The Women's Recent Activity - Spout

Film:The Women

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:40:04 GMT

Title: The Women
Year: 1939
Director: George Cukor
Plot: Based on the Clare Booth Luce play of the same name, this MGM comedy is justly famous for its all-female cast and deft direction by George Cukor. The plot centers on a group of gossipy high-society women who spend their days at the beauty salon and haunting fashion shows. The sweet, happily wedded Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) finds her marriage in trouble when shopgirl Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford) gets her hooks into Mary's man. Naturally, this situation becomes the hot talk amongst Mary's catty friends, especially the scandalmonger Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell), who has little room to talk -- she finds herself on a train to Reno and headed for divorce right after Mary. But with a bit of guts and daring, Mary snatches her man right back from Crystal's clutches. Snappy, witty dialogue, much of it courtesy of veteran screenwriter Anita Loos, helps send this film's humor over the top. So do the characterizations -- Crawford is as venomous as they come, and this was Russell's first chance to show what she could do as a comedienne. And don't discount Shearer -- her portrayal of good-girl Mary is never overpowered by these two far-flashier roles. The only part of The Women that misses is the fashion-show sequence. It was shot in color -- an innovative idea in its day -- but now both the concept and clothes are dreary and archaic. Do keep an eye on the supporting players, though, especially Mary Boland as the Countess DeLage. The role was based on a cafe society dame of that era, the Countess DiFrasso, who had a wild affair with Gary Cooper; that romance is satirized here. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 11
Number of Lists: 6
Number of blog posts: 10
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 4

Spout Post: Re:Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:28:35 GMT

Post By: Dr_Gor
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 9/13/2009 9:28:35 PM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. I just posted a blog about The Hunchback of Notre Dame. One of the things commented on the special features was how this movie was almost outshadowed by the so many other well known movies that also came out of Hollywood in this same year. I could hardly even list half of films that are still well known today, but I tried my best to pick what would probably be people's most favorites. Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:Destry Rides AgainGone with the WindThe Hunchback of Notre DameMr. Smith Goes to WashingtonNinotchkaThe Roaring TwentiesStagecoachThe Wizard of OzThe WomenWuthering Heights [/quote] I think I would have to vote for The Wizard of OZ in this one only because I thought Dorothy was pretty hot and Judy Garland gave me a "tingly* feeling at a very young age... The Hunchback would be second followed by Stagecoach ... (John Wayne RULES!) ... < GOR >

Spout Post: Re:Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:40:04 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 8/5/2009 11:40:04 AM
Body: I had to say Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I just love it. Can't help it. I saw Stagecoach so long ago, I can't remember many specifics, but I know it was amazing! Sounds like it's time for a revisit. Is there anyone here who actually found Gone with the Wind a bit long and grating? I find Vivien Leigh to be pretty annoying a lot of the time. But people say she was perfect for the part. I've never read the book though, so maybe Scarlett O'Hara the characters is just annoying to me.

Spout Post: Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:09:36 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 8/4/2009 6:09:36 PM
Body: Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. I just posted a blog about The Hunchback of Notre Dame. One of the things commented on the special features was how this movie was almost outshadowed by the so many other well known movies that also came out of Hollywood in this same year. I could hardly even list half of films that are still well known today, but I tried my best to pick what would probably be people's most favorites. Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:Destry Rides AgainGone with the WindThe Hunchback of Notre DameMr. Smith Goes to WashingtonNinotchkaThe Roaring TwentiesStagecoachThe Wizard of OzThe WomenWuthering Heights

