Catherine O'Hara Filmography: A Mighty Wind (2003)

Ah, finally, we've come again to a Christopher Guest movie. Unlike most, Guest actually realizes how talented Catherine O'Hara is and utilizes her so well in every one of her movies. "A Mighty Wind" is a hilarious mockumentary about three different folk groups who are coming together to play a memorial concert in honor of the man that gave them all their start. The film follows each of the three groups as they reunite, rehearse and get ready for the big night.

Catherine O'Hara plays Mickey Crabbe, formerly of the sweetheart folk duo "Mitch and Mickey", along with her past lover Mitch Cohen (Eugene Levy). During their prime, the duo was famous for their song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow", which always ended with a kiss that left audiences swooning. However, Mickey is now married, after a horrible dispute that left their duo broken and Mitch an emotional trainwreck.

Overall, "A Mighty Wind" is a wonderful and endearing, not to mention hysterical little movie. I used to consider it one of Guest's lesser works, but after recently rewatching it with a friend (and my mom, who is awesome) I realized how truly funny and wonderful it actually is. As to be expected from Christopher Guest, there are some fantastic performances that make this film shine - for example, Jane Lynch and John Michael Higgins, who play the color-worshipping frontliners for the sugar coated folk group "The New Main Street Singers", are simply hilarious. I consider this to be easily Jane Lynch's greatest role.

BUT! We're here for Catherine O'Hara and, truthfully, this is probably one of her greatest roles as well. Unlike the other characters, Mickey is much more real, human, and disillusioned. O'Hara knows that Mickey is truly the emotional core of the film and she doesn't turn her into a caricature whatsoever (unlike Eugene Levy, who is funny but completely devoid of emotion). Instead, O'Hara truly becomes Mickey, and in her soft spoken words and the way she looks at the camera, we feel a truly pining individual who longs for the glory days but knows they can never be.

And then, there is the one running plot point that solidifies the brilliance of her performance - "The Kiss at the End of the Rainbow". During the final performance, the way that O'Hara shows the longing for that one kiss during the song is just a gorgeous display of true emotion. Not to mention, the fact that O'Hara sings the song beautifully. Her chemistry with Eugene Levy is quite convincing - even though Eugene is making it hard to believe that they'd ever love each other, O'Hara works past it and makes Mitch and Mickey one of the cutest screen couples of the decade.

I must mention one other admirable thing about this performance - for the majority of the film, O'Hara is by herself, talking in interview format. She rarely interacts with other characters besides Levy, and even when she does it's short in comparison to her interviews. I feel like this sort of solo work is so much harder to pull off, since she can't work off of anyone, and let's not forget that it's a lot of improv. Her ability to be so real and convey everything that she does all by herself is such an accomplishment.

Wow, so I really went crazy singing her praises but like I said this is easily one of O'Hara's best performances. Another snub for her at the Oscars! (Though she did get to sing "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" at them - yay!). Oh, and the movie has so much to recommend besides just her. Jane Lynch is amazing, the rest of the cast (especially Parker Posey's one tiny interview) is wonderful, and the music is great. It may not be Guest's funniest, but it is probably his most lovable.

The Movie: 8/10

Catherine: 10/10

Best in Show: Of course, Catherine, though this is also Jane Lynch's finest hour.

Catherine O'Hara Filmography: Speaking of Sex (2001)

All Melinda (Melora Walters) wants is to save her dissolving marriage with Dan (Jay Mohr) who, though he has trouble being intimate with his wife, had an affair with a waittress. So, the two visit Doctor Emily Paige (Lara Flynn Boyle), who is intrigued by the couple. She sends Melinda to a depression expert, Dr. Roger Klink (James Spader), who then has an affair with Melinda. Disgusted (and with an agenda of her own), Dr. Paige convinces Melinda to sue Dr. Klink, and from there things get crazy.

"Speaking of Sex" isn't a HORRIBLE movie, but it's really not very good, either. There are a few good things about it (especially the tantalizingly European-sounding score), but overall it's a big failure. It attempts to be some kind of classy, yet over-the-top farce but neither the director nor the actors know how to pull it off. Had it been made in Europe, maybe it would have worked, but alas. Which is truly sad because you can just feel the "good movie" hiding beneath the surface.

