Okay so hear me out: we actually watched this together a few months ago, but I decided it would be more fun to wait and post it on the 29th anniversary of the release! Which was (*checks notes*) last month. Son of a…
Better late than never: our latest Watch Party movie is 1992’s Death Becomes Her!
Hannah
All set here
Nathan
Yep!
Kathryn
Everyone ready?
Elizabeth
Ready!
Kathryn
Ready to hit play
Elizabeth
Playing!
FBI warning…
Kathryn
Here too
Hannah
Then Universal logo?
Elizabeth
Just finished universal logo
Kathryn
Heh. Warning for “Some nudity and off-color humor.”
Hannah
we have violins with attitude
Kathryn
That seems to sum it up
Elizabeth
Uh, just finished the first universal logo, now finishing the SECOND universal logo
Hannah
pausing
Kathryn
Here too
Elizabeth
Got violins!
Kathryn
Violins!
Elizabeth
I literally have no idea when I last saw this….
Kathryn
I knew this was weird, but I forgot it was quirky as well.
Elizabeth
Who was it who suggested they should have a database of fake movies and TV shows? We need one for fake musicals too of course.
Hannah
If you want to do a parody of Broadway, make it a Tennessee Williams musical
(See also “O! Streetcar!” on the Simpsons)
Elizabeth
And Planet of the Apes on Simpsons too!
Hannah
haha yeah, but this is also T. Williams
Elizabeth
OH, yes, that too
Nathan
Don’t think I’ve seen this since it was in the theater.
Kathryn
Yes I really want a database of plays and films that only exist inside other plays and films.
(Editor’s note: now there is one!)
Elizabeth
I don’t think I remembered that she was supposed to be horrible in this musical, I misremembered that she was good, and popular.
Hannah
The fact that Meryl Streep can rock comedy, too, is frankly unfair
Nathan
What can’t Meryl Streep do is the real question.
Kathryn
You can see this character dictating every moment of this number.
Hannah
seriously
Kathryn
“They’ve got to worship me in song and MEAN it.”
And we have disco.
I have zero memory of any of this.
Hannah
haha I mean that is COMMITMENT to making a full-on terrible thing that could almost actually be made
Elizabeth
I loved the two practice “surprise gasp!” takes
Hannah
(Somebody remind me to turn the volume down before I go back to regular TV, apparently my DVD player doesn’t output very loud)
Elizabeth
“Ernest Menville” is quite the descriptive name
Hannah
hah, good point
Nathan
Wasn’t this a stage play?
Elizabeth
Maybe?
Hannah
oooh I don’t know
omg I was just judging that nurse for not having a tight enough mask
Elizabeth
Hee, pandemic movie watching hits different
Hannah
I love it when a jump cut IS the joke
Elizabeth
This scene always makes me uncomfortably sad.
Hannah
heh, fair
…but also it makes me want frosting in a can
Kathryn
Just rocketing through the story. It’s dizzying.
Hannah
ANOTHER fake movie
This is the only time it’s ever been acceptable for a filmmaker to use the “rewind the VCR to watch the same thing over and over again” thing
Elizabeth
Agreed
Kathryn
That terrified look from the other patients…
Hannah
Seven unique ways of freaking out
Elizabeth
Alaina Reed-Hall, the psychiatrist, I need to look up more of her stuff, but I swear I first saw her on Sesame Street.
Hannah
oooh
It just occurred to me today (when I was looking for gifs) how many of my favorite movies have asylum scenes
Kathryn
Huh, I forgot that it was a full seven years after THAT that the story picks up again.
Hannah
It’s weirdly effective for exposition that takes place over 14 years
Elizabeth
She sounds like she’s having such a ball being so awful.
Hannah
haha yes
Elizabeth
Bloody Mary and a bottle of aspirin, breakfast of champions.
Hannah
I think about this rejection of the celery so, so much
Elizabeth
hahah
Quite the man cave he’s got there.
Kathryn
I really like how the two of them are in cahoots against the wife that they both hate.
Hannah
I can’t remember who it was who sent me the “Ask a Mortician” youtube channel but it’s pretty fascinating
Man, this script is TIGHT
Like, high concentration of jokes per minute
Elizabeth
I’m following someone on instagram who’s written a memoir about her father and herself as funeral people, called We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down.
Hannah
And this girl was obviously a Winona Ryder double for the rest of her career
Kathryn
Love how she panicked and dropped her accent
Hannah
yes!
Nathan
Thank God! It was a horrible accent!
