Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Fill 'er up with testosterone...
"See what the boys in the back room'll have" Marlene Dietrich sang in her inimitable style in 1939's western Destry Rides
Again. Well this week the boys are having lots and lots of quality time without the girls. Sorry ladies but all those camp
queen masterpieces of late have left me with a sudden urge for some male bonding. Hence, this week's recommendations:
"See what the boys in the back room'll have" Marlene Dietrich sang in her inimitable style in 1939's western Destry Rides
Again. Well this week the boys are having lots and lots of quality time without the girls. Sorry ladies but all those camp
queen masterpieces of late have left me with a sudden urge for some male bonding. Hence, this week's recommendations:
One of the screen's best male pairings has been that of Paul Newman and Robert
Redford. Fox Home Video has now released an Ultimate Collector's Edition of
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the evidence of their undeniable onscreen
chemistry. This 1969 effort, in which Newman and Redford play the real life anti-heroes,
is a great entertainment from first to last. This is much more than the story of two outlaw
robbers and their exploits -- it's also a sexy, funny charmer that relies not just on the
strength of the two leads (and the third, the luscious Katharine Ross), but on the
freshness that they bring to the western genre.
Director George Roy Hill added touches (like the extended chase sequence and the
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" musical montage) that were unheard of before (but
have become staples of the genre since). William Goldman's script expertly blends
humor and suspense to the movie and Burt Bacharach's score is like the perfect finishing
touch.
For fans of the film, this 2-disc edition lives up to its "ultimate" designation. ALL the
surviving principals -- Newman, Redford, Ross, Goldman, Bacharach, and others are
interviewed in a new making of documentary that is very informative and entertaining.
1994 interview material (from a previous release), and vintage documentaries and
commentaries are also included. And for gay men...well, this would be the Brokeback
Mountain of its day -- a fantasy version to be sure -- but though there's not a hint of
anything sexual between Newman and Redford one can dream -- or project oneself into
Ross' place (and trust me, one did!)
Another look at male bonding was 2004's Before the Fall, which arrives on DVD on June
13 from Picture This! Entertainment. Set in Germany during World War II at the height of
the Nazi party's power, the movie is the story of a young, hunky boxer who finds himself
enrolled at one of Hitler's elitist boarding school/boot camps for his prized Aryan youths.
The boxer, thinking he'll have security and perks, quickly realizes that he's embroiled in
sadist central -- an opinion that is shared by his fellow classmate, the effeminate son of a
Nazi bigwig. An unspoken, erotic, tension builds between the two along with their
friendship until things reach a gut wrenching conclusion. I quite liked this well done
drama when it had a theatrical run in Chicago earlier this year and highly recommend it.
The disc includes making of featurettes, deleted scenes and a photo gallery.
We move from the gay covert to the gay overt -- and in a big way -- with Wolfe Video's
release of Gay Sex in the 70s. This highly entertaining, illuminating and sexy as hell
documentary by director Joseph Lovett raised plenty of eyebrows -- and libidos -- during
its theatrical run last winter. Covering the period after 1969's Stonewall Riots to the onset
of the AIDS crisis in the early 80s, this is the story of the hedonistic, sexually charged
period when gay men in New York didn't have to worry about saying no and could give in
to their unbridled passions.
For Lovett's subjects, these were obviously halcyon days. This is a great reclamation of a
period that has been forgotten by the terrible health crisis that supplanted it. The disc
includes the trailer and a photo gallery.
Redford. Fox Home Video has now released an Ultimate Collector's Edition of
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the evidence of their undeniable onscreen
chemistry. This 1969 effort, in which Newman and Redford play the real life anti-heroes,
is a great entertainment from first to last. This is much more than the story of two outlaw
robbers and their exploits -- it's also a sexy, funny charmer that relies not just on the
strength of the two leads (and the third, the luscious Katharine Ross), but on the
freshness that they bring to the western genre.
Director George Roy Hill added touches (like the extended chase sequence and the
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" musical montage) that were unheard of before (but
have become staples of the genre since). William Goldman's script expertly blends
humor and suspense to the movie and Burt Bacharach's score is like the perfect finishing
touch.
For fans of the film, this 2-disc edition lives up to its "ultimate" designation. ALL the
surviving principals -- Newman, Redford, Ross, Goldman, Bacharach, and others are
interviewed in a new making of documentary that is very informative and entertaining.
1994 interview material (from a previous release), and vintage documentaries and
commentaries are also included. And for gay men...well, this would be the Brokeback
Mountain of its day -- a fantasy version to be sure -- but though there's not a hint of
anything sexual between Newman and Redford one can dream -- or project oneself into
Ross' place (and trust me, one did!)
Another look at male bonding was 2004's Before the Fall, which arrives on DVD on June
13 from Picture This! Entertainment. Set in Germany during World War II at the height of
the Nazi party's power, the movie is the story of a young, hunky boxer who finds himself
enrolled at one of Hitler's elitist boarding school/boot camps for his prized Aryan youths.
The boxer, thinking he'll have security and perks, quickly realizes that he's embroiled in
sadist central -- an opinion that is shared by his fellow classmate, the effeminate son of a
Nazi bigwig. An unspoken, erotic, tension builds between the two along with their
friendship until things reach a gut wrenching conclusion. I quite liked this well done
drama when it had a theatrical run in Chicago earlier this year and highly recommend it.
The disc includes making of featurettes, deleted scenes and a photo gallery.
We move from the gay covert to the gay overt -- and in a big way -- with Wolfe Video's
release of Gay Sex in the 70s. This highly entertaining, illuminating and sexy as hell
documentary by director Joseph Lovett raised plenty of eyebrows -- and libidos -- during
its theatrical run last winter. Covering the period after 1969's Stonewall Riots to the onset
of the AIDS crisis in the early 80s, this is the story of the hedonistic, sexually charged
period when gay men in New York didn't have to worry about saying no and could give in
to their unbridled passions.
For Lovett's subjects, these were obviously halcyon days. This is a great reclamation of a
period that has been forgotten by the terrible health crisis that supplanted it. The disc
includes the trailer and a photo gallery.
