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I've been watching Mad Men seasons back-to-back like one ridiculously long movie - the best way to watch any television show. Yesterday, I put on the first episode of Season 2, where they showed Don, Betty, Joan and Sal watching Jackie Kennedy give a tour of the White House on television after John F. Kennedy beat Nixon in the presidential elections.
Entirely by coincidence, I wound up watching The House of Yes today - a 1997 movie starring Parker Posey and Josh Hamilton. And well, well, what do you know? It ALSO featured old clips of Jackie Kennedy giving the White House tour. I'm not American, so I can only assume this must've been some sort of... significant event. It's just rather odd that I've never seen the Jackie Kennedy White House tour in my life, and somehow, in the span of two days, managed to see it twice.
Anyway, The House of Yes is possibly one of the most creepy and darkly funny films I've ever watched. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes their humour black, and isn't squeamish/offended by entertainment that depicts all manner of social taboos without any contrived Hollywood ending to show the sinners the error of their ways. There is really no moral of the story here.
The film was based on a play of the same name by Wendy McLeod, and usually, I find that most attempts to adapt plays into movies fall flat on their faces, but this is not the case here. The story is very character and dialogue-driven, and the cast never drops the ball - especially the inimitable Parker Posey, who practically redefined 'batshit crazy' in this movie. She played a wealthy, murderous loon who thinks she's Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and is thereby called Jackie-O by her entire crazed family (which includes an equally insane mother, and a lying younger brother who is possibly autistic). Jackie-O is involved in an incestuous relationship with her twin brother, Marty (played by Josh Hamilton), and when he brings his bright eyed and bushy tailed fiancé (played by Tori Spelling) home for Thanksgiving, all hell - and literally, a hurricane - breaks lose. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Geneviève Bujold play the younger brother and psychotic mother, respectively. When I first saw the cast list, my expectations weren't that high. Parker Posey is brilliant but Tori Spelling and Freddie Prinze Jr. do not usually appear in the same sentence as the words 'good actors'... unless the sentence is 'Tori Spelling and Freddie Prinze Jr. are not good actors'. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find them both believable and effective in their roles. I only wish we'd seen more of Geneviève Bujold as the mother. She made so much of the little screen time she had, and was really quite perfect.
Parker Posey
Aside from her films (also highly recommended: Party Girl, Clockwatchers, Waiting For Guffman and Henry Fool), she has pretty sweet clothing sometimes.
I think her vintage telephone bag (pictured below) is particularly endearing, despite the hate it receives. Poor bag. But I think it's a great example of the good kind of tacky - so long as its owner has the style and attitude to pull it off. I, personally, find it delightfully kitsch... and also functional. Believe it or not, you can actually plug the bag into a socket and use it as a telephone to call someone, should you find yourself in a dire emergency within a room bereft of a phone or mobile reception (but that is conveniently equipped with a telephone socket). It happens, I'm sure. Sometimes. Once in a never.
**Image by Luckyklover on Polyvore
Vintage Telephone Bags
I've been watching Mad Men seasons back-to-back like one ridiculously long movie - the best way to watch any television show. Yesterday, I put on the first episode of Season 2, where they showed Don, Betty, Joan and Sal watching Jackie Kennedy give a tour of the White House on television after John F. Kennedy beat Nixon in the presidential elections.
Entirely by coincidence, I wound up watching The House of Yes today - a 1997 movie starring Parker Posey and Josh Hamilton. And well, well, what do you know? It ALSO featured old clips of Jackie Kennedy giving the White House tour. I'm not American, so I can only assume this must've been some sort of... significant event. It's just rather odd that I've never seen the Jackie Kennedy White House tour in my life, and somehow, in the span of two days, managed to see it twice.
Anyway, The House of Yes is possibly one of the most creepy and darkly funny films I've ever watched. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes their humour black, and isn't squeamish/offended by entertainment that depicts all manner of social taboos without any contrived Hollywood ending to show the sinners the error of their ways. There is really no moral of the story here.
The film was based on a play of the same name by Wendy McLeod, and usually, I find that most attempts to adapt plays into movies fall flat on their faces, but this is not the case here. The story is very character and dialogue-driven, and the cast never drops the ball - especially the inimitable Parker Posey, who practically redefined 'batshit crazy' in this movie. She played a wealthy, murderous loon who thinks she's Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and is thereby called Jackie-O by her entire crazed family (which includes an equally insane mother, and a lying younger brother who is possibly autistic). Jackie-O is involved in an incestuous relationship with her twin brother, Marty (played by Josh Hamilton), and when he brings his bright eyed and bushy tailed fiancé (played by Tori Spelling) home for Thanksgiving, all hell - and literally, a hurricane - breaks lose. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Geneviève Bujold play the younger brother and psychotic mother, respectively. When I first saw the cast list, my expectations weren't that high. Parker Posey is brilliant but Tori Spelling and Freddie Prinze Jr. do not usually appear in the same sentence as the words 'good actors'... unless the sentence is 'Tori Spelling and Freddie Prinze Jr. are not good actors'. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find them both believable and effective in their roles. I only wish we'd seen more of Geneviève Bujold as the mother. She made so much of the little screen time she had, and was really quite perfect.
Parker Posey
Aside from her films (also highly recommended: Party Girl, Clockwatchers, Waiting For Guffman and Henry Fool), she has pretty sweet clothing sometimes.
I think her vintage telephone bag (pictured below) is particularly endearing, despite the hate it receives. Poor bag. But I think it's a great example of the good kind of tacky - so long as its owner has the style and attitude to pull it off. I, personally, find it delightfully kitsch... and also functional. Believe it or not, you can actually plug the bag into a socket and use it as a telephone to call someone, should you find yourself in a dire emergency within a room bereft of a phone or mobile reception (but that is conveniently equipped with a telephone socket). It happens, I'm sure. Sometimes. Once in a never.
**Image by Luckyklover on Polyvore
Vintage Telephone Bags
Other Ridiculous Bags
...that I love
I am unashamed (ok, maybe slightly ashamed) to admit that I own the green and orange watering cans. They're true conversation pieces. Every time I take one of them out with me, at least three people on the street stop to chat with me about it... usually to find out where they can procure one themselves. Everyone should have something completely ridiculous and funny in their wardrobes. I like to think it spreads joy and good cheer. I'm sure it also causes you to be ridiculed behind your back - or to your face - but really, who cares?
