Griff Lees
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Kien Navarro
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Michelle Ridley
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
Jemima
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
friend_city
I love the first segment of this movie. The first segment took place in 1960's. It described how 2 elderly women live and love each other for many years and suddenly, one of them dies of stroke, the other one is only being recognized as the best friend, not family member. Vanessa Redgrave was marvelous in this role. She could only moan for her lost partner in dark and hide all the sorrow to herself. The scene that she felt the need to separate her stuff apart from her partner's right before her partner's nephew arrival certainly reflects how lesbians are practically nonexistent at that time. It is so sad and upsetting that some distant relatives could just walk in there and take away everything (furnitures, bird collections with all sentimental meanings) she had shared with her partner for years. She eventually got kicked out of her own house by some distant relative of her partner's. This is how same sex couples were being treated. It is a very touching, tender segment. It will make you cry.In the 2nd segment, although Chole Sevigny and Mitchell William were great, something is missing in the message they tried to convey. It doesn't go into much details on how 1970's perceive lesbians.The 3rd segment is kind of funny. Ellen Degeneres and Sharon Stone were great. This segment is a big contrast to the very first one. In 2000, gay and lesbians are getting more recognitions and fighting for civil rights. Although there is still a lot of work to do, compared to 1960's, there has been a lot of improvements and more freedom.Overall, it is a wonderful movie. Highly recommended.
Theo Robertson
HBO were credited as producing this TVM the same company that produced critically acclaimed hard hitting dramas like OZ and THE SOPRANOS so right away I was expecting some in your face intense drama along with explicit scenes of lesbian love making . Unfortunately I was very disappointed on both counts in this anthology drama Story one ) This centres around a lesbian couple who have lived together for decades . The home owner dies so her distant family decide to sell the house meaning her partner will become homeless . I can't help thinking there's an agenda here , one that screams in support of civil partnerships . Whatever the rights and wrongs of this it should be pointed out that there's a lack of logic to the premise . All the dead woman had to do was change her will while she was alive Story two ) A bunch of feminist " lesbian " students find the going tough when their college commitee turn against them though for one of them it leads to a happy ending . This is what I don't understand - Are they lesbians or are they just trendy students jumping on a bandwagon ? I think they are but the script is neither scathing or cynical enough to make this point clearer Story three ) HBO doesn't do comedy very well and this third story is trying to be a comedy . We also have to put up with a lesbian whining to her girlfriend " Why can't I give you a baby ? " That's because you're a woman dear . I was also puzzled how anyone who looks like Sharon Stone has a problem finding sperm Not as bad as it could of been but as someone who thinks HBO is the most outstanding TV company in America I think they should concentrate on dramas featuring gangsters and maximum security prisons
chefz2
A trilogy wrapped into one movie that covers the difficulties of lesbianism over a space of three generations. It begins with an older couple in the 60's having to deal with loss and the pain of keeping a secret for too long. Then the story brings us to a group of lesbian feminists in the 70's who fight so hard for what they believe in that they forget the point of being themselves. Finally, we're led it a problem of the new millennium that can only be solved outside of nature.I saw the film after someone recommended it. Now that I've seen it, I'll recommend it too. The movie was good based on the fact that homosexuality is often based on the idea of sex alone, and it's not true. It's who you love. And being homosexual does have its disadvantages that hetero-couples might have. This film portrayed this idea very well.The most poignant of these was Edith, who (after her lover died) had no ownership over their house, had no lawful right to her late-lover's property, and was even treated as if she were a mere impersonal object of her late-lover's life. The second was the hardest to get, especially since it's in the middle of the sexual-freedom revolution. Girl meets girl, girl is a feminist, other girl is butch, girl's friends make fun of the butch girl because she doesn't fit the form of their own personal society. It might be historically accurate, but it fits vaguely with what the world is today and how women treat each other as less of a battle of male vs. female attitude.Three is definitely the most fun, showing a couple's struggle with trying to become pregnant. It's not sad in the least, but it's still an issue that has its prevalence in the world. Becoming a mom when you're a lesbian isn't easy.Overall, this movie was entertaining, funny, and moving. Anyone who would rent this movie if they want to have a good time and kill an evening.
bob the moo
Three tales of lesbian couples having different struggles across three different time periods. In the sixties a lifelong lesbian couple who have never come out find the difficulties that occur due to them having no legal connection to one another. In the seventies a university student who is a feminist faces her friends' disapproval when she falls for a stereotypical `butch john' lesbian. In the nineties an openly gay couple decide to try for child and start looking for sperm.I first heard of this film because I always have time for anything that Nia Long does. This caught my eye on her CV and when it came on TV I watched it. I wasn't sure what to expect but most of it works quite well. As the stories are pretty distinct (the only connection being the house) so I'll deal with them so. The first is easily the best and is the most emotionally involving. It is a little too happy and unreal at the start but the tragic situation that Edith finds herself in because of her love is very moving. The second story is a little less real to me as it deals with a problem within the lesbian community (of which I have no experience to speak of). It is less moving and also a little more explicit and may satisfy those who are only interested in lesbians in terms of male arousal! I don't think it is very sexual or overly done but I didn't think there was too much need for it - regardless of the participants sexuality I didn't think it really added to the subject. However the story again is pretty good and is interesting as it is not an issue I was aware of.The final story is the most optimistic but also the weakest. The `issue' is a lot less serious and the film treats it as such with the whole segment being very light-hearted and bright. It doesn't really add anything to the film and doesn't fit with the first two segments. The cast are pretty much all good. In the first part Redgrave is excellent and her plight is made very real by the strength of her performance. In the second film Sevingy steals the show easily with a good performance. In the third DeGeneres happily underplays and isn't `zany' or `wacky', she is funny but not in an annoying way. Stone is weak because her character simply doesn't fit with her body - far too youthful and carefree to suit Stone. The support add to the feel that this is full of `stars' with Perkins, Giamatti, Long, King and others all doing OK in support.Overall this film starts strong but gets progressively weaker as it goes, with the final section being quite frivolous compared to the emotion of the opening. It is an interesting film but it doesn't quite work as well as it should have done.