Spout Post: The Women - Review

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:55:38 GMT

Post By: mercurial
Post To: a filmblog
Post Date: 12/26/2008 6:55:38 PM
Body: Almost three quarters of a century has passed since The Women was unleashed on an unsuspecting populace; the inner sanctum of Manhattan socialites and all the cattiness, backstabbing and unapologetic malice that seethed through their painstakingly coiffed hairdos and razor sharp, yet finely manicured nails was revealed for all to see. Sadly, the 2008 remake of The Women has nothing to offer a modern audience. Virtually a shot for shot remake of the original 1939 film, sporadic injections of melodramatic ennui are given to each of the main leads that does nothing more than detract from the originally intended comedic tone and distorts the remake into a uninspiring mishmash of soapy cliches unfit for a Lifetime movie of the week. These women are nothing more than redundant caricatures of characters whose heyday has long since passed: the mousy wife of an adulterer that does nothing but bemoan her husbands existence, the emasculating businesswoman that exchanges her loyalty to her friends to keep her job, the butch lipstick lesbian / African American that seems to speak only in interjections, and the pregnant housewife dragging a handful of kids behind her and stuffing food in her mouth every chance she gets. Nothing but pathetic stereotypes that should offend anyone that watches it.

Spout Post: 10 Craziest Shopping Scenes

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:01:30 GMT

Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 11/26/2008 5:01:30 PM
Body: Black Friday is a scary time for shoppers in any given year. The crowds, the lines, the difficulty finding parking — all these and more are common annoyances on the day after Thanksgiving, as millions upon millions of Americans begin the Christmas season by making a run for the shopping malls and department stores in hopes of finding the best bargains. This year, of course, the economic downturn will make the day even worse than usual. The stores may be desperately holding the biggest sales we’ll ever witness, but lowest prices aren’t quite low enough for those who are broke or bankrupt. So, you may stay home this Friday. Perhaps you’ll at least make some minor online purchases, because you’re a patriotic, consuming American and it’s kind of like an unofficial holiday in our capitalist democracy. But don’t not go out to the mall simply because of the craziness potentially happening on its many floors of fashion and furnishings. You mustn’t be frightened of the crowds. Just recall any or all of the following ten movie scenes and by comparison you’ll think your Black Friday errands are like a stroll in the park. 10. Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. Sinbad in Jingle All the Way (1996) Maybe in the past there were physical fights for Cabbage Patch Kids or Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but in the age of the Internet, there are easier ways of tracking down hot items on your kid’s wish list. So, while this sequence depicting two fathers’ desperate attempts to locate a Turbo Man toy is ridiculously exaggerated and despicably malicious for its time, it’s now even farther from likelihood and even less possible to sympathize with or relate to. 9. Beethoven shops for keyboards, Genghis Khan tries out baseball bats and other historical figures experience 1980s mall culture in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1988) Obviously you don’t think you’ll be running into such oldies as Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc or Billy the Kid, but there could be some relatively ancient folks out and about Friday. And they may not be familiar with such newfangled presents as iPods and Blu-ray. But give the Grannies a break, because they haven’t yet mastered Amazon.com and its not like they’re causing too much ruckus. Unlike Joan and Genghis. 8. Madison learns English at Bloomingdales in Splash (1984) Maybe it is plausible for a mermaid to pick up the local language by watching a few hours of television. How are we to prove otherwise? But wouldn’t she have some kind of an accent if she were used to communicating with high-pitched shrieks? Whatever, it’s obviously not the movie for such questions regarding believabilty. Here’s the more important thing to consider: of all the yelling and screaming going on at the shops this Friday, nothing will be as bad as Madison’s pronunciation of her real name. Also, I bet modern TV screens aren’t as easily shattered. 7. Neo-Nazi salesman at the Army Surplus store in Falling Down (1993) It’s true that many salespersons and cashiers are slow, rude, incompetent or all of the above. But thank goodness there aren’t actually a lot of sexist, homophobic neo-Nazis helping you as you buy shoes. As much as you think you’ve experienced the worst employee ever hired by a retail chain, chances are it wasn’t as much of an inconvenience as it was for William Foster (Michael Douglas) to have to deal with this “sick asshole.” 6. Technicolor fashion show in The Women (1939) This scene is so unnecessary to the film’s plot that it was easily removed for some modern screenings. Mostly it seems just to serve as a showcase for costume designer Adrian, whose fashions are displayed in Technicolor, while the rest of the film is presented in black and white. For the film’s characters to wear any of those outfits, they would have appeared too bold and sexy for their time (it would be like in Pleasantville). Imagine shopping in a store where the clothes aren’t even in the same color spectrum as the world you live in? Okay, in some stores it does seem like that’s the case, but nowhere near as bad as this. 5. Bizarre fashion show in True Stories (1986) And despite its dismissal of physics, the parade in The Women is nowhere near as bad as the fashion show in this bizarre film from Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. There’s not even anything that can be said for this scene other than that we should all be thankful the kids aren’t wearing anything quite so ridiculous. Even some of the stuff at Hot Topic seems more normal in comparison. 4. After hours shopping spree in Modern Times (1936) One great fantasy for all good, consumerist Americans is the empty-store scenario. Whether it’s the end of the world (a la Night of the Comet and 28 Days Later) or simply after hours (Mannequin; El Crimen Ferpecto), the dream is somewhat the same: free reign on all the goods in the store, from food to fashion to roller skates. And for a poor little gamin in Modern Times, it’s like a heavenly shopping spree, even if none of the items are to leave the department store when the fun is over. However, as much as you might hope you had the stores all to yourself on Friday, be thankful that you’re obeying the rules and laws and therefore won’t be arrested when the shopping’s done. 3. Mall car chase in The Blues Brothers (1980) Good thing there’s a quick shot of a Toys “R” Us customer asking a cashier for a Miss Piggy doll or this scene wouldn’t really have anything to do with shopping. It would just simply be a chaotic car chase through a shopping mall. Of course, the destruction could still read as a destroying of the idea of capitalism, just as a similar reading is made about the mall fight in Jackie Chan’s Police Story, as well as any other such mall-set action scene, of which there seemed to be plenty in the materialistic 1980s. As fun as it seems, and as frustrated you might get on Friday, please don’t drive your car into any stores. 2. Zombies go shopping in Dawn of the Dead (1978) This movie is not just some horror flick about people trapped in a mall, threatened by a terrorizing enemy. That’s Chopping Mall. Or the Dawn of the Dead remake. No, this is a satire of consumerism, and all those zombies are representative of the folks you’ll be encountering on Black Friday. But at least they won’t try and eat you. Probably. 1. Richard Pryor is reduced to property in The Toy (1982) Kids are really spoiled these days, even more than they were twenty-six years ago, but no matter how hard it is to imagine what to get the boy who has everything, don’t even think of asking an African-American man if you can buy him for your son. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

