Box Turtle Bulletin
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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 19th, 2008
OK, this is WAY outside what we usually post. But I saw a pre-release movie last night that so bad that i have to warn you.
Mike Myers’ The Love Guru is painfully awful.
If you think that puns are the height of wit and the name “Guru Tugginmypudha” makes you roll on the floor laughing you might love this movie. You might also be an adolescent boy.
But if the Indian town name of Hairinmykeester makes you cringe rather than giggle, don’t waste your money. In fact, don’t waste your NetFlix.
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Ben in Oakland
June 19th, 2008
the ads just look stupid. But thanks for the warnin..g
Regan DuCasse
June 19th, 2008
Saw a trailer for it and I was cringing THEN. You’d be surprised how few women have the opportunity to make movies, regardless of how brilliant women are you break through the glass ceiling of Hollywood studio flicks.
There is no bottom to what Will Farelle or the Farelly brothers get for a budget.
But Kasi Lemmons, Alison Anders, Jane Campion and Gina Bythewood practically have to beg.
So wrong…so, so wrong.
Bill S
June 20th, 2008
Really, the ONLY reason I was even tempted to see it at all was seeing Justin Timberlake with a porn-star moustache and afro, in speedos.
Which might almost be enough to spring for the rental when it comes to DVD, allowing me to skip everything else. Almost.
Richard W. Fitch
June 20th, 2008
Hey Folks!! Remember it’s summer, time for mindless fun at the cineplex. For whatever it may be worth, no less than Deepak Chopra has endorsed this flick. ……go figure….. ??
Erica B.
June 20th, 2008
I don’t get the joke. What’s “Guru Tugginmypudha” sound like? What’s a Pudha? I don’t necessarily want it explained to me, of course, just sayin’ — I feel old. Or, perhaps, not immature 8)
Sounds like a movie I’m more than happy to miss, anyhow.
AJD
June 20th, 2008
I’ve heard nothing good about that movie at all. It’s sad to see as talented an actor as Mike Myers go from “Wayne’s World” and “So I Married an Axe Murderer” to … this.
cowboy
June 20th, 2008
An observation that someone once postulated: If a movie is unabashedly promoted in multiple unrelated and incongruent venues (i.e. as Mike Myers was on American Idol) it’s probably going to be a turkey/no-stars/thumbs-down flick.
So, it’s a truism is this case.
Mostly I just rely on the reviews and the consensus @ rottentomatoes before I pull out my wallet and pay to see something on the big screen. I can spend $8 buying two gallons of gas instead! Otherwise, I may just wait for it on Netflix and hopefully watch it when I’m with others who will help me appreciate the humor…of course they’ll be slightly inebriated…which sometimes makes bad movies tolerable.
But thanks for the review, Jim.
And now, look how I will now segue into asking a question about gay/lesbian videos on Netflix, which I just discovered. I have only a very limited library of gay-themed DVDs (Brokeback Mountain, Tales of the City, Love, Valour, & Compassion, The Ritz etc.). And I know I am going to get blasted with asking this question…but here goes:
Any recommendations? And no…I did not like “Latter Days†if that gives you any indication of the level of quality of movies I like.
cowboy
June 20th, 2008
Oops..it was Timothy who wrote the review. (sorry)
Timothy Kincaid
June 20th, 2008
cowboy,
I’ve seen the following and would see them again. Some are wonderful, some not so much. Some drama, some just silly. All have either a gay theme, a gay subplot, or a solid gay character.
24th Day – James Marsden
And the Band Played On – Alan Alda
As Good as it Gets – Greg Kinnear
American Beauty
Before Night Falls – Javier Bardem
Bent – Clive Owen
The Birdcage – Nathan Lane
Brokeback Mountain – Heath Ledger
Broken Hearts Club – Zach Braff
But I’m a Cheerleader – Kip Pardue
Capote – Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Crying Game – Forest Whitaker
Die Mommy Die – Jason Priestly
Dog Day Afternoon – Al Pacino
Happy Endings – Jason Ritter
Happy Texas – William H. Macy
Heights – Jesse Bradford
Hollow Reed – Martin Donoban
A Home at the End of the World – Colin Farrell
Home for the Hollidays – Robert Downey Jr.
In and Out – Kevin Kline
Interview with the Vampire – Brad Pitt
Johns – David Arquette
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Val Kilmer
Lilies – Matthew Ferguson
Little Miss Sunshine – Steve Carrell
Loggerheads – Kip Pardue
Longtime Companion – Dermot Mulroney
A Love to Hide – Jereme Renier
Maurice – Hugh Grant
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – Kevin Spacey
Mysertious Skin – Joseph Gordon-Levitt
The Night Listener – Robin Williams
The Opposite of Sex – Ivan Sergei
Own Private Idaho – Keanu Reeves
Parting Glances – Steve Buscemi
Party Monster – McCauley Culkin
Philadelphia – Tom Hanks
Priest – Robert Carlyle
Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Guy Pearce
Quinceanera – Jesse Garcia
Saved! – Chad Faust
Shallow Grave – Ewan McGregor
Shelter – Brad Rowe
The Sum of Us – Russell Crowe
Velvet Goldmine – Christian Bale
The Wedding Banquet – Winston Chao
I’m sure there are many I’m forgetting.
cowboy
June 20th, 2008
I’m impressed. I’m impressed you recall from memory in alphabetical order. :-)
Ok, then, I’ll start on my new discovery at Netflix at the top of the list…with about a week for turnaround with each movie I suppose I’ll be set for quite some time.
Thanks…have a good weekend and pass the unbuttered popcorn…it’s swimsuit season ahead.
Emily K
June 21st, 2008
All of the “gay movies” I like are lesbian-oriented. (surprised?)
My favorite “gay movie” is a Swedish film called “Show Me Love.” But calling it a “gay movie” really pigeonholes it and doesn’t give it justice. The original title is “Fucking Ã…mÃ¥l.” This is a reference to the town they live in, Ã…mÃ¥l, which is so lousy and boring that they all wish they didn’t “live in fucking Ã…mÃ¥l.” Get it?
Anyway, it’s a wonderful portrait of restless teenage-hood. I grew up in a crappy small town too – so I can relate on so many levels.
If you want pure fluff, I like “Imagine Me & You,” a British romantic comedy.
“But I’m A Cheerleadeer” is another classic of the genre. Not everyone likes it, but you can’t take it too seriously. It’s an outrageous comedy set in a reparative therapy camp. It’s oftentimes very silly and unreal but it’s almost creepy how closely real reparative therapy programs use the same ideas, such as mandating specific dress and reinforcing 1950’s gender roles – even the most outrageous satire isn’t that outrageous.
“The Hours” is one I haven’t seen but I know there’s a gay subplot, and it was critically praised.
Bill S
June 22nd, 2008
Interesting list, but you left out one of my favorites: “My Beautiful Laundrette”(1985). It was the movie that put Daniel Day-Lewis on the map, and he and Gordon Warnecke are actually kinda hot together.
PiaSharn
June 23rd, 2008
Well, I don’t have much to add since A) Timothy already listed several titles that I enjoyed, and B) most of what I watch is anime.
However, I will recommend “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” which has to be one of my all time favorites. Also, “Shortbus” and “If These Walls Could Talk II”. I’ve also had several friends recommend “Better Than Chocolate” although I haven’t seen it yet.
If you like documentaries, you might want to find a copy of “The Celluloid Closet” which looks at GLBT characters and themes in movies (and how they are percieved) from the dawn of film through the early 1990s.
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