I Just Watched...

[Lorna]

I don't think the word "pansy" is used anymore.

Nor is my favorite "Lavender" which I use to describe classic actors of the closeted past like Edward Everett Horton and Clifton Webb.

"WOMAN HATER" also tickles me. It shows up in A LOT of old MGM FILMS.

[Lorna]

JAGGED EDGE -- annoying '80's courtroom thriller with Glenn Close as possibly the world's dumbest lawyer. The obnoxiously manipulative script tries to "liven" things up with foul-mouthed Robert Loggia but only falls flat.

NO LIES DETECTED.

One fun thing of note (probably the only fun thing of note about JAGGED EDGE), GLENN CLOSE goes through (something like) FOUR WARDROBE CHANGES during what is supposed to be a single scene during the summation of the case. it was supposed to be set over four days, but they edited it into one.

[Swithin]

Holden, I think it's fair to say that some older gay men still find the word "queer" extremely offensive if applied to them. The assumption that "queer" is an acceptable substitute for, say, "LGBT," is ageist, in my opinion.

FOOD OF THE GODS**, on the other hand, THAT is a QUEER FILM. It is a QUEER PREMISE. It is QUEERLY SHOT, it is ODD. it ain't right and it is very much against WHAT NATURE INTENDED.


**It was the first example that popped into my head. i probbaly could think of a better one given time but it's rainy this morning and the pollen count is high

"I used to fantasize
the most horrible death.
You know, the most frightening.
None of them come close
to being eaten by rats.
The funny thing is,
now that it's happening,
it really doesn't seem
to matter, except for my baby."

[Lorna]

so i know some of you may be shocked and stunned to hear this, but I watched something that wasn't a certain hour long mystery drama that ran on CBS from 1984-1996.



I finally made it through FRITZ LANG'S M (1931)- a film I have tried to make it through many times and failed, in spite of the fact that I love PETER LORRE, I like FRITZ LANG'S films, and the subject matter of GERMANY IN THE EARLY 30s FASCINATES ME.

I'm gonna come right out and say it: the film has AN EXCELLENT START but it then runs into VERY REAL PACING PROBLEMS and a very dull 40ish minutes unfold....now, I realize that this may be the first talkie POLICE PROCEDURAL, and it's been done 10000000000000 times since, but I still say- THIS FILM HAS A DEADLY DULL CENTER and at 2 hours and some change, I think they should've cut some fat around the waist.

that said, something ELECTRIC happens at an hour or so in- a BRILLIANT scene where A BLIND MAN hears A KILLER'S WHISTLE on a busy STREET- and from there, the film TAKES OFF AND DOESN'T STOP.

The ending is riveting, and PETER LORRE'S astounding performance (MY GOD, it is SOMETHING- he even ROLLS HIS EYES BACK INTO HIS HEAD LIKE A SHARK when he reminisces in front of a crowd about how IT FEELS WHEN HE GIVES IN TO HIS URGE TO KILL) eclipses the fact that he's BARELY IN THE MOVIE UNTIL THE THIRD ACT.

A really great movie in spite of the pokey middle- wonderful use of both SOUND and SILENT sequences to DISARMING EFFECT (you WILL check to make sure you haven't sat on the the mute button)

this film makes a brilliant companion piece to FURY (1935) by the same director and it also brings to mind THE TRIAL, THE OX-BOW INCIDENT and even one my favorite episodes of BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES: TRIAL.

The actors are all amazing, I have no idea if they were just extras or not; for someone who had a real reputation as a sadistic SOB, FTIZ LANG gets INCREDIBLE WORK FROM EVERYONE-i will even single out "THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY" who is RIVETING in his brief part at the end of the movie and THE MOTHER OF ONE OF THE CHILD VICTIMS who gets the LAST LINE OF THE MOVIE, which would have been devastating had MY HULU NOT COME FLASHING AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN TO TELL ME THAT "GONE WITH THE WIND" WAS COMING ON NEXT.

God, I hate the 21st century.

[Lorna]

and this shot was terrific:

[Hibi]

JAGGED EDGE -- annoying '80's courtroom thriller with Glenn Close as possibly the world's dumbest lawyer. The obnoxiously manipulative script tries to "liven" things up with foul-mouthed Robert Loggia but only falls flat.

NO LIES DETECTED.

One fun thing of note (probably the only fun thing of note about JAGGED EDGE), GLENN CLOSE goes through (something like) FOUR WARDROBE CHANGES during what is supposed to be a single scene during the summation of the case. it was supposed to be set over four days, but they edited it into one.

LMREO!!!!!!!!! I couldn't understand (after watching it on tv) how this film was such a big hit. Totally predictable "thriller".

[Hibi]

As an older gay man, I use the word "queer" in the way that African Americans may use the "N" word. I'm on the alumni committee of my university and also work with young actors and find the word "queer" is used by younger men almost as much as they use the word "gay." I don't think straight people would be comfortable using it.

