“Two things I love to do is fight and kiss boys!” – Hollywood Montrose
Yup. Mannequin.
Let me just say, when you get right down to it, the reason I would recommend that people see Mannequin is Hollywood Montrose – the queer window dresser played by Meshach Taylor.
In fact, I would like to rename the movie Hollywood Montrose has to Deal with the Limited People at his Job, Saves the Day and Remains Fabulous while Doing So.
So shit that happens that isn’t Hollywood:
Kim Cattrall plays Emmy a reincarnated Egyptian princess[i] whose spirit comes alive inside a late 1980’s mannequin. I mean, if you were a princess from ancient Egypt I think we’d each want to bloom like a majestic lotus in the stock room of a run-down Philadelphia department store. It’s were all the best things happen.
Like Andrew McCarthy. He plays a down on his luck window dresser / sculptor / ARTISTE! Jonathan Switcher who just needs his a break. We all know how cut-throat the world of window displays can be – the real opportunities to show your vision are few and far between. He gets that chance when Claire Timkin of Prince & Company department store hires him.
They’ve been losing business to Illustra, the department store across the street.
But now Jonathan is there, and his muse Emmy is there and they make great window displays and Illustra guy is mad, and gets mole James Spader to try and thwart Jonathan, but Jonathan will not be thwarted because 80’s fashion, Egyptian magic and HOLLYWOOD MONTROSE!
I love Hollywood.
Why? Because he’s black and gay and he’s un-fucking-apologetic about it. Because Jonathan treats him like a co-worker. Because he’s flamboyant and amazing at his job. This in the midst of a super-homophobic time is a revelation.
All that and he holds back a throng of bad guys with a hose.
Sure, does he shriek? Yes. But it doesn’t matter because that’s just another amazing uncloseted thing about him. He’s magnificent. Meshach Taylor made him a real, reliable good person.
Do I recommend Mannequin? No.
Am I praying someone has made a super-cut of the film with only Hollywood’s scenes? FUCK YES!
Mannequin Trailer: https://youtu.be/OTfhUj4LZVE
Roger Ebert’s cut-throat review (R. Ebert): https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mannequin-1987
[i] So we get some heavy appropriation, right off the top.
The Last King of Scotland – 2006 – Kevin Macdonald
(Bio Friday)
“I know who you are and what you are. I am you!” – Idi Amin
The Last King of Scotland is a based on true events story depicting the rise of the very real Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) through the point of view of a fictional Scottish physician Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy).
Nicholas has just graduated from medical school and decides to leave Scotland to get a bit of adventure (plus get away from the judgemental tone of his father). After picking it randomly on a globe he heads off to Uganda[i].
At first Nicholas is stationed with an English couple who run a bare-bones field clinic. The physician husband is boring, but his wife Sarah (Gillian Anderson) piques Nicholas’ interest. It’s not long before their having an affair, while nothing much else happens in their remote location. The locals are dubious of these white strangers and for the most part prefer to take medical advice from the existing healers they know.
Things change when Nicholas has a chance encounter with Idi Amin and his men on a motorway. Amin has had an accident and hurt his hand. Nicholas steps in to bandage him up and then further impresses Amin by ‘dealing with’ a wounded animal at the side of the road.
Then Amin finds out that Nicholas is from Scotland and that settles it; he offers Nicholas a job as his personal physician, and with the mildest trepidation Nicolas takes the gig.
And I say mildest because, let’s not kid ourselves, Nicholas left Scotland to have as much fun and free reign as possible. Nicholas knows that there’s something Faustian about this bargain he’s taking – Amin is clearly not averse to violence, he did fight alongside Scottish solders against the Mau Mau – but look at what is on offer…
The grounds of Amin’s compound in the capitol city of Kampala are lush and beautiful.
Yes, it’s surrounded by gates and armed men – but inside it’s modern, and filled with booze and women and good times. It’s a far cry from life in that field hospital. And Amin himself is so charismatic and funny, while also taking his self-appointed role of “Father of Uganda” seriously – why look a gift horse in the mouth?
