Wednesday, July 24, 2013

La Femme Defends...Mommie Dearest

In an effort to expand my critical writing skills, I am going to be trying out some new things on the blog in the next few weeks.  This new column that I am calling La Femme Defends is a forum for defending my opinions on films that may be contrary to the popular critical response, either positive or negative.  We'll see how it goes!




Love this. So glamorous!
Mommie Dearest is a camp classic, loved by the girls and the gays.  Maligned as high camp and nothing more, I have gone to a Mommie Dearest Quote-a-Long and had a great time screaming and dying with laughter along with the more ridiculous lines (they even gave us wire hangers to shake, which we did, with great excitement as soon as the infamous scene began), but the more I have thought about it, the more I think Mommie Dearest is not only camp, but a film to be gently praised.  I don't want to downplay the incredible watchability of the film nor the craziness of it; in fact my family watched it together at our vacation home in the San Juans and everyone howled with laughter, but the more I have watched the movie, the more I think it has merits beyond campy fun. I really don't believe in "so bad it's good." because to me if a movie is enjoyable on any level, the filmmaker must have succeeded in some other aspect, no matter how miniscule. In fact, I would argue that if a film gives you pleasure then it automatically has merit.  Mommie Dearest is one of those films, its strengths go beyond the fun of the film.  I wouldn't go so far to say that Mommie Dearest is a masterpiece or the best film of the 1980's but I do think its good qualities have been overshadowed by the whole No Wire Hangers shenanigans.  I am here to argue, much like the great John Waters before me, that in fact Mommie Dearest is a melodrama like so many of Joan Crawford's film and that Faye Dunaway's central performance is much more nuanced than it may seem at first glance.

Matching hats, anyone?
Frank Perry directed Mommie Dearest in 1981 and the film was not meant as the camp classic it is regarded as (in fact, that may be part of the problem, I think they took the source material much too seriously in thinking they were making a FILM).   Based on Christina Crawford's tell all  memoir about her adopted mother, Joan Crawford;  on the surface, Mommie Dearest paints Joan as the worst mother ever, an uncaring woman who adopted her two children for publicity.  But it also paints her as an extremely ambitious woman in a world of men, a woman who is unable to find happiness, a perfectionist, and an ultimately tragic figure.  I think the melodrama of the picture can't be denied (I don't mean this in a bad way, melodrama isn't a bad word to me) but aside from the few truly crazy scenes (see the destruction of the rose tree and the wire hanger meltdown in particular), I find the childhood Christina experiences to be harrowing and brutal.  From the scene where her mother forces her to compete in a swimming to pool race, to Joan finding her impersonating her in the mirror and cutting all of Christina's hair off,  to the incident that causes her to be sent to boarding school (she knowingly scares off one of her mothers suitors by bringing Joan a full glass of vodka!), the mother-daughter conflict is real and at times heartbreaking.  The competition both of them feel (and that Joan has to feel because of her career) is intensely palpable and as Christina gets older that aspect becomes both more acute and bizarre.  Joan is a terrible mother in a lot of ways, she pushes her children too far, expects perfection in them and has no patience, but we begin to see the same manipulation and ambition in Christina.  After watching Mommie Dearest with an open mind, I honestly can't see how anyone could feel anything but extreme sympathy both for Christina and Joan. Throughout the film we see just how broken this family is and what havoc ambition, greed and power can breed.

