Real Kato Blog: Movies: The House of Yes

This is an OLD movie, but I'm just getting around to seeing it.

First, I just want to say, I lurve Parker Posey. So while I want to review "The House of Yes", I have to do it quickly, because "Party Girl" comes on at 1:30 a.m. and I'm going to stay up to watch it.

"The House of Yes" came out in 1997. I've been meaning to see it, because I need to complete the Trilogy of Leigh, and by that I mean three movies that my one-time-friend Leigh recommended that I see. (The other ones were "Barfly" and "Requiem for a Dream".)

It's based on a stage production. You can kind of tell, because it's talky, it has a quiet atmosphere, and sometimes it's a little bit melodramatic and over-the-top. It's the kind of thing you'd expect to see in an intimate little theater that seats fifty people.

It's a dark comedy; very dark. Parker Posey plays a character named Jackie-O, because of a weird obsession with the Kennedy assassination. Jackie-O, as it turns out, has an incestuous relationship with her twin brother. The fact that such a taboo subject is treated so lightly, is part of what makes this movie brilliant.

There are a few really funny bits of dialogue, like this:

  Mother: That tape leaves GOO. It GOOS up the windows.
  Jackie-O: GOO is what tape is all about. GOO is what makes it tape instead of paper.

And:

  Mother: Where did [that gun] come from?
  Jackie-O: God?

But somehow, these funny bits of dialogue are out-of-place, and out-of-character. When you combine that with the over-the-top story, it really makes you feel like you're watching a play; it negates the suspension of disbelief, and disassociates you from the story. So you never really get drawn in.

It's still clever, and I still love Parker Posey. And I give props to Tori Spelling for giving an unusually good performance. I just wish I'd seen this on stage instead of on DVD.

Rating: 3 / 5

Permalink 5 Comment

Posted by Ken in: movies, reviews

Comments

Comment #1 from Julie (Guest)
2005 Apr 24 - 10:26 am : #

i like to refer to any weirdly close sibling relationship as "house of yes". as in, "they're so house of yes." for instance, my ex and his sister: waaaaay too house of yes. recent picture of me & my brother: http://pics.livejournal.com/julieinmiami/pic/0004sq06/g16, captioned thusly: "we are SO house of yes in this picture." i'm glad you saw it. it is indeed brilliant.

Comment #2 from pinky (Guest)
2005 Apr 24 - 11:23 am : #

oooo....requiem for a dream - most harrowing movie, ever.

i miss the parker posey of yore. i loved her in "the daytrippers" and of course, party girl. and many other things. henry fool, not so much.

Comment #3 from Javi (Guest)
2005 Apr 24 - 1:06 pm : #

requiem for a dream -

- how about i just beat you over the head with a hammer while screaming "drugs are bad!" for two hours.

i promise you will enjoy that more than watching requiem for a dream.

Comment #4 from Ken (realkato)
2005 Apr 24 - 1:30 pm : #

Aww, I kind of liked "Requiem". I don't know that I'd watch it again, though.

I liked Parker Posey in "Clockwatchers" too.

Comment #5 from pinky (Guest)
2005 Apr 25 - 2:12 pm : #

I saw the episode of The Simpsons the other day, when Homer takes a bite of a Krusty Burger Ribwich, and has a very "Requiem" moment. Now that makes me laugh, whereas the movie haunted me for MONTHS. I still can't believe Julia Roberts won the Oscar over Ellen Burstyn that year.

(and "clockwatchers" is too much like actual jobs I've had for me to not cringe most of the way through it - although I loved Toni Collette in it)

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