Filth and Wisdom

Filth and Wisdom

IFC Films

17 October 2008

Dramedy

DVD
D

Some filth, not much wisdom, directed and co-written by Madonna.

Evita

Evita
Buena Vista AKA Disney
December 25, 1996
Historical Drama, Musical
DVD
D

I remember being a kid mocking the commercials for the overwrought musical.  And, sure enough, the long-delayed screen adaptation is just as overwrought.  Oliver Stone co-wrote the adaptation with director Alan Parker.

Desperately Seeking Susan

Desperately Seeking Susan
Orion
April 12, 1985
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B-

I of course heard about this movie at the time (how could a 17-year-old not?), but I was always somewhere in the middle on the "You either love her or you hate her" Madonna scale.  Watching it today I found it a bit slow and quiet, especially for the mid-'80s.  It's really more Arquette's movie, although it is "about Madonna."  And Metcalf is of course a scene-stealer as Arquette's sister-in-law (with proto-Jackie-Harris lines).  Oddly enough, it casts more light on the flop Who's That Girl (reviewed here https://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2014/12/whos-that-girl.html), with Madonna as a rule-breaker who causes others to stray.  I'm not calling this a "musical" (and it is a comedy and a romance but not a romcom) but there are a lot of hits in the background, including a well-used "Into the Groove." 

Susan Seidelman directed this four years before Cookie, which I think was trying to recapture the magic of this movie, with its mix of '80s fashion, snark, and crime.