Nicholas makes the choice to shelter himself from how this oasis came to be, and thus he’s able to gleefully take his pleasures from it[ii]. And isn’t that the crux of colonialism?
But Nicholas’ willful ignorance cannot hold as he sees Amin become increasingly erratic and violence growing in the streets. Amin’s regime of fear and paranoia is murdering all opposition.
Nicholas comes to see that swapping in Idi Amin for a father-figure was a really bad idea, and tries to go home. But Amin wants him to stay.
The Last King of Scotland is a powerful film with powerful performances. Forest Whitaker’s Amin is a tour-de-force. He conveyed Amin’s charm and managed to make me empathise with his paranoid point of view. It was also clear that Amin can see the dark side of Nicholas’ nature – a side that Nicholas is too afraid to confront in himself.
I would be remiss if I did not point out the moving portrayal of Kay by Kerry Washington. Kay is one of Amin’s wives who just wants her children to survive the cut-throat political maneuverings of Amin’s inner circle.
This film is not for the faint of heart – it is graphically violent[iii], but not pointlessly so. Film director Kevin Macdonald is from the documentary world[iv] and that made a real difference in the way this film communicates its intentions.
It made me think about the things I ignore, just to get by.
Recommended.
Forest Whitaker looks back at the film: https://ew.com/news/2018/07/21/forest-whitaker-idi-amin-last-king-scotland/
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three – 1974 – Joseph Sargent
(70s Wednesday)
“Excuse me, do you people still execute in this state? – Mr. Blue
How in the hell do you pull a heist on a subway? That’s what the cops are trying to figure out in 70’s action-thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three[i].
Four heavily-armed men have taken over a New York City subway train. Each one of them uses a code-name corresponding with the colour of hat they each wear:
Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw) – A deliberate ex-mercenary and the leader of our gang of thieves
Mr. Green (Martin Balsam) – The man who has expertise in NYC transit operations with the experience required to drive
Mr. Grey (Héctor Elizondo) – Hot-headed, trigger-happy creep and alleged former member of the mafia
Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman) – Quiet, intense, does not want trouble
They move the train and abandon it, and decouple the head car. They take the head car passengers hostage, demanding that a ransom of $1 million dollars gets delivered to them in one hour precisely.
If they don`t get what they want, they’re going to murder a hostage for every minute the money is late.
Mr. Blue is the one making those demands over the radio system to Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau), an ornery NYC Transit Authority Police Lieutenant. Garber is like if Archie Bunker had an older brother that was way smarter. He`s a crotchety bigot, but he genuinely cares about bringing those hostages to safety.
Garber`s even nice enough to say "Gesundheit" each time he hears Mr. Green sneeze in the background when Mr. Blue is talking.
Like everyone else in the transit authority and the police department, Garber and the audience wonders, how the hell are those bandits going to get the money off the train without getting caught?
While Garber and the police try to figure things out from above (the positioning of the train, blocking the stations in front and behind of the car, figuring out the identities of the perpetrators, etc.) the thieves below are trying to manage their little slice of chaos.
The hostages aren`t behaving as well as they had hoped and their patience starts to run thin with crying kids and elderly men who ask too many questions.
Add to that the fact that Mr. Grey has decided to engage in some piggish behaviour with one of the women hostages on the train, leading to conflict between him and Messrs. Blue and Brown who feel that Mr. Grey`s boorishness is undermining the mission.
And little do they know, they happened to have picked a train car with an undercover cop on board.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a fast and fun thriller with great performances throughout. From the main characters noted above to the stand-out smaller roles. I`m thinking in particular of the tiny part of the Mayor`s wife Jessie played by Doris Roberts[ii], Inspector Daniels played by Julius Harris and the requisite Italian-American role of Garber`s colleague Lt. Rico Patrone played by Jerry Stiller.
