HoldenSpark Reviews

Smiley (II) (2022)

A Masterpiece no matter who you are, what you do, or who you love.

[10/10 · 1 May 2024]

This series is a Masterpiece.

Everything about it is right.

The story it tells is perfect.

Believe every word.

Love every second of this series. Run out and tell everybody you know to watch this.

Be glad there are people in the world brilliant enough to give us this wonderful gift.

A masterpiece of everything there is about making motion pictures.

The art of storytelling at its finest.

There are several stories in this series wrapped around the central story-line. Each one works in concert with the main story to illuminate living life today in the 2020s. You will find echos of your own life among these episodes no matter who you are, what you do, or who you love.

Strapped (2010)

One To Watch

[10/10 · 19 December 2019]

There's something about "Strapped". For those who enjoy movies with a gay theme, this is a very good movie to take time and watch. For those who are gay you will recognize certain things in this movie. For those who are gay and old you will most certainly recognize things in this movie.

"Strapped" doesn't answer all the questions it poses, but it doesn't need to, as you'll see.

Watch "Strapped". It's worth the look.

Love Among the Ruins (1975 TV Movie)

Now, without further adoo, allow me to present "Love Among The Ruins", from 1975, starring Katherine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier.

[10/10 · 1 April 2019]

This first aired as a made-for-TV movie on March 6, 1975. I only became aware of it recently because I happened to see an old bit of advertising for it. I noticed it starred Katherine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier but upon reading what the story was about it seemed like it would be so boring I knew I'd never bother to watch it. So I put the brochure away.

Then today I happened upon that brochure again. I googled it and looked at its Wikipedia page and learned it won seven Emmy Awards that year. For Directing, Lead Actress, Lead Actor, Writing, Costume, Art Direction, and Set Decoration. It also won a Peabody Award that year for Excellence.

Well, I thought, that's pretty impressive, I bet it was just because Hepburn and Olivier were so old and the people just voted them those awards cause they were so old, and probably not because of any actual acting or anything. Oddly, somewhere I noticed that anyone who watches it was advised to have Kleenexes on hand. In my mind I scoffed. No way would I watch something about those two old actors dying on screen too. Again, must have been why they got those awards.

A little while ago, after exhausting every trivial Youtube wasteoid of a ridiculous video possible, I found this movie is on Youtube, free to watch. Just uploaded by some random person who must have kinda liked it. Then I noticed several random people had uploaded it. So I clicked on one copy but it wasn't a very good copy. Then I noticed a good copy. So, I clicked on it and let the movie begin playing in the background while I got out some work I needed to finish up and started working on it.

And, in the beginning, it appeared I'd been completely right. The beginning of the movie just dragged on and on with exposition so blatant dragging on forever I knew I was right. But, my keyboard wasn't in reach while I worked so I let it continue. I thought about how I'd really never thought Hepburn's acting was that great and remembering how I never, ever could remember a film that I'd seen with Olivier in it that I could endure watching all the way to the end. All my life I thought he'd just been praised for all that old-school kind of acting people used to do. Which I'd always found dull and stupid. But, as you will have already surmised since I'm writing so much about something I've already said I was expecting to be dumb and old-school and so far that's what I've said I saw for that long bit in the beginning.

But, eventually all that exposition began to pay off. And I found myself being drawn in. And then, when it was clear that the run-up to the big dazzling finish had begun I suddenly realized a tear had run down my face. I'd leaked a tear and didn't even realize it. And nobody was even remotely dying. In fact, nobody dies in this movie. That's not what the Kleenexes were needed for after all.

And when Olivier hit his stride and was acting so we I forget for a moment it was him and I was watching the chaar5acter he was playing and feeling more tears falling from my face. And then I heard myself thinking, "well, damn, he CAN (could) act." Then, though I hadn't even yet realized I'd already seen Hepburn do some big big acting and only realized it when something else happens. And again, I heard myself thinking "oh. my. god. I'm dazzled by her too."

After the film was over and I dried my face I decided to put this little review here for a film I'd have never, ever, thought I'd be writing this after it was over. So, for you, if you wish to be dazzled, sit down, give this movie its beginning that you have to get through, then, just wait for it. Get your Kleenexes ready. You're gonna need them. But not for what you expect. When you reach for one, you'll thank me then. In your mind anyway. Now, without further adoo, allow me to present "Love Among The Ruins", from 1975, starring Katherine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier.

The Love God? (1969)

Looks Can Be Decieving

[10/10 · 18 December 2018]

This movie is brilliant. One of my all-time favorites. Styled as a morality play the underlying theme that runs through every single minute of this film is actually the timeless theme that looks can be decieving.

There isn't a single moment in the film when it deviates from its theme. Every single scene in the movie, every word spoken in the movie, every single character arc, every setting in the movie, every set they built for the film, every costume, every edit made in the movie, every single frame of this film, every idea in, and, and, of, and around this film is, in some way or another, intent on reminding you that no matter what you see, no matter what you hear, no matter what you think, looks can be decieving.

You can see this idea come to life through the characters in very blatent ways. But also in subtle ways.

There are the ways that looks can decieve when someone is blatenly trying to decieve.

Then there are the more subtle deceptions when one decieves oneself by making promises to oneself and others that eventually prove to be too difficult to carry out.

It's easy to make promises about things that are far outside your grasp anyway.

What would you do if what was once outside your grasp became possible for you to reach?

