We’ve been on a Bill Murray kick here with these visible quotes.  And this time we’ve got one of his greatest, and shortest performances.  Coffee and Cigarettes is veritable goldmine of incredible quotes.  The performances that director Jim Jarmusch pulled out of each of his stars are all amazing.

The basic idea here is several short conversations that we get to observe.  The people having the conversations are always smoking and drinking coffee, and they sometimes talk about that.  The participants include Iggy Pop with Tom Waits, Alfred Molina with Steve Coogan, several other interesting combinations, and my personal favorite, Bill Murray with RZA and GZA from Wu-Tang Clan.

I have no idea if the conversation that includes the pictured line was scripted or made up on the spot.  But regardless, its brilliant.  Just like the rest of the movie.

First we have aesthetic differences. It’s winter now, not fall, and we’re not in the suburbs. Snow aids the steeper white/black contrasts in the first half of the movie, and lower lighting makes for faster falloff. It’s not a seemingly happy suburban place where events are so incongruous with the setting that they are almost automatically funny. Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed more steadily adheres to a conventional horror aesthetic. The humor is still there, but it’s in the characters’ reactions to things, not in the events themselves. It’s a lot less campy and more about simple sentences or facial expressions.

Because the enemy is not a protagonist you’re watching change but an unknown stalker lycan, this installment makes great use of point of view. The viewer never really knows whom to trust, and there is a constant feeling that the viewer shares the position of the spying entity at times aligned with Brigitte, Ghost and even Stalker Lycan.

While the ever-memorable death of the dog repeats itself, the movie is rife with inconsistencies or at least reconsiderations of truths established for us in Ginger Snaps. Once again the traditions of werewolf lore are moot, but no real distinction is made by the clinic between monkshood and wolfsbane. Ghost’s comics mention wolfsbane, too. Maybe they’re just ignorant characters, or maybe the movie details are sloppy. Who knows? People to whom I don’t have access so we’ll move on.

As long as we’re talking about monkshood, we have to talk about the cure.* In Ginger Snaps, Brigitte stabs Jason (Jesse Moss) with a syringe, and he’s magically cured and runs away. Brigitte is so excited that she’s found the cure that she recklessly infects herself so Ginger will trust her. In Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed the monkshood only slows the change, and the more you use it the less effective it becomes. Eventually the monkshood seems to make her change faster! I suppose we could “scientifically” say that the infection rises up to fight the monkshood. Her body rejects it, and her latent wolf traits manifest. Once again, does this change our understanding of the Ginger Snaps mythos, or is this an example of directorial oversight or artistic license? To answer this, we need access to a character no longer available to us. Where is Jason? Could it be that the insidious Stalker Lycan is he? Hmmmm?

Speaking of lycans, the title of the movie IS partially Ginger Snaps, and Katharine Isabel IS on some of the movie posters. What does she represent in Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed? She pops up whenever Brigitte finds herself particularly affected by the curse – about to inject herself with monkshood or about to make a kill….

She isn’t the sister figure anymore because Ghost clearly wants and in certain ways usurps that role in Brigitte’s life. She’s not really an angel or a demon on the shoulder, and she certainly doesn’t encourage. I maintain she simply represents the lycan within, especially when Brigitte hallucinates the Stalker Lycan’s face with Ginger’s voice. I welcome any other theories.

So if Brigitte fights the change and Ginger welcomes it, why? Even when Brigitte embraces her instincts she doesn’t accept her destructive nature, just her need for blood. The animal is already dying when she gets there. Why does Brigitte get to be the hero, the Cullen, Angel, who only eats animals as long as she can help it? Werewolves don’t often get this luxury because the change is usually instantaneous and out of their control. Brigitte knows she’s turning, but she can fight it – whereas Ginger just gets scared and goes with it, acting out like a typical angsty teen addicted to lycanthropic power. So what’s so special about Brigitte?

Brigitte: “I’m not like you, Ginger. I’m stronger.”

Ginger: “Oh, really? That’s not how I remember the first fifteen years of your life.”

Brigitte: “It’s how I remember the last fifteen minutes of yours.”

The distinction is there. Why? Especially when Brigitte doesn’t get to overcome. She gets to be a “hellhound.”

What about sexuality? Ginger succumbs to her lust whereas Brigitte just smells people (“I have a great sense of smell.” Haha). So where do we stand with sex in the sequel? There is absolutely nothing about Brigitte’s menstruation, but she is sexualized by Jeremy, Tyler and even her counselor (“Lesbian?”). Brigitte experiences a sexual awakening (absolutely insane tutorial on female masturbation…), but it’s frightening because it’s explicitly tied to her transformation. Sex is still equated to killing.

