Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

I love this movie - it has emotion, heart, and smart writing/dialogue (by husband-and-wife team of Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner, who unfortunately didn't write many other screenplays, per IMDB).

If you haven't seen this movie, it focuses on Katheleen Turner's character (Peggy), who at the start of the movie plays a 42 year old at her high school's 25th Anniversary Reunion, where she wishes what we all do - "if only I knew then what I know now".  Then - for the rest of the movie - she plays 17 and her character relives her high-school senior days in the spring of 1960. 

I don't think it's really a spoiler or a surprise if I say that the film (in my opinion) is very "Capra-esque", especially the ending...was her experience in 1960 all a dream, or did she actually time-travel back to 1960? Hmmmm. I still have fun thinking about that idea. You'll have to see it to fully understand what I mean. But there's profundity to it, too, as Peggy's relationships and fate may change as a result. 

So now it's time to shine a spotlight on the entire cast who make this movie so good - most of the main actors have the challenging task of playing two ages, 42 and 17, and they are all great - including Nicolas Cage, who plays Peggy's high school sweetheart of 2 years. 

I won't list the age of each actor, but all of them are either in their mid/late 20s or early 30s, and really convincing in both roles.

First I'll start with Kathleen Turner, course playing Peggy, a character with an adult mindset from 1985.  Of course, she plays both 42 and 17 fantastically. She was about 30 at the time when the movie was made/set, but when she plays both roles and delivers. 

Her scenes at school with Nicolas Cage are really great especially when she gets to say things to him she wished she would have said at 17; one of the best lines comes when Cage (who years later will cheat on Peggy) is expressing his jealously and says "when I imagine you going out with other guys, I feel...." and he can't find the words. Peggy says as an adult would...."rejected, worthless, and miserable? Good!". 

After awhile, Peggy realizes she is "trapped" in her predicament - is she dreaming or dead, she wonders. Then she does the most sensible thing anyone would do - reaches out to her school's high school expert on science (Barry Miller) and asks him if time travel is possible. She then begins to disclose some "future facts" she knows of (often humorously), such as heart transplants, man walking on the moon, televisions that get smaller, and radios "that get bigger" (referring to the boom boxes). Had the movie been made today, no doubt her character would reference the internet, smartphones, and Twitter for sure, but watching this movie reminded me that there were some pretty impressive achievements between 1960 and 1985. 

I enjoy seeing Peggy go directly to all the "forbidden" spots - her dad's liquor cabinet, the cigarettes hidden under the stairs. She argues with her dad and she humorously exclaims "I'm an adult --- I can do what I want!" and "I'm going to go to Liverpool and discover The Beatles!"

Another great scene is when Peggy sees her younger sister in 1960; her sister is a few years younger, perhaps 14 (played by Sofia Coppola - the only real teenager in the whole movie). The way Peggy responds to her is touching and convincing, she's almost in tears when she sees her. The details are not explained, but it makes me wonder if her sister had died tragically....or something bad happened to her where they became estranged or something and so therefore seeing her again would brought back alot of joy for Peggy.

The movie has a number of nice moments like that, especially when Peggy decides to visit her parents and grandparents -- both of whom  have died years prior to 1985. Sequences like these can make us think of our own relatives who passed and who we miss. Haven't we all dreamed about long-gone relatives or friends at one time or another? 

This is a really great performance by Kathleen Turner in one of her best movie roles in my opinion, and deserving on her Oscar nomination that year.

Next up, I wanted to write about Nicolas Cage in one of his first movie roles. At the start of the movie he's 42 and looks the age and is made up to look generally down-and-out and gruff, having made some questionable decisions in his life. Then, when the movie shifts to 1960, he's 17 and looks the age again, but this time he's optimistic and full of life and in love with Peggy, passionate about music, singing in a band, and his hair and wardrobe is made up to make him look like Fabian, who is his celebrity idol. (Full disclosure - I had to Google and look up Fabian to learn a little more about him LOL).  It's an amazing transformation, and even transforms his 1960 voice and mannerisms to match a teenager's. He's really good in this role. 

