COMA Cool

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Anybody a fan of this movie? Creepy, atmospheric, full of suspense, great performances, well directed by Michael Crichton....

I just watched it, and loved it - I'm so glad I stumbled across it, I'd never even heard of it...whatever happened to Genevieve Bujold?

[Playbilly]

Yes, very cool movie. Obviously, you're too young to remember when it came out, but it was a big deal at the time. based on a very popular book in the 1970s. Not shown on TV very often.

The ad campaigned focused on the bodies on the strings.

Bujold is Canadian and has done much of her career there. Some of her best performances are in Anne of the Thousand Days, Dead Ringers and Tightrope. Always thought she should have a bigger star. Love that slight accent

[FindingNamo]

I saw it in the theater the night it opened. Tom Selleck changed the course of my puberty. Somebody in the sold out audience wolf-whistled when he appeared onscreen.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Michael Douglas looked pretty good too. I think I may have found another screen diva to worship in Genevieve Bujold - I don't know why, but I fell in love with her!

Spoiler?
I'm so glad that her character survived in the end, I actually thought she was going to become a coma-victim herself, and live unhappily ever after - a bit like Stepford Wives, which this movie reminded me of.

[Playbilly]

Bujold is great. Very underaged. She has a great sensuality to her. Mysterious, knowing but subtle. There's another wonderful film of hers that I can't remember and I'm too lazy and tired (and also watching the basketball game) to look up. It's an Alan Rudolph film, I believe. She plays a radio DJ.

You will have fun investigating her filmography.

[EricMontreal22]

I'm a huge fan of Bujold. I attended a talk she did a few years back in Montreal when the Canadian film The Trotsky premiered--a very classy lady. I believe she splits her time between Montreal and California. One of my favorites of hers is Obsession, but I'm a big fan of that era of DePalama films in general.

Never seen Coma, in fact I don't think I've even heard of it, but I'll have to track it down now (and it was directed by Michael Crichton!) For some reason something about her reminds me of Natalie Dormer, who plays Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones...and not just because she also played Anne Bolyn (in The Tudors).

[Playbilly]

Obsession! Another wonderfully sensual performance by her! You guys are gonna have me change by Netflix list!

I even love the way she pronounces her name. :)

(basketball game over, I'm going to sleep and have Bujoldreams.)

[Mr Roxy]

She is very good in Clint Eastwood's Tightrope

[Jay Lerner-Z]

It's certainly worth tracking down, and I will be sure to check out the rest of her CV. To me, she seems like a delicious cross-breed of Judy Garland and Charlotte Rampling.

[thetinymagic2]

HUGE fan of this movie. (COMA).

Her only REALLY BIG mistake, though in film roles was starring in that horrendous bomb EARTHQUAKE. She must have REALLY needed the dough. Although, the film also features MARJOE (Gortner!) and Victoria Principal. It's too bizarre for words...

[EricMontreal22]

Earthquake was horrendous, but wasn't it a huge box office success?

[aussieskates]

Are you thinking of Choose Me?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087054/

I love Alan Rudolph's movies.

[Roscoe]

A cool little movie, I was wondering how it holds up. Has it gotten dated at all? I remember in particular one wonderful scene with Elizabeth Ashley conducting something of an auction via telephone.

[madbrian]

"I even love the way she pronounces her name."

Me, too. Kander & Ebb should write a song for her.

[doodlenyc]

Jay, if you havent seen it, PLEASE check out Anne of the Thousand Days...she's terrific, as is the film.

[Playbilly]

"Choose Me", yes. She deserves a retrospective, and needs to work more. She should be a "go to" actress for many more producers.

[tazber]

I always liked this movie too. It has that vibe of paranoia that so many thrillers from the 70s seem to have.

I remember seeing this at a friend's house with "Magic" starring Anthony Hopkins.

Great double feature!

[Playbilly]

GAWD!! Don't get me started on MAGIC. LOVE. THAT MOVIE!!! Had the poster of Fats in my room & it used to freak people out! (that was the point) You folks are my new best friends!

"Brains as well as boobs".

Did you Jack Nicholson was originally woo'd (or wood) for the Hopkins role? And that Fats was made by Walt Disney.

[Jane2]

I loved COMA. Can't remember the last time I saw it, but I'm ready for another viewing! It's never on tv these days.

[Playbilly]

The movie has had a history of rights issues. That's why it's not on TV much. Try Netflix or rent the DVD, if you can find one.

[EricMontreal22]

Magic terrified me as a kid. Apparently people even complained about the TV ads being too scary.

I'd love to see Bujold in more movies, but she made it pretty clear that it's her own decision to work only when she wants to.

Perhaps a bit of a guilty pleasure (I mean it does have Tori Spelling), but Bujold was also great as Parker Posey's mom in the incest comedy (!) The House of Yes.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

I will be sure to check it out, doodle - another one I've never even heard of.

About Coma, I just realized that Elizabeth Ashley (back on Broadway next month) played the sinister nurse at the Jefferson Institute. I think I might buy this movie on DVD - $4.99 on amazon, so not bad.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Just adding another voice to the "see Anne of the Thousand Days" chorus. It's one of my favorite movies.

[Borstalboy]

Add me to the organizers of the Genevieve Bujold Film Festival!

She is a true original. Its very dated, but check her out in an ANTIGONE that was done in the early seventies for PBS. I think its on DVD. And you gotta see CHOOSE ME, which also features Lesley Ann Warren's best performance.

COMA is a skin-crawling blast! I'm glad to hear its held up for someone who has seen it only recently.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Seconding Antigone, too. That used to be available on Netflix streaming, but I don't think it is anymore.

[wonkit]

She and Donald Sutherland did a strange and haunting movie called (I think) AN ACT OF THE HEART. I saw it in the theater when it was released (mid 1970's) but have never been able to find it since. He plays a priest and she plays a young woman (a student of his, I think) with whom he has an affair. I think the shocking ending is what has kept it from being more widely available.