jasonshaw-331-946707
Joined Mar 2012
Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Reviews28
jasonshaw-331-946707's rating
I so wanted this movie to be good, it held such promise from the subject and background, but oh dear what a shame, from a dismal start it didn't get any better.
The film goes full on the 'exaggerated' stereotypes, which could be offensive, indeed I think the producers wanted them to be so, to perhaps get them the 'edgy drama comedy so close to the line its exciting' side of the market. It didn't work. If you're going to use such stereotypes, to highlight the bullying that goes on in high-school, then do it with some class. Pushing the head of a dead pig in the face of an overtly Jewish kid isn't classy, isn't realistic and isn't clever. Same goes for having a gay kids locker filled with dildos, including one very realistic erect penis pointing directly to the characters mouth is going for the graphic humour of a movie aimed at adults rather than the 12-15 youth market this film was made for.
Every clique employed was played in such an exaggerated way that it ceased to be funny and was more on the border of cringe and offence, offence won out.
The acting, now without wishing to sound harsh, nor do I want to spout out negatives to the cast, however a good director would have taken some more takes to get a better performance from the actors. Indeed, perhaps some more direction would have made the performances either believable or more animated and less wooden. Let's not even mention the script, I guess the best thing about it weas the paper it was written on!
I wanted to end with a good reason to watch this movie, but, sorry, I can't find one, the only reason to watch this movie is if you're stuck on a plane flying somewhere and there is literally no other entertainment options!
The film goes full on the 'exaggerated' stereotypes, which could be offensive, indeed I think the producers wanted them to be so, to perhaps get them the 'edgy drama comedy so close to the line its exciting' side of the market. It didn't work. If you're going to use such stereotypes, to highlight the bullying that goes on in high-school, then do it with some class. Pushing the head of a dead pig in the face of an overtly Jewish kid isn't classy, isn't realistic and isn't clever. Same goes for having a gay kids locker filled with dildos, including one very realistic erect penis pointing directly to the characters mouth is going for the graphic humour of a movie aimed at adults rather than the 12-15 youth market this film was made for.
Every clique employed was played in such an exaggerated way that it ceased to be funny and was more on the border of cringe and offence, offence won out.
The acting, now without wishing to sound harsh, nor do I want to spout out negatives to the cast, however a good director would have taken some more takes to get a better performance from the actors. Indeed, perhaps some more direction would have made the performances either believable or more animated and less wooden. Let's not even mention the script, I guess the best thing about it weas the paper it was written on!
I wanted to end with a good reason to watch this movie, but, sorry, I can't find one, the only reason to watch this movie is if you're stuck on a plane flying somewhere and there is literally no other entertainment options!
A relatively low budget Australian film about drag queens took the world by storm, almost caused a riot at the Cannes film festival and drove a million young queens to the dressing up box in the hunt for sequins, sparkles and pink flip-flops! The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert gave us such classic lines as, "Just what this country needs, another cock in a frock on a rock!" and "Listen here you mullet, why don't you just light your tampon and blow your box apart, it's the only bang you're ever going to get, sweetheart"
It is without exception the best and arguably the most successful drag queen movie of all time, breaking box office records and capturing the top of the charts in numerous countries around the world. It was an Academy award winning extravaganza of glitter, glam and lip-syncing with the most outrageously camp costumes the world had seen outside Madame JoJo's or Funny Girls! Uproariously funny and yet deeply affecting it proved to be way more than just a camp outing of tried and tested queer humour.
The late eighties was a bit of a coming of age time for Australia's gay population, especially Sydney, it really came alive and blossomed into one of the bigger gay populations in the world. Australia has a reputation for all the big butch manly men, which considering how the modern nation of Australia started, would seem pretty accurate, only it's not, it's completely different, ever so much more vibrant and colourful. It is that vibrancy, that colour and that hopefulness that is so perfectly depicted in Priscilla.
