Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Spring is in the Air and so is romance!!!
We got yer romantic comedy, yer gushy romance, yer epic romance, yer oddball romance. Everything but a straight up gay romance
-- but check out the archives -- plenty to choose from there (and more new ones on the way).
We got yer romantic comedy, yer gushy romance, yer epic romance, yer oddball romance. Everything but a straight up gay romance
-- but check out the archives -- plenty to choose from there (and more new ones on the way).
I’m not the biggest fan of romantic comedies. That would be my partner Jim who never
met a Meg Ryan movie he didn’t love. The same goes for Diane Keaton, Melanie Griffith,
Drew Barrymore, and as of late, Cameron Diaz. But like a lot of couples, we’ve slowly
warmed to each other’s taste over the years. So now I’m a fan of the 60s vampire soap
opera “Dark Shadows,” the classic weepers like An Affair to Remember and Dark Victory.
Jim has learned to appreciate documentaries (he actually sat through the entire three
hours of The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl – a high watermark believe me),
classics like The Talk of the Town, musicals like Meet Me in St. Louis, and slowly, slowly
movies with subtitles. When we both full out love a movie that’s the best but with a jaded
film critic and a sunny movie optimist, not surprisingly, that doesn’t often happen.
So, as we walked out of the screening of The Holiday when he whispered worriedly to me,
“What did you think?” I already knew he dug it. When I said, “I loved it” a huge smile
spread across his face. Now with this DVD of The Holiday from Sony Pictures we can
love it together for years to come. That sounds corny and old fashioned but that’s
actually the perfect sentiment, given that I think The Holiday is a romance classic (along
with Something’s Gotta Give, its predecessor) that’s going to be around for a long time.
The delightful city/mouse country mouse story – in which Californian Cameron Diaz swaps
houses with the English resident Kate Winslet – gives us two romances for the price of one
(and a heart warming subplot with Eli Wallach). The disc offers a nice making of
featurette presided over by writer-director Nancy Meyers, who also offers a fun, informative
commentary.
20th Century Fox recently released another romance (it was in theatres last year) focusing
on two couples in love – but in Trust the Man the foursome are good friends living,
working, and having trouble with their respective relationships in Manhattan. Julianne
Moore plays an actress who is paired with David Duchovny, while Billy Crudup plays her
ne'er-do-well brother who has been stringing along girlfriend Maggie Gyllenhaal for years.
These foursome are a prickly, intelligent lot, and the film, written and directed by Moore’s
husband Bart Freunlich isn’t for those looking for rosy romantic comedies. The film does
have plenty of laughs however and much to say about relationships, besides and its share
of eccentric characters. The disc has a commentary track, deleted scenes, a making of
featurette and is double sided with the feature in both full and widescreen editions.
Paramount Home Video has released a special collector’s edition of the blockbuster
romance classic Ghost with stars Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Oscar winning Whoopi
Goldberg. This new edition includes a making of featurette, a piece on spiritual mediums,
one that focuses on the famous “pottery” love scene scored to the Righteous Brothers
classic “Unchained Melody,” and a few other bonuses. The 1990 film was extremely
popular with gay audiences – a given with the prominence of male eye candy like Swayze
and co-star Tony Goldwyn (the film opens with the two shirtless doing construction on
Swayze and Moore’s Manhattan loft) not to mention, of course, Goldberg’s hilarious work.
For those that have waited, this is the edition to add to your collection.
20th Century Fox has added three new titles to their classics line-up and of the three my
favorite is The Other Side of Midnight. This “epic” decade spanning story of the ill-
fated romance between an American soldier and his French lover was based on the best
selling twaddle of none other than Sidney Sheldon, a writer in the Jackie Susann-Jackie
Collins mold that never met a dramatic cliché he didn’t like. This 1977 over the top,
sumptuous costume jewelry flick veers on camp (okay, it crosses the line pretty
consistently) as it unravels the story of John Beck as the American soldier and the French
beauty (Marie France-Pisier) who he seduces and abandons in favor of rich, haughty
Catherine Alexander (Susan Sarandon as the spoiled rich diva). But the little French girl
soon turns into a social climber and film star and nails her own Prince Charming, the
sensuous Greek shipping magnate, all the while plotting revenge against the man who
stole her love. This delicious hokum is big screen soap opera at its best (the soap’s so
thick you’ll need goggles) – enormously fun and entertaining because everyone onscreen
takes themselves so seriously.
The other two titles in the Fox series are 1973’s Cinderella Liberty and 1969’s John & Mary.
Cinderella Liberty is basically a two character piece – two loners, a soldier on extended
leave (James Caan) and a prostitute (Marsha Mason) with a 10 year-old mulatto son –
who unexpectedly fall in love. Mason won an Oscar nomination for her emotionally
charged performance and I’d be lying if I didn’t add that Caan is mighty appealing in
(and out) of his sailor uniform. Mia Farrow followed up her Rosemary’s Baby hit by co-
starring with red hot Dustin Hoffman (after The Graduate and before Midnight Cowboy) in
John & Mary. The movie tracks the one night stand of the title couple as they go from
meeting in a singles bar, to their one night tryst, and into the following day as they reflect
on their brief but intense coupling. Is there a future for John and Mary, two wounded
lovers who may have found true romance at last? This “permissive” story of free love, a
tad shocking at the time, feels awfully dated but both Hoffman and Farrow give good
performances and though they’re an odd looking couple, they do have a certain
chemistry. Each of the discs has a few extras – photo galleries, isolated music tracks and
the like, as well.
met a Meg Ryan movie he didn’t love. The same goes for Diane Keaton, Melanie Griffith,
Drew Barrymore, and as of late, Cameron Diaz. But like a lot of couples, we’ve slowly
warmed to each other’s taste over the years. So now I’m a fan of the 60s vampire soap
opera “Dark Shadows,” the classic weepers like An Affair to Remember and Dark Victory.
