(Move over Hedda Hopper, Louella Parsons & Adela Rogers St. Johns)
Where, oh where is dear Miss Hedda when you need her most? We don’t miss the hideous millinery, but Keith’s Theatre sure misses her smarts. She could’ve stopped the release of “Emilia Pérez,” with just one phone call. So could Louella Parsons & even Adela Rogers St. Johns, as they both had a direct line to Hearst at San Simeon. But alas, it’s 2025, which brings us to the cause célèbre at the moment, “Emilia Pérez.”
Best Picture, indeed!
I almost always keep my vicious mouth shut where Hollywood is concerned but when I was subjected to several snippets of this musical, well…the film was just screaming for a movie critic, so here goes…
What in God’s name were you all thinking? Had I been charged with production; this idea would never have progressed past the planning stage.
Let’s see if I’ve got this straight, (70-year-old relic that I am): a Mexican cartel kingpin decides it’s time to say bye-bye to Mr. Peepee and hello to Ms. V-jay-jay. The entire thing is then scripted, set to atonic music, then subsequently, perish-the-thought, committed to celluloid!
Oh, I almost forgot, someone had the bright idea to cast a transexual in the leading role, then nominate Miss Thing for best actress, thinking that’ll somehow redeem this horrendous mess.
Piffle…
Suffering through several minutes of this debacle was almost more than I could stomach, cannot fathom how anyone could endure the entire film, and furthermore, I’m amazed the cast could even keep a straight face while shooting. I would’ve ended up spreadeagled on the floor, in spasmodic laughter.
Forget about potential paychecks, I’d say toodles & do triple-shifts at McDonald’s to pay my rent, thank you very much. It clearly isn’t furthering the craft…oh wait a minute, there is no more craft!
Don’t cha think?
Spending a lot of time these days browsing YouTube (the 21st century answer to NBC, ABC & CBS) and love the wit and wisdom of one Blaire White of The Blaire White Project. Her reaction to selected Tik-Tok videos is especially luscious.
While we’re on the subject, what about the transexual that started it all, Christine Jorgensen? We certainly can’t forget this multi-talented lady who both acted and sang. Her voice was soft and sultry, her nightclub acts were très chic, and don’t forget her summer stock performances as Madame Rosepettle in Arthur Kopit’s “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad.”
Handsome Brad Polumbo has recently appeared on Sky News in Australia on several occasions. What a catch for someone! You rule, Brad!
Jon Voight, perennially handsome & a fine actor in many films, is apparently inside the presidential circle. Oh-so-painfully recalled the 1970 best picture Oscar win for “Midnight Cowboy,” since I was just 16, and remember all too well its initial “X” rating that was later downgraded to “R.” It didn’t matter, though, since I couldn’t get in then and didn’t until ’72, when I turned 18. The infamous “X” rating was all the result of one racy (at the time) scene in the men’s room with a male hustler which didn’t surprise me much, and I ended up hustling myself a few years later. It was simply a matter of fate, or possibly God’s will?
Oh, blessèd memories of my boyhood in the 50s where endless scraps of film ended up on the cutting room floor…who could forget the censorship of the Eisenhower era? Guess we can thank the 1960s “hippie effect” for reversing that trend (yes, I was one of “those hippies”).
Too bad the subsequent “hippie” liberation got completely out of hand, exponentially, which brings us to the present moment!
Don’t cha think, or don’t cha? Until next time…