A spectacular element of "OzLand," which is available on DVD and the streaming service that the Wicked Witch of the Pacific Northwest owns, is that the obsession that a central character develops on finding The Wonderful World of Oz is comparable to the response that most people will experience on watching this film by producer/director/writer/cinematographer Michael Williams. Folks already familiar with the (reviewed) more recent Williams joint "The Atoning" will understand this enthusiasm; Williams being kind and gracious in real life is a bonus.
One person wearing so many hats in a production usually warrants jokes regarding whether they also build the sets, provide craft services, and clad the actor in their personal clothes. However, the 27 year-old Williams performs every function well and likely could have stepped in the role of drifter Emri. The POSSIBILITY that this beautifully shot film will come out on Blu-ray is exciting.
Williams does provide a treat in the form of the (separately sold) soundtrack of the country music in the film; these songs achieve the ideal of subtly helping set the mood.
The numerous festival accolades, including the Best Feature and Best Cinematography honors at the 2015 Magnolia Independent Film Festival, validates the high praise in this review.
The following YouTube clip of the "Ozland" trailer is guaranteed to elicit the aforementioned excitement regarding the film.

​"OzLand" opens with ruggedly handsome Emri and dreamy innocent Leif walking through the beautifully shot post-apocalyptic (presumably Shenandoah Valley) world in which virtually everyone else has dried up. This modern-day George (Emri) and Lennie (Leif) from the Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men are drifting through this world trying to make sense of what happened while following the advice of Horace Greeley and The Pet Shop Boys to go west in search of a better existence.
A horribly missed opportunity occurs when big brother figure George tells Leif to focus on survival; Leif not smiling and responding "I'm your lover, not your rival" is an almost painful omission.
The magic begins when a typical exploration of a devastated structure covered in thick layer of dust scores Leif a copy of Oz. This excited literate man subsequently reciting passages from Oz to illiterate Emri entertains him but does not prompt him to share the belief of Leif that the story is real and that these men are living it.
Although the optimism that Leif experiences is not infectious, the introduction to the wonderful world of  Oz colors (no pun intended) the remaining adventures of our "leftovers." At the heart of it, the Depression-era tornado in the Judy Garland film provides an explanation for the substantial rapid decline in the population of at least the southern United States in "Ozland."
Watching the glee of Leif on meeting a tin man, finding the abandoned home of a lion and munchkins, encountering a scarecrow who is more Christ figure than lovable dope, and finding himself hot on the trail of Dorothy reinforces the sense of wanting to take a road trip with Leif portrayor Zack Ratkovich; his horrifying encounter with uberscary flying monkeys makes you want to protect him.
Ratzovich particularly shines in a scene in which Leif and Emri discuss what they want from the wizard. This provides further insight (and sympathy) regarding the character.
Emri portrayor Glenn Payne also plays his part well. He is a kind and patient protector of his naive little buddy; his special moments include comically acting out the grotesque version of the tin man that the 1939 film Disneyfies.
The Mice vibe is particularly strong in a scene late in the film; the boys are near death when Emri discovers that Leif has been holding out for a fantastical reason. Many of us would have killed Leif out of frustration and/or to protect him from an existence worse than a quick demise.
The climax provides an awesome end to a film with no bad scenes. Only one boy utilizes a chance to go home; post-viewing communication with Williams points out that this rapture involves a subtle element of ascension.
Williams takes a note from the DCU and the Marvel Universe in including a stinger halfway through the closing credits. Our survivor is continuing his journey with a new special companion who is very true to the spirits of both the ascended partner and Oz.
The literally final moment of the film is another reflection of the kind and loving nature of Williams; he dedicates the movie to 31 year-old crew member Casey Spradling, who dies soon after finishing "Ozland." One can easily imagine Williams and the rest of the team missing him most of all after separating to go on to their next projects.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Ozland" or Williams is strongly encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.

​Applying the catchphrase "Trust me; I know what I'm doing" from the '80s sitcom "Sledgehammer" applying to the "Inventing America: Rockwell + Warhol" exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts through October 29, 2017 provides a nice tie-in to a site that celebrates unreal TV.


Former Warhol Museum curator/current Rockwell Museum Curator of Exhibits/Expert Exhibitionist Jesse Kowalski essentially requests that leap of faith regarding displaying the work of a leader of the Pop Art movement at a museum dedicated to an artist who is closely associated with wholesome institutions that include the "Mayberry" lifestyle, The Boy Scouts of America, and The Saturday Evening Post. Like the titular sitcom police detective, Kowalski proves that he is worthy of the requested trust.