Jim Carrey is also in a small role, also playing 42 and 17. His character is meant to be something of a class clown and he really is - at both ages. His character only appears in few scenes, but I think it's just enough in my opinion - if he were in any more scenes, I think he would have unnecessarily stolen (or ruined) a good part of the movie with his comic antics. 

Also playing classmates are Joan Allen (The Crucible) and Catherine Hicks (Child's Play), and their costumes and makeup really convince you that they are teens, especially when they drive Peggy Sue home from school while "Tequilla" by the Champs plays on the radio.  

Kevin J. O'Connor was 22 but played 17, and played one of the "outcasts" of the school that Peggy reaches out to in 1960 and cheats on Nicolas Cage (who subsequently throws a jealous tantrum, but still professes his love for Peggy in the end).

John Barry's score, the costumers, set designers, and cinematographer deserve much credit for re-creating a very memorable and dream-like film. And it is superbly directed by Francis Coppola; in real-life, he is the same age and generation as the adult Peggy character so handles this film with a great sensibility for that late 50's/early 60s era. And of course, amazing job by the screenwriters who also have a great sensibility for the era and write some pretty funny, clever, and satirical dialogue without going over-the-top. 

I recommended the movie if you haven't seen it!

This post is part of the Fake Teenagers Blogathon!

Hosted by Taking Up Room (November 18-20, 2022)

P.S:  Realweegiemidget Reviews has a great post on this movie from a few years back!
It's a great post that features MORE about this awesome movie and its amazing cast!

Check out the post here!

New York Stories (1989)

This film came out in 1989, an anthology, composed of three short films (about 40 minutes each) from 3 directors.

Woody Allen has one of the films, called "Oedipus Wrecks". He plays himself, a single man who is dating Mia Farrow (who has 2 kids - one of them Kristen Dunst). He also has a mother who is always making disapproving comments, is overly critical, and generally overbearing. I have a relative with the same personality! There's a part where she comes over to his office and interrupts a business meeting. The old mother is played by Mae Questel who was the old senile lady in Christmas Vacation. She's really funny in this and should have been in more movies. I liked the short because it shows how Woody deals with her and learns to cope with her and accept her and I could relate to that.

I couldn't relate to the short film that Francis Ford Coppola directed. It's about a rich girl who lives in a hotel in New York. She has a famous musician dad (Giancarlo Gianni) and wants to see him reunite with her mom played by Talia Shire. There's also a new rich boy who comes from royalty from an unnamed country. The girl befriends him. There's also a robbery, and some funny moments with her butler played by Don Novello. He's the only down-to-earth character in this and funny; I don't know why he hasn't done more movies. Most critics don't like this short. It feels really choppy as if were three half-hour sitcom episodes cut to 40 minutes. His daughter Sophia Coppola co-wrote this, so there may be some personal/semi-autobiographical content in this, but I'm not sure. I know Francis' father was a professional flautist, so certainly there's a familial connection there.

In one scene, some of the characters take a stroll in New York's Central Park, and there's a cool shot of this awesome-looking bridge (see below). I'd love to see that bridge one day if I ever get a chance to visit New York:

Finally, Martin Scorsese's film Life Lessons is the first short, and it's pretty good. Scorsese only directed; he didn't write this film. Nick Nolte plays an artist in New York with a big studio apartment with lots of paint and canvases, and he has an apprentice/former lover (Rosanna Arquette) who lives there too. It's basically a simple story, and it's lighthearted and funny.  Nolte makes a good artist, I thought. Believable as he whips his paintbrush and oil paints on the canvas. He reminds me of a friend I had (who died last year) who was about the same age as Nolte's character in the film. We went to art galleries together and browsed and talked about the art. He even loved to paint on canvas (I have some of this paintings I want to keep) and inspired me to do more painting as well.

