Fatal Attraction Pt 3: Who is the monster and who is the victim?

by Nathaniel R

Glenn Close at the Oscars, awaiting on the verdict yet again

Welcome back to the boiling and bloody finale of our three-part retrospective of Adrian Lyne's classic thriller Fatal Attraction (1987). In part 1, Husband and father Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas in his best performance of 1987 -- sorry Wall Street) stumbled out of the pouring rain and straight into an even wetter two-night stand with Alex Forrest (Glenn Close in her most iconic role). Things start hot but end bloody with a suicide attempt. In part 2, Dan clings hard to his wife Beth and his daughter Ellen, desperate for normalcy again. He eagerly grants them their dream gifts: a new home in the suburbs and a pet bunny rabbit, respectively. As we return to the film, Beth and Ellen are still oblivious to the family's pregnant stalker.

One more thing: I realize this retrospective would have been less out-of-the-blue obsessive and better-timed if tied to the 35th anniversary three years back or the launch of the inferior miniseries retelling exactly two years ago or even Michael Douglas's 80th birthday last year. In this way I fear I'm much like Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) himself delaying the inevitable. He kept missing perfect off ramps to avoid this dangerous liaison with Alex and even its aftermath. Where did it get him? Now he's down one car, paying two mortgages, lying to his wife, and trying to avoid a very angry stalker while angling for a life-changing promotion at work. Pass the beta blockers. Now, back to the film...

[voiceover] You're scared of me aren't you? You're fucking frightened of me -- you're afraid. You're afraid, aren't you? You gutless, heartless, spineless, fucking son-of-a-bitch.

1:21:03 Dan is still sneaking around -- albeit for less sexy reasons,,,

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Fatal Attraction Pt 2: She's not going to be IGNORED, Dan!

by Nathaniel R

In Act 1 of Fatal Attraction (for a three-part retrospective), we met the happily married Gallaghers and their longsuffering dog Quincy, who was neglected for almost a whole weekend. The cause was Husband Dan's (Michael Douglas) sexually explosive weekend with a new co-worker Alex (Glenn Close). Dan ignored a handful of fire-engine red flags.

When we left our players, Alex was suicidal and Dan was headed back to his normal life. He will now attempt to pretend that nothing at all has happened. You can guess how how that attempt plays out!

"What are you doing here? It's 8:00 AM."

40:08 As we return to the film in progress, Dan tells his executive assistant Martha that he's 'in the shitter' and way behind at work. That's what happens when you fuck Glenn Close all weekend...

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Fatal Attraction Pt 1: Everything AND the Kitchen Sink

Three-Part Mini-Series
Every once in a blue moon we'll take a movie and baton pass it around the team and really dive in. This time Nathaniel's going solo. But if you like this approach to investigate a movie we've gone long and deep before on the following films: Rebecca (1940), West Side Story (1961), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Cabaret (1972), Silence of the Lambs (1991), Thelma & Louise (1991), Aladdin (1992), and  A League of Their Own (1992) -Editor

by Nathaniel R

Did you know/remember that Fatal Attraction was released in Paramount's 75th year? I did not but it's a detail that feels somehow right. Founded in 1912, the second oldest of Hollywood's few surviving major studios (Universal predates it) celebrated its diamond anniversary in zeitgeist style with one of its all time most profitable and leggiest hits. The Adrian Lyne thriller, which we'll discuss in three installments, was the second highest grossing film of 1987 and left the kind of cultural footprint that most movies can only dream of; it kept people talking for months on end, it ignited Hollywood's late eighties /early nineties erotic thriller craze, it made Glenn Close into a superstar by casting her against type (this detail is mostly forgotten but we'll get there), indirectly helped Michael Douglas win his Wall Street Best Actor Oscar, and took a B genre film all the way to the Oscars with six nominations.

While box office success and Oscar success (objective, mostly) has never automatically correlated with quality (subjective, mostly), you did once-upon-a-time have a much greater chance of the former by doubling down on latter. Which is just what Fatal Attraction did. All these years later, it really holds up as an example of Hollywood making grade A art with a B genre. So let's see why in scene-by-scene form...

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Ellen Mirojnick: From "Fatal Attraction" to "Oppenheimer"

by Cláudio Alves

There is little heroic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, whether in real life or on the big screen. Yet, in Christopher Nolan's latest, the commonplace act of getting dressed for the day is treated with the gravitas of a superhero movie's "suit up" scene. If nothing else, the moment highlights Ellen Mirojnick's work, another feather in the costume designer's cap. As with every one of the picture's elements, each choice is carefully deliberated, a negotiation of intimacy and immediacy that tries to transmit a first-person take on the period film. Two-piece tan suits rhyme with sky blue shirts, echoing the Los Alamos landscape, while a turquoise-inset silver belt buckle and porkpie-crowned cowboy-rimmed hat wink at Western iconography. It's a uniform as much as a costume, the men's "mythic look" as described by Mirojnick, who kept hats out of the other character's looks to make her protagonist stand out. 

This could be a lucky year for Mirojnick, awards-wise. Oppenheimer just might result in the designer's first Oscar nomination. Considering her vast career, it's hard to believe she's yet to be honored by the Academy…

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MCU Catch-Up: ‘Ant-Man’ and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’

By Abe Friedtanzer

I see a lot of movies. Still, I sometimes miss big releases if a) I don’t see the film either at a press screening or right when comes out and b) it’s not an awards contender. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s so much to keep up with. At a certain point, there are some entries that I just never get around to seeing. Among the few I was missing up until recently were Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, the lead-ups to the forthcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Thanks to a long flight last week and two Disney+ downloads ahead of time, I’m now caught up with everyone’s favorite shrinking hero…

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