Leonardo is Believable as J, Gatsby

The wealthiest Americans indifference to the poverty surrounding them is a theme in the new “Gatsby” at theaters now.  None of the characters are likable in the latest adaptation of the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel “The Great Gatsby”
What is incredibly tacky is the music, with hip hop signaling the arrival of the African Americans and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” when affluent whites are on screen.
The excessive party scene is overkill and reminiscent of a similar scene in “Moulon Rouge,” also directed by Baz Luhrman, an Australian.
The History Theater here is performing “This Side of Paradise” which has a reference to Fitzgerald’s disillusion with Long Island which may explain Gatsby.
The actress playing Daisy Buchanan whispers and mumbles so I need to get the DVD with closed captions to decipher that mess.  She also has two moles on the side of her neck which look strangely like vampire bites but I don’t recall her in any clinches with Ian Sommerfield or Paul Westerly on “Vampire Diaries.”
The movie is also available in 3-D but I don’t know why.
Leonardo Decaprio look like a leading man in this film as opposed to the sad sacks he played in “The Aviator” and “J. Edgar.”  He is believable as J. Gatsby.  It’s all an illusion.

MILDRED PEARCE MEETS THE BEARDED LADY

In her late career circus movie “Berserk,” an aging Joan Crawford in skimpy attire loses the center ring spotlight to Golda Casimir who plays a singing, dancing bearded lady.  More than a five o’clock shadow, Ms. Casimir sports whiskers that jut out at a 90 degree angle.  Daniel Day Lewis should have been so lucky in Abe Lincoln.  This hilarious bit has to be seen to be believed.
Also unbelievable is the screen affair involving Ms. Crawford and Ty Hardin, a 20 something square jawed hunk who appears shirtless.  Needless to say with the voluptuous Diana Dors involved, both ladies compete for Mr. Hardin’s attention.  Ms. Dors is at her best and treats us to a knock down cat fight with other ladies in the circus troupe.  This inept mess involves murders and a crazed daughter of Crawford played by Judy Geeson.
Crawford recycles her tough broad role bit she is known for in “Johnny Guitar” and “Rain.”  This movie has something for everyone:  Crawford for fans of golden age movies, Hardin for the ladies, Dors for dad and Casimir for fans of the weird.

OLD FUNNY GIRL NOT ALL THAT FUNNY

For her cinematic revival, Barbra Streisand should have picked a circus venue rather  than a road trip with Seth Rogen in “Guilt Trip.”  Fortunately for us and Chevrolet the movie didn’t involve much slapstick with the Chevy Aveo in which they were entombed throughout.  But what was disturbing was the stereotypical Jewish mom role that Streisand recycles here.
Much of the movie is quite boring.  One wonders if Striesand had teamed up with hubby James Brolin for a remake of “Amityville Horror” would it have been more enjoyable?

Entertaining Topp Twins Combine Music and Comedy

The Topp Twins champion equal rights for gays, lesbians and the native New Zealand Maoris in the Topp Twins documentary available on DVD. 
The lesbian ladies take aim at the Kiwi middle class.  In this spot-on comedy bit they shun their quaint every day attire for over the top girlie garb and the dialogue goes something like this:
“You really need to feature gays in your parties and events because they bring so much color.”
“Oh yes, I agree.  They have color.”  (So gays are an entertainment option for straight upper middle class events.)
The triumphs and trials of the sisters are chronicled in this entertaining documentary.  Although the twins appeared in the U.S., I was not aware of their presence on the global stage until a couple of friends recommended the film.  This is definitely time well spent.

Hot Springs Cabins Haunted By Zarkin, Roy Rogers

HOT SPRINGS, S.D. -- A 40 plus year reunion for me was held this past week at the Historic Log Cabins in Hot Springs, S.D.  Last time I was here was September 1969 when I was driving from Boise to Minneapolis to start Fall Term at the University of Minnesota.
I  had dreams featuring Bob Berg and Mrs. Cook, people from my life in the 60s, while at the Roy Rogers cabin.  Photos of the Republic Studios cowboy great decorated the wall.
Last week our group of five enjoyed a one night stay in the historic cabins, only a few blocks from Evans Plunge which was not open when I wanted to go. 
Hot Springs also features a “historic” movie theater and given more time I would have seen “GI Joe” there.

