Showing posts with label Latest on DVD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Latest on DVD. Show all posts

Reverend's Reviews: A Heaven-Sent Big Gay Musical

Posted By Doncrack On 4:00 AM 0 comments
“Sometimes being the person you’re not helps you learn to love the person you are.” So states the tagline for The Big Gay Musical. A big hit on the GLBT film festival circuit, including at January’s Palm Springs International Film Festival, the movie is due to be released on DVD tomorrow.

It is directed by Casper Andreas and Fred M. Caruso, who previously collaborated on the popular gay-themed film A Four Letter Word. The Big Gay Musical is a thoroughly silly, occasionally overbearing but ultimately entertaining tale of two gay actors who strive to overcome their personal issues while starring in an off-Broadway production of Adam & Steve: Just the Way God Made 'Em.


One of the men, Paul (played by Daniel Robinson), is constantly on the hunt for the perfect man with whom to share his life. Eventually disappointed one time too many, Paul decides to become a slut under the tutelage of the musical’s less-romantically inclined chorus boys. His new, more promiscuous approach leads Paul to encounters with numerous hotties, including an escort tenderly played by gay porn star Brent Corrigan.

Eddie, Paul’s co-star, is newly out to everyone but his conservative Christian parents, who are planning to attend the opening night of Adam & Steve but are unaware of the subject matter. Joey Dudding plays Eddie, and conveys well the young man’s struggle with his integrity. Eddie and Paul also endure a frightening ordeal involving possible infection with HIV.


The growing friendship between Paul and Eddie is touching and serves as a nice, contemporary counterpoint to the musical’s campy recounting of the not-quite-biblical story of Adam and “Steve.” Eddie tries to convince Paul to hold out for “Mr. Right” and not give in to the temptation of commitment-free sex, while Paul provides Eddie support and encouragement in coming out to his parents.

The musical numbers are fun, the men are pretty, and the film’s good-natured attack on the Religious Right is timely. Its joyous and abundant spirit of gay self-affirmation is infectious. Gossip columnist Michael Musto has a funny cameo, as does Steve Hayes (who was memorable as Christian Campbell’s show tune-loving friend in Trick) as God in the show-within-a-show.


Writer and co-director Caruso told The Advocate, “So many gay people have been screwed up by religion, but gay shows and movies about religion always end up being so depressing. I wanted to create a show with a positive message about being gay and religion that was funny, campy and crazy.” Caruso, a former Roman Catholic, has actually said he considers The Big Gay Musical to be as “divinely inspired” as the Bible.

Caruso also co-wrote the film’s original songs with composer Rick Crom. They include “I’m Gonna Go Straight to Heaven,” “God Loves Gays,” Paul’s showstopper “I Wanna Be a Slut” and the clever “Musical Theatre Love Story.” Most of the musical numbers feature energetic choreography by Shea Sullivan and pleasingly minimal costumes by Tony Award-nominee Bobby Pearce. Some of the song lyrics are obvious while other songs go on a bit too long, but all are sufficiently entertaining.  (A soundtrack CD is also currently available.)


The religious commentary in the screenplay is similarly overdone at times and borders on being heavy-handed. However, it is so unrepentantly on the pro-gay side that it is easy to forgive such occasionally preachy excess after all the anti-gay sentiment our community has weathered from religious conservatives over the years.

The Big Gay Musical boasts a cast of stage veterans representing nearly 50 Broadway productions of the past decade, including the blockbusters Hairspray, Wicked, The Lion King and Mamma Mia! Caruso intentionally recruited experienced stage performers because he needed a cast of “triple threats” who could act, sing and dance. Their professionalism is obvious even while evoking a low-budget musical on a smaller, off-Broadway stage.


While buying or renting The Big Gay Musical, you might also want to check out several other “big gay musicals” I recommend:

A Chorus Line (1985): Generally reviled by fans of the stage production, the movie nonetheless includes two gay characters (fairly bold for a mid-80’s studio film), a then-attractive Michael Douglas, dynamic choreography and most of the original songs, plus the sexy, Oscar-nominated newcomer “Surprise, Surprise.”

