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DVD
Publisher: Acorn Media
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Actors: Olympia Dukakis, Donald Moffat, Chloe Webb, Laura Linney, Marcus D'Amico
"The City" in question is San Francisco, and the tales are novelist Armistead Maupin's, his romantic, affectionate, and spirited homage to the glory days of his hometown. Maupin's idea of SF's glory days isn't the drug-filled Summer of Love (1967), but rather the drug-filled lust-in of the late '70s. Replacing acid with coke and ludes, psychedelia for disco, this six-hour miniseries (which caused controversy for its open drug use, nudity, and direct depiction of homosexuality upon its initial airing on PBS) follows the romantic struggles and identity crises of a colorful cast of characters. The action--as addictive as the drugs the characters ingest--is seen mostly from the innocent point of view of Mary Ann, the city's newest culture-shocked resident--so its presentation is rather decadent and hedonistic. Because the story originally ran as a daily serial in the San Francisco Chronicle before being compiled into a novel, its serialized structure suffers from typical soap-opera mawkishness and the need to shock with ridiculous revelations. Thankfully, this degeneration mostly occurs during the final two hours, allowing you to just enjoy the personalities and hilarious and often-touching interactions of the richly drawn characters before they're manipulated by plot devices. The performances are all outstanding, especially Chloe Webb's spacey ex-hippie Mona, Marcus D'Amico's romantically doomed Michael, and Olympia Dukakis's Anna Madrigal, the enigmatic mother hen/landlady of many of the film's central characters. --Dave McCoy
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| Loved the movie, but.... |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I gave my VHS copy of this film away years ago, planning to buy it on dvd. Before I did, I read the reviews here and found that the dvd version is censored and for that reason I haven't bought it.
I love the film, but I want it the way it was made to be.
Does anyone know if a true unedited version is planned?
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| Classic Gay life, coming of age, coming out and growing up! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This series, adapted from the book series, are a must see for all people, but particularly those coming to grip with their own (homo)sexuality. The film series captures the essence of the books very well and while altered slightly, and storylines mingle, they are a great watch and make you wish life could be simpler for us all. The books (film series) are engaging, heartwarming, thought provoking, full of interesting and allurring characters; some of which we see as pieces of ourselves some are our friends, neighbors, etc... You will find yourself aligning with a character or two right away (unless of course you are straight and you say 'who are these people?' no, just kidding, not to worry, there are a few of you in there too ;-)
Most anyone will find a way to resonate with Maupin and his cast of oddballs ;-) He has captured his audience for years in his writing and with the film adaptation of this ever popular series of books. ( There are 2 more sets 'More tales of the City,' and 'Further Tales...')
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| love it |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This is a great series for those of you that didn't see it the first time around. It's also great for those of us that did.
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| Not For Everyone/But I Loved It |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Every So Often You Watch A Mini Series That Has That Something Extra//
This Is It//All The Cast Is Wonderful But The Performance Of Olympia
Dukakis Playing Anna Madrigal Is So Much Of A Masterpiece If Her Performace Was A Painting It Would Be Hanging In A Museum//What A Wonderful Wonderful Actress//Also Donald Moffat Also Has That Something Extra That A Lot Of Newcomers Just Don't Have//Something That You Do Not Learn In Acting Classes It's What I Call Being A Natural//Actors Like Jimmy Cagney Olivia DeHavilland Edward G.Robinson Paul Muni They All Were
Originals And So Is Olympia Dukakis/On To More Tales Of The City And Further Tales Of The City
Stanley Cooper Jupiter Florida
zoundz@bellsouth.net
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| The DVD is (mostly) NOT edited |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Let me say right here and now that this DVD edition (contrary to what some people have posted on here) is, for the most part, UNedited. The language (with one exception I noticed on episode 2), and nudity, are intact -- it is not edited, replaced or otherwise "cleaned up." People who claim the whole DVD is edited have been partaking too much of what Mrs. Madrigal grows in her garden.
Acorn Media has done an excellent job with this -- the picture and sound quality are excellent.
Avoid the lackluster follow-up sequels -- the original "Tales of the City" remains one of the finest miniseries ever filmed, and this DVD edition doesn't disappoint.
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