Elizabeth
I thought she looked a little like a super young Catherine O’Hara
Hannah
Common factor: cheekbones
Elizabeth
He does that eye twitch really well
Hannah
Chekhov’s spray paint
Elizabeth
Hee
She’s all offended and I’m like “Lady, YOU asked him.”
Kathryn
See, I wanted to hear more about his technique
Elizabeth
Love the reveal of the vampy version
Kathryn
And Glen Close’s breathless horror
Hannah
That their names are “Mad” and “Hel” is *chef’s kiss*
Elizabeth
“Madeline Ashton goes to the opening of an envelope” hee
Kathryn
Such effortless cruelty
Hannah
I can never tell if those are contacts or if Goldie Hawn can really summon dead eyes
Elizabeth
GOT to be contacts right? Super glassy
Best part about Bruce Willis always having a high forehead…doesn’t look like he’s aged a damn day
Kathryn
Do we ever find out what the trajectory was for him to go from doctor to undertaker?
Hannah
I guess I just assumed it was booze
Elizabeth
I FORGOT ABOUT THE BOYFRIEND
Hannah
THIS scene makes me uncomfortably sad
“At least lie quickly!”
Kathryn
“Oh for God’s sake at least lie quickly!
Elizabeth
The well timed rain
Hannah
This movie does so well to establish that “Oh yes, we’re going to be melodramatic for the sake of comedy” style
Same composer as Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Forrest Gump–obv a Zemeckis fave
Elizabeth
Seriously
Not gonna lie, always loved that outfit
Hannah
Isabella Rosselini is her own species
Nathan
She’s Ingrid Bergman’s daughter.
Hannah
Yes and also Roberto Rossellini
It’s the child of famous people who manages to be talented and also charming and also just straight-up other-worldly
Elizabeth
Agreed
Nathan
Ever seen Blue Velvet? She was great in that.
Hannah
I didn’t know she was in it until I googled just now
Kathryn
How much of this is her actually attracted to Earnest, and not just hating Madeline?
Hannah
In this essay I will…
Heh, as in, that’s another question that would be a great topic for a college paper
Elizabeth
I assumed it was 100% hatred of Madeline, but I’m willing to be convinced.
Hannah
I would lean in that direction, too
Elizabeth
Very good choice to write it down, I love when they do that in movies, means it ages well
Hannah
I was .just. going to say that!
Kathryn
Yeah, inflation proof
Elizabeth
Love that shriek
Hannah
hee
Kathryn
Check okay?
Fine.
Elizabeth
Who did they mean with the “I vant to be alone” line?
Kathryn
Garbo
Elizabeth
“NOW a warning???”
Hannah
THAT delivery too
Kathryn
BEST line.
Hannah
The sound effects here
Elizabeth
the little “tick…tock” when the boobs go into place
Hannah
Man I forgot Zemeckis did What Lies Beneath, too
Elizabeth
Oh wow, didn’t know that
Kathryn
“First, we finish dinner.” Why?
Hannah
haha
Elizabeth
“And make it look like she’s had just a little too much to drink..” loved the excess there
Hannah
god even the car has good comic timing
Elizabeth
Man the flames in his glasses for just a second, that kinda detail cracks me up
Kathryn
Checkov’s shotguns in the background.
Hannah
heh good point
It’s a real fucking talent to subtly plant a bunch of stuff that comes in handy later
Elizabeth
“You’ve changed your hair?” Classic
Hannah
The neckline on this outfit makes me uncomfortable in advance
I say flaccid like that now
Flaaaaaa[tongue waggle]aaaaaccid
Elizabeth
Ooooooo gracious that’s a fall..
Hannah
Foley peeps had some fun with that one
The way this is framed
Elizabeth
I KNOW
Kathryn
Eeeeeeeee
Elizabeth
That’s actually a good plan, that he was already on the phone with her…
Kathryn
I CAN SEE…MY ASS.
The effects are only a tiny bit janky, even after all these years.
Elizabeth
Oh god the neck cracking sounds
Hannah
Sydney Pollack, just because
Elizabeth
He’s mastered the Doctor Voice
Nathan
Oh, yeah!
Kathryn
That terrified reaction
Elizabeth
Pitching the stethoscope in the trash without a word of explanation, trust the intelligence of your audience
Kathryn
“What the hell does that mean?” “EXACTLY.”
Elizabeth
Hee, that it’s THEIR doctor
Kathryn
Oh I forgot about that.
Clever, takes care of that loose end.
Elizabeth
He even telegraphed it with his heart pills
Kathryn
“She’ll be FURIOUS”
Elizabeth
Hee
Forgot about the floating nuns
Hannah
CREEPY FUCKING NUNS WHY
Kathryn
Nice touch there.
