Rating: 
Summary: Busch is Absolutely Fabulous!!!!
Review: The film Die Mommie Die has been on my list to own since seeing it twice in the theatres. Charles Busch leads a star studded cast to perfection in this hilarious parody and a loving remake of the1940's to 1960's women's pictures.
Angela Arden (Busch) an ex pop diva from the fifties, has lost her ability to sing as she once did and her abusive husband Sol Sussman (Phillip Baker Hall) tries to tame this temptress after finding out about her affair with the notorious gigolo Tony Parker (Jason Priestley). After his death, due to a poisoned suppository; His daughter Edith (Natasha Lyonne), son Lance (Stark Sands), and loyal maid Bootsie Carp (Frances Conroy) all begin to suspect Angela.
Everyone's presence on screen is a delight, from Charles Busch whom lights up the screen from the opening act to Frances Conroy's meddling as the maid.
Jason Priestley proves once again that he has a presence on the screen and in Hollywood as he takes on the whole family to try and find out what is Angela's dirty little secret.
As always Natasha Lyonne performs in top form as daddy's little girl and Stark Sands proves he has the talent to make it in this dirty town.
I highly recommend and plea that anyone who might be interested in this to purchase it as you will not regret owning this great and truly hilarious film.
Rating:
Summary: Quality Camp
Review: The films of Miss Crawford, Miss Davis, Miss Turner, and both Miss Francis's (Kay AND Connie) are spoofed here to hysterical perfection. The "suffering in mink" school of over the top womens pictures were slightly unbelievable even in the fifties and sixties; but many a major female star soldered through them with her chin held high (you photograph younger that way, darling!). As in the inspiration films, the leading lady, Angela Arden here, is impeccably (if theatrically)gowned and coiffed for every occasion. The rest of the production values are delightfully uneven. Purposfully-
Miss Arden is, of course, continuously backlit.
There are some wonderful rear projection automobile scenes!
Natasha Lyonne is perfection in the type of role that Sandra Dee played so often modeling Hollywood-teen chic!
Frances Conroy superbly underplays Bootsie. The blowsey yet winning maid (In the Agnes Moorehead mold).
The musical number "Why Not Me" is so good that you will find yourself searching the song lists of old Ella albums to see if it is a "reclaimed classic".
As in all well done satire, the cast plays every sordid moment with supreme earnestness. They aren't in on the joke, nor should they be.....
Buy this movie, you will watch it over and over again! It is a delight-
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious deadpan satire/homage to '60's melodramas
Review: The theatrical preview to director Mark Rucker's "Die Mommie Die!" (2003) makes it look like the worst kind of camp drag comedy/sendup, doing to Bette Davis/Joan Crawford melodramas what "Psycho Beach Party" did to '60's beach party movies. So I was reluctant to purchase this title, to say the least, but finally did on the basis of the previous customer reviews. Thanks to all of you for recommending one of the funniest and wittiest classic movie sendups I have seen in a long time.
"Die Mommie Die!" is not only a fabulously entertaining and gut-bustingly funny spoof, but also an affectionate tribute to a style of movies that Hollywood just doesn't make any more, and would make a terrific double feature with Todd Haynes' 2002 Douglas Sirk tribute "Far From Heaven." Credit must go to director Rucker, who knows how to ring laughs without trashing his source material, and writer/star Charles Busch, a cross-dressing playwright who clearly loves his source material and treats it with dignity and respect. Busch stars as Angela Arden, a faded one-time singing sensation (along with her late twin sister) who lives in Beverly Hills with her supremely disfunctional family including her cruel and foul-tempered husband Sol (Philip Baker Hall); her spoiled daughter Edith (Natasha Lyonne), who seems to have an incestuous attraction to her father; her troubled son Lance (Stark Sands), who has returned home after being thrown out of prep school for instigating too many gay orgies with his teachers (the last straw: he spun naked on the Lazy Susan (!)); and maid Bootsie ("Six Feet Under"'s Frances Conroy) who prefers Sol and loathes Angela. Things turn sinister when Angela murders Sol with a poison suppository (!) and the mysterious Tony Parker (Jason Priestly) shows up and seduces everyone in an attempt to find out what happened to Sol.
The truly brilliant aspect of "Die Mommie Die!" is in Charles Busch's portrayal of Angela. While Angela is obviously being played by a man in drag, he doesn't camp it up; rather, he plays her the exact same way she would have been played if Davis, Crawford, Rosalind Russell or any other actress of the time would have played her, that is, with dignity and grace. In other words, he is trying to be a real woman and not just a campy joke, and the performance works beautifully. The rest of the cast is on the same level, which is no surprise since Baker Hall, Conroy, Lyonne and Nora Dunn (in a teeny role) have done terrific work on film for years. And Jason Priestly (who was great several years ago in "Love and Death on Long Island" before his career was stalled by a devastating car crash) once again proves he, of all the "90210" and "Melrose Place" alumna, most deserves big-screen success and a chance at the kind of career Johnny Depp has created for himself.
