Home on the Range

What a surprise. This seemingly forgotten film turns out to be a delight, a genuinely funny movie with a nicely skewed sense of humor and a tight, consistent story. The sense of humor derives largely from the inspired casting of Roseanne Barr as the lead character; her unique persona gives much of the bite to the jokes. The rest of the cast performs good work, too, in a variety of roles. And the songs, though a bit sparse for a true musical, work really well where they fit in, with good melodies and witty lyrics. (Having contributions from k.d. lang and Bonnie Raitt helped the quality quotient in a big way.) All in all, this one stands out as a very good movie that got a bit lost in the shuffle upon first release. Thank goodness there are such robust secondary sources for films these days; otherwise this one might have unfairly disappeared completely. Do yourself a favor and watch this flick if you’re one of those who missed out on its original run.

The Last Picture Show

Another of those "coming of age" movies, the kind that usually leave me asking, "what's the point?" The slices in this slice of life piece are a little too thin for my taste. I suspect this movie's reputation is largely the product of the fact that so many of its cast--numerous familiar faces--got naked in it, something daring at the time but passé now. There are good scenes, some fine moments, but it never adds up to a worthwhile sum.

Brokeback Mountain

This movie is totally gay! There, I said it. Of course, it's got lots of gorgeous scenery, beautifully filmed, and you even get to see Anne Hathaway's tits, so what's not to love? Oh, right--the ass pounding. Well, setting aside orientation questions, the film itself has a solid story at its kernel, but feels a little stretched out, possibly an attempt to be "epic." That, plus the slowed down pace, can make this one tough to stay with, though the fine performances of the leads (Ledger and Gyllenhaal) as the conflicted cowboys are themselves worth watching. Probably worth your time, unless you really don't like gay cowboy movies.