Regardless of how Brigitte thinks of sex, lots of things are being said about sex. Tyler trades sex for drugs, Ghost says she’s molested… Sex is the mechanism for the “reign of moral terror,” and then by proxy lycanthropy is. We are still killing men in the name of our sister, and it’s pretty much just nuts.

Speaking of killing people in the name of our sister and molestation, let’s turn our attention to Ghost. At first, she’s the prophet who speaks in verse. Then she’s the author who pens what she sees. Then she’s the artist who recreates what she sees. Then she’s the adopted little sister. I wonder if this movie speaks to the nature of children or how people think of children. At first you may think Ghost is a precocious child – enamored with fantasy and a little nosy and annoying. Her enthusiasm goes beyond the kind you’d see in Doctor Who when the Doctor and Rose meet a werewolf (or Charles Dickens…). She doesn’t just glory in the moment. She makes the moment her own.

Tyler: “I don’t think she knows what’s real and what’s a cartoon.”

Brigitte: “That’s convenient. You get off on that, don’t you?”

Based on this exchange, we shouldn’t treat children as if they don’t know what’s going on or as if they’re unreliable, but Ghost is totally unreliable because she’s absolutely crazy cakes, which completely undercuts any idea that all children are innocent or stupid or easily lost in an imaginary world. Unless it doesn’t.

Ghost clearly creates a story – “Comics are very incoherent. Their makers send them out into the world unprepared for all the demons and enemies they’ll face. I assess their weaknesses… make them stronger.” She’s not stupid or innocent. She’s a master manipulator. So when she loses herself in a world of her own creation, she is no longer capable of representing all children because (I cannot stress this enough) she is totally crazy cakes. Fact.

Ghost is the only one who really sees Brigitte though. There are certain things about Brigitte’s time in the rehabilitation center that don’t really make sense. For instance, the introduction is someone (presumably Brigitte) shaving her entire body (presumably because it is covered in hair because she is turning into a werewolf). By the time she’s in the institution (if it’s her and not Ginger from the first movie or some other random Lady Lycan), she should be super hairy. She also has scars all over her arm so she’s a suicide risk. She’s not allowed a razor. How is she not COVERED in hair? If she is, she could cover it, but they keep taking her blood and looking at her arm. Do not tell me she has been shaving with the shard of glass she hid under the sink in the bathroom. I will not believe you. Not only that, but does no one really notice that she has hands like the pads on paws? And adorable puppy ears?

And do her doctors not notice that she seems to look worse the longer she’s in rehab? How long does withdrawal last? Seriously.

The wolf in the movie isn’t the white wolf like Ginger. The Stalker Lycan actually looks like a giant wolf, not a giant white wolf-thing. It has hair all over its body and a snout that looks like a more appropriate length for its size. It also has the teeth to match. My complaint would be its arms. It’s so much better than the werewolves in Ginger Snaps though that I can’t really complain at all. I’m not going to compare Stalker Lycan to Remus Lupin though. The comparison isn’t fair.

In terms of transformation, Brigitte kind of goes back and forth. Her arousal and her rage provoke transformation, but calming down or injecting herself will reverse or slow things a bit. Of course she cuts her ears like Ginger tries to cut her tail. Hiding, hiding, hiding. She can’t hide her face though. Whereas Transforming Ginger looks like a klingon, Mostly Brigitte just looks deformed – like she has elephantiasis or like her face is sliding off.**

In that scene when she confronts Tyler about Ghost, she kind of looks like a hot demon though, which evokes Ginger pre-klingon days.

I will end with one of my favorite parts of the movie: the scene in which Brigitte files her teeth. Que cute!

Fondly,

Susan

*As promised to be discussed in part 1

**As will be discussed in part 3

Bill Murray is one of the greatest things to ever happen to movies.  And for the last several years, he has been at his best when he is being directed by Wes Anderson.  And my personal favorite from all of these partnerships is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.  The entire movie is beautiful, but Bill Murray’s performance is absolutely perfect.  And, in my opinion, this scene captures the character so wonderfully.

-david

That's-not-what-I'm-Gonna-Do-Nuts by Tyler Darby

"Our life is in your hands and you have butterfingers?"

Dinosaur infested coffee.

Dr. Ian Malcolm by the menu.

Jurassic Pork and Egg Casserole (thanks Cindy and Tyler)

Dino Droppings (chocolate covered, strawberry cakeballs)

My handsome cook.