Jim has learned to appreciate documentaries (he actually sat through the entire three
hours of The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl – a high watermark believe me),
classics like The Talk of the Town, musicals like Meet Me in St. Louis, and slowly, slowly
movies with subtitles. When we both full out love a movie that’s the best but with a jaded
film critic and a sunny movie optimist, not surprisingly, that doesn’t often happen.
So, as we walked out of the screening of The Holiday when he whispered worriedly to me,
“What did you think?” I already knew he dug it. When I said, “I loved it” a huge smile
spread across his face. Now with this DVD of The Holiday from Sony Pictures we can
love it together for years to come. That sounds corny and old fashioned but that’s
actually the perfect sentiment, given that I think The Holiday is a romance classic (along
with Something’s Gotta Give, its predecessor) that’s going to be around for a long time.
The delightful city/mouse country mouse story – in which Californian Cameron Diaz swaps
houses with the English resident Kate Winslet – gives us two romances for the price of one
(and a heart warming subplot with Eli Wallach). The disc offers a nice making of
featurette presided over by writer-director Nancy Meyers, who also offers a fun, informative
commentary.
20th Century Fox recently released another romance (it was in theatres last year) focusing
on two couples in love – but in Trust the Man the foursome are good friends living,
working, and having trouble with their respective relationships in Manhattan. Julianne
Moore plays an actress who is paired with David Duchovny, while Billy Crudup plays her
ne'er-do-well brother who has been stringing along girlfriend Maggie Gyllenhaal for years.
These foursome are a prickly, intelligent lot, and the film, written and directed by Moore’s
husband Bart Freunlich isn’t for those looking for rosy romantic comedies. The film does
have plenty of laughs however and much to say about relationships, besides and its share
of eccentric characters. The disc has a commentary track, deleted scenes, a making of
featurette and is double sided with the feature in both full and widescreen editions.
Paramount Home Video has released a special collector’s edition of the blockbuster
romance classic Ghost with stars Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Oscar winning Whoopi
Goldberg. This new edition includes a making of featurette, a piece on spiritual mediums,
one that focuses on the famous “pottery” love scene scored to the Righteous Brothers
classic “Unchained Melody,” and a few other bonuses. The 1990 film was extremely
popular with gay audiences – a given with the prominence of male eye candy like Swayze
and co-star Tony Goldwyn (the film opens with the two shirtless doing construction on
Swayze and Moore’s Manhattan loft) not to mention, of course, Goldberg’s hilarious work.
For those that have waited, this is the edition to add to your collection.
20th Century Fox has added three new titles to their classics line-up and of the three my
favorite is The Other Side of Midnight. This “epic” decade spanning story of the ill-
fated romance between an American soldier and his French lover was based on the best
selling twaddle of none other than Sidney Sheldon, a writer in the Jackie Susann-Jackie
Collins mold that never met a dramatic cliché he didn’t like. This 1977 over the top,
sumptuous costume jewelry flick veers on camp (okay, it crosses the line pretty
consistently) as it unravels the story of John Beck as the American soldier and the French
beauty (Marie France-Pisier) who he seduces and abandons in favor of rich, haughty
Catherine Alexander (Susan Sarandon as the spoiled rich diva). But the little French girl
soon turns into a social climber and film star and nails her own Prince Charming, the
sensuous Greek shipping magnate, all the while plotting revenge against the man who
stole her love. This delicious hokum is big screen soap opera at its best (the soap’s so
thick you’ll need goggles) – enormously fun and entertaining because everyone onscreen
takes themselves so seriously.
The other two titles in the Fox series are 1973’s Cinderella Liberty and 1969’s John & Mary.
Cinderella Liberty is basically a two character piece – two loners, a soldier on extended
leave (James Caan) and a prostitute (Marsha Mason) with a 10 year-old mulatto son –
who unexpectedly fall in love. Mason won an Oscar nomination for her emotionally
charged performance and I’d be lying if I didn’t add that Caan is mighty appealing in
(and out) of his sailor uniform. Mia Farrow followed up her Rosemary’s Baby hit by co-
starring with red hot Dustin Hoffman (after The Graduate and before Midnight Cowboy) in
John & Mary. The movie tracks the one night stand of the title couple as they go from
meeting in a singles bar, to their one night tryst, and into the following day as they reflect
on their brief but intense coupling. Is there a future for John and Mary, two wounded
lovers who may have found true romance at last? This “permissive” story of free love, a
tad shocking at the time, feels awfully dated but both Hoffman and Farrow give good
performances and though they’re an odd looking couple, they do have a certain
chemistry. Each of the discs has a few extras – photo galleries, isolated music tracks and
the like, as well.
