Girls’ getaway played out riotously, as always.
Giddiness, the order of the day.
Each day we were together.
Giddiness coupled with melancholy.
And sadness.
We shared happenings and plans. Memories and secrets. Laughter and tears.
As only long times friends can do . . .
Alice, Sue, Faye and I hiked basking in the glory of the Cleveland National Forest. We spotted coyotes and a lone mountain lion. We drew and painted. We gave each other facials. We exchanged small gifts—artful treasures from a recent trip to Belgium, handy kitchen towels, socks with heart and flowers designs, homemade yogurt, and beef jerky.
And when each day was done, we watched movies on what may be the largest television screen I’ve ever encountered.
I’m obsessed as the countdown to the Oscars happens, hoping to see all the major contenders. Even though I had read Wesley Morris’ piece in The New York Times. He wrote:
It’s entirely probable that scandal, gossip, politics and a general sense of “never heard of it before” have obscured something obvious and important about this year’s 10 best picture Oscar nominees. They’re weird — every single one. They take weird forms. The people in them do weird stuff. They induce weirdness in you.
There were two films I hadn’t seen—The Substance and A Real Pain. In spite of both my granddaughter’s emphatic warning to me— “Don’t Neeny!”—we settled on The Substance.
Unfortunately, it would be way after the fact that read Wesley Morris’ review:
Demi Moore jabs herself with a goop known as “The Substance,” and out of her split-open back climbs Margaret Qualley, who refuses to obey the goop’s rules and proceeds to ruin their life. I paid to see this movie in a packed theater on a Saturday afternoon, where we laughed, screamed and almost threw up.
As old as I am, I hadn’t seen a horror movie until this one. Without a doubt, one of the goriest, most audacious films ever. A true feminist body-horror satire. Throughout, Moore dissolves and mutates often in grisly manner nude and in shocking close-up. My eyes (along with the rest of my girlfriends) were covered at least thirty percent of the time. The film is promoted as a horror/comedy.
There was no laughter in our movie house!
Earlier, after seeing Nicole Kidman in Baby Girl, I found myself perplexed. Why on earth did she take that role? I wondered even more perplexed about Demi Moore in this role. Why on earth . . . However, what do I know? She’s an odd favorite to win the best actress award, and she won the best actress for the Golden Globes and SAG-AFTRA Awards. I guess that’s why she did it.
I did love her acceptance speeches.
The movie? Not so much. I was squeamish, frightened, appalled. I was shocked and only mildly amused for brief moments in The Substance.
I highly do NOT recommend it.
I had gotten mediocre reviews from friends who had seen The Real Pain. However, it had garnered half-a-dozen nominations, and we decided to watch it. I love both Jesse Eisenberg and I really love Kieran Culkin from his days as cringe boy, Roman Roy, in Succession. The Real Pain is a good movie, full of sweet and sorrowful sibling moments. However, Faye walked out of the TV room and into her own room to watch “something lighter” on her laptop. She couldn’t handle his character—a screwed up, sad and bothered character which Culkin does with extraordinary insight and talent.
On night three, we settled on the Netflix mini-series, American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson, a new documentary series that investigates the shocking murder case that became a cultural phenomenon. The four of us had worked in related fields and became fast friends when the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman occurred in LA, and we found ourselves riled up and angered at the Not Guilty decision all over again. Over and over, we asked why we put ourselves through this again? The series is well done and sheds relevant and infuriating new evidence.
By day four, after three days of ranch life and nature, energizing discussions, creative projects, and very good food and drink, we were ready for one more night of television.
Desperate for a comedy—a laugh-out-loud fun fest, we stumbled onto exactly that!
As Rotten Tomatoes says, "You're Cordially Invited” is the kind of movie that you watch when you want to turn off your brain, have a few laughs and forget the world."
Not sure if our reaction would have been the same if we hadn’t just seen three intense and disturbing offerings, but we laughed out loud throughout the movie which stars Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell who have booked the same wedding venue for their separate events. Bridal parties, rehearsal dinners, wedding ceremonies all blow up in silliness.
Our favorite part?
We sang along—also loudly—to Will and Reese's hilarious rendition of “Islands in the Stream,” the 1983 pop-country classic written by The Bee Gees and recorded by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. We almost dented the rewind button!
Click the link above - you'll sing along all week, I promise!
Many highlights during our time together, one of our bi-annual reunions, but certainly You’re Cordially Invited was the perfect antidote for our movie blitzing binge, and a delightful end to another memorable girls’ getaways which began over thirty years ago when we first went camping at Song Dog Ranch.
Store of that adventure to come . . .