Happy Thursday, everyone! Short one this week as I'm packing and traveling. So let's get to it!
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OK, I admit that this is a movie where I kind of only knew it for that fantastic, slightly odd title. But Elevator to the Gallows (1958) is the film debut of the great director Louis Malle and is apparently very well regarded for his direction, the performance by Jeanne Moreau and a score by Miles Davis (I left that sticker highlighting that on the cover for the moment since it amused me; I got this at Reckless Records in Chicago and I appreciate them noting that for the hardcore music fans). It's not Moreau's debut by any means, but this is apparently the movie that catapulted her into her well-deserved fame.
I love the cold blue/white/black look of this DVD box. It has some really interesting special features, a lot focusing on the score and includes Malle's student film which almost surprisingly includes a Charlie Parker song. (I say almost because a lot of African-American jazz performers did very, very well in post-WWII France, where they weren't facing the absolute nonsense of the US when segregation was more overt than it is now).
And since I'm that kind of shelving nerd, I was amused to see on my shelf this is going to be between The Man Who Fell To Earth and Dazed and Confused on my Criterion shelves. That's good company right there.
Elevator To The Gallows is currently streaming on HBO Max, the Criterion Channel and Plex.
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This week's recommendation is Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, which kind of barely came out in February 2021 and was VOD and limited theatrical at the time. So it took me forever to catch up on it and I was a little skeptical because...I honestly don't know why. Kristen Wiig has been absolutely knocking it out of the park since she left SNL (Welcome to Me, for instance, is an absolute classic, a movie that's about TV and mental health and grief and is absolutely not a movie like Bridesmaids). Her performance on the weird and touching series Last Man On Earth was something I think a lot of people weren't ready for but her scenes in the flashbacks of the plague that sweeps over the Earth was both funny but also tragic as hell. I'm absolutely convinced Wiig, who already has an Oscar nomination for screenplay, is at some point going to get an acting nomination.
ANYWAY!
If you liked Bridesmaids, but thought it was too staid and conventional, this is the movie for you. It's so...weird. It's goofy and odd and puts the pedal to the metal to the point where this legit could be considered an absurdist movie. But it freaking works. The script (by Wiig and co-star Annie Mumulo, who also wrote Bridesmaids together) walks a knives edge where you think it's going to fall off the cliff at some point and just set a foot wrong, but this movie never does. For instance, goofy musician Richard Cheese plays the piano guy at the resort they go to, a joke for like 10% of the audience of the movie, maybe, but it's just perfect for the context of the movie. And then there is how this movie gives Jamie Dornan, who I only know as the plank of wood* in the 50 Shades of Grey movies, a chance to absolutely cut loose and I was seriously thinking while watching this, "can we add him in for best supporting actor?" He is an absolute goofy delight here and a good reminder that if you only know literally anyone from the 50 Shades movies, they may be the worst expression of anyone's skills (this absolutely applies to Dakota Johnson, who is a very skilled comedic actress). I really cannot recommend this movie enough.
*heh
This trailer is not great but does have a reaction shot from Jamie Dornan that is freaking amazing. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is currently streaming on Hulu.
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