Editorial Review

Jeremy Irons gives another superb and underrated performance in Read more

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Reviews (17)

Completely implausible plot
I fail to understand what the true story could have been that the film is supposedly based on. The plot is completely implausible. Leaving aside the basic premise of the film that Gallimard can sleep with a man without noticing this man was in fact a man and not a woman... just one example: does anybody really believe that the French police (perhaps with the exception of Luis de Funes) would transport two suspects together so that they can conveniently discuss a common strategy of hiding their former spying activiites? Preposterous if you ask me. Not to mention that there were absolutely no bumps on the road during the whole scene in the police van... (was that perhaps a hovercraft?) And there are also more improbabilities that the average European or American eyes fail to see but that left my Chinese wife totally flabbergasted... I wonder if David Cronenberg ever bothered to consult experts in the field as is the good practice with movies that involve distant regions, long-gone periods of history or special fields of human activity. Now back to the basic premise of the film, and I am not spoiling the final surprise for anyone because you figure out Butterfly is a man as soon as you have a look at the photographs on the box of the videocasette... my only explanation is that Gallimard was in fact bisexual and because of that decided to play the part of Butterfly himself in this weird relationship... be this a postscript to the dicusssion in the previous reviews as to whether John Lone was sufficiently female to be persuasive... All that having been said, the movie has its good moments and an intensive atmosphere, maybe too theatrical at times, but overall worth watching if you are a fan of things oriental or like to explore sexual ambiguities...

Breathtaking
I don't think anyone could have done justice to writing the screenplay to M Butterfly (based on David Henry Hwang's stage play) than Hwang himself.While it is a bit of a departure from the 1988 play based on the true story of a French diplomat who falls in love with a Chinese opera singer and the disastrous outcome of their affair, as a film it could not have been done otherwise. Who's French??
Yet another spectacular tale of love and maddness with a Freudian twist by the great David Cronenberg. There are some slight flaws with the film such as a cast portraying French people, none of which sporting French accents. But I suppose thats better than trying to do a French accent and it being inconsistant. All-in-all though, a really great, really strange (though not as strange as some of his other work) surprisingly poetic movie. Definately a must see for fans of Cronenberg and Jeremy Irons alike. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Motion Picture Video    4. Movie   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (29)

IT'S IN LETTERBOX, and it's good
It's old, and so many of the people have died, but it's a great documentary.
FUNNY AND SAD DOCUMENTARY
This is a sub-culture with a minority that I was previously unaware of.The movie is a time capsule of a certain time in a certain place with a particular and peculiar group of gay men and their hangers-on who primped and pranced for their own ideas of glamour and class and who are sometimes outrageous and unreal in their comments on society and the straight AND gay world of NYC.
rm
With all the five stars having been given this movie, I expected much more. The packaging of the DVD gives a false impression (looks nice on the outside but inside mostly repackaged old stuff.) While the historical context of gay life is worthy of perhaps four stars, the feature itself rates less. It is short at seventy-six minutes. The picture quality for this overpriced DVD is poor. The outtakes are very poor. They appear to be copied from an old worn out VHS tape with no remastering. Don't expect much from this DVD. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

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Reviews (8)

A superb gem of the German filmography!
This is -under any perspective you analyze it- the bravest and boldest film around the lesbianism. But this approach will allow you to explore the most dark corners related with the feminine loneliness and ontological desperation.
Platonic love at a Prussian Boarding school
I have watched this movie in a class that I am taking now entitled German Film:Beyond Faschism. A Different Love
The way the intense, loving relationship between the young schoolgirl and the teacher was portrayed and developed was very moving.However, I didn't get a sense of sexual love or tension between the two.Instead, I felt more like the movie showed me the different kinds of love possible between two people, regardless of gender.The girl loved her teacher almost like a mother, but not quite.There was definitely something more to it than that type of strong yet simple and easily understood love.There was a sense of longing and forbidden love mixed in with this maternal love.I saw this movie not as an illustration of lesbian love, but rather as a sort of wake-up call that made me question my previous notions regarding love and what it meant to me.And if you ask me, saying that a movie can make you question these types of things is the highest form of praise I can think of. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action / Adventure    2. Foreign    3. Foreign Film - German    4. International    5. Movie   

Editorial Review

A sensitive yet humorous adaptation of the stage play, this 1970 film directed by William Friedkin (Read more

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Reviews (47)

"Who do you have to (bleep) to get a drink around here?
Luke and myself love this movie...it's one of our favorites...or as we would say, "A Classic"!But where's the dvd? There's a line-up around the block waiting for its release.
NEED DVD
Why hasn't this been released on DVD? I know at least three of my friends who want this in their collection.

