Admission

Admission
March 22, 2013
Focus Features etc.
Comedy, Drama
DVD
B

Based on a book I've never read, this has a refreshingly not-quite-resolved ending.  It is happy, in a bittersweet way, but not all the problems have been solved.  I was on the fence about the grade, whether B- or B, because I'm not sure how much of my fondness for the film is for its cast, particularly those I've tagged.  Tina Fey is of course a soft-hearted Type A and Paul Rudd is an amiable, boundary-crossing idealist.  It's good to see them work together, but their romance is too much in the background for this to be a rom-com, or even a dramedy-com.  (Their relationship, in the sense of how they relate, matters, but not the romantic side so much.)  Perhaps needless to say, Wallace Shawn, as Fey's boss, and Lily Tomlin, as Fey's mother, are perfect, giving the roles much more than expected.  (The details are great, too, like the vintage late '70s picture of Tomlin on the back of her character's feminist classic, The Male Mistake.  Or her Bella Abzug tattoo.)  The supporting cast is good, too, notably Michael Sheen as Fey's ex that thinks she's not over him, and Gloria Reuben as Fey's rival.

The blend of humor and drama generally works and I felt like even the more exaggerated scenes (like a cow giving birth) rang true on some level.  At the time (two and a half years ago), I saw this shortly after Warm Bodies, and probably would've ranked that a bit higher, but now I find that this is the movie that stays with me more afterwards.  Warm Bodies is entertaining, but this one made me think more, even if it doesn't quite live up to its potential.  And, yes, I need to read the book someday, although I hope it's better than the print version of Warm Bodies.

Alex Hartman, who's a Princeton Applicant here, would be '80s Dancer Party Guest in Rudd's They Came Together, while Barbara Vincent, who's a Birthday Party Guest here, would be a Football Player there.

Yes, I didn't say anything about the whole "Is this kid her son?" plot.

Clueless

The now iconic poster

Clueless
July 19, 1995
Paramount
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B+

The same boyfriend that I saw Party Girl with also invited me to this movie.  He most enjoyed the skateboarding sequence, and I wished I had someone to discuss the Jane Austen parallels with.  Luckily, some of the savvier reviews got that this was a modernized, Beverly Hills version of Emma.  Not in every detail (there's no Jane Fairfax for instance), but with enough to have fun spotting.  E.g. Cher (the Emma character, played by Alicia Silverstone) and her best friend Dionne (sort of Mrs. Weston, played by Stacey Dash) are both named after pop-singers, so it's a nice touch that Mr. Elton becomes Elton (as in Elton John).

In retrospect, the parallels seem obvious, but you have to remember that this was just before the Jane Austen revival of the mid to late '90s.  And a teen movie was the last place I expected to find such parallels.  The Austenisms aside, the movie remains a sweet, witty, slightly naughty, very '90s romp.  It was made in partial reaction to grunge (the scene of the boys in backwards baseball caps and baggy pants remains classic, especially since now many of those boys are now middle-aged and still wearing their caps like that), and also as a post-'80s fantasy of various parts of LA.  The vocabulary was close enough to the Val-speak of my own adolescence a dozen years earlier that I could follow it pretty well, although it might seem foreign to those from other backgrounds.

Written and directed by Amy Heckerling, it is both miles from Johnny Dangerously in setting and theme, and not entirely unlike.  Both movies have protagonists who are on top of the world and about to fall, yet still going to come out on top.  They also both have wonderful supporting performances that almost steal the show from the charismatic leads.  And they're both very quotable.

I must note that all three of my 1995 movies have a colorful, happy, and gay-friendly vibe.  This is not how the '90s are necessarily remembered, and it's definitely not true of my '96ers.  But these three embrace a retro, cheerfully defiant attitude, while acknowledging the cynicism of the larger culture.  Also, as in The Brady Bunch Movie, the proliferation of cell phones in LA is used for humor that has dated immeasurably.

Paul Rudd, then 26, makes his big-screen debut as Josh, the Mr. Knightley character, if Mr. Knightley were a smart but slightly pretentious college student who listens to "complaint rock" and briefly grows "chin pubes."  (I told you this was very '90s.)  He would immediately become one of my movie crushes, and remain so these two decades.  We will definitely be seeing more of him.

This time, Dan Hedaya plays Cher's father, Mel Horowitz, cast against type as he was in Tune in Tomorrow....  Julie Brown as Ms. Stoeger, the lesbian PE teacher, is nothing like her character in Earth Girls.  Donald Faison, who's Murray, and Breckin Meyer, who's Travis Birkenstock, would both be Du Jour members in Josie and the Pussycats.  Much of the cast would go on to the Clueless TV series, which ran for three years.

Carl Gottlieb, who's the Priest here, was Dr. Magnus in Johnny Dangerously.  Bobbie Sunday Starr, Passenger in Jeep here, gave Marcia a dirty look in The Brady Bunch Movie.  Aida Linares, who's Lucy the maid here, would be Theresa in The First Wives Club.

"Kind of a Baldwin"?  As if!  Much cuter than Stephen et al.

Nice Girls Don't Explode

SPOILERS!