Also of note in this film is that while there are a few moments of hateful language[iii], the workplace at the transit authority is pretty diverse. It`s just seems ordinary to everyone there to have women and people of colour in the workplace. Sadly, this is a real standout compared to other films I`ve been watching of this era.[iv]
I would be remiss if I did not note how utterly amazing the score is. It was composed and conducted by David Shire[v] and is funky, throbbing, staccato fuel that helps the audience appreciate the moment on screen and propels the story forward. It`s unmistakable and awesome and I think I`ll actually purchase it.
This is a fun, taught thriller that did not play out exactly the way I thought it would and I really admired that, particularly the last act of the film. It`s easy to see how and why other film makers have admired and been influenced by this film[vi]. Days later, I`m still thinking about it.
[i] I checked. For this 1974 film title to be accurate, you`re supposed to spell out the ``One Two Three``. The Denzel 2009 remake version is spelled ``123``
[ii] Yes, that Doris Roberts: Marie Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond and Mildred Krebs from Remington Steele. She`s got a killer line in this.
[iii] The n-word is said (once I believe), there are a few sexist comments, and Japanese visitors are mocked (that last one has a turn-about)
[iv] I emphasise that this is only by comparison.
[v] David Shire also wrote the scores for The Conversation (on this year`s Film Penance list!) and All The Presidents Men in addition to some work on Saturday Night Fever. He is also the ex-husband of Talia Shire; she influenced his work on the closing music of The Taking of the Pelham One Two Three (Wikipedia it. I can`t do everything).
You see, Hopsi, you don't know very much about girls. The best ones aren't as good as you probably think they are and the bad ones aren't as bad. Not nearly as bad. “ – Jean
Charles Pike (Henry Fonda) is the handsome yet nerdy heir to an ale fortune[i], who’s taking a ship home after a one-year exotic snake-finding mission in the Amazon. As you do.
He’s an eligible bachelor and every young woman on board with a pulse is vying for his attention.
Jean (Barbara Stanwyck) has found her mark. She’s already on board with her “family” of professional gamblers and grifters, who hustle rich folk to earn a living.
Jean hangs back and with her pocket mirror and assesses the other dames on board, trying to make time with Charles – but they’re no match for her moxie or her ability to trip a man up. Especially a clumsy guy like Hopsi.
Ya see, Hopsi is the nickname she gives Charles not long after they meet. He’s never met a woman like her: so smart and beautiful and with such allure.
He didn’t stand a chance once she got him back to the stateroom, running her fingers through his hair the way she did.
But Charles has a chaperone, Muggsy (William Demarest) and he doesn’t trust Jean or her father Colonel Harrington (Charles Coburn) – Muggsy thinks they’re trying to pull a fast one on his friend and tries to convince him that Jean is bad news.
And at first, he’s right. Jean is bad news.
After a few days though, Hopsi has charmed Jean just as much as she has charmed him. She’s actually in love with the guy – and tells the Colonel to stop winning against Charles at cards.
She decides she’s going to come clean, and tell Charles about her background. She wants to be sure that life on shore starts off on the square.
Before she has a chance too, Muggsy tells Charles that Jean and the Colonel are crooks – and Jean finds herself dumped. Bye bye Hopsi…
Fast forward to Bridgefield Connecticut, where the Mr. Pike is having a soirée. And who should arrive at the event on the arm of her uncle?
Why it’s the Lady Eve Sidwich! So lovely, so jewel encrusted, so the exact image of Jean.
Charles is taken with her – this non-Jean who is Jean but with an English accent. He’s so head over heels for Eve that he’s tripping over the furniture.
But of course, things never run smoothly in a situation like this and Charles gets more than he bargained for.
I really loved The Lady Eve. It’s fun and funny, has clever dialogue along with slapstick humour and it gets you to the expected destination in unexpected ways. It’s easy to see why this film is on so many lists of “must see” classics.
