Showing posts with label John Leguizamo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Leguizamo. Show all posts

Sunday, April 27, 2025

Love That Scars

     This week... Insurmountable obstacles, unfortunate events, and darker obsessions collide in four films about love that wounds and scars and ends unavoidably tragic.

     When a young woman is found murdered after leaving his house, down on his luck and violently tempered screenwriter Dix finds himself squarely in the police's frame. Only the testimony of his beautiful neighbor keeps him from immediate arrest. As his prosecution drags out, a relationship between them blooms. Can the blossoming relationship withstand the suspicions and outside glances? Did Dix succumb to his rage fueled impulses and will he do it again? An existential noir masterpiece with a towering lead performance, In a Lonely Place.

     In the summer of 1972, young Vada Sultenfuss lives with her widowed father. Vada has a tendency toward hypochondria and a fascination with death, likely from losing her mother at birth and growing up in the town funeral parlor. This summer, Vada begins growing into her own and suffers many of life's first times. Widely considered a classic of the 1990s with a pair of fantastic child lead performances and a final act that scared a generation, My Girl.

     Young Douzi is abandoned by his mother at a Peking Opera troupe. His youth is spent training to play dan, female lead, roles while his best friend, Shitou, learns jing, heroic male roles. From the brutal violence of their training, the oppressive occupation of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the crushing repression of the Cultural Revolution, Douzi and Shitou's relationship carries them through 50 years. Beautifully shot, delicately edited, and widely considered one of the best films produced in Mainland China, Farewell My Concubine.

     Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona Beach, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break new mutiny... the star-crossed lovers draw the conclusion of Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy of theatrical motif. Hyper stylized with an energy that has few equals and a cast that matches it beat for beat, The Bard's most well known work's third major film adaption that still brings tears of joy to long suffering High School English teachers everywhere... William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.

     All that and Dave loses a letter, Tyler feels new emotions in a fetal positions, and Kevin likes to watch... everything. Join us, won't you?


Saturday, June 18, 2022

Cloak & Glamour

    This week four people fighting against oppressive structures. 

     When Noxeema Jackson and Vida Boheme tie in the competition for New York City's "Drag Queen of the Year" they set off for Hollywood and the "Miss Drag Queen of America Pageant", with their protégé Chi-Chi, in a 1967 Cadillac DeVille. Soon they are taking refuge in Snydersville waiting for a replacement car part with a bigoted, but fairly inept, sheriff on their trail. Endlessly quotable, stuffed with cameos, and always dressed on point- To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.
     Recently unemployed accountant, Morgan Sullivan, is bored. Not wanting to wait for a pity opening at his wife's father's firm, he secretly takes a position in corporate espionage for Digicorp. Taking the alias Jack Thursby, he infiltrates conventions to secretly record and pass confidential reports to his bosses. His life of excitement doesn't last long as he soon meets Rita Foster and is shown that there is far far more going on than he was led to believe. Morgan isn't recording information from other companies, he is having his own identity and sense of self pulled away and replaced with a Digicorp sleeper agent. A hasty deal with Rita's shadowy and dangerous boss may be his only hope of survival. Can Morgan figure out this tangled puzzle of double crosses and plots or will he be crushed in the corporate cogs of an unsolvable Cypher.
     All that and Dave sees a doc, Tyler goes to his happy place, and Kevin starts to glitch. Join us, won't you?
Episode 262- Cloak & Glamour