Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.
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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Films Directed by a Female Director
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Today's theme is a suggestion from Brittani. Well I'm going to be pretty random and pick 3 movies that I like that were directed by women. And I'm doing a theme within a theme.
P.S. I'll be posting the preliminary 2021 schedule this weekend, so come and check it out.
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
A group of men tell a story of the Lisbon sisters, who they were obsessed with when they were teenagers, who had all committed suicide over the course of a few months. I had read the book and loved it and then saw the movie which I thought captured the book's dreamy nostalgic melancholy perfectly. Sofia Coppola had both adapted the screenplay and directed the movie and this still remains my favourite movie of hers.
A group of men tell a story of the Lisbon sisters, who they were obsessed with when they were teenagers, who had all committed suicide over the course of a few months. I had read the book and loved it and then saw the movie which I thought captured the book's dreamy nostalgic melancholy perfectly. Sofia Coppola had both adapted the screenplay and directed the movie and this still remains my favourite movie of hers.
Somersault (2004)
An Australian coming of age tale about a teenage girl who runs away from home to a mountain town. Written and directed by Cate Shortland who is also the director of the upcoming Black Widow. I remember this the least since I saw this just the once quite some time ago but I remember liking it and that it had a good performance by Abbie Cornish; this I think was her breakout role.Jennifer's Body (2009)
A cheerleader develops an insatiable appetite for boys in this horror comedy. I liked this when it came out and though it was not well received then, I thought that it would eventually be a cult favorite
one day. Karyn Kusama also directed another horror movie I like, The Invitation, which was a more tension filled horror thriller.
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Yay, I saw all of your picks this week! I had completely forgotten about Sommersault but it really warrants a rewatch now!
ReplyDeleteInteresting picks - all very different to one another. I've only seen The Virgin Suicides, and that was a long time ago. Definitely time for a rewatch.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to seeing the preliminary 2021 schedule!
Story wise yes. But they're all about teenage girls, which was the theme within a theme I went for.
DeleteAnyway. The preliminary schedule is up.
I like all three of these! I'm glad Jennifer's Body developed a cult following after how it was advertised initially. I feel like now it has the fans it deserves after so many people wrote it off.
ReplyDeleteHas it though? I don't really see it being discussed much.
DeleteI haven't heard of your second pick but I really liked the other two.
ReplyDeleteYeah Somersault is the least popular, plus it's Australian.
DeleteHaven't seen the first two. Don't like Sofia Coppola really so I'm having a hard time watching Virgin Suicides. Jennifer's Body had fun moments, and memorable moments. I think that's great!
ReplyDeleteThe Virgin Suicides was her first as director and the first one I saw of hers and I loved it. I'm not that much a fan of her other movies. I think the only one that comes close to The Virgin Suicides for me is Marie Antoinette.
DeleteI've only seen the first which while rather sad was a good film, probably the best I've seen of Sofia Coppola's pictures.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of the other two but only Somersault really appealed to me.
I thought I was going to have a bit of a tough time with this when I saw it at the beginning of the year but Turner Classic Movies ran a multi month series devoted to female directors which provided me with a big group to choose from. These were some of the ones I liked best.
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)-Two buddies Ray (Edmond O'Brien) and Gilbert (Frank Lovejoy) head off for what is supposed to be a relaxing fishing trip but make the mistake of picking up an innocuous hitchhiker Emmett Myers (William Talman) who turns out to be a sociopath on the run from the law. Knowing that he’s a killer and sure that as soon as he’s done with them they are dead they plot an escape. But their plan is hampered by the fact that even when he sleeps Myers keeps one eye open. Director Ida Lupino, the only woman in the 50’s listed as a member of the DGA, keeps the action economical and the atmosphere tense.
The Ascent (1977)-In the deep winter of the German countryside during WWII a pair of starving Soviet soldiers leave their unit in search of food but are captured by a Nazi patrol. Tortured for information they don’t possess one of them stands by his principles while the other seeks a way out but both pay a heavy cost. A big success upon release this proved to be the final film of director Larisa Shepitko who was killed along with her crew in a car accident shortly afterwards scouting locations for her next film.
Daughters of the Dust (1991)-Julie Dash directed this look at the Gullah community off the coast of South Carolina at the turn of the last century where the descendants of former slaves kept a mix of African and colonial ways alive. As the changing times intermingle with the old ways conflicts ensue.
Zero Motivation (2014)-Stationed in a remote desert location a disparate group of female Israeli soldiers wait until their period of service is up while they bicker, bond and fight against the ennui that comes with living in such an isolated spot. Tayla Lavie directs this with a fine mix of humor and gravitas.
We used to get the Turner Classic Movies channel here...no more.
DeleteI have not seen any of yours but have heard of the first one and last one. The last one never appealed to me but you never know, I might see on regular tv one day.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to see them all.
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