Review: "Book Club"

by Chris Feil

2018 summer superhero movie season has peaked, now with the arrival of its definitive chapter: Book Club, where Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen read Fifty Shades of Grey and reclaim the romance in their lives. Think they can’t handle not one but a slew of Thanoses? Well, consider that they are also teaming up with four Oscars, six Emmys, twelve Golden Globes, and several cases of pinot grigio.

Steenburgen is the entrepreneurial straight shooter Carol, the one most in tuned to her own needs but perhaps not to others’. As Sharon, Candice Bergen battles her timid seriousness against the need for a new beginning. Fonda’s Vivian is the group individualist, drinking rosé when the rest prefer white, hating everyone else’s favorite book selections. And Diane Keaton as... Diane (it’s really something to see Diane Keaton do Diane Keaton drag) is the guarded one, initially seeming to be the least distinct character but ultimately reveals a woman burying much of what she thinks and feels.

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Yes No Maybe So: "Book Club"

by Nathaniel R

First things first: how utterly fabulous does Jane Fonda look in the trailer for Book Club? She's 80 (!!!) Don Johnson isn't even 70 year but he should be so lucky. She looks great as a ginger. 

Now that the mandatory Jane worship is out of the way (I just saw Klute again -which is a renewal of breathless fandom for her gifts every time), let's break down the trailer for this romantic comedy of sorts about four golden girls who aren't willing to stop living and are dating again. Whilst they read books? We're really not sure how the books fit into it to be honest. Neither is the trailer...

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Soundtracking: "The First Wives Club"

Chris Feil's series on music in the movies dips into some actressexuality this week!

Do you and your friend group have a song, one that defines and unites you instantaneously? Or is that just something that happens in the movies? I’ve certainly never had that, but my two best gays from college do namesake ourselves by a set of cinematic galpals that do: The First Wives Club. (I’m the Bette.)

This film has the good sense to capitalize on the musical charms of its legendary actresses Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton. This threesome foursome *technically* (RIP Cynthia) has their origins defined by their place in musical history, with Diane Keaton’s opening narration evoking Woodstock and The Beatles. But its the beginning twinkle of Hal David / Burt Bacharach fantasy over the opening credits that more musically defines the feminine fantasy thrust upon their generation - idyllic beauty, subservience to men, etc. By the time Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox have them breaking down literal walls in the third act, these sisters are doin’ “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves” for themselves.

But obviously the film’s most enduring and notorious musical impact comes from Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me”.

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Tweetweek: Babadook, Keaton, and Chris ____

It's time for another roundup of tweets that amused provoked or told it like it was this week...

I went to sleep thinking about Diane Keaton's AFI tribute nails and woke up thinking about Diane Keaton's AFI tribute nails pic.twitter.com/hYbopCDqtv

— Chris Feil (@chrisvfeil) June 9, 2017

 Though we've been talking about Diane Keaton a bit to celebrate her AFI Lifetime Achievement Award they don't broadcast such things live (boo!). So you can bet we'll return to that particular celebration after the ceremony airs. It's scheduled for this Thursday June 15th at 10 PM ET/PT on TNT and will have an encore presentation on TCM on July 31st. Excited?

More tweets featuring The Babadook, Hollywood's "Chris" fetish, and more are after the jump...

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The Dramas of Diane Keaton

“It’s not a good idea to be identifiable, though it’s reassuring. It feels safe in most ways, and that’s bad, because it means that you’re accepted, and once that happens that’s where you stay. You have to watch yourself. I’d like a life like Katharine Hepburn’s in terms of work. She matured. She made the changes. Like Martha Graham.”

Diane Keaton,  New Yorker, 1978

Diane Keaton is to receive the American Film Institure Lifetime Achievement award on June 8th. We should be pleased, not only deserved because Keaton is a true legend, but also because highly accomplished comic actors are so often overlooked by awards bodies. Think of Keaton and Annie Hall comes immediately to mind along with other Woody Allen films, as well as comedies like The First Wives Club, Father of the Bride and Something's Gotta Give. But few actresses have a dramatic filmography that can match Keaton's. For all her fluffy breeziness, her dramatic skill is equally sharp and coldly acerbic, with films like Shoot the Moon, Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Reds capturing this dichotomy. And we can't forget the entire Godfather trilogy.

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