What was the last film you watched?

[Willie Oleson]

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (2020)



I had heard of this film only once and later I couldn't remember if it was real or something I dreamt.
Because this being about Eurovision I expect it to be very attention-grabbing, and apparently lots of people have enjoyed this film and its soundtrack, I simply wasn't aware of it.

Of course it would be pointless to parody the contest as we know it today, and if you're looking for a laugh-out-loud comedy then this isn't the one.
It's a feel-good film with a few funny moments here and there and my experience was the opposite of watching Mamma Mia!
This time I bought into it, in fact so much that I was disproportionately moved by it.
It's possible that the sheer simplicity and predictability of this film caught me off guard, or is my emotional connection with Eurovision still intact despite not having watched the last two or three contests?
Possibly a bit of both, because this is definitely not the film that should make me cry, and that's what happened. I had taken a painkiller shortly before watching Eurovision - I don't even remember why - and since that always relaxes me it may be another element to factor in!

The characters are enjoyable, especially the Icelandic community (half of it fathered by Pierce Brosnan's character) and it was fun to watch Bradley Cooper performing as the sleazy Russian contestant. Only to find out in the end credits that it was Dan "Downton Abbey" Stevens.
Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams are not all convincing as Europeans and I'm sure that is the point of the comedy act, but Rachel's Sigrit often looks too generic for my taste. I would never have guessed that she played a Scandinavian if they hadn't told me.
Ferrell's roast of the American characters is cringe, I guess you could say so-bad-it's-good. It works better when the American tourists "confirm" the reason to roast.

Lars: Go find yourselves a Starbucks!

Americans: Where is it?

Then the music. Wow, how did they manage to make it sound so good (by modern ESC standards)? Too bad it wasn't a real contest.
But maybe that's it. Maybe Eurovision needs a more professionally-competitive American attitude to make it a true song contest again, instead of torturing European audiences with exhausting and social-messaging ballads or clownish acts that are trying too hard to be novel or avant-garde.

All in all, a generic and somewhat funny feel-good movie that had a profound effect on me, for reasons I have yet to determine.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Local Hero (1983)

​

I couldn't swear, but I think I stumbled upon this in the "BAFTA Winners" section of Prime (or perhaps a more general "Award Winners" section). The solicit synopsis was enough to charm me:

A cynical, yuppy oil-firm executive (Peter Riegert) is dispatched to a small Scottish coastal town by his greedy boss (Burt Lancaster), with the aim of buying up land for commercial exploitation, so destroying an area that includes a stretch of environmentally sensitive coastland.

The mixed cast alone was enough to lure me in. A future Doctor, along with Mr Mackay himself and some bewildered Americans.

Peter Capaldi is gloriously childlike and eccentric. His awkward, flailing run put a smile on my face every time. He did everything but extend his arms and make aeroplane noises.

Fulton Mackay's IMDb page has a trailer for this film at the top. Not his iconic Porridge role. Not even Fraggle Rock. Local Hero. Here he plays an optimistic homeless free spirit, very similar to the last role in which I watched him: a guest-appearance in Shelley, from the very same year this film was released.

The rest of the cast is filled with actors I confuse with other actors. I often get my Jenny Agutters and Jenny Seagroves confused. Likewise, I saw the name "Burt Lancaster" and immediately pictured Burt Reynolds. Finding the lead actor familiar I checked his name in the credits and then thought he looked somewhat different to how he was in Aliens a few years later, but it turned out Peter Riegert is not Paul Reiser. I was also convinced I saw Geraldine James among the throng in the pub, but I'm pretty sure I was wrong about that, too.

After watching I took a peek on this thread to see if anyone else had watched, and Willie didn't let me down:

there are films I fall in love with. Off the top of my head: Brief Encounter, Roman Holiday, Melody and Local Hero

I would compare 84 CCR to that other transatlantic story LOCAL HERO in terms of being uneventful, wholesome, soothing and also somewhat hypnotizing.

Yes it's a very captivating film that feels simultaneously prosaic and quirky. The plot quickly takes a backseat to the characters, which then informs the plot as they win over the visitor from another land. The quirky Scottish locals all conspiring to make the best of this situation and get what they can from it reminded me very much of Whisky Galore! (and I mean the 1949 version since I have never watched the 2016 remake).

