The Moviegoer: The King Of Marvin Gardens On DVD: Ellen Burstyn Wants To Shoot Everybody

Here I am again, talking about Bob Rafelson's difficult-to-classify comedy/drama The King of Marvin Gardens, this time during my weekly DVD recommendation segment on CBC Radio. I always feel a slight trepidation about recommending movies like this one on the radio—movies that are probably more "interesting" than they are satisfying—but hopefully this segment does a good enough job of putting the film into context to prepare any potential renters for what awaits them when they pop it into their DVD player.

By the way, I can't remember if I made this observation during the DVD Afternoon podcast last week, in which Heather Noel and I also talked about Criterion's The BBS Story box set, but one of the things that surprised me about this set was watching The King of Marvin Gardens and The last Picture Show and realizing that Ellen Burstyn used to get cast as bombshells and beauty queens all the time—I mainly know her from Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and Resurrection and Requiem for a Dream, and so I've always thought of her as an actress who gets cast as… well, more drab, working-class types. is she the prototype for the uglied-up Oscar-winners of today, your Charlize Therons and your Hilary Swanks and your Nicole Kidmans? Something to ponder, I guess, as you listen to the segment by clicking here.