Barbara Stanwyck is a woman after my own heart and who knew Henry Fonda could be funny? I know I didn’t.
The sets are beautiful, the camera angles clever – and there are many long takes left in the film. You actually see the actors in real time interacting and getting the laughs without relying on edits.
I would also be remiss if I did not mention the gorgeous costume design by the legendary Edith Head.
It kind of blows my mind that writer-director Preston Sturges made this film in the same year as Sullivan’s Travels, another comedic masterpiece. How is that possible? In doing some research for this movie I came across some interesting videos (linked below) and it’s just made me want to know more about Sturges and watch all of his films.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
See also: Sullivan’s Travels (1941) https://filmpenance.tumblr.com/post/159126173124/day-28-sullivans-travels
TLE Trailer: https://youtu.be/lj9ilqIyCUk
Peter Bogdanovich on TLE, with a great story on the origin of “screwball comedies”: https://youtu.be/yJ_yDLUaviQ
Allan Arkush on TLE (Trailers from Hell): https://youtu.be/6ldXWxN6gZs
“Gerty, is there someone else in the room?” – Sam Bell
Sam Bell is nearing the end of this three-year contract. He’s been working solo at a base of the moon tasked with monitoring the harvest of Helim-3, Earth’s number 1 source of energy. Sam (Sam Rockwell) periodically goes to the automated harvesters to ensure they’re running and ships Helium-3 back to his home world, but otherwise stays at the base.
Most of the time it’s boring up there.
Sam tries to keep himself occupied to prevent himself from going insane from loneliness. He makes wooden models of houses, has scientific experiments with plants, and jogs on a treadmill. The only companionship is a helpful yet hovering robot named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) supplied by the mining company “Lunar Industries”.
Sam is antsier than ever. There’s only two weeks to go before he can return to Earth.
Sam’s longing to reunite with his wife Tess and meet his daughter Eve who was born after he left. The base has trouble making live transmissions to Earth, so the video calls back home are all delayed recordings. Sam wants something live and real and for GERTY to stop pestering him.
On a routine run to check the harvesters, Sam has an accident in his vehicle and blacks out. He awakens back at the station in a medical bay with GERTY attending to him.
GERTY insists that Sam rest and not do anymore work – there are only a few days before he goes home after all. And Sam certainly should not perform any more work that would take him outside of the station. But Sam is going stir-crazy and feels suspicious of GERTY.
Once Sam is on his feet, he creates a breach in a panel and there’s a leak. GERTY reluctantly agrees to let Sam go outside to check the structure of the station. Sam goes to the site of his vehicle accident instead.
Inside the wreck, he finds a person inside and brings him back to the base.
Who is this person, and will they jeopardize Sam’s ability to go home? How will GERTY react to this presence? How will Lunar Industries?
I don’t want to say more about Moon because I think it’s worth watching and I don’t want to give too much away. The way director Duncan Jones explores loneliness and confronting the self really intrigued me.
What does it mean to be a person?
The visuals and the stark yet compelling score were very affecting, and reinforced the remoteness and isolation.
I will say, the starkness of the production design used plenty of the tropes we’re familiar with in science fiction, particularly Kubrick and Tarkovsky (as opposed to a Blade Runner feel). While the movie does work within a vernacular we know, I think its delivery and execution were unique and worthy of its references.
“I remember seeing a condom; I just don't know exactly what it did.” – Donna
Donna (Jenny Slate) is a struggling stand-up comic in Brooklyn.
She’s just been dumped by her boyfriend Ryan and that sucks.
What sucks even more, is she also found out Ryan has been cheating on her with their friend Kate for months.
Donna’s depressed.
She works her part-time job at a bookstore. She has dinner with her modest T.V. show creating puppeteer father (Richard Kind). She visits her intimidating and stylish professor mother (Polly Draper). She hangs out with friends.