I do this every morning. 
Faye Dunaway famously won't speak of her role as Joan Crawford, which is a shame because whatever you think about her performance, I don't think you can say she didn't succeed in the role.  Dunaway's performance is in the vein of big performances, which I admit I have a soft spot for.  But I believe that  if we are going to praise Jack Nicholson's crazy face in The Shining or Al Pacino's ridiculous accent in Scarface, Dunaway should be credited as giving the same kind of performance, part pantomime, part deeply felt emotion.  Dunaway's performance is bigger than life, yes, but the character of Joan calls for that, because she is always performing for everyone else in her life.  But Dunaway also gives the character some nuance.  The script is definitely an example of tell instead of show and Dunaway has quite a few choice lines (some might call them clinkers) but she delivers them with an extreme level of commitment.  In fact, I think the performance is actually a spot on portrayal of Crawford, she shows the rage boiling beneath the surface in every scene and how Crawford mastered the art of manipulation with every single person in her life. Unlike so many camp classics, Mommie Dearest is competently directed, in fact I would say that the biggest failing of the film is the script, which is so on the nose and expository (Good night. Good Luck. Goodbye.  is one of my favorites, terrible delivery and terrible line).  But director Frank Perry is not that much of a hack, in fact, some of the shots in the film are very similar to some of Crawford's most famous films and the style of the film is of a woman's film, the kind that Crawford herself starred in.  The costumes are fun and the sets are actually pretty great, with some great attention to detail.

Yep, I do!

This may be my favorite HBIC moment ever
Now after three paragraphs of praise, lets get down to brass tacks about Mommie Dearest.  Everything I said above is absolutely true but I also love the film because it is silly, soapy, crazy Hollywood melodrama.  I love that I can go to a movie and scream "NO WIRE HANGERS" and "Don't f**k with me fellas.  This ain't my first time at the rodeo" and cackle when Faye Dunaway yells "Tear down that bitch of a bearing wall and put a window where it ought to be" (or my brother and my personal favorite line, "I should have known you'd know where to find the boys and the booze").  I love that Mommie Dearest is still beloved by so many people, even if I don't always agree with their reasons.  Mommie Dearest isn't a great movie, in fact, it is probably the worst that I have recommended on this blog.  But there is something more to it than "its so bad, it's good".  For a certain kind of person (and I include myself in this) Mommie Dearest can be a transcendent experience, giving the viewer the purest form of enteraintment that a movie can, pure pleasure.  When I watch Mommie Dearest whether it is on my couch after discovering it on television on a Sunday afternoon (Sorry, K), watching it at Lopez Island with my whole family (sorry, K) or seeing it in Quote -A- Long with a bunch of fellow fans, I am able to flee any stresses I feel and spend two hours, laughing, smiling and feeling pure bliss.  This is what the movies are supposed to give us, how can we say anything that gives us this feeling is bad?

Oh yeah, and I better not see any f*##ing wire hangers in my closet.  EVER.

Julie

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

It's Noon Somewhere...New Orleans Edition


Bar Tonique

A few weeks ago, I waxed poetically about the squalor and splendor of that great American city, New Orleans.  Diligent readers may have noticed I barely even mentioned cocktails, bars, etc, which for me is unusual.  K and I were not teetotalers on this trip (ha!); instead I wanted to do a very special It's Twelve O'clock Somewhere Edition in honor of my favorite cocktails, drinking establishments, and liquor related entertainment that  New Orleans has to offer.  Below is my humble Top Five New Orleans Cocktail moments.

San Francisco Pisco Punch
1.  Bar Tonique: On our second night at this amazing bar right outside the French Quarter, I looked at K and said "Can you have a local if you don't live somewhere?".  Bar Tonique is exactly the kind of bar I love: craft cocktails in a laid back, almost dive bar environment.  Now, I don't mean that Bar Tonique is run down (anymore than anywhere else in New Orleans).  I just mean that Bar Tonique is cozy, unpretentious and has that vibe that maybe you should order a beer or the dreaded and boring vodka cranberry and gamble on the electronic machines.  Only, you shouldn't because they specialize in classic cocktails of every ilk.  I had a couple great Mai Tais, a Jack Rose (that is how I know a bar is good, if they can make this obscure drink) and K had a lot of Sazeracs.  We went there three times in our week there and were treated wonderfully by the staff and other patrons, locals and tourists, many of whom had been to New Orleans before and also discovered this great little place.



