Beauty vs Beast: Who's Those Girls
Monday, August 15, 2016 at 3:00PM 
Jason from MNPP here, letting you know for this week's "Beauty vs Beast" that sometimes, at night times, I close and lock the door so no one else can see and... I dance! I dance all by myself! And tomorrow we will all dance (for inspiration) because tomorrow Madonna, the one and only, is turning 58. So now is not the time to haggle over her acting skills - let's just accept the fact that the world would be a less fun place if the she-lady of white lace gloves had never stomped into it, and look at what is probably her best (fictional) turn on-screen, in 1985's Desperately Seeking Susan.
I had never seen this movie until earlier this year when our estimable host Nathaniel dragged me to it at a screening at the Metrograph here in NYC, can you believe that? Speaking of, Metrograph is doing an entire retrospective of the Material Girl's movies later this month, including showing Susan once again, and I highly recommend catching it on a big screen - it's like being dropped into the fanciful 80s East Village of magicians and thrift shops of your dreams. The entire cast is stuffed with about-to-be-somebodies like Aidan Quinn (humina humina) and Laurie Metcalf, and the leading goofball two-some of Rosanna Arquette & Madonna are a true pop delight.
PREVIOUSLY Even though it was his birthday, and even though he's a certifiable acting legend, poor Dustin Hoffman didn't stand a chance -- we'd all long ago been seduced away by Anne Bancroft's smoky eyes and smokier delivery as the iconic older woman in The Graduate; Mrs. Robinson took just under 80% of your vote. Said Tom:
"As soon as Mrs Robinson wondered into his bedroom "mistakenly" looking for the bathroom, I knew this was a performance for the ages."
Reader Comments (5)
I'm can't bring myself to vote against either of these fantastic women, so I'll conscientiously abstain, and just wait a week to find out how much Madonna won by.
Madonna, of course.
Talk about Sophie's Choice. I only picked Roberta because, when I first saw this, I was a closeted 17 year old then living in Louisiana, who dreamed of a better, more fabulous world in New York City.
Such a fun, fun, fun movie, and yes, beautiful Aiden Quinn dropping that towel... sigh.....
My vote is for Susan, but I love also Roberta/Arquette who scored for this fab turn a Bafta as Best Supporting Actress in a very Oscar mode category fraud
And you can dance
For inspiration
Come on
I'm waiting
I'm voting for Roberta because she gets to sleep with Aidan Quinn.