Need DVD
Please hurry & release this on DVD!!This is one of my favorite movies!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama   

Editorial Review

Terrence McNally adapted his Broadway farce for this wild, headlong comedy set in one of the gay bathhouses that were once a staple of New York culture. Jack Weston plays a guy who makes the mistake of crossing his gangster brother-in-law. Fearing for his life, he hides in the gay baths and the door-slamming chaos begins. Directed by Richard Lester, the comedy is adept and well handled, with Weston watching his back while trying to pass as a regular customer. It's hard to tell which is funnier: Treat Williams as an undercover cop with a falsetto voice or Rita Moreno as the baths' supremely untalented--and even more supremely self-confident--singer, Googie Gomez. Her performances alone make this movie worth watching. Read more

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Reviews (21)

Faaabulously Funny
This movie holds great memories for me,but trying to get a version on DVD seems nigh impossible ! A great blast from the past Rita Moreno steals the show for me a huge giggle !!! PS please distributors how soon for this on DVD ???

Camp on! Camp on!
Not at all politically correct, but absolutely hysterical.Sometimes gross and over the top humor as in the original version of the Producers.I watch this comedy at least once a year.

Funny, funny
This and the original M.A.S.H film had me rolling on the floor with laughter.It has a lot in common with classic theater farces (Goldsmith, Wilde, et al.) but takes the genre right over the top.How Rita Moreno didn't win another Oscar for this one, I don't know.Everyone I've shown it to--the girl friend, Mom, the neighbors--loved it.Not a mean-spirited moment in the whole show. An all-star cast, perfectly cast. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Comedy    3. Drama    4. Feature Film-comedy    5. Movie   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (100)

Philadelphia
Denzel Washington is probably my favorite actor. Even in that dog of a movie called THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, he shone. Tom Hanks? Well, lemme quit hating the guy. This is a well-intentioned movie, Tom did a creditable job, and we had extreme close-ups with funny colors to camouflage the spots where he overreached. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Antonio Banderas fly in the face of his Latino studliness by playing a gay guy. A passionate one, though, since he's still a Latino, after all.
Certain times I like it, others I don't
How do you separate a socially important film from a great film? Sure this film tackled the AIDS/homosexuality issue head-on but that doesn't automatically make it a great film. I'm not knocking this film, of course not. But there's a lot of parts in it that I didn't like which maybe made it appear to be a lesser film than what it wants to be, it is or what everyone makes it out to be.
it's not about the acting...
Two of my best friends were living their last days when Philadelphia was made. One of them went to the Dr. whose office was used in the opening scenes, and was receiving an experimental drug that was the precursor to today's more successful cocktails. I watched them struggle at a time when Reagan wouldn't even say the word AIDS to the public. Bush wasn't much better. So to have a film come out that tried its best to tackle the most tragic disease in our lifetime, one that touched me personally, well, I was and am willing to forgive a couple of shortcomings. It was a monumental film for anyone struggling with AIDS, and for those who helped support them, giving us all one of the first voices that permeated the psyche of our country, beyond the boundaries of NY and SF.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

Talk about dated: This limp 1976 comedy, based on a flop Broadway play, deals with a pair of middle-aged African-American parents (Redd Foxx and Pearl Bailey), who are aghast to discover that their window-dresser son (Michael Warren) is gay and are ready to disown him for it. Though it's still a viable subject, it's treated here with a smirky sense that homosexuality is some kind of dirty joke. What's interesting is that, years later, the most sympathetic character is the son's stereotypically swishy boyfriend (Dennis Dugan). Shot on video and transferred to film, the movie is most noteworthy for the opportunity to see the late Pearl Bailey (if only in the final 20 minutes) and to watch the late Redd Foxx (in reality a hilariously filthy stand-up) in a sterilized PG setting. Foxx, at the height of his Read more

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Reviews (8)

I DON'T KNOW WHAT PLANET SOME PEOPLE ARE ON!

