The Vine: March 18, 2009
Sars,
Here’s mine: it was an independent film, I guess, probably came out in the early-to-mid-nineties but set, maybe, in the fifties. I saw it at the local art-house theater when I was young-middle school-ish.
I’m not sure why it stuck with me, half-remembered –mopey indie drama isn’t really my cup of cinematic tea. I don’t even want to see it again, but it would be nice to know that this movie does really exist.
The movie was about two sisters. The opening scene is their mother’s suicide. She’s sitting in a car, and this boy on a bicycle goes past — she waves him down, hands him her purse and drives her car into the lake. Her teenaged daughters go to live with a cool, young-ish (bohemian?) aunt.The sisters are, predictably, opposites — one (the elder?) is blonde, outgoing and pragmatic, one is brunette, shy and dreamy.
There’s a scene where the outgoing daughter decides to make a dress, but doesn’t know how, and has her sister look up terminology in a dictionary that proves to be full of pressed flowers. The shy sister is enchanted, but the outgoing one takes the dictionary and just shakes all the flowers out.The outgoing one is always talking about how she’s going to leave this small town where they’re stuck, but in the end the aunt and the shy sister set fire to the house (with a broom — I mean, they light the end of the broom on fire and use it to set fire to the roof) and run off together. And it closes with a voice-over from the left behind sister.
Any ideas?I’ve tried to IMDb-keyword this thing, but no luck.
My Sisters And I All Have The Same Color Hair
Dear Sisters,
The only thing it sounds similar to in my own memory is Practical Magic, and that’s not it.Readers?
Hi Sars,
I’m looking for a full-length animated movie that my parents rented when I was quite young (say…around 1986-1990).It might have been dubbed from some other language.It involved a cat and a robot, who worked in a very fancy glass building as some sort of
investigators/protectors of people (think The Rescuers).
Somehow, they ended up in ancient Egypt, and the only part I remember clearly is the end where they all have to breathe the scent of a lotus, which will put them to sleep to travel back to the future.The robot (who is a slightly more human-looking C-3PO type) feigns breathing and sleeping, and then they all get into coffins and return to the future.
The style was slightly anime-looking, but mostly realistic.Oh, and the cat was definitely a girl, and white/pink.
I’ve been checking online, but haven’t found it yet.I’m hoping you all can help!
A
Dear A,
Doesn’t sound familiar to me, but the readers might have an idea…
Hello Sars,
I’m a big, big fan of you and your website.Also, I feel you and your readers are most qualified to answer my question:
I remember an old TV series (fictional) from my childhood.This would have been either in the ’70s or ’80s.The basic premise, asI recall it, was this: a person won the lottery, sometimes under unusual circumstances.Then, they were visited by a two-man team: one was the lottery guy with the cash; and the other was the IRS guy who then takes away “Uncle Sam’s share.”
For some reason I think one guy was white, and the other black, but I’m not sure.I also recall an episode where a winning ticket somehow found its way into a container of ice cream at the factory.
Please, please, can anyone come up with the title for this show?I’m going crazy here.I’ve Googled like mad, which usually works for me, but I really can’t sift through that many results.
Plus, my buddies at work are having the best time making fun of me, because it “sounds like the most boring show ever.”(They, of course, are making it more exciting by saying things like, “Did the tax man travel back in time?And help people with their taxes?No?Oh.Were there pirates?No?Oh.” They’re pretty awesome, actually.)
Thank you so much,
Red — a fan from Halifax, Nova Scotia
Dear Red,
Thanks for the kind words. Is it Land of the Capital Loss?
…Heh.Sorry!I have never heard of anything like that and Total Television isn’t helping me any.Time to see if the readers have any insight!
Tags: Ask The Readers popcult
The animated movie about the pink cat and the robot was called Poochie. It wasn’t a cat though, Poochie was a dog.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808423/
There was a whole line of Poochie merchandise and I had a bunch of it. I remember renting the movie many times back in the 80’s.
the lottery show was
LOTTERY!
