Saw Pee-wee's Big Holiday, a campy movie that was dumb but fun-dumb in its own dumb way. It was about the grey-suited man-child Pee-wee and his adventures trying to get to New York city to attend the birthday of his friend, actual real-life famous actor, Joe Manganiello. The film is weirdly childish in a self-aware kind of way that winks, but never actually tips over into anything bawdy or even anything very mean. It's a padded world where you wake up via elaborate Rube Goldberg machine.
But the subtext is there. When Pee-wee first meets Joe Manganiello, they both squeal over their favorite kind of candy and Joe takes Pee-wee on a ride on his motorcycle, Pee-wee clutching him close. It's a weird half-homoromantic, half-childish moment that resurfaces in dream sequences, where Pee-wee imagines the great New York birthday party, with them jousting on piñatas, or blowing out candles on a cake. It's very innocent but at the same time unusual and it's not clear exactly why Pee-wee the man-child is attracted to Joe. It's the most blatant hat-tip to the kitsch of the film, and even that's kept ambiguous.
The movie is okay in a kind of overblown way, like Speed Racer (but a bit more subdued than that film.) Since Pee-wee is always travelling, there's always some new cartoon human to entertain us. He meets up with joke-shop salesmen and tough gangster molls, Amish farmers and a snake museum that has no snakes. It's fairly light, cheesy fun and has the decency not to overstay its welcome. A nice light little dumb film.
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