This week, the retro reviewers (back to the full cast of Caroline, Rina, Danielle and Katie) take on Personal Best, the lesbian sports classic from 1982. The movie stars Mariel Hemingway as the naïve yet determined Kris and Patrice Donnelly as her lover/rival Tory, as they compete for a spot on the 1980 Olympic track team. Scott Glenn plays their creepy, manipulative coach, and the film was written and directed by the acclaimed screenwriter Robert Towne.

Unfortunately, the movie proved a little too dated for ¾ of the crew. While one retro reviewer has roots in college track (and therefore an unquestioning love of movies about running), the other three were too bored by copious shots of women sweating in slow motion to care about the rather clichéd storyline. There were rumblings of dissent long before the last lap was over.

One thing everyone appreciated, however, was the incredible retro fashion.

Check back next episode, when the reviewers take on the divisive 2001 comedy Kissing Jessica Stein.

Last Saturday night, while I was forgetting to record Tina Fey on SNL, a friend of mine excitedly told me that she's finally going to see the movie Personal Best when it airs on Logo (AfterEllen.com's parent company) Wednesday morning.

My friend has seen plenty of lesbian movies — we've seen about a zillion together — but this one is rarely on TV and was only recently released on DVD, so she's never managed to see it. And there are a number of reasons to see Personal Best. It's Mariel Hemingway's first lesbian role — and, for a straight woman, she's played a lot of lesbian roles.

It's also a great sports movie, and provides an interesting glimpse back at the Olympic Trials gearing up to the 1980 Summer Olympics. But most important, it was a watershed lesbian/bisexual movie. For many of us who were first struggling to come out in the '80s, it was the only mainstream lesbian or bisexual movie on our radar. … continue reading

Now that you know my deepest, darkest, most embarrassing bad movie weaknesses, how about we flip the equation? The cinematic canon is filled with “good movies” that for whatever reason I really can’t stand. While everyone else is raving, I’m left scratching my head. Be they Oscar contenders or box office champs, I’d still rather have my TV stuck on C-SPAN for a week than watch these again start to finish. Here's a look at some of my least favorite films through the years.

A Clockwork Orange (1971) — As iconic as this film is, it freaked the bejesus out of me. Should a movie be so disturbing you need therapy afterward? … continue reading