This film invites you to consider this and ramps this idea up by making what becomes possible very beautiful, places it right in front of you, ripe for the taking, and the possibliity itself begging you to reach right out and enjoy it, whispering alure in your ears "...take me...enjoy me..."

Then, after the education you've gained from experience, you realize your initial promise was a flawed idea from the very beginning, something you just haden't really understood then.

What if later, through the education experience has given you, you realize something wasn't what it was advertised to be? That looks can be decieving.

This movie is one of the great movies. Holding hands with its artifice of simplicity and foolishness a message awaits those who wish to learn. Being yet another way in which this film reprises the lesson it begins teaching right at the start and when the judge doesn't recognize Mrs. Tremaine and in the song of the bird calls sung inside the church. This film points and whispers looks can be decieving everywhere you're taken.

Alex Strangelove (2018)

The most important gay movie ever made.

[10/10 · 8 July 2018]

There have been so many wonderful gay movies made. Plus, much gay history can be viewed very well through the evolution of how the homosexual has been depicted on the screen since the very moment that the moving picture was invented. All of them are prologue to this film.

From all of us old gay people who have lived and live still, and for those who have died, who have wanted real freedom for gay people this movie is what we wanted. The freedom to be who you are. Freely. As you live your own life, and as life happens to you. Bless you, our sons and daughters. Be free. It is what we wanted for you. It is what we want for everyone. Now it is who you are. Carry on, carry on.

Adam & Paul (2004)

A Masterpiece

[10/10 · 10 September 2016]

Sometimes (though so extremely rarely that its almost mythical that it may ever happen once in your life and if twice you count yourself blessed beyond all that is holy) you run across a movie that you'd never heard of and upon watching it unfold before your (there's a word I'd like to quote here from the movie that would be most appropriate but I can't cause it would take a letter before i before g and five stars and an apostrophe to tentatively test IMDb's family friendly policy so I'll just go on instead) eyes you find yourself not quite believin' what you're seein' and then when you realize it's getting' going' and buildin' and buildin' and then, O.M.G. when it ends you cry for your good fortune for finding it and watching it and that you'll never again be able to see it for the first time again but who cares, you've seen what you've seen and for a moment you stare at the screen then wipe the tears from your eyes, then wipe the tears of joy for seeing this film from your eyes and you rise from your seat no matter if you're all alone or in the middle of a crowd of strangers, you leap from you seat clapping so hard and so fast and so loudly that your hands hurt so badly you weep but you cant stop to wipe your face because you're screaming with such joyful intensity at the screen the credits are gracing and you realize that all the strangers around you are doing the same thing and you grab hold onto one another and pass the moment in the exquisite embrace of pure unadulterated holy humanity. Then after many long moments savoring it together you hug everyone around you and kiss each of them full on the lips and some of them become friends for life the movie was that profound. And you run home to your computer and you look up this movie and you discover what happened to its stars and you weep and you weep and you weep for all he has achieved. And you cross yourself and bless him. Again and again.

Magnificent.

If you consider yourself a movie buff of any degree you will race to watch this movie and, while I know you'll try and try and try to resist me and what I've said here, by the end you will find yourself grudgingly at least, agreeing with me. Whole, ______' hardidly.

Really. Don't believe me? Throw down and see.

;)

(and i'm not even catholic, and its not even relevant and yet, well, i bow low still)

One day.

Disarm (2010)

Recognize

[8/10 · 9 September 2016]

In every realm there are certain kinds of people that those who inhabit that realm recognize. To describe them outside their realm to others outside that realm is often an exercise in futality. It's hard to explain to others outside the realm the way that people behave when within their realm. To you who live within it you recognize how some people are and recognize some of the hows and wheres a person may do what he does and the whys it he does whens he does. Or the ways he does it. To you it's all the same. The same lingering knowledge that there are others like you who misunderstand, then learn, then unlearn, then find themselves resigned. Who want more. Yet work for what they get. And find that's all there is. After all.

Both men in the film are handsome. The younger man is, like the older man, in costume. He has been dressed and styled to emphasize his youth and as such his current youthful naivete in spite of his learned bravado. The older man has been dressed and styled to emphasize his attention to detail. He knows what he has and what he's missing and why.

In the gay realm we recognize each other. We understand each other even when the only thing we have in common is our desire for other men. In this short film, Disarm, if you're a gay man safely past your youthful years, you'll recognize both of these men. If you're not a gay man, well, you needn't wonder why these men don't just go and get what they want. They are afraid to because its already cost them so much.

Recognize.

A nice little gift for the gay male community. Thank you filmmakers.

Well worth watching if you are a man loving man kinda guy. Everybody else, hey, take a peek inside our realm. We can't explain it exactly. You understand.

Winning Dad (2015)

The story's the thing

[8/10 · 31 July 2016]

The idea for this movie is brilliant. And the script/screenplay for this movie really goes right for it. When you watch it you'll see what I mean. What this movie is about is something that is very hard to present very well. Many other gay-themed movies have attempted to put this into their film in some way, and many have tried to make it the central point as this movie does. No movie has yet to accomplish this task perfectly, but Winning Dad comes closer than any movie I've yet seen. It takes on the very difficult task of attempting to stand up and be honest. And the story is written in such a way that honesty is no where to be found. It offers the idea that honesty is something valuable. Very valuable.

And that family is what makes life worth living.

This movie is worth watching by everyone. Everyone.