Stephen Elliott, the director and writer, who incidentally has a small cameo in the movie as a cute door boy in Alice, says he saw drag shows in other places, like the US and England, which were essentially men in dresses lip-syncing to other peoples songs. In Australia they did the same, but took it in a completely new direction, it became a completely new strange variety of theatre, so much so that he even used to go to drag queen jelly wrestling, pushing the envelope to the maximum. It was this experience along with watching a drunken drag queen at the Sydney gay Mardi Gras, which gave birth to the movie idea, which took hardly any time at all to write.
From the very opening you know this film has deep rooted soul, first shots of Hugo as Mitzi mouthing the words to the poignant Charlene song, 'I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me' give the impression of an emotively sad song, yet this is so rapidly defused by the appearance of a lethargic priest and Felicia nursing a baby rubber chicken. You have left in no doubt after that that is no ordinary Australian movie and the jokes and gags just tumble on from there in rapid succession. However it's not all giggles, there are some key moments of high emotion - seeing the graffiti sprayed on the side of the bus in pink paint the morning after shocks the trio along with the audience and strikes a chord with those of old enough to have lived through a time of such prejudice and discrimination and how true those word seem when they ring in our ears, that no matter how tough we think we are, such things still hurt.
There are deeply moving scenes, such as the gay bashing of Felicia and the confrontation between Mitzi and his son in Alice, which really seem seep through the comedy to dance in your heart and make you fall in love with the film.  One of the key aspects of the movie is the superb casting; Terrence Stamp previously typecast as your typical British villain, took a risk on the role of Bernadette and knocked it out of the water in a downbeat, down trodden put upon yet completely resilient way. Hugo Weaving is the less visually striking member of the trio and the central character of Mitzi, who really is the lynch pin between the two worlds. The role of Felecia is taken by the simply stunning Guy Pearce who had literally just left long running soap Neighbours, in which he played goodie two shoes Mike and was an inspired choice and oh so pretty. Guy's superb performance takes the movie to new heights and is so good that the he has had trouble-convincing people he is actually straight in real life, even to this day. Bill Hunter a massive Australian character actor shines outstandingly as the gruff and butch Bob, the mechanic and unlikely love interest for one of the three.
Priscilla is a beautiful magical combination of humour, catty bitchiness, kitsch costumes, stunning disco soundtrack and subtle sentiment with provocative thoughtful scenes and a delicate brush of honesty. Some jokes are obvious so too is the stereotypical veneer of the characters upon first glance, yet look a little deep as the film rolls on, you see more and more layers being unpeeled and exposed in a gently moving and comical way. It is one of the most enjoyable gay movies of all time; each subsequent viewing cements that sentiment further into fact. Read more and find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO
It is without exception the best and arguably the most successful drag queen movie of all time, breaking box office records and capturing the top of the charts in numerous countries around the world. It was an Academy award winning extravaganza of glitter, glam and lip-syncing with the most outrageously camp costumes the world had seen outside Madame JoJo's or Funny Girls! Uproariously funny and yet deeply affecting it proved to be way more than just a camp outing of tried and tested queer humour.
The late eighties was a bit of a coming of age time for Australia's gay population, especially Sydney, it really came alive and blossomed into one of the bigger gay populations in the world. Australia has a reputation for all the big butch manly men, which considering how the modern nation of Australia started, would seem pretty accurate, only it's not, it's completely different, ever so much more vibrant and colourful. It is that vibrancy, that colour and that hopefulness that is so perfectly depicted in Priscilla.
Stephen Elliott, the director and writer, who incidentally has a small cameo in the movie as a cute door boy in Alice, says he saw drag shows in other places, like the US and England, which were essentially men in dresses lip-syncing to other peoples songs. In Australia they did the same, but took it in a completely new direction, it became a completely new strange variety of theatre, so much so that he even used to go to drag queen jelly wrestling, pushing the envelope to the maximum. It was this experience along with watching a drunken drag queen at the Sydney gay Mardi Gras, which gave birth to the movie idea, which took hardly any time at all to write.