Enjoyment.

Gallimimosas abound.

Lounging like a brachiosaurus.

Assembling T-Rex model.

The birthday girl, meself.

Check it:

Jurassic Party Menu

Desserts & Drinks

Likely the only grownish person to have 4 Spielbergasm birthdays within a six year period,

Lara

PS I forgot to take my camera to the Drafthouse, but suffice it to say, it was magic.

I have to preface this by saying I am slightly in love with Emily Perkins. She is everything Winona Ryder wanted to be in the 80s – a perfect combination of Veronica and Lydia.

Veronica from Heathers! Lydia from Beetlejuice! Brigitte from Ginger Snaps!

And she is perfect always. I mean always.

Eunice from She's the Man!

I will also preface by saying I like werewolves. They’re scary because they could actually happen.

Now we will acknowledge that this movie (and really this series) is flawed. There are times that it contradicts itself or is just completely illogical. For instance, the premise makes little to no sense.

First, “Out by 16 or dead in the scene, but together forever.” What “scene” exactly are Brigitte and Ginger imagining when they are (or ONE of them is) eight years old? It’s a terrible pact as far as rhyming goes. It’s no “Remember, remember the 5^th of November” anyway.

Second, IF you’re planning to kill yourself by 16 because suicide is “the ultimate fuck you,” how is it fair to make your deadline about age? Brigitte is almost 15 when Ginger is almost 16 so Brigitte is being cheated out of a year of her life.

IF they are a year apart, how are they both three years late menstruating? (Do not even get me started on the parallels between Ginger Snaps and Carrie. That is an entire post of its own).

On a random note, if you want to keep your period a secret, why would you put bloody panties in the laundry your mother does?

I could go on… but I think we all get the point.

With that out of the way, we can discuss the movie in terms of its own rules, not in terms of logical ones.

Again, we go back to the premise – two sisters who want to stay together forever and are obsessed with death, staging their own deaths constantly. Now let’s talk about Harold and Maude. Then let’s talk about The Virgin Suicides. Let’s even talk about Heathers! How is wanting to die or faking death remotely subversive in the year 2000?

Ginger Dead on a Fence Post

IS it subversive in a comedy, especially one that relies so subtly (dare I say elegantly?!?!?!) on camp humor? Maybe it’s different because it’s a werewolf movie. If the werewolf is the repressed part of the human psyche that only surfaces during the full moon, does it automatically destabilize? How dare we take liminal spaces for granted! In Ginger Snaps, we can’t because it’s a horror movie. Balance is not restored. In fact, it’s even more permanent than say, The Howling (1981, dir. Joe Dante). Once you start to turn, you can’t go back. It’s more like Wolf (1994, dir. Mike Nichols), except that the resulting transformation doesn’t come down to whether or not you have the personality/sexual prowess of Jack Nicholson or James Spader. There is no convincing Michelle Pfeifer (OR BELLA!?!?) to embrace the fantastic. The other side should ALWAYS be caged and repressed, and here we reinforce our norms… except it’s also a comedy. So maybe we don’t.*

Then again, maybe you can go back. There is a “cure,” which seems to work on a classmate who is infected.**  Now let’s talk about this cure because it’s not a curse reversal. There is no “kill the werewolf who bit you” nonsense.*** “Right, see, biology! Now there’s something you can sink your teeth into. So to speak. You’re real. Your problem’s real. The solution’s real. Not bam death by morality call.” The mythos of this movie is based on science! JK would have a fit because Severus Snape could cure metaphorical fantasy HIV! Problematic allegory=Ruined. When magic becomes science, the lines between fantasy and science fiction become blurred, and in my book genre bending is usually a win. Praise Jesus that Brigitte’s non-boyfriend deals drugs & knows how to cook that stuff up!

Corn syrup! Want to taste, daddy?

(THIS MOMENT IS SO JOKES IT’S RIDICULOUS! AND CARRIE!)