With that said, while the story is the absolute mission of this movie, there are some clear technical problems with the acting and directing and sound editing. So, don't let those things distract you, and you probably won't be too much as the story itself takes you to such emotional places that anyone who's ever been in this situation or similar ones will recognize quite well.

And if you've never been in this situation before, nor anything like it, try and imagine what it's like to have to bear, without having any choice as to whether you want to or not, having to bear the death of your dreams for yourself and for those you love.

I gave this an 8 because of the technical problems I mentioned. I'd give it a 10 if those problems were not there. Its the story that's key.

.....Imagine what it's like to have to bear, without having any choice as to whether you want to or not, having to bear the death of your dreams for yourself and for those you love.....

Hunting Season (2012– )

Great Show

[8/10 · 13 July 2016]

This show will clearly appeal to gay men.

Its got lots of sex - plenty of full frontal nudity and plenty of camera shots where its not quite shown whats going on, but you can tell anyway.

There is lots of fun dialogue with some in-jokes here and there. Its one of the better web-series of the gay genre.

It won't appeal to those with a backwards and old-fashioned sense of morality. Instead its moral and its morality is quite clear and good and true.

There is a big difference between season one and season two. In season one we get to enjoy a strong sense of freedom and lighter introspection. In season two we get to see the main characters much more in-depth.

I enjoyed season two more.

If tales of gay life as lived by a young man who enjoys his sexuality and his sexual experiences while not taking life too seriously then this web-series is for you. Enjoy.

In Between Men (2010– )

Entertaining Fantasy World

[6/10 · 13 July 2016]

I've read what the other reviewers here have posted and its true, the acting could be described in a negative way, so too the writing as somehow sub-par, and yes, the show does look a lot like other shows from the past, notably Sex and the City. And yes, the production values are excellent, the gloss and gleam of In Between Men make it appear as if it would be something you'd see on network TV.

However, what I don't think the other reviewers have taken into consideration is that this show isn't so much all those things I just mentioned that other reviewers have said, instead to me its a throwback to the days of Dynasty and shows like that where every character is over-the-top in some way and its not so much the writing of the show that is important, instead what was important in Dynasty was to entertain. And that was it, Dynasty entertained. Dynasty created characters that gave viewers a fantasy realm to enjoy where the viewers could imagine a world they could never live in, a world of rich people behaving as they pleased.

Thats what In Between Men does. It presents an over-the-top idea of how gay people might be living in New York City today. An for those of us who don't live there, and never will, nor who are rich or able to do whatever they might want in their own local gay reality - be it because they aren't as free to be as open about being gay or because they don't have the riches available to them to pursue ambition wildly with little restraint, this show is a delight. As a fantasy world that presents itself as something that arguably could exist in today's world, we the audience know that it' a fantasy. And with that we can let go of judging it by the standards of today's world and just enjoy it for the fantasy it is, a slice of cake in a bread-eating world.

As was Dynasty in its day, today when you watch In Between Men you may eat cake.

Tales of the Unexpected (1979–1988)

Enjoyable Diversions

[8/10 · 28 August 2015]

I'd never heard of this series then one day a couple years back I noticed an episode on youtube and watched it. I enjoyed it and watched another. And another. And another. And another. And another. And.. well, you get my drift. It became like a bag of chips, you can't eat just one, your hand just keeps drifting into the bag almost without thinking when you finish one then pull out another and start on it. Eventually over about a week I'd watched all 112 (I think it was 112 total) episodes. I liked it enough to compile my own list of what I think the top 12 Tales of the Unexpected (TOTU) episodes are. They are:

The very best episode of this series is called:

"The Flypaper"

The remaining top 12 TOTU episodes are (in order):

(2) "Number Eight"

(3) "Wink Three Times"

(4) "The Open Window"

(5) "The Way Up To Heaven"

(6) "The Luncheon"

(7) "Bosom Friends"

(8) "Scrimshaw"

(9) "Nothing' Short of Highway Robbery"

(10) "Who's Got The Lady"

(11) "Back For Christmas"

(12) "The Landlady"

I have to give a shout-out to the episode titled "The Luncheon" (which I've ranked the 6th best episode of the series). When I first watched it I didn't catch all of it. I had to re watch it a couple times to realize how clever this particular episode really is.

And, really I should give a shout-out to all these great top 12 episodes. "Scrimshaw" is so so well done. "Bosom Friends" still makes me shudder with a different kind of squirmy horror, you'll see what I mean, "Nothing' Short of Highway Robbery" with its delightfully surprising ending, the fun of seeing it coming in "Back for Christmas", the creepyiness of "The Landlady", the smoothness and coolness of "Who's Got The Lady", the delightfully confusingness till the end of "The Open Window", how crazy the man is in "Number Eight", the psychological twistedness of "The Way Up To Heaven", and finally the delighfully something completely different in "Wink Three Times" that gives this episode cake its icing.

And now here is something regarding the remaining 100 episodes in the series, there was one thing I noticed about this series, and that is that clearly a full one half of the episodes, 50 percent or better of the episodes have one common theme unifying them, and that is that half of the episodes of this series feature marital strife in one form or another. This series seems to have mined that particular mine field repeatedly as it's go-to plot structure when choosing which stories to script and film for the series. Thats not a bad thing, but one does eventually get tired of watching Ma vs. Pa and Daddy fussing with Mommy and Honey Bunch rubbing Honey Do the wrong way over and over and over. In these days of marriage equality, if one had this series to study and nothing else to study in order to learn about human marriage, one might not think marriage was all that great.

