***Gay-Friendly DVD's, Version 5*** (1 Viewer)

Was thinking someone needed to get this thread going again...so here tis! I received the DVD Chuck & Buck yesterday after reading people's comments in this thread (Version 4!)
My son & I enjoyed the movie, although we both thought that perhaps this was a fairly low budget movie as the audio is a bit thin and even though the DVD is anamorphic, there's lots of grain to be seen. A rather unusual movie, however. Some scenes made me uncomfortable, and I had a clearer understanding of why I felt so after reading Roger Ebert's review of the film. How we all react to and deal with people who play by different rules and hear different drummers is an interesting subject, even for people who are different from the majority themselves!
Ordered The 4th Man and it has shipped...am interested in checking it out!

For the record, thread v4.0 is still around in UBBS, just lacking the last month's worth of updates. And the last month's worth of updates are still readable at the vBulletin version of the forum. So, technically, nothing has been lost.
- Steve

Should this thread be deleted then...will the previous ver. 4 be updated with the last month's postings & then continue on?

Thane-
As I understand from the e-mail I got
from Ron and Parker, the thread is still here,
but will have lost all posts that were submitted
when the forum went through an upgrade.
So, that time period's post won't get
incorporated in version 4.0.
Personally, I am fine if we stick with
version 5.0 and just move on from here.
Mark

I bemonaed earlier that Tales of the City is not avialable on any video format because of rights problems. However Showtime announced on their website that ALL THREE miniseries will be shown in June in a Tales of the City marathon!

Why don't we walk on the wild side and leave the new thread open. The links I provided will work for now, and then I'll archive the UBBS 4.0 thread so it won't get deleted.
Will that work?
- Steve

And, of course, I just cancelled Showtime. Sigh.
- Steve

For people wondering about the DVD specs on
Psycho Beach Party:
Non-anamorphic widescreen,
Audio Commentary with writer/star Charles Busch
and director Robert Lee King,
trailer and music video.
Plot synopsis:
Spoof of 1960's Beach Party/Gidget surfing movies
mixed with slasher horror films stars Lauren Ambrose
as Florence Forrest, a not-so-innocent girl in 1960's
Malibu who becomes "Chicklet" the first girl surfer
at Malibu Beach,
Only Florence suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder
and occasionally her alter ego Amy Bowman,
a sexually aggressive, foul-speaking girl,
comes out in which during that time several beach
goers are found murdered.
The suspects include Chicklet herself,
surfer guru Kanaka, B-horror film actress
Bettina Barnes, exchange student Lars,
and even Chicket's own mother.
The film was adapted from the hit off-Broadway
comedy. Since Charles Busch, who is really too old
now to play "Chicklet" for a film version,
they got an amazing young actress who really
does sing that opera snippet at the end.
Busch now plays a police detective, and a
murderer is now part of the plot, rather
than just having a psycho chick.
Having seen the trailer, I was a little
disappointed that the movie didn't have
quite the energy level the trailer indicated,
still, it is quite a hoot!
Very entertaining.
4 out of 5 stars is my rating.

Since I had this posted in the now defunct thread,
I thought I would repost it here, since response
has been good.
I have a few "gay-centric" DVDs that
I don't need in my collection anymore.
I will put them up on eBay if I don't
hear from people at my e-mail before
May 18th.
All are in excellent condition
and $5.00, plus shipping in the US:
Mandragora:
A gritty realistic story following
the life of one Czech boy as he
becomes a street hustler in Prague.
Good film, but too depressing for my tastes.
In The Flesh:
The story of a student-by-day/hustler-by-night,
and the cop that falls for him.
Some other people who post in this
thread liked the film, but I found
it kind of hokey, and the commentary
track with the director just pissed me
off.
Boyfriends:
This film wants to be a gay version
of The Big Chill,
(and again, others have liked it)
but I found all the guys pretty
boring as characters.
The best thing about the DVD is
that it contains the beautiful short
film, Achilles,
the story of Achilles and his young
soldier lover, Patroclus,
which is narrated by Derek Jackobi.
Who knew stop motion animation could
be so erotic?!?!?
Men Men Men:
an Italian film about a bunch
of gay men hitting middle age
(or later) and how they all
cope (or don't) with that.
The San Francisco Film Festival stated,
"Sexist...hilarious..energetic..the
laughs just keep on coming."
(I found all the men annoying.)
Okay, there's my sales pitch,
which due to the nature of the films,
seems more appropriate in this thread
than in the "trade/for sale" threads.

Mark

Ok not too early in the morning to rib a fellow HTF member...
Mark...with a salespitch like yours, I bet you could sell me my own car! Those DVDs sound like must sees! I actually saw Achilles & Patrocleus a quite while ago on tape with a few other shorts...Death in Venice Ca. was also on it.
I need some property in Arizona...preferably on the beach if you can swing it!

Thane, the grainy picture quality of Chuck and Buck seems to be deliberate. It was filmed on digital video and transferred to film. Check out the deleted scenes feature on the DVD and you will see what a nice picture it would have had if left in digital video.
By the way, maybe everybody knows this, but Mike White, who wrote and stars in the film, used to be a producer on the gay-friendly Dawson's Creek and is the gay son of Rev. Mel White, former ghostwriter for and friend of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell - turned gay activist.
Re: Tales Of The City. Thanks, Joe, for letting us know that Showtime will be running a marathon in June. The first installment of Further Tales of The City was shown in anamorphic 16:9 widescreen on the Showtime HDTV channel and looked spectacular. The Tuesday night repeat (last night) however, was a square screen upconvert from the regular Showtime channel. Odd. Maybe someone fell asleep at the switch, or the HD tape got damaged between Sunday and Tuesday. The only Showtime series to be regularly broadcast in 16:9 HD is Queer As Folk.
Re: Psycho Beach Party. I agree with your rating, Mark. We had a screening party here and everyone just loved it. What a fun film.

