cpg-2 Reviews

Until September (1984)

Cheese! With one big exception

[26 July 2005]

Quelle Fromage! The lame plot! The contrived situation! The Karen- Allen-one-note-"acting"-factor! My husband was so annoyed by her character...stereotypical, boorish, self-centered American tourist. But this cheese-fest is saved by Thierry Lhermitte, who -- until now -- I thought did only genuinely funny (current) French comedies. He is great in those. How did he wander into this sub-par movie?

In this, Lhermitte is the most strikingly elegant window dressing I have ever seen. Just... jaw-dropping. What this man does for a suit is nearly illegal. I only hung in there through the whole wretched thing because I could not take my eyes off him. Other than that, Until September is a forgettable C-minus.

Home for the Holidays (1995)

Teensy Little GEM

[9/10 · 2 December 2003]

I am so glad I found this movie. It is a snug little favorite of mine already. I come from a big family (all weirdos) who somehow get along very well. But this story of a bunch of weirdos who do not is just GRAND. Others may say that the themes of family and home and blah blah are the central idea here, but I say it is that Claudia (Hunter, playing our protagonist) has a really wonderful brother (Downey Jr. who nearly steals this film altogether).

Brother Tommy comes home for the holidays unexpectedly because he finds out his sister has just had a reaaaaalllly bad day (fired from her job, teen daughter announces she's going to have sex, loses her coat, makes out with her boss, etc) and dealing alone with the family would be unthinkable. He arrives with some hilarious fanfare, and proves to be excellent moral support for Hunter, a distraction for his family, and the provender of an interesting new element....in the person of Leo Fish, who may or may not be Tommy's new "partner."

Tommy ((heavily embellished and ad-libbed by Downey...listen carefully to his banter...hilarious)ends up taking the inevitable flack for his gayness (probably why he was not going to come home in the first place) but her lets it roll off his back, choosing instead to enjoy his sister's company and his parents' foibles. He also really enjoys (and so do we) watching Claudia and Leo Fish figure each other out.

They do...albeit obliquely and elliptically, with the conclusion sort of up in the air (hee hee). But in the process we are treated to Leo's very funky and offhand outlook on life. Listen for his very wry speech about trying to talk golf with his own father...."Par Par Bogie Bogie Par Par" has become a catchphrase for "blah blah blah" in my house...

Anne Bancroft and Hunter are stellar, and McDermott is darned cute (the making-out-on-the-doorstep scene is darling). But Downey (yet again) is the one you watch. The director's commentary by Foster gives a clue that he was frustrating to work with, but it seems very worth it here. He is just SO watchable, boistrous, too-energetic, motor-mouthed and loveable. We should all have such a brother. Lucky Claudia.

OH! Don't miss the turkey scene. Play it again to catch the peripheral characters' faces. I cannot wait for Thanksgiving!

Dracula (1979)

One of the Most Delicious

[26 November 2003]

Frank Langella performs one of the best Draculas ever here. The production is lush and sets are dlish, too. But Langella's Dracula is just plain flat-out sexy. The velvet voice is so much a part of this, as is his body language and hand gestures. Some humor, some romance, some tragic-anti-hero moments, too. Langella finds his only competition for sexiest vampire from Chris Sarandon's modern-day take in "Fright Night."

Maybe I need to watch them both again to help me decide.

In any case, they make good companion pieces for a double-feature-stay-home night.

Why isn't this on DVD?

The War of the Gargantuas (1966)

A Childhood Classic

[13 November 2003]

I saw this for the first time when I was really little surrounded by a roomful of cousins, brothers and sisters. We laughed through the entire thing and it is a supremely nostalgic experience for me to remember this movie. I am now 41, and I STILL occasionally call my little brother (he's 39) and sing The Words Get Stuck in My Throat on his answering machine. (Yes, I know all the words.) In L.A., KTLA Channel 5 would have it as a featured weekly movie and play it every night for a week at 11 pm. My brother and I would sneak down to watch it...and laugh our stupid heads off. I love this movie for all the fun it has afforded me over the years. Plot? Hilarious. Special effects? HUH? Are you out of your mind? Dialogue? O. My. God. But it all adds up to a classic experience. I think I'll buy it just to show my 4 year old when he turns maybe...8? 9?

Fright Night (1985)

Where the H is Chris Sarandon?

[7 October 2003]

I saw this in the 80s when it first came out and my sister and I watched it over and over. SO fun and different....especially, if, like me, you are a vampire fan. Never takes itself seriously. The teens overact, McDowell overacts, and then there is the Sarandon Factor. Is it just me or is this man just flaming hot? Thank God for DVD and slow-mo and rewind. WHAT happened that he just disappeared from films??!! Even the gay 80's Cosby-era sweaters and affected gray leather coat (hello shoulderpads!) could not really detract from his dangewrous and delicious appeal. I swear I would have been offering my neck about 15 seconds after meeting him if I were his neighbor. Even Amy (Amanda Bearse) giggles and says, "He's NEAT!"

The only other sex-pot vampire also came out of the 80s....Anyone remember Frank Langella as Dracula? I can't find it on DVD anywhere. He and Chris Sarandon definitely picked up on that sexy "thang" that vampires have and made it a major factor. The voice (in both cases) certainly helped.

Even though this is really campy and overacted, it is good, scary fun. The pre-CGI effects are solid, especially Evil Ed's grotesque demise. Makes a good companion piece to American Werewolf in London, Lost Boys, Dusk Til Dawn, Love at First Bite, and (for real scares) Near Dark.

See it. It is nearly Halloween and I am on a vampire bender. Chris Sarandon, thank you. Hey, call me a baaaad girl, but I think I would follow this prince of evil down to his basement.

Secretary (2002)

He's doing it agaaaaaiiinn!

[14 April 2003]

James Spader, that is....

Really different movie, which bears repeat watching, just to catch the nuances of the set, dialogue, etc. James Spader again proves that weird can be (very) sexy.

All trappings aside, this is a sweet love story of two who need each other. Spader's Mr. Grey (possible spoiler) just needs time to get rid of the loathing he has built up for himself over years of obsessive and fetishist behavior. Again (as in Sex, Lies and Videotape) he makes the viewer want to shelter him, protect him, and have sex with him (at the same time, natch).

Love Maggie G in this role. Glad to see more of her lately.

On the DVD, the director's commentary is pretty darned good. Unobnoxious, unpretentious and informative.

Keep and open mind and see this movie. Then see My Beautiful Launderette ads a nice companion piece on alternate forms of love.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

What is it about James Spader...?

[14 April 2003]

I watched this movie when it came out years ago and loved it. I added it to my list of "must-see" movies that circulates among my family.

Then I saw Secretary on DVD just last week and recalled with the force of a cyclone exactly why James Spader is among my favorite character actors: he is different and real and....something elusively else.

I re-rented SL&V this weekend and watched it twice. He is subtle, a bit creepy, vulnerable, itchy...and something else...OUCH...really, painfully, oddly sexually attractive. I think I need to buy these two movies to watch in the wee hours.

My husband and I have had (SEMI-SPOILER!) long conversations about what we think went on after he turned off the camera with Ann.

So many of his other movies don't give Spader this range of opportunities (Secretary does, happily!), except maybe Less Than Zero (with another sexy-creepy favorite, Rob't Downey Jr).

It bears repeat watching, just for him.

On the DVD, the director's commentary with Soderberg, is insanely annoying and inane. Even in crucial scenes, he cannot stop talking about really inappropriate and uninteresting things.

See the movie, SKIP the commentary.