Wow! Such a good movie.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

After 30 years of never being able to watch this latter-day A.I.P. beach movie from the late '70s, I finally got to watch California Dreaming on Hulu as linked from fancast.com. It stars Dennis Christopher as T.T., a Chicagoan (of which I also am by birth) transferring to the West Coast as a young adult to honor his late brother's jazzy dreams playing music near the ocean by playing his records repeatedly. Also starring Seymour Cassel as the person he borders with and Glynnis O'Connor as his grown daughter, Corky. I hope I'm not spoiling anything when I say something develops between T.T. and Corky (though I'm putting the spoiler warning, just in case). Anyway, this was quite funny and touching for a movie that supposedly was meant to just provide plenty of T and A for any hormonally-charged teenage boys out there and believe me, there's quite a few of those type scenes though not always unclothed! One of the funniest scenes to me was when T.T. tells God that he can kill him after he lets him unhook Corky's bra! And that slow-motion movie theatre lobby scene was so hysterical to me! Okay, I think I've said enough so on that note, I highly recommend California Dreaming. P.S. Having read that some versions didn't have America's version of The Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin'", I'm glad to mention that the title song is indeed in Hulu's version.

Like a previous commenter, I too saw this movie when HBO was young and willing to play movies that seem antique now but were actually a lot of fun...this is one of those movies...what is now considered a star-studded line-up of actors filled the cast of this film, which features Dennis Christopher as TT, an Eastern youngster sent out West to "grow up"...and boy does that happen...along the way, he runs into an at-first hesitant Glynnis O'Connor, who does look fetching in a bikini... and Seymour Cassell as Duke, a BSer extraordinaire but with a good soul if not bad heart...and along the way, TT learns to adjust to California life and actually does well...there are a few other subplots in the movie, including Ned Wynn as Earl, Alice Playten as a snobby Corrine, John Calvin as Rick the token stud bad boy, and Tanya Roberts as Stephanie, the girl who loves Rick...and since Stacy Nelkin, the "queen of the B movies" is in this one, it makes it even better...not sure if it's available via rental, but I have seen it online for purchase...it will bring back memories of movies gone by...and it's worth having...

Back in the days when HBO was young, I remember seeing the previews of this movie and wanting to watch it. Living in Hawaii most of my life, it was nothing new for me in terms of the "beach scene." While watching it I felt compelled with the story and characters. TT was such an obvious dork, but I pulled for him as he began to blend in with the locals. Glynnis O'Connor was an attraction with that 70s style bikini and the surfers led by Mike were comical and immature. My friends and I frequently used quotes from the film to goof on each other, and today it definitely reminds me of the times back then. Similar to the 80s movie "North Shore" in the theme of an outsider who tries to make it with the locals in a beach environment. I am still looking for either a clean VHS copy or a release to DVD. Last time I saw this was on cable a few years ago, and I should have recorded it. A must see if you want to re-live the times, it's a shame that some of today's youngsters probably won't get it. I give it a generous 8 rating because of what this movie brings to me, a humorous flashback of that era.

Seymour Cassel gives a great performance, a tour de force. His acting as supposed washed up beach stud Duke Slusarski will always have a place in my heart. The film is centered around a nerd who just came to the beach in hopes of honoring his dead brother's dreams. What he gets is lame surf hijinks. Guys cheating, guys fighting, and guys getting drunk going to watch surf documentaries with the whole town of LA on a Friday night. Duke takes the nerd in and tries to teach him how playing volleyball is like touching a woman. Next time my woman talks back I will pretend I'm spiking the ball. Back to Seymour Cassel. The end of the movie turns into a good drama, since the first half of the film really had no point. Duke plays a wonderful game of volleyball, the best he's played in over ten years. The way the scene is shot is beautiful. You can feel the heart this man has for the game and the love of being on the beach. Those five minutes will go down as one of my favorites of all time. 3/10 Bad to Fair, the rest of the movie was lame.