I check June's Showtime schedule and here are the broadcast times for the TALES series (all times Eastern):
June 5: Midnight, Tales Of The City (first half)
June 6: Midnight, Tales Of The City (second half)
June 12: Midnight, More Tales Of The City (first half)
June 13: Midnight, More Tales Of The City (second half)
June 19: Midnight, Further Tales Of The City (the whole thing, 3 hours long)

Ah, Trace!
YOU are too funny! Hey, I just wanted to be honest.
I mean, I wouldn't be selling them if I thought
they were great films.
I do love Achilles, but
I have it on another DVD.
Alan- I want to continue to thank you for
the information you post in here!
Mark
------------------

Sex in The City: Season Two
is coming to DVD on May 22nd. Since I do
not subscribe to HBO, the first season
was my "favorite surprise" of the year.
The second season sells for about $10 more
than the first season, but it also contains
many more episodes.
Just thought I would give everyone a Heads up.
Mark
------------------

Mark, you won't be disappointed in Sex And The City Season 2. They are great shows. Season 3, last year, kept the quality high as well. Season 4 starts on HBO in June. Can't wait.

Alan- you're comments have got me "eager" for
SITC:S2.
Another title on my "MUST OWN" list is coming
out as a nice SE this month:
The Celluloid Closet will be
released on May 29th. It features a commentary
track with the writers/producers
and apparently Lily Tomlin.
Also arriving two weeks earlier
(May 15th) is Before Night Falls,
which we may remember earned Javier Bardem
an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
He won the Best Actor award from the
National Board of Review, (USA) and
National Society of Film Critics Awards, (USA).
(And if you read his interview in
--was it either Genre or Out?-- the gay press,
he may be straight, but he
found his "inner homosexual" to play the part.)
I haven't seen it yet, so I cannot call it a
"must own" from personal experience, but I will
be buying it.
Mark
------------------

I'm glad that The Celluloid Closet will be making it to DVD shortly.
I saw film critic and author Vito Russo speak at a screening of Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt. He was angry at the disease that was shortly going to kill him, but was still very much a fighter.
It is a tribute to Russo that the community came together and made the movie based on his book. I am looking forward to seeing it again.
- Steve

Mark, let us know your thoughts on "Before Night Falls". I was able to see it during its theatrical run, and thought Javier was excellent. It's quite moving and aptly poetic in parts, but it wasn't quite a rave for me. I can't quite put my finger on what was missing.
Johnny Depp's cameos were quite amusing, in 2 very different roles!
By the way, this is Eliz from the previous version 4 thread. For some reason, it wouldn't accept that name after the changeover, so I lengthened it.

Someone was asking about ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
in another thread, so I thought I would
re-post my comments from the month-of
no-return posts.
I mentioned quite a while ago I would
comment on the
ABsolutely FABulous Box Set ,
but haven't gotten around to it because I have
been so busy.
And because I have 10 hour project due in 46 hours,
I will keep this too-too brief also,
but basically the set is almost perfect!
The only thing that was omitted was the
AB FAB movie, The Last Shout.
But the box set is definitly they way to go.
The extra disc contains all the documentaries on
the show, including one I hadn't seen (and I started
watching this show religiously when it first aired
on Comedy Central).
The nicest extra is the inclusion of
the original skit from the French & Saunders show
that was adapted into AB FAB.
Dawn French did a great job as Saffy!
Also, the outtakes are quite extensive and VERY funny.
(There are both on the 4th disc, and on each individual
disc with some redundancy.)
One of the best things is that on each disc,
you get the option to pick
an episode,
a scene from the episode,
AND you can decide to play just
one episode
or have them all play in order!!!.
(This is one of my minor gripes with the
Sex In The City: Season One Set:
that you have to go in a select each episode to
play it, and not just "play all in order.")
As a side note, I am starting to believe that
AB FAB has had a minor edit on home video.
I noticed it on the VHS set way back when also.
I could've sworn, that during the
Death episode Edina quotes
Madonna's Like A Prayer when she is grief-sticken:
Edina is sitting in the dark in the kitchen,
Saffy comes down and asks what she is doing
sitting in the dark. Edina starts to talk
about her mortality....
Edina [somberly](to Saffy): "Life is a mystery.
Everyone must stand alone. I hear you call my name
and it feels like home."
Saffy: "Oh that's lovely."
Edina: "It's Madonna, darling.
[starts actually singing it this time]
...'Just Like a Prayer...'".
I am guessing that they couldn't get US rights
for the quote, or they were too costly.
I think if you watch the show on television
it is still there...at least I remember it.
Anyway, I do remember it, but maybe I am confused
about which episode it was in.
Can anyone help me out?
Mark
------------------

Hey Mark-
You're not crazy- I remember that "Like A Prayer" scene vividly from the TV broadcast and found it strange that it wasn't on the laserdisc box set or the DVD release (even leading to beleive that I hallucinated it). But now I'm not the only one who's seen it.
Thank you.
------------------