"Bunny O'Hare is Stinko Romcom For Seniors

The much anticipated TV showing Friday of the 1971 American International romantic comedy “Bunny O’Hare” will be remembered for Academy award winning actress Bette Davis’ closing statement:  “”Eff ‘em.  Let’s go to Mexico.”  Thus did Ms. Davis comment to another Academy award winner and her co-star in “Catered Affair,” Ernest Borgnine.  The closing statement refers to her bank-robbing efforts on behalf of her selfish idiot adult children. 
In this later career effort, Davis portrays a widow who has lost her home to a heartless bank and Borgnine is a convicted robber.  She seeks revenge. Romance blooms with the senior citizens on the road robbing banks and on a motorcycle.
Esteemed stage actor Jack Cassidy appears in this inept face as a sexist bumbling cop who does a Maxwell Smart shtick.  All the leads interact with counter culture hippies who applaud any attempts to undermine capitalism.  No doubt this was a script device to draw the young to the drive-in for a romantic movie about wild senior citizens.
Fans of end-of-career movies of talented actors will either weep or snicker at this forgettable film.  It had been reported that Davis sued AIP to prevent the release of Bunny and AIP sued Davis.  It is rarely shown on TV and is not available on DVD or VHS.  I am no fan of romcoms so this may be as good as it gets for that genre, “Admission” included.
When asked about Joan Crawford in Republic’s “Johnny Guitar,” Ms. Davis was reported to comment, “I hear it’s a real stinker.”  Some will disagree but there can be little doubt that Crawford in “Trog” and Davis in Bunny are not reminiscent of their Golden Age days at Warner Bros. or RKO in the 1940s.
Fans of romantic bank robbing couples would be well advised to obtain the 1949 Monogram United Artist classic “Gun Crazy,” a title apropro to today’s headlines.  Peggy Cummins and John Dahl are the Bonnie and Clyde  heroes and spark sexuality in this riveting classic drama directed by Joseph Lewis.
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A SAD WEEK FOR FANS with the passing of Annette Funicello and Jonathan Winters.  Ms. Annette should have stayed on the beach with Frankie and the rest of the beach party gang making Mr. Avalon jealous by making eyes at John Ashley.  A photo of me at the beach where “Beach Blanket Bingo” was filmed appears on Facebook, that dysfunctional mess. 
Mr. Winters is best remember for his campy Grandma Maude Fricke routine with many suggestive double entendres on the Tonight Show with Jack Parr.  Many a night I stayed up for the Grandma.  Winters stole the show in the 60s black comedy “The Loved One” in dual roles.

Documentary is Real Life American Horror Story

In the recent documentary “Queen of Versailles,” the time share scheme king David Siegel rises to fabulous wealth in Florida then sinks into financial despair with the 2008 Wall Street implosion.  By the end of the film Siegel, 74,  is surrounded by dog poop on the floor and a house full of his small children by his third wife, a 40-something cartoonish grotesque who says she will have to see the documentary to find out how the family's fortunes were reversed.

 Siegel “made his own bed” and now is sleeping in the mess, dog poop and all.  At the start of the film he boasts that through illegal means he helped George W get elected president, but he can’t talk about it.

The centerpiece of this real life drama is an unfinished 90,000 square foot home he was building for the family in Orlando that became a white elephant when his financial house of cards fell apart.  Maybe it’s a homeless shelter now.

This is a real American story that will turn the stomachs of some viewers and coincidentally it takes place in Florida where recently a man in his bedroom was sucked into a 60 foot deep sink hole in Tampa.  The Siegels created their own sink hole.

Very Artsy "Anna Karenena" Not a Sizzling Success

Anna is “just a girl who can’t say no” and Count Vronsky is a boy “whose got what it takes and knows how to use it” in the new fun-filled version of “Anna Karenena.”  All the majesty of Imperial Russia dazzles before your eyeballs in scenes that resemble classic paintings.
A very middle aged Jude Law with receding hairline back to his tukus plays the politician husband.  (I didn’t get that is was Jude who was the husband until halfway through this two-hour movie.  He’s no longer the hottie we remember in “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”
The movie is entirely too long and the 40’s London Film version with Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson is more to the point:  Annie is a slut and the husband a self-centered ugly old politician who you hate.
Glad I didn’t spend $8 to see it at the theater.  A remake with Tina Fey and Chaning Tatum would be most welcome with Bela Lugosi digitalized as the husband.