Episode 177: MOONSTRUCK (1987)

MOONSTRUCK is a perfect film made in 1987 by Norman Jewison and written by John Patrick Shanley. Loretta (played by Cher), a neurotic Italian woman in her mid-30s, is set to marry Johnny (Danny Aiello), a neurotic Italian man in his mid-40s, even though she doesn’t really love him. She meets his brother Ronny (Nic Cage) and falls into a whirlwind romance that starts to crumble her idea of what she wants from her life. MOONSTRUCK was acclaimed at release and is considered a classic romantic comedy, having won three Academy Awards (Best Actress for Cher, Best Supporting Actress for Olympia Dukakis as her mother, and Best Screenplay for John Patrick Shanley). Kick off the Trylon’s Nic Cage: National Treasure series with MOONSTRUCK and our accompanying episode – the best discussion you’ll find on the internet! Links: - “Moonstruck: Life in the In-Between” by Emily VanDerWerff for The Criterion Collection: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7192-moonstruck-life-in-the-in-between - Buy tickets to EDDIE MURPHY (June 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/eddie-murphy/ - “NIC CAGE, NATIONAL TREASURE” (June - Aug 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/national-treasure/ - “GENE TIERNEY” (July 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/gene-tierney/ - “YAPHET KOTTO” (Aug 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/yaphet-kotto/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing song: “That’s Amore” written by Harry Warren and Jack Brooks and performed by Dean Martin from the MOONSTRUCK soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 177: MOONSTRUCK (1987) 4:40 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises) 6:11 - The ridiculous, romantic tightrope MOONSTRUCK walks 24:57 - Practical emotion and Loretta’s transformation 40:14 - Nic Cage’s ‘earnest commitment to absurdity’ 53:04 - Perry, Cosmo, and infidelious foils 59:56 - The Junk Drawer (Magical realism and John Patrick Shanley) 1:04:20 - Cody’s Noteys: That’s A Garage Sale