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Reviews
Icing on the Cake (2020)
Not dreadful, but not the best either
I found the female and male leads likeable and thought there was some chemistry. Although, I take issue about how long the male lead took to reveal himself to the female lead was a bit unrealistic and I blame that on the writing. Also, the father figure was comically written in how cravenly greedy he was until the very end until he took a bite of her cake. I do agree with the first reviewer, that had the writing been in more capable hands that this movie would have been better, but it's not a disaster.
Flashing Lights (1979)
Precusor to CRUISING only with a psychotic French woman
This is not the best movie. The storyline is rather boring, messed up French woman, marries a younger man (who has his own issues) in the hopes of "being normal" and having a baby. The issue with the younger man is that he's gay! Oh dear, what to do. Because of a traumatic past involving the death of her mother and flashing lights, every time there is a flashing light, she goes psycho, pulls out this huge knife and stabs a gay man in the stomach killing him. By my count she took out 4 guys, actually one was straight. Anyway, things don't end well gay husband and psychotic wife.
The lead actress, Florence Giorgetti, does a respectable job of carrying the movie. It's all the other "actors", and I am being generous with that term that are middling at best. Her husband, played by a John Ferris, but he has another name, Byron Hawkwood, (Hawkwood did some nude modeling and is very much a gay icon for those familiar with gay porn of the late 1970s, early 1980s.) He is a Tom of Finland character that came to life, too bad he couldn't put any life into his role. Robyn Peterson, who plays a gallery owner who tries to seduce Mr. Gay Tom of Finland is especially funny in her attempts to be a dramatic actress. As for the shrink, very little thought was given on how a real shrink behaves in a therapy session.
The production values leave much to be desired. The Lighting Director did not do his job well, it is so dark throughout the movie that you hardly see the actors. There is some crazy camera work, but then again is was the late 70s.
What the movie does show well is the NYC gay club scene of the late 1970s before AIDs ripped it all apart. It was fun to see the celebratory vibe in the first club. However, there was a darker mood in successive scenes. Allegedly, this was based on a true story. The wife went to prison, was rehabbed, released and teaching yoga, at least that is what the end credit say. OK fine. If you have want to kill, really kill an hour and 30+ minutes of your time view this movie.
Nature of Love (2020)
Nice scenery but a retread of a storyline
I saw this storyline before in Love on the Slopes. Nice scenery, handsome cast, but a bit blah. Also, the male lead, who is supposed to be a hard core naturalist, would never go clamping.
Christmas Coach (2019)
Bad casting for the female lead
The casting for this film is fine, with one glaring exception, the female lead. She is too over the top in joyfulness (she is a bit obnoxious) and it's unbelievable that the male character, as depicted, would find anything interesting about her. I honestly don't know what the casting director was thinking when casting her--unless the actress was a relative or something.
The Kennedys (2011)
Too much time travel, not enough attention to facts
Sorry, but I watched this from start to finish. It was a tiresome watch, too much time travel, one moment you are in 1960, then you are in 1939, back to 1961, back to 1941, etc. All this time travel almost gave me motion sickness. The lack of attention was too long to itemize here. One scene showed Joe, Sr. being taught to stand after his stroke, this supposedly occurred on Nov. 22, 1963, just as JFK was assassinated--not true. He was in his bedroom sleeping and Rose Kennedy told him. I do have to admit that some of the performances were good, Tom Wilkerson who play Joe, Sr., Barry Pepper as RFK, and even Katie Holmes did a respectable job with Jackie's role. Also the writing needed to be re-worked some of the story lines were too rushed, epecailly noticeable in the last 2 hour finale. This mini-series is a mess.