at the movies

this morning I headed off for my most full day of movies ever- at the Sarasota Film Festival and the films ran the gamut from funny to touching to weird and excellent to abysmal....

so let's get right into it-

the first ones I saw were a group of shorts- and here are my thumbnail sketches on these- 

weirdest- Melvin (milk man in meltdown)

weird- Grange to Garage (the "carlings" were cute!- LOL)

amusing- Mulignans (a 5 minute rant against gentrification that hits the target)

funny- 5 ways 2 die (you just don't know until you know) 

funniest- Down in Flames IF YOU EVER GET A CHANCE TO SEE THIS ONE DO NOT PASS IT UP!!! (literally laughed the whole way through and so did the rest of the audience)

intellectually interesting with two excellent performances- Sure Thing 

Another winner in this- I am just a tad too young to have really seen Tab Hunter in his prime but my oh my what a prime it was- that guy was stunningly beautiful- the essence of a beautiful youth - I completely understand the heart broken teens... one of those guys you wish was playing on your team- but alas - no... he was much more interesting than I ever knew, Olympic level figure skater and horseman... he sings - he acts - and his partner of thirty years has given us a wonderful portrait of an intensely private man who has found peace in his life.  but oh my god- that smile was swoon inducing!

my next film was the amazingly terrific Homme Less- an exploration of the life of a NYC fashion photographer and actor and former model who lived as a man with no home for more than five years... he slept on the roof top of a building where a friend of his (who did not know this) lived. He had keys to the building from an earlier stint as an apartment sitter and just kept coming back.  He looked more than 100% presentable- all the time -  despite shaving in the men's room at a pubic park and showering at the "Y" etc... an incredible story of fortitude on his part. Worth seeing, as it will make you re-think who might pass you on the street and yet be homeless - it would never cross your mind...

and finally - Phil joined me for this HOT MESS of a film- despite two very good performances from Pacino and Holly Hunter - this film was completely bizarre and I kept wondering how soon it could all be over. The cat was cute....so so so two hours I will never ever get back in my life- SKIP it -really - Don't bother - go have a beer or two instead...

so there is day one of my week of the SFF... and up tomorrow are the following three for both of us-

back with more reviews tomorrow night!