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Boys in The Band on Netflix on September 30

WilliamM

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  • 2 weeks later...
purplekow Grand Master

+ purplekow

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Saw the play with Parsons and the rest. It was interesting to see again with different performers than in the movie. overall it felt a bit forced and mildly dated with typical gay stereotypes. Definitely could have been updated with the same premise. Worth watching but not a don't miss.

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  • 4 weeks later...
TruthBTold Grand Master

TruthBTold

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Watched the new Netflix version and just did not like it in two ways but like it in one. I did not find the play itself on the whole very humorous. I guess it was supposed to be funny and then tragic but I found it neither. There were a few funny lines but not very many. Because it was an older piece that reflected a different time I did not find that it had sufficient human comedic tones such as something like an Oscar Wilde piece. Second, I did not like that many of the performances merely copied performances rather than reinterpreting characters and made them fresh. While I thought that Zachary Quinto was good I do not think that he had to seemingly copy Leonard Frey. And the hustler could have looked different. Of course, I am very happy that Matt Bomer was cast only because it is Matt Bomer. I am not going to complain.

 

http://www.emmys.com/sites/default/files/Matt-Bomer-450x600_0.jpg

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rustyrex Proficient

rustyrex

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Watched it last night. Maybe I need to watch it again to enjoy it but initially it felt depressing and sad. Plenty of eye candy, definitely hit the pause button a few times with the nudity. Bomer was beautiful to see naked. Other than that, watching the guys tear each other down was sad. I was like, damn...if this is how you treat friends how the hell do you treat family?

 

Don't get me wrong my buddies and I can get on each others nerves but to carry on like that....that's abusive.

 

The movie did have it's moments, like the dance number and the campy dialog. It reminded me of some good times. I know we have had entire restaurants watch us carry on.

 

It wasn't a bad movie, just not what I was expecting.

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Pensant Grand Master

+ Pensant

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Watched it last night. Maybe I need to watch it again to enjoy it but initially it felt depressing and sad. Plenty of eye candy, definitely hit the pause button a few times with the nudity. Bomer was beautiful to see naked. Other than that, watching the guys tear each other down was sad. I was like, damn...if this is how you treat friends how the hell do you treat family?

 

Don't get me wrong my buddies and I can get on each others nerves but to carry on like that....that's abusive.

 

The movie did have it's moments, like the dance number and the campy dialog. It reminded me of some good times. I know we have had entire restaurants watch us carry on.

 

It wasn't a bad movie, just not what I was expecting.

I watched it last night, too. It reflects a different time, so it could come across as depressing. None of the parties and get-togethers I attend have ever reached such melodramatic depths, thankfully.

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jeezifonly Grand Master

jeezifonly

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I watched last night. Entire cast did strong work and I love to see Parsons continue to stretch his wings. It’s still best as a stage piece I think. I remember reading about it in 1970, saw it on screen in 81. Forty years on from that things have improved immensely.

 

Stories about gay people who are NOT kids can still resonate as much as those that are.

In the LGBTQ community, we within it sometimes forget why the Q is there, and there are moments in this play that can spark conversation

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Luv2play Grand Master

Luv2play

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I watched it last night, too. It reflects a different time, so it could come across as depressing. None of the parties and get-togethers I attend have ever reached such melodramatic depths, thankfully.

I watched the first half of the original movie on this site the other night and it brought back the memory of watching it the first time in a movie theatre when it was released. I had exactly the same reaction now as then; what started as a fun and campy situation that all takes place in a rather claustrophobic apartment setting, turned into a depressing and melodramatic portrayal of the so-called “gay” lifestyle amongst friends. Back then I was a young man still coming to terms with my being gay. Looking back now, within 10 years I was living that lifestyle and had a similar set of friends. But we had fun and sure the odd falling out but not the angst portrayed in the movie. At that time when I was coming out, I went to see as many gay themed movies as I came across to try to understand the world I so wanted to enter. I learned a lot about the world and myself as a result.

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Luv2play Grand Master

Luv2play

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I watched about 3/4 of it, and had to switch it off because of the unrelenting nastiness. I've never seen the original all the way through, I suspect it's the same?

Yes it is. I saw it all the way through when it first came out in my youth. That was in a cinema. The other night, i bailed about half way through because I knew what was coming.

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jeezifonly Grand Master

jeezifonly

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There are any number of plays and movies where action is set during (even in spite of) a celebration. Crowley added his own twists to the formula, including a number of character types that he witnessed and/or knew and/or loved, in his daily life as a gay man in NYC in 1968. Friedkins ‘70 film made the claustrophobic quality of a nice GV flat a way to add some tension. Murphy added to that with some more pre-party hints to the characters and a couple of the relationships, and some backstory clues with the flashback inserts. It’s a slice of life (tranche de vie) piece. Some people will appreciate the slice as it is, some won’t.

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WilliamM Grand Master

+ WilliamM

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Did those of you who are posting negative reviews watch the 30-minute ending “extra” with the author? He passed away about 6 months ago. Well worth watching - he explains a lot of why he wrote it, what the world was like 50 yers ago.

 

I watched the"extra" before seeing the Netflix film. Great.

 

But, it didn't help me. I was in the army when the play opened off Broadway ? The last thing I saw in New York was Judy Garland at Madison Square Garden (Felt Forum) during Christmas 1967.

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BenjaminNicholas Grand Master

+ BenjaminNicholas

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To appreciate this play/film, you have to look at it as being inside of a time capsule.

 

A lot of younger gay guys would watch this and simply not understand. I'm young enough to be in that category, but I'm also an old soul who appreciates many things way before his time.

 

I thought it was well-done... And I didn't expect a lot from Ryan Murphy.

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