Moulin Rouge! (2001): Exhibiting one of the gayest cinematic sensibilities ever, Aussie director Baz Luhrmann’s musical fantasia on the bohemian ideals of “truth, beauty, freedom and, above all things, love” is an unconventional delight. Nicole Kidman has never been more beautiful on screen, and you’ve got to love its all-male rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”!

Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter (2002): I kid you not. This low-budget indie film is a mash-up of songs, transvestites, Mexican wrestlers, gory impalings, a vicious trio of lesbian vampires and the second coming of Christ. Not quite a camp or cult classic yet, but this imaginative spectacle deserves to be seen.


Rent (2005): While the film version of the Broadway smash about a group of friends struggling with poverty and AIDS in 1990’s New York City is overproduced, the score and the cast — most from the original Broadway production — are great and the gay love story at its heart remains endearing.

20 Centimeters (2006): A wacky comedy from Spain, written and directed by the talented Ramon Salazar, in which a narcoleptic transgender woman longing to complete her sex change procedure (despite her super-buff boyfriend’s protests) dreams up elaborate musical numbers in which she’s the star. Well worth tracking down on DVD.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Reviews: March Madness

Posted By Doncrack On 4:00 AM 0 comments
Here at Movie Dearest, we try to champion films of GLBT interest even though many are far from perfect. The month of March, however, brought a pair of gay DVD releases that I, at least, feel an obligation to warn our readers away from; "Beware the Ides of March," indeed!

I've been a fan of gay director David DeCoteau's prior works: low-budget but stylish, general-interest horror flicks like The Brotherhood series and Voodoo Academy that feature undeniable homoerotic elements (he also directed 1997's blatantly-homo and sexy Leather Jacket Love Story). The filmmaker's contemporary spin on Edgar Allen Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum was released on DVD by E1 Entertainment on March 9.


A very loose adaptation of Poe's literary classic, the movie follows a group of nubile, mostly male young adults who converge on a country estate one weekend. They have been summoned by an alleged psychologist, JB Divay (played by an alleged actress, Lorielle New). Divay is interested in overcoming pain through hypnosis and other, more questionable techniques like stripping down to one's skivvies followed by lifting weights and/or wrestling one's buddies until somebody dies.

While these scenes and a central same-sex romance makes The Pit and the Pendulum DeCoteau's most overtly gay mainstream movie yet, they are also ludicrous. Man-flesh is abundant even as full male nudity is avoided (props to hottie Michael King, though, for eschewing DeCoteau's trademark boxer-briefs in lieu of more minimal briefs). The script makes absolutely no sense, so if you ignore my advice and end up renting or — heaven forbid — buying The Pit and the Pendulum, just turn the volume off and watch the pretty pictures.


Just out on March 30 is a "retail friendly" re-edited version of Raging Stallion's pornographic hit, Focus/ReFocus (from Breaking Glass Pictures). Directed by Tony DiMarco, it is a simplistic wanna be-thriller set in San Francisco that follows a porn-obsessed guy, Joe (Cole Streets), who finds himself trapped in a gay serial killer's web.

While not nearly on par with the oeuvre of Brian DePalma, whom DiMarco seems to be emulating, or even the woeful Basic Instinct, Focus/ReFocus boasts gory killings and steamy man-on-man sex scenes that include several porn stars (including my new favorite, the tattooed and muscle-bound David Taylor). It's periodically sexy but mostly dreary.


Anyone anxious to see these guys in their unbridled, unedited glory will want to check out the X-rated version, which leads me to question why they re-edited Focus/ReFocus at all. Is there that big a market for gay-interest movies neutered of their graphic sex scenes? Or is this version intended to serve as a feature-length trailer for the original?

If viewers haven't figured out who the killer is by the midway point, they should stick to fast-forwarding through the dialogue and just watch the awkwardly-edited sex. Focus/ReFocus may be a good movie or at least stimulating in its original form (I haven't seen it), but sitting through this is an exercise in futility.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Toon Talk: The Toys Are Back!

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Just in time for their upcoming third big screen adventure, Buzz and Woody and all the gang from Andy's room are making their Blu-ray debuts this week with new Special Editions of the computer animated classics Toy Story and Toy Story 2.

