Hi all!I know I missed a golden opportunity here by not making this a Harry Potter post in honor of his (and J.K.'s) birthday, but I'm honoring the fact that I got a stinkin' JOB instead! Okay, okay, it's a freelance gig, but in stark contrast to my last five months, I'm showering daily and making money. It's glorious for everyone involved.So I give to you....my "Back to Work" edition. Enjoy!
Working Girl - released in 1988I've never seen this movie before. Now that I have, I feel like I didn't miss much.This movie is like a study in 80's hairdos. I'm sure a huge percentage of this film's budget was for AquaNet. Holy shit. This movie is basically watching a hard working, smart Jersey girl climb her way up the corporate ladder by pretending she's not just a secretary while her boss (Sigourney Weaver) is laid up with a broken leg. She does this largely by getting rid of her horrendous 80's hairdo. Seriously, her bangs were like a foot high flap raising from her forehead. And everything turned around for her when she cut that shit off. She also has the help of a man (hello, it's the 80's) in the form of Harrison Ford. Now, I love me some Harrison, but sometimes (maybe always?) he's not the best actor in the world. I know, I know. This is sacrilege. He's handsome and all that (I love him. He knows.) but much of his acting style is "looking perplexed". This is in good contrast to our heroine Melanie Griffith's acting style which is constant throat clearing. She has a kind of scratchy voice, but she seriously clears her throat in EVERY scene. Maybe she has a goiter? And I have a hard time buying her being smart. Sorry. It just doesn't ring true. I mean, she says to Harrison when she meets him "I have a head for business and a bod for sin". Bod. Gah.Sigourney Weaver is maybe my favorite character in this film. She's bitchy and backstabby, but she plays it perfectly. She has this fabulous line when she's telling Melanie Griffith something about getting her boyfriend to marry her. It's all businesslike and then she says "And I am, after all, me." It's pretty great.There are a ton of amazing actors who were clearly just beginning their careers because they have tiny parts. Joan Cusack and Alec Baldwin both have healthy secondary roles but Kevin Spacey has a tiny part as a douchey, coke snorting coworker, Olympia Dukakis is an office manager with one scene and both Riki Lake and David Duchovny have teeny tiny walk ons (he's "party goer" and she's "bridesmaid"). To be clear, I'm not saying David Duchovny is an amazing actor. Just that he had a tiny part in this film.I will also put forward that I think in nearly every film Harrison Ford is in they have written in a scene explaining his scar. I'm not disputing that it's a sexy scar, it's just interesting that they always write it in. (In fact, it's from a minor car accident. Did y'all know he used to work at a Bullocks? It's amazing what you learn...)This movie did really well commercially. The main song (written and performed by Carly Simon) won an Academy Award. Maybe it needed to be seen in the 80's to really be enjoyed. I don't know, I feel like I missed this particular bus.I read that the scenes of her office building lobby were filmed in one of the World Trade Center buildings and there is one shot where she's looking at the NYC skyline and there are the towers all lit up. Seeing films when the buildings are still there always give me a chill at how arresting and epic they made the skyline, immediately followed by a true and deep sadness.(I suggest pairing this film with a big shot (or more) of Tequila Gold - that's what they call it in the movie.)
9 to 5 - released in 1980Although this film is 35 years old, it's still thoroughly enjoyable. Jane Fonda is always lovely and classy, Lily Tomlin is perfect as the completely capable but overlooked employee and Dolly Parton is just generally adorable and charming. I honesty thought this wasn't going to hold up watching it now, but I still liked it.Apparently this film originated from an idea that Fonda had because a friend of hers had started an organization called 9 to 5, dealing with woman office workers. This is back in the day when they were primarily secretaries - getting their bosses coffee, picking up their dry-cleaning, filling their cars with gas. Wow, right? I guess it was a tricky film to write because although it's classified as a "labor film" she didn't want it to be preachy and depressing (and let's face it..labor films tend to be just that).It remains funny, even though it's dated. I nearly spat out my Coke Zero when I saw typewriters and dictaphones! But one thing struck me. Why can we make a computer fit on a fucking phone, but we STILL CAN"T CREATE A CONSISTENTLY FUNCTIONING COPIER????? Mind blowing.Dabney Coleman plays their super scummy boss and he's really great. He's a complete asshole or as they describe him "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot". I think he's really funny, particularly when the woman are having their fantasies of getting rid of him. All the fantasies are extremely silly (they have smoked a joint so they are a giggly, hungry mess..the scene is pretty cute) but my favorite is Lily Tomlin's. She dreams of being a Snow White character, who, aided by a gaggle of 2D animated woodland creatures, poisons the boss's coffee. Oddly, I'm having a hard time finding out who did the animation for this. According to IMDB there was a supervisor and one animator and Wikipedia doesn't have anything. Shameful.This is Dolly's first film role. Again, she was really charming in it. She doesn't read as a secretary though, with her false eyelashes and 3 inch long nails. Ain't no way those fingers could type!We've come a long way, baby...but judging by the professional world I live in, we ain't there yet. The movie ends with the three of them being pretty proud of all the foreward-thinking changes they implemented in the office (day care, job sharing, etc). Then they say something like "oh, but we didn't get equal pay" and they all sort of shrug like "well ya can't have everything!". Grrrrr.(I suggest pairing this film with a hand rolled joint. Puff, puff, pass people.)
My takeaways:#1 - I wish I could say everything about these films are incredibly archaic, but there is still a difference between men and women in the workplace. And if you don't believe me, ask a female animator.#2 - I'm incredibly grateful to be working, but I fear that Cosmo might lose his newly formed skills at doing a High Five.#3 - Seriously, you ALL were amazing to me while I was a "lady of leisure" and I may be one again someday so in the meantime let's make hay while the sun shines! Drinks on me!!
xoxo....hashtagSueslife
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Happy Birthday Athena
Today is my mother's birthday. She'd be 96. She's been gone for nearly 20 years but a day doesn't go by where I don't think about her or say something she used to ("That outfit hides a multitude of sins" "Why doesn't that car go?? He has a prairie!!"). I see her in the faces (and spunkiness!) of my family and even in the food we all cook. She will never really be gone.
Untouchables released in 1987
This post is entirely in my mom's honor. She was a movie lover from WAY back (Gone With The Wind was her favorite all time movie) and instilled that love in me. I'm sure she'd be happy that my cockamamie idea of taking Film Studies in school has actually kept me in food and housing because I think when I got my first job in the "industry" (video duplication) she thought I was working at a Blockbuster.
Hope you enjoy!
My mother was a huge fan of gangster films. Loved James Cagney (and who can blame her). When Untouchables was coming out she was SO excited to see it she had me play hooky from school that day (granted I was in college so it wasn't that huge of a deal) and go see it with her. Opening day. Matinee. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
I had forgotten a lot about this film and learned some new tidbits It was directed by Brian DePalma! The music was written and conducted by Ennio Morricone (I was a bit underwhelmed by this music, especially considering I absolutely loved his score for the film The Mission. That film came out the year before so perhaps there was some wad shooting. I kid. The man was amazing and incredibly prolific. He composed for like a zillion spaghetti westerns.). The wardrobe (not costume design, mind you, so I imagine they just meant the suits) was created by Giorgio Armani (he got his own card in the credits). The screenplay was written by muthafuckin' David Mamet!! This is the item that blew me away the most. Several of the actors did Mamet's lovely and unique writing style justice - Robert DeNiro and Sean Connery (oddly)...but Kevin Costner trying to interpret Mamet's rhythmic dialog is like listening to Kevin Costner try to be "British" as Robin of Locksley. The common denominator being...Kevin Costner.
One of the coolest things about this movie is DePalma's homage to one of the most revered sequences in film history: the Odessa Steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin (allow me to get all film major-y on you for a moment). Potemkin was made in 1925 by a director named Sergei Eisenstein. Eisenstein is credited with creating the "montage" in film editing. What that meant for him (not the montage sequence of today - see Team America!!) was to take two or more images to create a "third thing" which is basically an emotion or an idea. A synthesis. Essentially, by juxtaposing images he can manipulate the viewer into a specific feeling. If you ever want to spend 8 or 10 minutes, find the sequence on YouTube and watch it. It's a ground breaking piece of film (particularly for the time) showing these regimented soldiers marching down the steps and the crowd panicking and dispersing. It's very violent, most everyone dies, a child is trampled and the last part is watching a baby carriage roll down the steps (with a baby in it) unattended. In my opinion, DePalma's homage is a good one. DePalma favors slo-mo and he films his whole steps sequence that way. All we hear, even though Eliot Ness and all the gangsters are shooting each other, is the synchopated sound of the baby carriage going down the steps. It's very bloody (But come on! It's DePalma. Think about Carrie, for crying out loud!) but the baby does live at the end. I'm not so sure that is implied in Eisenstein's version.
Sean Connery is always a treat, even though his Irish accent sounded pretty Scottish to me. Oh well, I'm gonna give it to him anyway. And a special shout out goes to Andy Garcia's hair. Always good, regardless of what I think about his acting.
(My drink pairing for this film is some nasty, illegal bathtub gin!)
Silverado - released in 1985
My mother also loved a good western. I think this is the movie that made her love Danny Glover, too. As I've said before, she was a huge fan and at a Bammies one year he kissed her cheek. She was giggly about that one for years.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film again even though I was somewhat reluctant to watch it. I think I remembered it as long with kind of a dreary ending. And more Costner, which could be trouble. BUT. It was great! The dialog is witty, the awe-inspiring landscapes are...well...awe-inspiring (it was filmed in Vistascope or something like that....totally worth it). The cast is amazing. Even Costner is incredibly charming as a sort of ADD gunslinger.
This is essentially a buddy film. 4 decent dudes meet up under strange circumstances in the wild and wooly old West. They have adventures and save the town. It IS a long movie; 132 minutes. But the pacing is swift and well executed so it didn't feel taxing. It met with mixed reviews back in the day but I have to say...having not grown up in the age of Westerns (like the 40's and 50's, I guess?) I really enjoyed this version of the classic genre.
It's directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who directed The Big Chill among many other films. Kevin Costner got his role, Jake, in this film because he was essentially cut out of The Big Chill entirely. Clearly Kasdan likes ensemble films. What I had forgotten about him is that he wrote films like The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. No wonder it's a good film. Seriously, the dialog is great. There were several times where I LOL'd in my house alone. Kevin Kline is perfect in this film (it reminded me about how much I loved him back in the day. Was marrying Phoebe Cates his downfall? Perhaps.). His performance is reminiscent (to me anyway) of Gene Wilder's character in Blazing Saddles. Kline plays his role completely deadpan and delivers some of my favorite lines in the whole film. At one point Kline and Scott Glenn's character are mistaken for two other guys - Baxter and Hawley. Scott Glenn says he's not Baxter so the confused guy looks at Kline and says "You aren't Baxter either??" and Kline says "No, I'm not Hawley." Heh.
The cast, as I said, is amazing. John Cleese plays a sheriff "not from these parts" (duh) and gets to say a classic Monty Python line as his first bit of dialog onscreen "What's all this then?". Linda Hunt (everyone's favorite 1980's little person!) has a great role where she gets to look and dress like a woman! And Brian Dennehy played the bad guy. He shows up in a lot of my revues actually. He's clearly a hard working actor! He plays a nuanced bad guy, which I think might be a tad unusual for a Western. I think his character is actually a sociopath. He's kind of charming yet completely sinister at the same time. He smiles but you can see the evil behind his eyes. I think this is my favorite role of his to date. Jeff Goldblum is also in it, playing a city slicker. It's a toss up of which cowboy version of Goldblum I like better - this one or Buckaroo Banzai. Danny Glover also gets a great line - "I don't want to kill you and you don't want to be dead." And Rosanna Arquette is in this film. I have a hard time seeing what about Rosanna prompted the dude from Toto to write a song about her. And truly, her whole family seems like a bit of a mess. What up, Toto?
The last thing I'll say about this film is I'm SHOCKED that no character in this film suffered from PTSD. A shit ton of people get shot in front of a shit ton of different people and everyone (including the little kid) seem to take it all in stride (well, except for the dead guys). Maybe that's just the law of the Old West.
(My drink pairing for this film is a shot of rotgut (good whiskey cut with something nasty to make it go farther) or if you're feeling like a weenie, a glass of sarsaparilla.)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding - released in 2002
This movie was released long after my mother passed away. I know she would have loved it, though, which is why I added it to this post. This movie makes me long for my Bostonian Greeks. I see aspects of my family all over the place in this film - from restaurant ownership to never, ever eating lamb with (ick) mint sauce. If this movie had Smell-O-Vision, it would smell like garlic!!
Apparently this film is the biggest grossing romantic comedy of all time. Naturally...it's about Greeks. :)
This film was written by Nia Vardalos, who also stars in it. She originally had staged it as a one woman play based on her life and marrying a non-Greek. Rita Wilson (Mrs Tom Hanks) saw it and eventually Hanks' production company Playtone produced the film. My aunt ALWAYS reminds me that Rita Wilson is Greek. Rita must be some kind of poster child for Greeks marrying famous guys.
Michael Constantine plays her father, Costa. I had a fling with a guy named Costa once. On a cruise ship. Dang, that man was yummy. Sigh. Okay, sorry, I'm back. What were we talking about? Oh yeah. Constantine is great in the role - perfectly executing the Greek dad who uses Windex to cure any ailment and insisting all words are from a Greek origin. Her mother is played by Lainie Kazan, who is so, so great (I just read that she's part Turkish!). I think she's an under appreciated actress. She consistently brings so much warmth and humor to every character she plays. Anyone who hasn't seen My Favorite Year should for Lainie alone ("Swanny!"), although the movie is brilliant and everyone in it is fantastic. Also, she has a good name. It's a favorite in my family!
My singular favorite performance in this film, though, is Andrea Martin. My brother Dennis has quite the story about meeting Andrea Martin which makes me want to not love her...but in this film it's hard not to. She has arguably all the best lines ("What do you mean, he don't eat no meat? That's okay, I'll make lamb." Or the whole bit about getting the "bobopsy" done on her lump. And it's her twin! Hilarious.). And when she's following Lainie Kazan around to pluck her chin hairs? It was like being at home (Get the one big one!).
I remember going with my family to see this film and it was really like having Athena sitting there with us. I could just hear her big, big laugh. She'd probably knock over her popcorn (apparently klutziness is passed down to the females of our family). She would absolutely flirt with the ticket guy. And she'd be hugging and kissing on us all as we were trying to leave. I miss you, Mamitsa.
(My drink pairing for this film is Ouzo. Lots of Ouzo.)
My takeaways:
#1 - It's no surprise that my mother influenced my movie watching, although I think in the end she was more of a Costner fan that I can ever be. Maybe because she never saw Waterworld.
#2 - I know a lot of you thought I'd include Singin' In The Rain here, but that would be too easy, wouldn't it?
#3 - Please raise a glass of whatever you're drinking today to my mom. You would all have gotten a kick out of her and I guarantee she'd have loved each and every one of you.
xoxo...hashtagSueslife
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy
Hi all!
This time you get a flight of films!
I'm a long time fan of Baz Luhrmann (real name: Mark Anthony Luhrmann!!). His movies always surprise me and make me happy. They even make me believe in love.
Hope you enjoy!
Strictly Ballroom - released in 1992
When I first saw this film, it was nothing like what I anticipated. I think I was assuming it was going to be kind of serious? Anyway, I absolutely loved it. It just reinforced what I felt that I already knew about Australian moviemaking. These are filmmakers that are willing to take risks and have an amazing sense of humor.
I learned some interesting things about this film (God Bless Wikipedia!). This film was based on a stage production that Baz Luhrmann had written. Ballroom dancing was close to his heart; he was a ballroom dancer as a kid and his mother taught ballroom dance. It very nearly wasn't made as many folks thought it wouldn't sell at all. The original producer died while they were in the last stages of production but his widow took over to finish the film. Also, the woman who plays Scott's (the main guy) mother died a few months before the film was released. She was wonderful in the film but I will admit that while I was watching it I was thinking (because of her voice) that she must have been a heavy smoker. She's gravelly as fuck. Baz had to do a lot of fancy footwork to get the film actually seen but once he did it was an instant hit (apparently he showed it originally at a film festival and they got a 15 minute standing O!).
This is basically the story of a boy (Scott) who dreams of being unique and an ugly duckling girl (Fran...and please say these names with your best Australian accent) who metamorphoses into a swan. They travel their journeys together and in the end they realize it's not about winning the Pan Pacific Ballroom Dance Competition but falling in love. Baz must be SUCH a softie in real life. All the Red Curtain films are about true love overcoming huge obstacles.
This film has nearly grotesque lighting and crazy camera angles, highlighting the absurdity of ballroom dancing and the competition that surrounds it. Baz also pokes fun at the solemnity of the institution. For instance, the president of the organization is ALWAYS called "Federation President Barry Fife". FP Barry Fife is our bad guy....he reminds me a bit of Jim Broadbent's character in Moulin Rouge. He's completely over the top with a ridiculous toupee and consistently red face like he's going to have an aneurism.
In direct contrast to the absurdity of the ballroom stuff, though, is Fran's family. They are an immigrant family from Spain who live in a super shitty part of town (Melbourne, I think). I actually really love this part of the film. The dancing is beautiful as Fran and Scott learn the pasodoble from Fran's father and grandmother in their tiny backyard. It celebrates the bonding power of dancing and the happiness of being with family. Plus it's really awesome flamenco dancing!! The dad kicks some serious ass.
The cast were all newcomers, and to be honest I'm not sure that many of them did much more internationally after this film. The guy who plays Scott, our hero, was originally a dancer (and seriously, you could bounce a coin off his ass!). It appears that he hasn't acted in nearly 10 years (or his IMDB hasn't been updated in forever) but I will say that his acting style in Strictly Ballroom is similar to a young Luke Skywalker. Cute, but REALLY whiny. I expected him to yell "Uncle Owen!!" at any moment. I'm not sure what else Fran, our heroine, was in but I know she has a cameo in Moulin Rouge (the camera quickly pans by a tore up looking lady-of-the-evening when we are entering Montmartre. That's her.).
My favorite characters, though, might be Scott's little sister and her dance partner. They are always around, the voice of reason amidst the cacophony and ridiculousness.
(My drink suggestion for this film would be a big glass of sangria! Ole!)
William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet - released in 1996
Dear Baz Luhrmann, if you are going to make a Red Curtain TRILOGY, it's a nice idea to have a red curtain in all three of your films. Sincerely, Me.
Okay, now that I have that out of the way...he starts and ends this film with a TV set on a blank background. It's really a cool vehicle for that narrator type voice that Shakespeare wrote. He also ends the film with Radiohead's Exit Music (For a Film), which is a song near and dear to my belly dancing heart (you get extra points if you know why).
This film is my least favorite of the three. It's not a bad film at all. It's actually very enjoyable and you can start to see Baz really fleshing out his style. He starts playing around with small moments of sped up action and over the top sets and party scenes. And of course, music is a huge part of it. There is a little boy singing various songs (like When Doves Cry) in a kind of gospel choir style that is just gorgeous. I hope that kid went on to do great things.
I always think interpreting Shakespeare in film form is a brave and risky business. Baz says something about how he felt that this is how Will himself might have made a film because even in his day he had to compete with prostitutes and bear baiting (?? That sounds awful!) as entertainment. I'm not so sure I agree with Baz on this, but what do I know? It's certainly different than a Branagh interpretation! I didn't think any of the actors did a really great job of delivering the dialog in a convincing way, but they were a SHIT TON better than Keanu Reeves (Kenneth Branagh, WHAT were you thinking?? Did you have a terrible fever the day you cast him?).