From the very opening you know this film has deep rooted soul, first shots of Hugo as Mitzi mouthing the words to the poignant Charlene song, 'I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me' give the impression of an emotively sad song, yet this is so rapidly defused by the appearance of a lethargic priest and Felicia nursing a baby rubber chicken. You have left in no doubt after that that is no ordinary Australian movie and the jokes and gags just tumble on from there in rapid succession. However it's not all giggles, there are some key moments of high emotion - seeing the graffiti sprayed on the side of the bus in pink paint the morning after shocks the trio along with the audience and strikes a chord with those of old enough to have lived through a time of such prejudice and discrimination and how true those word seem when they ring in our ears, that no matter how tough we think we are, such things still hurt.
There are deeply moving scenes, such as the gay bashing of Felicia and the confrontation between Mitzi and his son in Alice, which really seem seep through the comedy to dance in your heart and make you fall in love with the film.  One of the key aspects of the movie is the superb casting; Terrence Stamp previously typecast as your typical British villain, took a risk on the role of Bernadette and knocked it out of the water in a downbeat, down trodden put upon yet completely resilient way. Hugo Weaving is the less visually striking member of the trio and the central character of Mitzi, who really is the lynch pin between the two worlds. The role of Felecia is taken by the simply stunning Guy Pearce who had literally just left long running soap Neighbours, in which he played goodie two shoes Mike and was an inspired choice and oh so pretty. Guy's superb performance takes the movie to new heights and is so good that the he has had trouble-convincing people he is actually straight in real life, even to this day. Bill Hunter a massive Australian character actor shines outstandingly as the gruff and butch Bob, the mechanic and unlikely love interest for one of the three.
Priscilla is a beautiful magical combination of humour, catty bitchiness, kitsch costumes, stunning disco soundtrack and subtle sentiment with provocative thoughtful scenes and a delicate brush of honesty. Some jokes are obvious so too is the stereotypical veneer of the characters upon first glance, yet look a little deep as the film rolls on, you see more and more layers being unpeeled and exposed in a gently moving and comical way. It is one of the most enjoyable gay movies of all time; each subsequent viewing cements that sentiment further into fact. Read more and find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO

Put simply this is a glitzy, colourful, modern remake of La Cage aux Folles in which Robin Williams stars as the hairy and sweaty Armand, South Beach drag club owner alongside the incomparable Nathan Lane as the star and Armund's lover and partner Albert.
Just like the original version, their lives are turned upside down and inside out when Armund's son, Val, comes home to announce he is getting married to an ultra-conservative senator's daughter called Barbara. Everything goes haywire and speeds up to comic high gear when those future in-laws come down to meet their daughters intended and his family. Scandal is what the senator wants to avoid at the great cost, you cannot blame him, and his co-founder of the coalition for moral order partnership has just been found dead in the bed of an underage black prostitute.
There are laughs a plenty when first Armund and then Albert try and play it butch, they desperately need a woman and it's so not often you hear a couple of middle aged gay men scream that! In steps the wonderful and delightful Christine Baranski who always lights up the screen with a presence that is electrifying. However, is life that simple, that easy? You bet your sweet little arse it ain't!
Barbara tells her parents that Armand is a cultural attaché to Greece, whilst Albert is a housewife, and that they divide their time between Greece and Florida. It is only a little white lie really, just as changing their last name from Goldman to Coleman is. The evening of the meeting arrives, the apartment above the drag club is transformed from gay paradise to near austere monastery, Val's real mother, Katherine (Baranski) is held up by traffic and a boat and out pops Albert as a wonderful creation of freakishly good yet awfully bad middle-aged mother. Armand and Val are both horrified at first but have no option to go along with the façade, which for some bizarre reason in this movie world works. More jokes, no proper meal and the most amazing china dinner service of naked boys playing leap- frog and still the senator and his wife do not catch on. Until that is at the door arrives Katherine, introducing herself as Val's mother and the whole charade is shot to pieces, just as TV news crews arrive out front
How on earth can the senator and his wife leave the drag club without some kind of mass scandal erupting and ending his political career? The answer is simple, drag up and we are treated to the wonderful scene of Gene Hackman in a dress making the late great Bea Arthur look as feminine as a virginal princess.
