The Sunday Read: 'Cher Everlasting'
The escapism of movies took on a new importance during pandemic isolation. Caity Weaver, the author of this week’s Sunday Read, says that to properly embrace this year’s cinematic achievements, the Academy Awards should not only hand out accolades to new releases, but also to the older films that sustained us through this period.
If they did, Caity argues, Cher would be on course to win a second Oscar for her performance as Loretta Castorini in 1987’s “Moonstruck” — a film that, under lockdown, was a salve to many.
On today’s episode, a conversation with Cher about the film’s production, cast and legacy.
This story was written by Caity Weaver and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.
- Duration
- 24m
- Broadcast on
- 27 Dec 2020
- Audio Format
- other
This episode appears to contain dynamically inserted ads. Transcript timestamps may be approximate.
The escapism of movies took on a new importance during pandemic isolation. Caity Weaver, the author of this week’s Sunday Read, says that to properly embrace this year’s cinematic achievements, the Academy Awards should not only hand out accolades to new releases, but also to the older films that sustained us through this period.
If they did, Caity argues, Cher would be on course to win a second Oscar for her performance as Loretta Castorini in 1987’s “Moonstruck” — a film that, under lockdown, was a salve to many.
On today’s episode, a conversation with Cher about the film’s production, cast and legacy.
This story was written by Caity Weaver and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
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this podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. Hi, I'm Katie Weaver, a writer for the New York Times magazine. And I recently wrote a piece about a 1987 movie that people are really loving in 2020. For that piece, I got to talk to a very special California lady I like to call, share. Do you believe in love and love? I can feel something inside me say. I don't actually like to call her share. It feels way too familiar. Like calling Santa Claus Nick, but she is share and that is what she calls herself. So that's what I called her. She called me babe at one point at least. I can't remember a time when I didn't have at least some awareness of who share was. If you've never heard of share, you're lying. And this movie Moonstruck, as good as it is, really should have been kind of a line on her very impressive resume. It came out 33 years ago. It's not an anniversary. It's a little dated in many ways. But for some reason, people are making a beeline for it. What the hell happened to you? I really don't know where to start. Moonstruck is a movie about a woman named Loretta Castorini played by share. Who lives at home in Brooklyn with her parents. The movie follows a couple very eventful days in her otherwise extremely ordinary life. You got a love bite on your neck. He's coming back this morning. What's the matter with you? Your life's going down the toilet. Cover up that damn thing. Come on, put some makeup on. All right. All right. Okay, fine. We're going to help me. Hurry up. And I think everyone experiencing the deprivations of 2020 can find something to cling to or be drawn to in this movie. If you haven't been able to see your family for a long time, you get these really warm, comforting scenes of Loretta at home with her parents and her grandfather and seeing her uncle. If you are trapped at home with your family, you get to see Loretta leave her family behind for a glamorous night on the town. If you miss shopping, Loretta buys new shoes. They're red. They sparkle. If you, like me, miss free bread at restaurants, there are delicious scenes of the characters going to a little neighborhood Italian restaurant where they see other couples having arguments there and getting proposed to there, which is all I want from a restaurant experience, free bread and a little bit of drama. So at first glance, people might be wondering why a share movie from 1987 seems to be having a sudden resurgence in the midst of a pandemic. But I think if and when you watch Moonstruck again, which you really should treat yourself to doing, they say there's nothing new under the sun. It will all make sense because there is just so much comforting normalcy there, but under the moon, that's another story to rest your head on. Share Nicholas Cage in a Norman Jewellson film. So here's my piece. Share everlasting. Red by Kirsten Potter. Online checkout shouldn't feel like an obstacle course. Card hunting, password fumbling. That's why there's link. Link auto fills your information and protects eligible purchases. So next time you pay online, look for the green button. Link the smarter way to pay. Learn more at link.com. This podcast is supported by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Natural Resources Defense Council has been fighting to keep oil rigs out of the Arctic Refuge for decades. Today, while there's still not a single drilling rig in that iconic wildlife refuge, the Trump administration has started selling drilling leases there. And the NRDC is back in court to block them. These places aren't protected in one news cycle. They're protected by not letting go. Become a monthly supporter, and your first gift will be six times matched at NRDC.org/daily. Superhuman is an AI productivity platform that brings together go, grammarly, coda, and mail into one connected suite. So AI isn't something your team has to go find. It's already there. In every tool they use, proactively working alongside them. Use Go's AI chat to draft emails and messages, summarize long threads and documents, and search across your apps, all without leaving the page you're on. Deep in a dense stock or a long thread,
Transcription truncated.
The escapism of movies took on a new importance during pandemic isolation. Caity Weaver, the author of this week’s Sunday Read, says that to properly embrace this year’s cinematic achievements, the Academy Awards should not only hand out accolades to new releases, but also to the older films that sustained us through this period.
If they did, Caity argues, Cher would be on course to win a second Oscar for her performance as Loretta Castorini in 1987’s “Moonstruck” — a film that, under lockdown, was a salve to many.
On today’s episode, a conversation with Cher about the film’s production, cast and legacy.
This story was written by Caity Weaver and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.