Post by klep on Nov 28, 2016 7:44:45 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/28: Addams Family Values
Part of the point of the Thanksgiving play in Addams Family Values is how out of place it is to hold a Thanksgiving play in the middle of the summer. The camp is a horrifying display of WASP-ish suburban ideal, with almost exclusively Aryan little boys and girls except for a handful of others for whom the camp counselors (played by Peter MacNicol and Christine Baranski) can barely contain their (generally racist) contempt. The play is also racist. Very racist.
But while it's a joke the film is making to feature a Thanksgiving play, Addams Family Values is nevertheless an appropriate film for the holiday. Because for all their macabre inversions of traditional values, what the Addamses value most above all is family. How much they love each other is evident from the beginning, as we see extended family and friends living under the same roof. Everyone is equally invested in Pubert's birth, and throughout the film we see how willing family members are to drop everything and even go against their natures for family.
Indeed, the only true villain in the piece is Debbie (Joan Cusack), whose nefarious plan is to peel Uncle Fester away from the family. Well, first she wants to kill him, but then she finds that it's hard to kill an Addams. Contrary to Gomez' usual affinity for pain, he only shows true anguish when a member of his family is threatened - whether Debbie's Fester sequester (I'm not sorry) or little Pubert's sudden case of conventionality.
And family is what brings us together most at Thanksgiving. For most of us that family is blood. For others, it's the collections of friends and hangers-on that bring us together. But whatever collection of misfits your family may be, they're important to you, they make you feel at home, and they're what your most thankful for.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/5: In Bruges
As Christmas starts drawing near, we'll be visiting the lovely Belgian city of Bruges for Martin McDonagh's first feature film, In Bruges starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes in a wacky, Guy Ritchie-esque shoot-em-.... wait, that was only the trailer you say? The actual film is a more introspective examination of guilt? Well then let's strap in for some great dramatic acting. In Bruges is available for rent on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/26: Moonlight
One of the year's few universally acclaimed films concludes last week's Next Picture Show pairing, as we look at the life of Little/Chiron/Black and how he struggles to discover who he is and forge his own identity. Moonlight is still in theaters.
Part of the point of the Thanksgiving play in Addams Family Values is how out of place it is to hold a Thanksgiving play in the middle of the summer. The camp is a horrifying display of WASP-ish suburban ideal, with almost exclusively Aryan little boys and girls except for a handful of others for whom the camp counselors (played by Peter MacNicol and Christine Baranski) can barely contain their (generally racist) contempt. The play is also racist. Very racist.
But while it's a joke the film is making to feature a Thanksgiving play, Addams Family Values is nevertheless an appropriate film for the holiday. Because for all their macabre inversions of traditional values, what the Addamses value most above all is family. How much they love each other is evident from the beginning, as we see extended family and friends living under the same roof. Everyone is equally invested in Pubert's birth, and throughout the film we see how willing family members are to drop everything and even go against their natures for family.
Indeed, the only true villain in the piece is Debbie (Joan Cusack), whose nefarious plan is to peel Uncle Fester away from the family. Well, first she wants to kill him, but then she finds that it's hard to kill an Addams. Contrary to Gomez' usual affinity for pain, he only shows true anguish when a member of his family is threatened - whether Debbie's Fester sequester (I'm not sorry) or little Pubert's sudden case of conventionality.
And family is what brings us together most at Thanksgiving. For most of us that family is blood. For others, it's the collections of friends and hangers-on that bring us together. But whatever collection of misfits your family may be, they're important to you, they make you feel at home, and they're what your most thankful for.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/5: In Bruges
As Christmas starts drawing near, we'll be visiting the lovely Belgian city of Bruges for Martin McDonagh's first feature film, In Bruges starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes in a wacky, Guy Ritchie-esque shoot-em-.... wait, that was only the trailer you say? The actual film is a more introspective examination of guilt? Well then let's strap in for some great dramatic acting. In Bruges is available for rent on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/26: Moonlight
One of the year's few universally acclaimed films concludes last week's Next Picture Show pairing, as we look at the life of Little/Chiron/Black and how he struggles to discover who he is and forge his own identity. Moonlight is still in theaters.