My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Steel Magnolias, 1989

I think this is one of those movies that's required viewing in the south, like Gone With The Wind. It even has a first half hour that most men will sit quietly through because Tom Skerritt is trying to get birds out of the trees for his daughter's reception utilizing firearms and fireworks. Also, there's a groom's cake in the shape of an armadillo made out of red velvet. It is hilarious.

But this movie is about the women. There's Shirley MacLaine as Ouiser.("I'm not crazy, I've just been in a very bad mood for forty years!") Olympia Dukakis as Clairee (Well, you know what they say: if you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!) Dolly Parton as the hair salon owner, Truvy ("There is no such thing as natural beauty."). Sally Field as M'Lynn Eatonton, Shelby's mother. ("Oh how pretentious is this wedding going to get I ask you? That sanctuary looks like it's been hosed down with Pepto Bismol!") Daryl Hannah, looking for most of the film as mousy as Darryl Hannah gets, which is not much, as Annelle ("Miss Truvy, I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair.) Finally, Julia Roberts as Shelby, the bride in our wedding, M'Lynn's daughter ("My colors are blush and bashful.") Best of all, Julia Roberts isn't even annoying in this movie. She does the laughing thing once, but I don't think she can help that.

We spend about a third of the film in the business leading up to the wedding and most of that, like the rest of the film, takes place in Truvy's beauty parlor. In this first part, we learn about Shelby's health problems and that she may never be able to have children. The next Christmas we learn that she is pregnant, to M'Lynn's dismay given the health concerns. The story picks up again later as M'Lynn is about to give Shelby a kidney and later to Shelby's death. We also follow the course of Truvy's relationship with her husband and Annelle's born again Christian-ness. All of the women in this movie are genuinely hilarious except Julia Roberts because it's hard to be funny while you're dying. Although, it is good to be funny at a funeral. Also, this movie is seriously quotable, I had a hard time picking out just those and I would just post the whole movie from YouTube if I could, but let's stick with this scene which illustrates the deftness with which this movie goes from tears to laughter.



I'll admit it, I am a sucker for this movie. I've watched it more times than I can count and I still cried when I watched it today. Truly, Sally Field will break your heart in this movie and you will be going over the dialogue in your head for days. Not to mention that thing with the groom's cake will just stay with you forever. I do love it, please begin your ridicule in the comments section. Or please share anything you love about this film. Go!

My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Working Girl, 1988

You know, some of these years are much harder to do than others. Apparently in 1988, there was Big, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Coming to America and the film that I've selected. It was difficult. Anyway, this movie stars Melanie Griffith and may surprise you in that it doesn't suck. I think the problem is that Melanie Griffith has been trying to play this same role every other time in her career and it doesn't work. Case in point: Shining Through. Take her character in this movie add Nazis and you've got Shining Through. Speaking of which, why is Liam Neeson a Nazi in that movie? I know that Schindler's List was after that, so they couldn't have seen it coming but it's still disturbing. I just don't want to see Liam Neeson as a Nazi, I watched that whole movie bothered that I still liked him.

Okay, on to the task at hand. Working Girl, directed by Mike Nichols, is the story of Tess McGill, a working class girl from Long Island with aspirations in finance. She finds these ambitions to be stifled by the lack of an Ivy League/blue blood pedigree. She feels like her life is turning around when she becomes the secretary to Katherine Parker. I love this part of the film because it plays on knowing someone who you hate/want to be. Tess brings her an idea for a deal and Katherine promises to use it to help her. Then Katherine gets in a ski accident and things change. Tess finds out Katherine intended to steal her idea, so Tess decides to take matters into her own hands and sets up a meeting with Jack Traynor played by Harrison Ford. Before that, she has an unfortunate incident with prescription meds and Tequila, which makes the business part of this awkward. So, Tess starts moving in business circles and pursuing a relationship with Jack, because you know, he's Harrison Ford before he started dating Calista Flockhart. Oh, also, Katherine thinks she's pretty much engaged to Jack. There are issues, which all come together nicely upon Katherine's return where Tess is able to show her for the fraud she is. The important part is really the ride along the way as Tess struggles with her identity: that of a secretary or a serious business lady. That theme is summed up in this one clip from Tess' best friend.

Okay, the best parts of this movie: the stellar cast, containing basically everyone. You've got Joan Cusack as Tess' best friend, Alec Baldwin as her boyfriend, an Irish guy from Long Island (Hey, wait a minute...), Olympia Dukakis, Oliver Platt and even Kevin Spacey in a memorable appearance. I love the way it captures the divide between blue and white collar, evidenced through the fantastic cityscape of Manhattan in the film, giving you the full gusto of New York in the 1980s. You know, at least h Also, there's a Carly Simon song in this film, evoked throughout the score. Another win. Carly Simon should write more songs in movies that we can sing driving to work.