Adams Movie Reviews

From the description, we expected to see young gay men struggling to reconcile their sexual identity with their religious convictions. Indeed, from comments by the actors and director/writer/producer in the additional material on the DVD, that was the intent. However, two of the gay characters came to the college by mandate of their parents and had little or no religious conviction and the third had obviously discarded much, if not all, of his religious belief as he had embraced his gay identity. The frequent mention of St. Jude and the few seconds he is portrayed on screen prior to the end credits doesn't qualify as reconciliation of gay identity and religious (Christian) dogma. The reference to St. Jude is problematic as well, since emphasis on saints is a Catholic reference and all the other religious references in the film imply the college setting is a Protestant/Fundamentalist, possibly Baptist or Pentecostal.

The production quality of the movie is dismayingly amateurish, as is the performance of most of the actors. Although some of the scenes seem to have been actually filmed in the facilities of a small school, which added the benefits of existing ambient sound, the sound effects and score were very lacking. And, as much as I have often joined in condemning movie and television producers who fail to utilize gay actors to play gay parts, it would have certainly improved the quality of Last Year to have cast straight actors in at least some of the straight roles. It was almost impossible to suspend belief and see Robby as anything other than gay. In the most confrontational scene between the gay bashing jocks and Paul, it almost seems like Paul and the lead jock want to kiss as they stand nose to nose. And, in fact, the outtakes include that scene ending with Paul leaning the additional inch in and planting a kiss on the jock's lips. Another criticism I have of the casting is that I saw no chemistry between the actors portraying Paul and Alex, although these are the two characters that develop a physical and emotional relationship as the film progresses. Mike Dolan, who portrays Alex, brings the most professional and close to believable performance to the movie, but it simply isn't enough.

As for cautions, I think anyone with unresolved issues about suicide might want to skip this movie. Also the movie really doesn't provide any serious help to resolving gay identity and religious conviction; so if you are struggling with this issue, don't expect too much help there either. If you want to see a movie for light entertainment, I wouldn't discourage you from Last Year. But it is better as a rental rather than a purchase, because I am not sure many would want to devote the time to watching it a second time.

I also had the opportunity to see a day's filming on this picture and know it was shot on a small budget with people who cared about the subject matter enough to get it onto the screen and make it as real as the 'censors' would allow.

I was pleasantly suprised at the final product when I attended the intitial California screening . This is not the slick formula film that Hollywood would want to make on the subject. It is a film that deserves attention and careful consideration of its subject matter.

This is one to skip.

Then there is the music which is just great, a successful recreation of ancient jazz, which can be heard in "Robert Altman's Jazz '34" and purchased separately in two CD's, "Kansas City" (the original soundtrack) and "Kansas City After Dark", all three available ar Amazon and reviewed.

On the positive side for the movie I'll mention the great interpretation by Harry Belafonte and Miranda Richardson (Mrs. Stilton), less so of Jennifer Jason Leigh.

I think the weak side is the plot: Blondie (Leigh) abducts Mrs. Stilton to get back his man, who is in custody of the black gangasters (Belafonte) for a hold-up. Then Blondie goes on talking and talking with a somewhat annoying and exaggerated pitch.

I conjecture Altman wanted to make a movie on his home town in the moment of maximum musical blossing and jazz development and he gave less importance to plot and characters, more to the music. I think we can be happy with that, but as a jazz lover I prefer the above-mentioned "Jazz '34".

"The Invisible Ghost" is the best of the nine Poverty Row productions Lugosi made for Monogram after his fall from grace at Universal Studios. The problems in the script (you can usually find the body in a car crash for starters) are compensated for by the work of director Joe Lewis, who shows a lot of cinematic flair for a B-film director making a quickie (e.g., filming the fireplace during the exposition). This film is rather face paced and gets a lot in for only 64-minutes. The other advantage it has is that Lugosi's performance is better than the plot; I mean, come on, you know who the murderer is before the movie begins, and it is just a question of waiting for all the pieces to be forced into place by the time the film ends. This is not a suspense film, but more one about atmosphere and mood. The insane wife, befuddled daughter and falsely accused beau are all above average performances as well; if you were just listening to them you would not know this was a low-budget horror film. There are times when I think this is Lugosi's best performance, but I am probably more comfortable claiming it is one in which he plays his most sympathetic character. But if you do not have a strong stomach for stupid plots, then you would want to pass this one bye.

Even more hackneyed than others. Bad songs. Little cleverness.

A supporting cast of lesser interest, to me anyway. (No Susan Hart, no Don Rickles, no Donna Loren, darn little Buster Keaton and Bobbi Shaw- and she's a brunette here).

Watchable at best.

IMHO, "How to Stuff..." needed more Buster Keaton and Bobbi Shaw. An appearance by Susan Hart wouldn't exactly have felt like a sharp stick in the eye, either.

