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The Burning

It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.
05/24/2013 | Comments 0

Dexter: The Seventh Season

There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.
05/21/2013 | Comments 0

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.
05/17/2013 | Comments 0
Home · Articles · Movies · Documentary · Beautiful Darling
Documentary

Beautiful Darling


This Candy sours

Rod Lott August 10th, 2011  

Candy Darling would’ve loved “Beautiful Darling,” the documentary of her brief 29 years alive, because, as one of the persons interviewed reveals, the thing that mattered most to her in life was being considered gorgeous enough to grace the silver screen.

That she was ... although she was born as James Slattery. More famous for being famous than for any discernible talent, she became a fixture of New York’s avant-garde scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s, thanks to her association with artist Andy Warhol.

He, of course, coined the famous “15 minutes of fame” expression, which fits her to a T — and that’s why the film isn’t worthy of recommendation: It greatly overstates the importance of its subject.

“Beautiful Darling” plays 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday only, at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch.

Growing up with a Kim Novak obsession, Darling used “82 pounds of makeup” to transform the quiet boy into an outgoing woman in roles on stage and screen.

Some consider Darling brilliant, and maybe she is, but in the footage freshman director James Rasin shares, she appears to be more wannabe than genuine thespian, and a drama queen (potentially offensive pun not intended). John Waters sure digs her, but consider the source; the film states that even Warhol used her like Kleenex, more interested in exploiting “chicks with dicks” than employing any dramatic skills.

The most interesting section details Darling’s heartbreaking childhood, as struggling with one’s identity is a universal theme, whether or not that’s related to gender. Rasin and his interviewees, however, are more interested in placing her on a pedestal that all fail to justify.

 
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