Raising Arizona

(1987)

"A comedy beyond belief."

"Raising Arizona" is one of what I consider to be the five instantly classic films by the team of Ethan and Joel Coen, the others being "Blood Simple", "Fargo", "Oh Brother Where Are Thou", and "The Big Lebowski".

But "Raising Arizona" is my personal favorite, and one the most quotable films I have ever seen, with some of the best dialogue ever written for film.

I usually watch "Raising Arizona" at least once a year, and was just about in the mood to see it again when I happened to be waiting in a very slowly-moving line at my cell phone provider's store, and out of the blue, a man behind me asked me if I'd ever been to Green Bay. I replied "No, why?" He said I looked exactly like someone he knew there. I replied, "No, never been. But in the late 1980's a lot of people told me I looked like Holly Hunter in "Raising Arizona". (I am almost the same height, age, frame of build, somewhat similar facial features and general mannerisms, I also wore my hair like hers back then, and she's from Georgia and I'm from North Carolina, so we have similar accents.) His face lit up at the mention of the film, and he said to me:

"They've got a name for people like you. That name is 'Recidivism.'"

To which I immediately retorted: "That ain't me any more, no sir".
and the exchange went on...
"You're not just telling us what we want to hear?"
"No, sir, no way."
"Cause we just want to hear the truth."
"Well, then I guess I am telling you what you want to hear."
"Boy, didn't we just tell you not to do that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, then."

We continued our "Raising Arizona" quotefest with each other, as I spouted out lines such as "Ah'm BARREN!!" (with the appropriate Holly Hunter facial expression) and "Yew go back in there and git me a youngun! They GOT more than they can handle!" While he came back with lines such as "Why are you lookin' for my son in the one place I know he ain't AT?!?"

...as the other people in line just looked at us as if we were crazy, except for one woman who daintily stepped forward and asked us "Uhm, I need to see a really funny movie. What's that one?"

In unison: "Raising Arizona!"

The story in brief: H.I. (Nicholas Cage) and "Ed" (Holly Hunter, in one of my favorite roles of hers) portray, respectively, an ex-con and a cop who meet when he keeps getting arrested for robbing convenience stores. They fall in love, get married, decide that "there is just too much love" between them, and they need a "critter to share it with". Upon finding that "Edwina's insides were a rocky place" where H.I.'s "seed could find no purchase", they try to adopt, but are turned down because of H.I.'s record. Then they read in the newspaper about local unpainted furniture storeowner Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson), owner of "Unpainted Arizona", and his wife having quintuplets as a result of fertility pills, and who joke that "They got more than they can handle". The couple hatch a plan to take one of the babies and raise it as their own.

What results is an ongoing, fast-paced, hilarious set of misadventures, complicated by the appearance of a ruthless, heartless outlaw named Leonard Smalls (Randall "Tex" Cobb) Nathan Arizona hires to find the missing baby, and two felon friends from H.I.'s past (John Goodman and William Forsythe), who make a childbirth-like escape from prison. Sam McMurray (the smarmy dad in "Drop Dead Gorgeous") is H.I.'s....smarmy boss, Glen. Frances McDormand (real-life spouse of Joel Coen, and star of other Coen films such as "Blood Simple" and "Fargo") is his excitable wife Dot. M. Emmet Walsh ("Blood Simple") has a scenery-chewing cameo role as H.I.'s talkative co-worker.

When Ed finally opens up her 5'2" can of Southern-fried whup-ass, throwing her badge to the dirt, striding towards Leonard Smalls as she bellows with all her might, "Gimme back that baby, you warthog from HELL!!!" I always fling my arms up and shout "You go girl! Kick his ass!"

And the way Hunter cries is hilarious.

Holly Hunter was great in this role, as one would expect. She's a very talented actress, in both serious and comedic roles.

Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter made a great onscreen couple, Cage with his hair standing out in every direction, looking like a hapless, browbeaten puppy half of the time, and Hunter as his diminuitive firecracker of a wife who loves him and tries to keep him honest (oh yeah except for that little kidnapping excursion).

I could go on and on about this film but suffice to say that so far I haven't met anyone who didn't find "Raising Arizona" hilarious. And as any great Coen brothers film, it has a certain mythic quality that's hard to describe, but is present all of of the brothers' best efforts. When I was single, I often used Coen brothers films as a barometer of sorts for prospective boyfriends. For instance, I remember seeing "Fargo" on a first date, and when we came out of the theater, the guy (whose name I have since forgotten anyway) remarked "Huh, I didn't think much of that", while I was thinking how blown away I was by the film! I immediately thought to myself "So much for him! This relationship won't last long."

For more great Coen comedy, check out "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" (2000), which is loosely based on Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey". Another great Coen comedy is "The Big Lebowski" (1998), which also includes my favorite singer/songwriter Aimee Mann in a brief cameo, and boasts a cult following that has resulted in an annual "Lebowskifest" for fans of the film.

"Blood Simple" (1984) is probably my favorite film noir modern-day classic tale of lust and betrayal, and is my personal second-favorite Coen brothers film. "Fargo" (1996), which won the Screenwriting Oscar, and an Oscar for Frances McDormand, is another must-see Coen classic.

Psycho Beach Party

(2001)

"Party 'til you drop. Dead."

"Psycho Beach Party" is a parody of teen slasher horror films, taking place in the 1960's. It's a combination of beach movie, horror film, and camp. It's really not a very good movie for the general public, but as a cheesy camp flick it has its appeal, and it's worth at least a rent, at least for people who like this kind of John Waters-esque camp. My main complaint is that it seems to try a bit too hard. But it's a great movie if you're in a certain kind of relaxed mood. Anyway, we have a copy of it in our collection, and re-watched it yesterday.

Florence "Chicklet" Forrest (Lauren Ambrose, of "Six Feet Under") is the highlight of the whole movie, and makes the film worthwhile just on her merits alone. Her character has multiple personalites, the main two being the nice, peppy Florence, but the hilarious one is her alter-ego "Anne Bowen", a dominiatrix minx. Ambrose switches back and forth seamlessly and hilariously between these two personalities (and a minor third one).

The story: Florence and her best friend Berdine (Danni Wheeler) get involved in a series of murders after Florence starts hanging out with the all-male surfers' club, wanting to be part of the group. Captain Monica Stark (played by writer, actor and novelist Charles Busch, who for some reason saw fit to be cast in this female part - he is not really funny, and the character is treated as if she were really female, instead of a obvious man in drag) is the officer in charge of the case. Add to the mix a sequestered B-horror film actress, Bettina Barnes (Kimberley Davies), Florence's picture-perfect mother, Ruth (Beth Broderick), psychology major dropout Starcat (Nicholas Brendon, of the TV series "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"), the catty Marvel Ann (Amy Adams, of "Drop Dead Gorgeous"), Swedish exchange student, Lars (Matt Kessler), Kathleen Robertson as the bitchy, wheelchair-bound Rhonda, whom you really just want to literally push out of her chair, and the supposedly omnipotent Kanaka (Thomas Gibson), a great soundtrack, and you've got a completely silly, fun film for lovers of the cheesy camp genre.

The Avengers - The Emma Peel Megaset

1965-1967

(TV Series)

This is supposed to be just a movie review blog, but I can't resist adding this one TV show. I watched The Avengers when it was originally aired, but I hadn't seen any of the episodes since then until about a year ago, when I felt a sudden nostalgic yearning to own copies of the episodes that featured Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. I found out this set was available, and pulled out my charge card.

