70s melodramas
My parents took me to some weird movies when I was a little kid -Tess by Polanksi was one, and I remember not comprehending the attraction of the whole "unrelenting tragedy as entertainment" thing and being very confused by what exactly she'd done to deserve it all. It seemed a bit over the top even then. I watched the new tv version recently that somebody mentioned as being pretty good on anther thread, but do me, it's just too tragic to take it seriously (comedy has lots in common with tragedy.)
'Mahogony' starring Diane Ross. Again with the unrelenting tragedy. The scene that is seared into my mind is the slow motion image of what I remember to be a yellow 70s sportscar flying off a overpass. Cut to the next scene where Diana Ross is in a wheelchair covered head to toe in bandages (see, there's the comedy/tragedy thing again) Then there was that fucking themesong: "Do you know where you're going to?Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know...?" No! I didn't know where I was going to! I was supposed to know where I was going to? What was life showing me? That I was going end up head to toe in bandages too because I didn't know? I remember contemplating for days when I was a kid. It also exposed me to the kissing of breasts, which was something that I don't think had occured to me before as being something that you might want to do.
I also saw the 'The Swimmer' starring Burt Lancaster on TV one day when I was clicking through channels. I didn't understand what was going on so I thought it was the story of Tarzan lost in the modern world, Look! He can't find any jungle rivers so he has to swim in swimming pools, and drink martini's with girls in bikinies who remind him how much he misses Jane and his monkey. And then, at the end he finally gets home his family moved away while he was living in the jungle! And so he's just left knock, knock, knocking at the door until the credits roll. This was just so incredibly sad to me that Tarzan had ended up in this situation that it broke my heart!
I'm going to have to check out Plague Dogs, it sounds like a nice, sensible movie in comparison to 70s melodrama!
Now to be the nitpicker that I am: Boo hoo said: "like the Longest Journey involving a cat and some dogs wondering across the country. Very boring!" This is called
The Incredible Journey and if you're talking about the 1961 Disney movie it’s a classic! (if your young enugh to be talking about the 1993 movie starring Michael J. Fox then I'll concede to the 'boring' comment)
And to Louloubelle; The Queen turns into a a dragon in Sleeping Beauty. In Snow White she takes the potion and transforms into an old hag. This was scary too, especially when it's a ride in disneyworld where it's a sculpture of the queen and as your buggy goes by 'Whoosh' it turns around and it's the old hag on the other side! Aggh! (Simple and effective, but kind of insulting for old ladies, I would expect) Sleeping Beauty has a great scene where she burns up a whole forest and the prince shoots the flames off with his shield. Very intense in it's own right.
heh heh
