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Lent74
Reviews
Bedrooms and Hallways (1998)
Great fun and honest to diversity!
I seriously enjoyed watching this movie for the first time some years ago and whenever it gets aired again somewhere (which luckily happens from time to time in European cable television) I experience the same thing, I'm moved, entertained and end up wishing there were more movies like this one.
It all deals with Leo (Kevin McKidd) and his group of friends living in urban London, Leo as a gay guy who follows a friend to a hilarious New Age Men's Group and falls for straight guy Brendon, played by dashing James Purefoy, who turns out not so straight after all. Thrown in as side characters are the equally great Tom Hollander and Hugo Weaving whose side story alone is worth watching the movie, Simon Callow as the leader of the Men's group, turning in a great as ever performance. But it's really hard to pick some folks out here, because every character, the female ones like Jennifer Ehle's, Julie Graham's and Harriet Walter's as well, are exquisitely acted. Maybe even Kevin McKidd looks a little pale compared to his co-actors but it benefits his somewhat subdued character.
The idea behind this movie is a simple one: There is never only black and white, classifications are difficult and may not always stand the test of time.
Leo identifies as gay but ends up falling for a woman as well who turns out to be his teenage sweetheart and Brendon's long time girlfriend. Brendon starts out straight but gets to learn that gay may be more than just an option for him and being bisexual might not be that bad after all. Darren and Jeremy (Hollander and Weaving) are gay and loving it and even the straight folks in the movie, like Angie, Leo's female roommate, get their fair share of love and funny moments up until the end of the movie. The comedy bits(especially Tom Hollander who's just hilarious) are funny and on point and the emotions are believable, as confusing as they may appear at times reading this summary.
What I like about this movie is its genuinely positive notion. Whether you're gay, straight, bisexual or simply not sure, this movie leaves you feeling that it's just okay NOT to be sure and that "not being sure" might be something worth living out as well! Sexuality is portrayed fluid in this movie and none of the main characters seem to have a real problem with it, apart from all the gay/straight camp fights that you sometimes get fed with in other gay themed movies. I can only wholeheartedly agree with the subtext of the movie, that what you feel certain of one day, when you think you identify as gay, straight, whatever, can look very different on another. I have never seen (what to call it?) bisexuality or maybe just the absence of the segregating need for sexual classification being portrayed in such a heartwarming and true to life manner.
This movie dares going where few movies go, gay or straight movies, by not playing on labels and stereotypical assumption of sex and relying on that. It goes further and assumes that there may be a life to sex after well-known classifications and I think the times are more than ready for that and other movies exploring postmodern themes like this one!
And for all others who don't care about that, heck, it's just a funny comedy worth watching on a rainy Saturday evening with some popcorn on your hands. Give it a try!
Loved it!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Entertaining yes, but not half as good as the first one.
Well, of course stakes were high to the sequel of the wonderful and hilarious first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. After watching the second one now, I must say that I am a little disappointed. As always in those blockbusters they try everything to top the previous movie and so they did in this one, CGIwise. The CGI was even more elaborate than in the first movie, the ghost pirates ghastlier, slimier, whatnot. Thing is though, if you do a thing like that, don't forget to add the charme and inventiveness story-wise that made it all worthwhile watching in the first place!
Seriously, the kraken was great. The ships and island design was marvellous. Davy Jones and his crew are frightening and creepy, but after some time you get tired of seeing another detail to a pirate-turning-into-sea-creature CGI and wish to have a little more story to hold on to. And that in fact is the biggest let-down of the movie. At times in the movie I was vividly thinking of the first Pirates movie and found myself wishing they had done some things different.
The hunt for Davy Jones's chest is nothing more than a repetition of the story of the first movie in a slightly varied form. There's no character development whatsoever for all of the main characters, especially and sadly so, Captain Jack Sparrow. Heck, of course I loved Jack Sparrow in the first movie, but in this movie there's no new side to him whatsoever and even some of the jokes his character pulls off (some of the best in all the movie) only entertain because they refer to the first movie. I wish they had given Johnny Depp and thus Jack Sparrow a little more to do than just repeat the whole routine of the first movie. A wicked love twist, a turning point where he gets to reflect some of his motives of becoming a pirate, whatever... something that would have made him a little less shallow. Yup, the wonderful Jack Sparrow has become a little too flat in this one character-wise and that's my biggest complaint. Calling him a caricature of his own character in the first movie would probably go too far but I guess you know what I mean after watching the movie. God, it's Johnny Depp, give the man something to do and he'll shine so why not try something new here?
Orlando Bloom as Will and Keira Knightly as Elisabeth get the plot twists in this one, which is nice to see and gives their characters sort of a more round feeling. I loved that Norrington was back in this one in a very different "shape" as in the first movie. And I loved the ending "surprise entrance" of one well beloved character no one was expecting to show up. But the cliffhanging itself was a little annoying as the movie was too obviously ending to make you go see the third one. A little more subtlety would have helped here.
The movie does entertain, no doubt, and it was great to see the characters back in action. But all in all the first movie had much more to offer, most of all a heart and soul, which somehow was lacking in this movie. Sadly, because you think after making such a wonderful first movie, they would have learned what the audience cares about.
Elaborate CGI, great. But the story and characters were what carried the first movie. I hope they remember that when they finish the third Pirates of the Caribbean.
