I Just Watched...

[Hibi]

I actually rewatched DEATH BECOMES HER for the first time in YEARS a couple weeks ago and didn't post a review because I didn't want to open a rabbit hole (it's a film i can talk about A LOT), but really- for any of you fans of the movie, go to YOUTUBE and type in DEATH BECOMES HER DELETED SCENES or DEATH BECOMES HER TRAILERS because they cut SO MUCH stuff out of that movie and a lot of it is good- including some of GOLDIE and BRUCE WILLIS'S best scenes.

all three really do nomination-worthy work and i mean that. i know the SPECIAL EFFECTS won an OSCAR, but THE SCORE should been nominated too, it is BRILLIANT.

Of course, MUCH of the deleted footage also includes TRACY ULLMAN as a love interest for BRUCE, and I am 100% fine with her being exorcised from the film entirely.

(sue me: not a fan.)

I wonder why all the cuts? Time? I enjoyed the film but haven't seen it since it came out.

[I Love Melvin]

Jeanette Basinger, for one, has discussed how difficult it is for actresses in their later careers to play ordinary women. Instead, they play Exaggerated Women. She notes that even Ginger Rogers and Lana Turner, less exaggerated than, say, the later Bette Davis performances, tend to be cast as actresses.

This concept makes sense if you think of Elizabeth Taylor, still connected to ordinary, if unusually beautiful, characters in A PLACE IN THE SUN and GIANT, less so as more melodramatic characters in SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER and BUTTERFIELD 8, and on to WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, which sets the template for her later roles.

Meryl Streep's later career also has some Exaggerated Women, as in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and JULIE AND JULIA, as enjoyable as these films are.

Florence Foster Jenkins as well, which is probably Meryl's equivalent of Jane Hudson.

[Lorna]

I wonder why all the cuts to [DEATH BECOMES HER]? Time? I enjoyed the film but haven't seen it since it came out.

YEAH, I'm sure time had something to do with it, because it looks like a good 45 minutes of deleted footage hit the floor.

THE SCENE OF MADELEINE AND ERNEST'S WEDDING WAS MUCH LONGER
HELEN AND ERNEST had a long confrontation scene at THE BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL.
Multiple scenes of BRUCE WILLIS at a BAR were cut.
The fight with shovels was EVEN LONGER and ended with MADELINE CONSOLING HELEN.
IAN OGILVEY had a longer scene at THE PARTY, and LISLE had a scene opening the party too.
LISLE VON RUMAN had a longer scene where she confessed to ERNEST she was really 600 years old and kills anyone who refuses her offer of immortality.
There was a scene of ERNEST keeping MADELINE in THE REFRIGERATOR and her PERSONAL MAID finding her (it's hilarious)
Honestly, a lot of GOLDIE'S SCHEMING scenes were cut- which is a shame because you really see that HELEN is NUTS. .
AND THE ENDING WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT, but honestly, they changed it for the better.

[Lorna]

**AND AS FAR AS I KNOW very little of the footage exists or if it does- it;s stashed away, because the youtube deleted scenes are recreations using the shooting script and production stills as well as some clips from THE TRAILER (a lot of cut scenes ended up in THE TRAILER)

[CinemaInternational]

ALSO JUST THROWING THIS OUT THERE, BUT I was born in 1978 and- I don't know if it's a coincidence or not- but I have not seen HARDLY ANY FILMS FROM THAT YEAR- and the ones I have seen (JAWS 2, GREASE- numerous times and not by choice, SUPERMAN and HALLOWEEN) are almost outliers.

i don't think there's any other year in 20th century talking motion picture history that I am less versed in (even 1963)

I've never seen MIDNIGHT EXPRESS or AUTUMN SONATA or AN UNMARRIED WOMAN or THE WIZ or HEAVEN CAN WAIT or ANIMAL HOUSE or THE DEER HUNTER or COMING HOME (and I'm certainly not going to now that JON VOIGHT has lost his damn mind completely) and I tried to watch INTERIORS but it bored the **** out of me, and I quit watching CALIFORNIA SUITE during the really offensive RICHARD PRYOR/ BILL COSBY vignette not even because of either's presence but because it's really pretty racist.

it just doesn't seem like a "fun" year for films, and honestly- there's not a one I WANT to see.