2. Sazerac Bar: The Sazerac Bar is your quintessential hotel bar: masculine, dark, wood filled and with waiters in white vests.  Located in the beautiful Roosevelt Hotel (also home to John Besh's Domenica, which was fantastic!  Who says you can't have Italian food in New Orleans?), this venerable institution was one of the stops K and I had to make on our bar crawl.  Now, I don't just like it because our bartender was a major hottie: what can I say, I like bearded, cocky, mixologists who think they are exceedingly clever (sound like anyone, K?).  K and I had a great time watching this Tom Cruise-in-Cocktail-wannabe, pouring drinks, throwing shakers and giving himself props for a job well done.  I enjoyed my only authentic Hurricane of the trip, a New Orleans Classic that if done wrong is a fruity, sugary nightmare.  Instead of that high fructose corn syrup concoction, I enjoyed fresh squeezed juices and a cornucopia of garnishes.  The Sazerac Bar is definitely not easy on your wallet, but it is a relaxing, swanky place to enjoy quality cocktails surrounded by business men and women who look like they may be auditioning for The Real Housewives of New Orleans (aka, my idols).

3. Frozen Daiquiris:  Speaking of high fructose corn syrup concoctions, K and I knew we had to try the New Orleans Daiquiris after seeing it on Anthony Bourdain's show, The Layover.  We even took the St. Charles Streetcar out to the biggest outpost that was featured on the show and then walked around Audobon Park with our cocktails in the middle of the afternoon (NOLA knows how to do it right!)  Frozen Daiquiris are exactly what they sound like, fruity slurpees with liquor, they have tons of flavors, it is a slushee lovers paradise!  Sugar bombs, so many calories you don't even want to think about it (calories don't count on vacation, right?), frozen daiquiris are the perfect vacation treat, sinful, frivolous and a lot of fun.  K and I enjoyed more than one of these (ok, lots) during our stay and usually ended our night walking around the city with them, well we dashed to Bourbon Streetn to buy them and then ran off to the more peaceful areas to sip them and talk.  Plus, they usually give you a free shot when you buy one (also sugar bombs!) and who can resist that? When in New Orleans, let loose a little and enjoy something as sinfully ridiculous as a frozen daiquiri (as an aficionado I would recommend the Peach Bellini variety).

4. Carousel Bar:  Yes, it is incredibly crowded.  No, we couldn't even get a seat in the famous bar that looks like a carousel (and turns around every fifteen minutes).  But you have to do it if you are in New Orleans.  K and I went on our bar crawl on Saturday night and we started out at this venerable place.  The bar is very large and we did manage to get one of the last seats, so going early isn't a bad idea.  Honestly, I think it is a pretty typical hotel bar, one that is crawling with tourists of every ilk: classy and trashy (see the tourists next to us, who wanted to talk to me about their cat, Sammy Hagar).  K's favorite part is that they gave you free snack mix, although I made him stop eating it after four bowls (they were pretty small, but still!) because I worried he was verging into the latter category.  I enjoyed a Brazilian Sparkle which had rum, pineapple juice and lime topped with club soda (I would have preferred sparkling wine!) and K had the first of many Sazerac's that night.  I will definitely go back again, if only to get a ride on that silly carousel.

5. New Orleans Rum Distillery: K and my travel style is generally pretty relaxed.  We are more about wandering and stopping for lunch (and drinks) than breakneck museum hopping.  But we do like to mix in our wandering with the city with guided tours.  We have done bike tours, swamp tours and in New Orleans we took a cab out to the New Orleans Rum Distillery to learn how to make rum (very dangerous for a rum lover like me).  The tour was interesting, informative and brief. But the best part was the welcome cocktail and the final shots of all of the rum they offer (including, light rum, dark rum, cajun spiced rum and their own ginger liquor)!  K and I loved the Cajun Spiced Rum and picked up a bottle.  It makes a killer rum sour and we are going to stock up again soon.  I love reliving the memories of a place by having something at home that you were able to enjoy on the trip, and that Cajun Spiced Rum brings us back to that week in March where time had no meaning and it was always Twelve O'Clock.

Julie