Tales Of The City

5 out of 5 people found the following review helpful:

San Fran in the 70's

Clerico from from Dunbar, 13th January, 2006

Tales of the City is a kind of gentle 'Desperate Housewives' for the 1970 generation. The characters are beautifully drawn, from old Mr Halcyon, who is dying of kidney disease, thru to the off-the-wall Anna Madrigal, the pot-smoking landlady. The script is a delight, the acting fabulous, the direction assured and generous. There are no cheap laughs, no easy dramatic moments, no plot-line short-cuts. This is top-quality cinema with a conscience and a smile. San Fran is a great city, and Maupin's tender affection is obvious. The endless routine of gay bars and baths in the pre-AIDS days is both quaint and yet oddly forboding - something had to break... There's a naivete and an optimistic unworldiness here, which has long gone... Great stuff, highly watchable. Enjoy!

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3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

For once a serialisation matches the quality of the book

Dave Phillips from London, 5th March, 2006

The magical Tales in the City comes to life via this production and does not fail to impress. Excellent casting combined with fantastic location makes for compelling viewing. Olympia Dukakis in particular shines as the enigmatic Mrs Madrigal. I would heartily recommend this as an experience not to be missed.. often when tv turns a novel into the small screen a lot is lost but I believe Amistead Maupin was heavily involved in the mini series production, and it shows. Order this, get in a few bottles of wine, sit back and devour this treat.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Tales!

fredfish from , 26th April, 2008

Fab ditzy and more fab!

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1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

RENT THIS NOW!

Paul from Manchester, 13th October, 2005

Small town girl in a big city - sex, drugs, and san francisco in the 70's! Funny, intelligent and ever so slightly mad. I loved it!

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An excellent adaptation of the books

A Customer from Bristol, 2nd July, 2008

I absolutely adore the Tales of City books by Armistead Maupin and this adaptation (which I seem to remember watching on TV some years ago) does a brilliant job of bring them to life. Really well cast in particular Olypia Dukakis is a fabulous actress and great in the role of Anna Madrigal.

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Customer Review

A Customer from UK, 23rd June, 2008

A hidden gem for me as I came across to it by chance! However, as the character Mrs Madriga says "you don't choose Barbary Lane, it choses you".

An amazing combination of "Sex and the city" and "Queer as Folk", with the only difference that it is their predecessor by a decade or more. Also, it is more political, poetic and romantic focusing on the life experiences and the struggles of its characters, rather than the latest Manolo Blahnik or the new Prada collection as highlights in someone's life.

I couldn't recommend this DVD more. Flirts with the quality of a Tennessee Williams theatrical play, but in a more openly gay and liberated way as it is the city itself.

Every character is capturing but "Mouse" played by Marcus D'Amico will steal your heart.

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tales of the city

fiszabel from from brighton, 21st April, 2008

captivating, a real treat, a diverse cast, superb off-beat humour and Olympia Dukasis is a gem...i was absorbed and enchanted.

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