Speaking of non-boyfriend, we venture on to gender presentation. This movie hits almost every point of stereotypical feminist critique.  A guy gets laid, but a girl is a lay. Ginger beats up on every guy who looks twice at Brigitte, and Sam is a “cherry hound.” Cramping really hurts. “No one ever thinks chicks do shit like this. Trust me. A girl can only be a slut, bitch, tease or the virgin next door. We’ll just coast on how the world works. [beat] Think she’s pretty?” And so on. It’s very entertaining. So how is it NOT typical? How about the fact that Sam is not Brigitte’s lover man? After he hears she’s growing a tail, he doesn’t seem so excited, and he makes a point of telling Brigitte he doesn’t think of her like that (Compare to Ron Weasley’s reaction upon seeing Hermione Granger’s tail after she accidentally adds Millicent Bulstrode’s cat’s hair to her polyjuice potion…) If that’s not enough, what about when the boy starts starts bleeding from his nether regions? And so the Biblical curse is passed to the man via sexual relations.  Bam! The woman is not the only one punished for her sins. Although it may be worth noting that Ginger is punished just because she reaches puberty while that guy is punished for his actions. Therefore, a woman is again responsible for the fall of man (Grad ssssschool ruinsssssss usssss).

Critique: I know that it was for comedy, but I learned more about menstruation from this movie than I did from any health class I have ever taken. So simultaneous props and shudders. It was pretty gross. Query for discussion: Does this movie subvert the trope of werewolf curse & puberty in the coming of age horror story through comedy, or does it reinforce it?

Random: Isn’t Kris Lemche secretly Christian Slater? Heathers just keeps happening.

Christian Slater Smoking in Heathers and Kris Lemche Smoking in Ginger Snaps

I’m not going to talk extensively about it, but does everyone remember that scene in which Brigitte comes across the other werewolf guy literally trying to take candy from that kid? I find I want to laugh at the immediate joke while at the same time question the “big bad wolf” nature of the situation, considering how loaded the wolf is in fairy tales. Hilarious joke or comment about high school boy sexuality? Both? Eh? 

I also am not going to mention the very strange relationship that Brigitte and Ginger have with their parents. A lot happens there, and this post is probably already too long. I will ask this though: Why does Mrs. Fitzgerald take the tupperware container with the fingers in it into the greenhouse party? What is she planning to do?!?!? It’s the loose end I will never forgive.

Okay. I know you’ve all been so impatient for this to end, if you have even read this far. We just have one more really important issue – the werewolves’ appearances!

Werewolf Ginger in Ginger Snaps

For some reason as Ginger becomes more and more of a lycan, her hair runs from “ginger” to white. Maybe there is something to great power turning hair lighter/white (Rogue, Storm, Goku… ) I had a bit of an issue with this because it didn’t really make sense when comparing Ginger to other lycans. Plus as a werewolf she doesn’t have hair all over her body, nor did the other werewolves in the movie. During the actual transformation, however, she has hair all over her, growing in places it shouldn’t be growing. She also transforms differently than the other transforming werewolf in the movie. That guy comes off more like James Spader in Wolf.  Ginger kind of looks like a Klingon.

Klingon Ginger from Ginger Snaps

I don’t really like it. How do you feel about it?

Anyway, I’m done now. Anticipate the next two soon.

Love, 

Susan

*Discuss! That’s the purpose of this blog! Yay!

** To be discussed further in part 2 of 3

***To be discussed in part 3 of 3

PS One more picture of Emily Perkins? In front of all the feminine products? Eeeeh?

To make this list, we had to put down a few ground rules.  Our first idea was simply jobs from a movie that we would want.  But it quickly become apparent that those would all involve Outer Space.  So, we changed it to jobs that we could actually have.  And that eventually became stores we would want to work in.  So, here it is.  As always, please let us know if we forgot anything, leave your own lists in the comments, and feel free to suggest any future Top 5 Lists.

David’s List

5.  The Travel Book Shop, from Notting Hill

One of the areas where Lara and I disagree is on romantic comedies, and Hugh Grant romantic comedies in particular.  I love them.  And one of my absolute favorites is Notting Hill.  And one of the most charming aspects of this completely charming film, is the bookstore that Will (Hugh Grant) owns.  It’s a travel bookstore, meaning it only deals with travel books.  Some people might find this boring, in fact, there are days when I’m sure I would find this boring, but it’s so utterly charming, and it’s in such a wonderful location, that I would still love to work there.  It’s quiet, it’s beautiful, and you get to hang out with the best version of Hugh Grant ever.

4.  Be Kind Rewind, from Be Kind Rewind

I would love to work in an independent video store.  And a crazy, old school video store, across the street from a junkyard owned by a slightly mad person, that is constantly hosting weird community events, is the video store of my dreams.  Movies are one thing that can bring people of all different backgrounds together, and the Be Kind Rewind store was the perfect example of that.  The entire community came together to make movies, to watch movies, and to love movies together.  That is exactly what makes movies beautiful, and that is exactly why I want to work there.

