semi-buff

Although Patty Duke was a bit over the top here, I kept thinking how absolutely perfect she would have been in a biopic of Janis Joplin! The woman can act her heart out and she looks quite a bit like Janis. It would have been a 20-hankie reeler for sure. If you are a Janis Joplin fan, don't miss the Dick Cavett Show Rock Icons DVD set.

I thought the film was OK, but this is one case where the book is definitely better. I wouldn't watch it again (but hey, I'm a straight woman) but I look forward to seeing Roger Ebert's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. ETA: BVD--what dreck! As a big admirer of Ebert, I was sorely disappointed in the whole awful thing. Not even amusingly awful camp.

Not being a fan of the kung fu genre, I watched this because I like Jet Li. For me, some the fight scenes were too long or too CGI'd. I especially detest enhanced metal-on-metal sounds and had to mute and/or fast forward through some of those scenes. After about a half hour of almost non-stop very lonnng fight scenes, I almost gave up; but I;' glad I didn't, because the rest of the movie was very worth watching. I wondered at the historical accuracy of some of it. For example, would there really be an all-girl drumming team in ca. 1905 China? Would there be female students at the sports school? Women were very important to the story, as they are in real life, and I appreciated that. Beautiful cinematography. look forward to seeing Li in his future non-martial arts films.

Having only once attempted unsuccessfully to slog my way through the Peter O'Toole version of "Man of la Mancha," I was unfamiliar the plot of Don Quixote. I discovered this film at movieflix.com, a nice resource of free films. Even with the poor visual and sound quality of that site, this movie shines. Chaliapin and Robey are wonderful. (BTW, when another commenter refers to "Sancho caressing his ass in tears," he means his donkey.) Chaliapin's beautifully rich voice is matched by his acting, and he brings the full range of emotion to his role. It's a shame that this is the only film he sings in. There is much comedy and pathos here and it's beautifully directed. Highly recommended!