Rávo's World

Rent and Chicken Tikka Masala

And so to the reviews...

Chicken Tikka Masala

Not Quite as bad as Bollywood and Vine, but not far off. For the first 20 minutes I was thinking, "Hmm, not as bad as I expected...kind of quirky and charming...at least the lead males are fairly pretty..."

But as it went on, it took a turn for the worst. The acting grew more and more wooden, the plot more and more surreal, and the dialogue more and more wobbly. By the end I was blinking in horror and trying to work out on what planet the events actually made sense.

Also, the girl...was about the most transparent plot device I've seen in a very long time. And really, unless she has a medical condition, her parents are being extremely negligent in allowing her to carry as much excess adipose as she does. I'm not saying that there's anything intrinsically wrong with overweight people, but parents are setting their children up for all kinds of problems later on if they feed them junk food, etc., and so it just doesn't reflect on their skills if the children are still sporting "puppy fat" by then. </bitch>

Anyway, terrible movie, but fairly feelgood - nice, mushy ending. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of kissing - it seems a bit of a cop-out in this day and age. But it's nice to watch a movie that's just pure, lighthearted trash from time to time - good for unwinding.

Rent

Totally different class of movie. Very good, and also extremely thought-provoking. Dare I say heartbreaking?

Obviously, I loved Angel right away, so yes, as the movie moved towards its conclusion I found it very poignant and moving, especially considering the unquestioning, beautiful dedication and loyalty of Collins - I loved both characters, actually.

I felt that the final 20-30 minutes could have been better developed really - so many months rushed by, and I think some of the material of the stage production was cut or hugely truncated, which meant that to some extent, the losses, pains and conflicts were diminished as they didn't get developed as well. I think in particular, the relationship between Roger and Mimi, and its subsequent breakdown - I didn't feel the love developing as intensely as I think I otherwise might. The lesbians were...interesting. I'm not sure I ever entirely understood them, as I found it hard to imagine them in the long term. I do have friends who manage perfectly steady relationships whilst arguing constantly, so perhaps it's possible.

In many ways I felt that - with the exception of Angel and Collins, who were just beautiful in every way - the platonic relationships said a lot more than the romantic ones. The enduring friendships and ability to put differences aside when necessary meant an awful lot in this movie, and were incredibly touching. The huge search effort when Mimi went missing...the way everyone gathered around Angel in hospital...those were the highlights for me. And the ability of the Life Support characters to truly seize the day. I don't know if that really happens in real life - I imagine despair and anger play more obvious roles than in the film, but I guess this is the movies.

I didn't realise before I started watching just how important the theme of HIV is in the production. For someone with my background, it is a lot of food for thought. To live under a death sentence, knowing that even though you "should" have the world at your feet, in actuality you can only expect to have another few years at the most... What must that be like? I'm not sure I can imagine it - it's so alien to my own experiences. And yet had my background, my world been different, it could so easily have been me - I'm gay, and haven't exactly been monogamous throughout my entire life (to my shame), and have experimented with certain things I shouldn't have, and certainly had I lived in New York in the 80s, could well have sought out the kind of Bohemian community depicted. So it could indeed have been me, waking every four hours at night to pop another 400mg of AZT, reflecting on how one day my T-cell count would drop too low and the virus would finally start to win the battle. How, I wonder, would such a thing affect me? Would I still be able to embrace life's joys, or would I retreat into the darkness? How would it impact on my relationships with loved ones? My parents would probably say it was my just dessert, but that's to be expected - but what about my close cousins, friends, lovers? It makes me realise that some of my friends and family really would walk with me through the darkest nights, and I should be more appreciative of them, as they are wonderful and I love them dearly.

It is kind of ironic that I chose to watch this particular movie now, when the press have just published articles declaring that HIV is now a chronic disease, not a death sentence - back then it might have represented the end of all things, but now, although still hard to cope with, it is a manageable condition, and people who are HIV+ now have so much more opportunity - legal protection and recognition, effective drugs, support, and a lifespan measured in decades not years - even after it develops into AIDS. I think the thing to really celebrate will be when the US ban on HIV+ people entering the country is overturned - not long now!

So those are my thoughts. Apologies for their rambling nature. I've been doing a lot of reflecting since yesterday, when I watched the film.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

*Squee*

Guess who has both Rent and Chicken Tikka Masala out from Blockbuster?

Meeeee!

Reviews when I've watched them!

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

I think I should be ashamed of myself

I think I may just have crossed into the category normally reserved for Trekkies and stamp collectors. I'm not normally the type to be regarded as a "sad geek" - after all, I do not, thankfully, live with my mother, and my grooming routine typically takes an hour in the morning and at least another hour each night. Not stereotypically geeky, I am told.