Sept 83 to June 84
ABC
with Ben Murphy
and Marshall Colt
“Each week Flaherty tracks down a lucky winners of the Intersweep lottery.
Eric Rush of the IRS tags along to make sure that Uncle Sam gets his share.
Eric: If we’re gonna work together. We’re gonna have to learn a little give and take.
Patrick: Certainly. I give. …
Eric: Oh, and a, I take.”
from
http://www.tv.com/lottery!/show/7763/summary.html
imdb might have more, or less
I believe the show Red refers to was actually just called “Lottery!” lasting all of one season. I totally remember the lottery-ticket-in-ice-cream episode, but (a) I can’t imagine why I would remember that, and (b) I’m a little freaked out that my brain decided to store that information. On the other hand, I can still do the “Strength…through…community!” salute from “The Wave,” so maybe I shouldn’t be so alarmed about the detritus packed in my brain.
Link:
http://crazyabouttv.com/lottery.html
for A:
how about CAT SOUP
an animated short film, 2001
it doesn’t sound perfect, but there are several points of similarity.
you can read the details at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Soup
at imdb.com, the film has its Japanese name, and relatively little info.
The TV show is “Lottery” — here’s the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085048/usercomments
The lottery one is easy. It is in fact “Lottery!”
The show from the last letter was actually just called “Lottery!” (with the exclamation point). The two guys, IRS and lottery agent, were both white, one was young (played by William Katz? from The Greatest American Hero) and the other was an older man. The rest of the show details are as described in the post.
Re: Sisters – that sounds like “Housekeeping.” I read the book by Marilynne Robinson and had no idea there was a movie, but Amazon says the book was made into a film in 1987 and IMDB confirms this, and what you describe absolutely sounds like the plot of the book I read.
The first sounds an awful lot like Housekeeping, which was made into a movie in 1987. I’ve only read the book, but it’s worth a shot.
Red’s show is “Lottery” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085048/), a show I remember vividly from my own childhood.
The first one is definitely Housekeeping.
One of my fave books ever and really a very good movie.
POOCHIE! Man, I rented that movie so many times as a kid. It was *the* go-to rental when we went to the shore. And wierdly enough I’d been thinking recently about how I loved it so much, and yet couldn’t remember any of the plot.
Is this a record for answering all three questions in the least number of comments? It only took 8 comments, which I think is pretty amazing, as these all sounded like tough nuts to crack when I read ’em…
I love the Vine. An hour and a half, and all three mysteries solved. Awesome.
The movie is definitely Housekeeping (1987), with Christine Lahti as the marches-to-her-own-drummer aunt, and it was directed by the great Bill Forsythe.
And yes, the TV series is in fact called Lottery! Neither Ben Murphy nor Marshall Colt is black, but the mistake is understandable because it’s true that in almost every series from the 80s whose premise was “See, it’s about these two guys who have crazy adventures each week when they….” (which means, damn near all drama series of that period), one would indeed be black. This one was actually in syndication for a while years later — maybe weekday mornings on A&E or Lifetime in the early 90s.
Housekeeping – such a great book, and I do remember Christine Lahti as the aunt.
As a total off-topic aside, around the same time there was another Lahti movie on HBO 24-7 where she’s an aerobics instructor having an affair with a married Ted Danson. I watched that piece of crap a million times. Mary Tyler Moore was the scorned wife. Anyhoo..
First movie is for sure Housekeeping. I loved that movie, and the book…but the movie more. Had a brooding feel to it.
Wow. You guys are amazing. Housekeeping sounds like a book I’d like. Maybe you guys can help me with this?
When I was a little boy I read this book that has haunted me ever since. It’s about a girl and her sister (I think their names are Mary and Margaret), and they’re basically outcasts. The townspeople taunt them, and accuse them of being witches or demons or something. This book left such a huge impression, emotionally, on my 8 year old self. I remember this bit:
“‘Mary’ said Margaret, ‘would you like a cup of tea?’
‘Oh no’ said Mary, ‘you’ll poison me.’
