Knight at HOME at the Movies
CAMP-ISH

Unintentional camp, a movie parody with camp elements, straight up, unintentional camp, and a TV show using camp elements are
on tap for KATM's current DVD recommendations.  Tons o'hours of enjoyment lie in store...
Believe it or not, Georgia Rule, just out from Universal Studios, is the one title in this
quartet that is camp-ish rather than camp.  I know, I know, with Ms. Lohan splashed daily
over the internet gossip blogs and in the tabs for her latest career destroying move, how
can the movie be anything other than a camp fest?  Well, surprise surprise, not only does
it have real moments of heart and pathos, I think Lohan is a terrific little actress and
there's no denying that the camera is in love with her.  She's aided in this frisky comedy
turned dark drama by veteran pros Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman.  The expert Dermot
Mulroney as a taciturn small town vet and Cary Elwes as a scumbag lawyer add good
support.  This is one of those films you just have to see to prove to yourself that the
blitzkrieg of bad press that accompanied the antics of its teenage-ish behaving star don't
matter.  The disc also includes a healthy dose of deleted scenes and considering those
much publicized antics of Lohan, some behind the scenes glimpses that add pathos to
her real life situation.  I liked the film a lot better on the little screen than the big one
and the stuff that
bothered me the first time 'round didn't irk me so much and I think the
chemistry between the three ladies was very strong and helped on that score. Give it a try.



Unlike other gay critics,
I didn't have any qualms about the Will Ferrell-Jon Heder comedy
Blades of Glory, just out from Paramount Home Video.  I didn't find a whiff of
homophobia in this hilarious, campy parody of male figure skating.  If anything, the stars
seemed to relish the opportunity to revel in the opportunity to knock out some gay
stereotypes the sport has always called for.  But enough of the serious stuff, this is first
and foremost, a brainless parody comedy that had me laughing from beginning to end.  
The disc includes a batch of deleted scenes and other goodies and this was a HUGE hit
when I screened it for a roomful of gay men during a recent movie night.  Yes, it would
have been nice to see an openly gay male pair at least at some point in the movie but
Tom Cruise and John Travolta haven't come out and pigs haven't flown yet, have they?!  
Hold your horses girls, the day's a comin' - until then, have a few laughs.


With
The Happy Hooker Trilogy from MGM DVD we finally get to genuine camp.  The
2-disc set includes all three of these fabu-lushly decadent, 70s era sex fests.  All three
emphasize the comedy over the sexiness but beginning with 1975's
The Happy Hooker the
shag carpet, spaghetti-strap dresses, stiletto heels and boots, plastic furniture, pot
smoking characters, and the wah-wah disco influenced soundtracks keep these three
gloriously bad movies percolating.  Lynn Redgrave, a surprisingly sexy dish, is the first to
essay the role of Xaviera Hollander, the Dutch import who sold 17 million copies of her
memoirs of life as a call girl/madam.  The movie has one of my ALL TIME favorite
bad/fabu-lush theme songs (it's right up there with "Coffy, Baby") and is a must just for
that.  Next up was 1977's
The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington with a perfectly cast Joey
Heatherton in the roll, testifying before Congress and bedding several of Washington's
finest along the way.  Finally, in 1980 we got
The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood with Martine
Beswick (a Bond girl) in the role.  The highlight is the hot tub sex scene with "Batman's"
Adam West (he was quite the hunk) and the "special guest appearances" by the B-list
actors (actually all three have this distinction).  No extras but none necessary.  Gloriously
junky.



Our final entry is TV's favorite guilty pleasure (and its campiest show), Ugly Betty - the
Complete First Season.  The 6-disc set from Buena Vista/Touchstone Home Entertainment
has all the episodes and all the characters that you've come to love (and hate).  At first I
thought this was going to be a cheesy rip-off of
The Devil Wears Prada but the show quickly
set the tone combining broad humor with a delicious mystery (solved toward the end of
the first season).  The canniest move has been in the casting choices of the producers.  
From the delightful America Ferrara in the title role, a great villain in Vanessa Williams,
Eric Mabius as the resident hunk, and the really cute, fashion conscious gay assistant and
his bitchy female gal pal, the Scottish clothing designer, to the adolescent musical loving
gay nephew, his sex bomb mama and equally sexy, estranged Hispanic dad, this is a
show filled with pretty and talented people.  Though the tone of the show wavers at times,
its originality and glossy design, along with the cast, help get it back on track.  Unlike
"Desperate Housewives," the "Ugly Betty" episodes are much more firmly rooted to begin
with in comedy and there's not always a need to impart those overbearing "lessons."  It's
simply an entertaining, sexy little show.  The set includes a ton of extras that will keep
you primed for the impending second season - during which I hope Betty loses the metal
mouth (that is one joke that has worn thin very quickly).  I'd also like to see nerd/hottie
Henry go gay and take up with Mark, Vanessa's assistant.  But I suspect that just might
be a little bit of wishful thinking on my part...