Movies, Mom & Me

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  This is the second movie I've bought since Mom died, strictly in memory of Mom, this time. This was one of her favorites. Although it didn't play on the cable channels often, I doubt that we ever missed a showing of it. There are many reasons she liked it: Its portrayal of a bright, gutsy young woman refusing to give up her dreams and desires in the face of a woman-stifling culture; its periodicity; its intriguing presentation of a woman who is so successful at masquerading as a man that she marries a woman who thinks she's an exceptional (because she's a woman) man (Mom has always loved gender-benders); the very messy, thus very realistic resolution. Although its not one of my favorites, I have to say that certain scenes have the power to mesmerize me, despite the outlandishness of the story. The movie wasn't released on video until this year, some months after Mom died. When I saw it at Costco I knew it was necessary for me to purchase it. And watch it, multiple times, I'm sure. In honor of Mom...and Momandme.

Labels: buddy, drama, fantasy, gender-bender, mom-favorite, period, political, romance

# posted by gail @ 18:44    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  This is yet another one of those movies that I expected would have been mentioned several times in the journals, since, for years, every time I notice it on TV I cue it for both of us. Although I've gotten to the place with it that I pay attention to maybe about a third of it, the rest has gotten a bit tiresome for me, Mom remains riveted to it every time it plays. Aside from it being one of her beloved gender bender movies, she loves the story and is quite fond of the relationship between the father and the kids. I've been trying to find a decent widescreen DVD copy of it for ages. Finally, this fall, one was released and I snapped it up. It arrived about a week before this review is being published. Mom has watched it twice, with rapt attention, since it arrived. This was definitely a must have for our collection.

Labels: comedy, gender-bender, mom-favorite

# posted by gail @ 12:01    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I think Mom considers this a type of gender bender movie. It's one of her favorites, one of those that, when ever it played on television previous to us buying it, I'd cue it, knowing that Mom would love it, yet again. I like it. There are certain scenes, in this movie, like the dance direction scene, the initial diva-trauma scene and the reminscing dance scene between Val's mother and father that I never get tired of watching. I saw the original La Cage aux folles many, many years ago, enjoyed that movie, and have no problem with the existence of both, although I tend to consider them different movies. For some reason, though, certain scenes in this movie grate on me and, when Mom wants to watch it, I find it a good time to catch up on chores or my journals.

Labels: comedy, gender-bender, mom-favorite

# posted by gail @ 13:13    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I'm surprised there is no mention of this movie in my journals. The reason I bought a copy is that Mom and I watch it every time we notice it playing on TV but we usually manage to cue it up after it's already begun. I'm only a fair fan of gender-bender movies. They have to have other qualities to recommend them and the gender bending performance has to be really sleek for me to enjoy it. This one qualifies on both counts. Mom always forgets that Tootsie is being played by a man until the end. The sideline performance of her surprise is a delight in itself to watch.

Labels: gender-bender, mom-favorite, romance, satire

# posted by gail @ 17:02    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  This, as is turns out, is one of my mother's favorite movies, for Dustin Hoffman's performance. She also likes the boy, especially when he's being difficult. I like this movie, too. For some reason, the Bach guitar at the beginning imprinted on me.

Labels: drama, gender-bender

# posted by gail @ 07:30    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Watching this movie is pure delight for my mother. Although she appreciates children's or 'family' musicals, considers them, "very nice", her preference is for adult musicals. Recently, when we were watching a Broadway retrospective on PBS, she mentioned, while "Sweeney Todd" was being reviewed, that she thought she'd "enjoy that one".
       My mother is a big fan of cross dressing and love/gender complications in movies. Add Julie Andrews, Robert Preston and James Garner and my mother will buy a ring side seat.

Labels: comedy, gender-bender, mom-favorite, musical, period

# posted by gail @ 01:53    0 comments    email......this post