(i've made up for it by watching DEATH ON THE NILE a lot)

It's strange you say that because 1978 also happens to be the year I've seen the least from between 1931 and 2002. (1930 has the same number of viewed films as 1978, 2003 is the first year to slip below 1978 levels). So, I've seen 53 titles, and its not a very good year.....

A Wedding (Lesser Altman. Probably too many characters running around, 48 of them, plus some soon-to-be-famous non-speaking extras. It has some moments.)

An Unmarried Woman (A very good film with great performance from Jill Clayburgh)

Autumn Sonata (Terrific, but very bleak and somber.)

California Suite (One-quarter of a wonderful film, two-quarters serviceable, one-quarter terrible)

Coma (pretty nasty potboiler given a bit of a lift due to a good performance from Genevieve Bujold)

Comes a Horseman (very atmospheric, but a bit of a muddle tonally: its a western that goes into near-horror movie territory near the end. Richard Farnsworth steals the film)

Coming Home (good performances, some undeniably good scenes, but marred by overemphasis on carnality and a ridiculous ending)

Corvette Summer (flimsy teenage film, although Annie Potts provides some spice as an aspiring call girl)

Days of Heaven (exquisitely beautiful to look at, but this tale of passion and murder is told at such an emotional distance.)

Death on the Nile (strong Agatha Christie adaptation marked by several perfect performances)

Eyes of Laura Mars (horror film isn't really suspenseful, but it is atmospheric, and I love the brief moment of "Darlanne, you didn't have to pull it that hard")

Fedora (Billy Wilder's last masterwork, a return to Sunset Boulevard territory but this time with more empathy and understanding. A very moving experience.)

Foul Play (I've seen this one about 100 times. It's a wonderful suspense-comedy.)

Gates of Heaven (documentary about pet cemeteries. Some critics loved it. It didn't do it for me)

Girlfriends (indie film is well handled, and I appreciate the leading part for Melanie Mayron)

Goin' South (I was repulsed by the positive treatment of rape, and it killed the film cold for me. Still, Mary Steenburgen is good in her first film)

Grease (i guess it coyld be worse. But I'm really not a big fan, although Olivia 's fine, Stockard Channing is good, and Eve Arden is a delight)

Halloween (not a fan. Pretty pedestrian)

Heaven Can Wait (sweet, good-natured, but not quite the match of the original, Here Comes Mr. Jordan)

House Calls (Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson make a great pair in this delightful romantic comedy. Art Carney steals scenes as a senile doctor)

Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (modern-day Merchant Ivory production. Not the most memorable, but decent)

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (extremely loud, manic comedy about the hyperventilations of Beatlemania, but the slapstick comedy is very funny)

Interiors (would be Bergman homage, but it didn't fully work for me)

International Velvet (Long-belated follow-up to 1944 classic with a completely different cast is far too long, but its sweet, gentle, and very likable)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (remake of the 1956 sci-fi classic, this is pretty solid)

La Cage Aux Folles (a sensation in its day, but its not as good or flashy as the American remake The Birdcage)

Magic (horror film has good performances, but its dry overall)

Midnight Express (sheer torture to sit through)

Movie Movie (two part comedy: the boxing movie spoof is great fun, the musical half doesn't work quite as well. Still fun though)

National Lampoon's Animal House (Blah. Not my type of comedy. Verna Bloom is a hoot in her brief part though.)

Pretty Baby (goes beyond the pale into indecency. Performances are better than the film deserves)

Remember My Name (low key neo-noir has a knockout performance from Geraldine Chaplin)

Revenge of the Pink Panther (typical Panther material, but its fun. Peter Sellers last time in the part, barring the outtake fest released after his death)

Same Time, Next Year (far too cozy treatment of adultery, although again, good work from Ellen Burstyn)

Stevie (One of Glenda Jackson's better performances)

Straight Time (starts out great, then self-destructs)

Superman (great fun)

The Boys from Brazil (horribly tacky and distasteful Nazi-imbued thriller)

The Brink's Job (heist film looks handsome but is uninvolving)

The Buddy Holly Story (TV movie style. Blah.)