The worst thing of all is really the acting. Mohr is occasionally adorable but more often intolerably one-note. Spader is neurotically annoying. And Melora Walters gives what has to be one of the most emotionless, unnatural, robotic and weird performances ever (even though this technique does work in maybe one or two scenes).

The three really big stars in this movie (Catherine O'Hara, Bill Murray, and Megan Mullally) each have upsettingly small roles, considering they're the best acted in the movie Murray plays Klink's lawyer, O'Hara plays Melinda's lawyer, and Mullally plays Klink's soon-to-be-ex-wife. Mullaly is especially great - she's got a couple of scenes (especially her last) where she just nails it, giving her character WAY more dimensions than necessary and being really funny.

Oh, but back to Catherine! She's just fine. As I mentioned before, this movie tries so hard to be over the top and goofy, which is something we all know O'Hara is brilliant at doing, but she actually acts really restrained and low-key, since her character is really more down to earth than the others. She has a couple of really funny lines, but otherwise, she doesn't get much to do and the way this movie can stifle talent sadly catches her in its clutches as well.

O'Hara's best scenes are when she is with Bill Murray. The two have great chemistry together and get a little romantic subplot that brightens the movie up. It's small, but they both make it work really well despite everything going against them. It's really fun to watch them work off of each other!

Anyway, it's a whatever movie. It's harmlessly bad, and there are enough good things to make it tolerable. Had the material been handled better it could have been something really special, but alas. At least they cast Catherine O'Hara! Haha.

The Movie: 5/10

Catherine: 6/10 (eek that's a low score...sorry Catherine!!!)

Best in Show: Really nobody...except Mullally. She was great.

Catherine O'Hara Filmography: Game 6 (2005)

"Game 6", directed by Michael Hoffman (whose last film was, oddly enough, "The Last Station"), is a film that takes place in 1986, on the night of a real-life historic baseball game. Nicky Rogan (Michael Keaton) is a playwright who skips opening night for his newest play, to watch this game, but also in fear of the cutthroat review that he is sure that infamous reviewer Stephen Schwimmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is going to give the show. He also has to deal with family issues, involving his daughter Laurel (Ari Graynor) and wife Lillian (Catherine O'Hara).

Overall, "Game 6" is just a mess. Even though it has some interesting moments, it has absolutely no focus. It doesn't know if it's trying to be a character study, an indie comedy, a family drama, or a sports movie. The dialogue is really, really annoying and the film drowns in its self importance. The last thirty minutes are especially terrible. And honestly, New York City traffic is not that bad.

However, the film has two saving graces - Ari Graynor and Catherine O'Hara. As the cocky daughter, Graynor shines, giving her character both attitude and sensitivity that all feels so lived in and natural. She does so much more with her character than she needed to. A really interesting performance.

As for Catherine, she is, as usual, a shining light in this otherwise bleak film, even though she is in literally one scene. This is subtle O'Hara - she's totally subdued, none of her signature crazy in this role, but she pulls it off perfectly. In her short exchange with Keaton, we see everything that Lillian is going through - fear, sadness, hopelessness, anger. O'Hara succeeds in getting us totally under the skin of Lillian, all while injecting subtle touches that are just wonderful.

So anyway, there you have it. I really, strongly disliked "Game 6" but as usual, Catherine saves it. With the help of Ari Graynor! Get it gurls.

The Film: 4/10

Catherine: 8/10

Best in Show: Graynor and O'Hara

A continuation of my mission. What should I watch next?

Catherine O'Hara Filmography: Rock and Rule (1983)

One of the largest facets of Catherine O'Hara's career is her work as a voiceover actress. And, as a lover of animation, I was looking forward to watching the Canadian cult classic "Rock and Rule", a movie that had a nightmarish release and has only recently been able to find an audience.

"Rock and Rule" is a trippy movie that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which humans have been replaced by highly evolved humanoid rats and society is evidently based greatly on rock and roll music. The evil, yet highly famous Mok (Don Francks) is searching for the right voice that will become the key to unlocking a demon from another dimension. He finds this voice in Angel (Susan Roman), the singer in a struggling band. When she is kidnapped, it's up to her hotheaded bandmate Omar (Paul LeMat) and the other members of her band to save her.

Overall, "Rock and Rule" is a pretty cool movie, besides having horrendous dialogue. The animation is cool to look at, exuding vibes of Ralph Bakshi and even Sylvain Chomet. There are some particularly stunning sequences, such as the demon summoning at the end. It also has a great soundtrack of songs from classic 80's bands like Cheap Trick, Earth Wind and Fire, Iggy Pop, and others. It's animation for adults for sure, and it works pretty well.

There's not much to say regarding Catherine's work in the movie, because her voice appears only in one scene as "Aunt Edith", the owner of a tattoo parlor that the band stays in while trying to save Angel. She does great voice work, or at least, as much as she could given the smallness of the role, all with a really funny New Jersey accent. Great voiceover work!

So that's about it on "Rock and Rule". I'd recommend it for sure, just as something different from your typical animated fare. OH, and Susan Roman, the voice of Angel, played Sailor Jupiter on the old "Sailor Moon" TV series. Which I watched. So when I heard her voice, it awakened something within me from my childhood. Haha. Funny stuff.

The Movie: 7/10
Catherine: too small of a part to "rate". haha
Best in Show: The musical performers!

Catherine O'Hara Filmography: Penelope (2006)

This is a continuation of my mission to watch all of Catherine O'Hara's movie roles.

Reese-Witherspoon-produced "Penelope" is a cute film that tells the story of the titular Penelope (Christina Ricci) who, due to a curse from her father's side, was born with the nose of a pig. Her parents, especially her mother (Catherine! more on her shortly), want her to get married to a man of wealth, which would presumably break the curse. James McAvoy plays the only guy who even gets close to falling in love with Penelope, but needless to say things don't quite work out, and a fairy tale adventure ensues.

And while there are a lot of things wrong with "Penelope", that would be useless to get in to now, there are a lot of good things about it too. Besides O'Hara's great amount of screentime, the film is ridiculously cute, and Ricci and McAvoy give charismatic performances. Reese Witherspoon herself also has a small, but lovably scene-stealing role as a friend that Penelope makes after escaping her home.

O'Hara plays Jessica Wilhelm, Penelope's well meaning but severely misguided mother. Throughout the film, Jessica's sole mission is to get Penelope married so that she'll become a normal human - with the personal agenda that her own life will also be returned to normal. Jessica is conflicted because she loves her daughter but hates the curse that her husband's blood line has brought upon her. Even though she wants so much to help Penelope, her obsession with materialism and her manic desperation for nobody to know about the curse cause her to do more harm than good.

As aformentioned, Catherine has a great amount of screentime, which gives her a great opportunity to shine. She really has a hold on Jessica's conflict, and though the movie often villainizes her character, she is somehow able to keep you feeling a bit sorry for her all the same. O'Hara does such a good job of treating Jessica as human that she creates a three-dimensional portrait out of the caricature that was handed her, while still being able to do the over the top comedic things the script requires (like at the end when she uses her face to great comedic effect).

However, even though O'Hara is able to rise above the limitations of her character, the script really does continually work against her. For a perfect example, take her last scene with Penelope (sort of SPOILERY but not too much) in which she apologizes for her selfish actions. Her teary delivery of the lines is so sincere that we can really feel Jessica's remorse. However, then she goes on to comment on a possible plastic surgery job for Penelope, which totally undermines what could have been the most meaningful and heartfelt scene of the movie. O'Hara pulls it off, but it was a distasteful script decision that shows how the movie is bent on casting Jessica in an unfairly poor light.

All that being said, "Penelope" is still a very cute, if not forgettable movie that is perfectly enjoyable, despite its many flaws. O'Hara's perfectly non-judgmental, multi-layered and refreshingly substantial work as Jessica is definitely worth watching. Oh and did I mention that Reese Witherspoon steals the movie?

The Movie: 6/10

Catherine: 8/10

Best in Show: Disregarding Reese Witherspoon's cameo, I'll go with Catherine. But I must say, Ricci was absorbing and I loved watching James McAvoy be American.

Catherine O'Hara Filmography: Best in Show (2000)

This post is the first in my mission to watch all of Catherine O'Hara's movies.

