Like It Is

Starring:Steve Bell (III), Ian Rose, Roger Daltrey, Dani Behr, Jude Alderson, Emile Charles, Chris Hargreaves, Paul Broughton, P.J. Nicholas, Sean Simpson, Charlie Caine, Stephen Burke (II), Dickon Tolson, Chris Ross (III), Tony Van Silva, Suzy King, Ursula Lea, Suzanne Hall, Nigel Travis
Director: Paul Oremland
Studio: First Run Features
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Like It Is is much like watching a train wreck--the very idea of it is repellent and yet you perversely can't avert your eyes. While its urban grittiness and sooty veneer entranced some critics who mistook its violent, netherworld neorealism for art, Like It Is offers little in the way of redemption, positive gay imaging, or even particularly good narrative.

Paul Oremland directed this venture about a young, gay Blackpool tough named Craig (Steve Bell) who bare-knuckle boxes for money. He ultimately moves to London in search of a better life and falls in with the trendy London gay club scene, meeting and falling for a handsome record producer named Matt (Ian Rose) and his wealthy boss (played by the Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey). The better life is quickly tainted by disillusion and misery, much as is the viewing experience.

Amazon.com

Like It Is is much like watching a train wreck--the very idea of it is repellent and yet you perversely can't avert your eyes. While its urban grittiness and sooty veneer entranced some critics who mistook its violent, netherworld neorealism for art, Like It Is offers little in the way of redemption, positive gay imaging, or even particularly good narrative.

Customer Reviews:

Kindness & Acceptance.......2007-05-10

This rental was an interesting evening's entertainment. Steve Bell was a featherweight amateur boxing champion when he was cast in this part and does a great job bashing in the competition's faces for the camera. As Craig, he plays a guy whose parents have died and is trying to find his way in the world. He hangs outside of clubs and looks at the men going in and out, unable to muster up the nerve to enter. He runs into Matt, a music promoter, played by Ian Rose. Rose appeared in the 2006 film "Flyboys" & does a fairly good job here as the sympathetic friend who helps Craig become comfortable with himself. What most appealed to me about the film is the tolerance of it. Christopher Hargreaves plays Craig's older brother Tony who observes his risky boxing bouts and tries to understand him, despite repeatedly berating him. After we go through the on & off romance between Craig & Matt, Christopher unexpectedly shows his younger brother great kindness and acceptance. The film ends on an upbeat note with Matt choosing love over business and Craig offering forgiveness. Enjoy!

Beautifully British.......2006-12-19

"LIKE IT IS"

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

First Run Features released a few years ago a wonderful little movie called "Like It is". It s the story of Craig, a rough kid in Blackpool, England, who survives life by picking up cash as a bare-knuckle fighter. Together with that, he has a hard time accepting the fact that he is gay. One evening he meets Matt from London who works for a shady but very enterprising music producer. Matt lives with one of his clients who has her own problems and Craig goes to London to visit Matt and falls in love with him. This along with many other problems makes for a tenuous situation and is the meat of the movie.
Let me start by saying that the actors are wonderfully charming and there is an excellent balance of humor, drama, action and more quiet interludes. There are also wonderful studies of contrasts. Blackpool is bleak while London is full of color, a poor lifestyle is contrasted with the richer people, an environment of repression is set against the liberalism of a sophisticated environment. The changes affect Craig and his character is what holds the m0vie together. He wants and needs to change but his idealism is rooted in the mentality of the north of England with its innocence and simplicity. Craig (Steve Bell) gives an outstanding performance as the fighter who has trouble accepting himself. It is not often that a young actor can send out such a positive performance in his first film. Physically, he is exceptionally good looking but it is his acting that shows him off here. He carries himself with a masculine swagger while exhibiting great tenderness. As he struggles with his own homosexuality, he will be respected by the gays that see him and the straight audiences will marvel at his talents.
Roger Daltrey of "The Who" plays his part of Matt exceptionally well and with candor. The rest of the cast is just as good and this simple and enjoyable film shows the evolution of sex and love in a relationship of two men in London. It is the constant contrasts that are integral to the plot and they are what make the movie really work. Craig demystifies many gay stereotypes and that in itself makes this worthwhile viewing.
This is not a perfect movie by any means but what it is, is original. The fight scenes are e classic but not overly choreographed and thereby realistic. I would not say that the movie reaches the level of some of the fine things I have seen on the BBC but I do think it is not far behind.
The love story angle is used merely to illustrate the coming out theme of the film. As Roger Daltrey as the older gay male watches the younger man make mistakes he is taken back to his youth and sees what he missed and at what he succeeded.
There are male on male sex scenes as well and they are in no way lurid and exploitational. Rather they are representations of what two men feel for each other and add a great deal to the film. This is a movie to not only be seen but to be adored. To some it may hit very close to home and to others it will be just a pretty movie. Either of those are good reasons to watch it.

A Film Worth Seeing.......2006-12-05

For years there were practically no movies with decent gay characters-- at least in these United States. Now we can hardly keep up with them, thanks to the advent of DVD's. "Like It Is" is one such film, not so much about coming out as coming to terms with your sexuality. Craig (Steve Bell) is a young man from Blackpool who has a rough and tumble time getting his life together. He falls for Matt (Ian Rose) who works for Kelvin (Roger Daltrey), an older, worldly conniving character who gets in the way of these two men and their relationship. Of course there is the obligatory girl friend type, in this case, Matt's roomie Paula.

This film, like many of this genre, has a low budget feel about it although a decent movie-- as this one demonstrates-- can be made without a lot of cash and fanfare. The actors, including Mr. Daltrey, give decent peformances. Craig-- a sometime bare-fisted boxer-- suffers a rather bloody boxing defeat but ultimately makes some progress in getting his act together, a step in the right direction.

Pretty boys, decent script, okay flick.......2006-04-10

An unpredictable, complicated story about a boxer/criminal "ingenue" who hooks up with a gay promoter in the music biz. Dig the London scene, the accents, ways of speaking that are superficially different from Americans. Watching these English fellows, one can definitely see we share much the same blood. Recommended based mainly on the competent, if not witty or profound, script, and the superb acting skills of the too cute boxer dude. The music promoter guy is also cute but just a little too cognizant of being so. This film gets my typical affirmative action for gay films, an extra star over what it would otherwise get.

So hilariously awful it deserves 5 Stars!!!.......2005-12-17

I first saw this at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in 1998. I left feeling....'that's over now let's get to the pub'...in short I was quite indifferent to it. Several years later it was on TV one night and I watched it again....and I realised how atrocious it was. A year or so later I wtached it again and this time another reaction to the film developed within me.....it was actually - if unintentionally - funny. We have the seasoned Matt demonstrating what can only be described as the most laughably innacurate London accent since Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. Then we have Craig....a supposedly bare knuckle boxer who doesn't look as if he could knock his way out of a soggy brown paper bag. Enter Roger Daltrey....anyone remember 'Buddy's Song with Chesney Hawkes? Roger please keep to music; and I can only assume the Dani Behr character was created by the vilest imaginable mysoginist. If you don't set out to take the film seriously you can really enjoy it. Horrendous dialogue and acting that would make an infant school Nativity Play look like a RADA production. If any of them had been alive Sid James, Hattie Jacques and the rest of the 'Carry On' crew would have made the film truly complete. Marvellous!

BILL VIOLA: I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like

Average customer rating:

Our relationship to our world.

BILL VIOLA: I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like
Starring: various
Director: Bill Viola
Manufacturer: Dis Voir
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

BILL VIOLA: HATSU YUME (FIRST DREAM)
BILL VIOLA: THE PASSING
Volver
The Films of James Broughton
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes - Criterion Collection

ASIN: B000KCIBQ8
Release Date: 2006-11-08

Product Description

An epic journey in five chapters, I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like' is a personal investigation into the inner states and connections to the animal consciousness we all possess. In a stream of images of striking clarity, depth and beauty, woven within a subtle fabric of natural sound, Viola creates a timeless view of the natural world and our place in it.

Customer Reviews:

Our relationship to our world........2007-05-28

I love everything Bill has done. I have loved his work since he showed his pieces to Gene Youngblood's video art class when I was at CalArts in the 70's. So, I'm not perfectly objective. But, this video, along with Chott el Djrid and Hatsu Yume, are my favorites. I think that "I do not know..." is in some ways an extension of "Hatsu Yume" in that it deals with man and nature, in color. But, this video, in particular, deals with how we relate to nature and how aspects of nature relate to each other. I don't want to give away all the cool details. But, the way that the "Bill eating a fish" scene echos back to the buffalo scenes, is extraordinary. If you like Bill Viola, you will LOVE this. If you don't know Bill Viola but like video art, then this is an accessible, powerful, very intense introduction to his work. I only hope that "Editions a Voir" keeps making Bill's work available to American video freaks like myself!!!

The Neville Brothers & Friends - Tell It Like It Is

Average customer rating:

Very Disappointed
The Neville Brothers & Friends - Tell It Like It Is
If you want me to love you, darlin' I will . . .

The Neville Brothers & Friends - Tell It Like It Is
Starring: Neville Brothers , Jimmy Buffett , Bonnie Raitt , and Aaron Neville
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

New Orleans Blues | Regional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | R&B | Styles | Music

General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music

General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Neville Brothers - 20th Century Masters
Funky Meters - Live From The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Legends of New Orleans
Beausoleil - Live From The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Make It Funky!

ASIN: B0001I2CFW
Release Date: 2004-04-20

Amazon.com

Long one of New Orleans's best bands, the Neville Brothers are joined by a host of topnotch guests for some frequently inspired pairings on Tell It Like It Is, an hourlong show recorded in their hometown in 1989. Art, Charles, Cyril, and Aaron Neville are all terrific musicians (especially the angel-voiced Aaron, whose rendition of the classic title tune never fails to thrill). Add to that the presence of keyboard great Herbie Hancock as musical director, plus appearances by John Hiatt, Bonnie Raitt (who duets with Aaron's son Ivan Neville, then sticks around to back up the other guests, including Gregg Allman on "Midnight Rider"), Daniel Lanois, Jimmy Buffett, Buckwheat Zydeco, and the Dixie Cups, and you've got a pretty fine party going. It's not all scintillating; actor Dennis Quaid (whose golden locks recall his performance as Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire, filmed that same year) is fine but hardly on a par with the others, while Ed Bradley's mercifully brief turn at the mike proves that as a singer, he makes a great newsman. Still, there's enough here to more than satisfy fans of superior contemporary New Orleans music. --Sam Graham

Description

The legendary Neville Brothers are joined by an extraordinary group of musical guests for an exciting, once in a lifetime musical event filmed live at the famed Storyville Jazz Hall in New Orleans. Musical guests include Gregg Allmann, Ed Bradley, Jimmy Buffett, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Dixie Cups, Herbie Hancock, John Hiatt, Daniel Lanois, Ivan Neville, Dennis Quaid, Bonnie Raitt, Buckwheat Zydeco. Songs include: 30 N x 90 W, Yellow Moon, Falling Out of Love, Closer to You, Midnight Rider, Tell It Like It Is, My Blood, Sixty Minute Man, Sister Rosa, Fire and Brimstone, Middle of the Night, Ya Ya, Brother John, Iko Iko, Fire on the Bayou.

Customer Reviews:

Very Disappointed.......2007-02-19

The only song I enjoyed was "Tell It Like It is". I did enjoy seeing Ed Bradley on stage. I still miss not seeing him on 60 Minutes.

The Neville Brothers & Friends - Tell It Like It Is.......2006-03-16

Xcellent DVD - Xcellent service from Amazon.

If you want me to love you, darlin' I will . . . .......2005-08-31

Bonnie Raitt plays slide guitar behind Greg Allman; Dennis Quaid makes women swoon; The Dixie Cups and Cyril sing Iko; and more.

Not sure about the sequencing, but this is how music should be.

Perfect Date Movies Vol. 1- Love & Romance (Life or Something Like It / Love is a Many Splendored Thing / One Fine Day / Say Anything)

Average customer rating:

Perfect Date Movies Vol. 1- Love & Romance (Life or Something Like It / Love is a Many Splendored Thing / One Fine Day / Say Anything)
Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer , George Clooney , Mae Whitman , Alex D. Linz , and Charles Durning
Director: Michael Hoffman , Stephen Herek , and Cameron Crowe
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Romantic Comedies | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Perfect Date Movies Vol. 5 - Love & Devotion (The Object of My Affection / Hope Floats / A Walk in the Clouds / Prelude to a Kiss)
Perfect Date Movies Vol. 2 - Love & Desire (Never Been Kissed / The Truth About Cats and Dogs / Love Potion #9 / French Kiss)
Perfect Date Movies Vol. 4 - Love & Laughter (Raising Arizona / Me, Myself & Irene / Nine Months / The Man with One Red Shoe)
The Holiday
The Illusionist (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000JLTRAO
Release Date: 2007-01-30

Description

Disc 1: SAY ANYTHING Disc 2: LOVE IS A MANY SPLORED THING Disc 3: LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT Disc 4: ONE FINE DAY

The Best of Gay Britain (Boyfriends / Like It Is / The Wolves of Kromer)

Average customer rating:

The Best of Gay Britain (Boyfriends / Like It Is / The Wolves of Kromer)
Starring: James Dreyfus , Mark Sands , Andrew Ableson , Michael Urwin , and David Coffey
Director: Neil Hunter , Tom Hunsinger , and Paul Oremland
Manufacturer: First Run Features
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Gay & Lesbian | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Third Man Out
Another Gay Movie
Dante's Cove
Broken Sky
Sweat (Gay)

ASIN: B0001US7YK
Release Date: 2004-05-18

Actors at Work, Vol. 3: Agents Tell It Like It Is

Average customer rating:

Actors at Work, Vol. 3: Agents Tell It Like It Is
Starring: Joel Asher
Manufacturer: Joel Asher Studio
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Actors at Work, Vol. 2: Casting Directors Tell It Like It Is

Average customer rating:

Actors at Work, Vol. 2: Casting Directors Tell It Like It Is
Starring: Joel Asher
Manufacturer: Joel Asher Studio
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Average customer rating:

Kindness & Acceptance
Beautifully British
A Film Worth Seeing
Pretty boys, decent script, okay flick
So hilariously awful it deserves 5 Stars!!!

Like It Is
Starring: Steve Bell (III) , Ian Rose , Roger Daltrey , Dani Behr , and Jude Alderson
Director: Paul Oremland
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Dante's Cove
Latter Days (Unrated Edition)
Another Gay Movie
Gone, But Not Forgotten
Sugar

ASIN: B00004Y3NA

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Kindness & Acceptance.......2007-05-10

Beautifully British.......2006-12-19

A Film Worth Seeing.......2006-12-05

Pretty boys, decent script, okay flick.......2006-04-10

So hilariously awful it deserves 5 Stars!!!.......2005-12-17

Average customer rating:

Kindness & Acceptance
Beautifully British
A Film Worth Seeing
Pretty boys, decent script, okay flick
So hilariously awful it deserves 5 Stars!!!

Like It Is [Region 2]
Starring: Steve Bell (III) , Ian Rose , Roger Daltrey , Dani Behr , and Jude Alderson
Director: Paul Oremland
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items: