S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y
My friend Amie came over Saturday. We rented one pretty good movie and one that was an experiment in torture. The schlock-fest was Stage Beauty-boring and uneven with an ill-suited score that drove Amie crazy. Rieschelle left before it was even over. The best thing about it was trying to come up things worse than being forced to watch it again with director's commentary. The Slipping Down Life was the pretty good one. The movie stars Lili Taylor, who is so cool. Sara Rue has a small part in it- she's too cute. The movie has that quirky, small town slice-of-life feel, much like What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Heavy and All the Real Girls. It was a fun time, even with my embarrassing gushing about The X-Files and the new Sarah Jessica Parker Gap ad.
Weird tangent alert:
Amie thinks her car smells like mold. I think it smells kind of like chocolate chips.
Joe got back from his New York trip in one piece. Whew.
Weird tangent alert:
Amie thinks her car smells like mold. I think it smells kind of like chocolate chips.
Joe got back from his New York trip in one piece. Whew.
Posted by stacie | Sunday, March 27, 2005
7 comments
Hey OK, I won't keep posting comments on your blog so frequently, but "Stage Beauty" is "an experiment in torture"? I saw that movie in the art theatre sometime last year expecting some stodgy costume drama and ended up tentatively liking it. Sure, it covers some of the same ground as "Shakespeare in Love" and Claire Danes perhaps wasn't the most spirited choice for the lead role, but I thought Billy Crudup gave a brilliant performance that overshadowed some of the weaker aspects. It is certainly uneven and wavers tentatively between comedy and drama at times, but I enjoyed the depiction of that time period and the role reversal conflict, etc. (though the intriguing "I-was-raised-to-act-like-a-girl-now-I-don't-know-how-to-be-a-man" stuff could have been fleshed out more). Maybe I liked it in comparison to "Iris," Richard Eyre's previous movie, which was indeed a cliched schlock-fest moving at a snail's pace without anything unique or interesting to say about Iris Murdoch. I know a bad movie when I see one, and while "Stage Beauty" may not be anything too worthwhile (it's perched somewhere between a **1/2 and a *** for me), it's got a great leading performance and enough energy to qualify as something more than boring tripe. I know how it is though when a movie doesn't catch a group's interest and someone makes a comment, then someone else makes a comment, and suddenly the flick becomes fodder for Mystery Science Theatre 3000-type ridicule. Whenever I watch an old movie or something (the Paul Newman western "Hud" being the most recent example), people uninterested start cracking wise and it snowballs from there. This occurs in nearly every group situation (from your friends taking clever, funny digs at the flick - things worse than watching it again with the director's commentary, nice - to the dumbasses complaining about "Hud," which is a classic), and often has a profound impact on your initial reaction to a movie. Anyways, just a wee disagreement in opinion, but that reaction to that film seemed especially strong. I haven't seen A Slipping Down Life yet, but what with the recommendation I'll have to check it out. There's some early Polanski ("Repulsion"), a couple film noirs, and some Hitchcock and Buster Keaton stuff I'm checking out next.
Oh yeah, one other thing - you should put up some star ratings too - that's always fun for comparisons (your "Stage Beauty" thoughts sounded like * to *1/2). Anyway, I'll stop posting grotesquely long comments. Keep the posts coming.
Thanks for your comments Joe. I appreciate you taking the time. I'll have to give star ratings as you've suggested. I agree that they could have done more with the lead character's gender identity crisis. Glad you had so much fun on your trip.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I was a little overzealous with the mouse and posted my comments, like, six times. Yikes. Slow internet connection be damned.
Post a Comment | Back to elaborate lies.