Watch my top 12 TOTU episodes. I suggest you watch these top 12 episodes NOT in ranked order from the top of the list down to the bottom of the list or vice versa, instead watch them in the order they were originally broadcast and you will find its more enjoyable to watch the series mature and unfold in that much better way. So, watch them in this order:

The Landlady (1979) s1e5 - **The Landlady** Ranked #12 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

The Way Up to Heaven (1979) s1e9 - **The Way Up To Heaven** Ranked #5 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

Back for Christmas (1980) s2e14 - **Back For Christmas** Ranked #11 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

The Flypaper (1980) s3e1 - **The Flypaper ** Ranked #1, Best Episode of the TOTU Series

Bosom Friends (1981) s4e14 - ** Bosom Friends** Ranked #7 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

Who's Got the Lady? (1982) s5e17 - **Who's Got The Lady** Ranked #10 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

The Luncheon (1983) s6e10 - ** The Luncheon** Ranked #6 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

Number Eight (1984) s7e5 - **Number Eight** Ranked #2 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

The Open Window (1984) s7e15 - **The Open Window** Ranked #4 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

Nothing' Short of Highway Robbery (1985) s8e3 - Ranked #9 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

Scrimshaw (1985) s8e4 - **Scrimshaw** Ranked #8 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

Wink Three Times (1988) s9e6 - **Wink Three Times** Ranked #3 in the Top Twelve TOTU Episodes

You can find that list of mine here:

Tales of the Unexpected - The Top Twelve Episodes.

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070141474/

Enjoy!

Grace and Frankie (2015–2022)

Love love love this series.

[10/10 · 30 May 2015]

I enjoyed this series from the first moment of episode one to the last moment of episode 13. I love the stars of the series, I love the way in which the story is shown. I love everything about it. Its like coming home to watch this series.

I'll leave it at that cause there are lots of other reviews where you might find more about what this series is about, so I'll just leave you with my happy thoughts here and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Well, I just tried to submit this but it says I've not written enough, so here's a little about it. It concerns two heterosexual couples who have been friends for a long time. The men work together and are partners in a law firm, the women are friends though hadn't ever been very close, but friends nonetheless. The series begins with the men telling their wives they've decided to divorce their wives and marry each other, they are homosexual men and wish to marry each other now that its legal in California. Of course this hits the wives hard. The series goes from there and explores how they all cope. Including not only the men and women, but their grown children as well.

The Borgias (2011–2013)

Hugely Successful Entertainment

[10/10 · 29 September 2014]

This huge melodramatic interpretation of the famous Borgia family of the 15th and 16th centuries is so smooth and fabulous to watch.

I just discovered it two days ago, 9/26/2014, on Netflix and after the first episode it was like binge eating potato chips, you can't have just one, you can't stop till you've eaten the whole bag. I just came off a 19 hour Borgia binge and had to make myself stop to sleep.

There is just so much worry in every episode cause it appears that the Borgia clan was just about to topple and be destroyed every single day, and so much loud dramatic music that just makes every single murder that much more worrysome, and every murder just seems even more necessary and that much more dramatic.

There is also wayyyy too much constant hetero sex. Way too much. We've seen every characters butt and ass many many times. So much so I've had to fast forward through the endless scenes of one character on top of another going up and down, up and down, up and down till finally, finally they got back to the daily murders and shakedowns of the Christian faithful.

But, what grabbed my attention was the loyal hit-man that the family relied on so much to do the everyday housekeeping murders and attending to the daily torturing schedules that made every double-cross just that much easier for the Borgias to quickly loot that person's lands and fortunes and add them to the hungry hungry coffers of the Catholic Church.

At first its not apparent what Micheletto's primary sexual orientation is, since he keeps it his most deeply buried secret (which says a lot considering the extensive body count he was responsible for adding to almost daily in perfect secrecy) but once we discover Micheletto's sexual preference we also get to discover a new part of him. Frankly, even before we were shown Micheletto completely naked, front and back, (played by actor Sean Harris) I had already become more and more focused on him because every time Micheletto was on-screen everything about the story become so much more magnetically intoxicatingly interesting. But, once they added his sexuality to the story, I couldn't take my eyes off him.

So, thats it. You've got to fall in love with this on-screen mass-murderer, this Torturer with a capital "T", this angel of death, this Micheletto! Cause, for some reason he's just captivating. And the rest of "The Borgias" is just luscious, luscious wicked fun.

I Give It a Year (2013)

A Very Modern Comedy

[8/10 · 6 September 2014]

Sometimes when you wonder where comedy could possibly go from here, from this moment in time (I'm writing this review Sept. 6, 2014) (in the afternoon) along comes a movie like this that reaches out into new comedy ground and invites you to see it.

This is an exhibition of modern art. Something new and fresh. One of the things that makes for great art is when an artist takes up an artistic theme that's already been covered many times by other artists but then presents the very same theme in a new way.

Its hard to think up something new using the same tools other artists have used for years and years. Originality is a rarity and as such, when someone presents something new, it often creates impressions among those who view it which can vary greatly.

This movie moves comedy down the road a bit. It takes risks that other movies simply haven't taken before. Not in this way.

One could look here and see nothing new at all. They could comment that there's nothing new here to see.

