glory-8

I loved this show when it first came out, about 14 years ago. I thought the name "The Orange Organics" was the best name ever for a band, and although Pugwall himself wasn't the hottest boy on TV, he was a decent bloke. I remember Jenny was supposed to be a spunk too, but my recollection of the character is that she whined a lot. There was also a rival for Pugwall's love (I think her name may have been Allison?) who at one point sang "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" at a school carnival. Nice.

My (27 year-old) sister started humming one of the songs from Pugwall at our Mother's Day dinner last night (what a treat for Mum!), and I had the music from this show in my head all night. The number she was singing was one of their instrumental pieces, which included some hand-claps in the middle of it, but there are so many others I thought of: "We're all Gonna Have a Party", "Morning to Midnight"...and a couple of other ones I can't quite remember at the moment (but they were damn good). Aaaah, Pugwall, rock on!

In years to come, Andrew McCarthy will be remembered as the star of several significant contributions to American, nay, World cinema, and "Mannequin" surely stands at the apex of his achievements. A salute to the golden comedies of the thirties, this film weaves love, adventure, mysticism and hijinx into a cloak of hilarity. Andrew McCarthy plays Jonathan Switcher, a young artist who can't seem to find a job that will let him express his talents. After rescuing the owner of a failing department store from almost certain death, he winds up assisting the flamboyant Hollywood (Meshach Taylor) to put together the store's window displays. While working late one night, he comes across a mannequin he created in one of his earlier jobs...and magically, she comes alive before his eyes. He falls in love with the strange, enchanting Emmy (Kim Cattrall), but their love seems doomed for several reasons, not least because Jonathan is the only person who can see her in her human form. Throw in a rival department store, a jealous ex-girlfriend, a thrilling car chase, and a crazed night-watchman, and you have a recipe for fun. Amidst a brilliant soundtrack and wonderful costumes, the performances at the centre of the movie (most notably, Estelle Getty, James Spader, Kim Cattrall, and the afore-mentioned Mr. McCarthy) genuinely sparkle. "Mannequin" could quite possibly be the best comedy of the 80s.

Having seen Crossroads the week before, a film that was so bad it was good, I rented Glitter with a friend to enjoy another trashy "diva" film. However, we didn't bank on the fact that Glitter has no plot, completely anachronistic costuming, and a really terrible lead. The viewer can actually see when Mariah is thinking "Okay, I have to act sad in this scene" and so on. I was thoroughly disappointed that although it was supposedly set in the 80s, there was not one single mullet in the entire film - the "love interest" had a hair style that was more late 90s than anything - and Mariah is clothed in the most unflattering attire throughout the movie. They kept making her wear her hair in a side pony tail, which gave her a pained expression, and she had this weird silver streak of make up that moved from her left shoulder to her decolletage to her right arm, and even onto her lower back. What's with that? Maybe it's some pop culture reference that I completely missed, I don't know.

But all these flaws could be forgiven if there was a semblance of a plot. But there wasn't. Even though I'd been watching the clock after the first fifteen minutes, when the film actually ended, it was completely abrupt. I think that the producers (including Mariah herself) thought that if they assembled the cast and crew on the day, then the plot would look after itself.

The best thing about Glitter was that I rented it free from a friend who works at Blockbuster.