‘Mary’ said Margaret, ‘would you like to go to sleep? Down in the graveyard six feet deep.”
I CANNOT remember what this book is called and that kills me because I think this is the best book I read as a child.
Hey Jon, are you talking about We Have Always Lived In The Castle? http://tinyurl.com/chytn8
Jon, your book is “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson. And if you liked that, you should also read The Haunting of Hill House, which is her masterpiece. And then see the original Black & White film (not the God awful remake from about 5 years ago with Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta Jones).
Yep, Jon, it’s _We Have Always Lived in the Castle_, and you should really reread it as an adult – it’s awesome. Merricat and Constance are the sisters.
And to bring things full circle, Shirley Jackson’s best known short story is “The Lottery.”
Wow, it’s bizarre that as I was reading the first description, I was totally thinking of Practical Magic too, even though it was obviously not Practical Magic and I knew that at the time. Spooky!
CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.
How many (well-read/well-videoed) readers does this site have that not only can the original letters get their questions answered so readily, but a reply with a quote gets 2 responses in less than 2 hours??? Seriously, well-done.
My previous comment was supposed to have a faux HTML tag before the “CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.” that said “non-sarcastic”, but I guess it was removed because it looked like a real HTML tag. I hope I didn’t look like I was doing the sarcastic slow clap!
Oh, YEAH “We Have Always Lived in the Castle”. Shirley Jackson is so good, but I know if I had read that or “The Haunting of Hill House” at 8 I would have been pretty freaked out. The sisters are named Constance and Merricat (a nickname for Mary Katherine).
man, I read “We Have Always…” and “The Haunting of Hill House” at 15, and was so terrified by the latter that I refused to sleep with it in my bedroom.
The original B&W adaptation, “The Haunting”, with Claire Bloom? LOVELY.
Amazon has some used copies of the Poochie movie on VHS listed
http://www.amazon.com/Poochie-Luno/dp/6300157636/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1237488638&sr=1-1
Just looking at the cover sends me right back to my 80’s childhood!
re: Pooccie. I haven’t seen themovie, but I have a strong recollection of the toy. Or, more correctly, the jingle for that toy. So much so that when my friend described a blouse she’d just bought as a “Pucci-like print”, I started singing, “pooochie, poochie for girls…”
Wow, I’m really impressed, everyone! Yes, the show I asked about was “Lottery!” Finally, I can prove to my co-workers that it did, in fact, exist. Thank you. :-)
“Poochie!” I would never have gotten that!
Thank you so much! Shannon, you’ve solved a mystery of my childhood! I love the Vine!
Behold, the powers of YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sepu2wJvapU
“there was another Lahti movie on HBO 24-7 where she’s an aerobics instructor having an affair with a married Ted Danson. I watched that piece of crap a million times. Mary Tyler Moore was the scorned wife. Anyhoo..”
That was a theatrically released movie from 1986, called Just Between Friends. I think it must have been about the last thing (film or TV) made by MTM Enterprises. Moore befriends Lahti through happenstance, never dreaming that Lahti’s banging her husband. Then Ted D dies, and it all comes out… but golly, after time passes, women’s friendship triumphs after all.
I remember this one as the one where Mary said “fuck.” They made a bit out of her being unable to toss it around as freely as Christine (she would blush and whisper it). Sort of a gesture toward roughing up her image, like Julie Andrews baring her breasts in SOB.
Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been having hv arcing issues with my monitor.
Anyway, YES! That is the book! Thank you everyone, I just bought two copies from Amazon.
I love this site.
“the one where Mary said “fuck.” – like a Friends episode title. Awesome.
(that movie sucked sucked sucked, IMHO)
It’s not the greatest movie ever, but I wouldn’t say it sucked x 3. It had its moments.
My favorite parts are the moments where Sam Waterston, who plays Ted Danson’s work buddy (and knows about the whole affair), has to pretend to MTM that he doesn’t know anything about anything. And you thought he couldn’t do comedy.