{"id":169272,"date":"2021-08-03T14:28:23","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T18:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=169272"},"modified":"2023-03-06T08:46:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T13:46:57","slug":"july-2021-viewing-diary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=169272","title":{"rendered":"July 2021 Viewing Diary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sally, Mary and Irene<\/strong><\/em> (1925; d. Edmund Goulding)
\nFor some reason, I forgot to include this gem in my June viewing diary. Considered lost forever, it is one of Joan Crawford’s earliest films – and one where she is actually given something to do, something to ACT, beyond dancing on a table. She dances here, too, but there’s more to it. It’s about three women, all in show business, and the lures of decadence in that world. Like I said, it has long been impossible to find – almost a Holy Grail for Joan fans – my friend Dan has a copy, and so during my visit to New York in June the faithful gathered at Keith and Dan’s to watch it. Me, Keith, Dan, Farran, and Imogen. It was awesome. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The Apartment <\/strong><\/em> (1960; d. Billy Wilder)
\nSuch a masterpiece. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Ace in the Hole<\/strong><\/em> (1951; d. Billy Wilder)
\nI do not deny this film’s searing brilliance and perception about how our world works. How the media works. It highlights the worst impulses in humanity. Those impulses will never be eradicated. It’s been the same ol’ shit since we first started clumping up in groups, which was at the very beginning. The film shows the rubbernecking impulse writ large. It’s absurd, it’s grotesque, it’s true, albeit bleak. But it’s not a movie I choose to just pop in and watch. I don’t mind difficult challenging films. But this one … maybe a little bit TOO true? And it doesn’t let up for a SECOND. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones<\/strong><\/em> (2019; d. Stan Lathan)
\nJustice for Juicy.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Sophie: A Murder in West Cork<\/strong> (2021; d. John Dower)
\nOne of those true crime docu-series on Netflix. It’s a very strange story, but even stranger: I saw it this month and I can’t tell you one thing about it except that her house in Ireland had SUPER creepy vibes. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Design for Living<\/strong><\/em> (1933; d. Ernst Lubitsch)
\nI still can’t believe that 1. this movie exists and 2. that it works as well as it does. I mean, of course it does, Lubitsch has the magic touch. His “worldview” is so ironic and pleasure-seeking and humorous. People have been trying to imitate him for 80 years at this point. I re-watched this glorious film in preparation for Jen Johans’ podcast, where we discussed Pre-Code films. I wanted to discuss this one because the other films we discussed were all hard-hitting gangster movies or social critique movies. This one is a comedy, a champagne-fizz comedy about three bohemians who find happiness in a menage a trois. It’s glorious. It’s Utopia. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The Seven Year Itch<\/strong><\/em> (1955; d. Billy Wilder)
\nNever been a fan of this one, to be honest. I don’t like him narrating as he walks around. It’s clearly not meant to be a realistic film. It’s a meditation on one man’s “itch” and how the itch is triggered by having Marilyn Monroe as an upstairs neighbor, which, I don’t blame the guy. The movie ogles at her mercilessly – HOWEVER: it’s how Marilyn SURVIVES that that is the notable thing, it’s how she skips around the issue, playing it almost totally straight. This woman is too good to be true, of course, but she’s not meant to be a real person. She’s a fantasy. But what a wonderful and adorable fantasy. I also love her moments of humor – the performance is filled with humor. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Three on a Match<\/strong><\/em> (1932; d. Mervyn LeRoy)
\nAnother pre-Code re-watch for the podcast. It’s one of my favorites. That LAST SCENE. It may be somewhat hard to track down if you only watch things streaming – but this is included in one of those Forbidden Hollywood box sets, which I have found to be invaluable. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Betty Blue<\/strong><\/em> (1986; d. Jean-Jacques Beineix)
\nI remember seeing this when it came out and being blown away by it. My feelings are somewhat … tempered<\/a> … now, particularly the mental illness aspect of it – however, the reason to see it is Beatrice Dalle’s supernova-level star quality. Her charisma is a force of nature. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Rear Window<\/strong><\/em> (1954; d. Alfred Hitchcock)
\nI love this movie so much. I never get tired of it. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters<\/strong><\/em> (2021; d. Rosalynde LeBlanc, Tom Hurwitz)
\nLoved it so much. Reviewed for Ebert.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close<\/strong><\/em> (2021; d. Heather Ross)
\nI got a little notification from a PR firm about this one and requested a link. It was very interesting to watch because … I knew Del Close. I mean, not well, but he was a huge presence in the lives of many of my good friends, and I remember going to shows at Improv Olympic, where he would take the stage, or be sitting in the back at the bar. Everyone knew who he was. He was an important mentor to this guy<\/a>, so that should give you some idea of how in my particular orbit Del Close was. Del Close coached the still-legendary improv team called The Family – in their heyday when I was in Chicago and I went every week to those shows since so-called Window Boy was on that legendary team. (I wrote about that a little bit in this piece<\/a>. Going to those shows was how I met Window Boy. I opened my review of Don’t Think Twice<\/i><\/a> with a little paragraph on Del Close, Improv Olympic and The Family. And finally, in my Film Comment<\/i> piece about dramatic actresses who started out in the comic\/improv world<\/a>, I mentioned The Family AGAIN and also quoted Window Boy. No need to hide his