I just recently caught an airing of Reality Bites on HBO while at the 'rents house (remember that? 'rents??? Ha.), and never has a film so transformed for me over time. The jokes, life experiences, heartache, and sex stuff that were so over my head when I was a tween, were so right-on now.
Besides for reigniting a flame of serious envy over Winona Ryder's cute waifishness, and a super strong crush on the normally unappealing Ethan Hawke in the role of Troy, the keeper of the "den of slack," I was reminded of my intense like of Janeane Garafolo's alt-girl funny, and I was surprisingly more sympathetic to Ben Stiller's character; he was so responsible and grown up and even a lil cute. The one thing that remained extremely constant was my affinity for the scene in which the film's central foursome rock out at the Food Mart to The Knack's "My Sharona."
I love it. I love Winona's vest, Janeane's only-in-the-early-'90s shorty-short bangs, and the surly, stern cashier. A bonus second that I never realized? When Winona lets out a "Woo!" at the 0:54 mark and quickly quiets herself because she just got yelled at by the surly, stern guy. This actually makes me long for the days when I thought gas station attendant shirts and flannel button downs were the apex of modern cool. Now they are nostalgic notes of a time 15 years past. Whoa.
So, suddenly I'm a smidge under the weather. My throat is a little unlikable today and in the absence of television (or a cute, non-germaphobe cuddle buddy), I've been letting You Tube keep me company in bed. We've both got our jammies on, it's really something to see. We are quite the pair. And, we've stumbled upon great old videos of another dynamic duo: Kurt Loder and Madonna. When I was young enough to watch them for the first time, these Madonna and Kurt interviews/specials were so fascinating simply because they well, involved Madonna and all of her mystic, legendary glory. Now that I'm old enough to be watching them at least 10 (holy crap!) years after the fact, I'm struck by a few new things. First, Madonna was effing awesome. Let's just get that out of the way right now. She was at the top of her game in every way about 10 to 15 years ago. Second, Kurt is so cutely nervous around the big M; he's got his hands in his pockets and keeps avoiding declarative statements and eye contact. You can tell he fears that Madonna will suddenly transform into the Mad Beast and bite his head off. She knows he's afraid too. Yet, his unassuming, non-threatening nature renders him charming and gets him through the door where other slithery journalists would never be aloud, namely her dressing rooms and recording studios. It's great access and there are great moments to be cherished in both of the specials below. My favorite for eye candy purposes is No Bull which goes behind the scenes of the making of the still stunning Take a Bow video in Randa, Spain. I love that video and Madonna looks phenomenally glam in platinum blonde tresses and red lips and major cleavage enhancing underthings. At one point in her dressing room Kurt actually asks her if her boobs have names. Then at the end she tells him to get a real job. It's priceless. Here is part 1:
The Ultra Sound special about the Ray of Light album is great documentation of a time in Madonna's life and career where she was letting herself be vulnerable. There she is sans makeup, so gorgeous and natural with big smiles and joking around and being sweet in a way that seems so uncharacteristic. She's letting Kurt hear unfinshed tracks, and talking to him about her new-found study of the Kabbalah. She was still teaching us all these new things then. Do you take yoga at your local gym? Thank the Madonna of this era for that. She looks so gorgeous in this piece, so natural. Kurt is still awkward, but that's why we (and she) loved him. Check it:
Here's the other two parts: Part 2, Part 3. Old Madonna is a panacea. No kidding.
When I was 13, my ever-the-coolest mother let my 16 year-old sister take me and my bestie Rosemarie into NYC to get actual X-Girl tees from the actual X-Girl store in Soho. She really understood that Romie and I could not go to Lollapalooza '95 unless we were in correct style. Remember X-Girl? It was the line co-designed by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and '90s stylist Daisy von Furth. Here's some vintage footage of the line's first fashion show to spark your memory.
Did you catch the show's producers? Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze! X-Girl rocked my world when I was a pre-teen. I used to wear my long-sleeved, black t-shirt with a globe graphic on it at least twice a week in seventh grade. I'd pair it with my black bell bottom, thrifted cords and my vintage platform Mary Janes. That was also the year that I regularly cut my own hair and stayed up until 2am to watch 120 Minuteson MTV in hopes that I could tape videos like "Bull in the Heather" and watch em over and over again until they got fuzzy on the VHS. Wait a sec, does all of this nostalgia mean that I'm getting old? No, no, no. I just miss my punked out riot grrrl days. I'm feeling a little rebel awakening. Watch out.
Oh, my! I found this and thought it would be a parody, but it's worth its virtual weight in virtual gold! In this vintage clip Bjork shows MTV cribs around her Icelandic flat and her hometown.
I really have no idea what she said mostly, but I could listen to her talk for hours.
Also, I just got an incredible urge to post this video. Lucky for you, I'm no good at resisting urges.
There, I feel better now. I love when things go crazy at 3:28. So good.
Something about the Holidays makes me ridiculously nostalgic for vintage Madonna. I know, I know, it's strange. I think it has to do with the fact that the Material Girl always had the top spot on my "If this isn't wrapped up and presented to me, I may disown you" gift list to family members when I was a little girl. Whether is was a new set of black rubber bracelets, a pair of fingerless lace gloves (to fit a five year old--Mom had to sew those ones), or giant neon earrings, almost everything I would ask for would be Madonna-inspired. So, here's the video/movie mash-up for "Get Into The Groove" from Madge's mainstream big-screen debut. It's chock full of clips of the now crazy-armed pop star in her best movie role to date: Susan, that desperately sought wild-child who ate atomic orange cheese puffs with white gloves on and still looked cooler than the rest of the City.
