July 7, 2017

"Have you ever seen the movie 'Sliding Doors' with Gwyneth Paltrow? It's a pretty good movie that shows how one small decision can change your life."

"In the movie, we see what happens when Gwyneth Paltrow's character comes home early from work one day to find her boyfriend cheating on her. We also see the alternative, where she is delayed on her way home and doesn't catch him. The most exciting part of the movie? In the timeline where she catches her cheating boyfriend, she ends up with the world's most awesome haircut...."

From a blog post titled "The 'Sliding Doors' Haircut," which I found after reading something over at Tom & Lorenzo's about Gwyneth Paltrow:
GIRL. FIX YOUR HAIR. The Marcia Brady look is tired and you’ve been sporting it for close to two decades now. GOD.
And from the comments:
PLEASE...go back to the short hairstyle in Sliding Doors...this center part HAS TO GO !
IS ALL CAPS to begin and end a statement some kind of THING?

I don't know, but it seems to me — and I read this in a magazine a long time ago — that the women with the very best hair arrive at one hairstyle and keep it permanently. Anna Wintour is said to have worn the same hairstyle since she was 14.

49 comments:

MayBee said...

I love the movie Sliding Doors. Think about it all the time.

Expat(ish) said...

I have had the exact same hair cut since I was 8 years old (*, **) - a modified 1956 corporate cut. #7 with a blocked back if you are familiar with the standard barber chart.

-XC

(*) There was an unfortunate "Jew fro" period in high school.
(**) We will not speak of the rat-tail.

tim in vermont said...

She's hot, and I remember from a move a line that comes to mind: "Didn't you know all bitches is crazy?!?"

Laslo Spatula said...

Disappointment Dog looks at the door all day long. Look at the floor, look at the door. Look at the floor, look at the door. Like that, all day long.

Maybe the Peoples will come through it today! Maybe it was all just a mistake, and she got lost, but now she is back to take me home! She just needs to come through that door, and I will wag my tail and be a Good Boy, I promise! I'll be a Good Good Boy, and you won't have to leave me ever again ever.

I don't understand why she left me, but if she comes through that door I don't need to know why, I just need her to be here to take me home. I won't even get up on the couch unless I'm invited. I'll be a Good Dog -- I'll be a Good Good Dog!

She just needs to come through that door, that's all.

I'm Sorry for being Disappointment Dog.

I am Laslo.

bagoh20 said...

OMG, that trailer sucks: terrible music, and no real tease. I wanted to see the movie from the description, but the trailer made it seem poorly crafted, like a macaroni painting on a paper plate, which at least I could eat. I mean I could eat Paltrow, I assume she certified organic.

rehajm said...

Same Haircut = Stuck In A Rut

Ralph L said...

At least she's given up the Magic Marker eyeliner.

rcocean said...

Paltrow's mom is Blythe Danner and she was much more beautiful and charming than her daughter.

In any case, Paltrow looks a lot better as a blonde. Of course, movie actresses depend so much on makeup and camera angles. You'll notice that someone with a big nose is usually shot straight on.

Etienne said...

Someone remarks to me every now and then, that "so and so woman" has the same hairstyle for 40 years.

I'm not overly sensitive to this, but I followed this with, "yea, I know - Frank Sinatra had the same haircut for 50 years."

You get the strangest looks. It's kind of a conversation-ender though...

Bilwick said...

It's a good movie, with an important lesson: "You never really know." (Semi-Spoiler alert.) The main character in one of the two parallel story lines seems to have the better life by far than the other main character in the alternate world--until disaster strikes. I often think my life would have been better if I had stayed in Manhattan rather than marooning myself in the Philistine capital where I now find myself. But who knows? If I stayed in Manhattan I might have landed a great job--on one of the upper stories of the World Trader Center.

rcocean said...