There's a scene in the film that suddenly took a dark turn which I found quite shocking, and it made this cosy, uneventful film seem less safe, and almost as though anything could happen (clue: it's served up for dinner).

The wackiness with Happer and his abusive therapist was almost unnecessary, but it gave some fun moments, particularly with the sign business on the window of Happer's high rise office.

Mac gradually becoming assimilated into the culture and community was nice to watch. Little wins like being able to pronounce Urquhart all added up. And the way others respond to him is what makes this worth seeing. His "swapsies" offer to Gordon is out there, but it's Gordon's nonchalant response that gives it wings.

I'm surprised to read this film has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes since it doesn't feel as though it has mass appeal (admittedly, though, 42 reviews is probably far from "mass").

 

[Willie Oleson]

The Young Ones (1961)



This popped up suspiciously right after watching the Eurorvision film and, because I almost never watch musicals and also because I had not seen a young Cliff Richard in anything, I decided to give it a try.
But what makes a musical a musical? I've seen many films with musical performances in it (the characters are aware that it is performance) and then there are musicals in which the songs seem somewhat "isolated" from the rest of the film. It was only a few years ago that I discovered that Willy Wonka is considered a musical.
The animated world of the Disney classics is so fantastical that the music-reality of the songs doesn't even apply - and again, I've always thought of them as stories with songs in it, rather than musicals.

To me, films like The Young Ones is the most definitive version of a musical, and it just doesn't appeal to me at all. I do very much admire the athletic and meticulously choreographed part of it (and that's not just in the dance routines) but in the context of "watching a film" I don't find it particularly enjoyable.
The plot of the story is weak and it's devoid of conflict. At any point in the story they could have said "we don't need a clubhouse because as long as we are young and stay together then that's all that matters".
The villain threatens to cancel their musical world and then they have to perform a musical in order to stay a musical. Actually, that sounds better than it really is.

Even by early 1960s standards it looks incredibly naff and it made me wonder who the target audience was supposed to be. It's not for kids because they want chaos and to punish evil authority, and it's not sexy enough for youn adults.
The only answer I can come up with: Cliff Richard is in it, performing his songs-with-a-zing. But there's no zing in any other part of this musical.
I thought it was interesting that Cliff's only rock&roll number happens at the very end of the film. There's something sly about it, as if they had anticipated that it would be too late to be frowned upon after watching 98 minutes of non-rock music.
I'm pretty sure that the young female audience didn't have to "play" their hysterical reaction. Screaming fans are so funny to watch.
After watching this film I think that the Beatles wasn't just a wonderful thing that happened, they were a pop-culture necessity, while Cliff would continue his career in a very successful way.

Despite the bland story and characters-without-character I kept watching till the very end, and I think that has everything to do with the performers.
Even though not much acting is required I think Cliff Richard is convincing enough in his The Young Ones alter ego, and the whole cast looks very likeable.
Cliff is the singer but Teddy Green is the lead dancer, and I assumed that he was a big (but to me unknown) name in the British entertainment industry.
I thought I had seen him before but his IMDB page proved me wrong, therefore it's likely that I confused him with someone else. Jacques Dutronc, perhaps?
Teddy starred with Pamela Franklin in Quick Before They Catch Us (1966) and the description of that series reminds me of the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys series (which I also haven't seen).

Carol Gray is pretty and serviceable as Cliff's co-star but apparently her singing voice was dubbed by someone else. Cliff's idea to cast Helen Shapiro in the role of Toni would certainly have boosted my interest to watch this film.
I previously described The Young Ones as being sexless but I should not overlook the appearance of the voluptuous Dorinda Morell played by Sonya Cordeau (?) who looks like a red-haired Diana Dors.
Robert Morley is actually quite funny as the ruthless tycoon in the fabulously purple/mauve colour schemed residence - and there are several funny details played by the supporting cast in smaller roles.
It's still not my thing but I don't regret watching it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Plots With A View (2002)

I had no awareness of this film, for which I blamed myself until I read this article after watching:

"We discovered that Plots had fallen foul of a political row between Miramax (the company formerly run by disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein) and its parent company Disney.