I didn't remember the show very well except for Emma Peel, having been a child when the episodes first aired. But I sure remembered Mrs. Peel - I wanted to grow up to be Emma Peel! She karate-chopped, sword-fought, out-smarted her foes, solved mysteries and crimes, wore great 60's clothes, had the perfect flip hairstyle, and saved her male partner John Steed from certain death as often as he saved her! All with a wry sense of humor, collected, the epitome of classy, and beautiful.

The episodes with Emma Peel comprised only a 2-year time frame of the series, but what a memorable time! The Megaset also includes galleries of rare, high-quality production stills from the archives of The Avengers. All the Avengers episodes ever made featuring Diana Rigg as Mrs. Emma Peel are in the set. I've been trying to watch them in sequence, but my husband prefers to pull out his personal favorites to watch, such as "The Queen of Sin", "The Winged Avenger", and "The Cybernauts".

Playful, stylish, classy, campy...and visually, these digitally remastered epsiodes are amazing. The black and white ones are very clear, and the color ones are extremely rich, lush in color. The beautiful and captivating theme music was some of the best of the times in TV shows. As for the scripts, as an adult, I can actually understand and appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humor inherent in the show! What a fun show. And with Patrick MacNee as the suave, jovial and warm John Steed, her partner in crime-solving, MacNee and Rigg - who had wonderful chemistry on-screen - made for some of the best years of "The Avengers."

Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?

(1962)

"Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?"

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford portray sisters with a history of competitiveness with each other: Davis is Jane Hudson, or "Baby Jane" Hudson, as she was known when she was a child vaudeville star. Crawford is her sister Blanche, who became famous as an acclaimed actress while Jane's star went down. Jane, who was bratty and selfish as a child star, makes an even worse adult, much less a drunken, nasty, kabuki-makeup wearing, slovenly, crazy old woman.



Having suffered a mysterious car accident years before, Blanche's career as an actress was ended, and Jane takes care of her. Well, not really.



Blanche: (calmly) You wouldn't be able to do these awful things to me if I weren't still in this chair.
Jane: (screeching) But ya AAH, Blanche! Ya AAH in that chair!

A melodramatic combination of dark comedy, camp, and thriller, "Whatever Happened To baby Jane" is one of the all-time classics of camp horror.



The legendary hatred and competitiveness between the two stars is well-documented, and the film used it well, also rejuvenating the careers of both stars. Crawford insisted that a doll be used as a stand-in for the scene were Davis kicks her. Crawford's hatred of Davis was not lessened by Davis' nomination for Best Actress for her role (her 10th nomination). The image of the aged and horrific "Baby Jane" dressed in a childlike dress, performing "I've Written A Letter To Daddy" is probably one of the creepiest images in film. Footage from one of Davis' own early film flops is shown in a scene meant to illustrate how lousy an actress "Baby Jane" becomes as an adult.

Maidie Norman as maid/helper Elvira gives a great performance in a supporting role, and the classy Anna Lee (best known in later years as Lila Quartermaine on the TV soap "General Hospital"} portrays the sisters' gracious and inquisitive neightbor.

The film received five Academy Award nominations including Best Actress (Bette Davis), Best Supporting Actor (Victor Buono, in his screen debut), Best B/W Cinematography, and Best Sound, with one win for Best B/W Costume Design.

Giant

(1956)

"The legendary epic that's as big as Texas!"

The plot: Texas ranch owner Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) travels to purchase a prize horse, but falls in love at first sight with the owner's pampered daughter Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor). He woos and wins her quickly, they marry, then travel back to his isolated ranch.



Leslie, after a rough start, proves herself quite the force of nature.



Ranch hand Jett Rink (James Dean) falls into unrequited love with Leslie -



Uttering, in the shot above, one of my favorite lines in the film, it goes something like, "Mrs. Benedict, you sure do look right good enough to eat, yeah, good enough to eat...." (voice trails off and he looks like he's going to lick his lips) - and then when he strikes it rich with oil, he takes his bitterness out in several ways.

