What was the last film you watched?

[Seaviewer]

It's partially kitchen sink commentary, partially a music culture war, partially coming-of-age drama and it's also based on The Who's rock opera album.
I have no idea what that album is all about but I'd be hard-pressed to mention something from this film that looks rock opera-esque.

I saw this on TV some time ago and was disappointed because I was expecting something like Tommy.
I have never heard the Quadrophenia album, so have no idea what it has to do with it, but I don't remember the film being musical at all.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

In & Out (1997)

The tone is best explained by pointing out that it's directed by Frank Oz with music by Mark Shaiman. So we're not going for subtle. There's a sunny, quirky artifice that's simultaneously attractive and a little wearing. It's always safe and comfortable and aiming for feelgood like an eager to please puppy.

This feels like an animal that could only really be of its time, which is a double-edged sword. It's a gay-themed film, with its gay characters played by heterosexual men. This is the good news. I don't buy into the more recent movement for gay roles to be played by gay people. And so we have Tom Selleck trying to encourage Kevin Kline out of the closet. The performances are nice enough, but coming so soon after The Birdcage I can't help thinking this similarly-toned film is another example of Kline risking being viewed as Robin Williams-esque.

The broadness of the humour means that it leans into the stereotypical at times, with Kline's character being a Streisand fan who wakes up to Village People tunes on his alarm and cannot stay still when he hears I Will Survive playing (this is the Diana Ross dance version because Nineties).

It's also a typically sexless film, and there are mixed feelings about that. The film's one same-sex kiss - long as it is - is mechanically choreographed for minimum contact and appears to have been filmed from the next county (tasteful or cowardly. The viewer will decide). Still, better this than the gay characters been over-sexualised.

Overall, this is a nice little time-passer with an excellent cast, even if most don't get enough to do.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I Will Survive playing (this is the Diana Ross dance version because Nineties).

I love the Motiv8 Club remix of that song which was only available on 12" vinyls and one obscure Australian CD release (and even - or especially - today in 2026 it still kicks ass)

 

[Willie Oleson]

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

It's a madhouse! A maaaaaadhouse!

An 8.0 rating on IMDB so I was expecting to see something brilliant.
Instead I got a lot of ham (teethy Heston) and a lot of cheese (on the nose commentary).

The question in this story is, what if civilisation has to start all over again? It seems to me that the apes are in the process of copying human history and that probably means that the iconic cliffhanger would happen again.
Interesting to see some male nudity, and Burt Lancaster did that the same year in The Swimmer.
I like the quasi-Flintstones set of Ape Town - they only control a very small part of the planet - and the good old American guns are going to survive any kind of catastrophe. Or so it seems.
As it happens in Disney animal stories, the apes of "the planet of" are based on human characters, complete with matching vocals, but where did they get those character traits from? Surely not the beastly humans they keep in cages.
Overall, a mildly amusing and somewhat campy sci-fi film but I won't bother with the sequels or the remakes.

For what it's worth, the 1968 monkeys scene in Space Odyssey looks better than this film, imo.