One night, Donna gets hammered and goes onstage to do some impromptu “stand-up” about Ryan & Kate, and really, really, really bombs. She consoles herself in the arms of Max, a clean-cut sort of guy that she met hours before at the bar.
A few weeks later and Donna is late for her period. She enlists the support of her friend Nellie to take a home pregnancy test. It’s positive.
Donna decides she’s going to have an abortion. She knows it’s the right thing for her to do.
She is worried about being judged for her decision. Nellie is in her corner and shares the story of her own abortion. The only day that Donna can get an appointment is in two weeks, on Valentine’s Day.
One day at the bookstore, Max comes in to ask Donna out on a date. After some hesitation, she says yes. They have a great time. Which leads to more dates and fun times.
But she hasn’t told him she’s pregnant and Donna struggles with what to do.
She likes this guy, but what if he doesn’t agree with her choice? Is it better to just not tell him? She thinks this relationship has possibilities – Max is a great guy – and maybe finding out she’s going to have an abortion will also end the relationship. Is it too much of a risk?
Obvious Child was a very frank movie about abortion. I loved that there was no angst about whether or not Donna wanted the abortion. She wanted it. The fears and misgivings she had were much more about how the people around her were going to react to her choice. It’s plain that by having an abortion, Donna is giving herself a chance at happiness.
And there were other women in Donna’s immediate circle who had also had abortions and could tell her what the experience was like[i].
Just like life: Women know other women who’ve had abortions. Sometimes they have had their own.
And in the truth of clinical realities, Obvious Child still manages to have the romantic relationship Donna has with Max at the centre. You root for her because you know she’s been through a lot.
“You know, I've always wanted a child. And now I think I'll have one on toast!” – Winnifred
What are three fun-loving witch sisters to do?
You’ve been cursed, just because you happened to literally suck the life out of a young girl during the 17th century.
Cursed, for that? Rude!
Like, they had a really good reason to turn Emily Binx into a husk: skincare.
Okay, they also turned her older brother Thackery into a black cat doomed to eternal life. But he was a real stick in the mud.
Now Winnifred Sanderson (Bette Midler) the Head Witch in Charge and her two sisters Mary (Kathy Najimy) and Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) are trapped until some virgin comes and lights a black flame candle.
It takes 300 years and finally the right idiot virgin comes along in the form of Max. He’s just moved to town with his mom, dad and little sister Dani (Thora Birch) and gets swept up in the stories of the Sanderson sisters, and mistakenly thinks it’s poppycock.
It’s Halloween, and Max has to take Dani out trick-or-treating while their parents go to a party. Dani and Max go to Alison’s and have a cider – Max has a massive crush on Alison (they’re in some of the same classes in high school) and he wants to impress her.
Max tells Alison he’s not afraid to go into the Sanderson house, even though Dani and Alison warn him not to.
Well, they go, Max lights the candle and the Sanderson sisters appear.
Now two terrible things happen:
Winnifred, Mary and Sarah will wreak havoc on the town in an effort to get all the skin care possible from the plethora of young trick-or-treaters out in the streets to look pretty and remain in the natural world.
Everyone now knows Max is a virgin.
THE HORROR!!!!
Hocus Pocus was a really cute movie and not too scary. The interplay between Midler, Najimy and Parker was the best part of the movie, natch, in particular the scene where they mistake a local for The Devil (it was my favourite part of the movie).
I think it’s a pretty good movie for kids[i] and not too painful for adults to watch.
HP Trailer: https://youtu.be/F4e6YQFrt1s
HP Review (Washington Post): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/hocuspocuspgkempley_a0a39b.htm
NOTES:
[i] I watched this movie with my 3-1/2 year old niece and she was a little scared but okay. No nightmares reported!
The Hudsucker Proxy – 1994 – Joel Coen (& Ethan Coen)
(Screwball Monday: CW – see notes)
“Only a numbskull thinks he knows things about things he knows nothing about.” – Amy Archer
It’s December 1958 in New York City and a young go-getter named Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) has just come to town to make it in The Big Apple. After all, how could a gentleman with a swell education from Muncie Business College fail?
