mwillhoite-684-953169 Reviews

Blonde (2022)

Loathsome, degrading, and more...

[1/10 · 1 October 2022]

I wish wholeheartedly that I had never seen this piece of unadulterated trash. Marilyn Monroe gave much pleasure to the world while getting so little back. Abused, mistreated, ignored and ridiculed her entire life, this monstrosity does the same AFTER her death - in triplicate. There was no reason to film the book, which was upsetting enough. But every bad thing that happened to her was amplified, as if degrading her further would make her more real.

True, there are treated film clips of her movies, but nothing suggests the sheer joy of them. Monroe was exquisitely talented, well-read, and intellectually curious, but there's not a whisper of this in Blonde. Everyone involved, from actors to production people should be thoroughly ashamed. Throughout, Marilyn was degraded, and by the end I, too, felt degraded and diminished.

Myra Breckinridge (1970)

Ghastly

[1/10 · 19 December 2014]

Well, I finally satisfied my curiosity and saw Myra Breckinridge. This movie has the reputation of being the worst ever made. It's not; that dishonor probably belongs to Rabbit Test, by Joan Rivers. What sinks Myra Breckinridge like the Titanic is not the bad taste -- that can be salutary in small doses -- but its incoherence. At no time did I really catch a story line being laid out. Raquel Welch was never as bad as they said, but here she's an embarrassment. Her only function seems to be modeling new, outrageous outfits by Theodora van Runkle. When she does try to emote she implodes. But far more embarrassing is Mae West. I cringed watching this ancient crone simpering and batting three-inch long eyelashes at every man in sight, attempting to look like a siren. With this role she demolished her well-earned early reputation as a sexual joker. In fact, nobody comes out of this movie unbloodied. Certainly not Rex Reed, who while not unattractive, made my skin crawl. Even the film clips from the golden age of movies are defiled by their inclusion here. This movie should never have been made, as Gore Vidal, the original author, knew. I think people who claim to enjoy it are at bottom haters of film, of celebrities, of life.

Flying Down to Rio (1933)

Sublime Froth

[10/10 · 27 October 2014]

Yes, this is the film that introduced the immortal Fred and Ginger, but there's so much more to it. Gene Raymond never became quite the star he should have, but he shines here. Delores Del Rio was never more gorgeous. Still, it's Astaire and Rogers we always remember. I especially love the terrific music by Vincent Youmans, especially the title song, which is probably my favorite song of all time -- it makes me happier every time I hear it. The fourth lead, Raul Rulien, is a capable enough actor, but his singing voice really should have been dubbed. Or perhaps his song "Orchids in the Moonlight" could have been transposed down half an octave so he could handle it. As it is, he sounds like a comic Spanish eunuch. Once I saw this movie in a revival house and when Rulein began to sing, the house erupted in raucous laughter. Still, in every other way the film is a success, thirties kitsch perhaps, but still glorious kitsch.

Carrie Fisher: Wishful Drinking (2010 TV Movie)

Entertaining dishiness

[9/10 · 27 March 2014]

I just watched this hugely entertaining tell-all, a rental from Netflix. If I weren't in the habit of sending the discs back immediately, I'd have watched it again. Carrie Fisher is clearly a highly intelligent -- if deeply neurotic --woman, but her frankness and wit even out the score. She skewers everyone in her path, but with such humor and self-deprecation that she has the audience with her all the way. She strikes me as someone who would be fun to know. But.... Perhaps at a slight distance. As others have written, the best part of the show is the Hollywood Genealogy Chart, and boy, does she have fun with it! So do we. Eddie Fisher, her father, receives most of the poisoned darts, but he clearly deserved them. But she must have forgiven him long ago; the show is dedicated to him.

Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)

One of the GREAT movies of a great decade

[10/10 · 20 August 2013]

This remarkable film seems to be unavailable, and I can't imagine why. Frank Perry was a fine director who never seemed to strike out, and gave us several memorable films in the 'seventies. The three leads have never been better, the direction and portrayal of the period are spot-on, and the viewer is drawn into the action immediately. Richard Benjamin is a revelation; never before and never afterward did he nail his character to the wall so splendidly. Frank Langella matches Benjamin in loathsomeness and yet one can see the lead female's fascination with him. Carrie Snodgress was a terrific find. why did the movies not do more with her? And more to the point, WHY ISN'T THIS MOVIE ON DVD?!?! Supposedly it was once on VHS, and a few copies seem to be circulating, but DVDs are now the way most of us see movies now.