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richardgoldwater
Reviews
Devuélveme La Noche (2022)
"Mother, what about me?" Her answer, "You're alive."
This is a great movie moment, as her son has just discovered that his mother is still alive. His father has lied to him, saying "she never loved you. But when son meets her, she avoids any shame of abandoning him by saying she gave him life, and that's it. This is an exquisite, well produced depiction of young men and their mothers. One's mother has been totally absent. The other is compulsively, super over involved. The sons struggle to love each other. Episode six demands sixty more episodes. The meaning of Tango to the culture is wonderfully interesting. People talk about it as though it was a complete discussable universe of intentionality and gesture, much like chess or basketball, except that nobody loses.
Love this series.
O Fantasma (2000)
Watch the film again, with the commentary to learn about the fate of the Actor
There is a missing piece of continuity, which the director's commentary ignores by claiming that the last third of the film is fantasy. It would be a spoiler to say what it is, but I found the transition dishonest. Worse, one learns from the commentary that every young male auditioning for the lead part had to do the solo masturbatory shower scene; hundreds did so until finding Ricardo, who was perfect. I am sure there was much enjoyment for the director to watch the auditions, but the horror comes at the sexual exploitation of Ricardo, made clear in the commentary. The director declined to use the actor again, because his body was "used up", leaving Ricardo to move back to live and farm with his mother.
The director treats Ricardo as his character Sergio treats his sexual objects, controlling, and then abandoning them. I grieve for Ricardo.
Férfiakt (2006)
The music is Mahler Sym. #10; the plot refers to Death in Venice.
A wonderfully plotted and acted "true-life" love story. This is not politically correct, gay propaganda. This movie is intelligent and literate and sincere in a way that US movies rarely are.
Alas, the title is misleading; there are no post-rugby shower scenes. Plus, the video quality is poor. But, worth watching and feeling and thinking about.
The younger of the male lovers is briefly almost naked; neither is ever nude. The elder's wife is sympathetic, not jealous.
What is authentic and naked about both men are their emotions. This is a brilliant, beautiful story about the attraction of a married middle-aged man for some one 30 years younger. It is the younger who is the "aggressor", and the older guy who musty deal with his ambivalence. It is the sincerity of the younger guy that is inn question.
I am Doctor Whom.
Jess & James (2015)
A wholesome, interesting love story
SPOILER ALERT: there is a happy ending. The movie avoids cashing in on the well-done, realistic family psychopathology to generate a morbid outcome. Sure, there are logical and continuity problems, etc. Why does James leave his iPhone out for the "old Lady" to investigate? So what? James has had the "best orgasm ever", and this convinces him to abandon his girlfriend and love Jess for life, and even to welcome a third to their trysting. That's AMORE! A scene in a chapel lines up a shot in front of an altar with a cross at its center; Jess leans back over his pew bench, while James works on him out of sight below, to produce an illuminated, anti- crucifixion image of pleasure. This is a beautifully heretical moment, lasting only a few seconds, so it is easy to miss. Imagine if all the torture and self-abnegation inspired by contemplating the crucifixion for the last 2,000 years could be redeemed by an image of true sexual love at the foot of the cross! review image: if it does not appear, see this review at AMAzon.