A great movie for the time period
I enjoyed so much Norman, is that you? The culture of 1976 - clothes, home furnishings, language, it brought back so many memories. I was delighted to see that even though the movie was made in 1976 the lingo they used and subject matter is totally relevant today. I was amazed. It was a movie ahead of its time, no doubt. It was tongue and cheek and great one liners. It was great to see the great Pearl Bailey with Redd Foxx. It was a cute movie that i show quite often now to friends who haven't seen it or even heard of it. I really wish it would come out on DVD. I don't know how much longer my VHS tape will hold out. I really do recommend it.

I would like to see this Movie on DVD
Since this movie is not available on VHS any more, it would be nice to see it comes out on DVD. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

A superior, made-for-cable film, this Home Box Office adaptation of Randy Shilts's chronicle detailing the emergence of AIDS in America and the fight against bureaucracy and society for a cure is a taut, outrageous, and affecting true-life drama. Matthew Modine (Read more

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Reviews (46)

And the Band Played On
I received this product on time and in perfect shape. I enjoy the high quality of Amazon's site.

Important message and strong performances
This movie was excellent. I have a degree in public health so this was a smash hit to me. You can gain appreciation for it on many levels.
See how it began
It's been 25 years and so much in the gay community has changed and so much hasn't. A quarter century ago it seemed unthinkable that Love and Death could ever co-exist. Now we live in the midst of an uneasy truce. See this film and see how the first generation dealt with the unthinkable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie    4. TV Shows   

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Reviews (16)

DVD release 11/7/06 exclusive to Boxed Set
This title will be included the next Marlon Brando Collection set from Warner's. It has not been announced for separate release.

Bizzare, Grotesque, Disturbing...And Yet Strangely Brilliant
Reflections in a Golden Eye is a film based on the Carson McCullers novel of the same name. It surrounds the lives of Major Penderton (Brando) a repressed homosexual married to an unsympathetic, emasculating woman-Lenora (Liz Taylor), who is having an affair with Lt. Langdon whose wife Alision, has descended into self-mutilation-cutting off her nipples with garden shears-unable to come to terms with the loss of her child. As the movie begins the audience is greeted with an eerie musical score and is introduced to Private Williams a loner who seems to have a predilection for horses-among other things.
A Daring Film Classic
"Reflecions in a Golden Eye" is a deliberately slow moving, moody, atmospheric rendition of a literay classic. Critics and audiences were not impressed in 1967, when it was first released. But to compare it to international masterpieces such as Luis Bunuel's films, Carl Theodore Dreyer's (The Passion of Joan of Arc)masterpieces, and even Ingmar Bergman's unforgetable views into the dark psyche of "normal" and "abnormal" people, is to realize how close to the mark John Huston was. The acting by the four principles is truly moving. I'll never forget Brando's expression after his wife's horse throws him. Gives this film a chance. It is sad and quietly passionate at the same time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

If a musical sci-fi satire about an alien transvestite named Frank-n-Furter, who is building the perfect man while playing sexual games with his virginal visitors, sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, then you're in for a treat.Not only is Read more

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Reviews (344)

Bloody awful
This is just awful. And I mean spine-tingingly bad. The songs are so terrible and so insistent that it makes you feel like kicking the TV in. The idea of the film is certainly interesting....certainly if it weren't played out as a musical. But it is and you can just see some of the actors baffled as to the sheer stupidity of what their doing. Some such as Tim Curry revel in the sheer nonsense this film provides. But seriously, those songs are beyond awful. My hatred for them rivals having to listen to Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights and that's intense. But Kate Bush has made some great songs so that's OK. This however, is the movie equivalent of getting an axe through your spinal cord. How it's achieved cult status is something that will have to go down on the peculiar habits of humans.
aaaaaaaaaaaa I likey:-))))))))))
This is the perfect celebration of B- and horror-movies of the 30s and 40s...
Great movie
A classic! A Must See! Although not really intended for kids my daughter at 4 used to love the music and dance along...now at 14 she still loves the songs but she thinks the movie is kinda corny. Us adults however, love the movie and of course the soundtrack too. Can't help but catch yourself singing along. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Movie    3. Musical Features    4. Musicals    5. Musicals (Theatrical)   

