Weekend Viewing

Couple of films came our way via Netflix this past weekend that I thought worth sharing.

The Last of Sheila was an early seventies murder mystery / puzzle movie, with an all star - "b" list cast, featuring, James Coburn, Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, Raquel Welch, James Mason, Joan Hackett, and Ian McShane. The basic setup is that Coburn's wife, the aforementioned Sheila, was killed in a hit and run accident one night following a party. Coburn, gamer extraordinaire, invites the party guests to his yacht in the Mediterranean to spend a week playing mind games. What ensues is a game of cat and mouse with some worthwhile twists and turns. But what really ensues is a satire of Hollywood morals and a lot of insider gossip. The script is penned by Steven Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, so it's no wonder they get the Hollywood stuff right.

Trembling Before G-d is a documentary about Hassidic gays coming to terms with their religion and their sexuality. It is a frank portrait of some very damaged people who want to continue believing in their faith and would like to live in the communities of their birth, but are shunned at every turn. One gay man was sent to a therapist who told him to eat figs and to snap himself with a rubberband every time he had thoughts about other men as a way to cure himself.