She takes a shine to Eric Von Zipper, played to perfection by Harvey Lembeck. He is an expert cyclist from his years of being the leader of the Rat Pack. He is more than happy to keep Cassandra away from Ricky and the bad influence of "them beach bums." When Dee Dee finds out that Frankie is playing around with a native girl, she decides to join Ricky for the motorcycle race. Since Cassandra has signed a contract with the ad agency, it's decided to pair her with Eric Von Zipper. Peachy decides that an image makeover is necessary. Thus, Eric trades in his leather outfit and chains for a gray business suit! This entry in the beach movie series shows off Eric Von Zipper to best effect. Despite the Rat Pack's best efforts at sabotage, Ricky and Dee Dee end up winning the motorcycle race. However, Dee Dee doesn't want to go on a cross country promotional tour. Frankie is magically reunited with Dee Dee on the beach for a happy ending. This is the last of the classic beach movies to have Frankie and Annette together, and also features the most musical numbers. As for the movie Frankie starred in shortly afterwards, it was entitled "Sergeant Deadhead." To give you an idea of how successful that was at the box office, "Sergeant Deadhead" has yet to be commercially released on video!

Even more hackneyed than others. Bad songs. Little cleverness.

A supporting cast of lesser interest, to me anyway. (No Susan Hart, no Don Rickles, no Donna Loren, darn little Buster Keaton and Bobbi Shaw- and she's a brunette here).

Watchable at best.

IMHO, "How to Stuff..." needed more Buster Keaton and Bobbi Shaw. An appearance by Susan Hart wouldn't exactly have felt like a sharp stick in the eye, either.

She takes a shine to Eric Von Zipper, played to perfection by Harvey Lembeck. He is an expert cyclist from his years of being the leader of the Rat Pack. He is more than happy to keep Cassandra away from Ricky and the bad influence of "them beach bums." When Dee Dee finds out that Frankie is playing around with a native girl, she decides to join Ricky for the motorcycle race. Since Cassandra has signed a contract with the ad agency, it's decided to pair her with Eric Von Zipper. Peachy decides that an image makeover is necessary. Thus, Eric trades in his leather outfit and chains for a gray business suit! This entry in the beach movie series shows off Eric Von Zipper to best effect. Despite the Rat Pack's best efforts at sabotage, Ricky and Dee Dee end up winning the motorcycle race. However, Dee Dee doesn't want to go on a cross country promotional tour. Frankie is magically reunited with Dee Dee on the beach for a happy ending. This is the last of the classic beach movies to have Frankie and Annette together, and also features the most musical numbers. As for the movie Frankie starred in shortly afterwards, it was entitled "Sergeant Deadhead." To give you an idea of how successful that was at the box office, "Sergeant Deadhead" has yet to be commercially released on video!

INTIMATE POWER is the startling "true story" of Aimee Dubuoa (Amber O'Shea), who is kidnapped by pirates and sold into the harem of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Tragically falling in love with the Sultan's nephew, the sensual young Aimee instead becomes the Sultan's favorite, posing as a threat to the older women of the harem.

This epic of sexual and political power follows the remarkable life of a woman as she fights for and gains ultimate control of one of the world's last male-dominated empires.

With F. Murray Abraham, Maud Adams, James Michael Gregary, Andrea Parisy and Ron Dortch.

The only other Playmate to appear on this DVD is Daphnee Duplaix in her segment as a jet fighter pilot, as she strips down in front of her commanding officer.

Newsstand Special model Dawn McFall also appears here as a nurse who gives her male patient special attention and treatment.

The remainder of the girls were not Playmate regulars, but there were interesting vocations which Playboy chose to dress up these women in. One woman was an Everglades ranger on a inflatable hovercraft, another was a beach lifeguard, a corporate boss in a business suit, an airline flight attendant, a firefighter, and, what I found to be the most interesting one, a police SWAT team member.

It doesn't rank among the best Playboy DVDs in my collection, but it is an enjoyable addition that is worth watching every once in a while.

A sexed-up love story for the swinging Sixties, adapted from a literary source (Alexandre Dumas' 'La Dame aux Camellias') by screenwriter Michael DeForrest, and directed with cinematic flair by Radley Metzger who, along with Russ Meyer and Joe Sarno (amongst others), is credited with redefining the parameters of 'Adult' cinema throughout the 1960's and 70's. Using the scope format for the last time in his career, Metzger's exploration of 'la dolce vita' is rich in visual excess (note the emphasis on reflective surfaces, for example), though the film's sexual candor seems alarmingly coy by modern standards. Production values are handsome throughout, and while the actors are slightly hamstrung by post-sync dubbing, the performances are engaging and humane (Castelnuovo and Gaubert are particularly memorable). Though set in an unspecified future, Enrico Sabbatini's wacked-out set designs locate the movie firmly within its period, and Piero Piccioni's 'wah-wah' music score has become something of a cult item amongst exploitation devotees. Ultimately, CAMILLE 2000 is an acquired taste, but fans of Metzger's brand of elegant softcore erotica won't be disappointed.

The movie runs a generous 116m 33s on Image's all-region DVD, which letterboxes the wide Panavision frame at 2.35:1, without anamorphic enhancement. The print is a little ragged in places, particularly at reel-ends, where a couple of lines of dialogue have been clipped by the ravages of time, though the overall presentation is fair. Similarly, the 1.0 mono soundtrack is a little unbalanced, with occasional dips in volume during dialogue exchanges, but nothing too distracting. There are no captions or subtitles, and no extras except for a trailer which offers little more than a series of still-frames, set against Piccioni's memorable (though irritating) theme music. Next up for Metzger was THE LICKERISH QUARTET (Esotika Erotika Psicotika, 1970), which many consider his best film.

Art...uh, no. Wack, fun filmmaking of its period, most certainly.