"All of the movies made during that period – about seven in total – became the subject of an ownership dispute and got shelved. And, by the time things got resolved years later, our window of opportunity had closed."

The film was only released theatrically in Australia and at the time of writing had never even been shown on British TV. For the American market it was given the unimaginative title Undertaking Betty (an obvious attempt to draw parallels with the unrelated sleeper hit Waking Ned - which they also retitled), hence most of the poster images I could find online have the incorrect English language title. I settled on a French one.

The Prime thumbnail gave little away. A picture of two men carrying a coffin. I didn't even look closely enough to see that the two men are Alfred Molina and Christopher Walken, but I had deduced Brenda Blethyn was in it as an image of her face was revealed when I clicked into it. Walken is particularly surprising here, doing his usual Walken thing alongside stand up comedian Lee Evans in a little Welsh village.

There are plenty of other familiar faces. Robert Pugh - best known to me as Brookside's infamous siege gunman, but last seen in O'Dramavision playing an unrepentant antagonist in the brilliant Priest - plays an equally unapologetic sinner here, screwing his slattern secretary and confessing to his "dead" wife's body that he's carrying an onion to her funeral to fake tears when he's really happy that he's going to get a large inheritance to spend on his mistress. And playing the Welsh villagers are some terrific character actors (not all of them Welsh. Miriam Margolyes has a small-but-memorable dual role playing gossipy twin sisters with a spot-on South Walian accent).

Describing the film's tone is difficult. It's many things at once: a quirky black comedy about death and funerals; a poignant reflection of someone trapped almost comfortably in a life they wish had taken another direction; a pseudo-musical (there are several dance numbers, at least one of which breaks out into a fantasy sequence resembling a number from an MGM musical. Who knew Alfred Molina had these moves on him?); a heist movie about pulling off a daring crime; a revenge fantasy. The escape plot itself even reminds me of an episode of Tales Of The Unexpected that frightened the life out of me when I was young.

It could be argued that it's too many things, and the quirkiness will be off-putting to some. For what it's worth, I generally like my quirk in modest doses, but I found it worked well here, kept in proportion by the Welsh valleys backdrop. It's a place where people are unfazed by very much, which kind of right-sizes the impact.

I wouldn't call this an important film, nor a life-changing one. But it's really good fun, with great performances that sell its outlandishness. And just below the surface is a surprisingly heartfelt philosophical message told through weeds and flowers.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Baker (2007)

​

A natural film to follow Plots With A View, since it's another broad romantic comedy set in a Welsh village inhabited by eccentrics.

Some faces were kind of familiar, but there was only one I could place by name as I watched ("Ooh - is that Annette Badland?" It was). One of the most familiar-looking of these turned out to be the bloke from The Flying Pickets, looking almost the same as I remember him looking when they sang Only You.

Despite the love story angle and the earnest tagline "everyone deserves a second chance", the film can only be enjoyed by accepting that it's really quite a surface film. It doesn't have a great deal of heart, and one doesn't really care about the characters. The quirk levels are quite amped up, with scenarios such as exploding sheep, and a modest dash of gross-out humour here and there. There's one silly moment that sold the film to me: the exploding wife. As I realised the conclusion everyone was going to reach, I found myself becoming invested for a while in the anticipation.

For a film with this one's themes, it's disappointing there was no real edge. I was never in doubt that the ending would be anything other than daft and happy. With this accepted it's an enjoyable enough ride, even though I won't remember it by this time next week.

 

[Seaviewer]

Charlie's Angels (2019)
The most recent instalment of the franchise has the Angels expanded into a worldwide brand. I like that each version has its own team so that it pays like a chapter in an ongoing saga, with one glaring exception. I do not believe Patrick Stewart as the original Bosley, much less that . . .

Spoiler

he would ever go bad, much like the travesty that was Mr Phelps in the first Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible.

 

[ClassyCo]

JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE (2006)

It's one of those goofy teen comedies, but I had never seen it before a few days ago. I remember when it came out back in 2006. If memory serves me, this movie was heavily advertised because I recall the "John Tucker Must Die!" catchphrase being in all sorts of TV promotional spots back then.

