Saturday, December 31, 2011

Girls, Let's Start With The Worst!!!!!!!



Honestly, darlings, I don't know why Harvard's "Hasty Pudding" refers to their acting award as the "Natalie Wood Worst Actress Award," because she was brilliant in so many film, chief among them, "Splendor In The Grass," which you know I lived, loves!!!!!

All I can say is that MY winner of the Worst Performance Of The Year is....Judi Dench in "J.Edgar"!!!!!!!

Oh, Lord!!!! What an awful piece of work!!!! And the thing is, Dench IS a capable actress. Granted, she was not given much to work with, but couldn't she have used those technical skills to better enhancement?????

She plays Anna Marie Hoover, mother of J.Edgar. Her mode of dress is one step removed from Mrs. Bates in "Psycho," and so is her make-up!!!! She espouses right wing, homophobic crap, culminating in the story of Edgar's classmate, Barton Pincus, who, at about age 13, was caught by the janitor playing "dress up"--sporting a flashy hula skirt and hat--by the janitor in his school. Bet he looked better than any of the girls or teachers, back then!!!!

So, Barton is caught, and, in a scene right out of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre," was made to stand in the schoolyard in his garb, while classmates and teachers taunted him. Frankly, I don't believe this for a second; I think screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, lifted this straight from "Jane Eyre," which exceptionally literate gay men read and reread, and any gay worth his salt has seen the 1944 film, with such child star iconics as Peggy Ann Garner, Margaret O'Brien, and...Elizabeth Taylor!!!!!

The end result of all this is that Pincus is given the nickname "Daffy," which is short for "daffodil." A spur on his sexuality. Six weeks later, or thereabouts, she relates how Barton shot himself to death. Then, with the cool, listless look of Family Annihilator John List (whom she could have been a close second to) she says the now classic line, "I would rather have a dead son...than a daffodil!!!!"

First of all, I cannot believe Dench was able to keep a straight face, while filming this. Even she knows how stupid this is!!! But, then, she must have been paid enough, darlings!!!!!

Even more incredible is that Dustin Lance Black, who wrote "Milk", had the temerity to write this in the political climate we have today, what with all the surrounding matters attendant upon the Tyler Clementi case!!!!! What he does, through this speech, is practically justify, both in those times, and to today's audiences, the kind of behavior that led to Clementi's demise!!!!!! Screw him!!!!!!!!!!!

If Black had said this himself in some docudrama, it might have been different. Instead, he makes Judi Dench stand before a camera and spout these righteous aphorisms. Which, considering the director was Clint Eastwood, what would you expect; the film dances around the issue of homosexuality so carefully, it is clear Eastwood did not have the balls to tackle the subject head on!!!!

Clearly, the only one with balls is Dame Judi as Anna Marie Hoover. Who, by the way, from the looks of things is the one who should have been running the FBI, not her wimp son!!!!!!

The film is a disgrace,and Dench disgraces herself in it!!!!! I can honestly say, darlings, I have not seen a worst performance this year!!!! And it is not even so bad you can enjoy it; it is just plain awful!!!!!!!

What some won't do for money, darlings!!!!!!!!!

2 comments:

  1. Judi French is brilliant in this rag, as she is in everything. How in the world can you blame her for this wooden portral of the wooden pathology of JEH? She didn't write the part, but she played it chillingly well. You seem to be devoid of analytical skills in your inept assessment of Judi French. She was breathtakingly outstanding in a movie that was so dull that the 2nd time around, I fast-forwarded past the rest and just watched her. Leonardo DiCaprio did a great job in his stilted portrayal of the repressed and,yet, impressively anal expulsive Hoover. Get a grip on what you perceive to have been your own witty quips for they were eclipsed by their absolute lack of insight.



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  2. Doc Darling,

    First, it is Judi Dench, not French.
    I can understand a typo--I am guilty
    thereof--but not the same one constantly.

    I despised the character, the way it
    was written, and surprised, and embarrassed that
    an intelligent actor like Dench would take such
    a role.

    I agree with you that the movie was dull, but
    I am also of the camp that does not consider
    DiCaprio as great an actor as he thinks he is.
    An examination of homophobia and repression turns
    out to be advocating both.

    Lack of insight? Damn; what do you know?

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