Before delving into the surprising parallels between Rockwell and Warhol, Unreal TV would like to join the Rockwell Museum in thanking The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge and the Hayseed Hill Foundation in Great Barrington, Massachusetts for being sponsors of this exhibit that extends beyond the art of Warhol to include his paint-splattered "skinny" jeans that warrant a Jonas Brothers joke.


The award for coolest item in "America" goes to an autographed publicity photo of Shirley Temple that she sent a young bed-ridden Warhol, who spent his childhood time contending with St. Vitus Dance amassing a ginormous collection of fan magazine and signed photos of celebrities. Kowalski shared that it was thought that the Temple photo was lost until it was surprisingly found among other possessions of Warhol.


The runner-up for best item is a subversive Picassoesque painting from the student days of Warhol. The personal aspect of this work that was banned from the competition for which Warhol painted it was the adviser of the grad. school thesis of your not-so-humble reviewer loving that analysis but advising sending it to a British scholarly journal (which published it) because it was too incendiary for publication in the United States.


Kowalski on Warhol and Rockwell

Kowalski shared that his interest in Pittsburgh-native Warhol (nee Warhola) dates back to the Kansas high school days of the curator. Kowalski noted that the nature of Warhol included that "he never gave any thought to the legacy of his work; he just went with the times."


Kowalski stated as well that his reasons for attending the highly non-traditional The College of That Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine included wanting to get far away from Kansas. He added that an internship at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh during his studies led to a job after he graduated.


Discussions regarding producing a Rockwell exhibit at the Warhol Museum provided a taste of things to come for Kowalski.


Other than the story of Warhol growing up poor in Pittsburgh, most of the biographical information that Kowalski relayed about Warhol demonstrated that this man who was known for purposefully looking and acting very odd lived a surprisingly Rockwellesque private life. These wholesome characteristics included living with his mother and a gaggle of cats much of his adult life. Learning that Warhol was a devout Catholic who attended Mass every Sunday and several times during the week was even more surprising.


Kowalski noted as well that the life of thrice-married (including one divorce) Manhattan-native Rockwell did not fully match his public image much more than the perception matched reality regarding Warhol. Kowalski further added that this dad of three who often painted scenes of fathers being active in the lives of their children worked every day of the year, except for taking one-half day off on Christmas.


As an aside, family guy Kowalski is a terrific father; his young son John was a delightful member of our party.  A highlight of interacting with Kowalski Jr. was getting him to almost admit to that he would trade in his highly allergic older sister for a dog or a cat.


Resistance is Foolish

Kowalski stated regarding making his vision of a Warhol exhibit at the Rockwell Museum a reality that "Rockwell purists" initially opposed the idea. Telling these folks and others that "he [Warhol] built a persona that was not who he was" was the first step in getting support for the exhibit. This led to enthusiasm that Kowalski described as "by the end of it, they all loved Warhol."


Rockwell + Warhol

The expertise of Kowalski regarding the parallels between Rockwell and Warhol came through loud-and-clear during our discussion, in touring the exhibit, and in reading the exhibit catalog that Kowalski and Rockwell Museum Deputy Director/Chief Curator Stephanie Haboush Plunkett co-authored. This show of knowledge began with Kowalski stating that Warhol never met Rockwell but liked his art to the extent of commenting during a 1962 exhibit of Rockwell paintings that he influenced the work of Warhol.


The catalog adds the context that Rockwell artistically made art for the common man out of high concepts and that Warhol transformed the ordinary into "high art." An awesome photo in the exhibit and the catalog shows a bemused Warhol with a cart full of Brillo pads, Campbell soup cans, and other household items on which he based some work in the aisle of a New York grocery store.


Kowalski shared as well that Rockwell and Warhol separately began their art careers in advertising; both his comments and the exhibit highlighted their different approaches to that work. Further, the catalog noted that the conservative button-down world of 1950s Madison Avenue not being a good personality match with Warhol did not prevent him from regularly winning major advertising awards.


One topic that the discussion with Kowalski, the exhibit, and the catalog all covered that perfectly illustrated (no pun intended) the contrast between Rockwell and Warhol was the portraits by each artist of a pre-Jackie O Jackie Kennedy.


The Rockwell painting (which Warhol owned and that the Warhol museum loaned the Rockwell for "Amercia") was a 1963 portrait that Rockwell painted in traditional Rockwellesque style several weeks before the JFK assassination. The Warhol portrait (which hangs next to the Rockwell painting in "America") is in the famous two-tone silkscreen style of that artist.