Anyway, the basic plot of the movie is quite simple. A trio of girls, cheerleader Heather (Ashanti), liberal vegan Beth (Sophia Bush), and overachiever Carrie (Arielle Kebbel), have all been jilted by high school heartbreaker John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe). They recruit the help of new girl Kate (Brittany Snow), and set out on their mission to make him pay for all the hearts he has broken. In the process, John redeems himself somewhat, and Kate ends up romancing his brother Scott (Penn Badgley).

The movie was alright. It has some funny moments, but I must admit that a lot of the acting seemed quite amateurish. They could've rehearsed a little more. But, even so, I enjoyed it and found it to be fun. Probably won't watch it again anytime soon, though.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

I'm pretty certain I have never watched this film before, but I couldn't swear to it. I'm certainly aware of much of it - possibly through osmosis - and I know I've more recently watched several key scenes out of context - most notably John Cleese's striptease interruptus, the torture-by-chips scene and the steamroller moment. So there weren't any big surprises, but much of it felt - and probably was - new to me. And very enjoyable it was, too.

It probably goes without saying that Cleese and Curtis are always solid and their pairing works really well. One stunt of John Cleese's - the dangling apology - looked particularly dangerous. This was before CGI took off, so no matter what camera tricked was used it's difficult to imagine this being done without some danger. My goodness, Jamie Lee had to snog a lot of different people here (including each of the three male leads at different points). And it looked as though she went for it every time. She's as charismatic and gorgeous here as I've ever seen her and she also looks amazing in glasses (I've tried on the same model as the round, red specs worn by JLC here, and they were not the most flattering to my features). Kevin Kline is enjoyably deranged, and I kept seeing Robin Williams. This film is my main association with his name, so I've not seen much of him. Michael Palin is great as well. Stammering is a condition that is rarely seen on film as anything other than a cheap laugh. This film is no exception, but I was surprised to read after watching that Palin's own father stammered and his role here informed the creation of The Michael Palin Centre For Stammering.

Having an awareness of the main players, it was the supporting cast that really shone for me. Take Maria Aitken (she's Jack Davenport's mother, don't you know) who is brilliant as John Cleese's wife, and earned that BAFTA nomination. In some ways she plays a more grounded, upmarket and realistic big-screen Sybil Fawlty - ignoring anything that's not about her own little world, which includes tuning out such boring trivialities as her husband trying to tell her about winning an important case. Her catchphrase, "Oh do shut up, Portia" is always aimed at her spoilt, horsey daughter who is essentially a mini version of herself (Portia, by the way, is played by the real-life daughter of John Cleese and Connie Booth). There's a scene which cuts between two different bedrooms - one in which Wanda and Otto have wild abandoned sex; the other in which Archie and Wendy silently undress to get into their twin beds, both practically unaware of the other. Wendy does hopefully take off her knickers though, only to resign herself to sleep when that, too, goes unnoticed. The hardest I laughed in the film was at Maria's impeccable delivery of Wendy's parting line to her husband: "You can stick this marriage right in your bottom." She was the best thing in this film.

Other familiar faces are Tom Georgeson, whom I recognised but struggle to place (I last watched him in an episode of Village Hall, probably remember him from Juliet Bravo, and I think he may also remind me of someone else); ever-reliable Geoffrey Palmer; Ken Campbell (recently watched playing Alf Garnett's neighbour, but best-remembered by me as Roger in The Anniversary episode of Fawlty Towers).

And then there's Patricia Hayes as the woman whose dogs keep getting squished. The falling block gave me the second biggest laugh of the film, and I refuse to feel bad about that no matter what this site says (animal cruelty only bothers me when there's a real animal in jeopardy off-screen for the sake of entertainment, but the site makes no mention of the on-screen real snake snuff in Friday The 13th or the real Tiger Sharks killed to order to use in Thunderball and Jaws and I therefore dismiss it out of hand).

This film ticks a lot of boxes. It's a heist movie. It's a black comedy about trying to murder an old lady. It's a study of class and cultural differences. It's even a bedroom farce. The scene where Cleese's wife returns home unexpectedly while JLC is seducing him and Kevin Kline is seething with jealousy, forcing the pair to hide in varous parts of the room is a contender for the best scene, nicely capped by Marjorie Aitken's scene-stealing crisp pronunciation of "Mr Manfregensengen".

