M AY 29, 2022
S U N D AYS I G N A L · 1 3
E N T E R TA I N M E N T
‘Angelyne’ — the Myth, the Billboards, the Fame, the Woman By Richard Roeper Signal Contributing Writer
‘Angelyne’
1/2 (out of four)
A five-episode series available now on Peacock.
H
alf the celebrities in the world today are famous for being famous — although I guess many of them actually DO have talent, ranging from the ability to dance suggestively in yoga pants on TikTok to saying stupid things on YouTube to getting plastic surgery and yelling at each other on “reality” TV to setting up payas-you-play accounts that are for fans only. These are skill sets, people! Not that this is anything new; some 60 years ago the historian Daniel J. Boorstin published “The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America,” in which he defined celebrity as “a person who is known for his well-knownness.” From Zsa Zsa Gabor to Paris Hilton and the Kardashians, there’s a long and shallow history of inexplicably well-known individuals — and one of the undisputed pioneers in that field is the cartoonishly busty, sugary blond, pink Corvette-driving phenomenon known as Angelyne, who burst onto the Los Angeles landscape with a series of billboards in the 1980s and somehow became something of an icon, despite the fact that was pretty much it: the billboards. Now her story gets the limited series, “based on a true story but certain events have been fictionalized” treatment in the wicked smart, cleverly meta, whimsical and yet occasionally melancholy “Angelyne” on Peacock, with Emmy Rossum delivering a sparkling and splashy and yet honest and authentic performance as a woman who willed herself into becoming a Hollywood icon — and on some level, that truly IS a talent. Told in the style of a mockumentary, with Angelyne and others giving “interviews” straight to camera, and also employing the occasional “I, Tonya” technique of characters breaking the fourth wall to dispute or comment on events, the series is based in part on Gary Baum’s 2017 article for the Hollywood Reporter that exposed the
while adding to her legend by tooling parking lot of a grocery store and is ready to confront her — but softens around Los Angeles in a pink Corwhen she sees the run in Angelyne’s vette, much to the delight of tourists stockings and the rather depressing and locals who are thrilled to catch a glimpse of — and buy some merchan- spectacle of this no-longer-young woman in full makeup and wardrobe, dise from — a real Hollywood star. loading paper bags of groceries into Yet that’s the thing: Despite all the her car. billboards and the talk show appearNot that we ever get to see the “real” ances and the blink-and-you’ll-missAngelyne — the woman who comes her guest spots on TV and in the home after a long day of driving movies, Angelyne was just … Angearound town and selling magazines, lyne. (The Los Angeles Times once photos and other trinkets out of her noted her billboards “have had a betcar trunk, takes off the wig and the ter career than she has, appearing in makeup and turns off the persona. ‘Get Shorty’ and ‘Volcano,’ as well as That’s the point, really; even after the TV’s ‘The Simpsons, ’ ‘Moonlighting’ Laemmle Theatres • Santa Clarita Signal adsource@exhibitorads.com details of Angelyne’s upbringing and and ‘Futurama.’”) p. 888.737.2812 f. 203.438.1206 3col (4.75”) x 5.9” Rossum does a beautiful job of con- personal life are revealed in the artiPHOTO COURTESY IMDB cle, she2, just2022 keeps on going as Angeveying the sadness and insecurity in insertion date: true storyAd behind the billboard my- Sunday-Thursday, May 29-June lyne, as if that other person doesn’t exAngelyne’s eyes, even as she indulges thology — it’s a stylized, dreamy, Adbutcreation/delivery date: Tuesday, May 24, 2022 at 11:06:09 AM CASCS_LEM0529-0602.qxp ist and never existed. Thanks in large her narcissism and manipulates the sometimes appropriately trippy and part to Rossum’s deeply sympathetic men in her life to the benefit of her frothy mix of established facts and and almost protective performance, own career. There’s a poignant scene flights of fancy. ALL the narrators in when Wallach’s grown daughter (Mol- “Angelyne” turns Angelyne into the “Angelyne” are unreliable. kind of star she always wanted to ly Ephraim), who deeply resents AnShowrunner Allison Miller and be. gelyne for turning her father’s world the crack writing team deliver a fastCopyright 2022 Chicago Sun-Times upside down, sees Angelyne in the paced, time-jumping, consistently witty and sharp fractured fairy tale, filled with pink-on-pink-on-pink viTM suals and set to the lush pop sounds of the Electric Light Orchestra, among others. Rossum disappears under a tsunami 22500 Lyons Ave. info Line 310.478.3836 of blond wig, extensive makeup and prosthetics, and breathless voice as she becomes Angelyne, first seen as an The AdvenTures of PriscillA, Queen of The ambitious and self-promoting wandeserT E Thu: 7:30 PM nabe punk singer in the 1970s. (Her In celebration of Pride 2022, an icon of queer cinema returns to the big screen. Resplendent in flamboyant ball gowns, looking down over the vast red Australian desert: for three showgirls it was the dream of a lifetime, a four week cabaret engagement in Alice Springs. reaction to a scathing review is pure freAkscene - The sTory of dinosAur jr. Tue: 7:30 PM joy; her name is in the paper, she’s beA homage to one of the most influential bands on the American East Coast, which inspired the rock scene, including Nirvana and Sonic Youth. coming famous!) The BoB’s Burgers Movie C 1:30 4:30 7:30 Each episode frames Angelyne’s “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” is an animated, big-screen, musical comedy-mystery-adventure based on the long-running Emmywinning series. story through her point of view and ToP gun: MAverick C Sun & Mon: 1:00 2:00 4:10 6:30 7:20; the experiences of pivotal individuals Tue: 1:00 2:00 4:10 7:20; Wed & Thu: 1:00 2:00 4:10 6:30 7:20 in her life, including Harold Wallach After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot. (Martin Freeman), the L.A. printdownTon ABBey: A new erA B 1:10 4:15 7:15 ing mogul who financed Angelyne’s The much-anticipated cinematic return of the global phenomenon reunites the beloved cast as they go on a grand journey to the South of France to uncover the mystery of the Dowager Countess’ newly inherited villa. billboards in the 1980s; Rick Krause Men E 4:20 PM (Hamish Linklater), the bizarro and In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Harper retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping to have found a place to heal. slavishly devoted president of AndocTor sTrAnge in The MulTiverse of MAdness C gelyne’s fan club; Max Allen (Lukas 1:00 4:00 7:10 Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending Gage), who tried for years to make a and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary. documentary about Angelyne, and The BAd guys B 1:20 4:20 7:20 After a lifetime of pulling legendary heists, five notorious bad guys attempt their most challenging job yet - going good. Nobody Jeff Glaser (Alex Karpovsky) as a fichas ever failed so hard at trying to be good as The Bad Guys. tionalized version of reporter Gary The norThMAn E 7:00 PM The Northman is an action-filled epic that follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s murder. Baum. The unBeArABle weighT of MAssive TAlenT E 1:15 PM We see evidence of Angelyne’s Nicolas Cage stars as...Nicolas Cage in the action-comedy THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT. Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, the fictionalized version of Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a super fan. business acumen when she parlays FOR 5/29/20226/2/2022 ONLY WWW.LAEMMLE.COM one billboard into dozens, all the
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