Of course, with male actors its usually height that gets manipulated on film. I just watched "The Graduate" and you can see how the cameraman avoided having Hoffman (5-6) and Bancroft (5-8) standing next to each other, or kissing standing up. When they do scenes together, she's usually lying down or they're both sitting so that Dustin can get propped up by a pillow.

During the "goodbye scene" in Casablanca, Bogie was standing on a box, because Bergman was the same height - 5/8.

Mrs. X said...

Laslo, you're breaking my heart! Tell Disappoitment Dog that Lena Dunham isn't worth it.

Dave from Minnesota said...

I liked that movie. Although the last....say 25%...its like the writers got sick or writing a good story so just kind of phoned in the last part.

Haley said...

I don't love Gwyneth Paltrow, but I love Sliding Doors. The trailer isn't great, but you should watch the movie anyway. It made me a John Hannah fan, and Jeanne Tripplehorn is fantastically psycho.

Jessica said...

It seriously was the most beautiful youthful haircut. Wish I could pull it off!

southcentralpa said...

I dunno, it may feature sartorial differences in the different timelines, but if it's alternate timelines you crave, it's hard to top "Lola rennt".

[I'm being informed to mention it was released here titled "Run, Lola, Run"]

David Begley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dave from Minnesota said...

The idea of how one minor thing can trigger a chain reaction. Its kind of an odd story about how I got my first full time job. And it involved me moving fairly far out-of-town. If one small event when I was....say 20 years old....would have been different, I wouldn't know anyone I know today except for family members and maybe a small number of friends from late teenage years.

SDaly said...

The "Sliding Doors" haircut looks to me like the Megyn Kelly haircut to oblivion.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I've always heard it was a good movie, and it seems to be on netflix. I will check it out.

rcocean said...

And sorry, i don't like droopy long hair on older women or super-short tom boy haircuts.

what about shoulder length?

Jim Gust said...

Man, it's been years since I watched Sliding Doors--I actually own a VHS of it. Seeing the trailer makes me want to watch it again, even though I'm no longer a Gwyneth fan.

Thanks, Althouse!

Known Unknown said...

even though I'm no longer a Gwyneth fan.

What happened?

Known Unknown said...

Gwen is showing her age in those close-ups. Those eyes have been worked on. I just hope she doesn't end up like Kenny Rogers.

Birches said...

Speaking of good hair, I watched IQ with Meg Ryan last night.

I have always had shorter hair, grew it out for seven years and then went back to short last year. A good haircut doesn't need to be changed.

Anonymous said...

Paltrow is not known these day for the style of her drapes but the steam cleaning of her carpet.

AlbertAnonymous said...

I couldn't get past her ridiculous British accent...

rcocean said...

"even though I'm no longer a Gwyneth fan."

I field that, even though it wasn't directed at me.

I liked Gwyneth in "Perfect Murder" "Shakespeare in Love" and "Emma" but after that I discovered she was extremely limited as an actress. She literally had to have the right script to be good.

And of course, like most Hollywood types, the more you know about the real person, the less you like them.

rcocean said...

Her mother is just as left-wing as she is, but somehow manages to come off as smart, while she seems to be a complete kook.

tim in vermont said...

Her mother is just as left-wing as she is, but somehow manages to come off as smart, while she seems to be a complete kook.

Her mother made it on her own.

tim in vermont said...

When a woman over forty gets one of those man haircuts, I figure she is either lesbian, or done with sex. Same difference as far as I am concerned. But Paltrow's haircut was not one of those, and she certainly could carry it off. But yeah, she comes off as not too bright. I have never met her, so I don't really know.

The Godfather said...

I fell in love with Gwyneth in "Shakespeare In Love", so it pains me to say this, but Please Gwyneth don't display your chest. See 1:18 in the Sliding Doors trailer. It didn't figure in "Shakespeare", where she was a girl pretending to be a boy playing a girl, but when we talk about "cleavage" it implies that there's some stuff there that cleaves. Keep it covered and I'll love you forever.

