Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join our little community of bloggers by picking three movies that fit with the week's theme and writing a bit about them. It's fun and easy - and 2018's schedule has been posted so you can prepare!
I'm back, y'all!
Work has been kicking my butt the past couple of weeks. Ever since Thanksgiving it's been non-stop - many late nights and some super-stressful days. It's been all I can do to get out and see some of the great movies flooding the cinemas of NYC right now. And, as always, there have been some that I've missed that have made me very sad. (If you're not following me on Letterboxd, please do so - I do keep track of everything I watch there, and usually post mini reviews.)
I was especially sad to miss last week's Thursday Movie Picks, because the theme was one of the great tropes of cinema: The Ugly Duckling Who Turns Into A Beautiful Swan. There are of course a wealth of options to choose from. My favorites (I can do this because this isn't an official TMP list!) are: The supreme Bette Davis weepie Now, Voyager; George Bernard Shaw's witty Pygmalion and it's musical version, My Fair Lady; Ingrid Bergman's second Oscar-winner, Anastasia; Baz Luhrmann's thrilling breakthrough Strictly Ballroom; '90s classic teen flick She's All That and its parody version, Not Another Teen Movie; the sweet Drew Barrymore comeback vehicle Never Been Kissed; Anne Hathaway's debut The Princess Diaries; the brilliant Neil LaBute stage play-turned-movie The Shape of Things; and the amazingly stupid-funny Anna Farris-starrer The House Bunny.
This week, we're looking at small towns. There ain't nothin' like a good old-fashioned small town, but the ones in these movies better watch out, because a change is a-comin'...
The Stepford Wives (Bryan Forbes, 1975) I feel obligated to include this one, as after college I moved back to my home state of CT and ended up living for a while in the town of Wilton, the inspiration for the novel by Ira Levin that inspired this iconic movie. I'm sure you all know the premise, but in case you don't, here goes: Photographer Joanna moves with her executive husband and two kids from New York City to the idyllic suburban town of Stepford, CT. Walter immediately joins the exclusive local Men's Association, but Joanna is spooked by the wives, who are all very submissive homemakers with few interests outside the home. She and her fellow new-in-town friend Bobbie investigate, and what they find... well, I'm certainly not going to spoil that if you don't already know! Just go with the flow and enjoy the ride. It's a fun one. I promise!
To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar (Beeban Kidron, 1995) Snydersville is just a podunk, middle of nowhere town where nothing ever happens. But then, a car breaks down outside town stranding three drag queens there for a weekend. Naturally, the queens (played in hugely entertaining, go-for-broke star turns by Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo) are afraid to reveal themselves as men after their initial appearance, but they make the most of a bad situation and confront the prejudice they see anyway. No, this movie isn't very good, but it is a whole lot of fun, and it's still amazing that stars as big as these three would take on these roles, and perform them so well.
The Dressmaker (Jocelyn Moorhouse, 2016) Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage was driven out of her microscopic backwoods Australian town of Dungatar after an incident she barely remembers from her childhood that resulted in a young boy's death. Since then, she has become an internationally renowned dressmaker, and has returned to Dungatar to care for her ailing mother... and also for a spot of revenge. This super entertaining movie is just fabulous in the extreme. Kate Winslet vamps it up in some pretty amazing dresses as Tilly, Judy Davis is a hoot as her mother Molly, Liam Hemsworth is swoon-worthy as the love interest, and the entire ensemble (including Hugo Weaving and Sarah Snook) is game for anything... and they pretty much have to do everything. One of my favorite moviegoing experiences of last year, this could also fit in last week's category, which is why I had to pick it this week.
Written for the blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join us by picking three movies that fit the week's theme and telling us something about them. It's fun - I promise!
There's a bit of a theme with my picks this week. Allow me to explain: June was Gay Pride Month. And not only was this year my first Pride in NYC, it was my first time attending a Pride parade March EVER. I can't even tell you how incredible it was, ESPECIALLY since the tremendous Supreme Court decision on gay marriage came down the Friday of Pride weekend. I was so thankful I had that day off from work, because I would NOT have gotten ANY work done. Between reading news items, watching CNN, and checking/posting to Facebook, that was all I did that day.
Well, that and crying.
I haven't ever thought about getting married - I'm not sure that it's something I want - but the fact that now the highest court in the land has affirmed my right to do so ANYWHERE in these fifty United States of America, well, it's a pretty powerful feeling, and was a bit overwhelming at the time. That night I went to down to Greenwich Village, to the Stonewall Inn (site of the famous riots that started the Gay Pride movement, the subject of Roland Emmerich's upcoming film) and it was a mob scene. You could barely move anywhere, but you could feel the LOVE permeating the air, the joy of everyone's spirits. And then you looked up and saw Freedom Tower and the Empire State Building lit up in rainbow colors... I am so glad I was in New York for this. There have been several moments since moving here in September that I've been happy I moved here, but none more so than that night. It was truly special, something magical.
All of which was a long way of saying: The gays have been on the brain. So, these Road Trip picks are LGBTQ-centric.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Stephan Elliott, 1994) Surely the most fabulous road trip ever filmed. "Priscilla" is an old bus taking three Australian drag queens (Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, and Guy Pearce - yes, THAT Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, and Guy Pearce!) through the outback to a gig on the other side of the continent. Come for the (deservedly) Oscar-winning costumes (some of which cost all of $7 to make out of stuff from a K-Mart!), stay for the revelatory performances from the three leads, all of whom have become famous for far different kinds of roles.
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (Beeban Kidron, 1995) This pseudo-remake of Priscilla written by the great Douglas Carter Beane isn't as subtle or quirky as its predecessor, but I still kinda love it. John Leguizamo, Patrick Swayze, and Wesley Snipes (of all people) turn in some of their best performances in this as two veteran queens and one newbie Q.I.T. (that's Queen In Training) driving across America for a beauty pageant. It's formulaic sure, but it's surprisingly funny, and all the performances (especially Chris Penn and Stockard Channing in supporting roles) are generous of heart and spirit. Think of the balls it took for these stars to take these roles when they did! I still almost can't believe it.
Transamerica (Duncan Tucker, 2005) Felicity Huffman was robbed of an Oscar for her stunning work as Bree, a male-to-female transsexual on the verge of completing her transition when she gets a phone call from a son she didn't know she had. The kid (Kevin Zeegers) is a hustler, of course, and before you know it he's talked his way into having Bree drive him cross-country, even though he may be onto - and may not like - the fact that Bree is transitioning. The film pulls no punches, but Huffman finds plenty of funny in places you'd never think of. Bonus points for the lovely Dolly Parton song "Travellin' Thru", also robbed of an Oscar.
