Weekend Rental Picks

Miss Julie (Alf Sjöberg, 1951)
The film is based on a world-famous play, but unlike most stage adaptations, Miss Julie is actually quite cinematic. The real beauty of Sjöberg's film is the deep focus photography, which makes it probably the closest (and best) descendant of Citizen Kane. Anita Bjöork is absolutely magnetic as the lead character, a wealthy young woman in love with one of the family's servants.

Suddenly, Last Summer (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1959)
I was watching the fascinating documentary The Celluloid Closet, about gay and lesbian representation in films, and they amusingly mentioned this bonkers Tennessee Williams drama. The film was censored so much because of the Production Code that they couldn't even directly mention the main plot point of the film (how Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn were getting men for their gay cousin/son Sebastian). The film makes little sense, and is hardly the best film adaptation of Tennessee Williams, but it gives Mommie Dearest a run for its money in terms of batshit craziness. My favorite part has to be the final moments when Elizabeth Taylor gives the horrifying/campy scream when she recalls what happens to Sebastian.

Everyone Says I Love You (Woody Allen, 1996)
If you haven't seen Annie Hall, Woody Allen's masterpiece, go out and see that right now. But since I'm assuming that anyone reading this has already seen it or knows they should see it, I'm going to recommend the Woodman's 1996 musical/comedy. The music is kind of forgettable and no one in the cast really has that great of a singing voice, but that is Allen's intent- to make an "ordinary" musical. What I love most about Everyone Says I Love You is the wonderful ensemble (which includes Woody, Goldie Hawn, Drew Barrymore, Edward Norton, Alan Alda and Julia Roberts!) and the hilarious script, probably his last great comedy. In what other movie can you think of in which all of the characters are dressed and act like Groucho Marx at a New Year's party?

Tuesday's Film Quote: Two in a Cage

Brick: I don't have to do anything I don't want to! Now, you keep forgetting the conditions on which I agreed to stay on living with you.
Maggie: I'm not living with you! We occupy the same cage, that's all.

Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor as Brick and Maggie Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The Victory of a Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

There's nothing I love more than watching beautiful people dealing with major problems. It is so much more interesting than watching ugly people. So, lucky for me, Richard Brooks' 1958 adaptation of the Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof stars two of the most insanely beautiful actors of the era- Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor- and deals with alcoholism, (presumed) infidelity, sexual frustration and (possibly) homosexuality.

It's not surprising, then, to know that this was one of the first "classic" films I ever fell in love with when I started getting into them about six years ago. When I re-watched it again after a couple of years last night, I thought I might be disappointed (which happens so often you re-watch films you once loved when you were younger) but that's not the case. Flaws and all, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is still an exciting, provocative drama with enough great acting to fill three films.

Maggie "The Cat" (Elizabeth Taylor) shoves ice cream into the face of one of the "no-neck monsters"...a true diva moment I had completely forgotten about.

Sure, it's overly theatrical at times and the dialogue is hardly what you would call "natural" but it's adapted from a Tennessee Williams play for Christ's sake; I wouldn't exactly call him Mr. Naturalistic. And I think that's what makes Cat on a Hot Tin Roof work so well. These aren't subtle people who keep their problems to themselves. They let everything out and hold nothing back. Consequently, their verbal sparring matches practically explode on the screen.

Maggie to Brick: "We're not living together! We're merely occupying the same cage, that's all!"

There's really not way I can describe in words just how sexy of an on-screen couple Taylor and Newman are together; it's best seen with your own eyes. And from my description in the beginning it's probably hard to understand, but just imagine these actors at the peak of their beauty lying around in pajamas and a slip for a good portion of the film with a bunch of sexual tension hanging over the room and you'll begin to understand. It's a lot like Brangelina in Mr. & Mrs. Smith without all of the guns and explosions- it's that intense. I just wish we got chemistry like this more often.