Incidentally, I usually try to seek out the original poster for this thread, but I just adore the one I found above . I'd almost always favour a nicely drawn piece of art over a cast short anyway, but this one in particular really captures the manic zaniness of this film (though it is admittedly a little spoiler-ish).

And while I was looking for that, I stumbled upon this fan casting poster of Fish in the style of an Ealing comedy.

(Much as it would pain me to uncast Kenneth Williams, I feel Sellers might be better cast in the Palin role. But since I can't be bothered recasting Kevin Kline's role for the mid-Twentieth Century, perhaps I'd simply switch out Kenneth Williams for Kenneth Connor).

 

[Willie Oleson]

Champagne And Bullets (1993) - a.k.a. Geteven or Road To Revenge

Here's a quarter. Buy yourself a personality.

Wow, the nerve!
It perfectly highlights John De Hart's complete lack of self-awareness, which is usually the very reason why these films are being made.
To say that this film is amateurish would be an insult to amateurs so I'd rather describe it as Bad Taste on every level of film making.
I think it's been unavailable for many years (only VHS copies, perhaps?) and recently released on R1 bluray by Vinegar Syndrome.
I was over the moon to find an upload on you-know-what site and I watched it immediately. After all, you never know if it's still there the next day.

Described as an action fick, but it's mostly a porn without the most graphic bits, which is not to say the sex action is purely simulated.
The info on wiki suggests that this latest version also had some stuff edited out so...who knows.
Perhaps the most hilarious part is the inappropriate and self-indulgent soundtrack. There were several moments when I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from screaming out loud.
It's hard to pick a worst scene, but at champagne point I'd say the flashback scene of the satanic ritual peformed by William Smith's character.
When I checked his filmography I was surprised to see that he actually has some pedigree. Maybe not on Marlon Brando level but he was Falconetti in Rich Man Poor Man, the mini-series and the regular series. Gosh!

Wings Hauser is allowed to do his own thing and I suspect they gave him a six-pack instead of a script.
Nevertheless, drunk or not, he's the only one who's lively enough to be convincing as an actor.
In one particular scene he's visited by one of the playboy models dressed like a nun, and he just laughs at her face. See, that's self-awareness!
Overall, the notorious vanity project Champagne And Bullets delivers in spades, but Samurai Cop is the one that I love because it fails more spectacularly.

A low rating is for bad films that have enough potential to be good, and obviously that doesn't apply to this film. Therefore I'll rate it as something that is meant to be enjoyed as hilarious trash.

 

[Seaviewer]

Predator: Badlands (2025)
I'm not an aficionado of the Predator films but I thought this one might be interesting because it casts the titular character as the protagonist instead of nemesis. Even more interesting is that it places him firmly in the Alien universe, complete with synths, a Mother computer and Weyland-Yutani shenanigans. It all makes for a sequel to Alien Vs Predator much better than the official AVP2 even though the aliens themselves are absent.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Election (1999)

This isn't a film I noticed at the time it was released. The only context it's come on to my radar has been in the last decade, when I discovered the soundtrack featured a song by one of my favourite singers that can't be found anywhere else (I still haven't bagged a copy). Even then, I hadn't really thought about the film, and even when I watched last night I'd forgotten about the association until the end credits when said song played.

From the poster, I wasn't sure about the tone of the film. I really wasn't up for a Nineties high school broad comedy, so I first read the "Reception" section on the film's Wikipedia page (helpful to get an idea of what to expect, usually spoiler-free) and it looked more promising as a political satire (it also mentions that this is said to be Barack Obama's favourite political film).

I confess to being concerned at seeing it was an MTV Production, fearing a busy, noisy, overly colourful film that played out like an extended late-Nineties music video. I needn't have worried. It is very stylised, but the techniques used create visual interest without overdoing it. In terms of soundtrack, the score is a tad on the quirky side which works for the film, even though it isn't one I would care to play at home or in the car. The songs in the film are a curious mix of very Nineties alternative and more traditional, older songs from the likes of Donovan. There's that elusive Mandy Barnett song I mentioned, and Mandy's With My Eyes Wide Open plays in the background of a diner scene (this made me laugh out loud since McAllister's eye had been stung by a bee, swelling the lid shut during this scene. It was a nice, subtle touch).

Matthew Broderick is great here. It's probably the best performance I've seen of his (not that I've that much to compare it against), and Reese Witherspoon essentially plays Lisa Simpson. With a touch of the Tracy Corkhills since she'd had a fling with a teacher, leaving her with a reputation in certain quarters (Broderick's character resents Witherspoon's character because his friend lost his job and family once his gross misconduct came to light).

Performances are good all round. There are lots of familiar faces spanning several eras. Of the younger cast, the most familiar face was Larry, the young kid who initially counts the ballots correctly. I was pleased when I finally placed him as the lead from Final Destination 5 as it briefly distracted me. There are soapy connections with the adults. Matthew Broderick's wife is young Miss Ellie from Dallas: The Early Years (formerly known as Meredith, PWC's researcher from Knots). And Reese Witherspoon's mother is Colleen Camp who almost shot JR. It's a relatively small role, but her character makes sense of her overachieving daughter. In effect, Camp is playing Patricia Shepard here rather than Kristin.

Even though it's all held together by the thread of one key storyline there's a lot going on. There are also some nice surprises, like the jock character being the nicest and most sensitive of them all. It's a very entertaining film, and I'd be up for watching it again as I'm sure there will be details I will notice or appreciate more on a rewatch.

 

[Biggie]

Man Of Steel 2013.

Given the choice of saving the planet Earth from evil space faring man's and that or bedding Amy Adams..
We'd all be ghosts.

This movie is a whole new level of stupid. It's dreck. But Amy, as ever, steals the show as Lois Lane.

The star of the show.... whoever shaved Superman, as he'd have a super beard!

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I've never seen Working Girl (which I remember being huge at the time). And any film with Sigourney Weaver has to be worth a peek.

This has now been remedied...

Working Girl (1988)

​

I remember this film being fairly big at the time of release, but have never got round to watching it even though it looked my cup of tea. About the only things I knew were that Melanie Griffith was the main character and Sigourney Weaver played her bitch of a boss.

As the opening titles rolled, I found myself more interested with every name that appeared. There are so many well-known names (some of whom were lesser-known at the time).

Harrison Ford got top billing, and I'd forgotten he was in it until I saw the thumbnail image. Alec Baldwin is nicely sleazy as the dismissive, controlling love interest we just know won't be end game. Kevin Spacey has a cough and a spit as another sleaze who hits on Griffith as they do business in the back of a car. There's Olympia Dukakis; Oliver Platt. Even Rikki Lake who I didn't realise I'd seen until her name appeared in the end credits. Joan Cusack is one of the best things in this film as Griffith's supportive and forthright colleague and friend and deserved her nominations. Sigourney herself has a smaller role than I'd realised, spending most of the middle act off-screen, but she's still magnetic and fun.

Then there's Melanie Griffith who is in every scene. As I watched, I found myself thinking it very surprising she would have been nominated for best actress and thought I must have misremembered that. But no, I checked afterwards and she was indeed nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, inexplicably winning the latter (beating Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon and Amy Irving). Now I find myself wondering what on earth I'm missing. What are others seeingthat I'm not?

When I watched the previous year's Something Wild a while back I commented on Griffith's performance:

During this film I found it really difficult to work out her performance. There were times when I couldn't quite decide whether she was a terrible actress or she was being deliberately wooden as part of her screen persona to hide how canny and intelligent she actually was (à la Marilyn Monroe). I'm still none the wiser, but overall I'm leaning towards the former.

At this point I feel I've given her a fair chance: my conclusion is that she is not a great actress, and not even really a good one. Once again, she speaks all her lines too quickly, all in the same monotone in that ickle girl half whisper (which must be murder on the larynx because she spent a great deal of time clearing her throat. Unless that was a concession towards "real" acting). I'm still convinced that she doesn't even know what most of her lines mean. They're just words on a page being spoken out loud without any kind of feeling or interest. The only positives I can say are that she has expressive eyes, and there are also moments where flashes of resemblance of her mother Tippi Hedren generate a nostalgic sense of goodwill. These things aside, it just makes me a little sad that I live in a world where Melanie Griffith is (or was) taken seriously as an actress.

All in all, a very decent film that with a different leading lady would have been a terrific one.

 

[James from London]

Working Girl (1988)

I don't think I've seen the film since it came out so can't remember too much about it, but I think I enjoyed it. But what a feem toon:

Also, I developed this Working Girl-related theory the last time I watched the Murakame story on Knots:

The shift that occurs in Paige’s character at this point is fascinating. Somewhere during this storyline and without the viewer even noticing, she has been transformed from snooty heiress to plucky underdog. Here, she is essentially channelling Melanie Griffiths’ titular character in Working Girl while Abby mirrors Griffiths’ nemesis boss played by Sigourney Weaver. Who knows if this was mere coincidence, but the movie had been nominated for five Oscars just six weeks before this episode aired so it was certainly in the zeitgeist. Also, the characters’ wardrobe choices for this sequence — Paige circumspect in black, Abby bold in red — match Griffiths’ and Weaver’s in the film’s promotional poster.

 

[Crimson]

Melanie Griffith who is in every scene. As I watched, I found myself thinking it very surprising she would have been nominated for best actress and thought I must have misremembered that. But no, I checked afterwards and she was indeed nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe

If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure she has more Golden Raspberries than prestigious awards.

I haven't seen WORKING GIRL in ages, but that might have been the only film where her schtick didn't bother me too much. Overall, I think your assessment is correct; Griffith was more of a personality than an actress, and not an especially great personality at that. She seemed to be trying to channel Marilyn Monroe and Judy Holiday and, without a trace of subtlety, even remade Holiday's triumph. That kind of breathless, baby voiced sexpot persona was awfully dated by the 90s. Jennifer Tilly, at least, did a better variation of it, especially since she tossed some Shelly Winters into the mix.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

But what a feem toon

Oh yes. I forgot to mention this, but it's great. It felt like an additional character who would reappear every once in a while to add a bit of inspiration.

I also enjoyed the role New York City played. It felt very tangible here and slightly removed from the cinematic New York one sees in every third film. The opening titles (a helicopter shot around The Statue Of Liberty then a panorama of the skyline as we sweep over to follow the Staten Island Ferry before going inside) are a work of art.

I developed this Working Girl-related theory the last time I watched the Murakame story on Knots:

That's cool. It's fun to see the (possible) influence taking effect that quickly, and makes me wonder about other times Knots did this.

If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure she has more Golden Raspberries than prestigious awards.

That does console me (and I don't mind if that makes me a teeny bit petty).

I haven't seen WORKING GIRL in ages, but that might have been the only film where her schtick didn't bother me too much.

My only other cinematic frame of reference for Griffith is Something Wild, and Working Girl is far more watchable on the bases of cast, writing and premise. I'd say these carried her through. Even though it was never going to be a fantastic film because of her presence, it manages to be a really good film despite her presence.

That kind of breathless, baby voiced sexpot persona was awfully dated by the 90s. Jennifer Tilly, at least, did a better variation of it, especially since she tossed some Shelly Winters into the mix.

Now this threw me a little because I immediately thought of Meg Tilly whom I only know from Psycho II. And even then I still got what you meant since Meg had a similarly vacant and insipid intonation to Griffith (even if Meg didn't invoke Shelley Winters).

 

[Willie Oleson]

Now this threw me a little because I immediately thought of Meg Tilly whom I only know from Psycho II.

I read Meg Tilly but somehow I thought of Meg Ryan whom I consider to be "the better Melanie Griffith" and also "the lesser-budget Nicole Kidman".

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Meg Ryan whom I consider to be "the better Melanie Griffith"

Yes, I can very much see that.

"the lesser-budget Nicole Kidman".

I like that you were helpfully specific here instead of saying "the cheap Nicole Kidman" (which may have meant something quite different).

 

[Willie Oleson]

What a rabbit hole we've fallen into!

I don't remember if I've seen Melanie Griffith in De Palma's Body Double....it's possible that I've skipped it thinking it was Body Heat

 

[9unfold]

just watched Love Actually (2003)

Excellent movie. The way that the various stories are told is nothing short of excellent.

Should have gained greater recognition.