lisasussman Blog

Under discussion:

Beetlejuice  (1988)

Among other things, Beetlejuice is, to a large extent, a statement on the pitfalls of opposing interior decoration aesthetics brought together under one roof, although all within the overarching umbrella of late 80's yuppie chic. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin, the couple who dies after driving through the side of a barn in their buttercreme volvo wagon which was acceptable back then, represent the Connecticut Laura Ashley Turtleneck team, whereas Catherine O'Hara and Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller represent the Desperate-To-Be-Huge-In-The- Chelsea-District  team. As you can well imagine, Tim Burton's prediction of how this battle turns out is illustrated in a  myriad of striking color palette, textures and unexpected angular objects all within this big house that looks like a church. Geena and Alec can't leave the house because if they go outside then they end up in a big Dali painting which is no good, and Ed and Catherine O'Hara can't leave because they'll lose all that good equity. Betelguese (Michael Keaton) is exactly the disgusting, opportunistic anarchist that you want to step into this nonsense and start knockin heads around, which he does with no lack of belligerent banter. This wasn't WInona's debut, but she is still awfully itty-bitty and adorable in this, singularly representing the Joy Division aesthetic, attending family dinners in full mourning attire. Most underrated performance I think goes to Ed Rooney in the struggle between Good and Evil that ensues as he relaxes alone in his study with his birds and binoculars ("Nice building, bad roof.....Goooood parking!")

Most bizarre cameo ever: Dick Cavett as New York art dealer. ???

Under discussion:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford  (2007)

I had to watch the first half of this movie twice (so that's - mathwise - 15 hours total?) because the first time I was like "Ok, so those dudes are cousins, but that one's brother hates his brother and then the wife won't talk to that dude and then those cousins got shot because and then the brothers that went into the woods with the cousins and the horses and the....start over....alright here we go...ok, they're staying at that place because they're gonna hide, but those guys are gettin sent to kill that dude who ended up living by himself in filth for some reason...and this is all over a period of 2 days? a month? 5 years? Who's lost - show of hands!" When the narrator came in with some information, I was like, "Yeah Buddy! Where ya been??" Movies are tough on those of us with attention consistency problems, so when major plot turns are tied up in one sentence of heavy, dated vernacular of the Old West from a character whose presence in the movie you don't even understand, then all hell breaks loose. It's like when you're in middle school reading Romeo and Juliet and Mercutio's all, "Thoth dothest rose thorn brazens mine bottle frith with sap!" and the teacher's all, "See, he's plotting revenge!" and you're all, "I thought he was watering his garden, WTF?" I'm sorry, I forgot to bring my thinkin cap to Screening #1 of TAOJJBTCRF, but I paid closer attention during Screening #2 and was able to pick up on enough to follow it and to determine that it was a good movie.

I thought Casey really took the cake with his weird little lip twitches and Oxycontin eyelids and Brad Pitt, hotter than crap as usual, delivered. Brad is one of those actors that I'm always rootin for...not just because he's an immaculate specimen of hot - but because he just seems like a nice guy and he seems like he WANTS IT. He wants to do well, but sometimes you get the sense that he's in just a little bit over his head, and it hurts to watch. So when I heard about this movie, I was like, OK, here we go, period piece, Brad's playing a legendary figure of the Old West and I winced. Just a bit, but I did. But when it was all said and done, and we made it through to the end OK, Brad and I, I was like WHEW....that was close. But he did fine. He did good. 

 This review's KEY POINT: So remember that part when Brad Pitt cut off that snake's head to eat it? Was that a real snake???

Under discussion:

Raising Arizona  (1987)

Yeah, that's right. If you think that No Country For Old Men is layered, well then I'd rather light a candle then curse your darkness. Layered-wise, NCFOM is perhaps a delicate tiramisu - perfected yet tiny. Raising Arizona on the other hand would be more like the 25-tier wedding cake at Liza Minelli's wedding (any of them). It's flashier and quirkier and all that, perhaps not as sophisticated as NCFOM, but for Raising Arizona, the flowering tree of slapstick comedy drawing one's attention above ground is yet equaled or surpassed by its biblical roots below. I have watched this movie AT LEAST 6 million times and everytime it digs deeper. Masterpiece isn't the word to be used here. Nay, to me, Raising Arizona is a cornerstone.

I don't know who you are, or you think you are...but if you saw this movie and didn't like it, then you obviously don't live in this country or in any country. Your capacity for any kind of human observation has completely collapsed. Your senses must be deadened and your soul must be void. I feel sorry for you though I would not like you at all, and thus we probably should never meet.

I'll leave you with this review's KEY POINT: Follow the plot development that surrounds tattoo.