With a stellar supporting cast including Mercedes McCambridge, Sal Mineo, Carroll Baker, and Dennis Hopper, "Giant" is the original miniseries before anyone knew what a miniseries even was...except this is of course a classic film of the big screen, not a TV movie.



Directed by George Stevens, the sprawling epic (201 minutes, but it goes fast, believe me) beautifully covers two generations of family and a variety of issues, including marriage, family, childraising, social snobbery and racism, the latter two being covered especially well. When in the mood for a well-paced, involved, alternately funny, sad, heartwarming, and emotionally fulfilling epic, "Giant" always fits the bill for me.

The Pride Of The Yankees

(1942)

"It's the Great American Story!"

First off, my favorite actor of all time is Gary Cooper. I love his acting, and the gawkiness he often used in his screen roles, in addition of course to the fact that I thought he was absolutely gorgeous in his prime. Cooper's appeal is only enhanced for me by the distance of his onscreen persona from his real-life one...he was quite the ladies' man in real life, not awkward with women as the characters he often portrayed onscreen, and his smoldering sexuality shows from his piercing blue eyes. His lively offscreen affairs with stars such as Clara Bow (who famously declared "He's hung like a horse and he can go all night!"), Lupe Velez aka "The Mexican Spitfire", and of course Patricia Neal, are the stuff of old Hollywood legend.

Kevin Costner and Ralph Fiennes in their primes had nothin' on Coop. He was the man. Cooper, who started off wanting to be an artist, fell into acting instead, first as a stunt man in westerns, but quickly getting leading roles. He continued to do most of his own riding and stunts even into his later years, carving himself quite a name as a star of westerns, including the western classic "High Noon" (1952), but my favorite films of his were films such as "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" (1936), "Meet John Doe" (1941), "Ball Of Fire" (1941), "Sargeant York" (1941), and of course "The Pride Of The Yankees". My husband understands my adoration of Gary Cooper; and/but we had this brief discussion before we watched my recently purchased DVD of the film (I'd seen it before, but didn't own a copy of it):

Husband: "I don't mind watching it with you as long as you don't make those noises you always make when you watch a Gary Cooper movie."

Me: "What noises?"

Husband: "Those noises like the ones Homer Simpson makes when he looks at a stick of butter...'Mmmmmmmm'...."

Me: "What? I didn't know I did that. Okay, I won't make any weird noises while we watch it."

So I was quiet (except for of course choking up in tears when Cooper delivers Gehrig's legendary "Today, I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth" farewell speech) -



- Gehrig's retirement speech helped immortalize him as a hero and an all-American role model.

"The Pride of the Yankees" is the blueprint for the sports biopic, and is generally considered to be the best movie about baseball ever made. Teresa Wright stars as his wife Eleanor. Wright, who just passed away this March, was an excellent actress, and a beautiful woman. The last film I saw her in was in a small part in "Somewhere In Time", and she had aged wonderfully. She and Cooper had great chemistry onscreen, holding her own ground as he towered over her petite 5'3" frame.



Walter Brennan, a frequent Cooper co-star and real-life friend, and Babe Ruth as himself (shown below with Cooper) are two other co-stars who contribute much to the film.



The film traces the rags-to-riches story of Gehrig, as his childhood dream comes true when he's signed to the New York Yankees, and his untimely retirement when he is stricken with the fatal, neurological disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) which was afterwards simply called "Lou Gehrig's Disease". Cooper, although a bit of an odd choice for the part (one reason being his height, he was about 6'4"), gives an endearing, heartfelt, dignified performance, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Gehrig was left-handed, Cooper right-handed, which was further complicated by the fact that Cooper himself wasn't a capable baseball player. For the filming, his uniform had "New York" printed backwards on it, he ran to third base when he hit a ball, and then the print was reversed.

Nominated for 11 Academy Awards in all, and receiving 1 (for Film Editing), "The Pride Of The Yankees" still stands as a must-see film for baseball fans and fans of classic cinema alike.