As expected, the toys look mighty mint in high definition.  But that's not all, as there are some fresh surprises in these shiny new toy boxes, not the least of which is some exclusive previews of Toy Story 3, due in theaters June 18.  Director Lee Unkrich takes you behind the scenes of this long awaited "threequel", and introduces you to several new toys on the block, including Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear (voiced by Ned Beatty), Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton) and Barbie beau Ken (Michael Keaton).

Other new bonus features include footage from Buzz Lightyear's actual mission to the real International Space Station and his debut as a balloon at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, several "Studio Stories" shorts (animated anecdotes of life at Pixar) and a very special tribute to the late Disney and Pixar story artist Joe Ranft.

Click the following for my original Toon Talk reviews of Toy Story and Toy Story 2.

Toon Talk: Of Frogs and Fireflies

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Fresh off of its theatrical run and three Academy Award nominations, Disney’s The Princess and the Frog is poised to become the hit it deserves to be with its debut on Disney Blu-ray and DVD this week.

When The Princess and the Frog was released just three months ago, it was met with critical acclaim (including from me) that hailed it as a worthy addition to Disney’s long line of animated classics. However, in the crowded holiday movie marketplace, this Princess never lived up to its full box office potential. But now that it has been released to home video, those families who were too busy with December festivities will have the chance to discover it for themselves ...

Click here to continue reading my Toon Talk review of the Princess and the Frog Blu-ray at LaughingPlace.com.

Reel Thoughts: Bitch Please

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Great exploitation movies straddle the line between tawdry and hilarious, and the new film Bitch Slap (now on DVD) works hard to capture the tarnished magic of such classics as Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill! and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Thanks to a pitch-black sense of humor, truly gorgeous women and a wild backwards/forwards storyline, Bitch Slap is a raucous good time. And yes, it’s just as crass, offensive and sexed-up as it can be, but the fun Behind-the-Scenes documentary helps put the filmmakers’ goals in perspective.

Trixie (Julia Voth), Hel (Erin Cummings) and Camero (America Olivo) are ass-kicking lesbian hellcats who hatch a plan to steal a stash of jewels from a gangster. Shockingly, things do not go as planned. Of course, the fact that no one is who they seem to be has something to do with that. Writer/director Rick Jacobson shot in front of green screens for a majority of the film, which gives the film the requisite cheesy look. Jacobson and co-writer Eric Gruendemann worked on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, so it’s a welcome surprise to see Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, Renee O’Connor and Lucy Lawless in the cast. Lawless and O’Connor in particular are hysterical as a pair of repressed nuns. Like the Grindhouse films, Bitch Slap is full of over-the-top violence and sex (but no nudity) that might put off more sensitive viewers.


All three lead actresses manage to embrace the ludicrous situations and purposely cheesy dialogue. Campiness isn’t always easy for actresses (drag queens are much better equipped to handle it), but Olivo (wife of Christian Campbell from Trick), in the Tura Satana role, imbues Camero with a Gina Gershon earthiness, while matching the Showgirls star’s work in Bound. Cummings (Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Dante’s Cove), done up in sexy businesswoman drag, really captures Hel’s multiple personas. Voth, as the resident sex kitten, comes across like a sweeter Megan Fox.

Not everyone will be up for a Bitch Slap, but if you like Tarantino, kitschy dialogue and crazy over-the-top plots, not to mention a showgirl parachuting onto the Vegas Strip, do as the DVD cover instructs and assume the position.

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reel Thoughts: Baby This Time

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Imagine if a lesbian couple could, with the help of science, create a baby on their own, without the aid of male sperm. Alison Reid creates just such a scenario in her first film, The Baby Formula, a funny, often moving look at gay parenting and relationships available on DVD today.

Athena (Angela Vint) and Lilith (Megan Fahlenbach) submit to an experimental procedure that impregnates Angela with an artificial sperm derived from Lilith's stem cells. It’s all recorded by a “documentary” crew led by director Reid herself.

The couple struggles with all sorts of issues, including Lilith secretly getting the lab to impregnate her as well, before the real fun starts.

Then, they tell their parents.


Athena’s mother Wanda (Rosemary Dunsmore, in a fabulous performance), a seemingly closed-minded Christian, can barely tolerate that her daughter is gay, much less trying to “take Immaculate Conception away from our Lord.” Her father is more accepting, although he’s holding something back.

Lilith’s two dads (“Those horrible people,” as Wanda calls them) are more supportive, although Lilith is angry that their sobriety seems fleeting. Jessica Booker, as Grandma Kate, is a complete hoot in what you could call “the Betty White role.”

Vint and Fahlenbach have a marvelous chemistry, and they both were really pregnant during filming. The mockumentary structure serves the story well, and you will be surprised by the emotional places The Baby Formula goes. It’s a labor of love for director Reid.

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend’s Interview: Chad Allen, Je T’aime

Posted By Doncrack On 4:00 AM 2 comments
Discovered at the tender age of four while performing at a state fair, out actor Chad Allen has in the 32 years since then channeled his talents into a successful career on stage, television and film. His most recent movie, the acclaimed Hollywood, Je T’aime, makes its DVD debuton Wolfe Video today. The Los Angeles-based Allen generously took time out from his increasingly busy schedule to chat with Reverend exclusively for Movie Dearest.

“My parents weren’t show business people but always encouraged us,” Allen said, referring to his twin sister Charity in addition to himself. “Soon after being discovered, I did commercials and then TV, including St. Elsewhere.”

Allen played the recurring role of Tommy Westphall on the hit 1980’s drama. Westphall was an autistic boy who, it was revealed in the show’s final episode, envisioned the entire series in his mind. Allen made his biggest splash on television as Matthew Cooper on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.


“I was cast in the pilot (of Dr. Quinn) but didn’t expect the show to last,” Allen recalls. “It ran for six years (1993-1998) and paid for my college education.”

Almost as soon as Dr. Quinn went off the air, Allen declared his homosexuality publicly. Allen had been rumored to be gay for several years and decided to acknowledge it rather than cover it up. At the time, Allen said of the decision to come out: “I don’t know if it’s as damaging on a public level, but I’m certain it’s damaging on a personal level. I’m absolutely certain that forcing any young person or not-so-young person into dealing with the issue when they aren’t ready to or simply don’t want to is damaging to the soul. It’s just not right.”

The actor, who has been partnered for the last 4 ½ years, utilized much of his experience as a previously closeted man in the 2007 film Save Me. In it, Allen and Robert Gant, another out actor, play gay men trying to overcome their homosexual desires at a Christian “conversion” camp. Instead, the two fall in love.


In reflecting on how the motion picture industry has changed in its treatment of GLBT subjects during the course of his career, Allen says, “For actors, it has changed tremendously. It is today a much more hospitable place for gay — even openly gay — actors. Much of the change has been over the last ten years.”

He continued, “The downside is that as gay characters and stories have become more mainstream, GLBT independent films have been on the decline. I hope we get to the point where we can have both (mainstream and independent films with gay characters/stories).”

Allen cites the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain (2005) as a watershed moment in Hollywood. “Until Brokeback, there was a huge fear or belief that you couldn’t tell a story with a gay hero and have it make money. A well-made movie with a good story trumps everything. It’s not just a victory for gay rights; it’s a victory for humanity.”


Partly due to the success of Hollywood Je T’aime to that end, Allen is proud of his work in his most recent film. He plays Ross, a drug-dealing, HIV+ denizen of West Hollywood who develops a relationship with a French man visiting California over the Christmas holiday.

“It’s a very simple story,” Allen said of what attracted him to the project. “I really love European movies for the simplicity of the story. It really respects the viewer’s intelligence. Also, I had never played an HIV+ character. I have so many friends with HIV, so I wanted to honor them in some way.”

Allen has also gained something of a cult following with his ongoing role as gay private eye Donald Strachey. Thus far, the series of direct-to-DVD movies consists of Third Man Out, Shock to the System, On the Other Hand, Death and Ice Blues. “There are two more Strachey books to be made into films,” Allen reveals. “I love the character and the relationship between him and his partner. I love that Strachey is a mess and can’t really keep his life together, but he always gets things done one way or another.”


I had the privilege of seeing Allen perform last year in the Pasadena Playhouse production of Looped, opposite Valerie Harper as the legendary Tallulah Bankhead. I asked Allen whether a New York production of the play was a possibility. He replied, “It’s on hold for now due to political issues I don’t begin to understand.” Since I spoke with him, however, a New York run with Harper reprising her role has been announced. Allen’s involvement is apparently yet to be determined.

At the time of our conversation, Allen was working hard on his new film, Spork, named after the spoon-fork combo. The film “follows a 14-year old intersex child,” according to Allen, who is producing the film as well as starring in it. “It’s an over-the-top comedy but also very poignant. If all goes well, it will be out in 2010.”

When he isn’t acting or producing, Allen serves as a member of the Honorary Board of Directors of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and supports a number of other GLBT projects. He is passionately committed to marriage and full equal rights for GLBT people.

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Hollywood Wild Things

Posted By Doncrack On 10:00 AM 2 comments
It’s somehow fitting that I finally saw Spike Jonze’s big screen version of Where the Wild Things Are right after viewing Jason Bushman’s romantic film Hollywood, Je T’aime (now on DVDfrom Wolfe Video). While they seem from different worlds, they’re essentially the same story, with a few important differences:

In Where the Wild Things Are, a lonely boy named Max (Max Records) leaves his home after a devastating fight with his mother (Catherine Keener), crosses a rough ocean by boat and lands on a strange island filled with weird but lovable creatures ... who threaten to eat him. In Hollywood, Je T’aime, a lonely French man named Jerome (Eric Debets) leaves Paris after a devastating break-up with his boyfriend, crosses the Atlantic Ocean by plane and comes to a strange place filled with weird but lovable characters ... who want to sleep with him.


Max becomes the creatures’ king, due to his wit and imagination, and he brings together a wildly dysfunctional “family” of, well, wild things (voiced by the likes of James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Paul Dano, Forest Whitaker and Chris Cooper). He realizes that he can’t fix everything when the creatures’ self-destructive natures drive a wedge between them. He decides there’s no place like home. Meanwhile, Jerome becomes a working actor (a “king” in Hollywood), due to his wit and French charm, and brings together a dysfunctional family of social outcasts (a.k.a. "wild things") — Kaleesha, a homeless trans prostitute (Diarra Kilpatrick), Norma Desire, a jaded, aging drag queen (Michael Airington), and Ross (Chad Allen), an HIV-positive pot dealer, and his dog, Foxy Brown. Ross’ internalized homophobia drives a wedge between Jerome’s new friends. Jerome decides “Il n'y a pas de petit chez soi” (there’s no place like home).

Now of course, Max never visits a bathhouse, gets stoned with his new friends or discovers the mind-numbing horrors of riding mass transit in Los Angeles, or Jonze’s Wild Things would be even more controversial than it is. Jonze’s film is a visually stunning reimagining of Maurice Sendak’s beloved book that weighs down the book’s spare prose with too many unrelated plot elements, making it a hard film for kids to appreciate.


Bushman’s Hollywood, Je T’aime succeeds in showing us people who don’t get much exposure in gay cinema, through the eyes of an understated lead whose foreignness gives him carte blanche to do whatever he wants. That he can’t forget his wispy and annoying lover back home shows that he’s a flawed dreamer like the rest of his newfound family. Debets’ main charms are his resemblance to Adrien Brody and his warm French accent. Allen gives the best performance, as a medical pot permit-carrying stoner, while the rest of the cast does a fine job fleshing out their unusual roles, especially Airington, as the life-weary den mother.

Hollywood, Je T’aime (i.e., Hollywood, I Love You) is an odd name for a film that doesn’t particularly love the city, but it is a well-made character study and a bittersweet addition to the “making it in Hollywood” canon.

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend’s Reviews: Best DVDs of 2009

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Now that standard DVDs, Blu-Ray discs and online films are thrown at us on a daily basis, our entertainment options are more plentiful than ever. I was surprised, therefore, that it took me very little time to identify the ten best home-viewing releases of 2009. Not all of them are of specifically GLBT- interest, but I doubt many readers will quibble (at least not much) over the significance of my selections.

In my personal order of preference, they are:

Yentl- Barbra Streisand’s much-beloved “drama with music” finally made its DVD debut in early 2009, shortly after the 25th anniversary of its 1983 theatrical premiere. Streisand stars as a young Jewish woman who disguises herself as a man so she can continue her studies of Talmud following the death of her loving, progressive father. The film is notable for being Streisand’s superior directorial debut as well as for its beautiful score by songwriting greats Alan & Marilyn Bergman and Michel Legrand. The disc is a must-have not only for the film itself but also for a number of great behind-the-scenes extras.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs- Walt Disney famously bet several years of his life and virtually all his assets on the first feature-length animated movie in history. Fortunately for him, it became a smash hit and instant classic. The recently released home video “diamond edition” reveals why this adaptation of the Brothers Grimm story remains so enduring. This is also the first time Snow White has been available on Blu-Ray, providing the strongest visual argument yet to buy a Blu-Ray player.

The Wizard of Oz- The Judy Garland classic looks and sounds better than ever thanks to its recent, 70th anniversary DVD re-release. It, too, was also just released for the first time on Blu-Ray, making the cinematography’s “no place like home” sepia tones warmer than ever and its “merry old land of Oz” color scheme truly eye-popping. The disc is also available in a lavish box set that includes a variety of goodies.


Milk- Sean Penn masterfully, even exuberantly, re-incarnates Harvey Milk, the first openly gay US politician. As a well-deserved result, Penn won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Actor. Director Gus Van Sant made full use of his knowledge of filmmaking and LGBT history, making this important story engrossing no matter what one’s sexual orientation. The disc also features several interesting documentaries about Milk and his legacy.

Gone With the Wind- Scarlett, Rhett, Bonnie Blue, Melanie, Ashley and Mammy are all here (albeit briefly in Bonnie Blue’s case), for the first time on Blu-Ray as well as in a lovingly re-mastered standard DVD. A truly immortal film (if at times uncomfortable due to its pre-Civil War, Old South setting), GWTW is graced with vivid cinematography and performances and a classic music score.

Ready? OK!- I’ve been raving about this movie via numerous outlets for the last year-and-a-half. Now that it is available on DVD, I’m delighted to have an opportunity to rave about it all over again! The charming story of a little boy who longs to join his Catholic school’s cheer squad was a hit on the 2008 film festival circuit, and is worthy of the broader exposure it now has courtesy of home video.

Coraline- A visually amazing and emotionally haunting stop-motion animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s fairy/morality tale. Not just for children, it spins a web — not unlike its spider-ish villainess (voiced by Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher) — composed of equal parts whimsy and danger. The home video version comes with 3-D glasses in hopes of replicating the superlative theatrical experience to some degree ... the bigger and more hi-def the TV, the better.


Humpday- This provocative yet sensitive exploration of male relationships narrowly missed being included among my ten best films of 2009. Two longtime, seemingly straight buddies make a bet to have sex on camera … with each other. Gay men, bisexual men, straight men, curious men and the women who love them should all see this movie (did I mention that it’s primarily a comedy?) for its bold take on sexual politics.

Up- Disney-Pixar’s most recent animated hit is a decidedly more mature work in both plot and execution. An elderly man mourning the death of his wife takes off in a helium balloon-laden house on an adventure to the one place they didn’t get to travel to together. He and a stowaway, overly-eager Boy Scout discover considerably more than they bargained for. Many critics named this one of the best films of 2009, and it could well end up in the running for Best Picture among this year’s Oscar nominees.

The Strange One- One of the more obscure movies among 2009’s video releases, this 1957 drama features Ben Gazzara and a young, dreamy George Peppard in their film debuts as cadets in a military academy. Homosexual tensions run high, and the original theatrical release was censored as a result. Thankfully, the film has been restored and is now presented uncut for the first time on DVD.

Before concluding, my TV-loving partner, Jim, would say I was remiss if I didn’t mention that 2009 also marked the long-awaited home video debuts of Lucille Ball’s later-life series Here’s Lucy and The Lucy Show,as well as the final season of Bewitched.

May 2010 bring you and yours many happy viewing experiences!

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.
 
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