Nice Girls Don't Explode
February 1987
New World
Comedy, Romance
VHS
C+

There are times that this feels like it might be a quirky half-forgotten '80s gem, like Something Special, but it never quite overcomes its basic premise (extremely overprotective mother tricks gullible daughter into thinking that the latter is a "fire girl" whose hormones are combustible), and there's one central scene that might be a parody of racist fears (Mom has two heavyset black men tie down the boyfriend and forcibly shave one of his legs) but is nonetheless racist.  The movie is often funny-- especially anything involving the cat (played by Orange Cat #5, with Eric the Cat providing stunts)-- and Barbara Harris, then 51, can sell even a role like this.  Wallace Shawn also, well, lights up the screen as a pyromaniac named Ellen.  Michelle Meyrink and William O'Leary make a cute couple, and I like the use of music (the theme that is Bradyically used for every mood, as well as "fire" songs like "Fever").  But I can only marginally recommend this.

Radio Days

Radio Days
January 30, 1987
Orion
Comedy, Historical
VHS
C+

This is the movie that prompted Pauline Kael to say that Woody Allen had become the curator of his own childhood.  And this is not an interactive museum.  Yes, Allen kept us at a distance in Zelig, but that was a mockumentary.  There's no reason that his memories of his childhood have to be overly narrated.  After awhile, I wanted the Annie-Hall era Woody to snap, "Jesus, wouldn't it have been better to write a New Yorker essay?"  It's like Allen didn't trust his cast, including Seth Green as his sort of alter ego Joe (older than Allen would've been in the late '30s to mid '40s) and the potentially great Julie Kavner as Joe's mother, and had to keep hovering over them, presenting anecdotes, interjecting comments, and then drawing up the morals.  Yes, Alvy Singer jumped into his childhood memories, but to riff on them, and it was a free-for-all MSTing that others could join in on.

The movie is an ironic follow-up to Hannah and Her Sisters, with Dianne Weist again playing the sister who's the biggest screw-up.  (Renee Lippin as the other sister is utterly believable as being related to Kavner, and it doesn't hurt that she was Michelle on The Bob Newhart Show around the time Kavner was Brenda Morgenstern on Rhoda.)  This time Mia Farrow is cast against type as Sally, a dumb-blonde cigarette girl who rises to the top of radio.  For her, along with Tony Roberts, Jeff Daniels, Diane Keaton, and most of the other Woody-ites, this movie is only a reminder of better moments.

Not that the movie is bad.  It's just inoffensive and episodic, and even when you think there's going to be a pay-off (like that all the radio stars will end up trapped on the roof when Sally leads them up there), there isn't one, or not much of one.  I would recommend the movie for the cast and the way it sort of captures a time, but lower your expectations.  And I will note that this is the last Woody Allen movie I own; the next and last I saw was 1997's Deconstructing Harry and I found it hostile and unfunny.  This is comparatively warm, if luke-warm.

Hy Anzell, who's Mr. Waldbaum here, was Joey Nichols in Annie Hall, while Martin Rosenblatt, Mr. Needleman here, was Alvy's uncle there.  Among the unnamed radio voices, Norman Rose voiced "Death" in Love and Death, Wendell Craig was the Universal Newsreel Announcer in Zelig, and Dwight Weist was the Hearst Metronome Announcer in Zelig.  Kuno Sponholz plays a German in both Zelig and here, earlier as specifically ex-Nazi Oswald Pohl.  Also, Dimitri Vassilopoulos was Martinez in Zelig and Perfirio here (yes, even with that Greek-sounding name).

Sydney Blake, the Variety Reporter in The Purple Rose of Cairo, plays Miss Gordon here.  Of Purple Rose's penny pitchers, Peter Castellotti is Mr. Davis here and Paul Herman plays a burglar.  Michael Tucker, by this time on L.A. Law, is Joe's father Martin and had been Gil's agent in Purple Rose.  This time, Danny Aiello plays Rocco, a more sympathetic tough guy.  Ivan Kronenfeld was Lee's husband in Hannah and is On-the-Spot Newsman here, while Ira Wheeler was Dr. Abel there and the Sponsor here.  Mia's son Fletcher was a Thanksgiving Guest there and plays Andrew here.  Helen Miller was not only in the Purple Rose movie audience and played Mickey's mother in Hannah, but she's Mrs. Needleman here.

The other burglar, Mike Starr, would be Shipping Co-Worker in Who's That Girl.  Fred Melamed was Dr. Grey in Hannah, is Bradley here, and would be Caid of Assari in Ishtar.  Crystal Field was part of the movie audience in Purple Rose, is half of the Abercrombie Couple here, and would be Josephine Sanders in Tune in Tomorrow....

Having featured Mia's mom and the Marx Brothers' ex-co-star in Hannah, it seems appropriate that we here see A Night at the Opera's Kitty Carlisle, then 76.  Richard Portnow, playing Sy here, was First New York Wino in Roadie.  Wallace Shawn, who has a nice little role as the voice of the Masked Avenger, would shortly be more prominent in Nice Girls Don't Explode.

"My family liked to pose for pictures in the living room...."