Cinema Tuesdays {Harold and Maude}

I once got talking to one of the shop assistants in my favourite vintage store about Harold and Maude and we both agreed that it was one of the most optimistic films ever made and that the daisies speech is quite profound. If you haven't seen this 1971 cult classic, then you are truly missing out on a cinematic treat.

Framed by a fantastic soundtrack by Cat Stevens, Harold and Maude tells the story of two funeral crashers who form an unlikely bond. Harold is an 18-year-old who is obsessed with death and is looking to gain some form of meaning and purpose in his life. Maude is a wise, carefree and quirky 79-year-old who lives a life rich with meaning and purpose. Harold is part of a generation that can see no purpose in life and therefore cannot see the meaning of life. Maude contrasts Harold's nihilism by having endured and survive the horrors of the first half of the century and sees the meaning and purpose of her life is to enjoy each and every day and to seek out new experiences in the short time that we all have on earth.

Did I also mention that Maude lives in an old train carriage? Wouldn't that be an awesome place to live in?

Despite it being a cult movie, Harold and Maude is quite hard to find. There is a torrent out there. The Region 1 DVD appears to be out of print and therefore expensive. However, the Region 2 is quite cheap. But I really think that it deserves to be re-mastered and issued by Critereon. I'd buy it, wouldn't you?

Cinema Tuesdays {Hairspray}

Hairspray (in case you didn't already know) is the story of "pleasantly plump" Tracy Turnblatt who joins The Corny Collins Show as a keen teen dancer and successfully manages to integrate it in 1962's Baltimore. Hairspray is a parody of shows like American Bandstand and Baltimore's local version The Buddy Deane Show and it also shows the problem that Americans had when faced with the issue of segregation or integration.

I've gone with the original 1988 John Waters' (this was his first PG rated film) movie instead of the recent Broadway musical version, mostly because I find the sets here to be far more realistic. And this one has Ruth Brown and Debbie Harry. Plus I find Divine's version of Edna to be far more believable than John Travolta's turn, mostly because I kept expecting him to start singing "Summer Nights" in drag.

Also, the hair is much more hilarious in this version and it shows girls actually ironing their hair, which was done though an incredibly stupid thing to do.

I want that dress!