Elizabeth
hahah
Excellent Frankenstein vibes there
Hannah
Man, Jennifer Anniston can do the same kind of comedy
(The stuff in the morgue reminded me of Rachel)
Elizabeth
OH, I was wondering, and you’re totally right, with the squeaky sad voice
I mean I know it’s part of the plot, but the whole setup as a mortuary career is just brilliant.
Hannah
It’s lovely when you can put a bunch of stuff in the hopper and all the bits come out related to the other bits
Elizabeth
Hah, nice way of giving her all the info at once. Not subtle, but efficient.
Kathryn
“She was a BAD actress.”
Elizabeth
“nails chewing the walls”
Kathryn
Uh…oh.
Elizabeth
They even set up the guns with the man cave
Hannah
More brilliant comedy reanimation in the background
Elizabeth
In 12 years in Los Angeles have you ever SEEN a neighbor?
Love her little strut
Hannah
Soft, bald, overweight Republicans in prison
Elizabeth
Timely
Nathan
She’s facing down in the pond now.
She landed facing up.
Hannah
well spotted
Elizabeth
Don’t logic the plot Nathan!
Kathryn
Beat me to it.
IT’S ANOTHER MIRACLE
Elizabeth
“WELL I hardly needed it”
AAAAAA body horror body horror
Hannah
Single best fight scene in Hollywood history?
Kathryn
Yep
Yes! No! Damn!
Hannah
“Yes! No! Oh damn!”
definitely in my everyday vocabulary
Elizabeth
The head falling over all the time is such a great touch
Hannah
Sitting down through the shovel handle is amazing
Kathryn
God this scene….
Elizabeth
The hole in the shadows
Kathryn
The two most shallow people in the universe.
Elizabeth
Yeah contacts or no contacts, I think Goldie Hawn just does dead eyes super well.
Kathryn
So freaking manipulative
I have to wonder if his marriage with Hel would have been a trainwreck too.
Hannah
Oh Earn, mind the booze
Kathryn
NOT THE BOOZE.
Nathan
Stunt butt?
Elizabeth
Maybe?
Not sure she’d need one
Hannah
And since she was already a model she might not have given a fuck
Elizabeth
I forgot that she knew he touched them up, I thought that was a secret.
Kathryn
Hang on, does this mean his hand will live forever?
Elizabeth
Hm, good question…
Hannah
DON’T LOGIC THE PLOT, KATHRYN
Kathryn
Hee
Elizabeth
hahaha
Hannah
That Don Quixote line is…interesting
Elizabeth
I thought she was talking about the mortuary stuff but she was talking about the plastic surgery?
Kathryn
Think so
This is the most elegant refutation of immortal life ever.
Hannah
Heh I never realized her henchmen were Dick, Tom and Harry
Elizabeth
Heh
Warhol and Monroe hee
Hannah
I also forgot Elvis sightings used to be a thing
Elizabeth
“Elvis is not dead he just went home.”
Hannah
Hee
Elizabeth
Convenient exit sign there.
Kathryn
Ack, palms are sweating
Hannah
Y’all couldn’t just shut up and let him drink it
Elizabeth
I mean the window that he was looking up at and it’s over the pool, brilliant
S’pose that was Morrison?
Nathan
Maybe?
Or one of her minions?
Kathryn
Dean!
Elizabeth
James Dean!
Hannah
heh I never noticed that before
Elizabeth
Me neither!
Heh, THIRTY seven years later
Kathryn
Forever
Has anyone calculated what year this would be.
Elizabeth
Two sons AND four daughters, damn dude.
Gentleman from Africa in the crowd, nice.
Kathryn
This really is the best eulogy
Hannah
That they each styled their own decrepit walks
Elizabeth
Chekov’s paint can!
Kathryn
God that gasp
Elizabeth
MAN
That ending just BLEW MY MIND the first time I saw it, SO DARK AND PERFECT
Hannah
SO WEIRD LOVE IT
Elizabeth
I literally walked out of the theater with my brain going “…AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED”
Kathryn
I think I enjoyed this more this time. That ending freaked me the hell out when I was younger.
Elizabeth
Yes it was upsetting but I still loved it
Hannah
Heh if you think about that movie, you get a better picture of why Forrest Gump was such a stylistic mess. This is not a man who wants to do earnest
Elizabeth
No indeed
Kathryn
Oo, I wanna hear the Best Pick do a Zemekis episode.
Hannah
That would be worth requesting. I know they all love Back to the Future as well as Roger Rabbit
Nathan
Apparently it was a stunt butt!
Hannah
hahah
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