LornaHansonForbes

"I try to think that love's not around...but it's uncomfortably near..." (apologies for any LOUD, LONG ADS that play first.)

I watched THE FLY (1986) yesterday... The Version I watched was in English, I just came across this image online and it tickled me, so I post it here. Over the past few years, I have seen VIRUS (which I loved), THE DEAD ZONE, DEAD RINGERS, and something else I can't remember right now because I got a bad migraine after seeing this movie and my brains are scrambled- BUT I REALLY LIKE DAVID CRONENBERG'S FILMS A LOT. This movie and the 1988 version of THE BLOB are two of the best horror remakes ever, and would make great companion films. A lot of the success of the movie comes from the performance of JEFF GOLDBLUM- I had forgotten how engaging he could be as an actor- his depiction of the effects of the body swap have a delightful comic undercurrent to them- it's a deadly accurate pORtrayal of someone suffering from MANIA. I had likewise forgotten what a terrific, engaging actress GEENA DAVIS is. A very clever screenplay as well. my only complaint would be an extended scene where GOLDBLUM'S character realizes that he can do acrobat stunts in the early stages of his transformation, which CLEARLY uses a stunt double and goes on for long. other than that, i got no complaints. (I'm not particularly a fan of monkeys.) sorry this was not one of my better reviews. still recovering, i hate migraines.

OTTO PREMINGER was such an infamous (if occasionally benevolent) @sshole that I am kinda wondering if maybe, just maybe he was SUPERNICE WHEN HE WAS ON ACID, kinda like MR BURNS in THE X-FILES PARODY ON "THE SIMPSONS" AND AS SUCH, everyone on-set was like "you know, this movie is GONNA SUCK, but it's just so nice to not get shouted at in German for 12 hours every day...."

I’ve made it through about 15 minutes. It’s pretty Godawful, but John Philip Law looks smoking hot as a hippie named “STASH.” (Which, as bad as the movie is, that’s a great character name.)

Yes that was it! Thanks! (That’s better than SKIDOO-DOO.)

Didn’t one reviewer call it “SKIDOO-DOO?”

if i recall correctly, the brief clip i saw on youtube kinda reminded me of the RODNEY DANGERFIELD/EDIE MCCLURG "sitcom from Hell" scenes in NATURAL BORN KILLERS.

ALSO ALSO I keep staring at myself in the mirror throughout the day and saying in LEONARD'S voice: "you'll always be a homosexual, Michael. Always." Which is doubly funny because my name isn't Michael.

I apologize for going back to THE BOYS IN THE BAND, but just this morning it occurred to me how utterly MARVELOUS it would have been if, in some parallel time somewhere, FRIEDKIN had decided to have LEONARD FREY (preferably in character as HAROLD) play the young priest role in THE EXORCIST. SATAN WOULD NOT STAND A CHANCE, MAMA.

WHAT A GREAT WRITE-UP! THANK YOU!

also, um, YUM...

it's been quite a few years now, but a while back, MICHAEL McKEAN and ANNETTE O'TOOLE hosted a month of movies on TCM and they were THE BEST GUEST HOSTS EVER. They showed LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1962) and I actually made it all the way through the GD thing (it's 3 hours and kinda torturous, y'know: O'NEILL), in part because of their encouraging remarks at the start, but in part because it's a well-filmed play and DAMN THE ACTING IS FIRST RATE across the board- HEPBURN and SIR RALPH RICHARDSON and JASON ROBARDS and especially STOCKWELL, who does so much to make SUCH CHALLENGING MATERIAL interesting to a film audience (and succeeds) (gosh he reminds me of a boy who broke my heart once in this picture) in a year less AMAZING than 1962, STOCKWELL could (and should) have gotten an Oscar nomination.

YEAH, PRODUCED AND RELEASED IT SOLELY ON THEIR SERVICE...damn I am having caps lock issues. the entire cast was made of openly gay men, but RYAN MURPHY produced it and I avoid his stuff (which is hard because he is EVERYWHERE)

I'VE LOOKED EVERYWHERE FOR IMAGES OF THE SET FROM THE 1970 MOVIE TO POST, BUT COULD FIND NONE. CLOSEST thing (oops, caps lock) I could find is this image of the 2020 Netflix remake

kindasorta, and yet- I (who am usually the first person to complain that something is stage-bound) felt like the way the camera went from long shot to close-up to reaction shots of the castmembers made it sufficiently cinematic. besides, that apartment was fabulous. the TERRACE, the LOFT, the KITCHENETTE, THE SKYLIGHTS!!!!! I WANT IT.

I appreciate you all for your responses, and I feel like I ought to apologize for a rather crude and unfocused review of THE BOYS IN THE BAND (1970)...I wrote it right after watching the film online... something about the movie provoked me... and while I did not like THE TELEPHONE GAME SCENE or the treatment of BERNARD the black character (although I will note, it rings true), I think the thing about the movie that ATE AT ME was the CENTRAL CHARACTER OF MICHAEL.... problematic not just because of the performance of the actor or the way the character (an obvious stand-in for the playwright himself) DOMINATES every scene and hogs all the lines (even the bad ones) and perspectives in a way that's a bit off-putting for something that is ostensibly an ensemble piece... I don't know, there was just something about having to endure spending an hour and a half with such a brittle, inebriated, highly emotional person, prone to manic mood swings and histrionic outbursts and moments of brutal, relentless criticism lobbed at innocent people- someone born with a precise sense for just how to destroy someone, should they so wish...a SOUL VULTURE, if you will, feeding off of others misery and angst... (I mean, as it is, I have to spend 365 days a year with MYSELF, and that's trying enough as it is)

ps- congrats to the thread for hitting 1201 pages!

some of you might like this (just came across it)

That was TONED DOWN? Jesus. Did he originally play it as FULL-ON CAROL CHANNING? (I bet CLIFF could do a great CAROL CHANNING BTW)

I kept thinking of him as I watched the guy playing MICHAEL in the movie!!

I do love this movie, and it was recommended in my feed a few days ago...oddly on the primo service STARZ, I say oddly because it is IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN (I hope you saw a good print of it) ORSON and LORETTA worked well together. here they are as MR ROCHESTER AND JANE EYRE on the radio:

I meant to mention in my review of THE BOYS IN THE BAND that I really enjoyed CLIFF GORMAN and his character a lot. In fact, there were several instances where it was as if I was watching PETER LORRE do a pretty good MARILYN MONROE impression.

there are two facts that are, insofar as I am concerned, INARGUABLE: 1. Movies are better than real life and 2. Real life has the movies beat BY A MILE when it comes to PURE, DELICIOUS IRONY.

I've just now awoken from the 45 minute nap I took to process this information. Next thing I know, you guys'll be telling me PAUL LYNDE was a total poonhound. My world has been knocked off of its foundation.