Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

"Crazy camp"

"This movie is a bonkers train ride leaving the station at 100mph. The fact that Roger Ebert wrote this along with Russ Meyers is both wild and an absolute joy to know. I feel i should give a warning of some kind, but I'm unsure for what. Maybe transphobia? I'm genuinely not sure. Without spoiling, one of the most wild parts of this movie is the ending where a literal narrator tells you the theme of the movie and I was sitting there, mouth agape from the absolute nutso ending going "I didn't get that at all!""

"Seriously, trust me, you do not need to watch Valley of the Dolls. There is a reason for the title, but you won't get it from watching Valley of the Dolls, or Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. You'll have to look it up or have a friend tell you (it'll take about a minute to get the story of the connection. That said, there's a giant "Story of the Film" rabbit hole you can go down after watching it). I think every film student / aspiring filmmaker /film aficionado needs to see this but mainly as a study on what NOT to do. For example, just because dialog works on the page, that doesn't mean it will sound good when spoken. Also, just because you CAN edit, that doesn't mean you SHOULD edit (Tony Scott needed to learn that lesson). And, get your actor/actress a dialog coach. Have the coach and your actor figure out an accent that works, and make the actor STICK TO IT! "