2007
Goldstar Review: Loving Annabelle & Gypo
For 2007 I have decided to start a new addition to this blog called “Goldstar Review.” You’re so excited you can’t contain yourself, I know! I’m going to review lesbian themed movies, blogs, online mags, ect. Please remember that these reviews are entirely my own opinion. Please feel free to share your opinion in the comments of this post. So lets try it out and see how it goes.
My first reviews will be on the movies Gypo and Loving Annabelle. You may have seen the ads for these films on the TLL sidebar to your right. I had the opportunity to see both of these films over the holiday break and would like to share my feelings on them both.
GYPO:(Pronounced Jip-Po) From the moment this movie started it filled me with a very uneasy feeling. The feeling was so disturbing that I almost turned the film off, but my need to see the ending prevailed. The best thing about this movie is Tasha.(Chloe Sirene) Sadly we simply don’t see enough of her in this film. I think I would have liked it better had she been in every scene. I would have loved to count every single freckle that covered the bridge of her nose! (See, told you these reviews are souly my opinion!)
The film is told from 3 points of views. A late thirties early forties housewife, her board with his current life husband, and Tasha a “refugee” from the Czech Republic who has come to the UK for safety. It’s hard to tell a story from one point of view in less than two hours let alone 3 points of view. I thought that the love story could have been focused on more and the ending was far too typical.
I have yet to see a truly compelling lesbian film, and this one too, falls into the mediocre bin. If you see it let me know if you get that uneasy feeling from watching it. I’m glad to have it in the collection as it’s a bit Indie meets Masterpiece Theatre, but I’m not sure I’ll watch it again.
2 out of 4 Goldstars
Loving Annabelle: Hot rebellious teen falls for her sexy Catholic school teacher! What more could a dyke ask for!!! This film was typical, but fun to watch. The interesting part is that when it’s two women you find yourself cheering on the love scene. If the teacher was a man and the girl was underage you would be pissed. Maybe that’s just me… I digress.
This film was easy to watch. It allowed you to ache just enough time for the main characters to finally kiss. I love that ache, it’s my favorite part of life and the movies. The acting could have been a bit better, but it wasn’t horrific. It was good enough to allow you to feel for the characters and what they were going through.
When I saw the DVD cover I thought I was going to come away from this film feeling dirty. I didn’t. The movie reminds us that we can’t chose who we love. It also reminds us of the crazy shit we do for love. Lesbian student/teacher romance at its finest!
3 out of 4 Goldstars
If you are a marketing representative, work for a studio, or are an independent film maker and you would like a review of your movie on TLL. Please contact me.
Hey! I just came across this site while looking for lesbian blogs. So far, so good, but I had to post a response to your reviews of these two films, both of which I have recently watched. “Gypo” did indeed make me feel uneasy, with all the family fighting, the prejudice against refugees, “gypsies”, etc. In fact, my partner left the room before the ending, because it just brought up too much from her past. It did me, too, but I stuck it out and thought the ending was at least hopeful, since the awful father and potential husband were thwarted.
Re: “Loving Annabelle”. Well, it annoyed the hell out of me. Maybe it’s because I’m just turning 50 this year, maybe it’s because my rebellious teenaged daughter got pregnant when she was 16 and I’m still dealing with the fallout of that 8 years later, whatever. I actually did like Anabelle’s character, but HATED the teacher, can’t even remember her name. Talk about a dishrag. And yes, I can definitely see the attraction she might have had to Annabelle, but she (the teacher) should never have let it go so far (yea, yea, I know it’s a fantasy). The whole movie just pissed me off. And I wanted to slap that other girl’s face right off (Harriet, or Henrietta, or whatever her name was). Anyway, I guess I am just expecting more out of lesbian films these days. I’d give Gypo higher marks overall just as a film, but still just too damn bleak. Anyway, I’ve bookmarked this site and will be coming back. Thanks for posting! Linda in Colorado, USA