So, I don’t remember any good quotes from the movie. But that may be because I’ve only had about four hours sleep and I’m not really all that sharp when I’m tired. Or it could be that I need to see a movie a couple of times before I can remember any quotes. Or maybe it just isn’t as good as the original.
I really did love the movie. No, it wasn’t the original. But I didn’t go into thinking it was going to be the original. After all, it’s based on the musical that was based on the original. So, as a stand on it’s own type movie, it was good. Except that if it had been a stand on it’s own movie, I probably never would have seen it. Well, Christopher Walken married to John Travolta in drag… I would have still seen it. I’m rambling here aren’t I?
I don’t do movie reviews. I tell you if I liked it or hated it and then pretty much go on about my business. But I’m having a hard time letting this one go. It really made me want to come home and watch the original. John Waters does make a brief appearance very early in the movie though. (yay) I so love John Waters. Anyway, it was cast really well. I’ve never seen Zac Efron in anything, mostly because I’ve never seen High School Musical, but he was great as Link. (He’s no Michael St. Gerard though) Rikki Lake made an appearance at the end as a talent agent. Okay, okay, I’m going to keep comparing it to the original! I can’t help myself.
The original was tacky and trashy and hilarious and, well, just awful and wonderful all rolled up into one hot mess. I’ve seen it a million times since I was 12 and I know damn near every word in the script, not to mention all of the words to all of the songs. It’s like a train wreck that I keep watching over and over again. The costumes were better simply because they were worse, I mean, it was the 80’s for crying out loud! The music was better, the actors said horrible, horrible lines with straight faces, the acting was so bad it was good, and it had Sonny Bono and Mink Stole in it. Seriously, I could go on all day. My love for Waters’ ‘88 Hairsray is pretty unnatural, I admit.
Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle was good. She made a good bad guy, er woman, er, well she made a great bitch anyhow. But, she was no Debbie Harry. And the hair! What happened to the hair in this movie? I read magazine articles about how great the hair was going to be in this movie. Everyone had a dozen different wigs or some such crap and the hair was going to be outragious. But, no. The hair in this movie just fell flat. (Sorry, bad pun) Tracy did have straight hair in the final scene, but we don’t know why. If she met a couple of beatnics who told her to iron her hair, she did it while we were watching everyone else dance and sing.
I really sound like I didn’t like the movie. I really did. My greatest fear with this movie was that Christopher Walkin and John Travolta were going to kiss. At one point in the movie I was watching from between my fingers because I was so sure it was going to happen and I wanted to be able to cover my eyes. That is one image I did not need to have seared onto my retinas thankyouverymuch. But it didn’t happen. Sorry if I just ruined that for you. Oops. But it should come as relief to you to know that. Really. I mean, John was good as Edna. He really was. I was rather shocked myself. But he played the part that was written very well. I mean, he’s no Divine by any stretch of the imaginiation, but he did alright, but no amount of good acting could ever make a kiss between those two okay.
Okay, so, I have now rambled on about this movie long enough. Apparently I am confused about how I actually feel about the movie, which in and of itself is kind of sad. But I’m watching the original now and everything is all better. I will buy the new one when it’s released on DVD, but it will never replace this classic trash heap in my heart.
So, I’m leaving this afternoon to go out of town for work. Good times. I’m heading to Harrisonburg and Culpeper for four days. I’ll be back sometime Wednesday afternoon or evening, it just depends on how long it takes me to get through rush hour traffic in Fredricksburg. I’m taking my first three Harry Potter books. I’m almost done with TSS and should probably finish it tonight in the hotel. I don’t watch too much regular tv in the hotels because I’m so used to watching my movies at home, so unless I’m watching Law & Order I make sure I have plenty to read. I really need to invest in a laptop. Then I could be online when I’m out of town, and I could pack some DVDs. Alright, if you’ve actually read this train wreck of an entry all the way to the end, congratulations. And toodles ~
“Don’t look at me! I have a blemish!”
“Penny Pingleton, you are positively, permanetly punished!”
“Finally, all of Baltimore knows, I’m big, blonde, and beautiful!”
“Oh God, he’s violating the oath of the friendship ring!”
“Tracy, our souls are black, even though our skin is white.”
“Are you two checkerboard chicks?”
“Let’s get naked and smoke.”
“Penny, they put me in special ed just because of my hair.”
“You look like a hair hopper to me.”
“Don’t you try to put your voodoo spells on me, you native woman!”
“Baltimore is not ready for integrated dancing!”
“Oooh, papa tooney, we’ve got a looney.”
“Please wait outside. The council will now meet in secret, debate your personality flaws and come to a final decision.”
“Don’t breathe it in! You’ll get addicted!”
“Even Jackie Kennedy, our first lady, rats her hair.”
