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Tim.NYC
Reviews
Wit (2001)
True to the Original
I had the incredible privilege to see the stage presentation of W;t (the original title's spelling) starring Judith Light (of "Who's the Boss" fame) and thought it incredible. After seeing it, I hoped to one day see it again as a teleplay or feature film.
When I saw the ads on HBO for the performance of Wit with Emma Thompson, I had my doubts. I was afraid they would not be able to live up to the brilliant script. That they would somehow "ruin" it with added characters, backstories, subplots and the lot.
I'm happy to report that the HBO adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson is true to form.
Emma Thompson's portrayal of Dr. Vivian Bearing, professor of 17th century poetry, is incredible. You know this character. She was the strict teacher in high school, the hard professor in high school. The one that had the class that EVERYONE avoided.
We watch Dr. Bearing as she learns she is in stage four of metastatic ovarian cancer. ("...there is no stage five," as Dr. Bearing tells us.) It is brilliant how the character can break through the fourth wall to speak directly to us, and take us with her into her new world, where she is now the helpless student.
The collaboration between the author (an elementary school teacher in "real life") and director, Mike Nichols works perfectly. Wonderful dialogue, not the pedestrian verbiage we're used to. Brilliant acting by Ms. Thompson, as well as Christopher Lloyd, who plays the head of research who directs her "aggressive treatment."
Don't miss it. If you do... don't rent it, buy it.
Beaches (1988)
The Best of Bette - Good for a Laugh and a Cry
I love Bette Midler. I just do. But I feel some of her films haven't been up to the calibre she is capable of. Beaches is NOT one of these films.
A beautifully sappy film about two friends from opposite sides of the tracks - as children, they befriend each other on the beaches of Atlantic City where a young Cee-Cee (Midler) is a hopeful child-star-wannabe. We see their lives as they grow up and apart from each other, only to see that the true friendship has never gone from their lives, no matter how burdensome their relationship has become.
Barbara Hershey is wonderful as the friend from the right side of the tracks, and Mayim Bialik is eerily yet perfectly cast as a young Midler. Lainie Kazan is fantastic (as always) as Midler's stage-mother Leona.
Get your tissues out, but also get ready to laugh through this beautifully written, comical and tragic story about true friendships.
Longtime Companion (1989)
A multiple watcher that doesn't cater to the stereotypes.
Every once in a while, I'm struck with the mood to watch Longtime Companion yet again. One of the best gay-oriented/gay-theme films ever made. I originally saw the film on PBS before the right-winged-*bleeps* started lobbying for PBS to tone down all gay content, and fell in love with this tale of a group of men, who just happen to be gay, and how they deal with the threat of a new disease. Filled with some Hollywood actors that I never would have expected to see in a film that could perceivably put a bad "mark" on their careers, this warm, touching, very funny, dramatic, sad, loving movie... is one I will never tire of seeing. A MUST for the Gay-Movie Collector.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Very well done horror that's turned into a Gay Icon
Who doesn't love Bette and Joan? These two have made What Ever Happened to Baby Jane an all-time classic. The one-liners are quoted over 25 years later. This film is one that has earned a permanent place in the Gay Community's library.
Bette's performance as Baby Jane Hudson will surely be one of her most remembered roles. She portrays the apparently mentally imbalanced younger sister incredibly well.
Matched with Joan Crawford, the older, wheelchair-bound sister, the chemistry between the two women is sensational.
On the edge of your seat throughout... wondering what could possibly be the outcome of these siblings... any person will love this suspense thriller.