It is a great feel good movie, full of lightness, the jokes and funny situation fire by in rapid succession that you will probably not catch them all on the first viewing. Robin William's is superb as the nightclub owner even if he does sweat profusely at times and almost cracks up completely in the kitchen scene with the houseman come butler. I adore Nathan Lane, with his scene stealing 'Starina' performance and utter camp flamboyant majesty. Gene Hackman is equally good as the chocolate addicted extreme right wing senator with his sour face and dry delivery.
As a modern re-make of a seventies classic it is both successful and complimentary, it also stands up on its own, which is a jolly good job, and for I am sure, the vast majority of its audience would not have seen La Cage aux Folles. Sure, it is lightweight, sure, it plays a little to stereotype, but it goes beyond them, reaching in to the human side and honest inner core aspect admirably. It is outrageously camp, unashamedly so, blatantly exotic and wonderfully charming, a great feel good movie. Read more and find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO
Put simply this is a glitzy, colourful, modern remake of La Cage aux Folles in which Robin Williams stars as the hairy and sweaty Armand, South Beach drag club owner alongside the incomparable Nathan Lane as the star and Armund's lover and partner Albert.
Just like the original version, their lives are turned upside down and inside out when Armund's son, Val, comes home to announce he is getting married to an ultra-conservative senator's daughter called Barbara. Everything goes haywire and speeds up to comic high gear when those future in-laws come down to meet their daughters intended and his family. Scandal is what the senator wants to avoid at the great cost, you cannot blame him, and his co-founder of the coalition for moral order partnership has just been found dead in the bed of an underage black prostitute.
There are laughs a plenty when first Armund and then Albert try and play it butch, they desperately need a woman and it's so not often you hear a couple of middle aged gay men scream that! In steps the wonderful and delightful Christine Baranski who always lights up the screen with a presence that is electrifying. However, is life that simple, that easy? You bet your sweet little arse it ain't!
Barbara tells her parents that Armand is a cultural attaché to Greece, whilst Albert is a housewife, and that they divide their time between Greece and Florida. It is only a little white lie really, just as changing their last name from Goldman to Coleman is. The evening of the meeting arrives, the apartment above the drag club is transformed from gay paradise to near austere monastery, Val's real mother, Katherine (Baranski) is held up by traffic and a boat and out pops Albert as a wonderful creation of freakishly good yet awfully bad middle-aged mother. Armand and Val are both horrified at first but have no option to go along with the façade, which for some bizarre reason in this movie world works. More jokes, no proper meal and the most amazing china dinner service of naked boys playing leap- frog and still the senator and his wife do not catch on. Until that is at the door arrives Katherine, introducing herself as Val's mother and the whole charade is shot to pieces, just as TV news crews arrive out front
How on earth can the senator and his wife leave the drag club without some kind of mass scandal erupting and ending his political career? The answer is simple, drag up and we are treated to the wonderful scene of Gene Hackman in a dress making the late great Bea Arthur look as feminine as a virginal princess.
It is a great feel good movie, full of lightness, the jokes and funny situation fire by in rapid succession that you will probably not catch them all on the first viewing. Robin William's is superb as the nightclub owner even if he does sweat profusely at times and almost cracks up completely in the kitchen scene with the houseman come butler. I adore Nathan Lane, with his scene stealing 'Starina' performance and utter camp flamboyant majesty. Gene Hackman is equally good as the chocolate addicted extreme right wing senator with his sour face and dry delivery.
As a modern re-make of a seventies classic it is both successful and complimentary, it also stands up on its own, which is a jolly good job, and for I am sure, the vast majority of its audience would not have seen La Cage aux Folles. Sure, it is lightweight, sure, it plays a little to stereotype, but it goes beyond them, reaching in to the human side and honest inner core aspect admirably. It is outrageously camp, unashamedly so, blatantly exotic and wonderfully charming, a great feel good movie. Read more and find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO