Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

mclyndle The story of my life as a young overweight gay boy growing up in a small town 35 years ago. What a darling little boy. I also noticed how very true it was that the young man knew what he wanted. His eyes were bleeding to see what he wanted to see! And, yet, his girlfriend, who was not all too happy about being a girl, had no concept of attraction to anyone. She just knew she wanted to play sports and it was her job to take up for the "puffits" of the world. My favorite line was near the end when he said he "belonged here." That sense of belonging is what brings us all together.Sweet movie. Lynn

miss_modular The opening night film of the 2006 Melbourne Queer Film Festival, this is an overlong, aimless and rambling piece of fluff.THANKFULLY the original novel's touchy theme of emerging adolescent sexuality was tastefully handled. Larry Clark, TAKE NOTE.If you're a fan of the original novel, don't bother. While the characters and major plot points remain the same, the parts in between these make no sense or have had their context COMPLETELY changed.The young lead actors, while charming, seemed confused and crippled by the badly paced and downright bi-polar script.If I hear "fubbulous" and that g-damned muzak played again, my head shall explode Cronenberg-style.CONCLUSION: Love the book, movie BITES ARSE. Two star rating: one for the film getting made, the other for the young actors giving it their best. Expected so much more from the writer/director of the ABSOLUTELY SPANKING (read: fantastic) melodrama "Desperate Remedies" (1995) Sorry Mr. Main.

Christopher Waugh Before expressing my opinion, I must say that (while I have no personal involvement in the film project) being a school teacher, who's gay, and who grew up and lives in the area in which this film is set - I strongly identify with it."50 Ways of Saying Fabulous" has a strong ring of authenticity to it. This may not translate well to the world outside Central Otago, New Zealand - but for a local there's a lot to recognise. A 'coming of age' film it is, but it is also a lot more. It's a brave telling of the true childhood stories that we tend not to allow to see the light of adulthood. The actors achieve the perfect balance between the paradoxical naivety and knowingness characteristic of the early teenage years. They inspired me with the bravery of their (sometimes misguided) idealism and the story leads them to expose, through their inevitable frustrations, a lot of the senselessness of the restrictions of our narrow society. I loved the relative absence of developed adult roles. The children were not only the main protagonists, but with the unwavering focus on their story: their view became ours - no translation required. Those who would criticise the 'cheesy low budget space-show' scenes woven throughout the film must surely have forgotten the fantasies of their own childhood, or perhaps they never needed to resort to fantasy to escape an all-too-restrictive daily reality. These sequences really were very funny in all of their overt symbolism.The bravery and incredible sincerity of the outcast character "Roy" (played with unwavering emotional and physical conviction by Jay Collins) struck a chord with me. The tragedy of his determination was almost too much to bear.I found the shifting of accent for the character "Jamie" (played by Michael Dorman) a little jarring. Somehow "South Auckland Polynesian, circa 2005" segued into "Aussie Battler" a few too many times for me to suspend disbelief.The filming, in the stunning wilds of Central Otago, captured the vast emptiness of the place beautifully. The characters owned the terrain, there was nothing else there. The intense colour saturation reinforced the historical nature of the film (It was set in the 70's). The drought, and the constant threat of fire, added beautifully to the undertone of tension. Something might go wrong.Stories like this need to be told over and over in all their variety and colour. I loved sitting in our local cinema surrounded by teenagers from the school at which I teach and seeing them enjoying and responding to the message to "be themselves". New Zealand is perhaps coming of age too, to see a feature film of this nature to fruition.Anyone with a curiosity for the culture of this isolated southern island would do well to catch this film. It adds a new chapter to the story of where we come from as told in the likes of "The Piano", "Heavenly Creatures" and "Once Were Warriors". Fabulous.

hughgordon On September 8, 2005 at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), I had the chance to see the world premiere of the film "50 Ways of Saying Fabulous." Based on the Novel by Graeme Aitken, 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous is a coming-of-age film set in the '70s in rural Australia.It stars Andrew Paterson as Billy, a chubby thirteen year-old kid who's interests are different from the regular kids in his school.While all the other kids are interested becoming rugby stars, Billy dreams of becoming a character in a children's TV show quite similar to Lost in Space. Normally – this would lead to a lot of criticism from his classmates, but Billy's best friend just happens to be Lou (Harriet Beattie) – his cousin, and the best rugby player in the school.So Billy lives blissfully in his own little world, faux-ponytail and all, until the arrival of puberty. Add to that a few new faces, and a few unexpected twists, and Billy's life will never be the same.Great effort was made to keep the look of Australia in the mid seventies. Everything from the clothing to the cars – looked authentic. Impressive – considering that this was not a big budget film. The Director Stewart Main has a love for his homeland, and it shows - as Australia is filmed beautifully. In particular – the night scenes are reminiscent of the older days of filming, and not the normal "night = blue lighting" we've become accustomed to seeing.At the screening, the director said he wanted to make a film that would appeal to all audiences, young and old. That brought about a very quick response from a member of the audience, "Not in America!" This film deals with friendship, homosexuality, love and lust. While it's far from an explicit film, its subject matter will prevent it from showing up any multiplex in America. In Canada on the other hand, the film already has distribution rights. So unlike many TIFF films, this one will be coming soon to a store near you.The film is not without it's problems. Although it has a healthy mix of imagination, humour, and charm, the end lacks punch. And while it does try to rise above the genre, it has an unattractive "me too" quality. It doesn't offer anything truly unique like the intensity of the movie "Thirteen", or the cattiness of "Mean Girls".That doesn't mean I didn't like the film. The actors were all wonderful. The cinematography was great.It's not a film worth going to a theatre to see, but it is a film worth seeing. A nice rental.