TV • PAGE 25
THE BULLETIN • APRIL 29 - MAY 5, 2021
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“Movie: The Commune”
“Ice Road Truckers”
Get ready for a literal white-knuckle
ride! The adventures of six truckers
who risk their lives to drive their
18-wheelers on seasonal routes across
frozen lakes and rivers in Arctic
Canada and Alaska in the hopes
of securing a big payday are front
and center of the first season of this
unscripted series, which first aired on
History Channel in 2007.
BY GEORGE DICKIE
“Bosom Buddies”
“Tootsie”
“Hairspray”
From Denmark and writer/director
Thomas Vinterberg (“Last Round,”
“Druk”) comes this 2016 drama
about a group of friends who begin
to rub one another the wrong
way while living and working at a
commune outside Copenhagen in
the 1970s. Trine Dyrholm (“Love Is
All You Need”), Ulrich Thomsen and
Helene Reingaard Neumann head
the cast.
“Movie: Somewhere”
“Movie: High-Rise”
A talented cast including Tom
Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna
Miller, Luke Evans and Elisabeth
Moss star in director Ben Wheatley’s
(“Free Fire,” “Sightseers”) 2015 sci-fi
drama about how life spins out of
control for well-to-do tenants amid
the nonstop cocktail parties and
debauchery in their luxury London
apartment building circa 1975.
Stephen Dorff ’s (“Deputy”) roguish
persona meshed well with his
character in this 2010 comedy drama
from writer/director Sofia Coppola
(“Lost in Translation”), which casts
him as a hard-living actor who has
lost his passion for his craft. When his
11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning)
winds up on his doorstep, he’s forced
to take a good, hard look at himself.
Michelle Monaghan also stars.
BEST DRAG CHARACTERS
Any, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”
(BBC, 1969-74) The grand comedic tradition
of men dressed as women originated in England,
which gave the States a healthy dose of it when
this irreverent sketch comedy series came across
the pond in the early ’70s. Though all six troupers
performed as women at one time or other during
the show’s four-season run, honorable mention
goes to the banal, screeching housewives Mrs.
Premise and Mrs. Conclusion played by John
Cleese and Graham Chapman.
Klinger, “M*A*S*H” (CBS, 1972-83)
Corporal Max Klinger donned women’s clothing
to get out of the Army on a Section 8 psychiatric
discharge in this classic military sitcom, but the
character was first conceived as an effeminate
gay man. Its portrayer, Jamie Farr, thought it
would be funnier to play him as a straight male
and proceeded to prove it. A legendary comedic
character was born.
Kip/Buffy and Henry/Hildy, “Bosom
Buddies,” (ABC, 1980-82) The careers of
Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari were launched in
this underrated and at times uproarious sitcom,
as they played two young ad agency designers
who pose as women to get cheap rent in an
all-female apartment building. Holland Taylor,
Donna Dixon, Telma Hopkins and Wendie Jo
Sperber were also in the talented cast.
Michael/Dorothy, “Tootsie” (1982) Dustin
Hoffman disappeared easily into a blouse and
skirt to play Michael Dorsey, a struggling New
York actor who finds overnight success when he
dons women’s attire and lands a role in a hit
soap opera as Dorothy Michaels. Complications
arise when Dorothy catches the eye of two male
suitors played by Charles Durning and George
Gaynes.
Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire, “Mrs. Doubtfire”
(1993) Robin Williams toned down his manic
act only slightly to play a divorced San Francisco
actor who disguises himself as a 60-ish British
housekeeper to stay close to his ex-wife (Sally
Field) and three kids. Only her nice-guy boyfriend
(Pierce Brosnan) stands in his way.
Chi-Chi, Vida and Noxeema, “To
Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie
Newmar” (1995) John Leguizamo, Patrick
Swayze and Wesley Snipes were excellent as
drag queens who travel across the country in
a beat-up old Cadillac to compete in the Drag
Queen of America contest in Hollywood.
Edna Turnblad, “Hairspray” (2007)
Adam Shankman’s entertaining musical comedy
made an unlikely drag star out of John Travolta,
who excelled as Edna, the mother of a teenage
aspiring dance-show star (Nikki Blonsky)
in 1960s Baltimore. The stand-out cast also
included Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken
and Queen Latifah.