The Cat from Outer Space (bland Disney)

The Cheap Detective (noir spoof takes on both The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, and also some other films. Peter Falk plays the Bogart stand in, and as good as he is, this is the actresses' film, all of them chewing scenery delightfully: Louise Fletcher, Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, Marsha Mason, Stockard Channing, Ann-Margret)

The Deer Hunter (extremely uneven. Some of the Pennsylvania scenes work, but the ones in Vietnam don't)

The Fury (horror film is one of Brian De Palma's least pleasing films, although moments undeniably work)

The End of the World in Our Usual Bed in a Night Full of Rain (battle-of-the-sexes two hander. Not the most memorable, but Candice Bergen is good)

The Great Train Robbery (anorher heist film, but this one is flavorful and fun)

The Green Room (Unique, quiet French film about two lonely souls obsessed with mourning the dead. Based on a Henry James story, a very well done)

The Swarm (top candidate for worst movie ever made)

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (extremely long foreign language film is, if you get past some actually killed barnyard animals, a soulful, touching experience)

The Wiz (Not as bad as reputation would say, it has some scenes that truly work plus the performances are good, but some things just don't work)

Watership Down (bleakest animated film I can recall. Didn't like it as a child.)

Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (Oh, this one is fun [if you can get past one slur word after one character recounts how another character lied when they said someone else was gay]. It's a peppery dark comedy with acidic lines involving tart Jacqueline Bisset [never better] and brash ex-husband George Segal investigating a grisly series of murders of chefs killed in the manner of their specialites , while trying to make sure that Bisset won't become the next victim. Robert Morley is tops though as a food critic who loves food and Bisset, but insults just about everything and everyone else)

Who'll Stop the Rain? (Hard-edged drug film. Good performances, but unpleasant)

[kingrat]

ALSO JUST THROWING THIS OUT THERE, BUT I was born in 1978 and- I don't know if it's a coincidence or not- but I have not seen HARDLY ANY FILMS FROM THAT YEAR- and the ones I have seen (JAWS 2, GREASE- numerous times and not by choice, SUPERMAN and HALLOWEEN) are almost outliers.

i don't think there's any other year in 20th century talking motion picture history that I am less versed in (even 1963)

I've never seen MIDNIGHT EXPRESS or AUTUMN SONATA or AN UNMARRIED WOMAN or THE WIZ or HEAVEN CAN WAIT or ANIMAL HOUSE or THE DEER HUNTER or COMING HOME (and I'm certainly not going to now that JON VOIGHT has lost his damn mind completely) and I tried to watch INTERIORS but it bored the **** out of me, and I quit watching CALIFORNIA SUITE during the really offensive RICHARD PRYOR/ BILL COSBY vignette not even because of either's presence but because it's really pretty racist.

it just doesn't seem like a "fun" year for films, and honestly- there's not a one I WANT to see.

(i've made up for it by watching DEATH ON THE NILE a lot)

All in all, a sensible move. Here's my take on the ones you mentioned. I haven't seen THE WIZ either, but it does have some good songs:

AUTUMN SONATA--Much as I love both Bergmans and Liv Ullmann, this is predictable and unexciting stuff.

CALIFORNIA SUITE--The writing will seem dated. To me, the most interesting thing is watching Jane Fonda approach playing the kind of New Yorker that dozens of New Yorkers could play without blinking an eye. Today, Christine Baranski could play this in her sleep. Maggie Smith and Michael Caine are nice, but this is predictable stuff, too.

ANIMAL HOUSE--I laughed myself silly at this one, and probably still would. And I detest John Belushi.

INTERIORS--Oh yeah, boring, boring, boring.

THE DEER HUNTER--Fast forward through the endless wedding scene and most of Robert DeNiro's scenes (he's not bad, he just gets the stupid parts of the film) and watch the scenes featuring Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep and John Savage.

COMING HOME--Seemed much more original and relevant then than now. Voigt and Fonda are both good. Have you always fantasized about Bruce Dern playing James Mason's last scene in A STAR IS BORN, only with Bruce Dern's tushie on view? No, neither have I.

HEAVEN CAN WAIT--A slow comedy-romance with good actors. Beatty as director is influenced by George Stevens. Zippy it ain't.

AN UNMARRIED WOMAN--The directing and acting are fine. The writing begins in a realistic way, then goes for the big fantasy ending. Historically important for the fantasy it's peddling: Just leave your stuffy old husband (He's a lawyer! Boo!) and you'll find a cute artist and you'll be free, free, free! Didn't work out that way for the women I knew.

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS--Oliver Stone screenplay, so you know it will be full of Jamesian subtleties: NOT! So, a little realism, some torture, melodrama, unbelievable scenes. The Turkish-influenced music is exciting. The interesting thing is how Brad Davis might have become a Brad Pitt or Matt Damon if drugs hadn't done him in. He has the star power to hold the movie together. He almost has sex in prison with a cute Swedish guy, which was daring (or maybe not) in 1978. In the memoir--this is very loosely based on a true story--the author says that they did have sex.

I agree with CinemaInternational about the excellence of FOUL PLAY, the best movie of the year and the best comedy of the 1970s, not a great decade for comedy.

WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN? is a Stinky the Skunk special, recommended to 1) everyone who wants to see a quick frontally nude shot of Nick Nolte (not my fantasy, either) or 2) anyone who wants to see a 1970s mess with torture, a hero who gets his girlfriend addicted to heroin, a smugly cynical ending--it's like the 1970s served up as a plate of inedible hash.

[Allhallowsday]

ALSO JUST THROWING THIS OUT THERE, BUT I was born in 1978 and- I don't know if it's a coincidence or not- but I have not seen HARDLY ANY FILMS FROM THAT YEAR- and the ones I have seen (JAWS 2, GREASE- numerous times and not by choice, SUPERMAN and HALLOWEEN) are almost outliers.

i don't think there's any other year in 20th century talking motion picture history that I am less versed in (even 1963)
I've never seen MIDNIGHT EXPRESS or AUTUMN SONATA or AN UNMARRIED WOMAN or THE WIZ or HEAVEN CAN WAIT or ANIMAL HOUSE or THE DEER HUNTER or COMING HOME (and I'm certainly not going to now that JON VOIGHT has lost his damn mind completely) and I tried to watch INTERIORS but it bored the **** out of me, and I quit watching CALIFORNIA SUITE during the really offensive RICHARD PRYOR/ BILL COSBY vignette not even because of either's presence but because it's really pretty racist.

it just doesn't seem like a "fun" year for films, and honestly- there's not a one I WANT to see...

I was old enough to go see THE DEER HUNTER alone the year you were born.
1978 wasn't too great... HALLOWEEN is worth a look despite shortcomings. AN UNMARRIED WOMAN is not quite as described. I do not feel a sense of freedom or fantasy at the conclusion. I get the sense of what's next...? The rest mentioned are meh at best...

[HoldenIsHere]

Jeanette Basinger, for one, has discussed how difficult it is for actresses in their later careers to play ordinary women. Instead, they play Exaggerated Women. She notes that even Ginger Rogers and Lana Turner, less exaggerated than, say, the later Bette Davis performances, tend to be cast as actresses.

This concept makes sense if you think of Elizabeth Taylor, still connected to ordinary, if unusually beautiful, characters in A PLACE IN THE SUN and GIANT, less so as more melodramatic characters in SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER and BUTTERFIELD 8, and on to WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, which sets the template for her later roles.

Meryl Streep's later career also has some Exaggerated Women, as in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and JULIE AND JULIA, as enjoyable as these films are.

Florence Foster Jenkins as well, which is probably Meryl's equivalent of Jane Hudson.

I really enjoyed FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS.

It was a very funny movie, but the title character still retained some dignity even though she was the butt of the joke.
A lot of this has to do with Meryl Streep's portrayal. (Also the ending.)

[HoldenIsHere]

ALSO JUST THROWING THIS OUT THERE, BUT I was born in 1978 and- I don't know if it's a coincidence or not- but I have not seen HARDLY ANY FILMS FROM THAT YEAR- and the ones I have seen (JAWS 2, GREASE- numerous times and not by choice, SUPERMAN and HALLOWEEN) are almost outliers.

i don't think there's any other year in 20th century talking motion picture history that I am less versed in (even 1963)

I've never seen MIDNIGHT EXPRESS or AUTUMN SONATA or AN UNMARRIED WOMAN or THE WIZ or HEAVEN CAN WAIT or ANIMAL HOUSE or THE DEER HUNTER or COMING HOME (and I'm certainly not going to now that JON VOIGHT has lost his damn mind completely) and I tried to watch INTERIORS but it bored the **** out of me, and I quit watching CALIFORNIA SUITE during the really offensive RICHARD PRYOR/ BILL COSBY vignette not even because of either's presence but because it's really pretty racist.

it just doesn't seem like a "fun" year for films, and honestly- there's not a one I WANT to see.

(i've made up for it by watching DEATH ON THE NILE a lot)

COMING HOME--Seemed much more original and relevant then than now. Voigt and Fonda are both good. Have you always fantasized about Bruce Dern playing James Mason's last scene in A STAR IS BORN, only with Bruce Dern's tushie on view? No, neither have I.

I re-watched COMING HOME recently for the first time in years. It's a a very powerful movie, although, yes, was more relevant in the time of its original release.
Bruce Dern's performance is brilliant and moving, but I didn't need to see his bare ass.

I would have preferred to have seen Robert Carradine's.
He was a cutie at the time the movie was made.

[CinemaInternational]

The Fisher King (1991) TCM On Demand-8/10

A radio shock jock (Jeff Bridges) tries to help a homeless man (Robin Williams) who believes he is a knight searching for the Holy Grail.

A first time viewing for me and I thought it was excellent. Terry Gilliam is the director and while he still gives it his usual surreal images, the story remains grounded. So even non fans of Gilliam will like this. Willaims and Bridges both give top performances. Mercedes Ruehl plays Bridges sharp tongued girl friend and won an Oscar. Amanda Plummer is touching as the shy woman Williams falls for.
It has some tragedy in it but also some hysterically funny moments as well. I also was struck by the fact that Gilliam co-directed another Holy Grail story Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975).
I would recommend this to fans of both Williams and Bridges and those who look for something different.
I liked the New York location work, there are many scenes in front of the office building that I worked in years ago.

That's one of my favorite movies, a sensational one, moving, tragic, and very funny at times. I only wish that Jeff Bridges and Amanda Plummer had been Oscar nominated as well.....

[Fedya]

We have to remember that Gertrude and Ethel were the Taylor and Madison of their day. Or that Taylor and Madison will once seem as absurdly old-fashioned as Gertrude and Ethel do now.

+1 Heather

[CinemaInternational]

Yes, I had a great-aunt named Gertrude, an aunt named Ethel. My parents were introduced by a woman named Edna. When I was looking up Max Showalter, his parents were Ira and Elma Showalter. We have to remember that Gertrude and Ethel were the Taylor and Madison of their day. Or that Taylor and Madison will once seem as absurdly old-fashioned as Gertrude and Ethel do now.

Yech. Madison. I'd change my name if I was named that. Faced with those options, Gertrude doesn't sound half bad!

Madison. That name wasn't used at all for girls until Splash was released in 1984, and Daryl Hannah's mermaid took the name from the famous NY avenue. So now we have two generations of girls and young women named for Daryl Hannah.

[CinemaInternational]

We have to remember that Gertrude and Ethel were the Taylor and Madison of their day. Or that Taylor and Madison will once seem as absurdly old-fashioned as Gertrude and Ethel do now.

+1 Heather

Just looked the name Heather up. It entered the top 200 names for girls in the US in 1963, and exited said rankings after 2002. It was at its peak (#3 in 1975) It's now barely in the top 1000 so, its outlived its popularity.

[CinemaInternational]

Edna is another name that should stay in the past. (And I had an aunt named that as well!)

As should Eunice and Bertha and Ethel and Alma and Velma (although we once had a neighbor, now passed on, named Velma and she was a wonderful neighbor)

AGREED!! Alma and Velma aren't quite as bad as the other ones.

Just looked at a website about baby names in the US which tracked them as long as they were in the top 1000 names for boys or girls.

Edna fell out of the top 1000 after 1991.
Eunice did so after 1995.
Ethel ended after 1975.
Velma vamoosed after 1973.
Bertha vanished after 1985.

Alma's actually on the rise. Its back in the top 500!

[kingrat]

Yes, Alma is back as a Spanish name, pronounced "Ahlma." The name from the past was "you can call me Al-ma."