“Sorta Faggoty”
The brittleness and acidity in Carrie Fisher‘s personality feels just right in this scene from Hal Ashby‘s Shampoo. And the look of resignation on Warren Beatty‘s face when she pops the question is perfect. I wish there were more movies like this today. Whip-smart social comedies with more on their minds than just wanting to make people laugh, I mean.
The film is also dominated by strong, complex, and interesting female characters. Those sorts of films are becoming rarer and rarer nowadays (just look at a film like He’s Not That Into You and how much less interesting and well-defined the characters are there).
A good thing I was too young to see this during the original SW trilogy years. Hearing Princess Leia say “You wanna fuck?” probably would have been traumatizing. Or maybe I would have hit puberty a few years early, who knows.
I love this scene and the twenty minutes or so around it, but I could never really get into this movie for some reason. And I think The Last Detail is one of the greatest comedies of all time, so I’m not sure why…it’s just off-putting to me for some reason.
Hell, I’ll just settle for “whip-smart” comedies.
As good as this scene is, however, my favorite scene is when Jack Warden goes over to beat Beatty up, only to realize after Beatty’s rambling speech that he really isn’t a threat.
Todd Solondz makes whip smart social comedies but for some reason people don’t see or hear this when they are watching his movies, which I don’t understand.
Rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, Solondz is perceived as being into icky-pervy types and icky-pervy stories. Solondz himself looks pervy. He would certainly never cast the 2009 equivalent of the young Warren Beatty in one of his films. He likes guys like “Philly” Hoffman.
Perfect word – “resignation”. You can see him thinking “well, that IS what I do, so…yes, I guess I would like to…” Almost like he feels obligated to nail her, on some professional level. Of course, it is a teenaged Carrie Fisher we’re talking about, so what hetero male says no there? I’m drawing a blank. Someone pinned under something, maybe.
There is only one Shampoo. But thankfully, there’s also The Last Detail, The Graduate, M*A*S*H, The Loved One, Dr. Strangelove, California Split, and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. . . .
. . . and, of course, I Love You Alice B. Toklas!
18 years old.
Thank you MilkMan for bringing up Solondz. I think that is an apt comparison. And since we have morphed into a rather “pervy” society, well the times they are a changing. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much than when I first watched Happiness.
Speaking of well written femaile characters, anyone seen Pfeiffer and Bates in Cheri? Hampton and Frears reigning the helms again. Split even on reviews, but they ALL are loving Pfeiffer, which means Jeff’s premonition about a Best Actress nomination seems to be a lock.
What is the name of the great Hal Ashby film with Chance the Gardner – Sellers and MacLaine? Shit…
Being There
Bigger fan of ‘Heaven Can Wait’. A Great Movie. 1 of my all-time favorites.
God dammit after reading this I had it in my mind to rent this tonight, I haven’t seen it since I was 17, and of course I completely space out and get ZELIG and THE PACKAGE. Fuck is wrong with me.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/14502/darabont-talks-fahrenheit-451-film
Jeff: I think you’re confusing Solondz with Larry Clark.
BTW, the movie totally rips off “Andy Warhol’s Heat”.
There’s no confusing Solondz with Clark, Solondz being talented and all.
Next up, “Hey Paul Thomas Anderson is just like Kevin Smith!”
That was a great clip, dig the pacing, no hurry, nothing’s going on but alot is. ‘im nothing like my mother’, 70′s mantra for guys an gals. Good film, sort of tragic though. Beatty was a big guy, he lurched forward..Gotta see Last Detail..
Got into a debate with the real DZ once. At that time he totally defended Larry Clark’s work and character.
Which means he was just spinning his usual bullshit to win an argument, or this new guy is an imposter, which most of us already believe.
“Todd Solondz makes whip smart social comedies but for some reason people don’t see or hear this when they are watching his movies, which I don’t understand.”
That’s because, while some of them are interesting, they aren’t very entertaining, and are written and directed by someone who doesn’t seem to have lived an interesting life.
Let’s face it, HAPPINESS was Jerry Springer for highbrows.
Jonah: Bullshit. The only way I’d support a Larry Clark film is if it was used as MST3K fodder.
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