CashelWicklow

IMDb member since June 2018
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The Naked Civil Servant
(1975)

This haunted my school days!
Whilst every conceivable stereotype is played to the full in Thames T. V's The Naked Civil Servant one cannot but admire the sheer quality of the acting and production. It still looks great half a century later!

My major issue with it is because it was the first really BIG drama shown on a major network about gay men in 1975 all those stereotypes stuck.

After it aired my name became Quentin at senior school and it haunted me! My If you forgive the pun this drama is a fairytale. Crisp loving the attention feeding his own self loathing is not realistic. He's one dimensional. He's what heterosexual people think gay men are like, even to this day.

When I came out at Fifteen I was stunned to learn gay men didn't flounce around in full makeup and didn't have female hairstyles dyed bright red.

I think the Naked Civil Servant belongs in a museum.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
(1994)

Almost brilliant
Whilst Brad Pitt,Antonio Banderas and Kirsten Dunst give magnificent performances the same can't be said for Tom Cruise as Lestat. I've been a long time fan of the book,whilst Lestat is evil and flamboyant in the book Cruise plays him as simpering and campy in the film. I wondered at times if Cruises Lestat would have preferred ham than blood to match his crazy,scenery chewing performance.

The film looks beautiful,with lush reds,deep purples and blacker than black black. The scenery and set pieces look incredibly expensive and sometimes even jaw dropping It's got some real gore to sink your teeth into although occasionally it veers into cruel territory.

Great atmospheric vampire film,easily in the top 5 of the genre maybe even the best. I loved it despite Cruise's terrible performance.

Whodunnit?
(1972)

Dated
Very silly,very cheap and with guest judges who were stars in the 1900's!!!!!!!

John Pertwee seemed uncomfortable slumming it in this show. The acting was usually woeful and the homophobia,sexism and racism wouldn't be allowed today The who done it part was either so easy to guess as to blow the mind or totally impossible to guess!

Having said all that,there's something quite wonderful about it all. It's charmingly tacky and a time capsule of a time that's thankfully past The 4 audience guests chosen to take part looked like they'd walked out of a 1960's Hammer Horror film.

I still love it .

Monsters
(2022)

Gloating
This is nothing more than gloating voyeurism. You learn very little about Dahmer's victims or even him. It feels like Murphy has written a 10 hour long episode of American horror story.

Nothing is nuanced. It boarders on the cruel. I felt grubby and nothing but distain for the creators. They've seemed to have forgotten or don't care that there are friends and family still alive of the victims . I hope beyond hope they never watch this ghoulish piece of trash.

I'm aware true crime documentaries and dramas are popular but Dahmer comes across as a one dimensional character from a badly made horror film!

The cast is great,would I recommend it? NO!

V for Vendetta
(2005)

More relevant now
This great film is more relevant now than when it was made in 2006!

Flawless acting by everyone but stand outs are Hugo Weaving,Natalie Portman and John Hurt.

The film is poetic in its dialogue,the action scenes are exceptional. This film will make you think. With the rise of social media,the print and T,V media being more partisan than its ever been and our every move being monitored . We are living in V For Vendetta A movie way before its time. Frightening and eerily realistic!

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Snatch Game
(2022)
Episode 2, Season 7

Magnificent Jinx
This is a stand out episode for one reason,Jinx Monsoon.

. Their performance as Judy Garland transcends Rupaul's Drag Race. It's up there with some of the best comedic performances seen on stage,T. V or in films. Their timing was perfect. The humour was a mix of ridiculous,poignant and very funny.

When Jinx started to sing,WOW,what a voice.

Jinx Monsoon should be bigger than this show,that usually showcases lip syncing drag queens doing the same every week in predictable outfits Jinx Monsoon is 100% better than Rupaul who hosts the show.

Jinx Monsoon needs their own show and with their talent it needn't be a drag show!

The Boys in the Band
(2020)

actors acting out a parts of history they don't understand
The original 1968 play and the 1973 movie showed how gay men could only meet at parties and get togethers as being gay was illegal at the time. You could be arrested for simply being at a bar with a man and buying him a drink. History wasn't kind to the original play/film but people misunderstood it.

The film was about isolation and self loathing taught by a homophobic society.

Whilst the men in the original play/film deeply hurt each other they also deeply loved each other. There homophobic language was the only language they knew,the pain they inflicted on each other was the pain they were feeling about themselves!

This remake has none of that nuance, it's designer actors copying the roles the men in the original movie were living through on a personal level. Michael,Harold,Emory,Bernard,cowboy and Larry weren't just roles these actors played it was their real lives too! How could these millennial actors know the pain and self loathing the original cast felt (6 out of the original cast went on to die of A. I. D. S) they couldn't and it shows!

The whole thing is wooden,unemotional and without heart.

This play/film should have been left as it was,a film showing of times that were slightly worse than they are now! Brian Murphy just doesn't understand the pain of LGBTQI+ history.

To Sir, with Love
(1967)

Wonderful
Yeah it's a bit of whimsy. Only touching on racism lightly. Despite that it's aged in away a time capsule does,magical styles,makeup,dancing and clothing(I'm a Gen Z ) The acting is top notch.

When Lulu sings 🎶Too Sir With Love🎶 Only the most cynical won't feel a tear rolling down their cheek.

Sauvage
(2018)

Truthful
From the first scene to the last this film has a remarkable realness too it. It's script is near perfect as is the acting. If I have one criticism it's the cinematography is a little flat.

People in the reviews have moaned about it not really having an ending. Well life is like that Great film.

The Burning
(1981)

The gold standard of slasher movies
It's cheesy,badly acted with gallons of gore and great special effects by Tom Savini. My favourite slasher movie of all time. Friday the 13th seemed scared of its self. The Burning wore its Rc rating as a badge of honour.

It's a Sin
(2021)

Heartbreaking
By the end of It's A Sin I was shattered. It brought back the memories of friends I've lost to A.I.D.S related illnesses. The series feels genuine and touched on things I faced in the eighties and nineties. The shame,the guilt,the fear of violence Many of my friends where just Taken by families who didn't care about them when they lived but took then from their real family after they were dead. The acting,writing period details all perfect. It's a must see. So sad to see some reviews still hating on gay men in the reviews. Love is love

It's a Sin
(2021)

Heartbreaking
By the end of It's A Sin I was shattered. It brought back the memories of friends I've lost to A.I.D.S related illnesses. The series feels genuine and touched on things I faced in the eighties and nineties. The shame,the guilt,the fear of violence Many of my friends where just Taken by families who didn't care about them when they lived but took then from their real family after they were dead. The acting,writing period details all perfect. It's a must see. So sad to see some reviews still hating on gay men in the reviews. Love is love

Ghostbusters
(2016)

Great Fun
I feel a lot of misogyny as been directed towards this movie and it's mainly female cast! It's outrageous in the Twenty First century anything is judge in such a way! This film in my opinion is better than the original. The storyline is stronger,the structure is more solid,the acting better and most of the jokes land. A big plus is the female cast,we don't have to deal with the flat Dan Ackroyd or the egocentric Bill Murray. This is fun and deserves more credit.

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