I don't think the word "pansy" is used anymore. The gay lyricist Lorenz Hart used it in one of his best songs, ca. 1930:

"Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys, tough guys who tear my gown..."

"Sometimes I think, I found my hero, but it's a queer romance..."

I noticed in Love Me Or Leave Me, they changed pansies to dandies in the lyric.

[Swithin]

As an older gay man, I use the word "queer" in the way that African Americans may use the "N" word. I'm on the alumni committee of my university and also work with young actors and find the word "queer" is used by younger men almost as much as they use the word "gay." I don't think straight people would be comfortable using it.

I don't think the word "pansy" is used anymore. The gay lyricist Lorenz Hart used it in one of his best songs, ca. 1930:

"Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys, tough guys who tear my gown..."

"Sometimes I think, I found my hero, but it's a queer romance..."

I noticed in Love Me Or Leave Me, they changed pansies to dandies in the lyric.

Larry Hart's sophisticated lyrics have often been tampered with. The original (and my favorite) version of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" was sung by Vivienne Segal in the original Broadway production of Pal Joey. The song includes these lines:

Until I could sleep where I shouldn’t sleep;

And worship the trousers that cling to him;

Horizontally speaking he’s at his best;

Vexed again, perplexed again, thank God I can be oversexed again.

Ella Fitzgerald's recording cuts the top one but retains the other three. The film version, sung (dubbed) by Rita Hayworth, cuts them all.

[scsu1975]

The Mending Line (Netflix)

Nicely told story about an Afghanistan vet with PTSD (Sinqua Walls) learning how to fly fish from a Viet Nam vet (Bryan Cox). Except for a few f-bombs, this is suitable for everyone. Patricia Heaton, as a doctor at the VA, and Wes Studi, as Cox's buddy, lend good support. Perry Mattfeld, as a librarian who befriends both vets, has a meaty role as someone with her own loss to deal with. No special effects, very little violence (except for the opening war scenes, which aren't that brutal). This was my first time seeing Walls and Mattfeld, and they both show a lot of talent. Just a good film about relationships, featuring some gorgeous Montana scenery. Runs a bit over two hours, but never drags.

[txfilmfan]

As an older gay man, I use the word "queer" in the way that African Americans may use the "N" word. I'm on the alumni committee of my university and also work with young actors and find the word "queer" is used by younger men almost as much as they use the word "gay." I don't think straight people would be comfortable using it.

I don't think the word "pansy" is used anymore. The gay lyricist Lorenz Hart used it in one of his best songs, ca. 1930:

"Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys, tough guys who tear my gown..."

"Sometimes I think, I found my hero, but it's a queer romance..."

I noticed in Love Me Or Leave Me, they changed pansies to dandies in the lyric.

Larry Hart's sophisticated lyrics have often been tampered with. The original (and my favorite) version of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" was sung by Vivienne Segal in the original Broadway production of Pal Joey. The song includes these lines:

Until I could sleep where I shouldn’t sleep;

And worship the trousers that cling to him;

Horizontally speaking he’s at his best;

Vexed again, perplexed again, thank God I can be oversexed again.

Ella Fitzgerald's recording cuts the top one but retains the other three. The film version, sung (dubbed) by Rita Hayworth, cuts them all.

Dandy was another euphemism for gay, as was fop. Both were/are more centered on style and dress than sexual orientation, but to audiences of the day, the implication would be clear.

Re: Hart's lyrics, many of them never would get past the radio censors of the day, so to get airplay (or on film) they had to be "adjusted." Same with Cole Porter's songs (like the cocaine reference in I Get a Kick Out of You).

Even R&H lyrics had to be changed every now and then. For example, the Soliloquy from Carousel had to be changed to remove the word b****** from the stage version's original lyric (flabby-faced, pot-bellied, baggy-eyed b****** became bully instead). The "clean" versions also stop short in the same song later on when Billy utters a "what the hell" - usually becomes a "what the -" in a clean version.

Edit: I had to LOL at this. Even the board's autocensor is triggered by R&H lyrics. Never knew until now...

[Swithin]

I noticed in Love Me Or Leave Me, they changed pansies to dandies in the lyric.

Larry Hart's sophisticated lyrics have often been tampered with. The original (and my favorite) version of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" was sung by Vivienne Segal in the original Broadway production of Pal Joey. The song includes these lines:

Until I could sleep where I shouldn’t sleep;

And worship the trousers that cling to him;

Horizontally speaking he’s at his best;

Vexed again, perplexed again, thank God I can be oversexed again.

Ella Fitzgerald's recording cuts the top one but retains the other three. The film version, sung (dubbed) by Rita Hayworth, cuts them all.

Even R&H lyrics had to be changed every now and then. For example, the Soliloquy from Carousel had to be changed to remove the word b****** from the stage version's original lyric (flabby-faced, pot-bellied, baggy-eyed b****** became bully instead). The "clean" versions also stop short in the same song later on when Billy utters a "what the hell" - usually becomes a "what the -" in a clean version.