Another could look at this and find it confusing. They're not sure if its good or bad and so they pry it apart - looking at it in pieces instead of as a whole. Their comments about it could seem disjointed if they can't fully see whats going on further down the road.

I see this movie as a familiar theme presented in a new way. A new way of making you laugh. Which is really really hard for a new work of art to do.

I found it fresh and stimulating. And hilarious. I laughed my way through it, from beginning to end. And I was disappointed when it ended cause I didn't want to have to leave these new screen friends, just yet. Cause where could I ever find them again?

I'm not sure I could have laughed so loud and so often if I wasn't as old as I am.

This is an adult comedy. What makes it so great an art piece too is that it offers not just one, but at least two different and distinct meanings to the phrase "adult comedy", one of which is entirely new.

New modern art right here. Worth looking at. Look again.

Enjoy.

Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

Marvelous

[7/10 · 20 September 2008]

I caught this on cable today. Had never noticed it before which is odd since I've actively tried to be aware of movies with a strong gay component for as long as I can remember. But, be that as it may this is one that somehow slipped past me until today. After watching it in awe I checked to see when it was made thinking that surely it was something made in the recent past few years, after 2000. Certainly, I thought, it must have come out during the "Queer as Folk" era which gave filmmakers permission to finally and honestly show parts of the gay world which, unless you're a part of that world, most of the rest of the world were relatively unaware of until somewhat recently as society has changed for the better in its well reasoned acceptance of gays. Yet, instead, I found that "Prick Up Your Ears" was released in 1987. I couldn't believe it. The movie was so well done. Not only did it portray something that was way ahead of its time with regards to portraying this type of subject matter, the movie itself is so modernly made. The way it was filmed and the actors and how they are acting, everything about this movie screams "I'm way ahead of my time"! And so it is. And what you find is a beautifully made movie about the effects that society's attitude towards gays in the 50's and 60's have upon two gay men, their union, and gays in general during that time. And the movie was made two decades ago, breaking ground in ways that only now that movie audiences have come to take for granted.

This is a marvelous movie, groundbreaking when it was made, about an author and the authors life-partner who were breaking new ground themselves in their day. Everything about this movie is worth seeing. The story presented, the acting, the sets, the locations. Everything. In fact, it reaches far enough into so many different things about writing and movie making and gays and society and relationships and life and death itself, and it does it so well, that one can reasonably say that if you're a student of film this is a movie that should belong on your list of movies to see and study along the way to making your own movies. And if you're a person who loves good movies, this is also required viewing. And if you're gay, well, it will thrill you to see this movie for so many reasons that only if you're gay would you really kind of understand. And if you're just somebody who wants to pass some time watching a minor cinema masterpiece that has stood the test of time, here is one for you to watch, enjoy and be educated by too. Its just a part of who we were. I miss poor Joe and Kenneth.

Honky Tonk Freeway (1981)

A great little time capsule of 1981

[7/10 · 5 July 2008]

Back in August, '81 there was a country-ish buzz to movies, big hits like "Urban Cowboy", "Every Which Way But Loose", "Smokey and the Bandit" were all the rage. For that reason I suspect the producers of this movie chose "Honky Tonk Freeway" as the title hoping it would help the movie's box office receipts by drawing in that same "Urban Cowboy" crowd. Instead "Honky Tonk Freeway" bombed at the theaters and I suspect it do so in part by being burdened with a poorly chosen title. Thats same problem burdens it now on video and thats too bad because its a pretty good movie and in a comedy style ahead of it's time. No matter what, probably anybody who can remember 1981 will enjoy it.

Its too bad this movie bombed. But I think it would have anyway even if it hadn't been saddled with a poor title. Its a movie ahead of its time. One could look at this movie now and see that its clearly a father or *great-uncle anyway) to the kinds of comedy made today. For its day "Honky Tonk Freeway" was pretty full of innuendo and a kind of frankness about life that didn't get popular in comedy till much later on. While clearly its a child of "Airplane", its more mature, and while its certainly no "Knocked Up" it clearly points in that direction. The characters are more "comedy-mature" in that they are low-key and don't ever think anything they do is anything other than serious. The jokes are in the choices of what to emphasize and the camera views and the way the view themselves and their situations.

But, more than that, "Honky Tonk Freeway" is a real time capsule. A great look back at the exceedingly early 80's. The people in this movie are dressed and act as everyday people of 1981 did. It was clearly meant to reflect the times and be a sly comedic comment on everyday life around them.

I don't know if my review is helping you, but this is really a good, sometimes kind of excellent, movie thats worth renting if you want to see how a lot of faces that are familiar today looked when they were 30 years younger. Beverly D'Angelo is so young its hard to realize its her sometimes. So are Beau Bridges and Terri Garr. Terry Garr was just about to become the toast of Hollywood as her next movie after this one was "Tootsie" which finally made her a star. Howard Hessmann was arguably the biggest "current" star of the the day when this movie was made. Back in 1981 Howard Hessmann was the star of the big hit TV show "WKRP in Cinncinatti". He played its lead character, the rascally night DJ. Daniel Stern was just about to break out as a star as the grown-up narrator voice of the lead child character in the popular 80's sitcom "The Wonder Years" There are also several faces that are no longer with us these days, its nice to see Hume Crowyn and Jessica Tandy as a an old married couple on a journey. Jessica Tandy would finally pick up her Oscar ten years after this for "Driving Miss Daisy". There is also the great Geraldine Page in one of her final movie appearances. Though she'd had a brilliant career she didn't get her Oscar till four years after this in 1985's "Trip to Bountiful", for which she richly deserved it, and she died very soon after getting that award.

