Mommie Dearest 1981 Faye Dunaway/Joan Crawford Bluray! *Paramount*

[Beachguy]

I'm tossing out a vote for Mommie Dearest to be released on Bluray. This is the 1981 Faye Dunaway vehicle portraying Joan Crawford that descends into pure camp.

This movie would look great on Bluray due to the production when it was made. Also, the print might already be done if a high def print was used for the Hollywood Royalty edition years ago.

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,534 wich is not bad considering the DVD collectors edition has been out for 6 years now!

[nf0603]

I'd definitely get this

[Guydowood]

"Don't F*ck with me Fellas Collector's Edition"..........

[slimdude]

I've always thought Mommie Dearest was one of Faye Dunaway's best performances. She'd portrayed, and resembled Joan Crawford to a tee, with the assistance of the make up artists, wardrobe costume designs, and hair stylists. Even though, the movie was a moderate success at the box office, Faye Dunaway should have a been nominated, and won an Academy Award for Mommie Dearest.

[KubrickFan]

Originally Posted by slimdude

I've always thought Mommie Dearest was one of Faye Dunaway's best performances. She'd portrayed, and resembled Joan Crawford to a tee, with the assistance of the make up artists, wardrobe costume designs, and hair stylists. Even though, the movie was a moderate success at the box office, Faye Dunaway should have a been nominated, and won an Academy Award for Mommie Dearest.

She thought so to, until everyone else saw the movie .

No, if there are awards given to "having the best intentions", I'm sure it would be nominated, but this is just a movie that's terribly directed, awfully written and hilariously badly acted. I do give Mrs. Dunaway the props of chewing more scenery than the entire careers of Al Pacino, Brian Blessed and William Shatner combined, but it's only watchable due to it being unintentionally hilarious.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Guydowood

"Don't F*ck with me Fellas Collector's Edition"..........

"NO WIRE HANGERS!" edition

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by Beachguy

This is the 1981 Faye Dunaway vehicle portraying Joan Crawford that descends into pure camp.

There's nothing amusing at all about Mommie Dearest.
It's an excellent biography/drama.
Actress Faye Dunaway should have won an Oscar for her portrayal of Joan Crawford.

[nf0603]

Originally Posted by timcat4843

There's nothing amusing at all about Mommie Dearest.
It's an excellent biography/drama.
Actress Faye Dunaway should have won an Oscar for her portrayal of Joan Crawford.

I agree and disagree with you at the same time. I thought Faye was riveting in it and made Joan a very complex character study, but IMO Diana Scarwid's performance was total camp, just the way she read lines, etc...

I'd buy the movie on Blu.

[Raphdude]

I'd buy this on Blu, with a wire hanger included of course

[EricAD]

Originally Posted by Raphdude

I'd buy this on Blu, with a wire hanger included of course

This, along with Showgirls, is one of the best, most entertaining most quotable train wrecks Hollywood has ever produced, along with Showgirls. So count this as one more vote for the Blu ray. But this being a Paramount catalog title, I'm not holding my breath.

[ThisIsJonny]

I would love if they released this on blu-ray!

[AaronSCH]

Originally Posted by timcat4843

There's nothing amusing at all about Mommie Dearest.
It's an excellent biography/drama.
Actress Faye Dunaway should have won an Oscar for her portrayal of Joan Crawford.

Are you serious? It's high camp—without any intention to be so! Faye Dunaway"s performance is over-the-top and hysterical. There is nothing award-worthy about that film. But it's definitely a fun film to watch, no doubt. It would be a terrific double bill with "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"

[MiracleandWonder]

Aaron is correct. Mommie Dearest is as camp as anything John Waters made.

[hockeyshark91]

Originally Posted by MiracleandWonder

Aaron is correct. Mommie Dearest is as camp as anything John Waters made.

And he is also right about it being a fun film to watch.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by AaronSCH

Are you serious? It's high camp—without any intention to be so! Faye Dunaway"s performance is over-the-top and hysterical. There is nothing award-worthy about that film. But it's definitely a fun film to watch, no doubt. It would be a terrific double bill with "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"

Her performance wasn't comical at all! Some people just have a weird, macabre sense of humor, and will laugh at anything. People laughed at The Exorcist and Carrie (1977) now what does that tell you.

[hockeyshark91]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Her performance wasn't comical at all! Some people just have a weird, macabre sense of humor, and will laugh at anything. People laughed at The Exorcist and Carrie (1977) now what does that tell you.

Nervous laughter.

[MiracleandWonder]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Her performance wasn't comical at all! Some people just have a weird, macabre sense of humor, and will laugh at anything. People laughed at The Exorcist and Carrie (1977) now what does that tell you.

Faye plays the part like a drag impersonation

[AaronSCH]

Originally Posted by MiracleandWonder

Faye plays the part like a drag impersonation

You nailed it... Nobody I know EVER took that film seriously. People were laughing in the theater when it was first released—and I mean nearly everyone. The line "no more wire hangers" was repeated endlessly followed by raucous laughter. This isn't a handful of people with a macabre sense of humor. Most people find it to be so over-the top that its funny. Put it on Blu and its in my collection on release day and I'll throw a viewing party—cross
dressing optional.

[yhzmr]

Originally Posted by AaronSCH

Are you serious? It's high camp—without any intention to be so! Faye Dunaway"s performance is over-the-top and hysterical. There is nothing award-worthy about that film. But it's definitely a fun film to watch, no doubt. It would be a terrific double bill with "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"

Ms. Dunaway's performance was fearless. I'm sad to hear she is embarrassed by it. Much of the "blame" goes to the director who neglected to restrain her in any way. When she is on top of Christina with elbows flying the actress playing the maid trying to restrain her actually falls down. This performance among others is why I have such a high regard for Faye Dunaway as an actress.

[Rockercub]

Originally Posted by yhzmr

Ms. Dunaway's performance was fearless. I'm sad to hear she is embarrassed by it. Much of the "blame" goes to the director who neglected to restrain her in any way. When she is on top of Christina with elbows flying the actress playing the maid trying to restrain her actually falls down. This performance among others is why I have such a high regard for Faye Dunaway as an actress.

I agree. I think it's an Oscar-worthy performance. She's chewing the scenery, but she's playing an actress who very likely chewed a bit of scenery in her home life.

As to the movie, I kind of get the push-back on the camp angle. It reminds me of Showgirls in that it's a movie I can appreciate on two levels, serious movie and camp/cult classic. Showgirls failed in its serious intentions, but I can see what Verhoeven was trying to do with it, and I can watch it with that in mind. Same thing with Mommie Dearest, only I think it was actually much more successful at what it was going for. The problem is that melodrama lends itself to a camp reading. So, yeah, I can see how someone would take the movie seriously, but what is unintentionally humorous is in the eye of the beholder.