Who watched "Grey Gardens"???

[ronnykmarshall]

We recorded it and watched it Sunday afternoon. It was just wonderful. Drew best be winning an Emmy!

[latebloomer]

1. I thought it was excellent, too

Fascinating true story, very well-acted and staged. Both women gave great performances.

Had me googling to find out more about the real Beales.

[ronnykmarshall]

4. So did I.

I knew the story about them but wanted to find out more.

I loved the ending of the film. I cried my ass off.

[mentalsolstice]

2. I haven't, but should've

We're paying for HBO, but we hardly watch it. Their original series and movies are the best. I've go the one with Kevin Bacon recorded, as a Marine officer escorting a body home, and I would love to see this one as well. Drew is a great actor, and hopefully she has overcome the family ghosts.

[bigwillq]

3. I almost watched it last night

but had to watch the Hornets play.

I am sure it will be on many more times, and it will probably be on HBO on Demand.
I will catch it one of these days.

[ronnykmarshall]

5. They will probably play it like crazy.

I recorded. Now I'm driving the husband nuts talking like "Little Edie".

[LynneSin]

6. They both should win an Emmy - I think I watched it 3 times this weekend

An amazing story about those 2 women.

Then I housecleaned my house - didn't want my home to become a "Grey Gardens"

[ronnykmarshall]

7. Oh I hear that.

I think that Jessica might be in the Supporting Actress slot and Drew in Best Actress. Drew seemed to have more screen time that Jessica.

I just watched the end. I am such a cry baby. And PROUD of it.

I still cry at the end of "League of Their Own">

[LynneSin]

9. I cry all the time at the movies

Then again I'd get all weepy-eyed when someone would win a car on the "Price is Right" Probably the part where I cried the most is when Little Edie realized she was doomed to live at that house the rest of her life, right after Cab dumped her. I keep thinking if she had just gone to that audition she would have made the money she needed to finally live the life she wanted. You have to keep thinking of all that "What-if" about the movie.

BTW, I put the documentary #1 on my Netflix list. I really wanted to learn more about these two.

I can't imagine how that house is still standing today. I mean geez, it was a giant litter box for almost 4 decades and with wooden floors - UGH. Normally houses that get that bad have to be torn down. The current owners would have to practically rebuild it so they could get rid of the odor.

[DeepBlueC]

8. I did. It was excellent

Have you seen the Maysles documentary? This was more sympathetic mostly because you met them before they became the weird ladies living in a wreck and they were more rounded as humans . Interestingly this movie answered one of the big questions I had from the documentary when Drew said something like "only in East Hampton do you have to pay for someone to pick up the garbage". Of course. I wondered in the documentary why someone couldn't just put out the garbage, why they lived in the midst of piles of it, but they couldn't establish a dump on their own property without violating ordinances and they could not afford garbage pickup. Having said that they had obviously become oblivious to clutter and to filth over the years. That business about putting paper on the dirty chairs in fact happened INSIDE the house, in the kitchen. I wonder how Edie made out on her own ...she did not seem in either the documentary or this film like a woman who could survive running her own life.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. Loved it. So sad. Drew amd Jessica were both wonderful.

Made me want to learn more about everyone, the brothers, the father....

[LynneSin]

11. I do the same exact thing

I want to drive up to Long Island and pay pilgramage to Grey Gardens.

I also want to get my act together before I turn into a Lil Edie. That was tough on me because I am single & 40 with a mother that can be a bit clingy. Only difference is my mother lives 2 hours away and has someone to take care of her.

I'm grasping at straws but it did have an impact.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. Sister Girl --

I know what you mean :o

My Mother has the Big Edie tendencies as well, and I could see Little Edie in me.

Of course, not to that degree, but the parallels were there. If I tried to point this out to my Mother she would so Deny it.

[LynneSin]

13. My mother would think I was nuts

I'm so glad that I moved away. I think if I stayed in the same town she would have driven me crazy.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. Mom is an hour away...just far enough.

I overlook a lot and forgive what I can't ignore. Plus, I can't blame it all on her...Dad was there/not there too.

Fuuny thing Little Edie was the oldest sister with 2 younger brothers...as am I. The father, I would like to know about the family dynamics. Although, one could tell a lot from just those few critical scenes. It was very well done in that regard.

[Lex]

15. I wondered just where the hell were the 2 sons in helping their mom?

I know they wanted her to sell the house, but she didn't want to. Still, they both turned a blind eye to what was happening?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. Yes, I found that interesting as well...although

having 2 brothers of my own I was not totally surprised at their nonchalance. Sorry, to say that I can see both of mine being the same way (to some degree, hopefully Not that Far :o)

[LynneSin]

22. Oddly enough my brother was a bit like that with my mother

Mind you, I went thru several years after my father's death where I was taking care of my mother (and mind you this was during my teenage years when I should have been out causing heck and necking in the backseats of cars). I begged my brother to help me but he was too busy in college (which was 8 hours away) and basically said it was my duty to help her thru all of this. The first few summers he would come home from college to live but by his Junior year he pretty much stayed all year at the college. I can't blame him, I would do the same exact thing if I was in his position. However, I was just too young to deal with all of this. But I was lucky, my mother got over it and found someone. I think when I insisted on living at the dorms at college (which was only 45 minutes away) she realized that I was trying to escape too. She found some great support groups to help her deal with it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

23. Speaking of support groups...

Where were all the home health agencies in all of this story of Big and Little Edie? Did they have insurance? Doctors? How did they fall through the cracks of society?