identity, not really. I don’t use his nickname here to be coy. It just happened that way because that window piece was so popular. It made me laugh to quote him, and put his name into the pages of Film Comment<\/i>, but whatever, his comment so perfectly summed up the point I was trying to make.) MY POINT BEING, Del Close was a mentor to all of those guys – many of whom are interviewed for the documentary. Del Close is a legend. A crazy figure but still: a legend. It’s all kind of twisted up in my own autobiography so I had to see the doc. Included is VHS footage of shows at the Improv Olympic, when IO was above the bar at the Wrigleyside – and I swear, I must have been in the audience. The date stamp was, like, winter 1993. I mean, who knows. But I almost never missed a show there. I had friends on other teams, too, beside Window-Boy. But it was incredible to see that footage, and get a glimpse of Window-Boy onstage! Crazy! This doc is extremely niche but I loved it for the walk down memory lane. I remember hearing so many stories about Del, and – when I took in his ravaged demeanor and maniacal eyes back then – I believed each and every story. I don’t think this is out yet. But keep your eyes peeled. I had no idea that Del Close was tapped by Marvel Comics to publish his life story in comic-book form. ?? Wild.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\nClockwatchers<\/em><\/strong> (1997; d. Jill Sprecher)
\nI LOVE this movie. I saw it when it first came out and at the time I WAS a temp, and had been one for years, and the whole thing was so accurate I cringed and laughed simultaneously. SPOT ON. That whole temp world has vanished into the ether and it’s such a shame (as droningly boring and weird as the experience was. You are always a guest in any given office. Every day is your first day). What was great about it though (and I didn’t realize this until the faucet was shut off – basically around the time the internet\/web exploded) was that it was practically an old-fashioned typing pool. If you had certain skills – typing still constituted a skill – if you could answer phones – if you were polite, helpful, responsible – you could get a job almost overnight, after you took the little test at the temp agency. I started working in Chicago within a week of my arrival. The assignments started coming in. And so I always – ALWAYS had a job. Sometimes I had long-term assignments, sometimes it was only a day, but either way, it gave me flexibility for when I was busy, or going home to Rhode Island, or in tech week for this or that show. You could just call in and say “No assignments next week, please.” You couldn’t do that constantly, of course – you had to establish yourself as available – which I did. So it was so FLEXIBLE and I was able to support myself any time, any where, and it was PERFECT for someone like me. There are still employment agencies but not like that. The whole “admin” class has been radically re-defined – or has been disappeared altogether. Clockwatchers<\/i> captures it perfectly – the DETAILS – and is as much of a treasure as Office Space<\/i>. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Mandibles<\/em><\/strong> (2021; d. Quentin Dupieux)
\nVery funny and weird. I reviewed for Ebert.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Nine Days<\/strong><\/em> (2021; d. Edson Oda)
\nKnocked my socks off, to be honest. Feels like a major debut. Reviewed for Ebert.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Annette<\/em><\/strong> (2021; d. Leos Carax)
\nReviewing. Will say no more.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The Evening Hour<\/strong><\/em> (2021; d. Braden King)
\nThis just didn’t do it for me at all. Reviewed for Ebert.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The Deuce<\/em><\/strong>, Season 1, episode 1 (2017; d. Michelle MacLaren)
\nHad a conversation with my brother-in-law about The Wire<\/i> and I was looking for something else to binge – last year was all about binging – and I love this whole subject\/era so I thought I’d give it a shot. So far I liked it and the period is evoked really well. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Mauvais Sang<\/strong><\/em> (1986; d. Leos Carax)
\nA masterpiece. Carax was only 26 years old. This is Orson Welles level of invention. I have been in love with this movie ever since I saw it. That PARACHUTE scene. I reference that one in my head all the time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tokyo!<\/strong><\/em> (2008; d. Leos Carax, Michel Gondry, Bong Joon Ho)
\nI remember seeing this when it came out. I re-watched for the Carax factor. Denis Lavant. Just insane. He’s vaudeville reincarnated.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Mr. X, a Vision of Leos Carax<\/strong><\/em> (2014; d. Tessa Louise-Salom\u00e9)
\nDocumentary about Leos Carax.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Holy Motors<\/strong><\/em> (2012; d. Leos Carax)
\nThis was on my Top 10 of 2012. As a theatre nerd, something like this is right up my alley, and not at all difficult to understand. I read a lot of “WTF” articles about it OR film critics who knew all of the movie references but somehow failed to capture the whimsy and melancholy, as well as the greasepaint-roar-of-the-crowd engine underneath the whole thing. Loved it. <\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sally, Mary and Irene (1925; d. Edmund Goulding) For some reason, I forgot to include this gem in my June viewing diary. Considered lost forever, it is one of Joan Crawford’s earliest films – and one where she is actually … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2627,4,31],"tags":[319,2201,269,310,1113,2544,2578,2493,2546,2206,465,1133,131,508,342,2345,109,2062,129,2314,44,2690,2477,1140,302,2557,2559],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=169272"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169998,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169272\/revisions\/169998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=169272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=169272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=169272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}