Kowalski noted that that subject and style reflected the art of Warhol of that era. This curator aded that Warhol painted a series of "Madonna figures," who were "women who either were dying or in grief." Other subjects included Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland, but not Liza.


A cool "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" connection that Kowalski revealed was that the art instructors who taught either Warhol or Rockwell could be tied to an Italian artist from 1400.


Kowalski mentioning Warhol promoting his celebrity status in the '80s to the extent of appearing in the very special 200th episode of that Saturday night ABC anthology sitcom "The Love Boat" prompted watching that episode on YouTube. A truly awesome scene involved "Happy Days" co-stars Tom Bosley and Marion Ross (who played a very Cunninghamesque married couple) discussing the art of Warhol and the Bosley character commenting that the deceased Rockwell was the only comparable artist to Warhol.


Uncle Andy

A portion of "America" that sadly must remain unsung for the moment is "Remembering Uncle Andy," which is a collection of paintings by Warhol nephew James Warhola. In addition to the Warhol connection, this exhibit is apt because the combination of folksy style and Pop Art in the work of art make Warhola the artistic child of Rockwell and Warhol.


A highlight of the "Andy" art is a painting of a surprised Warhol opening the door of his New York factory to see his unsophisticated brother and family there for an unannounced visit. Kowalski noted that that was an actual case of art imitating a common real life event.


Fifteen Minutes of Fame

It is nice to think that the public Warhol persona would have enjoyed the exhibit if only because it disproved his cynical prediction decades before the reality TV population explosion that everyone in the future will have 15 minute of fame; "America" awesomely shows that the fame of that artist and Rockwell potentially is eternal.


The same can be said regarding the subjects of the upcoming Summer 2018 exhibit at the Rockwell titled "Wyeth, Parrish, and Rockwell: Keepers of the Flame."


On the subject of being eternal, this article on the exhibit and the related written portraits of the artists could reach that state. Once again channeling the spirit of Warhol in both senses of the word, readers are encouraged to adhere to the principle of RTFM and just go see the exhibit.

The Warner Archive October 3, 2017 Blu-ray release of the 1978 epic "Superman the Movie: Extended Cut" follows the Archive tradition of treating fanboys right. This release comes on the heels of the Archive "one-to-watch" and a second to "one-to-keep-in-mint-condition" worthy (Unreal TV reviewed) Blu-ray release of "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm."


The good folks at Archive also include the "Superman" special edition that the back cover describes as the "definitive vision" of the film of director Richard Donner. The following review is of the extended cut.


It should be undisputed that "Superman" (and its sequels) is the Genesis of the big-budget superhero franchises that are going strong nearly 40 years later. The extended cut is an augmented-for-TV version that adds 40 minutes to this film that includes an origin story, a coming-of-age-tale, AND a heroic effort to save the world.


"Superman" opens with an almost certainly added cold opening about central newspaper The Daily Planet and then goes into the classic opening credits with the equally timeless John Williams score; it is interesting to note that both Donner and Williams learn their craft working on "unreal" classic '60s television series.


The credits lead into the scene on Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent home world/future space debris Krypton in which General Zod and two other lawbreakers get trapped in a mirror and hurled into space; one can only hope that Archive gives the further adventures of this trio the same treatment that "Superman" receives in this release.


The clarity and depth of the opening credits and the theater-quality sound of the Williams score provide the first sense that this Blu-ray looks spectacular on a 4K Ultra HD set; the literally glowing white uniforms of Kal-El dad/Kryptonian leader Jor-el (Marlon Brando) almost being blinding confirms that Archive knows its stuff.


Taking out the trash allows the leaders of Krypton to focus on the rejected assertion of malcontent Jor-El that Krypton literally is coming apart at the seams. This leads to that scampy scientist keeping his word that HE will not leave Krypton but putting infant Kal-El in a small space ship for a three-year journey to the primitive planet Earth. Like any good dad, Jor-El provides his son plenty of educational material for this extended journey.


This brother from another planet is very fortunate to crash land in a Kansas corn field just as childless couple Martha and Jonathan Kent (Glenn Ford) drive by. Soon learning that this lad is the boy with something extra does not deter this American Gothic couple from bringing him home and raising him.


