rossif

How can I put this nicely. I hate this movie. I loathe it. And

this is unusual for me, because I can get some enjoyment out of

most movies, and I will usually give anyone the benefit of the

doubt. I appreciate creativity and originality. I admire

talent and intelligence - whoops! wrong movie!. These awful

characters,spawned of a brainless script, are so sickeningly

sweet. Even the tarty John Leguizamo character unfortunately

develops a conscience in the tradition of the best American

family film - which by the way this is not! Call me picky -

but it's just impossible to buy this concept. OK - here's the

deal: 3 drag queens in full regalia and being pursued by the law,

suffer a car breakdown in a small rural American town, where

they are promptly adopted as guardian angels by the towns

populace. Fine! Now, where is the humour? Where is the bite?

(think "Priscilla" - so much of which is ripped off, but with no

panache at all) Where is the style, that may have lifted this

slightly above the dross that it is? These glamour babes are

so goody-goody that you could be forgiven for thinking you had

stumbled into some Mary Poppins Twilight Zone. And I have to

admit, there were several dreadful moments when I was just sure

Patrick Swayze was going to burst into song, and with a full

orchestra blazing away in the background, start skipping down

the street. Actually his performance and characterisation

particularly nauseated me, what with his Little-Miss-Fix-It

character, breezing into town and sticking her nose into

everybody's business and solving all their problems. Very

trite in every respect, and superficial beyond belief. Only the

intellectual giant portrayed by the usually flawless Stockard

Channing, has the slightest inkling as to the original gender of

her new friends. As for the rest of the town - are we to

believe that these simple country folk are too unsophisticated

to recognise a big burly man in a dress? Let's face it,

Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes are built like footballers, and

putting a dress on them, no matter how well tailored, no matter

how fabulously colour coordinated, does nothing to disguise

this simple fact. Most irritating moment of all - Patrick

Swayze declaring the day a "say something hat day" Pass me

that airsick bag !! Quick !!

What I hate about American comedy series is the perceived need for a punchline every 15 seconds. What I love about this series, is the gentle, ambling approach the script takes, as it follows its characters through their daily lives. And they are characters - wonderful ones - but never caricatures. Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer are just perfect in their portrayals, and they are ably supported by a talented cast. Every now and then there is a good, solid belly laugh to be had, but for the most part the humour is subtle and very clever. I feel very warm towards these characters. If they were real I think I should like to invite them to tea. Dench and Palmer appear to enjoy their roles, and when they exchange glances it seems to be not acting, but genuine regard that they show towards each other. May they live happily ever after...........

I always wanted to be a Brady. I could see myself flying down

that staircase in the morning to be handed my school lunch in a

brown paper bag by Florence Henderson. I thought the house

could manage 7 kids as easily as 6. That was my dream and my

aspiration. The thing was, I identified very strongly with

that show. I knew it was lame brained, even when I was the

same age as the youngest of the Brady kids. I also knew that

its heart was in the right place and it represented to me,

everything that I did not have. Of course, I was living in the

REAL world, and that is not always easy to take. Nearly 30

years later, I have fond feelings towards this series and

occasionally can be seen watching the inevitable reruns. Many

people feel the same as I do, I'm sure, so they must have done

something right.

I have seen this movie countless times, and yet each time I do I

am simply blown away by it. It's hard to imagine anybody but

Barbra Streisand playing Fanny Brice - she lives and breathes

the character until it's hard to know where Barbra begins and

Fanny ends. Although "funny" is not a word that sums up this

movie in it's entirety, there is plenty of "funny" to be had in

the first half. The Roller Skate Rag is hilarious, as is

Fanny's first nervous foray into the world of theatre.

Throughout the piece we see Fanny's self deprecating humour

disguising her lack of confidence. When she wins Nick, she

blossoms and gains confidence, and her career soars. This is

where we enter the sadness of Fanny's life, and for me this is

where Barbra displays her versatility as an actress. With simple

gestures, and a much darker humour, she conveys the pain she is

struggling to overcome. Overcome it she does, but it is not a

victory by any means - because she has lost a part of herself.

The acting throughout is wonderful, but I find Omar Sharif is

overwhelmed by Miss Streisand in full flight. Let's face it, was

it really fair to expect him to sing a duet with one of the most

perfect voices in popular music, when he can barely carry a

tune? The music is powerful and used to great comedic and

dramatic effect - what more could a musical hope to achieve.

The Ziegfeld number is a real stunner - and makes me wish I had

been around to see the real thing. It's a shame that this movie

was the last great success in traditional movie musicals, but at

least the genre w

This movie is certainly original - after all how many movies

have been made about two drag queens and a transexual travelling

through the Australian outback to lipsync a variety of ABBA

songs and disco classics in outback towns, Aboriginal settlements and resorts. I can't think of any myself! The

humour in this is pretty black, and bawdy to say the least, but

I think for the most part it is hilarious and the more

outrageous the better. The movie is full of great lines, most

of which I would not dream of repeating. The acting is first

class all around, and what a surprise Guy Pearce (pre LA

Confidential) turned out to be. The costumes are brilliant

works of art and a dress worn by Hugo Weaving made entirely of

thongs has to be seen to be believed. The theme of self

acceptance, and acceptance within a wider community are explored

well with the heroes/heroines receiving acceptance and brutal

rejection in roughly equal quantity. There is no sugar coating

in this piece of confection - unlike "To Wong Foo Thanks For

Everything- Julie Newmar" which covers similar territory with

embarassing results. "Priscilla" is one to watch with an open

mind, a sense of humour, some high heels and your grandmother in

another room. And everybody sing along "Mamma Mia, here I

This is one of the most addictive, amusing and involving TV

series I have yet seen. It has a kind of cultish appeal, and I

know a lot of people who follow it closely and discuss each

weekly installment as if it was real life. That's the key I

think. This series is based in reality. A group of very

different personalities share a house in South London and the 2

year story shows their growing relationships and their

interraction with various friends and colleagues mainly in the

legal profession. It's fairly graphic stuff with sex in

various forms, nudity, bad language and drug use presented in a

very matter of fact way. The characters are believable and

appealing despite the warts and all presentation, and the lines

are often bitingly clever. Daniela Nardini as Anna gets the

best lines by far, delivered in a wonderful Scottish brogue for

maximum effect. All good things must come to an end however and

the series concludes with the happy group disintegrating after a

massive row. But it was good while it lasted. What a

stunning, intelligent and

I saw this movie recently in a theatre/restaurant with a group

of about 60 people. The dialogue crackles after all these

years, and the audience got right into the spirit of the piece,

laughing in all the right places and, to add to the fun - in

some of the wrong places too. Of course, some of is dated - and

that is now part of it's charm. How could you take seriously

the advice of Mary Haines' (Norma Shearer) mother or the

emotional outburst of her fretting daughter. But listen

carefully to the lines - Joan Crawford is a complete vixen, and

I also liked Paulette Goddard as the streetwise divorcee. Not

to mention Rosalind Russell in a part that veers towards

slapstick. I hope the remake does not happen - Meg Ryan? No! Julia Roberts? No !!! let's keep at least one of the classics