Spout Post: 10 Worst Updates of 1930s Classics

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:01:08 GMT

Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 9/9/2008 4:01:08 PM
Body: Anticipating the worst from Diane English’s new remake of The Women is not just typical low expectations regarding remakes in general. My dread is specifically based on dissatisfaction with remakes and updates of films from the 1930s, arguably the best decade in cinema (it is certainly my favorite). While I may recognize and appreciate some favorable redos, such as DePalma’s Scarface (of which I’ve never really been a fan), Mazursky’s Down and Out in Beverly Hills and the multiple repeats from Hitchcock, I am more often disappointed with attempts to recreate ‘30s classics, even when I approach them with already low standards. Worst, for me, doesn’t necessarily have to do with the quality of the film alone, especially when related to remakes and updates. The titles and versions I’ve selected are hardly the worst in terms of craft or production value — you’ll note there are no Dracula movies on this list — and a few would almost be acceptable if they were more unique or solitary works. 10. Return to Oz (1985) I begin with a film that is not a remake in any form but tone. Yet I still see it as a kind of response to and update of the far more popular classic The Wizard of Oz (1939), which was viewed by some as not faithful enough to the source literature of L. Frank Baum. It was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me growing up, but I lost regard for the film after suffering through a professor’s defensive screening of it on the last day of a film history course. Sure, it’s truer to Baum and the illustrations of W.W. Denslow and John R. Neill, but as MGM’s beautiful 1939 interpretation shows, it’s better to be imaginative than loyal when translating works between mediums. 9. The Front Page (1974) Billy Wilder’s version of the Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur play, which was first adapted to film in 1931, is plenty hilarious thanks to stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, as well as to a slew of terrific character actors, including Vincent Gardenia, Charles Durning, Austin Pendleton and Dick O’Neill. Also, the film’s homosexual innuendo is an interesting way of acknowledging Howard Hawks’ 1940 gender altering redo, His Girl Friday. I’d definitely choose Wilder’s film over the subsequent big screen version, the 1988 update Switching Channels, but compared to earlier adaptations and to Wilder’s earlier work, the ’74 Front Page is still quite a dissatisfying effort. My biggest problems are with the film’s artificial look, particularly its use of costumes that look more appropriate for a costume party than a period film, the gaudiness of the dialogue, especially the double entendres, and the miscasting of both Carol Burnett and Susan Sarandon (though my annoyance with the women in the film provide further acceptance of the gay undertones). 8. The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) This loose and uncredited reworking of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) could have been a worthy update had it included more laughs and more of a bite. The concept of placing a small-time con man in the big-time con of politics is ripe for good comedy and satire, plus it makes me think of the respectable crook/crooked respectability angle of Lubitsch’s Trouble in Paradise. Too bad the script was unsatisfactory (not surprising given it came partly from the screenwriter behind Leonard Part 6) and star Eddie Murphy was at the awkward moment of his career when he somehow lost his usual talent for comedy. 7. Flash Gordon (1980) I have to admit that I do actually love this movie. Well, to be fair, I only really love Queen’s score, Brian Blessed’s voice and Max Von Sydow’s makeup. The rest I just like. Anyway, despite my guilty pleasure in watching the thing on television throughout my childhood, it’s neither a good movie nor a successful update. It doesn’t really do the ‘30s Flash Gordon serials justice by being either a big-budget improvement or a tonally and narratively faithful throwback (comparatively, Star Wars succeeded at doing both). 6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) Disney’s idea to animate Victor Hugo’s novel was of questionable taste, but the studio’s need to so closely imitate William Dieterle’s 1939 adaptation was of questionable creative judgment. When I watch Disney’s Robin Hood, I’m not reminded of how much better Michael Curtiz’s 1938 version is; similarly, I’m able to appreciate the animated Beauty and the Beast and Alice and Wonderland without thinking of previous adaptations. Especially given the controversial lewdness and the simplification of the story, Disney’s version of Hunchback seems an insult to the source novel, Dieterle’s film and Charles Laughton’s characterization. 5. Meet Joe Black (1998) I’m a hypocrite to criticize anyone’s inability to be concise, but a three-hour remake of a 78-minute film (1934’s Death Takes a Holiday) displays a level of excess that even my meandering can’t compare to. Don’t get me wrong, though; I’m no hater of long films. But if you can make a long story short, it’s preferred that you do so. 4. The Mummy (1999) There’s no problem with reimagining a classic horror film as a blockbuster action movie, but taking something so iconically frightening as Boris Karloff’s Imhotep (in the ‘32 version) and updating the look with laughably cartoonish CGI is unfortunate. I know I’m on the other side of the fence from the moviegoers who made this a hit, but I would have actually enjoyed it more if the villain were depicted as a guy wrapped in bandages. 3. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) Of course, CG may have been better than this. In fact, the only thing worse than Robert De Niro as the Creature would have been a hand-drawn animated Frankenberry in the role. 2. King Kong (2005) Technically, the 1976 remake with Jeff Bridges is a worse film, but that version at least took some interesting liberties in updating the 1933 classic. Peter Jackson’s intention seemed to be only to faithfully recreate the original with better special effects. And given the fact that many of the CG sequences are embarrassingly awful, I have to say this film was a more monumental failure in terms of purpose and promise. Jackson gave me yet another reason for questioning the point of filmmakers remaking their favorite films. 1. Mr. Deeds (2002) Other than the minor way in which this comedy updates the conservative message of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), there is really no reason for Capra’s film to have been remade, especially with such broad, immature comedy from Adam Sandler. While the original Mr. Deeds completely speaks to and of its time, this includes no topicality, no compelling historical or contemporary relevancy and no lasting cultural significance. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

Spout Post: Upcoming Movies Week of 9-12

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:14:02 GMT

Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 9/8/2008 12:14:02 PM
Body: Waa-hooo! This Friday we are officially delivered from the movie release Dead Zone! Let Oscar-bait season begin!FEATURES1. Burn After Reading -- New Coen bros. movie this Friday! Does the trailer for this dark spy comedy remind anyone else of the dark stoner/detective comedy The Big Lebowski?Brad Pitt and John Malkovich are both interviewed about the film on SpoutBlog.And there's a Recast The Big Lebowski contest you're all welcome to join in the Filmgaming group. The swag we're giving away would go great with a bathrobe.2. Righteous Kill -- Robert Deniro and Al Pacino do the bad cop/bad cop routine.This could be...(a) a supremely awesome, double-espresso shot of testosterone, a la Michael Mann's Heat. Or this could be ...(b) a blown opportunity on the level of The Score (remember that extremely forgettable movie with Deniro, Marlon Brando, and Ed Norton?) Unfortunately I'm expecting Righteous Kill to be closer to option (b). Director Jon Avnet is no Michael Mann. His most recent film 88 Minutes starred Al Pacino, was in theaters for about half an hour, and barely got a kind word spoken about it. There's some hope for Avnet, though -- the first film he directed was Fried Green Tomatoes.3. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys -- Of all Tyler Perry films, this one looks most interesting to me. Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard are long-time friends and the matriarchs of two seemingly different families: Bates' family is wealthy and WASPy, while Woodard's family is working class African American. The families experience similar crises, including extramarital affairs and unethical business practices.I haven't seen any Tyler Perry movies. Any fans out there that could recommend a film to start with?4. Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips -- (limited release) This sci-fi flick is the directorial debut of Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne. The story: it's Christmastime on Mars. When the community's life support system begins to malfunction, one man on the repair team begins to hallucinate about the birth of a baby. The Lips provide the music and each band member plays a role.I'm far from a die-hard Lips fan, but this sounds incredible! The film sounds like a natural (but inspired) progression from creating rock operas like Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I'd enjoy seeing more rock opera movies. Are there any films you guys would recommend? I was disappointed by Tommy, and I haven't seen Pink Floyd: The Wall (I only like about half of the music on The Wall). If you guys haven't watched The Wizard of Oz while listening to Dark Side of the Moon, I highly recommend it.Here's the trailer for Christmas on Mars: 5. The Women -- This contemporary remake of feminist comedy drama The Women (1939) stars Annette Bening, Candice Bergen, Jada Pinkett Smith, Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, and Debra Messing. The story begins when the most-envied of the women discovers her husband is having an affair with a shopgirl. With smaller roles played by Bette Midler, Cloris Leachman, and Carrie Fisher, this movie has as many stars as The Thin Red Line.Has anyone seen the original The Women? The remake is being called gossipy and bitchy-wisecracking; do you have any other bitchy-wisecracking favorites?DOCUMENTARIES6. Flow: For Love of Water -- (limited release) Presents how corporate privatization of water is adversely affecting many around the world. 7. Moving Midway -- (limited release) When Raleigh, NC man Charlie Cheshire decides to relocate the historic buildings of the Midway plantation, white Raleigh residents are outraged at the idea of moving their beloved symbol of the Old South. This is contrasted by the perspective of another branch of the Chesire family--the descendants of the slaves who were owned by the white Cheshires. The two branches of the Cheshire family meet on camera, which would be very interesting to see. Here's the trailer:

