Pretty slow and dry, but the meta element is heart wrenching. Bette Davis and Lillian Gish lived, aged and died before I was born so I’m not sure why it’s breaking me to see them so out of time and place here. It feels bizarrely personal and melancholic to me, like I also watched my world and way of life slip away into obsolescence.

I guess it’s the same reason I don’t like watching an aging Gene Kelly walk around the decaying MGM backlot in That’s Entertainment. There’s just something so unnerving about these larger-than-life stars — ones whose blinding glow continues to dazzle fans well into the 21st century — being presented as so ephemeral. Like…holy fuck, that’s going to happen to everything I care about too, isn’t it?

On a lighter note, the people claiming they “didn’t even recognize Bette Davis” are crazy. Who else could that possible be?? It’s amazing how both she and Gish look so much like themselves even in their advanced age. For that reason alone, this movie’s a treasure no matter how much of a snooze fest the plot is.

Pretty slow and dry, but the meta element is heart wrenching. Bette Davis and Lillian Gish lived, aged and died before I was born so I’m not sure why it’s breaking me to see them so out of time and place here. It feels bizarrely personal and melancholic to me, like I also watched my world and way of life slip away into obsolescence.

I guess it’s the same reason I don’t like watching an aging Gene Kelly walk around the decaying MGM backlot in That’s Entertainment. There’s just something so unnerving about these larger-than-life stars — ones whose blinding glow continues to dazzle fans well into the 21st century — being presented as so ephemeral. Like…holy fuck, that’s going to happen to everything I care about too, isn’t it?

On a lighter note, the people claiming they “didn’t even recognize Bette Davis” are crazy. Who else could that possible be?? It’s amazing how both she and Gish look so much like themselves even in their advanced age. For that reason alone, this movie’s a treasure no matter how much of a snooze fest the plot is.

I’m not the best person to speak badly about this movie because this type of film always gets me. “On Golden Pond” makes me feel the same way too
Everything feels calm, we hear the waves, the wind blowing through the curtains, and the birds singing beautifully
There’s no real plot, just two sisters living together in a house in Maine during the summer, talking, arguing, and sharing their lives. So amazing to me

I’m not the best person to speak badly about this movie because this type of film always gets me. “On Golden Pond” makes me feel the same way too
Everything feels calm, we hear the waves, the wind blowing through the curtains, and the birds singing beautifully
There’s no real plot, just two sisters living together in a house in Maine during the summer, talking, arguing, and sharing their lives. So amazing to me

bette screaming SARAHHH LOUISE is seared into my brain

bette screaming SARAHHH LOUISE is seared into my brain