However...I have recently done something that marks me out as a true geek. Or perhaps just a true fanboi...

I spent £12 on a DVD, purely because it contained around 1 second of footage of Francisco Bosch.

And then I played back the relevant clips at one-sixteenth speed to make sure I did not miss a single frame with him in.

Am I sad, or am I sad?

Incidentally, Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute is a very cute DVD. The CGI is a bit...flaky...but the overall product is sweet. For various reasons I find most opera lyrics completely incomprehensible (especially sopranos), so Wikipedia came in handy, but as long as I knew what was going on, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hugs and kisses and Francisco-related squeeing,
Rávo

Bollywood and Vine

After I saw The Curse of King Tut's Tomb I wondered if it was even possible for a movie worse than that to actually exist.

Then I rented Bollywood and Vine.

And ohhhhhh, it is.

Never before have I found the experience of watching a movie to be genuinely physically painful. Never have I had the urge to down several glassfuls of Jägermeister (NB: I didn't. I just wanted to. Rávo's World blog promotes responsible drinking).

The plot was so shaky it must have measured at least a 6.2. The acting was non-existent. The dialogue was wobbly.

On the plus side, Bhuvan and Devin (who had the idea of giving both lead boys two-syllable names with a v in the middle and an n at the end anyway?) are raaather cute. It's just a pity they didn't spend more time...um...wrestling on the floor like the horny beasties they clearly were.

I spent most of it in fits of giggles, though much of the time it was only 10% amusement at the film, and 90% incredulity that something could hurt sooooo much.

Would I see it again? Of course, with the right company. And some comfort food.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Test post

Test post.

This blog has been developing a bad attitude recently. I am hoping that either it will fix itself, or else I will work out what is wrong. Bah.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Classic

This is not my evening.

Three hours after ordering Nina, Amazon go and put the price down by about £2.

Then I learn that HMV is selling Nina for a mere £7.99.

*sigh*

Someone want to send me Maltesers? Please?

I need sympathy.

*pouts cutely*

Hopeful hugs and kisses,
Rávo

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Nina's Heavenly Delights DVD ordered.

Yes, I know that waiting a mere week will bring the price down by another £2, and waiting two months will bring the price down to a fiver, but I couldn't wait!!!!

I'm so excited!

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

The Curse of King Tut's Tomb

Ordering it from America was clearly the way to go. It arrived within a sensible amount of time. We spent a few weeks gazing longingly at it before deciding that since the computer won't last forever, and there is no point having 4 changes of DVD region code if we never use them, we might as well flip to Region 1 and watch it.

So we did. And what an experience! Officially, it is the worse movie I have ever seen. Including Sky High.

I am not sure what was worse - the bit where they wanted to use a canary to test the air in a tomb, and someone appeared with a budgerigar, or the fact that the archaeologists did not even cotton on to the fact that the insignia in the back of King Tut's death mask had been scratched in twenty four hours before with a penknife.

However, King Tut himself made it all worth it. Oh yes! I think I love the Ancient Egyptians, if nothing else for their penchant for wearing extraordnarily little but kohl. Those eyes... Oh, those eyes! I could happily have become a Rávo-puddle in the bottom of them. As for the fight scenes - I could tell why they cast a dancer (even if he turned his back on Seth at least once). Twirling and leaping, very elegant, worked for a sort of celestial thing. The wings were cute, but at one point looked like they were attached to his wrists with invisible thread, which was a bit bizarre.

Spoken Ancient Egptian highly entertaining.

I think I need to see this a few more times, just to boggle!

There is possibility of ice-skating tomorrow. If this happens, I will write a full report on the spectacle!

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Feet of Flames

So, last weekend my copy of Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames arrived, and I watched.

In many ways it was almost exactly what I had expected of it - basically Lord of the Dance with more glitz and sparkly bits, and some extra numbers in. Overall, I would say it made for good watching for a couple of hours, and some nice entertainment.

I do, however, wonder how on earth Helen Egan has not yet lost her sanity. After playing those same few bars of the LotD song on that little penny-whistle about six times a show in every single performance, I know I would be a convulsing, gibbering wreck on the floor. On the plus side, her character, The Evil Fairy MunchkinThe Little Sprite (who I consider to be the most annoying character in the whole piece) does now get some real dancing to do now and again, which is probably a good thing, as makes the character look less parasitic on the show.

Lots of Michael Flatley playing the flute. I actually don't much care for the sound his flute makes. It sort of reminds me of when people get drunk and blow into empty wine bottles. But each to his own...