Edit: I had to LOL at this. Even the board's autocensor is triggered by R&H lyrics. Never knew until now...

I was in a production of Carousel in 6th grade (which means age 11). It was a daring choice for 10 and 11-year-olds, in an NYC public school. I played a sailor and a fisherman, so was in all the choruses. There's one line that I didn't realize was changed until I saw a professional production:

In our production, Arminy sang: "The clock just ticks your life away; there's no relief in sight. It's cookin' and scrubbin' and sewin' all day, and the same thing's every night."

What we didn't know then, was that the actual line is "And God knows what all night!"

Listening to the show today, there are probably a lot of gender-related lyrics that would be changed, for contemporary productions.

[Hibi]

I noticed in Love Me Or Leave Me, they changed pansies to dandies in the lyric.

Larry Hart's sophisticated lyrics have often been tampered with. The original (and my favorite) version of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" was sung by Vivienne Segal in the original Broadway production of Pal Joey. The song includes these lines:

Until I could sleep where I shouldn’t sleep;

And worship the trousers that cling to him;

Horizontally speaking he’s at his best;

Vexed again, perplexed again, thank God I can be oversexed again.

Ella Fitzgerald's recording cuts the top one but retains the other three. The film version, sung (dubbed) by Rita Hayworth, cuts them all.

Dandy was another euphemism for gay, as was fop. Both were/are more centered on style and dress than sexual orientation, but to audiences of the day, the implication would be clear.

Re: Hart's lyrics, many of them never would get past the radio censors of the day, so to get airplay (or on film) they had to be "adjusted." Same with Cole Porter's songs (like the cocaine reference in I Get a Kick Out of You).

Even R&H lyrics had to be changed every now and then. For example, the Soliloquy from Carousel had to be changed to remove the word b****** from the stage version's original lyric (flabby-faced, pot-bellied, baggy-eyed b****** became bully instead). The "clean" versions also stop short in the same song later on when Billy utters a "what the hell" - usually becomes a "what the -" in a clean version.

Edit: I had to LOL at this. Even the board's autocensor is triggered by R&H lyrics. Never knew until now...

What was censored? B-stard?

[txfilmfan]

Larry Hart's sophisticated lyrics have often been tampered with. The original (and my favorite) version of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" was sung by Vivienne Segal in the original Broadway production of Pal Joey. The song includes these lines:

Until I could sleep where I shouldn’t sleep;

And worship the trousers that cling to him;

Horizontally speaking he’s at his best;

Vexed again, perplexed again, thank God I can be oversexed again.

Ella Fitzgerald's recording cuts the top one but retains the other three. The film version, sung (dubbed) by Rita Hayworth, cuts them all.

Dandy was another euphemism for gay, as was fop. Both were/are more centered on style and dress than sexual orientation, but to audiences of the day, the implication would be clear.

Re: Hart's lyrics, many of them never would get past the radio censors of the day, so to get airplay (or on film) they had to be "adjusted." Same with Cole Porter's songs (like the cocaine reference in I Get a Kick Out of You).

Even R&H lyrics had to be changed every now and then. For example, the Soliloquy from Carousel had to be changed to remove the word b****** from the stage version's original lyric (flabby-faced, pot-bellied, baggy-eyed b****** became bully instead). The "clean" versions also stop short in the same song later on when Billy utters a "what the hell" - usually becomes a "what the -" in a clean version.

Edit: I had to LOL at this. Even the board's autocensor is triggered by R&H lyrics. Never knew until now...

What was censored? B-stard?

Yes

[Hibi]

WILD! I'm a little shocked Hammerstein wrote a lyric like that. It's funny how the usage of that term evolved over time. Originally it was a vulgar term for someone born out of wedlock, but over time came to be used to identify someone as a mean/offensive jerk type of person. Were people born out of wedlock prone to be mean offensive jerks??

[CinemaInternational]

The Color Purple (2023)

Remakes are always a risky proposition, especially when, in this film's case, it is a musical remake of a film that most remember. It isn't to say that Steven Spielberg's 1985 film was perfect; it was a bit too perfectly bucolic, not quite tough enough to depict the era in question, and yet it had a luminous central performance from Whoopi Goldberg, and sterling supporting turns from Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey. It also had some heartrending scenes that I still treasure. But now, I am faced with this remake, and while its heart is in the right place, the new film is overscaled to an alarming degree. I guess going in that it was going to be a type of intimate musical like Yentl, where the songs are personal soliloquies, but no, this goes time and again into flashy numbers with dozens of dancers and dream sequences, and I feel that this (coupled with generic, flat digital photography) drains much of the life from the story (tellingly in spite of all these big production numbers, this film is 12 minutes shorter than the 1985 film). Fantasia Barrino does however do a decent job in the Whoopi Goldberg part, ditto Taraji P. Henson in the Avery role. But only Danielle Brooks in the Oprah part is able to match up move for move with her illustrious predecessor; no wonder she received the film's only Oscar nomination. I don't hate this new film, far from it, but I still think that the 1985 film was more richly emotional.