This leads to the teen years of Clark, who becomes a rebel with fulfilling his destiny as a cause. A scene in which he outruns a train is doubly awesome because it illustrates his power of being "faster than a speeding locomotive" and because Donner shooting one segment in which the train is headed for the camera is an homage to the birth of cinema in which a similar angle causes early audiences to scramble out of fear of the train crashing through the screen into the theater.


The real fun begins when our hero (Christopher Reeve) begins working at the Planet with hardened career gal Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). An early scene in which Kent must play the coward and cover up grabbing a bullet during a mugging highlights the comic abilities of Reeve.


Reeve further shows great humor in an early montage in which Superman handily apprehends petty criminals; it additionally is nice that Donner allows the action to speak for itself, rather than bury it under a '70s rock anthem. This is akin to purists who do not add laugh tracks to sitcoms.


This portion of the film also establishes villain Lex Luthor (an awesomely cartoonish Academy Award winner Gene Hackman) as a gleefully sadistic foe. The threat that Superman poses regarding a scheme of Luthor to literally alter the American landscape prompts the latter to lure the former into his lair.


This encounter triggers the events that lead to the legendary climatic scenes that even casual fanboys know by heart. A praiseworthy aspect of all this is that it is more clever and thrilling than the standard battle royale between hero and henchmen of a villain leading to the final showdown between the two protagonists.


The cleverness in  "Superman" extends even further to includes foreshadowing that goes beyond Jor-El repeatedly warning Kel-Al to not interfere with human history. Suffice it to say that Superman prevents Luthor from anteing in.


Every aspect of "Superman" discussed above reflects the underlying awesome feature of it; the film stays true to the spirit of the Superman comics and serials that inspire it. Reeve and the behind-the-scenes folks show that telling a good superhero yarn does not require that the sex and the violence exceed family-friendly levels.


The bigger picture (pun intended) is that the three-hour extended cut flies by and leaves you wanting more.


The super-sized collection of bonus features include audio commentary by Donner, several documentaries of the film history of Superman, screen tests, and deleted scenes.

The Warner Archive October 3, 2017 Blu-ray release of the 1978 epic "Superman the Movie: Extended Cut" follows the Archive tradition of treating fanboys right. This release comes on the heels of the Archive "one-to-watch" and a second to "one-to-keep-in-mint-condition" worthy (Unreal TV reviewed) Blu-ray release of "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm."


The good folks at Archive also include the "Superman" special edition that the back cover describes as the "definitive vision" of the film of director Richard Donner. The following review is of the extended cut.


It should be undisputed that "Superman" (and its sequels) is the Genesis of the big-budget superhero franchises that are going strong nearly 40 years later. The extended cut is an augmented-for-TV version that adds 40 minutes to this film that includes an origin story, a coming-of-age-tale, AND a heroic effort to save the world.


"Superman" opens with an almost certainly added cold opening about central newspaper The Daily Planet and then goes into the classic opening credits with the equally timeless John Williams score; it is interesting to note that both Donner and Williams learn their craft working on "unreal" classic '60s television series.


The credits lead into the scene on Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent home world/future space debris Krypton in which General Zod and two other lawbreakers get trapped in a mirror and hurled into space; one can only hope that Archive gives the further adventures of this trio the same treatment that "Superman" receives in this release.


The clarity and depth of the opening credits and the theater-quality sound of the Williams score provide the first sense that this Blu-ray looks spectacular on a 4K Ultra HD set; the literally glowing white uniforms of Kal-El dad/Kryptonian leader Jor-el (Marlon Brando) almost being blinding confirms that Archive knows its stuff.


Taking out the trash allows the leaders of Krypton to focus on the rejected assertion of malcontent Jor-El that Krypton literally is coming apart at the seams. This leads to that scampy scientist keeping his word that HE will not leave Krypton but putting infant Kal-El in a small space ship for a three-year journey to the primitive planet Earth. Like any good dad, Jor-El provides his son plenty of educational material for this extended journey.


This brother from another planet is very fortunate to crash land in a Kansas corn field just as childless couple Martha and Jonathan Kent (Glenn Ford) drive by. Soon learning that this lad is the boy with something extra does not deter this American Gothic couple from bringing him home and raising him.


This leads to the teen years of Clark, who becomes a rebel with fulfilling his destiny as a cause. A scene in which he outruns a train is doubly awesome because it illustrates his power of being "faster than a speeding locomotive" and because Donner shooting one segment in which the train is headed for the camera is an homage to the birth of cinema in which a similar angle causes early audiences to scramble out of fear of the train crashing through the screen into the theater.