So many unanswered questions.

[LynneSin]

25. I can't believe the neighbors waited that long to bring the authorities in

But I suppose there was enough distance between houses that it would take a tremendous overload of feces in order for the neighbors to notice.

Our sense of smell is an amazing work - if you live with an odor long enough your brain eventually masks it so it's not noticed anymore. Probably why people with bad body odor walk around without noticing anything or women who spray too much perfume on them.

[LynneSin]

19. That made no sense because it seemed they both had good careers

And it seems like after Jackie intervened and fixed up the house it still wasn't back to it's old splendor. Jackie looked to have done just the basics to fix up the house (although the movie mentioned that the sons did pay the back taxes on it). I noticed in the movie that the original piano was still there even though you could visible see it was unplayable (the keys were all warped and out of place) and I wondered if that was the case in real life.

I read where Big Edie would sell some of the collectibles like the jewelry, silverware or Tiffany fixtures to help make extra money. I wish they would have showed that in the movie.

[LynneSin]

17. I guess everyone had the same idea I had - Long wait at Netflix for "Grey Gardens"

I just returned 2 Netflix DVD and assumed that "Grey Gardens", the documentary that came out in the 70s, would ship next.

I just checked my queue and it's listed as "Very Long Wait". Damnit, I was ready to watch that. I wonder if my local library has the DVD?

[DeepBlueC]

18. If any of you have not you should see the original documentary Grey Gardens

The decrepitude of the home was no exaggeration. I was surprised by the text at the end of the film that said that Edie had gone on to live in several cities. FRom what I saw in the documentary she didn't appear to me to be capable of independent living.

[LynneSin]

20. I put the movie on my Netflix list and it's listed as "Very Long Wait"

I guess Netflix didn't expect a run on people wanting to see the documentary. I think HBo would do a great service to all their Grey Garden's fans by running the documentary on HBO.

[bif]

21. I saw the original.

It was excellent. I don't understand why they had to remake it with actors.

[LynneSin]

24. I'm glad they did

I haven't seen the original except clips on YouTube. But I think the story is amazing and I probably would have never known about these 2 women if I hadn't seen the movie. Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore did wonderful jobs as Big & Little Edie. HBO On-Demand had a few shorts about the making of the movie. THey would show the original documentary and then you'd see clips from the new movie. Jessica and Drew put alot of work into faithfully portraying hte Edies especially Jessica Lange. Her singing voice almost mirrored the one done by the original Edie.

The HBO movie introduced a whole new generation to the store of the Big & Little Edith Bouvier Beale and it's an amazing story. I think I've watched the HBO movie 3-4 times now and every time I kept wishing she had just done the audition - she might have made it and had the chance to live her life instead of being stuck in genteel poverty all those years. There's just alot of "What Ifs" with that movie - those 2 didn't have to end up like that.

[Lex]

26. Because this movie told some of the backstory.

It wasn't an exact remake of the docu at all.

[LynneSin]

27. Actually that's a very good point

It wasn't just these 2 old women living in a deteriorated mansion who happened to be related to Jackie Kennedy. Little Edie had dreams that she never stopped believing in even after all those years living at Grey Gardens. The documentary was the start of her dreams coming finally coming true even if she wasn't 100% understanding of what the Maysles were trying to do. (I think she understood but not completely but it wasn't like the Maysles were trying to hide anything from them). Once Little Edie was free of her mother she was finally able to live her dream of being on stage.

[DeepBlueC]

28. but she ...umm...wasn't very good

The original documentary made it pretty clear that her assessment of her 'talent' was delusional. No training, no non-professional experience, wants to be a 'star'.

[LynneSin]

29. Take a look in hollywood - talent isn't a necessary to be a star

Sometimes it just takes the right kind of personality to be famous. Perhaps Little Edie might have had it.

[DeepBlueC]

30. believe me, she didn't have it

She is no Drew Barrymore.

[LynneSin]

31. I'm not saying whether or not she had talent

Just pointing out the obvious - that talent sometimes play little part of someone making it big in Hollywood. How else can you explain the career of Nicolas Cage?

[DeepBlueC]

32. I loved Cage's early films

He has execrable taste in "big" roles.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

33. Reminds me too much of my own family.

I saw the original movie.

I already had a narcissistic mom who put me down and collected way too much junk in her house, and became a recluse. No cats, though. I saw a couple of sad women. A common situation with narcissists in society. Sad and pathetic, but not exceptional in any way.

I think the only reason they filmed it was because they were related to Jackie Kennedy.

The Maysles Brothers don't know how to edit, IMNSHO. I saw Gimme Shelter and it was just following Mick Jagger around to get his reaction to the murder. He had very little reaction. I think both movies had no point to them that I could see.

[kimmerspixelated]

34. Counting on a rerun soon.

REALLY want to see that one!