Plus, there are lots of other faces in this movie, actors who aren't big stars but who have done tons of supporting work. Many are familiar even if you can't think of their name.

This movie is a pleasant little diversion. A bunch of people with a variety of problems set out from various locations each for their own individual unrelated reasons who all, in a vaguely Altman-esk way, end up heading towards Florida and unbeknownst to them a rendevoux in the little town of Ticlaw, Florida, which happens to be reeling from the effects of being bypassed by the recently constructed interstate nearby which did not construct an exit to Ticlaw which effectively takes the town off the map.

And thats also what this movie is about, fascination with the whole idea of the interstate system, which had only recently been "completed". It had taken a generation to build, from when it was authorized by congress around 1960, through many years as different parts were built and then "went live" and by 1980 most of the system had finally been built and all connected together and first the first time the promise of what the interstate system would be had turned into what is. And people were enchanted by it. Everybody by 1980 was pretty much an "interstate freeway veteran" in the sense that by then everybody had used parts of it and knew how it worked and how it was different from other roads in that it had no red lights or stop signs, only on and off ramps, and that it went to places that were formerly less accessible. By 1980 anyone could drive anywhere in comfort and without having to stop for anything except to eat and sleep and a bathroom. And this was all new then.

The ending is anti-climatic and isn't that satisfying albeit its one spectacular moment. What makes it great is it's the journey not the destination that makes Honky Tonk Freeway timeless in spite of it being such a product of its day. Forget its title; instead let it take you down memory lane.

Suckers (II) (1999)

This is a surprisingly good movie

[7/10 · 29 April 2007]

After running across this movie last night late on cable I finally clicked on it. Like most nights on cable there is usually very little to watch that you haven't already seen or are categorically something you simply don't watch ever for any reason. One of my things is that I just cant take movies that are nothing but endless streams of suffering and pain and shootings and car crashings and people who get shot and don't bleed or cry or AND people who are splattered all over the screen. I just don't get all that crap. Life is hard enough, why do you have to absorb angry people on screen doing things that are mean and actually kill and torture others, be it with their words or their actions.

So, with all that said, this movie violates a tiny part of my overall total tiredness with nonsensical violence and extreme horrors being done to others on-screen. It is full of men who are being pretty much nothing but the lowest common denominator, which is simply the law of the jungle, eat or be eaten. But they're doing it in the format of a car lot as salesmen who have created careful scripts for handling customers and driving the customer to give up more than they may have had to if the customer had know the salesman's goal, which is just to get all they can get at all costs. And all costs means simply that being truthful isn't necessary or a reasonable thing for a salesman to do. But on top of that they're being mean to each other. Granted they're learning the hard knocks of that business and finding their way like the members of a pride of lions must find their way when the feeding frenzy begins otherwise they will starve.

And of course these guys are always busy couching everything in terms of being either a person who is a god of maleness who can have whoever he wants any time OR, he must be someone who can easily be pushed over by another man or anyone at all who can then rape him in the anus. Yes, you all know what i'm saying here. They're all full of stupid talk which, ever since Pulp Fiction, its pretty much that same nonsense that was fresh for a couple of years back in the mid nineties. But as this was made in 1998 for a 1999 release I guess we can forgive this tired way of talking on screen (though the guys at Entourage are certainly giving this way of speaking a much needed freshening up and making it fun again these days in 2007).

But, in spite of all this, this movie just just fun to watch. There is truly something going on here that transcends the story of these hungry wolves. It shows us we are all wolves.

And the way it does is to show that the customers aren't stupid either. But they have learned that if a used car saleswolf will behave in a certain way then customers have individually come up with strategies to keep themselves alive when the wolf makes his charge. And these are hilarious. Which make the men hilarious.

What the other people here who have reviewed this movie have noted is that there are some unfortunate (to the movie) side story lines that simply show that the writers here had something great going but didn't know what to do with it, so somebody just decided to send this movie down a tired and well-worn path to make it all end in a way that other movies have done. Most of this movie is fantastic movie making, but the tiredness of the side stories, as tedious and uninspired as they are, still somehow don't take away the joy of watching the majority of this movie.

Though its a bunch of men being mean to each other for the most part, its somehow great. When drug dealers and tired TIRED story lines like that disgrace the writers just realize that these are the moments you can slip away to the bathroom or get a snack. But when all that side crap goes away and the saleslions are taking to the zebra fields, then its great movie making.

If you rent it, I promise you'll be glad you did.

The Comeback (2005–2014)

A Masterpiece

[10/10 · 12 April 2007]

You feel bored at first.

You're kind of embarrassed for Lisa Kudrow at first. Don't we all feel on some level that she's somebody we already know and love and sort of our friend because we've all had the great experience of watching her as a part of "Friends"?

At first you kind of just feel weird about "The Comeback".

And there's all this kind of stuff that isn't exactly groundbreaking, and the first episode you see, regardless of which of the first 12 episodes you happen to watch, as the initial episode that you watch, no matter which of the first 12 of these thirteen episodes that you watch, whichever one it is, it will probably leave you wondering, why in the world would I (me, now, this guy who's writing all this for you to read) why in the world would he start by telling you that any episode you choose to watch first will leave you feeling bored?