The real fun begins when our hero (Christopher Reeve) begins working at the Planet with hardened career gal Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). An early scene in which Kent must play the coward and cover up grabbing a bullet during a mugging highlights the comic abilities of Reeve.


Reeve further shows great humor in an early montage in which Superman handily apprehends petty criminals; it additionally is nice that Donner allows the action to speak for itself, rather than bury it under a '70s rock anthem. This is akin to purists who do not add laugh tracks to sitcoms.


This portion of the film also establishes villain Lex Luthor (an awesomely cartoonish Academy Award winner Gene Hackman) as a gleefully sadistic foe. The threat that Superman poses regarding a scheme of Luthor to literally alter the American landscape prompts the latter to lure the former into his lair.


This encounter triggers the events that lead to the legendary climatic scenes that even casual fanboys know by heart. A praiseworthy aspect of all this is that it is more clever and thrilling than the standard battle royale between hero and henchmen of a villain leading to the final showdown between the two protagonists.


The cleverness in  "Superman" extends even further to includes foreshadowing that goes beyond Jor-El repeatedly warning Kel-Al to not interfere with human history. Suffice it to say that Superman prevents Luthor from anteing in.


Every aspect of "Superman" discussed above reflects the underlying awesome feature of it; the film stays true to the spirit of the Superman comics and serials that inspire it. Reeve and the behind-the-scenes folks show that telling a good superhero yarn does not require that the sex and the violence exceed family-friendly levels.


The bigger picture (pun intended) is that the three-hour extended cut flies by and leaves you wanting more.


The super-sized collection of bonus features include audio commentary by Donner, several documentaries of the film history of Superman, screen tests, and deleted scenes.

​The Warner Archive celebration of Halloween 2017 continues with the October 3, 2017 DVD release of the 2016 thriller "Wolves at the Door." This joins the ranks of (previously reviewed) recent Archive horror releases such as "The Green Slime," "The Hidden," and "Innocent Blood." "Within" is scheduled for tomorrow.


"Wolves" is the most creepy of this lot both because it is true and involves human (rather than alien or other supernatural) monsters.


The following YouTube clip of an early "Wolves" scene perfectly illustrates the tone of the film.

This docudrama about the Manson family begins with that cult terrorizing a couple at 3:00 a.m on a day in August 1969 apparently simply for the fun of it. The LAPD shrugs this incident off as mischief either by hippies or kids on drugs.


Moving the action forward to pregnant actress Sharon Tate (a.k.a. Mrs. Roman Polanski) throwing a going-away party for good friend/coffee heiress Abigail Folger at a restaurant on the evening before Folger is scheduled to return to the east coast provides foreshadowing for folks familiar with the Manson history.  Celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring is the escort of Tate, and Folger boyfriend Wojciech Frykowski is spending his last evening with his girlfriend.


The quartet returning to the Polanski-Tate estate to keep the party going is reminiscent of the OJ case (complete with the a sketchy character occupying the guest house). The revelers initially remain blissfully ignorant as the audience sees the Manson clan arrive and initially direct their efforts at a guest of the aforementioned caretaker.


Director John R. Leonetti does a good job building the suspense as Charles and those of whom he is in charge set the stage for the subsequent blood bath. We see the shadowy figures on the lawn and in the house, the cutting off of escape routes, and the fear-inducing bumps in the night and other purposeful means of terrorizing the future murder victims.


This being "based on actual events" contributes to the terror; the fact that all of us are still vulnerable to a nut job with or without equally psychotic followers determining that we are worthy of their attention amps up the fear factor.


One particularly creepy scene clearly inspires the most effective element of the 1999 horror film "The Sixth Sense." Abigail sees a shadowy figure of one of Charlie's angels wave at her in a hallway and then walk in the bedroom suite of Sharon. The chills continue with that woman being nowhere to be seen on Abigail following her in the room.


Like both the real-life basis for the docudrama and most purely fictional horror films, the terror effectively builds to the inevitable blood bath that may have inspired the fictional versions of that carnage.


The strong creepy vibe and terrorized "innocents" throughout provide all viewers good entertainment; getting to know more about Tate (and the rest) who get slaughtered is a bonus to folks who know of the "docu" elements of this drama.


"Wolves" ending with a recap of the actual events (complete with footage of Manson and his family) awesomely reminds us that the movie is scary because it is true.

Time Life awesomely does it again regarding the October 24, 2017 DVD release "The Carol Burnett Show: Carol's Lost Christmas." This collection of three episodes of that long-running '70s variety series comes on the heels of the four-disc Time Life (Unreal TV reviewed) "Best of " Burnett 50th Anniversary edition release. "Christmas" includes three holiday-themed episodes that have not been seen in more than 40 years.


