Movie Spotlight: Pleasantville

Have you ever wished you could beam yourself into a T.V. family? I did this a lot when I was little, I watched a lot of T.V. especially classic shows. My all time favorites were The Munsters and The Golden Girls, I always wanted to live with The Munsters since they were such an awesome family, everyone thought they were so weird but they were so loving.

Part of the reason I love the movie "Pleasantville" so much is the main characters actually get beamed into a T.V. family.

"Pleasantville" came out in 1998, my parents got it when it came out on VHS. I watched it and instantly fell in love with it, I notice new things every time I watch it and I understand it a lot more now than I did when I was eight years old. 

I'm sure that "Pleasantville" helped to spark my love for vintage, I really wanted a lot of the clothes in the movie. 

 Reese Witherspoon's character complains about wearing her 1950s bra, she said "I could, like, kill a guy with these things." Personally, I love the "bullet" bra look. 

 The mother, Betty, wears a lot of smart suits in the movie. I would love to raid her closet.

Look at those fantastic glasses

I could watch Pleasantville over and over again and not get tired of it. The movie is visually stunning and the plot is very thought provoking. People often think of the 50s as a perfect decade but it wasn't the paradise people make it out to be when they get an attack of nostalgia. 

So, what are your thoughts on Pleasantville?

Movie Spotlight: Being There

Hopefully you all have movies that are important to you, that speak to your being or are like comfort food for you. I have many films like this and they tend to be "vintage" themselves or set in the past.

The first of these films that I want to share with all of you is "Being There" with Peter Sellers from 1979.  I'm kicking myself that I first saw this gem last year but I think I've made up for it by watching it millions of times (I'm not exaggerating that much) .

Peter Sellers spent most of the 1970s trying to get the novel  "Being There" made into a movie, Chance the Gardner was the role he wanted to play more than anything else. He said in a Rolling Stone interview ; “ …I just read the book every six months. I knew Chauncey Gardiner…”(The Strange World of Peter Sellers Glazer,Mitchell, Rolling Stone April 17, 1980).

From reading numerous biographies and interviews I really empathize with many of the thoughts and feelings Peter Sellers conveyed in interviews and the ones that came across in the biographies. He was a complex person whose personal life unfortunately sometimes gets a bad rap. 

Anyway, back to "Being There".  It's about Chance the Gardner, a man that is a complete blank slate, he mimics everything he sees on the television. He is forced out of the home that he's lived and gardened in since he was born and by chance is taken in by a wealthy family, able to appear on television and consult with the president. 

                                     

Since Chance is so fond of television there are a lot of clips of commercials, television shows and cartoons in "Being There". It's interesting to think about why they were put there. 

I don't want to give too many details away for those that haven't seen "Being There". If you have seen it and want to discuss it in the comments feel free to do so, I love a good film discussion.