Editorial Review

Gus Van Sant's often-beautiful 1991 film stars River Phoenix as a narcoleptic, Seattle male prostitute and Keanu Reeves as the rich friend who agrees to help him find his mother. After a solid hour or so of the two traveling on this quest through Idaho and Italy, Van Sant throws a wrench into the works by conjuring a gay version of Shakespeare's Read more

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Reviews (94)

I Love You, And You Don't Pay Me.
My Own Private Idaho is Gus Van Sant's 1991 art house motion picture featuring Keanu Reeves and the late River Phoenix; it is an extremely loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I & II. Long before his critically applauded Drugstore Cowboy, Van Sant had wanted to produce My Own Private Idaho, but studios would not even read the script due to its possible debate. However following the success of Van Sant's 1989 Drugstore Cowboy, curiosity was shown towards the project generally because of Van Sant's attachment and his earlier triumph. The filmmaker received a $2.5 million budget from New Line Cinema and even got the two male leads he had anticipated, Reeves and Phoenix. Both of the actors' agents were fiercely adamant against their participation in the picture, but both were ready for the challenge. Like others in the genre, the feature didn't get a suitable release and went mostly unnoticed by mainstream audiences, only recognizing it for its taboo subject matter.
Have A Nice Day
An interesting film that looks at the lives of two street kids and their travels to find a true home and adoration.The cast is wonderful with River Phoenix (Mike) giving a heartbreaking performance as a nomad in search of his mother, and the deep longing for love and acceptance from a slumming rich kid, Scott (Keanu Reeves).The direction is mellow and passive in rich oranges and pastels with shots framed on the subject matter in bare form.The film never bows down to a perfect ending nor does it make victims or violators of the characters.It was a breakthrough art film that has aged well and avoided stereotypes immersing itself in the human characteristics everyone shares.

Phoenix is good, but the script is not.
Look, that part where the hustlers and low-lifes hang around in their abandoned building and quote Shakespeare and jump around making theatrical gestures, that part's just terrible. Especially when the Shakespearean lines are punctuated by profanity, come on, that's just a sign of a bad screenplay. Sure, you can use a seedy setting to illustrate a Shakespearean theme. But actually lifting whole passages just creates an air of artificiality, it forces the symbolism and looks really silly. Some years ago, I knew this guy who really wanted to be a film maker, more than that, he believed in art and wanted to make thoughtful, meaningful art films. But the thing was, he had nothing to write about, so he'd just take bits and pieces from Shakespeare's plays or other far superior stories, and then he'd move them to a modern setting and add lots of trendy pop culture references. That's what this reminds me of, even when the actors caper around and recite the lines, it's like a film student's idea of what Shakespearean acting is like.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

When Brandon Teena, a young man with an infectious, aw-shucks grin andan angelic face that's all angles, wanders into Falls City, Nebraska, he takes to the town like it's a second skin. In little time he's fallen in with a gang of goofy if temperamental redneck boys, found himself a girlfriend, and befriended enough people to form something of a small family. In fact, it's the best time Brandon's ever had. However, there are shadows looming over Brandon's life: a court date for grand theft auto, a checkered criminal record, and a seemingly innocuous speeding ticket that could prove to be his undoing. Why? Because as it turns out, Brandon Teena is actually Teena Brandon, a woman masquerading as a man. Read more

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Reviews (240)

Awesome Movie
I saw this for the first time about a year ago and I'm extremely happy that I own it now. It is a very powerful and moving film that is defenitely worth seeing (and owning).

