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Post by papermoon on Jul 24, 2014 0:54:58 GMT -5
I'm very interested in movies about squalor, clutter, and too much stuff... and how the characters deal with it.
Last night I watched a DVD of "Everything Must Go" (2011), starring Will Ferrell. Has anyone else here seen it? Even though I'm not a big Will Ferrell fan, I thought he was absolutely wonderful in this movie. The story is billed as a comedy, but there are strong elements of tragedy and pathos in the main character that Will Ferrell portrays so well.
He plays a salesman who loses his job and then comes home to find that his wife has left him, changed the locks on their house, and thrown all of his belongings out on the front lawn. He sets up camp in the front yard surrounded by all his crap, out in the open for all the world to see. Things get worse over the next several days as his car is repossessed, his bank account and credit cards frozen, and his cell phone stolen. He sinks into denial, but at the same time he is forced to face his life and his yard full of junk, gradually figuring out what to do with it all.
If this story sounds bleak, it isn't. There is enough wry comedy to keep him afloat, and the ending is ultimately uplifting. As the blurb on the DVD says: "Based on the short story by Raymond Carver, "Everything Must Go" is an unflinching comedy about what happens after life falls apart."
I have three more DVD movies on hold at the library...
1. The original 1975 documentary "Grey Gardens"
2. The remake of "Grey Gardens" starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange
3. "Unstrung Heroes" directed by Diane Keaton, based on the book by Franz Lidz about his hoarder uncles.
Are there other movies you can recommend?
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Post by ohblondie on Jul 24, 2014 7:03:11 GMT -5
I have nothing to recommend but thank you for this list. THey are now on my summer viewing program.
I will check to see if theya re available on netflix
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Post by WhyNot on Jul 24, 2014 9:00:15 GMT -5
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Post by hungaryhippo on Jul 24, 2014 19:58:38 GMT -5
Yes, thanks for posting these movies - I'd not heard of any of them. I'm not normally a Will Ferrell fan either (unless he's teamed up with the wonderful John C. Reilly) but I definitely want to see "Everything Must Go". And thanks for the link, June.
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Post by angela on Jul 26, 2014 21:44:53 GMT -5
I have seen this Will Ferrell movie and found it very enjoyable. Hmm, I will think if I remember any other movies that I could recommend for this subject. I haven't seen Grey Gardens...
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Post by WhyNot on Jul 27, 2014 11:03:04 GMT -5
I'm just starting to watch Grey Gardens (1975) now, and I will watch the 2009 one after. This is pretty intriguing so far!
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Blackswan
Banned
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 6,388
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Post by Blackswan on Jul 27, 2014 12:18:43 GMT -5
Everything must go is a great movie. It helped me keep my early sobriety as his alcoholism is a major theme in the movie too.
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Post by papermoon on Aug 14, 2014 3:06:19 GMT -5
I watched "Unstrung Heroes" the other night, starring Andie MacDowell, John Turturro, and Michael Richards (Kramer of Seinfeld). It's a very touching story. Even though that was my third (or fourth?) viewing, I got all teary-eyed again. The two uncles are the tidiest hoarders you'll ever meet... tons of stuff crammed in a labyrinthine apartment but very OCD organized, with an element of whimsy, too.
Tonight I'm watching the original "Grey Gardens"... will report back later.
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Post by charis on Aug 14, 2014 9:12:29 GMT -5
There is a documentary "My Mother's Garden" from a few years ago. The trailer is on Youtube.
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Post by Bethel on Aug 14, 2014 14:52:26 GMT -5
There's an amazing documentary about hoarding/squalorous brothers called My Brother's Keeper that's about 25 years old. Tells the story of some brothers who own a very large farm I upstate new York I think?
Before the documentary begins, one brother passed away in the house. There are murder charges laid on another brother. But it becomes clear that the death was very likely a natural death and certain community members are powerful enough to try to manipulate the situation so the land can be sold for development.
It's a bit of an object lesson in understanding our fellow man. Excellent movie.
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Post by angela on Aug 14, 2014 15:08:59 GMT -5
I watched "Unstrung Heroes" the other night, starring Andie MacDowell, John Turturro, and Michael Richards (Kramer of Seinfeld). It's a very touching story. Even though that was my third (or fourth?) viewing, I got all teary-eyed again. The two uncles are the tidiest hoarders you'll ever meet... tons of stuff crammed in a labyrinthine apartment but very OCD organized, with an element of whimsy, too. Tonight I'm watching the original "Grey Gardens"... will report back later. Oh I will add this to my watchlist! Thank you. I have Grey Gardens to watch but haven't just yet. |
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Post by quietbird on Aug 15, 2014 19:03:19 GMT -5
Thank you everyone for the movie suggestions! I want to watch some, only one I've seen is the original Grey Gardens, which I love. (I saw a musical version of it in my city and thought it was terrible!)
Especially interested in the one about the brothers. Cool idea for a thread.
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Post by papermoon on Aug 15, 2014 19:13:40 GMT -5
A musical of Grey Gardens?? The mind boggles!
I watched the original GG two nights ago, and now I can't get young Edie's voice out of my head! What an amazing mind-blowing film. This weekend, I plan to watch the remake with Drew Barrymore.
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Post by lostchild on Aug 28, 2014 19:59:34 GMT -5
Found a movie named Clutter about a dysfunctional family who comes together to clean their mother's hoarded house.
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Post by lostchild on Aug 28, 2014 20:01:09 GMT -5
I found Clutter on on website of.
. Children of Hoarders
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