The "Christmas" set opens with an S1 episode that reminds current fans of the greatness of "Burnett" and introduces newbies to most elements that warrant that praise. The specialness of this one begins with the guests being comedian Jonathan Winters and actress/singer Barbara Eden. Winters represents the A-List caliber of Burnett guests and the equally elite Eden illustrates Burnett especially loving stars who both can do comedy and perform musical numbers.


Eden shining in a scene in which she channels "Jeannie" to entrance "Burnett" announcer Lyle Waggoner shows her comedic side; a later song-and-dance number demonstrates the desire of Eden (and her mother) to be a musical-comedy star that she discusses in a (sadly lost) vintage interview with your not-so-humble reviewer.


Improv. master Winters steals the show as a boozing Santa in a faux interview in a segment in a "V.I.P." sketch that features Harvey Korman as an interviewer. The humor from a clearly missed cue is pure Burnett. Winters performing a political monologue about dolls is pure hilarity.


Winters and Korman later team up again in a mockumentary about prisons. Winters as an unconventional warden is a laugh-a-minute; a surprise guest later in the sketch is a special bonus.


Speaking of special guests, a big-name appearing in character surprising Burnett and the audience is a prime example of such versions of Easter eggs in the series; a similar cameo in the third episode in the set is another stocking stuffer.


The guests in the aforementioned third episode and the second one in the set include comedian Garry Moore, who is the former boss of Burnett on his own variety show. The pair fully relive old times in the sketch "The Trial of Mrs. Peter Piper" that is a Neil Simon piece that premiered on the "Moore" show.


Burnett both having the Bob Mitchell Singing Boys perform and interacting with two of the lads (who show that boys will be boys) demonstrates both her interest in highlighting lesser-known talent and giving the audience a chance to know them.


All of this amounts to more than two hours of a show that was "appointment TV" for most of the '70s and that aces the test of time.

As the Unreal TV review of the recent tla releasing DVD of the 2016 gay-themed Mark Bessenger film "Confessions" notes, that release roughly coincides with this site learning of the tla DVD release of the 2014 Mark Bessenger film  "The Last Straight Man." "Man" is much more revealing than "Confessions" both visually and in terms of titular breeder boy Cooper meeting up with his boi Lewis once a year for a night of passion. Suffice it to say, ample proof exists that Bessenger knows that of which he films and writes.
"Man" opens with the hotel suite bachelor party for Cooper on the night before his wedding to a woman; Lewis begging off when the stripper offers him a lap dance provides the first clue that he is not like the other boys in attendance.
Things take a stereotypical gay porn turn when Lewis hangs with Mr. Cooper after the party, and the latter prompts the two of them watching gay porn. A game of truth in which the dares come later further bring newly admitted biboy Lewis (who tells a tale that deserves a place in "Confessions") and clearly curious Cooper closer to the climax of the evening.
A good time being held by all leads to our stars meeting in the same suite every year for a night in which the boys catch up, reveal more about each other, and Cooper increases his knowledge of the joys of gay sex. The latter is fully in line with the theory that every man who has sex with another man has a "gay age" that reflect the timing and degree of his experience in that area.  Suffice it to say this time, an off-screen scene in which Lewis guides Cooper through having an enema is one of the most amusing in this highly entertaining film.
Bessenger expertly combines the erotic, the pornographic (suffice it to say that Lewis portrayor Mark Cirillo speaks softly and carries a big stick), the serious, and the silly. Our characters awesomely address this in a scene in which retail store owner Cooper suggests that romance novelist Lewis base a book on their story, and Lewis responds that that plot is better suited to a melodramatic play or a movie.
On a larger level, Bessenger awesomely presents issues of the Kinsey scale of sexuality, the related complicated aspects of feeling love for another man while being far enough at the gay end of that scale to have sex withhim but not far enough to abandon a heterosexual life style to be with him, and denying happiness for what you think is the greater good.
Having characters who are past their doe-eye days further adds substance to this story far beyond it being one in which Lewis lusts after Cooper based on high school showers and Saturday night sleepovers only to have a hairless emo Cooper bring him to Heaven only to later break his heart. Our heroes are big boys in every sense of the word and have spent enough time on the street corner to know the score even if they will not admit it to themselves.
The special features include (what surely are terrific) interviews and deleted scenes.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Man" is strongly encouraged to either email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy,