AmosL
09-29-2006, 08:57 AM
“DANTE’S COVE”—a follow up
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
Now that “Dante’s Cove” (Here! TV) has firmly implanted itself on Here TV and season one has been released on DVD, I think it may be a good idea to take a closer look at it. For those of you that have not seen the mini series you are really missing a good time. I am hooked on it and I think that you will be also—especially after you get through the first episode.
Let us venture back in time to the nineteenth century. Ambrosius (sounds and looks good enough to eat) Vallin (Gregory Lee), a gay man is out for revenge against “Tresum” a coven of witches. He charms Grace, the main witch woman, and hopes to marry her and in that way gain the secrets to the power of the coven. On the afternoon of the wedding day, Grace finds Ambrosius with his pants down and with the butler inside of him. She quickly kills the butler, and has Vallin imprisoned in the basement of her home. She has him tied up and changes his handsome appearance into the body of an old man and tells him that he will never be allowed to be free or even allowed to die naturally. However, there is an escape clause. Grace tells him that if he can find a young man to love him, the spell will be broken. This is highly unlikely as no one knows that he even exists or that he is in the basement. Moving forward to the present time, 200 years later, we see that Grace’s former home has become a resort and two hot studs, Kevin and Toby become modern pawns in this game of witchcraft and mystery. This is where I stop giving away the plot and urge you to see the series.
The people who play the characters in this modern day soap opera are gorgeous and naked a lot. Their acting abilities are far from Academy Award caliber but they sure are nice to look at. The beautiful bodies and handsome faces make up for any lack they may have in screen presence. There are also lesbian scenes which are populated with beautiful, partially dressed young women who appear to be enjoying their love scenes. Watching the beautiful naked men and the partially clad beautiful women is a journey into the macabre with a strong Gothic atmosphere. Sure, it is a bit over done and highly exaggerated but it is great entertainment. It is not a series about being gay but more about how we, like everyone else, find ourselves in everyday situations as well as really weird carrying ones. I love that we are seen trying to navigate our way through the vicissitudes of life (albeit supernatural life) just like everyone else. It is a thrilling series and is full of interesting twists and turns. During the first episode, the poor acting bothered me but as I continued to watch and became wrapped up in the plot and I found myself really getting into it.
The action (and there is plenty of it) is centered on the relationship of Toby (Charlie David) and Kevin (Gregory Michael); either of which you would love to have in your home. Veteran actress, Tracy Scoggins, shines in a role that was tailored to fit, as Grace the main witch. Again well not greatly written or acted, it is a compelling series and once you start watching it, it is addictive.
Many of the issues in the film hit close to home. All of us have had a partner with which things have become strained while trying to build a relationship—probably not due to supernatural happenings but using this as a jumping off point, “Dante’s Cove” does not fail to please. By adding skin to the series, we have a story that we can’t help love to watch. The people are regular—they don’t “camp” or carry on, they respond to problems as anyone else (after all—are we not just like everyone else?). They have jobs and boyfriends and arguments and problems. They may be better built and certainly more handsome than the average people we see on the street but that is what eye candy is all about. It is so nice to see a positive depiction of the way we live and the sex scenes are not bad either. Within the first ten minutes of season one, there is an explicit schtupping scene with male organs flapping and anal penetration. And that is only the beginning. There are also wild lesbian love trysts, there is straight sex, and there is abundant nudity, both male and female. In other words, there is something for everyone. But ladies it is only fair to tell you that so far that the naked men are more abundant than the naked women. I have a feeling that this will change as the series unrolls. “Dante’s Cove” may be silly at times but the whole business is sexy and fun.
I have heard it said by another critic that this is nothing more than soft-core porn. The story line is not new and a bit hackneyed but so what? The attractive cast makes up for a the lack of a brilliant script and season two, which is airing now, tightens up the lapses that were evident in the first season. On the cover of the DVD boxed set of season one the blurb reads, “Dark Shadows meets Melrose Place” and that does seem to be quite accurate. Add sex, sex, and more sex, toss in male frontal nudity and women in panties without bras, and you have something that appeals to all of us. Va va voom—the chemistry between the two male leads, Toby and Kevin is hot, hot, hot—neither of them can act their way out of a paper bag but they can really screw.
In my initial review I remarked that “Dante’s Cove” is both trashy and campy, which it is, and there is really no redeeming value in that. But let me tell you this—it is fun and the second season is so much better than the first. As it sometimes sinks into ridicularity, it seems to have a good time doing so. I have no idea how the actors were able to keep a straight face while filming. Its cheesiness is what makes it so much fun. There were times I found myself saying to my TV, “You didn’t really say that, did you?” Yet that increased my involvement and I am hooked.
When I first heard of the series it is was being advertised as the “first gay Gothic soap opera” on the “premier gay channel”. I do not think I was adequately prepared for what I would eventually see. During the first episode I must admit that I was taken aback by the nudity and the overt sex scene in the very beginning. It was similar to the feeling I had during the first episode of “Queer as Folk”. It is something to start a series with two naked men having anal sex. You wonder what can top that. There are times that the show is so bad that it is fabulous. The lighting misses its mark many times; the music is sometimes haunting and sometimes just awful. I could have other points of derision but then I would be too serious and the one thing that “Dante’s Cove” is not is serious. It is so good to see a movie about us that is not centered on AIDS and that is just fun and is amoral with no moral.
The best adjective I can use to describe “Dante’s Cove” is gripping. I hated seeing “to be continued” written across my TV screen. Gays and lesbians seem to have always have enjoyed the supernatural –here we have it combined with the natural—the bare skin. The nudity of the series is beautiful. The problem I have with it is a minor one. In some scenes all is exposed while the ones we really want to see bared to the lens seem to be doing contortions so that little piece of information won’t slip out. I wish that the writers had spent as much time on amending the script as the camera men did on attempting to hide the goods.
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
Now that “Dante’s Cove” (Here! TV) has firmly implanted itself on Here TV and season one has been released on DVD, I think it may be a good idea to take a closer look at it. For those of you that have not seen the mini series you are really missing a good time. I am hooked on it and I think that you will be also—especially after you get through the first episode.
Let us venture back in time to the nineteenth century. Ambrosius (sounds and looks good enough to eat) Vallin (Gregory Lee), a gay man is out for revenge against “Tresum” a coven of witches. He charms Grace, the main witch woman, and hopes to marry her and in that way gain the secrets to the power of the coven. On the afternoon of the wedding day, Grace finds Ambrosius with his pants down and with the butler inside of him. She quickly kills the butler, and has Vallin imprisoned in the basement of her home. She has him tied up and changes his handsome appearance into the body of an old man and tells him that he will never be allowed to be free or even allowed to die naturally. However, there is an escape clause. Grace tells him that if he can find a young man to love him, the spell will be broken. This is highly unlikely as no one knows that he even exists or that he is in the basement. Moving forward to the present time, 200 years later, we see that Grace’s former home has become a resort and two hot studs, Kevin and Toby become modern pawns in this game of witchcraft and mystery. This is where I stop giving away the plot and urge you to see the series.
The people who play the characters in this modern day soap opera are gorgeous and naked a lot. Their acting abilities are far from Academy Award caliber but they sure are nice to look at. The beautiful bodies and handsome faces make up for any lack they may have in screen presence. There are also lesbian scenes which are populated with beautiful, partially dressed young women who appear to be enjoying their love scenes. Watching the beautiful naked men and the partially clad beautiful women is a journey into the macabre with a strong Gothic atmosphere. Sure, it is a bit over done and highly exaggerated but it is great entertainment. It is not a series about being gay but more about how we, like everyone else, find ourselves in everyday situations as well as really weird carrying ones. I love that we are seen trying to navigate our way through the vicissitudes of life (albeit supernatural life) just like everyone else. It is a thrilling series and is full of interesting twists and turns. During the first episode, the poor acting bothered me but as I continued to watch and became wrapped up in the plot and I found myself really getting into it.
The action (and there is plenty of it) is centered on the relationship of Toby (Charlie David) and Kevin (Gregory Michael); either of which you would love to have in your home. Veteran actress, Tracy Scoggins, shines in a role that was tailored to fit, as Grace the main witch. Again well not greatly written or acted, it is a compelling series and once you start watching it, it is addictive.
Many of the issues in the film hit close to home. All of us have had a partner with which things have become strained while trying to build a relationship—probably not due to supernatural happenings but using this as a jumping off point, “Dante’s Cove” does not fail to please. By adding skin to the series, we have a story that we can’t help love to watch. The people are regular—they don’t “camp” or carry on, they respond to problems as anyone else (after all—are we not just like everyone else?). They have jobs and boyfriends and arguments and problems. They may be better built and certainly more handsome than the average people we see on the street but that is what eye candy is all about. It is so nice to see a positive depiction of the way we live and the sex scenes are not bad either. Within the first ten minutes of season one, there is an explicit schtupping scene with male organs flapping and anal penetration. And that is only the beginning. There are also wild lesbian love trysts, there is straight sex, and there is abundant nudity, both male and female. In other words, there is something for everyone. But ladies it is only fair to tell you that so far that the naked men are more abundant than the naked women. I have a feeling that this will change as the series unrolls. “Dante’s Cove” may be silly at times but the whole business is sexy and fun.
I have heard it said by another critic that this is nothing more than soft-core porn. The story line is not new and a bit hackneyed but so what? The attractive cast makes up for a the lack of a brilliant script and season two, which is airing now, tightens up the lapses that were evident in the first season. On the cover of the DVD boxed set of season one the blurb reads, “Dark Shadows meets Melrose Place” and that does seem to be quite accurate. Add sex, sex, and more sex, toss in male frontal nudity and women in panties without bras, and you have something that appeals to all of us. Va va voom—the chemistry between the two male leads, Toby and Kevin is hot, hot, hot—neither of them can act their way out of a paper bag but they can really screw.
In my initial review I remarked that “Dante’s Cove” is both trashy and campy, which it is, and there is really no redeeming value in that. But let me tell you this—it is fun and the second season is so much better than the first. As it sometimes sinks into ridicularity, it seems to have a good time doing so. I have no idea how the actors were able to keep a straight face while filming. Its cheesiness is what makes it so much fun. There were times I found myself saying to my TV, “You didn’t really say that, did you?” Yet that increased my involvement and I am hooked.
When I first heard of the series it is was being advertised as the “first gay Gothic soap opera” on the “premier gay channel”. I do not think I was adequately prepared for what I would eventually see. During the first episode I must admit that I was taken aback by the nudity and the overt sex scene in the very beginning. It was similar to the feeling I had during the first episode of “Queer as Folk”. It is something to start a series with two naked men having anal sex. You wonder what can top that. There are times that the show is so bad that it is fabulous. The lighting misses its mark many times; the music is sometimes haunting and sometimes just awful. I could have other points of derision but then I would be too serious and the one thing that “Dante’s Cove” is not is serious. It is so good to see a movie about us that is not centered on AIDS and that is just fun and is amoral with no moral.
The best adjective I can use to describe “Dante’s Cove” is gripping. I hated seeing “to be continued” written across my TV screen. Gays and lesbians seem to have always have enjoyed the supernatural –here we have it combined with the natural—the bare skin. The nudity of the series is beautiful. The problem I have with it is a minor one. In some scenes all is exposed while the ones we really want to see bared to the lens seem to be doing contortions so that little piece of information won’t slip out. I wish that the writers had spent as much time on amending the script as the camera men did on attempting to hide the goods.