Spout Post: The Women - The Chick Flick of 1939

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:39:11 GMT

Post By: james0122
Post To: james0122 Blog
Post Date: 6/4/2008 11:39:11 AM
Body: I just recently saw a new trailer of a remake of THE WOMEN, the chick flick of 1939. The new movie will star Meg Ryan, Jada Pluckett Smith and Eva Mendes will respectively take the Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell and Joan Crawford roles. I saw enough to see this will be a different movie than the original but decided to take a look back. Once upon a time, there was a studio that was considered the Rolls Royce of the studios in the height of the studio system. That studio was called MGM. This studio had stars that had their own public persona that would what roles were given to them. Of course, MGM had other actresses but three were considered their biggest female stars. There was Greta Garbo, the regal Swedish beauty nowhere to be found in this. The was Norma Shearer, who generally played high society ladies, at times a bit spoiled but usually showing integrity at the end. And there was Joan Crawford, the only one of the three who continued her career after 1941. Her thirties persona was that of a working girl who was also pretty much a go-getter. She would also usually show victorious virtue at the end of her movies. It's worth noting that both Shearer and Crawford were early contenders to play Scarlet O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND and of course, neither played her. Cukor, who started the film, was replaced by Victor Fleming, thus freeing him to adapt the then famous Claire Booth Luce play. The resulting movie would show no man or boy throughout. Society dame Shearer finds out her husband is having an affair with shop girl Crawford. Norma spends a lot of time at beauty parlors and fashion shows wtith wise cracking Rosalind Russell (gets the best lines), elder busy body Mary Boland, then novice Joan Fontaine and slapstick foil Paulette Goddard (then Chaplin's wife). At their brief encounter, Crawford gives Shearer back her husband saying she got what she wanted from him and she was doing her a favor. Shearer tearfully begs over the phone for her husband to take her back. If that phone scene sounds difficult to watch, it definitely was for me. What make it worse is that Boland practically demanded that to happen. So much for women's lib for 1939. It will be fascinating to see how the upcoming new version compares.

Spout Post: The Women Trailer

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:01:10 GMT

Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 6/3/2008 3:01:10 PM
Body: Oh good! The long-gestating remake of George Cukor’s bitchy masterpiece The Women has a trailer––and just in time to catch all those lady filmgoers in the afterglow of their weekend orgy! Some thoughts: __Cukor’s original, released in 1939 and based on Clare Boothe Luce’s hit play, was basically a melodrama cranked up to the tempo of screwball; the performances today play as camp, but even the comedy is underlined with some kind of emotional truth. This new trailer plays broad, broad, broad throughout. The whole idea of the text is that it offers a glimpse into the way women behave when together in uncomfortably intimate spaces; going too big with the punchlines and the delivery seems like a tonal mistake. –Where the original film had an ultimately cynical view of female friendships, depicting them as nuanced and unstable and constantly flipping between fingers-crossed faux sympathy, outright hostility and tentative trust, thisThe Women seems to be surrounding Meg Ryan’s Mary with a Sex and the City-like cadre of demographically varied Bestest Friends. The Annette Benning character, who I think is a stand-in for Rosalind Russell in the original film, seems annoying, but hardly the busy-body back-stabber that Russell made classic. –What happened to Annette Benning? Wasn’t she, like, attractive, just a couple of years ago? I wonder if they’re purposefully making her look frumpy, to hammer home the point that she’s supposed to be slightly older than Ryan. Ryan, incidentally, looks neither old, nor young, nor like Meg Ryan. She just sort of looks like a ball of wax. –In the original, Joan Crawford played romantic rival to Norma Shearer; in real life, both actresses were in their 30s, and the film didn’t suggest a beauty or an age gap between the two women as much as a gap in flash and class. Based on this trailer, the new The Women makes a big deal out of Ryan’s husband leaving her for the much-younger, much-foxier Eva Mendes. This would seem to turn the story into a midlife-crisis cliche, rather than a reckoning with the mysteries of long-term love. –There was an amazing scene in the original where Shearer goes to Reno to get a divorce, and she stays in a house with (I think) Russell and Paulette Godard, and those two women literally get into a catfight––there’s a big close up of one of them biting the other’s leg, which is pretty much the raciest thing that I can remember seeing in a film released within ten years of the Production Code. From this new trailer, I can’t tell if there even *is* a divorce, or a Paulette Godard character, never mind leg biting. I understand the need to modernize, but The Women isn’t The Women without a cat fight. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth

Spout Post: The Women Trailer

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:01:01 GMT

Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/3/2008 3:01:01 PM
Body: Oh good! The long-gestating remake of George Cukor’s bitchy masterpiece The Women has a trailer––and just in time to catch all those lady filmgoers in the afterglow of their weekend orgy! Some thoughts: __Cukor’s original, released in 1939 and based on Clare Boothe Luce’s hit play, was basically a melodrama cranked up to the tempo of screwball; the performances today play as camp, but even the comedy is underlined with some kind of emotional truth. This new trailer plays broad, broad, broad throughout. The whole idea of the text is that it offers a glimpse into the way women behave when together in uncomfortably intimate spaces; going too big with the punchlines and the delivery seems like a tonal mistake. –Where the original film had an ultimately cynical view of female friendships, depicting them as nuanced and unstable and constantly flipping between fingers-crossed faux sympathy, outright hostility and tentative trust, thisThe Women seems to be surrounding Meg Ryan’s Mary with a Sex and the City-like cadre of demographically varied Bestest Friends. The Annette Benning character, who I think is a stand-in for Rosalind Russell in the original film, seems annoying, but hardly the busy-body back-stabber that Russell made classic. –What happened to Annette Benning? Wasn’t she, like, attractive, just a couple of years ago? I wonder if they’re purposefully making her look frumpy, to hammer home the point that she’s supposed to be slightly older than Ryan. Ryan, incidentally, looks neither old, nor young, nor like Meg Ryan. She just sort of looks like a ball of wax. –In the original, Joan Crawford played romantic rival to Norma Shearer; in real life, both actresses were in their 30s, and the film didn’t suggest a beauty or an age gap between the two women as much as a gap in flash and class. Based on this trailer, the new The Women makes a big deal out of Ryan’s husband leaving her for the much-younger, much-foxier Eva Mendes. This would seem to turn the story into a midlife-crisis cliche, rather than a reckoning with the mysteries of long-term love. –There was an amazing scene in the original where Shearer goes to Reno to get a divorce, and she stays in a house with (I think) Russell and Paulette Godard, and those two women literally get into a catfight––there’s a big close up of one of them biting the other’s leg, which is pretty much the raciest thing that I can remember seeing in a film released within ten years of the Production Code. From this new trailer, I can’t tell if there even *is* a divorce, or a Paulette Godard character, never mind leg biting. I understand the need to modernize, but The Women isn’t The Women without a cat fight. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

Spout Tag:Classic

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:30:46 GMT

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Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:42:20 GMT

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Spout Tag:battleofthesexes

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:01:16 GMT

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Spout Tag:lovedit

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:01:10 GMT

lovedit
Number of films tagged: 20

Number of people who tagged: 9

Number of times used: 21

Spout Tag:songwriter

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:12:46 GMT

songwriter
Number of films tagged: 1690

Number of people who tagged: 9

Number of times used: 15

Spout Tag:gossip

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:04:09 GMT

gossip
Number of films tagged: 140

Number of people who tagged: 5

Number of times used: 18

Spout Tag:reno

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:30:53 GMT

reno
Number of films tagged: 4

Number of people who tagged: 4

Number of times used: 4

Spout Tag:showgirl

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 16:42:59 GMT

showgirl
Number of films tagged: 126

Number of people who tagged: 4

Number of times used: 4

Spout Tag:perfume

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:37:58 GMT

perfume
Number of films tagged: 17

Number of people who tagged: 2

Number of times used: 2