I couldn’t find a clip of my next 2024 movie music moment, but I think it’s worth acknowledging anyway.
Jamie Lee Curtis has taken a lot of crap over the last couple of years, at least in online circles, for openly campaigning for awards. Her efforts earned her a goodwill Oscar win for a decent performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, and they might land her a nomination in the same category tomorrow morning for her work in The Last Showgirl.
Curtis’ career trajectory has been wild. She started as a scream queen in cult classic horror movies, then transitioned to a sexpot comedienne. She was beloved by fans but never respected by the establishment.
Now, in her 60s, she has shifted to unglamorous depictions of tough women beaten down by life. In Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Bear, and The Last Showgirl, she is raw and real and sometimes uncomfortably broad. It’s a whole new style of acting, and one that is earning her accolades that eluded her for the first 40 years of her career.
I personally think a little of the new Jamie Lee goes a long way, but I’m also inspired by the bravery of her choices. She is performing without vanity in an industry that’s fueled by the stuff.
I offer all of that context to acknowledge a scene in The Last Showgirl in which Curtis’ character, a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, does a table dance to Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart.’ It’s a sad but dignified moment, a defiant act by a woman being forced out of her livelihood because of her age.
In a film about raging against the dying of the light, this scene argues you should go out dancing.
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I get a little bit lonely
And you’re never coming ’round
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I get a little bit tired
Of listening to the sound of my tears
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I get a little bit nervous
That the best of all the years have gone by
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I get a little bit terrified
And then I see the look in your eyes
[Refrain]
(Turn around, bright eyes)
Every now and then, I fall apart
(Turn around, bright eyes)
Every now and then, I fall apart
[Verse 2]
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I get a little bit restless
And I dream of something wild
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I get a little bit helpless
And I’m lying like a child in your arms
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I get a little bit angry
And I know I’ve got to get out and cry
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I get a little bit terrified
But then I see the look in your eyes
[Refrain]
(Turn around, bright eyes)
Every now and then, I fall apart
(Turn around, bright eyes)
Every now and then, I fall apart
[Chorus]
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight
We’ll be holding on forever
And we’ll only be making it right
‘Cause we’ll never be wrong
Together, we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (All of the time)
I don’t know what to do and I’m always in the dark
We’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
[Post-Chorus]
Once upon a time, I was falling in love
But now I’m only falling apart
There’s nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time, there was light in my life
But now there’s only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart
[Interlude]
(Turn around, bright eyes)
(Turn around, bright eyes)
[Verse 3]
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I know you’ll never be the boy
You always wanted to be
(Turn around)
But every now and then, I know you’ll always be the only boy
Who wanted me the way that I am
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I know there’s no one in the universe
As magical and wondrous as you
(Turn around)
Every now and then, I know there’s nothing any better
There’s nothing that I just wouldn’t do
[Refrain]
(Turn around, bright eyes)
Every now and then, I fall apart
(Turn around, bright eyes)
Every now and then, I fall apart
[Chorus]
And I need you now tonight (And I need you)
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight (If you love me)
We’ll be holding on forever
And we’ll only be making it right (And we’ll never)
‘Cause we’ll never be wrong
Together, we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (All of the time)
I don’t know what to do, I’m always in the dark
We’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
(Forever’s gonna start tonight)
[Post-Chorus]
Once upon a time, I was falling in love
But now I’m only falling apart
Nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time, there was light in my life
But now there’s only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart
A total eclipse of the heart
A total eclipse of the heart
Meet Me In Montauk 
This was definitely a captivating moment of The Last Showgirl, and I agree Curtis deserves an Oscar nomination more for this than for Everything, Everywhere.
l love her but I agree a little goes a long way especially in the Bear. I haven’t been able to open the videos for several days. Not sure why 🤷♀️
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19sfXJCsVX/ From 1:40 – 2:30 or so, they talk about the scene and show just a snippet of it. Apparently, it wasn’t initially in the script, and during her 4 days on set, she and the director, Gia Coppola, decided her character should dance. Poignant stuff. Great scene, and hearing about how Curtis participated in its creation makes me root for her nomination even more – the first one I’ll be strongly rooting for, as I hated to see her win an Emmy for COMEDY, regardless of how wonderful her portrayal of Donna in The Bear might have been (and, let’s face it, was!)