Good film, but there are issues!
Hillary Swank gives a great performance as the doomed victim, Brandon Teena.She deserved the Oscar!However, there are problems with this film.As a drama, it works well.But as a docudrama, the facts don't measure up.For starters, there were three people who were murdered that night, not two, as portrayed in the film.The third victim was Philip DeVine, a black disabled man who was staying at the house.Second, the story also doesn't explain about the two men's affilliation with a white supremacist organization.They may have been targeting both Teena or DeVine or both.The movie purpose seems like it has an ajenda towards the advancement of gay rights.If that's the case, it should have been explained in the credits at the beginning or end of the film.For those who study the case history, you'll be either disappointed in the story like myself or enthraled by it's purpose.Despite that, it's a good drama.

Disturbingly good
This is another of those movies that makes you quiet and lost in your thoughts. Its a true life story of Brandon Teena, a person with a sexual identity crises and how she tries to deal with the awkward situations that she faces. Boys Dont Cry is definitely a movie to be seen, for it addresses some rather serious issues, not by focusing on them, but by focusing on the trials and tribulations of this poor confused soul.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

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Reviews (81)

I... Wanna... Die. LET'S ALL DIE.
Nowhere is, director/screenwriter, Gregg Araki's 1997 conclusion to his nicknamed "Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy". Araki, himself, has asserted that the feature is, "a Beverly Hills 90210 episode on acid." Alas, critics and moviegoers weren't that keen on seeing Araki's extremely frank representation of urban teenagers; critics wrote it off as vile as well as lackluster and the audience just wasn't there.
dogs eating people IS cool
arraki's teen apocalypse triology ends in the wonderfully lovely "nowhere".
One of my favorites
Shocking portrayal of teen angst and lust done by some of America's most famous teen icons.PUNK ROCK!If you're into sex, drugs, music, or just cult movies of that sort, view this independent gem.This film has so many cameo's it'll make your head spin.John Ritter as the televangalist is CLASSIC.The humor is well-worn, but it's wittingly done.Psychosomatic sexuality and imagery prevail here.Where?Nowhere.But alot closer than you'd like to admit YOU FREAK.So go pick this up and stop floggin your puppy in the shower! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

Rupert Everett narrates this sensitive documentary about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals during World War II. "Paragraph 175" refers to the old German penal code concerning homosexuality, which was used to justify the prosecution of gay men during the war (the code ignored lesbians, still considered viable baby-making vessels). As mere rumor became enough to justify imprisonment, over 100,000 were arrested and between 10,000 and 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. In Read more

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Reviews (19)

An extremely important human rights document
Documentarian Rob Epstein has captured as essential piece of human history, in the nick of time.The poorly documented terror aimed at gay men in Nazi-era Germany is examined in this very important and moving film.
A Place in History,
We should never forget what ALL people went through under Hitler's Nazi regime.
Paragraph 175
Excellent movie.Just what was required for the paper on sterotyping and prejudice in the nazi war camps. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Foreign    3. Foreign Film [Dub Or Subtitle]    4. International    5. Movie   

Editorial Review

The damage caused by long-kept secrets lies at the heart of Read more

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Reviews (16)

Where is the DVD
When is this treasure going to be released on DVD?I'm waiting!!!

A Movie Well Worth Seeing More Than Once
I have seen this film two or three times and find that it holds up well in spite of obvious flaws. Based on a novel by David Leavitt by the same name, the movie has a straight forward plot. A young gay Londoner Philip, in love with an American, struggles about how to tell his parents that he is gay. Since the viewer learns in the first few frames of the film that Philip's father is gay also, I'm not giving the plot away. The actors all do credible jobs although I would give an A to Brian Cox who plays the father. I cannot remember how the mother is drawn in the novel; but, unfortunately for her she generates little sympathy in the movie. While her position is not an easy one, it is almost impossible to care much for her since she handles all the family relevations so badly.
The movie that cannoned me out.
I, like the Father in this picture, came out when approaching middle age.I also experienced the atomic wars as my carefully constructed "straight" life crumbled under my feet.This movie hit home to me and taught me that there is no turning back, and no hiding from the Self.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

Blake Edwards's delightful