Fans of GLBT films should be looking forward to January 8, when two very different classic movies finally make their debuts on DVD.
The Ritz is a retro throwback to the swinging gay New York of the 70’s. Based on Terrence McNally’s stage farce (which recently enjoyed a hit Broadway revival), the Golden Globe nominated comedy reunited most of the original production’s cast, including Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller, F. Murray Abraham and Rita Moreno (reprising her Tony Award-winning role of bathhouse chanteuse Googie Gomez), plus hunky Treat Williams in his film debut.
On the other end of the spectrum, Personal Best was one of the first mainstream films to deal openly with lesbianism. Written and directed by Robert Towne, the sports drama stars Mariel Hemingway as a runner playing both sides of the track, bedding both her male coach (Scott Glenn!) and a female competitor (Patrice Donnelly).
Click here to pre-order The Ritz
and Personal Best
on DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com.
It’s a case of a story so bizarre, that it has to be true: a smalltime conman, married with children, is arrested and thrown into prison. While incarcerated, he falls in love with his cellmate. When said cellmate is released prior to him, he manages to escape and is recaptured … four times. And, oh yeah — this all takes place in Texas.
Dorothy, we’re not in Oz anymore.
Documented in a book by crime reporter Steve McVicker, I Love You Phillip Morris is now being made into a movie. Helmed by the creators of Bad Santa and starring Jim Carrey, it isn’t too hard to figure out that it will be a comedy, albeit a dark one. Let’s just hope Carrey doesn’t wear a Hawaiian shirt like the one seen on the book cover though … that would be too much of an Ace Venture flashback for most of us to handle.
Tempering images of another Chuck and Larry fiasco is the recent casting of Ewan McGregor as the title character. McGregor has done gay for pay before, so one would hope he wouldn’t sign on for a movie made up solely of lame man-on-man-sex-in-prison jokes. Plus, as we’ve all seen (and by “seen”, I mean “freeze-framed”), he’s notorious for going the full monty in just about every movie he’s in; now that would certainly provide ample motivation for anyone to break out of prison at least four times … if not more.
Click here to buy the book I Love You Philip Morris
from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com and Variety.com.