The gimmick of the play was the middle aged man fantasised about shagging the hot girl... and did. Here Tom Ewell only thinks about it. But the girl is Marilyn who is lovely and some jokes remain funny like the satire of Ewell's atrocious boomer child, selfish and loud.
It goes on forever but had the right amount of sex for 1955. Marilyn is lovely.
Tony Curtis is excellent. So are Lemmon and Marilyn. Imagine Mitzi Gaynor in this. No thanks! George Raft quite scary. Joe E Brown steals the show. You can tell it was made by an ex hooker.
Some jokes haven't aged well and it's been copied so often that its freshness has been diluted by the leads are in wonderful form.
Douglas had such an amazing life and career even the most basic recap would be interesting. This is not terribly well written but fascinating. There was a fair bit I didn't know - childhood, his hippe youth. I knew he shagged Kathleen Turner but not Diane Morgan and Jeanne Tripplehorn. He talks affectionately of Turner, Danny de Vito. He slags off Joe Eszterhaus for carrying on during Basic Instinct, likes Joel Schumacher, adored Karl Malden, got to like his dad but had proper fatherhood from his step dad, is still annoyed at his first wife, is affectionate about Brenda Vaccaro.
The Jane Fonda part in China Syndrome was offered to Richard Dreyfuss. Walter Hill was 1st AD on Hail Hero. He once drunkenly insulted Julia Roberts. Debra Winger lost Romancing the Stone by biting him.
Douglas was very blessed in many respects - played leads in his first three films, got a part in a fat TV hit. He deserves immense credit for Cuckoo's Nest and China Syndrome and Romancing the Stone. He attributes Coma to improving his attitude in films (he stuffed a sequence through laziness and never did again) and encouraging him to cast Fonda in China Syndrome.
He doesn't mention Ghost in the Darkness, Disclosure, Wonder Boys, Don't Say a Word, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Made in America. Talks a lot about Danny de Vito, Behind the Candelabra, his son Cameron, Catherine Zeta Jones.
Not a masterpiece but unfairly torn to shreds by some British critics who seemed to take it as a personal insult. It's a film about two pretty people with nice tunes. The man is a red flag, clearly not good at sex but he and the girl are easy on the eye and it's pleasantly show.
Random observations:
- Mel Gibson so wonderful - sensitive, caring, angry. It's a stunning performane.
- Joanne Samuels under-rated - warm, lovely. Her death (well, severe injury) packs real weight.
- I forget how well society functioning. Hospitals work. Beach side homes. There are rampant gangs. But it's not post apocapytic.
- Superb performances. Not just the leads. Everyone.
Everything clicked for Ken with this one - location filming, high spirits suited his direction, everyone in the cast is hot. Keanu Reeves is game but Ken gets him doing monologues while stripped and covered in oil. Denzel Washington adds gravitas to a tricky role (Don Pedro). Emma T is splendid with her hair and tan; Ken terrific; Robert Sean Leonard and Kate Beckinsale are as cute as a button and thick as two planks which is what those roles require.
A turning point in Richard Franklin's career - he elected not to make this and do Link instead which was a disaster. Tom Holland turned director and while he does a competent rather than good job there's enough perfect stuff in the movie for it to work. William Ragsdale, Stephen Geoffrey, Amanda Bearse and especially Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowall are great fun. Very satisfying.
Fun, anarchic, great gags, plenty of imagination. Doesn't quite build pace wise like the first. Maybe lacks a true villain - John Glover is kind of a goodie. Phoebe Cates sweet. Christopher Lee fun.
Probably the best known of Miller's later plays, about a Jewish couple in 1938 New York where the wife is paralysed due to psychosamatic reasons, which is a little unlikely but dramatically works. Sex is big - he says they do it a lot she says never, a shrink loves her, the husband dies as the wife walks, there is talk of Hitler. It works on its own terms and is entertaining.
I think I was too young when I first saw this - there wasn't enough broad humour and gags. Time having passed the movie has aged well and I appreciate it more: the chemistry of the leads, the charm of Deborah Foreman (was bothering me who she reminded me of... Zoe Deutsch!), the solid support of Frederic Forrest and Colleen Camp, the way the script emphasises the importance of friends as a form of pressure.
Highly entertaining. Short. Full of gossip. Charlie Sheen was good for seven years then went heywire. Brett Butler was mad from the get-go. Cybill Shepherd went mad after one season. Casey-Werner backed the stars. Ana Faris was... unspecified problems. Les Moonves comes out of the book bad but also good. Lorre's career was amazing. It's a type of TV that doesn't exist anymore. Entertaining. Wobbly written in a few places, his inexperience with prose shows. The scripts at the end was so tight and good - that's his real strength.
Radio play which is a suicide note of an uptight woman who went to work for a Hollywood star. Beautifully acted by Judi Dench. Maybe a little slight at the end.
Better than the sccript because it has such good actors - Ethan Hawke, Andrew Scott, Margaret Qualley. It's still a stage play at heart which hits the same beats - he's got a crush on a hot woman who he doesn't desire, life is moving on, he stuffed it with Hammerstein. No progression. A grace note. I like that it exists, mind.
Lots of zingers but it's annoying. In the future the king is appointed to rule the country. The king is based on Shaw himself so he is wise and witty. There's a female role for a Katherine Hepburn type as there is in most Shaws.
Excellently theatrical. Bold. Makes the Spaniards British but that works. Lots of talking between the officer and the Inca King. I wanted to see it on stage.
Yes, overlong and didn't have to cost that much money, should've been made for $40 million (most of it is sent indoors in a few rooms) and you could cut out half an hour. But bold, and funny, and clever and all the things. Tom Cruise very good as is all the cast. American critics can't handle movies too critical of them - neither can Americans.
Marvellous play. Yes I know the psychiatry is no doubt dodgy - building to the big breakthrough. And it's all because dad is upset about sex. And someone wanting to sleep with you isn't a great excuse for blinding horses. But the shrink character is memorable. It works brilliantly.
Love it. So good. Clear conflict, brilliant central idea, nice tunes.
She's an excellent writer. This is a collection of pieces over the years. Love the stuff on The Doors and also shopping malls.