But the real surprise here is first-timer Stark Sands, who is sensational as the supremely troubled Lance. He gives a brave, pitch-perfect performance whether he is painting naked men on the walls while dressed in a skort, singing and playing the guitar naked in the back yard in front of an astonished Priestly, or doing a dead-on, believable drag imitation of Angela. It's no wonder he hasn't stopped working since he made this film; he proves he's willing to do things on screen most actors would run screaming from, and that's what great actors are all about. Remember the name Stark Sands. He has "future superstar" written all over him.
Technically, the film is a marvel, copying the sixties technicolor look beautifully and utilizing only the filmmaking technology available at the time, including process shots. But instead of overdoing it and making everything look campily awful, the crew actually tries to make everything look as good as if they were making an A-list Hollywood film. Kudos to everyone down the line for a job well-done.
As for the DVD, the extras are standard but plentiful, with the aforementioned trailer, a beautiful widescreen 1:85:1 print, a funny and informative commentary by Rucker, Busch and Priestly, screen tests and an excised scene. And don't miss the chance to see Busch out of drag. In all, "Die Mommie Die!" is a cult-classic waiting to be discovered which can be enjoyed by even those (yours truly included) who are not necessarily fans of drag acts. **** (out of *****) for both the film and DVD presentation.
Rating: 
Summary: Campy Entertainment
Review: This film centers around Angela Arden, and over the hill singer from the 1950s. Surrounded by a dysfunctional family, including a husband that has her on lock down, a daughter that all but makes out with her father, and a gay son that has issues of his own, Angela, in old Hollywood style, poisons a suppository to get rid of her husband. However, the maid, Bootsie, knows...
Jason Priestley plays the giggolo that asks far too many questions while romancing everyone, male or female, in this warped family. He was hilarious in this movie.
While this black comedy is meant to be a throwback to the campy movies of yore and that is well understood from the outset, it was almost too much. Enoyable one time, but I probably would never watch it again on purpose. There were some laugh out loud moments, and other moments where the audience can only blink, asking themselves if that really just happened, then laughing at it, but it is definitely not a movie for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: I love this DVD
Review: This is an absolutely hirlarious movie. It is not meant to be taken seriously, so if you're in the mood for tons of camp, great acting and lots of laughs, buy this DVD. The picture and sound are outstanding (letterbox edition). I have added this selection to my permanent DVD collection. I suspect this film will, if it hasn't already, achieve a great cult following. Buy it while you can. It is refreshingly different. Jason Priestly is funny as heck and it's great to see him in such a different role. Busch is the star, however and is terrific as diva Arden. The song "Why Not Me" should be released as a single and is a tune you will not be able to get out of your head! Easily, one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST movie
Review: this movie is so great, i love it! I went to a special screening of it when it came to my town, and it was hilarious, charming, and absolutely great. I recommend it, highly!
Rating:
Summary: Too Funny
Review: This one is a real hoot. Bush is so funny here as the femme fatale done wrong by the world on one hand and doing it wrong on the other. The dialogue has so many sharp, funny lines that you may have to pause and skip back from time to time. Priestly, Lyonne, et. al. are great in this loving and hillarious look at the oldies melodramas. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: How Awful About Angela
Review: When I saw this as a play at the Coast theater in West Hollywood, I thought I would split my sides. Charles Busch could make walking across the room a laugh riot. I was a little leery of seeing the movie, fearing that in opening the play out with real locations, some of the fun would be gone.I had nothing to fear. This movie is hilarious, thanks in great part to Charles Busch's matchless portrayal of has-been "America's Nightengale" Angela Arden. Combining every Diva ever to grace the screen, and frosting her with his own devilish gleam, Busch is a hoot in this from beginning to end. An able supporting cast includes Phillip Baker Hall as the nasty husband who won't give Angela up, Stark Sands her belle-of-the-math-department son, Natasha Lyonne as her "heart belongs to daddy" daughter, Frances Conroy as the booze-swilling maid and, hilariously, Jason Priestly as the gigolo with a secret, who's willing to bed everybody in Beverly Hills to find out what he wants to know. I'm not going to give anymore away (although you have seen it all before); this movie is in limited release under the Sundance Film series. Not nearly as arch or arcane as some reviewers would have you believe, it's worth a trip out of your way to see it.
|
