Sunday, August 05, 2007

Different Places!*




Okay, please don’t ask me the obvious question – which would be along the lines of – Um, and, why did you watch this movie?

Even though I’ll answer anyway: Because Ben hadn’t seen it?

It can be argued that the humor value, intentional or -un, holds up, anyway. I would argue that the cost of renting this movie, especially on Netflix, is worth it for the swimming pool sex scene alone, between Elizabeth Berkeley and Kyle “I’m just trying to hang on for dear life here” McLachlan. If it doesn’t make you laugh uncontrollably, I’ll send you your 2.99.

*Showgirl Nomi Malone's angry answer to the seemingly innocuous question, "Where are you from?"

6 comments:

dean said...

Thing about this movie is that it could have been good. Step back from it a bit and look at that plot and the characters: properly handled, this could have been a good movie. Why did the director allow Liz to overact like that? It's like she's acting for the stage instead of for the camera.

And yes, some of the dialog is painful.

I think that's the tragedy of this film. It could have been a decent movie, but it isn't. It's an awful movie instead.

Eric Spitznagel said...

Tragedy? That's like calling "Plan 9 From Outer Space" a tragedy, or "Jaws 3-D" a tragedy. These films are gifts. Every time I see "Showgirls," I say a silent prayer to Joe Eszterhas and Paul Verhoeven for making such artful crap. You can't be this funny on purpose. Happy accidents like this happen only very, very, very rarely, and I'm eternally grateful for the handful of writers and directors and actors who don't realize what a steaming dog turd they're unleashing on the world until it's far too late.

Do you remember "Lace", that god awful made-for-TV movie from the early 80s starring Phoebe Cates? Do you remember the line, "Which one of you bitches is my mother?" Do I wish that Phoebe could go back and rethink her terrible dialogue, or that the screenwriter had a chance to revise his script and make it just a little less retarded, or that the director had a moment to think, "What the hell am I doing? I need to reshoot this entire flick or I'll never work in Hollywood again?" No I do not. Because every time somebody creates a movie or a novel or a TV show that's so utterly stupid and embarrassing that it makes the rest of humanity cringe, an angel gets its wings.

Unknown said...

oh, man, this is like my favorite kitsch movie. I saw "total recall" recently and loved it so much, but then I had to feel a little guilty for liking it after finding out the same guy directed that and "showgirls".

but yeah, this movie made me wish david lynch had put kyle mclachlan to more work, because he was so good as dale cooper in "twin peaks".

Anonymous said...

Oh my god, Eric, I cannot believe you referenced "Lace"! For ages that line was a regular part of my dialogue. I thank you for reminding me of that wonderful time. I couldn't agree more, this sort of entertainment is fascinating, and priceless.

dean said...

Of course it's a tragedy. It's a tragedy in the classic sense, in which a hero (say... a director) is brought down by a fatal flaw, which in this case might be that he believed his own press, or possibly the belief that since he directed Total Recall to box office success, then he can handle something as dicey as this.

I stand by my argument. Properly handled, this could have been a good movie. I think that's what makes it so funny. Everything in it is wide of the mark, a little over the top. It's an unintentional farce. If Berkeley had been reigned in a little, if the dialog had been a bit less forced/unintentionally camp...

It's a tragedy, people.

Eric Spitznagel said...

I'm sorry, I just don't buy it. It's a tragedy that a pair of Hollywood blowhards couldn't make an epic movie about strippers and not embarrass themselves? It's a tragedy because it could've been good? Well sure, anything could be good. Police Academy could've been good, if they'd gotten rid of the part about the police and the academy and never called Steve Guttenberg.

If a writer sits down and writes a line like "It must be weird not having anybody cum on you" and he doesn't immediately think to himself "Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work," he deserves exactly what he gets.