3.  Empire Records, from Empire Records

I have dreamed of working here since the first time I saw this movie.  This is pretty close to paradise for an employee.  The manager wants to have fun just as much as you do, and he’s not above throwing a celebrity out of the store if he’s a huge jerk.  Everyone you work with is extremely cool.  Incredible 90s music is constantly played.  And there’s a good chance you’ll get to be in a band at some point.  Or just talk to Ethan Embry about starting one.  Either one would be perfect.

2.  Ray’s Occult Books, from Ghostbusters II

Books are always interesting.  Occult books are even more interesting.  And hanging out with all four original Ghostbusters, while being an employee for Ray Stantz, is the most interesting thing I can think of.  While the scene in Ghostbusters II where they actually show Ray’s Occult Books is pretty short, it’s one of the best scenes in the movie.  The stuff he has for sale is fascinating.  The customers are bizarre and hilarious.  It looks like it might be the perfect work environment.  As long as it stays in business and no demons are accidently summoned.

1.  High Fidelity, from High Fidelity

The ultimate slacker’s record shop.  Not just in terms of the customers, but from the employees as well.  And at this point in my life, that is really appealing.  I have things I care about, and working at High Fidelity is perfect for them.  Not only would I be surrounded by records all day, but I would be working with really weird/hilarious people, there is zero stress, and customer service is not the ultimate goal.  After working in the service industry for a few years, your ultimate work fantasy eventually becomes a place where you can yell at the customers when they deserve it.  And if you also get to work with something you love and hang out with John Cusack and Jack Black while you do it, well all the better.

Lara’s List

5. Trax, from Pretty in Pink

I’m not much of a music buff, especially when it comes to 80s punk and all that noisy what-not, but Trax still would be a great place to work. First of all, there’s the element of organized chaos; it’s obviously got some order, which I absolutely need, but it’s also got the perfect amount of clutter and pizzazz. Then there’s Iona, the ideal boss who staples records to the ceiling, gives love advice, and, best of all, lets you come and go as you please. And thirdofly, Duckie is a regular. And any old time I’d want him to come and lip-synch like a master, I could just put on some Otis Redding, sit back, and swoon. Drawbacks: lack of music knowledge.

4. Flynn’s Arcade, from Tron

Whether or not it transports you into another dimension, Flynn’s Arcade is awesome. It’s got the classics, your Asteroids, your Pac-Mans, your Space Invaders, plus there are games that Dreamy McDreamerson (Flynn) himself created: Matrix Blaster, Vice Squad, TRON, etc. Drawbacks: constant bright-flashing machines may cause seizures, so may being around teenagers all day.

3. Duncan’s Toy Chest, from Home Alone 2

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of New York City, there is a homey store filled with all sorts of games and knickknacks and magic. Every time I watch this movie, I so badly want to build models, run up and down the stairs, and partake in general tinkerment. It’s the embodiment of Christmas! To be an employee there would be phenomenal, I’d get to play with kids and assemble toys AND hopefully befriend Mr. Duncan so as to start a collection of sweet smiles and turtledoves. Drawbacks: Sticky Bandits.

2. La Chocolaterie Maya, from Chocolat

Um…delicious chocolate, Irish gypsies, and Mayan enchantment, need I say more? I’d let Roux come around any time to get the squeak out of my door. Drawbacks: angry Frenchmen and potential obesity.

1. The Shop Around The Corner, from You’ve Got Mail

This is the job I want more than any other in the world. To be surrounded by children’s books AND children IN New York City. Not only does Kathleen get to decorate the store with characters like Arthur, Tigger, and Eloise, she also hangs out with characters like Christina, George, and Birdie. And, I mean, just look at the image! In this one, cozy little corner of The Corner is Winnie the Pooh, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Boy, Stellaluna, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, The Grouchy Ladybug, Chrysanthemum, and Dr. Seuss galore. I itch to explore the shop, cuddle up with a children’s classic and some cocoa, and have the title of Storybook Lady. Drawbacks: Fox Books.

So, look through the links.  Expand your horizons.  You’ll love it!

Timothy Dalton loves to expand his horizons!

Today, we have Flash Gordon, one of my favorite movies.  What could be better than a comic strip/film serial from the 1930s being remade in the 1980s with tons of bright colors, a soundtrack by Queen, Timothy Dalton in bright green tights, and, most importantly, Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless.  Ming is one of my all time favorite villains.  So, getting to see him played by one of the greatest actors of the last several decades is amazing.

His disdain for all living things, except himself.  His unending arrogance and faith in his own superiority.  His fantastic facial hair.  Its all there.  And its all perfectly captured in this scene.

-david