That's not a very good way to start a review, is it? And yet that's exactly the way I've started this review of it. So, let me give you a little of my backstory....

I missed the original airing of this series and happened across all 13 episodes of it being offered 'on demand' on HBO cable his past weekend (April 2007). I'd never heard of it at that point but I did notice at that moment when I happened across it, that it had Lisa Kudrow in it and so I thought I'd watch it just because of that. That she was in it.

So I watched episode six first.

And I was kinda bored.

And when I was finished watching episode six I just thought ...oh .... uh ..... whatever. So, following that viewing of episode six of "The Comeback" I watched something else next.

But, well, that day was a slow TV day plus it was cold outside plus I'd flipped around through the other umpteen channels that day and nothing else was on that was even remotely watchable, so I came back to "The Comeback" and decided to just jump ahead and watch the last episode -- episode number thirteen, thinking that, well, even if it was a boring episode too at least I would know what happened. That at least I'd know how the whole thing ended...cause ...well... that one episode that I'd already watched, ... you know... episode six, ... it had kinda sorta already made me kind of wonder what had happened, you know... wondered how it ended...

So, regardless of how boring it was and probably was, I watched the last episode (#13) as the second one of this series that I watched. And I was drawn in a little more, cause there are some really awful feelings that come out during that episode, the last episode in the series, which I felt really strangely and really deeply about. Mostly because I didn't know what was going on. But I kinda sorta did. And I felt kind of embarrassed for them all. But I couldn't help noticing how deeply this story bored into me as I watched that episode, drilling into me down to a level that was unusual for me to feel, especially given the show's (still, to me) tepid hollow nature.

I did notice, however, that episode #13 did gave a decent payoff.

So, I decided to watch another episode and thought I'd better just watch the episode before episode #13, in case all the episodes really were all boring and that maybe this, episode 13, the last episode, was the best it was going to get. So I watched episode 12. And I was stunned to find myself being drawn in a little more. And so I kind of wanted to watch #11 by then so I did. Then I just decided I'd better watch the rest of them.

So I did. In order. But backwards, counting down from then onward to the first episode, counting down to number one.

And, as I did, I began to "get it".

And I began to understand what they were doing, and how incredible Lisa Kudrow was actually being, in this remarkable achievement. And each time I dropped back an episode I became more and more incredulous at how they had, and were, and did, and were still doing, the whole cast and crew, were, impossibly, yet still doing it, were turning all this boring stuff into something ...something... incredible.

And as the episodes rolled backwards I actually changed from being bored to being totally engrossed.

I began to laugh out loud once I began to "get it". And I started to actually tear up a little, and I begin to understand that somehow, this was a show how, from the seemingly dull and boring and slow and kind of mindless they were being, which was more than just the obvious wickedness they were also being, after I got past the idea it was boring, I realized they were creating something much much more, much much richer. They had looked into this woman's soul and they had found not only her, but had found her, the character, her humanity.

And it became clear that all of the cast were actually being all they could be in these roles and building a platform upon which Lisa Kudrow stood. And then marvelously, way up there above and beyond, she delivered something so worthy of all the effort it took to hold her up there, that I began to realize (with a breathless kind of start and shock and awe and in reverence), that she did them, the cast holding her up there, justice. And she did us, the audience, justice. And she did her own self justice. And she did the character justice.

And she brought honor even upon her own family, for this is something they can be proud of from her in a way that is universal.

Which, if you think about it, is a really weird yet weirdly wonderful thing for a casual reviewer to say. Yet here I am, typing it out for the whole world to read.

For, in fact, she brought humanity to this woman, the real humanity of exactly how this woman would live in our world as it is today.

Ms. Kudrow (she's so good, I can't just call her casually by her first name anymore) portrayed, in this character, life as it really is.

No matter who you are or what you do, most people, when it comes down to it, deep inside, have the same fears and hopes and dreams and ways of getting along in the world. But, like we all do, we all still remain wanting what ever it is we want.

By the time I'd come to the end (or really to the beginning, the end of episode one) I was enormously sad that this was all there would ever be of this series and that I would never again be able to have the joy of seeing it all for the first time.

And I'm so glad I watched it in the way I did, for it was the best way to see it.

Though there will be no more episodes, its okay. For this series, these 13 episodes, compose a masterpiece. It's the Citizen Kane of the work of our generation of storytelling. I predict that over time "The Comeback" will rise in esteem just as "Its a Wonderful Life" did. "The Comeback" is just that good and worthy.

I hope you "get it". I sure did.

(I revised this review in 2019 and know there eventually was a second series, but I left my original thoughts about how I thought then I'd never get to see more episodes and what it meant to me at that time. If you haven't seen "The Comeback" you really should. It's a masterpiece.)

Food of Love (2002)

Response to review by stellarust

[9/10 · 27 February 2006]

stellarust, You seem to have missed the point of the movie. Its not about the young man's art (his love and study of the piano) nor is it even about his romance with his idol (the piano player he looks up to.) It is, in fact, a fable, or fairy tale, (very much like the many attributed to Grimm). This is why, I believe, you found it heavy-handed. The story is about a mother who learns her son is gay, and learns it while he is still a child (albeit he is 18 and not, technically, a child, yet as most 18 year olds, they still require wise parenting from time-to-time for a few more years yet, when appropriate) and so he needs some guidance. Yet he doesn't realize he does, and fights it for a variety of reasons, most of which are somewhat characteristic of this point in time (the beginning of the 21st century). What this fable does is demonstrate a woman with problems of her own, realizing she her son still needs guidance even if she's not sure what it should be yet. The fable is two-fold: 1) it shows how an enlightened parent should react once they become aware and become educated, and 2) shows that there are still big bad wolves in the forest just waiting to huff and puff and blow your house down.

