Reviews

Trying to find anything even watchable with my free weekend of SHOWTIME, I scraped the bottom of the with "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". Let me start by saying that the premise of the movie is ridiculous in itself, but then it only gets worse with the countless unbelievable scenes including a finale which includes a "public hearing" (literally) which tests the legitimacy of Chuck and Larry's so called gay relationship. I don't know what was worse; the producers/writers stupid ideas of what being gay means or the stupid tired gay clichés. This movie REALLY stinks people ... I mean REALLY REALLY stinks. The three stars I gave this mess are for the decent soundtrack. I never could stand the completely overrated, unfunny, adolescent, and moronic Adam Sandler, but after (((LISTENING))) to him chew gum throughout most of the entire movie, I REALLY hate him.

I enjoyed the movie, but an original masterpiece it ain't. Frank's (Denzel W's)explosive and irrational character is basically a black version of Warren Beatty's BUGSY and the rest of the movie is full of clichés' that we've seen a hundred times before; they simply substitute the stereotypical Italian character with a black man. Particularly strange was Frank's dialect going from "ghetto black" to Harvard educated white(depending on his mood).But for me, what really separates this movie from the true American gangster classics (Godfather or Goodfellas), is they were based on fact; American Gangster is pure fiction. Not a mention of the racial tensions of the early 70's, in fact we are supposed to accept that no brow is raised over Frank marrying a non-black girl; even momma declares "she's the most beautiful woman in the world". Frank's family, inner circle and entire world is an organized and well run fictional BLACK euphoria ... emphasis on the word FICTIONAL.

The production of this thing looks like a local cable access show with the production budget of an 8th grade film class. There is no score, no screenplay, no lighting. It is often so dark that you can't even see who's who (not that we care). The sound is so bad that you can even hear what they are saying (again, not as if we care). The "actors" look and sound like they were pulled off the street to make a movie; "just stand there and read this!". In reality, it isn't even a movie; just really bad hurricane footage borrowed from some local cable access news show with a $100 camcorder and some people in cheesy Dollar Store clown masks. I have no idea how it even made its way onto our local cable pay-per-view line-up. Customer service actually said it was "an error in programming" and promptly credited our account the $4.00.

Diana Ross truly reigns Supreme in this made for '94 TV movie about a 43 yr. old former doctor battling Paranoid Schizophrenia. This is one of those memorable "TV Movies" that is actually too good for TV. Gone are the typical TV movie clichés', obvious character developing scenes, and silly subplots. Portraying a paranoid schizophrenic convincingly when you are one of the most famous and glamorous entertainers on the planet must not be an easy task, but from the very first scene Miss Ross pulls it off. This is a heart breaking story of a former doctor who struggles with the illness for 20 years. After countless bouts with hospitals, mental institutions, shock therapy, and treatment centers a new experimental drug finally offers hope. The story examines how the disease really effects an entire family and the supporting cast is superb as well. Ross was nominated for and Emmy for her performance and won many others.

This was one of the most memorable 1970's TV performances by the legendary Streisand. Despite having just received the Acadamy Award for her first movie (Funny Girl) and selling a lot of records, the world was still discovering her amazing talent and television viewers were once again awestruck. She decided to lend her pal Burt Bacharach a little help on his TV special and of course completely stole the show. She appears very relaxed, sexy, and contemporary and jokes with Burt about her already infamous 'fears' of performing and then segues into a gorgeous "duet with herself" on Bacharach's "One Less Bell to Answer/ House is not a Home" from her Barbra Joan Streisand album. Streisand is in top form here as she makes this Bacharach classic her own. She then does a quieter more subdued duet with Bacharach on his "Close to You"; again goosebumps. The special closes with Barbra doing a lesser known song of Burt's called "Be Aware" especially written for her. Again....LIKE BUTTAH! We can only hope that one day Barbra or Burt will release this gem on DVD.