Making Love (1982)
A very good movie way ahead of its time
Honestly, now, after finally having seen it, I don't understand the negative comments I heard about this movie at all.
Some of the comments I heard beforehand: "This movie is boring and played safe".
No, it isn't and it doesn't, in my opinion. Showing a male to male kiss in that fashion and showing the sex scene, as short as it is, is very brave for a movie made in 1982. I was surprised at how much the movie dared rather than wondering about how much it didn't dare. And I didn't find it boring at all. It's a movie dealing with human relationships, it's only natural you won't find the same car chase, bank robbery whatever action you'd find in other movies. I liked the slow pace of the movie and wasn't bored for a second.
"The acting was crappy".
I don't agree at all. Especially Harry Hamlin was very good in my opinion, playing very natural and believable, Kate Jackson was good too and Michael Ontkean did okay too, although his acting came across a little wooden at times but that's only normal I guess because he was the one to play the character that was about to come out and his role had to be more reserved because of that. All in all I was surprised to see such mature acting considering the theme of it and it's really, really a big shame that Ontkean's and Hamlin's careers seemingly took a dive after both of them participated in the movie because their bravery to take on roles like that in 1982 deserves every respect, especially for the manner in which the acting was handled. Hamlin could have easily gone over the top with his flirtatious and seemingly careless character and Ontkean could have gone in the other direction and could have acted like a piece of wood like other actors would have done with this character but he didn't and that deserves respect. Actors like Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger get a lot of praise for their acting in Brokeback, just because the times have changed to their favor, but I don't think Hamlin's and Ontkean's acting lacks a lot in comparison, not at all. It was as subtle as the movie and I liked that.
"The story was crappy."
Again, I don't agree at all. A married man discovers his feelings for other men. So far there's not much difference to a movie like Brokeback. And I thought the emotions involved in a discovery like that were played out very well. And really, this movie even dared a little more than Brokeback in that respect that Ontkean's character was not denied a happy, fulfilling relationship in the end, unlike Ledger's character in Brokeback. He did leave his wife and he did get into a working, loving relationship with another man, his family respected his decision and stood behind him it seems. That's a very positive message, one that I was surprised to witness at the end of the movie, especially considering the fact that it's 1982 we're talking about. My hats off to the makers and participants in this movie. We all know that this movie had to take in a lot of criticism and now that I've seen it, I know why. America must have been perplexed to watch a movie like that, not knowing what to do with the message it sent. It was way ahead of its time and I do mean that in a very positive way. Not since have I seen another American mainstream movie depicting the topic in the same positive fashion. Interesting in that respect I found the little sequence in which Kate Jackson's character finds the matches with the phone number and visits the man she thinks her husband has an affair with. They engage in a little conversation after the man is a little reluctant to let her in at first. It's not the guy that Ontkean's character has had an affair with but they've met on one occasion. As Kate's character finds out she's talking to the wrong man, she nevertheless asks him some questions, out of curiosity, for instance whether he's happy. He replies, apart from tax eating up half of his money etc etc, yes, he's happy. I found that little scene brilliant as it showed that everybody complains about the same things, suffers from the same things etc, that being gay doesn't mean you're life is always a different one, it primarily means you're sexual preference is a different one. I also liked how he asked her where she found that phone number of his and she replied coat pocket" or something like that and he looked at her with an expression of compassion, as he was exactly knowing what finding that number and making that step to approach him meant to her.
Well, well, I think this movie is pretty underrated and the bad reviews it may have gotten are signs of the time the movie came out in. It's certainly not a pitch perfect movie, but what movie is? I think it deserves to be discussed in the same ranks as Brokeback and others, as what it did at a really unwelcoming time was amazing.
I hope today, with a movie like Brokeback opening up a lot for discussion, people will start reviewing this movie in a more positive light and with more openness and they will find a gem that was ahead of its time and I hope the makers and participants of this movie, especially the actors, will finally get the credits they deserve for it.
Eine aussergewöhnliche Affäre (2002)
Great TV Take on Love and Secrecy and everything that comes with it when the two persons involved are men
I saw this movie three years ago when it came out on German TV and saw it again just a few days ago when it got re-aired and the feeling was just the same. I was blown away by Hans-Werner Meyer's honest and pitch perfect performance. The movie as a whole is an excellent production, rare for German TV movies these days, but you can see it everywhere while watching the movie. The script is quite believable and the actors, everyone of them, is great. These are indeed outstanding performances by Hans Werner-Meyer as Jochen, Tatjana Blacher as his wife and Matthias Walter as Tom Leuthner.
The story is simple it seems, the path for every of the persons involved is not. Jochen Wenzel is a thirty-something teacher in a small bavarian town, happily married with his wife Ina who wants to become headmistress at the local school, and two children. Jochen's life gets turned upside down when Tom Leuthner, a young gay teacher, becomes the new biology teacher at his and Ina's school. Tom is attractive, young and open about his sexuality and Jochen finds himself first confused by and later attracted to Tom. On a school trip both men start an affair. Ina is unaware of her husband's past (in which Jochen had had homosexual experiences) but notices the changes in Jochen's behavior.
Soon Jochen finds himself torn between his family life and his love for Tom and when one of Jochen's pupils witnesses the two men kissing each other, Jochen is forced to decide between a life with Ina and their kids or acknowledge his love for Tom...