July 28 movie: The Loved One. A first for the movie list: I'm writing up a movie before watching it, and I've never seen it before. (I have written up movies before viewing them before, but always movies I'd seen so many times that I knew what I was going to say already.)
I ought to wait until I've seen the movie, but I just have to get this down before I forget. The opening credits have 3 stars and 11, count them, 11 "Cameo Guest Stars." First of all, how can a movie have a guest star? And second, a cameo is by definition uncredited. (I have to acknowledge here that Georg disagrees with my definition of cameo. He thinks a cameo is anytime a famous person does a walk-on, i.e. very small, part. I think a cameo is a famous person in an uncredited walk-on. He does agree with me that guest stars appear in TV series, not movies.)
In any case, a movie ridiculous enough to trumpet its eleven Cameo Guest Stars has got to be worth my time. And a great line up of Cameo Guest Stars, too! James Coburn, Milton Burle, John Gielgud, Tab Hunter, Margaret Leighton, Liberace, Roddy McDowell, Robert Morley, and two people I haven't heard of. I can't wait to see how the movie turns out.
The book is so much better, even with all the star power. (Skidoo has star power. I rest my case.) The movie is interesting, but the book is devastating, and the movie, inexplicably, doesn't even try to touch the biggest punch line of the book.
Is this based on the Evelyn Waugh book?? WTF, you have to tell us what this movie was like!
It is based on the Evelyn Waugh book, but my dad agrees with Kip that the book is much better. I'm embarrassed to admit that I conked out after 20 minutes and haven't watched the rest yet. The first 20 minutes were excellent, which makes me think that the book must be freaking amazing, if people are calling the movie weak in comparison.
I really liked the book when I read it in college (in a class on American humor), but when I reread it a couple years ago it was just ok.