Change Your Image
bosun-1
Reviews
Spitfire (1995)
A hilarious mistake
This movie is awfully excellent. It is impossible to believe that it was not made as a spoof of the made-for-TV movie. Every single frame contains the most trite, amateurish and inept writing, filming, and acting I have ever seen. It is absolutely stunning, and one needs to watch it several times to be able to comprehend how many bad things are going on at any given moment.
From the pre-title scene, in which a woman exposes her breasts nonchalantly for possibly the longest and most inappropriate amount of time I've ever witnessed, all the way through the gymnastics, the cheesy tight red-shorted spy who mouths the words of the other actors as they are speaking . . . the costumes, the men in drag who play the Romanian gymnasts, this is but a sampler of what you can see in this incredible picture.
If someone does not release this on DVD and promote it, a priceless artifact of 1990s cinema is in danger of being lost. I had to buy it on ebay as used VHS. PLEASE re-release this movie, it could have a cult following. I am terrified that my VHS version will not last until I die.
Testosterone (2003)
Not as bad as you might think
This movie deserves a better review than the one I found here. It's uneven, certainly, but the performances are excellent for the most part. Antonio Sabato Jr. fills his role out decently, the part doesn't call for much depth, and he more than makes up for any acting limitations with his looks and nude scene. David Sutcliffe performs a difficult role very believably. The South American cast is uniformly excellent.
The story is clearly a fantasy, the main character writes comics, and yet even as it is a fantasy, it nonetheless tells a story that is universal. Who has not been haunted by the loss of a lover, male, female, straight or gay, and wished to exact some sort of finish to the story? As far as its depiction of gay life, I'd say it's right on. The gay characters are normal people, no effeminacy, just gay men who are not obvious. One of the nicer things about the movie is that unlike most "gay" movies, this one is not set in a hothouse of gay themes to the exclusion of the rest of the world. And particularly, the depiction of the Latin world, and its surface macho and gay underbelly, is right on the mark.
Add to all of that truly gorgeous filming of Argentina, a country we do not see represented enough in the movies, and I'd say this is worth a couple hours in front of the TV . . . a quirky pleasure, with some real eye candy.