8.5

Celluloid Closet

Lily Tomlin narrates as Oscar-winning moviemaker Rob Epstein ("The Times of Harvey Milk" & "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt") and Jeffrey Friedman assemble fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fienstein and Gore Vidagl are just a few of the many actors, writers and commentators who provide funny and insightful anecdotes.

What did I get involved in when I decided to review this documentary? At first I was expecting a walk down memory lane but rather I was pleasantly surprised a journey of the entire history of cinemas from a variety of different eras. The documentary showcases 120 different films that portray the changing face of cinema such as the acceptability of homosexuality and the increase of violence on our screens. A very moving documentary.

The video and sound quality for this movie are exceptional for the modern movies but some of the older movies do suffer from age, however one cannot really complain but I was a little bemused that this documentary only supported Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.

There are tons of special features on this disc that contain some interesting deleted scenes and also excellent audio commentary by Vito Russo. A great documentary for all those movie buffs or for those that wish to learn about the changing face of Hollywood.

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary by Vito Russo

• Deleted Scenes & Outtakes

• Theatrical Trailer

• Photo Gallery