Oh, and why did no one tell me Paul Rudd was in this film? He plays Paris (not entirely convincingly, but I'll give it to him because he's adorable). Leonardo DiCaprio is apparently a favorite of Baz. He wanted him originally to be in Moulin Rouge but alas, Leo can't sing. As evidenced by this film, Leo is a good cryer but I still don't think he'd hold a candle to Ewan McGregor (sigh!). John Leguizamo is also in this film (clearly another Baz fave). I'm sure he's thanking his lucky stars that he played Tybalt instead of Mercutio, who is dressed in major drag for the party scene. I feel like Leguizamo always gets saddled with the weird costumes so it's nice to see him only mildly strange.
I know R + J is a tragedy and all, but seriously there is the moment when they meet, fall instantly in love (ah youth!) and realize who their families are and I thought "You kids GOTTA know this doesn't end well!!" Father Lawrence says "Thou art wedded to calamity". True dat, padre.
(My drink pairing for this film is a fine pewter tankard of 16th century ale.)
I love love love this movie. I remember when I first saw it...I was visiting my niece D'Arcy and she suggested seeing it. I (for some weird reason) hadn't heard about it and was super skeptical going (also weird...it's a movie, for crying out loud!). This movie won me over from the first minute, pretty much. The huge red curtains with the little conductor in front of it? Sign me up.
Then we really got into it. Ewan McGregor. Swoon. Nicole Kidman (who I'm not always a fan of). Gorgeous and oh those outfits! And not a bad singing job. It was like a circus and a melodrama and a musical all rolled into one delectable package. Right. Up. My. Alley. As I was watching it this time, it occurred to me that I think my mother would have really loved this movie too. Certainly my entire family fell under the Moulin Rouge spell that summer. Remember, Erokans?
Baz began refining what he has done previously and added some interesting things cinematically in MR. Together, they worked beautifully to construct this world he wanted us to live in. The stop motion-y movement of the camera, sped up scenes, slo mo and the brilliant use of sound. He goes from cacophony to nearly complete silence with the exception of Satine's breathing or the tapping of Christian's old school typewriter.
The Like A Virgin scene seemed almost an homage to Blazing Saddles with the fabulous dancing boys and the over the top sexual innuendos (hello popping champagne cork).
As always, Baz dazzles us with his musical choices (and mash ups) and fantastic dancing. My particular favorite is the flamenco scene set to the Police's Roxanne. The Unconscious Argentinian (that's what his credit is!) has such a great line earlier in the film, too: "I will sing like an angel...but I will dance like the devil!" (say this in heavy spanish accent "an-hel" and "debil")
I even buy into the device in this film where the audience finds out the entire plot at the beginning of the film - when Christian is setting up the film - then we hear the whole thing again (several times, actually) in the song and dance number where they are pitching it to the Duke, yet we completely embrace the whole thing as it unfolds. No surprises but you still get the feels.
And let's have a moment to talk about the Duke. I remember reading somewhere that the actor, Richard Roxburgh, was only the actor workshopping the scenes with the cast and that someone else was going to eventually get the role. He was so perfect that they never recast. He really is brilliant in this, he brings a lot of dimensions to the character. He's funny, menacing and vulnerable. If you look at his IMDB he's been in a bunch of films but I think this is the one Americans always remember.
My other shout out is to the midget can-can dancer. She saves the frickin' day!! Go Little People!!
And finally, Baz's dad was really sick but told him to focus on the film. He passed away on the first day of production. :(
(My drink pairing for this film is a Death in the Afternoon. Champagne and Absinthe. Fuck yeah, Little Green Fairy!)
My takeaways:
#1 - I must have been an Australian in a past life. I feel like I am always drawn to them (My Aussies, you know who you are!! xoxo).
#2 - All these films are edited by the same woman, Jill Bilcock. She also did films like Muriel's Wedding and Road to Perdition. Go Jill!! She clearly kicks some serious ass...the editing in Baz's films is consistently innovative and lyrical.
#3 - I think it would be amazing to sit and listen to music with Baz Luhrmann. His iPod must be ridiculous.
#4 - Come What May was an original song in Moulin Rouge. It couldn't be nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, however, because it was written for Romeo + Juliet. I see how the lyrics are very in sync with R + J (Come what may, I will love you until my dying day) but I'm SOOO glad it was in MR instead. It's one of my favorite elements of Moulin Rouge.
xoxo...hashtagSueslife
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