Miscast cast (Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire et al) + heavy directorial hand hinder Curtis Hanson and Steve Kloves’ Wonder Boys movie adaptation.
LGBT Film
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A less effusive Shakespeare in Love rehash, Stage Beauty fails to delve into the complexities of gender and sexual identity.
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Oliver Stone opts to ignore the facts in his brazenly dishonest yet engrossing political thriller JFK, an account of the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination.
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The Alfred Kinsey scale of facts vs fiction: The life of the revolutionary and contentious American sex researcher vs Bill Condon’s well-regarded but sanitized 2004 film.
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The 1928 Pre-Code Western In Old Arizona is of historical interest as the first ‘outdoor’ talkie and for its risqué sensibility. Warner Baxter stars.
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‘Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro’: Tragic gay actor biography about MGM star (Ben-Hur) who was both devoutly Catholic and homosexual.
Naomi Watts delivers an exceptional performance - or rather, two of them - in David Lynch’s unsettling Hollywood horror tale Mulholland Dr..