What to Watch When You're Quarantined- Peaster Edition

Happy Passover/Easter- or as I like to call it Peaster. So with a basket of candy in one hand and a bottle of Tito's en autre, here are the '70's Peaster classics I watched to see if I could entice the Easter Bunny to come in and join me.






Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

Andrew Lloyd Webber has been busily entertaining us during the quarantine with piano recitals of his most iconic work, and no rock concept album turned Broadway show is more integral to the Easter season than Webber's JCS. Filmed in the Holy Land, Norman Jewison's 1973 film version is visually extravagant with the undescribable, desolate beauty of Israel; the far-out costume creations of Yvonne Blake; and the talented, rag-tag band of players bringing this unconventional version of the Christ story to electric life.

Webber and his partner Tim Rice created a musical full of unforgettable tunes and such thought-provoking lyrics as, "Could Mohammed move a mountain or was that just PR?" The recent NBC live staging was one heckuva show with a cavalcade of stars- but the original movie version keeps the hippy chic- and pluck front and center.

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)

What says Spring more than Barbra Streisand singing to a bunch of flowers? Streisand plays Daisy Gamble- a wacky girl who has the ability to make plants grow and knows when the phone is going to ring. When hypnotherapist Yves Montand discovers that Daisy is also the reincarnation of a spicy Nineteenth Century English social ladder-climber named Melinda, a most complicated musical love story unfurls.

Clear Day is movie musical maestro Vinncetne Minnelli's final foray in the genre that made him famous. It is full of his cinematic trademarks: lush production design; sweeping, fluid camerawork; and songs that emerge from characters as extensions of thought- not stage-performances. Clear Day is kooky- but Streisand's vocals are some of her best- and her decolletage-bearing scene for "Love with All the Trimmings" is a feast for the eyes and the ears. Watch for Jack Nicholson as Daisy's far-out step-brother who may have some boundary issues...

The Wicker Man (1973)

Guys- religion is freaky And apparently if you live on a Scottish island run by drag-messianic Lord Christopher Lee- religion gets downright pagan. Sergeant Howie (a stiff-upper-lipped Edward Woodward) comes to the remote island of Summerisle to search for a missing a girl. What he finds are a lot of cagey townspeople, spooky animal masks, and lots of titties. The upright sarge starts throwing Christ in everyone's face, and at one point it feels like he's the actual villain of the movie, but in the end you can't be more evil than Christopher Lee. The film became a cult favorite and was re-made in 2006 with Nic Cage and Ellen Burstyn. But for my money, stick with the creepy-weird original.

Stay risen, Kids!