Soldier's Girl (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw this movie the same day that I saw Million Dollar Baby (the boxing film starring Hillary Swank and Clint Eastwood), and at the end all I could think was - is this how I wanted to spend Christmas Eve? Crying?
Well, it was worth it.
Barry's story is well known, so I'll skip a retelling. Although I never fully understood Barry's interest in Calpernia, only because the movie didn't make any attempts to delve into the "why" of his attraction to her, I found myself moved by their love, and Barry's fierce determination to keep his private life (Calpernia) private.
What a shame that he shared barracks with such a horrendous and sick person (Justin). I know some people in the armed forces that are gay (but don't ask me who, because I won't tell ), and they are well accepted by their ... I don't know the technical terms here...comrades in arms. How's that. A pity that Barry didn't get stuck with a person whose problem was certainly far worse than OCD.
Anyway. What I found particularly moving, and what has caused me to watch the movie again, were the special features on the CD. Usually the special features are interesting for ancillary purposes. But these were different. First, I was surprised to find that Calpernia's [...] weren't real. I had been rather convinced that a real transgender was playing her role. Instead, it was a male, with a rather flat chest, so his performance was even more interesting. That's one of the main reasons I want to watch the film again.
Calpernia Adams herself appeared in the Special Features, and I was so surprised. I don't have a tremendous amount of experience with transgenders, but did not expect her to be so much like a lady. NOT a gay man acting like a lady, but a real lady. Her comments on Barry were pointed and poignant. Also, she did have her final operation, and is working now in L.A.
The other appearance of note in the Special Features was that of Barry's mother herself. We learned a little more about Barry than in the film. When he first went to Visions, his "buddies" were taking him there to get his mind off his breakup with his girlfriend of four years. She wondered if Barry was actually gay, but said that it didn't matter. What mattered is that what happened to him was a terrible crime, one of bigotry and hate, and so she and her husband have taken it upon themselves to speak when and wherever they can to combat closed minds. Good for them.
There were only two things that angered me. One, the person that killed Barry will be eligible for parole in less than thirteen years. The manner in which he killed Barry should have garnered him life imprisonment without the possibility of parole - at best. Also, the instigator of his death, Justin, is up for parole very soon. If not for his pressuring, the little idiot (Glover?) that killed Barry probably wouldn't have done it. If the movie showed that scene correctly, as it actually happened, then Justin is just as responsible for Barry's death as Glover, and should be in prison for a very long time.
*Added 9/29/06 - According to the October 10th, 2006 issue of The Advocate, "Justin Fisher...was [released] to a halfway house [last month]. Fisher will be out of custody entirely October 24."
He didn't spend nearly enough time for this crime. How horribly, horribly sad.


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The true story of Soldier’s Girl, which takes place in Fort Campbell,KY, tells the heart-wrenching story of the life and tragic death of soldier Barry Winchell.His love for Calpernia Addams, a beautiful transgendered nightclub performer wasmisunderstood by fellow soldiers and eventually leads to his brutal death. Theoutstanding performances by Lee Pace and Troy Garity will draw you into this emotionaland powerful film.

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Bosom Buddies: The First Season (1980) Review

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(More customer reviews)I like Bosom Buddies when it was an 1980's show. You heard Billy Joel's My LIfe as tne theme song. A young Tom Hanks, a pre-Newhart Peter Scolari. Telma Hopkins, (The late great) Wendy Jo Sperber, Holland Taylor and Donna Dixon. It was "Some Like It Hot" in a boarding house. Hanks and Scolari sold us Kip (buffy) and Henry (hildy) to save money. It was two guys trying to woman for less rent. it was a cute, fun little show that was good for a few laughs
Now the DVD incarnation is not great. Some of the shows seemed over edited, as these were the syndicated shows and NOT the original masters. It is missing Billy Joel's My Life for some lame theme which does not work against the opening credits. There are NO extras to speak of and the stuff thats here is not up to quality
Paramount/CBS video should have known better. They should have spend a few extra dollars and gone for the best (like Billy Joel's My Life), not like the Mama's Family (see the reviewe) [...] that Warner Brothers heaped upon us last year. Yes, It seems cut
It is worth it to see a young Tom Hanks, but PLEASE PARAMOUNT/CBS get us the real thing and not wash out, syndicated shows that seem cut to ribbons and my opinion destroyed, that why only 3 stars
Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

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Kip and Henry work at an advertising agency as an artist and writer respectively. When the apartment that they were living in was condemned, they had no place to live. So Amy their co-worker, who has a crush on Henry, suggests that they stay with her but the only the problem is that it's for girls only. So they get into drag and assume the personas of Buffy and Hildegarde. When Kip meets Sonny, Amy's attractive roommate, he is smitten and when they learn that there's a vacancy in the building, Kip convinces Henry to take it so he can be close to Sonny, and so that this experience might be good material for a book that Henry can write.

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Tipping the Velvet Review

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(More customer reviews)I loved Sarah Waters's novel, "Tipping the Velvet." Director Geoffrey Sax and screenwriter Andrew Davies have captured beautifully and vividly the novel's characters, storyline and the remarkable setting of a Victorian England that few have glimpsed. I say BRAVO! I am usually skeptical about movies made from books. This one is the exception to the rule.

Nancy Astley, (Rachael Stir), was born and raised in an English seaside resort, Whitstable, where her parents own an oyster restaurant, and Nan can shuck with the best of them. She seems perfectly content with her lot in life, loves her family and imagines that someday she will marry one of the neighborhood boys and have a family of her own. When the Astley family is invited to a perfomance at the town's music-hall, Passion, (with a capital "P"), enters Nan's life for the first time. She sees a beautiful male impersonator perform at the hall. Not just any male impersonator...but the ever so seductive Miss Kitty Butler, (Keeley Hawes). Nan is entranced and obsessed with Kitty. She longs to meet the object of her devotion and becomes first, Kitty's friend, then her employee/dresser. Her once normal life is turned topsy-turvy, filled with passionate fantasies. The Astley family is delighted with Kitty "the celebrity" friend. However, Alice, Nancy's sister, and until recently her best friend, is hostile and suspicious of the relationship between her sister and the performer.

When Kitty is offered a prime London music-hall gig through her manager, Mr. Bliss, she takes Nan with her. The two live together, sharing a room, a bed, love and sex, and eventually the stage, as Nan is successfully incorporated into Kitty's act - as another male impersonator. Our heroine loses her innocence in the big city, in more ways than one. Adventure, disillusionment and major heartbreak loom on the horizon for our Nan - until she finds herself reaching rock bottom. If you don't know what "rock bottom," sometimes called "the pits," is in Victorian England, you may want to reread Dickens.

It takes years for Nancy to climb out of the pit she fell into, (or was she pushed?), and fashion a life for herself. Her attempts to earn a living wage are outrageous, fascinating and ingenious. The folks she meets along the way are absolute originals. The take on London's local color, sexual and socialist politics, and social and sexual mores are delicious.

This is one of the best BBC mini-series that I have seen. The characters are extremely well cast, really three-dimensional. The acting is superb. The lesbian love scenes are extremely erotic and tasteful. But don't shy away from this series, or be drawn to it, because of the lesbian content. This film is much more than a story about women who prefer women. I can't recommend it highly enough. And be sure to read the book too! ENJOY!!
JANA


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Smitten by music hall life, and by the beautiful male impersonator Kitty Butler (Keeley Hawes), Nan Astley (Rachael Stirling) leaves her family’s Whitstable oyster parlor and follows her heart to London. There she finds unimaginable joy-and misery-as she explores the secret side of fin de siècle life. Based on the acclaimed novel by Sarah Waters and adapted by Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Doctor Zhivago), this powerful BBC drama is both a frank depiction of lesbianism and a witty and moving account of a young woman who will win your heart while searching for her own. Also starring Anna Chancellor (Pride and Prejudice), Jodhi May (The Last of the Mohicans), Hugh Bonneville (Iris) and John Bowe (Poldark). "Provocative and uplifting" ––The Baltimore Sun. "Flat-out sublime" ––The Seattle Times.

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Bosom Buddies - The Second Season (1980) Review

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(More customer reviews)Been a fan of the show since its debut on television: It's witty and silly at times, but quite funny.
Unfortunately, this DVD release is a major disappointment: the opening theme has been changed for some inexplicable reason and some of the episodes have been edited... Why???
Didn't realize this until after my purchase... The Amazon description makes no mention of this, but the back of the DVD packaging does in fine print:
"Some music has been changed for this home entertainment version. Some episodes may be edited from their original network versions."
Again, Why????
Needless to say, I'm going to email Paramount Home Entertainment and try to find out why they did this hatchet job on the show.

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Kip and Henry work at an advertising agency as an artist and writer respectively. When the apartment that they were living in was condemned, they had no place to live. So Amy their co-worker, who has a crush on Henry, suggests that they stay with her but the only the problem is that it's for girls only. So they get into drag and assume the personas of Buffy and Hildegarde. When Kip meets Sonny, Amy's attractive roommate, he is smitten and when they learn that there's a vacancy in the building, Kip convinces Henry to take it so he can be close to Sonny, and so that this experience might be good material for a book that Henry can write.

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A Woman's a Helluva Thing Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw this movie soundly trashed at another web site, but since I write reviews at amazon.com, I guess I'll pass on getting into a debate at the other site. I liked this movie quite a bit, and I am astounded that people dislike it so much. I've been a fan of Ms. Miller's for many years, and I passed it in the video store the other day, and that's why I rented it, because I remembered that she was in it. So I guess I was a little prejudiced, but I've seen some of her movies I wouldn't recommend to anyone, for sure.
This movie is quite decent, above average in my opinion. I suppose you could say that the story about the playboy womanizer who reforms is unoriginal, but the fact is, the way he is reformed, the transformation he goes through, having to accept that his deceased mother's lover is a woman he once loved, accepting her for what she is and because of her character, is quite unique, at least as far as I can remember.
I was very impressed with the quality of much of the script. There is a richness in the relationship between Ms. Miller's and Mr. MacFayden's characters that alone make the movie worth watching, and I thought that both of the actors give performances that are close to excellent. Ann-Margaret gives a good performance, though some of her lines aren't so interesting. Many of the minor characters, like Mary Kay Place, give very decent performances as well. Indeed a viewer could find faults with some of the script and the characters, but I would say that the positives of the movie absolutely outweigh the negatives.
It is true, as others have noted that there are major problems with the sound at times, when you can't hear Mr. MacFayden's lines. On the other hand I read complaints about his Scottish accent being apparent - seems quite nitpicky to me, I heard it maybe once, other than that his American accent is just fine.
When I think about violent, tasteless garbage (movies) that win big awards, earn huge dollars at the box office, and receive adulation from fans who seem to be falling all over one another to praise what I think is simply trash, and I compare that with the criticism this very decent movie received, I wonder about people's tastes, and/or their expectations from movies. This movie definitely met my expectations, and then some.

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Houston (Angus MacFayden) is a brash, sexist skirt chaser and publisher of a Playboy-like magazine who also thinks he’s God’s gift to women. When Houston’s mother dies, she leaves her estate to his former girlfriend, Zane, (Penelope Ann Miller) who, it turns out, happened to later be his mother’s girlfriend as well. This proves he knows absolutely nothing about women. Houston declares war between the sexes and goes about his chauvinistic ways by sponsoring an annual wet t-shirt contest. When the contest goes awry Zane teaches Houston that there is more to love than sex in this irresistible romantic comedy.