You say she has a hairdo? I'm a straight guy. What do I care?

rcocean said...

"You say she has a hairdo? I'm a straight guy. What do I care?"

So your girlfriend could get a buzz cut and you'd be OK with it?

tim in vermont said...

Fuck you Godfather! I love it when the smaller ladies show a little cleavage! Kathleen Turner can share my bed any time! Kate Hudson? Come on down!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

the whole premise of the movie is out the window. If Paltrow is your GF - why would you even look at a another woman? You just won the hot chick lottery.

Bill Peschel said...

Dickin, because they have to open their mouths sometime, and eventually you get tired of their nonsense.

I suspect also that women in her field are pretty hard-charging Type A's who are spending a lot of time away from home, and when they're home they're dedicated to their career. Doesn't leave a lot of time for you, and you either accept it, or you bolt.

richlb said...

That movie helped fuel the "Gweneth is British" meme. Before there were memes.

Ralph L said...

You just won the hot chick lottery.
"Show me a beautiful woman, and I'll show you a man who's tired of fucking her."

Can't remember where I read or heard that.

rcocean said...

"If Paltrow is your GF - why would you even look at a another woman? You just won the hot chick lottery."

Yeah, if you tape her mouth shut. Otherwise...

How'd you like to have a kid called "apple" or "Prune" or whatever.

rcocean said...

Hey Bill, you just have to get used to being "Mr. Gweynth Paltrow" - and giving up your own career for the sake of the kids - like apple and pear.







Laslo Spatula said...

"If Paltrow is your GF - why would you even look at a another woman? You just won the hot chick lottery."

Looks aren't everything.

Like, if I'm banging a chick from behind, I can't even see her face usually.

That said, I'd bang Gweynth from behind.

And I would take the ball gag out of her mouth before I left.

Because I am a Gentleman.

I am Laslo.

Freeman Hunt said...

I did not have that feeling about the haircut.

Michael K said...

One of my favorite short novels is by Jack Finney and is called "The Woodrow Wilson Dime."

It's about a young guy who is kind of bored with his life. He goes home one day form work and stops to buy a newspaper at his usual news stand. He notices that he gets a Woodrow Wilson dime in his change and has never seen one before. As he heads home, he sees a few odd things and when he gets home and goes into his apartment, he finds his wife is not the wife he left that morning but the girl he almost married.

The next day he goes to work and finds his job is the one he almost took instead of the boring one.

He realizes that the newsstand is at some sort of intersection of two worlds. One os the world he lived in before he got the Woodrow Wilson dime, The other is this new one made up of all the things he might have done differently,

It sounds a little like this movie plot.

Freeman Hunt said...

My feeling about the haircut was more along the lines, "That's why people shouldn't make decisions soon after trauma."

Saint Croix said...

Her hair is okay but when she dated Brad Pitt?

That was fucked up.

The Godfather said...

I've been away from the computer living life for awhile, so I'm late responding to a couple of comments. Apologies.

rocean said (in response to my comment that I don't care about Gwyneth's hairdo): "So your girlfriend could get a buzz cut and you'd be OK with it?" I don't think my wife would approve of either the buzz cut or the (hypothetical) girlfriend, but my remark was directed to the hairdo of a fantasy figure in the movies, not a real person.

Sample Commenter said (in respinse to my comment that Gwyneth shouldn't display her bust): "Fuck you Godfather! I love it when the smaller ladies show a little cleavage! Kathleen Turner can share my bed any time! Kate Hudson? Come on down!" And the horse I rode in on, I assume. I don't recall Kathleen Turner's bust, but she played Jessica Rabbit who was really stacked. Kate Hudson? Gosh I have no recollection of her bust size, but I'll take your word for it. So if you find yourself in bed with Gwyneth, Kathleen, and Kate, please enjoy.

Zach said...

I remember the movie as being pretty good, although I'm amazed anyone saw it with a trailer like that.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

I thought she looked better with long hair.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Apple is a great name.