Norville has some trouble finding a job, on account of his lack of experience but suddenly his luck changes when he finds work in the mail room at Hudsucker Industries. Everything and everyone in the mail room is rather serious and there are lots of rules to follow.
And Hudsucker Industries has just had a blow. Head man in charge Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning) has taken a header out of a window after a board meeting leaving people scrambling for what to do next. I mean, Mr. Hudsucker dying is sad and all, but what about the stock prices?
Board member and bad guy Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) knows what they need: a patsy – a patsy to be put in charge while the men in the room gain control of the situation[i]. They only have until January 1, 1959 to do it, so they need to act fast. And who would be a better patsy than the gift of young Norville, who’s blithely walks into Sidney’s office holding a blue letter?
(A letter Norville promptly forgets to deliver.)
Once ensconced in the c-suite, Norville gets put in front of the press and the public is taken by this Muncian “ideas man”. But ace reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) thinks something fishy is going on and infiltrates Hudsucker Industries and becomes Norville’s “Girl Friday” to try and get a scoop.
Amy is charmed by Norville, but still thinks his ideas are cockamamie. Sidney thinks Norville’s circle concept is terrible…and immediately puts it into production.
Sidney’s hoping it will flop. And at first it does. But then, tragically, it takes America by storm!
Amy starts to fall in love with Norville, but the success of Norville’s circle toy starts going to his head. He starts taking on the characteristics of a lesser man. Should she come clean to Norville that she’s a reporter, or go ahead with her exposé?
Sidney doesn’t give her a chance to decide. He’s found out that she’s a Pulitzer prize winning journalist and tells Norville her secret…
Will Sidney gain control of the company? Will Amy write her story? Will Norville return to his mid-western ideals or remain swept up in big city life? It’s all coming down to New Year’s Ever…
The main theme of The Hudsucker Proxy is the cyclical versus linear view of the life and I think the movie expressed this in a lighthearted way.
This movie is also stunningly beautiful. The scale models of New York City being lightly dusted with snow look like something out of a story book, the costumes are beautiful[ii], and the sets are spectacular. Just look at how deep the spaces are that the characters inhabit – every inch has to feel true to that world and this movie`s production design and set decoration are impeccable.
I was also struck by the many parallels I saw to another Coen Brothers’ movie I love, The Big Lebowski. In particular the use of repeated dialogue, the all-knowing narrator[iii] who suddenly appears in the story, and the use of a hula hoop[iv] (rather than a tumbleweed) to connect elements of the story.
I really liked The Hudsucker Proxy[v]. I was not expecting too. When the movie came out, to say that it was panned is an understatement. So I had just kind of assumed that the movie was not good. I was wrong.
Even taking into account that it’s written and directed by the Coen Brothers and I’m a fan of their work. But I will admit, sometimes it has eluded me. I love Raising Arizona, A Serious Man, No Country for Old Men…I can’t abide Burn After Reading or Intolerable Cruelty.
That said, after this great experience with The Hudsucker Proxy, maybe I should just give any Coen Brothers’ film I don’t immediately like 25 years and watch it again.
By then I’ll have caught up to their sensibilities.
Hudsucker Trailer: https://youtu.be/dBa8p0NFwM8
Critic’s Pick Video (NYT – A.O. Scott): https://youtu.be/GYB9e6A_zWQ
[i] I actually think that the stock price/buy back plot element was clever. That said it can feel too convoluted for a straight forward screwball comedy. So, I understand what the detractors mean, I just think they’re wrong. One person’s cherry on the cake is another’s poop on a stick.
[ii] I want everything that Jennifer Jason Leigh wears. It`s all spectacular.
[iii] WARNING: Magical Negro Trope
[iv] And other circles: straws, Frisbees, etc…
[v] March 2019 is actually the 25th anniversary for this film!
