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CINEMA SEEN - "Hugging Back!" By William Margold An interesting thing happened to me on the way to creating this serving of Cinema Seen…I got “re-famili-tized! A few columns ago I discussed the somewhat suspicious circumstances surrounding my birth, and was delighted to have that column mentioned in www.adultfyi.com---an affable website fueled by the wit of Gene Ross, a sardonic veteran of the XXX wars for many, many years. Gene and I have had our differences over the past two decades, but for the most part, bound by “the brotherhood of man”---we have served each other well and swell, bantering back and forth about the good times (many) and the bad times (few), and the good people (few) and the bad people (MANY) that have passed through our lives in the blink of the mind’s eye that is over 20 years. Having never had a real family until I entered the Adult Entertainment Industry as a journalist seeking to report a first hand (as well as other appendages) account of XXX in 1971, I quickly adopted myself into the warm, wet, writhing world, and in turn was adopted by it, becoming to some, a friend (and more), and to others, a foe (and lots more). In 1974, I was fortunate to meet a completely natural wonder named Serena. It was “like at first sight” for me, and from the first moment we hugged, and I felt her being genuinely satisfied (and comforted) by that action, I knew that we were going to be “family” for ever. And in the symbiotic relative way of things, it was Serena who began to adoringly call me “Brother Bill.” Years later, the spectacular Porsche Lynn would lovingly label me “Uncle Bill.” And as I began to surrogate new “kids” into “The Family of X”---my patriarchal status, plus an endless supply of teddy bears being heaped upon me, finally led to my most popular and pleasant nick name---“Papa Bear.” I hadn’t heard from Serena (who is pictured with me on this page in a shot from 1978 that speaks volumes about our mutual feelings), since 1989, but I had always kept her memory burning brightly, patiently waiting for her to “make contact.” And so it was that a few weeks ago, a phone message, then an e-mail, then a box with a card, and of course, some teddy bears, re-ignited all the warmth that bonds soul mates in families that don’t need to be linked by bloodlines. And so it was, with my symbiotic “Sister” (checkout her website: www.classicpornserena) returned to me, at least telephonically, that I went off to see the pair of family-based films discussed on this page. THE FAMILY STONE---Richly rewarding, simplistically sly, extremely smart study of how a family copes…with various situations…ranging from humorous to painfully human. Writer-director Thomas Bezucha liltingly sets us down in the middle of a New England winter, and makes life downright wonderful with a cast that includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Luke Wilson, and an especially evocative Diane Keaton, who should be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. If ever using the term “tears of joy” were justified, it would be for the expending of a steady stream of them, as I watched Bezucha’s cinematic gem reel by. This one will be a heart-and-hearth-warmer for many years to come. RUMOR HAS IT---Amusing effort from director Rob Reiner---“speculating” about the circumstances surrounding many of the characters that were first featured in “The Graduate”---then…and almost now. Jennifer Anniston gets caught up in the very furry tale of who may have seduced whom, and who just might be related to whom, and who could be still laying claim to the stuff of legend. It’s pretty cute and coy stuff, perhaps a little too cute and too coy, in fact, for its own good, and therefore sort of “who cares” in its exposition. But thanks to the rascality of the eternally impish Shirley MacLaine, and the gracefully aging presence of Kevin Costner, the film is simple, slightly soulful fun in sort of the dirty little secret way of things that were…and that may still be…in the crumbling upper crust of families in Pasadena, California. end NOTE: Originally published in LA Xpress, January 5, 2006, issue. |