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show (35th Anniversary Edition) (1975) Review

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(More customer reviews)I loved going to "Rocky Horror" when I was in college, but watching on home video just wasn't the same. I'm probably committing heresy but there's a reason why this sci-fi, horror, B-movie satire, rock musical didn't really make it big until theaters started showing it as a midnight movie and fans started attending in costume and talking back to the screen. The 25th anniversary DVD, with several audience participation options, really is the next best thing to being there.
For the uninitiated, "Rocky Horror" tells the story of two clean-cut American youths, uptight Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick of "Spin City") and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon of "Dead Man Walking") whose car breaks down on a dark, deserted road in the middle of a storm--the classic beginning to many horror movies--and who seek help at a nearby castle. Castles, as Rocky fans know, don't have phones! What this castle has instead is a cross-dressing mad scientist Frank-N-Furter Tim Curry, in perhaps his finest performance), two very creepy servants, Riff-Raff (Richard O'Brien, who wrote the musical) and Magenta (Patricia Quinn), and various other hangers-on, including lovers Columbia (Little Nell) and biker Eddie (Meat Loaf). Brad and Janet walk in on a party celebrating the creation of Frank-N-Furter's muscle-bound boy-toy "Rocky." Bed-hopping chaos soon ensues, until the servants reveal their true identities and take control.
Punctuating this wacky plot are some of the wildest rock-musical songs ever written. In addition to the classic "Time Warp," there's O'Brien's salute to cult-classic B-movies, "Science Fiction Double Feature," Meat Loaf's "Hot Patootie," and Sarandon ode to sexual self-discovery, "Toucha Toucha Touch Me!"
So much for the "Rocky virgin" portion of the review... What makes the DVD so exceptional is the chance to experience "Rocky Horror" at home nearly like you would in the theater. The DVD has the option of turning on the audience screen comments as well as another option for viewing members of the Rocky Horror Fan Club performing select scenes before returning to the main movie. For those less familiar with audience participation, the DVD can prompt when to throw toast, toilet paper, rice, etc., light a match, put your newspaper on your head, etc.
The second disc contains fascinating interviews with cast members, where fans can find out about their reaction to starring in this cult classic. Meat Loaf's description of not realizing what "Rocky Horror" was going to be about and running out of the theater when Tim Curry entered wearing fishnet stockings, spiked heels, a merry widow, and a leather jacket and singing "Sweet Transvestite" is hysterical. Patricia Quinn talks about how her fondness for the opening song, "Science Fiction Double Feature" made her want to take the role even though she hadn't read the rest of the script. What? Don't remember Quinn singing that number? In the stage versions she did, but the song got reassigned in the film version--and Quinn makes her feelings about that QUITE clear. Sarandon makes the interesting observation that "Rocky Horror" probably kept a lot of art house theaters in business over the years, since they could count on good revenue from the midnight movie, even if the latest regular-hours offering flopped. In Bostwick's interview, however, the actor sounds a bit like William Shatner giving his anti-Trekkie diatribe on "Saturday Night Live."
The only disappointments on the DVD are that the outtakes really aren't that interesting and actor bios aren't provided. I would have liked to see what else the "minor" cast members did after Rocky, but that information is limited to a few lines in the companion booklet. Also, some of the audience-participation comments are nearly impossible to understand because fans are talking over each other. But then that's part of the modern-day theater experience. Even Sarandon noted in her interview that talking back to the screen has gone from the more unison catechism approach to a loud free-for-all.
What seemed so risqué and shocking a few decades ago seems much more innocent today, but it was great when it all began and it's still great! If you've never ventured into the theater to experience "Rocky Horror," this is the best way to experience it at home.

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Fasten your garter belt and come up to the lab and see what's on theslab!It's The Rocky Horror Picture Show Special Edition, a screaminglyfunny, sinfully twisted salute to sci-fi, horror, B-movies and rockmusic, all rolled into one deliciously decadent morsel.And now there'seven more to make you shiver with antici...pation:two additionalmusical numbers, "Once In A While" and "Superheroes", never seentheatrically or available on video!The madcap, musical mayhem beginswhen rain-soaked Brad and Janet take refuge in the castle of Dr.Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite mad scientist from outer space who isabout to unveil his greatest creation - and have a bit of fun with hisreluctant guests!Join Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon androck star Meat Loaf in the most popular cult classic of all time.

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