dutch Kittens:


We want a looonnng, detailed and possibly transcripted and screencapped report after 'Tipping The Velvet' airs





Am I asking for too much??...Tra, la, la... Do the words: 'I'm an Aussie' help you understand why you need to do this any?





*~Kristy~*

[themagicpixie]

Word is, tonight's epsiode lacks smut. You have to wait until Episode 2 for that.



Thank goodness! All that smut just distracts from the, er... portrayal of Victorian London.

[cesario21]

Waa-hoo!! Wednesday at last!!



Shall try and give a report once it's seen!! Hurry up 9pm!!!



Snuggles,

Pillows xxx

'...meanwhile our friends we thought were so together, left each other one by one on the road to fairer weather; and we sit here in our storm and drink a toast, to the slim chance of love's recovery...' Indigo Girls

[KISMIC]

themagicpixie: ""All that smut just distracts from the, er... portrayal of Victorian London.""





Yes, yes portrayal of Victorian London, very important that...Or it means that the next episode will be smut-packed! We all know just exactly why you Kittens will be turning into 'TTV', and it isn't for the 'portrayals'!!


Hmm so what is the countdown till it's on? Anybody!

[themagicpixie]

OK, so I'm tuning in for the smut. Lesbian smut is rare on the BBC, don't you know.

[KISMIC]

Eh lesbian smut is rare. The end. The fact that the BBC is going to be the first station to show it is just the unbelievable icing on the cake!





So still after all the talks about 'Kissing Jessica Stein', it's *still* a month till it's out here - exactly ONE cinema will be showing it!

[feena191]

It's just started on BBC2. I'm taping it coz Mum would rather watch ITV with Ross Kemp running around firing his gun



Feena

-x-

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"Run, flee, maybe skedaddle. We're not here to engage, this is strictly recon......what?"

"You said recon, you're like cool monster fighter."

[tarasfan]

That was fantastic! My skin was all tingly! It was reasonable in the smut stakes - I mean, I've never seen Willow and Tara do that stuff...sadly. Looking forward to next weeks episode, definately. What did others think of it?



Flis

xoxo