Lily
Tomlin - The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
(1992)This delightful and
engaging Tony Award-winning two-hour, one-woman show can easily be
considered Lily Tomlin's magnum opus. The show centers around
Trudy the Bag Lady as she escorts a group of visiting aliens from
outer space and attempts to enlighten them on human idiosyncrasies.
Using this premise, Lily jumps from one character to another
amazingly giving life -- without benefit of makeup or costume --
to such Tomlin creations as Chrissie, making time at her aerobics
workout; the punked-out Agnes Angst on a memorable visit to
Grandma and Grandpa's; a male weightlifter; streetwalkers Tina and
Brandi who entertain the press; and, as the centerpiece of all of
this, Lynn, Marge and Edie (a middle-class white woman, a black
radical and a drunken feminist), who make their way through the
'70s and the early days of the women's movement. The best humor in
the piece comes from Trudy, however, as she pontificates on her
own unique brand of cosmology. Relying primarily on footage from
the actual show, the film occasionally cuts to staged re-creations
of the vignettes.
The
Celluloid Closet (1996)
Author
Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City) wrote Lily Tomlin's
narration for this superb documentary, based on a book by the late
Vito Russo, about Hollywood's treatment of homosexual characters
in this century. Never pointing a finger at anyone in the film
community, The Celluloid Closet presents clips from more
than 100 mainstream features (including The Children's Hour,
Advise and Consent, The Boys in the Band, and The
Hunger) that speak loudly in their respective images of gays
and lesbians. The film makes a persuasive case for patterns of
sexual mythology in Hollywood, such as presenting homosexuals
repeatedly as tragic, helpless figures redeemed only through death
or as back-street monsters cavorting in the shadows. Things
change, of course, and clips from more recent films by gay and
lesbian filmmakers suggest a more vital, diverse, autobiographical
approach. There are lots of great interviews with screenwriters
(Gore Vidal), filmmakers (John Schlesinger), actors (Tom Hanks,
Whoopi Goldberg), and others to enunciate the major themes. --Tom
Keogh