If there's one place that has been proven time and time again to nourish Catherine O'Hara's talents both comedically and even dramatically, it has been the films of Christopher Guest. Ever since "Waiting for Guffman" fans have known of O'Hara's brilliance.

"Best in Show" is Christopher Guest's second mockumentary, which follows a group of odd characters as they and their dogs prepare for the Mayflower Dog Show, a prestigious event that every character wants to win. Catherine plays Cookie Fleck, the owner and trainer of a ridiculously cute terrier. More importantly though (plotwise anyway), Cookie also had a very colorful and prolific sex life in her younger years, much to the dismay of her husband Gerry (Eugene Levy).

Sadly, O'Hara's screentime is rather limited in the movie, and her character just isn't as memorable as some of the others in the film, such as Parker Posey's uber-bitch Meg Swan or Jennifer Coolidge's ditzy Sheri Ann Cabot. The two of them have some of the funniest moments in the film and Posey especially is just phenomenal. However, though this is surely not a quintessential O'Hara performance, it's still really wonderful, because I feel it gives us a bit of everything that makes her brilliant.

First of all, she and Eugene being a couple (that sings!) is a lovely foreshadowing of the wonderful work she was to do in "A Mighty Wind". Secondly, we see Catherine's skills as a physical and over the top comedian when she injures her knee and is hobbling around. Then, she also shows her ability as a subtle, talented actress when she encounters her past lovers, or when she's worried about the credit card, or when her dog is being held hostage on the roof of a shed.

So despite her limited screentime, Catherine O'Hara's role as Cookie Fleck is a loving reminder for all fans of why she is amazing. The movie is hysterical and also features wonderful performances by its entire cast, especially Parker Posey, Jennifer Coolidge, and Jane Lynch (!!!) so if you haven't yet seen it, I highly recommend. :)

The Film: 9/10

Catherine: 9/10

Best in Show: Parker Posey for sure, with Jennifer Coolidge following closely behind

What were your thoughts on Best in Show? How do you like the project so far? Make your voices heard in the comments!

Big Announcement: The Catherine O'Hara Experience!

As you readers should probably have realized by now, I am literally in love with the wonderful Canadian actress Catherine O'Hara. I mean, the little blurb right underneath the blog's banner proudly declares that fact, so yes. 'Tis the truth.

So, after thinking about my lovely Catherine for some time, I realized that it was time to take on an exciting mission - to watch each and every feature-length film in Catherine's filmography. While I've seen much of it already, I am missing several items.

And, while I go on my epic quest, I shall take you readers along with me, as I'll do a little write up for each of her wonderful roles. Starting tonight, with "Best in Show", as I just watched that yesterday. :)

Truth be told, a large part of Catherine O'Hara's work as an actress is made up of television work, which I will not be including in this project. I shall save that for the future. Hehe!

So here's a list of the movies I'm going to be watching...

• Double Negative (1980)
• Nothing Personal (1980)
• Rock and Rule (1983)
• After Hours (1985)
• Heartburn (1986)
• Beetle Juice (1988)
• Little Vegas (1990)
• Dick Tracy (1990)
• Betsy's Wedding (1990)
• Home Alone (1990)
• There Goes the Neighborhood (1992)
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• The Paper (1994)
• Wyatt Earp (1994)
• A Simple Twist of Fate (1994)
• Tall Tale (1995)
• Waiting for Guffman (1996)
• The Last of the High Kings (1996)
• Pippi Longstocking (1997)
• Home Fries (1998)
• The Life Before This (1999)
• Best in Show (2000)
• Speaking of Sex (2001)
• Orange County (2002)
• A Mighty Wind (2003)
• Surviving Christmas (2004)
• A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
• Game 6 (2005)
• Chicken Little (2005)
• Over the Hedge (2006)
• Monster House (2006)
• Penelope (2006)
• For Your Consideration (2006)
• Away We Go (2009)
• Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
• Killers (2010)

Okay! So this will be quite a hefty project. And, to be honest with you all, there are some movies on this list that I have no idea how I'm going to find...those little obscure Canadian indies and stuff. BUT! I will find a way. Because I am going to complete this project! Muahaha.

So...chime in! I'm starting with Best in Show, what should I watch next? Is this as exciting as I think it is? Am I being really stalkerish? Opinions go down there! :)