Double Bill: Grey Gardens (1975 + 2009)
The Original: UNRATABLE
HBO film: 3/5 stars
In 1974 the Maysles Bros. were permitted to bring their cameras into the home of Big Edie and Little Edie Beale. Armed with tick repellant, taping their pant legs to their shoes they created a shocking and intimate portrait of the mother and daughter who are the original crazy old cat ladies of pop culture. They are now the stuff of legends whose legacy has been translated into an HBO film with Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore:
The documentary is too much to handle and it is no surprise that it was immediately embraced by a cult following. I would watch it again right now. The HBO film is interesting to watch just to give you more back-story, but really just a couple of impersonations and really of the TV "movie-of-the-week" calibre. I still enjoyed it because this story is just too fascinating and the actresses are good in anything so why not this? Also Jeanne Tripplehorn as Jackie Onassis is fantastic.
You can watch both of these films for free on Rogers on Demand under HBO Canada.
The trailer:
Here's the trailer for the original documentary:
Also, this person has Little Edie NAILED. He should have been hired by HBO:
2 comments:
Love your blog!
The original Grey Gardens is playing in the AFI Silver theater during the Silverdocs festival in a few weeks. Not sure offhand where you are located, but if you are within driving distance, it is going to be epic. I bought my tix the first day they went on sale. SO EXCITED.
Glad you like the blog. I don't know where you are but I live in Toronto. Thanks for reading! Any suggestions?
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