It says to parents: here is how to respond to a gay child/young adult. And it says to gay young adults: beware the wolves of the forest, but, if you notice your parent responding like the mother in this film, trust them.

Its about where to place trust, which is always the core of any fable, parable, or fairy tale.

Lighten up. Stories cannot be alike. A variety of food is required to fill all your needs. Man cannot live on bread alone.

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

Brilliant

[10/10 · 14 July 2005]

This is most certainly Woody Allen's best work.

The movie seems to get better and better with age.

Or, maybe a better way to say that is that I understand it better and better as I age.

Each time I watch it after a few years go by I see something I didn't see before.

I think The Purple Rose of Cairo should be ranked up there with Citizen Kane and The Godfather in brilliance and artistry and innovation. It certainly does in pure cinema.

It's so thick with layers its hard not to marvel at how it comes off with such a serene simplicity. A masterpiece.

The 700 Club (1966– )

This show is pure wickedness. It is evil incarnate.

[1/10 · 11 July 2004]

I don't believe there has ever been a more evil or wicked television program to air in the United States as The 700 Club. They are today's equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan of the 20th century. Their hatred of all that is good and sweet and human and pure is beyond all ability to understand. Their daily constant attacks upon millions and millions of Americans, as well as billions of humans the world over, who don't happen to share their bigoted, cruel, monstrous, and utterly insane view of humanity is beyond anything television has ever seen. The lies they spout and the ridiculous lies they try to pass off as truth, such as the idea of "life after death" or "god" or "sin" or "the devil" is so preposterous that they actually seem mentally ill, so lost are they in their fantasy. Sane people know that religion is a drug and shouldn't let themselves get addicted to that type of fantasy. However, The 700 Club is in a class by itself. They are truly a cult. While I believe in freedom of speech, they way they spread hatred, lies, disinformation, and such fantastic ideas is beyond all limits. I hope that one day the American Psychiatric Association will finally take up the study of those people who delude themselves in this way, people who let themselves sink so deeply into the fantasy land of religion that they no longer have any real concept of reality at all. Treatment for such afflicted individuals is sorely needed in this country, as so many people have completely lost their minds to the fantasy of religion. The 700 Club though, is even more horrible as it rises to the legal definition of 'cult' but due to The 700 Club's vast wealth (conned daily from the millions of Americans locked in their deceitful grip) they are above the law in this country. For those of you who have seen the movie "The Matrix" you know that movie was a metaphor for religion on earth: the evil ones who are at the top of each of the religions who drain the ones they have trapped and cruelly abuse for their own selfish purposes, and those millions who are held in a death sleep and slowly being drained of their life force represent those many people who belong to religions and who have lost all ability to perceive what is really going on around them.

In less civil times, the good townsfolk would have run such monsters as those associated with The 700 Club out of town with torches and pitchforks. But in today's world where people have lost all choice in their choices of television that is presented to them, we have no way to rid ourselves of the 700 Club plague.

The television ratings system and the "V" chip on TV's should also have a rating called "R" for religion, so that rational people and concerned parents could easily screen such vile intellectual and brutal emotional rape, such as presented by The 700 Club every day all over our country, from themselves and their children.

Summer of '42 (1971)

A work of art that seems to grow only finer with the passing of time.

[9/10 · 11 July 2004]

Oh. My. God.

What a stunning piece of craftsmanship. A masterpiece. Such innocence. Such humanity. Such wisdom. Such truth. Such is the need to touch the soul of another, and such is the need to seek comfort. Yet tenderness risks so much. Oh to be tender again. Yet who could bear it again?

I remember when I was eight years old and I remember what a splash this movie made. I don't really recall that I was told or even understood why, and of course I wasn't taken to see it at that age, at that time, when it was common to keep children ignorant of much they are not today. I'm not sure now that it wasn't the craving of the parents to let themselves drown in the strangeness that is naivety prolonged too long for the sake of innocence itself rather than some strange desire to protect their children from things the children could already begin to feel within themselves but were not allowed to mention or ask about.

Though the latter is, even today, what is trumpeted about as the reason for shielding children from things they might not be ready for, I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't really the parents who are just protecting themselves, trying to squeeze out more childhood days from their children for the parents to enjoy before they must finally release their darling children into the fray that tides upon the whims of nature and destiny.

This movie came out in 1971. Tonight they played it late on our local PBS station here in Dallas. I'd never seen it and not thought about renting it and watching it in all these 33 years since then.

One might say it is simply about a couple of 15 year old boys coming of age. But it is more than that. So much more. In fact, without question, it is about the human condition itself.

This is a movie about sex, no doubt about that either. But a movie of a kind that I don't think I've ever seen before. Everyone should see this film. Everyone.

If you live alone, see it and feel your own soul's needs. If you live with someone, see it together and draw him or her close.

Above all, when it is over, you will find yourself remembering and feeling that rarest of all feelings, true tenderness.

The young men should have received acclaim for their performances , and without question so too should have the woman.

For she was woman, every woman.