Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Gay-Gay-Gay-Gay
Gay Pride month is over but these four assorted releases of gay interest - something for all tastes - will help keep the pride alive.
Naturally, all of these in this edition of DVD Recommendations are worth checking out.
Gay Pride month is over but these four assorted releases of gay interest - something for all tastes - will help keep the pride alive.
Naturally, all of these in this edition of DVD Recommendations are worth checking out.
Glitterbox: Derek Jarman x 4 – From Zeitgeist The late queer activist and artsy filmmaker made some really provocative
shorts and films. Four of them - The Angelic Conversation, Caravaggio, Wittgenstein, and Blue are included in this lavish set. Along with
the remastered films (1986's Caravaggio, Jarman's fanciful and endlessly creative re-telling of the gay artist's life is my favorite), the
four-disc set includes a lavishly illustrated booklet that includes essays by friends of the late artist. Tilda Swinton, Oscar winner for
Michael Clayton, and one of Jarman's muses, is included in several new featurettes included in the set. Bent artists and those with
the artistic bent will find plenty to immerse themselves in here - especially Jarman's final film, Blue, which is as challenging and
beautiful now as when it was released in 1993. It's a heartbreaking elegy for Jarman. Jarman was an original, yet another tragic
loss we can curse AIDS for.
Dynasty Season 3, Vol. 1 – From Paramount. Okay, time to lighten up with the juicy beginning of the 80s over the top night
time soap opera focusing on the oil rich Denver-based Carrington family and their feuds. With Joan Collins and Linda Evans moving
into high bitch gear and sporting over the top hairdos and those imposing Nolan Miller fashions with their football sized shoulder
pads, what's not to love? Plus all those 80s hunks with their helmet hair and the only show on television at the time that seemed to
include a gay character - even one that seemed to be sickened by "his condition." Great guilty fun to indulge yourself with - three
discs of episodes.
Bonneville – From 20th Century Fox. A road movie with Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen as a trio hitting the road in the
titled classic car? Sign me up! This dramedy features Lange as a widow who is determined to revisit all the places she and her late
husband traveled to on a memorable trip as she makes her way to the funeral set up by her drag of a step-daughter (played by
Christine Baranski who plays evil for once). Allen plays the goody two shoes, Bates the friend who is dying to cut loose and have a
little romance (and when she does it's the movie's sweetest segment). A variation on Thelma & Louise with some gorgeous scenery
and plenty of those "life lessons" that these movies always include. One small quibble: Lange needs to LAY OFF the Botox
immediately. She has not a wrinkle in her forehead but her eyebrows are arched so high she constantly looks like she's pissed off.
I have loved Lange on film since Day One and I'm hoping that she leaves her face alone. No matter her age, she's a stunner.
Xanadu Magical Musical Edition – From Universal. A little remastering, a couple of featurettes and the CD soundtrack (though
it's not an expanded version) is reason enough to pick up this fabulous, hideous 1980 roller skating musical starring Olivia Newton
John and her leg warmers, Michael Beck and his vests as the resident hunk, Gene Kelly playing clarinet and starring in a fashion
sequence (I kid you not) and the songs of ELO among others. A huge, campy flop that is fabu-lushly entertaining and worth adding
to your DVD collection.
shorts and films. Four of them - The Angelic Conversation, Caravaggio, Wittgenstein, and Blue are included in this lavish set. Along with
the remastered films (1986's Caravaggio, Jarman's fanciful and endlessly creative re-telling of the gay artist's life is my favorite), the
four-disc set includes a lavishly illustrated booklet that includes essays by friends of the late artist. Tilda Swinton, Oscar winner for
Michael Clayton, and one of Jarman's muses, is included in several new featurettes included in the set. Bent artists and those with
the artistic bent will find plenty to immerse themselves in here - especially Jarman's final film, Blue, which is as challenging and
beautiful now as when it was released in 1993. It's a heartbreaking elegy for Jarman. Jarman was an original, yet another tragic
loss we can curse AIDS for.
Dynasty Season 3, Vol. 1 – From Paramount. Okay, time to lighten up with the juicy beginning of the 80s over the top night
time soap opera focusing on the oil rich Denver-based Carrington family and their feuds. With Joan Collins and Linda Evans moving
into high bitch gear and sporting over the top hairdos and those imposing Nolan Miller fashions with their football sized shoulder
pads, what's not to love? Plus all those 80s hunks with their helmet hair and the only show on television at the time that seemed to
include a gay character - even one that seemed to be sickened by "his condition." Great guilty fun to indulge yourself with - three
discs of episodes.
Bonneville – From 20th Century Fox. A road movie with Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen as a trio hitting the road in the
titled classic car? Sign me up! This dramedy features Lange as a widow who is determined to revisit all the places she and her late
husband traveled to on a memorable trip as she makes her way to the funeral set up by her drag of a step-daughter (played by
Christine Baranski who plays evil for once). Allen plays the goody two shoes, Bates the friend who is dying to cut loose and have a
little romance (and when she does it's the movie's sweetest segment). A variation on Thelma & Louise with some gorgeous scenery
and plenty of those "life lessons" that these movies always include. One small quibble: Lange needs to LAY OFF the Botox
immediately. She has not a wrinkle in her forehead but her eyebrows are arched so high she constantly looks like she's pissed off.
I have loved Lange on film since Day One and I'm hoping that she leaves her face alone. No matter her age, she's a stunner.
Xanadu Magical Musical Edition – From Universal. A little remastering, a couple of featurettes and the CD soundtrack (though
it's not an expanded version) is reason enough to pick up this fabulous, hideous 1980 roller skating musical starring Olivia Newton
John and her leg warmers, Michael Beck and his vests as the resident hunk, Gene Kelly playing clarinet and starring in a fashion
sequence (I kid you not) and the songs of ELO among others. A huge, campy flop that is fabu-lushly entertaining and worth adding
to your DVD collection.