Bernadette Flynn and Gillian Norris are as gorgeous as ever. Make-up seemed to be brighter and sparklier in FoF compared to LotD - I don't know whether that was for the enormous audience, or to jazz things up. Made Bernadette Flynn look less virginally innocent, in any case. I actually thought Gillian Norris' dance routines looked less seductive than the ones in LotD, not sure why. What do I know? - I'm gay.

Michael Flatley's costumes seemed to get progressively sillier over the course of the performance, right up to the somewhat iconic red sequinned monstrosity that has become almost iconic of the show.

However, in spite of my whinging and whining, I enjoyed it. As much as I enjoy any of Flatley's stuff, at least. They tend to have the budget, the glamour and, with the exception of the cringeworthy Celtic Tiger, nice costumes. And the dancing comes out looking polished. So I will be rewatching that DVD, definitely.

Ordering process for The Curse of King Tut's Tomb went horribly wrong and DVD got lost somewhere between the USA and here, so re-ordered via Amazon.com. Finger crossed, this one will arrive... It has been suggested that perhaps the postman is making off with goodies. This makes me laugh, as in that case the postman has landed himself with a Region 1 movie that I knew was dreadful when I ordered it. I think the joke is on him!

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Meme?

I would like to know who really believes in gay rights. There is no bribe of a miracle or anything like that. If you truly believe in gay rights, then send me your panties, a large box of Thornton's and Queer as Folk on DVD, along with a signed photo of Breandán de Gallaí, thereby supporting my right, as a gay, to expensive merchandise. If you don't believe in gay rights, then just ignore this. Thanks.

Kitten bells are so damned cute.

I am absolutely bursting to see Nina's Heavenly Delights, but apparently I have to wait till 13th October when it's showing in Cambridge. I am twitching with excitement, it's not fair!

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Links of the week!

Some useful links:

Here.

Also, here.

That is all for now. I need more DVDs. Someone is going on holiday soon and consequently refuses to fund them. Despite just receiving birthday money, I am told. Woe is me.

7.5 minutes into the magic of Celtic Tiger

Oh my...

Oh my...

This show is surpassing all my expectations. The costumes are shaky - the first scene (which goes on and on and on...I don't normally sit there watching Irish Dance thinking, "Get on to the next scene already!") has them in sort of...Roman Legionary style costumes and about 1 in 5 of the "greaves" are slipping by the end of the dance, which makes it look sloppy and cheap, despite the glitz.

As for Michael Flatley...

HE LOOKS JUST LIKE WILLIAM BLOODY SHATNER!

They're like clones... Bill Shatner in the later Star Trek movies, Flatley in this. Both aging men who used to be fairly dashing and trim and fit, but have now sort of collapsed to being middle aged and spreading. Both with egos the size of planets. Both still labouring under the delusion that they can recapture the action and glamour of their lost youth.

Sorry, guys. Ain't gonna happen.

It arrived!

I have my DVD! Now, to watch it, point and laugh...

Also, need to start considering what DVD I want next. My eye is on Ragús...their site is a bit moronic, though. They list it is a PAL video. I was under the impression that PAL was an encoding used on DVDs only...

However, I am an Elf, not a techie, so what would I know?

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Dispatching!

SQUEEE!!!

Celtic Tiger is apparently about to be dispatched.

On an unrelated note, it is absurdly hot. However, this gives me an excuse to mince around in nearly-see-through mint green harem pants and revealing tunics, so I suppose I should not complain.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Celtic Tiger

Well, we just went and bought Michael Flatley's Celtic Tiger from Amazon. The original deal was that we'd order it when the price dropped below £6 inclusive of postage and packing, but recently not a single copy from the sellers has done so, and when the cheapest copy was £10, we began to despair! But a UK seller had a new copy going for £6.28; we theorised that it probably wouldn't get better than that, so snapped it up while it was still available!

I do, however, feel the need to justify the purchase to some extent. Celtic Tiger is widely known to feature a portly, aging Michael Flatley who can no longer dance the way he used to, a total lack of traditional Irish costumes and a disturbing number of cheerleaders. So why on earth do I want to watch it?

Very well, I will admit it: I intend to heckle it in the same manner as one heckles The Rocky Horror Picture Show - right down to the sarky comments about sleeping with one's sister.

Yes, I buy it to mock. Oh well, we all need laughs sometimes, surely?

Sheepish hugs and kisses,
Rávo

To-do list!

Things I need to get around to doing on here:

• Reviews of: Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Dancing on Dangerous Ground and Gael Force Dance DVDs.
• Essay #1 on dancing.
• More links.
• Make blog prettier.
• Sulk because I cannot have my own favicon.
• Throw things because I cannot have my own favicon.
• A guestbook?

Hey, can people comment on this blog? *runs to look*