Just released: the latest director's cut of Apocalypse Now

Apparently a new director's cut of Apocalypse Now is being released in theaters this weekend. I haven't watched the film in a very long time and I remember not liking it very much on first watch.

But now the new cut is out, I might watch it with a new set of eyes.

Here's an article that goes into more details about how the new film has been edited:

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/08/apocalypse-now-final-cut-francis-ford-coppola-interview

The Conversation (1974)

"Brilliant film about an obsessive surveillance expert (Gene Hackman) who makes a mistake of becoming too involved in a case and finds himself entangled in murder and high-level power plays." (From Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide).

I love this movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It takes place in San Francisco, and a key surveillance sequence takes place in Union Square.

On my trip to there last month I got the chance to see this park, which was really neat. It's changed a bit in 40 years, but it still draws a large crowd just as it did back then.

This film is really thrilling, and has great performances by Gene Hackman and John Cazale, and a very earlyl movie role for Harrison Ford, who follows Hackman through a convention hall. It holds up pretty well after nearly 40 years even though some of the technology is a bit dated.

With Robert Duvall, Teri Garr, Frederic Forrest, and Cindy Williams.

Honorary Oscars 2010

Eli Wallach

The special lifetime achievement Oscars were handed out in a private ceremony in Hollywood this past weekend. The recipients this year: Francis Ford Coppolla, Jean-Luc Goddard, Kevin Brownlow, and Eli Wallach (pictured at left).

The blog We Are Movie Geeks has a great recap of last Saturday's ceremony, links to videos, and lots of cool photos: http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2010/11/stars-galore-at-the-2010-governors-awards/

I think it was a good idea for the Academy to hand out the special Oscars apart from the annual televised broadcast in the spring. First of all, more indivuals are honored (in previous years they normally only gave out 1 per year). Second, the recipients are toasted by numerous collegues and loved ones, making it a more intimate affair. And finally, they get more time at the podium for their acceptance speeches.

Read more about the honorees and watch video clips from the ceremony at the Academy's official website:
http://www.oscars.org/awards/governors/index.html

You're A Big Boy Now (1966)

One of Francis Ford Coppola's very first full-length feature films, a coming of age comedy about lonely, virginal, nebbish young Bernard (Peter Kastner) who works in the library (on roller skates!) and has only one thing on his mind: girls! And not just any library, it's the New York Public Library. In fact, the city itself is one of the film's co-stars: lots of scenes in and around the streets of NYC and Central Park. Bernard's dad (Rip Torn) is also his boss in the library, always looking down on him and calling him "big boy". He has a buddy who teaches him about girls, smoking, and getting high. One day he sees a beautiful actress (Elizabeth Hartman) sitting on the "Alice" sculpture in Central Park, only to see her again and again in the days to come. Lonely, he paces the streets of New York and runs into his co-worker (Karen Black) who secretly has a crush on him. She finds him in a private peep show just as he gets his tie stuck in the machine. They walk the streets together and we're treated to scenes of NYC nightlife and movie picture marquee lights: some theaters showing a double feature of "Shenandoah" and "Father Goose", another showing "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming".

The hand-held camera work and quick-edits is done in a style that was not uncommon for its time. Coppola was able to recruit numerous other well-known stars for this film in other supporting roles: Michael Dunn (Ship of Fools) as Elizabeth Hartman's fellow bohemian in the theater scene, Geraldine Page as Bernard's overprotective, manipulative, pushy, controlling mother, legendary Julie Harris as Bernard's landlady, and Dolph Sweet ("Gimmie a Break!") as the landlady's handyman. Bernard rebels at the end, throwing a fit in the library in front his parents which leads to a madcap, screwball-esque chase through the NY Library and the streets, ending up in a department store. Additional info: Songs are by the Loving Spoonfools. Page was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. This was one of just a handful of motion pictures that Canadian-actor Peter Kastner appeared in. He retired from acting for many years, and died in November of 2008. It was rumored that he was being considered for the lead in the "Graduate". He'd be a good choice; you gotta see this film. It's like a "60's" time capsule.