Women and Film- The Chick Flick and Girl Power

I love "Chick Flicks"! There. I said it. Really, this is what my entire blog is about, but it has taken me 3 years to really come out and say it. I don't like violence in film. I don't like unhappy endings. I like comedy. Not slapstick or crude comedy but really witty and fun comedy, interspersed with a bit of really great plot and dialogue. Oooooooh yes, dialogue. Words, words and more words. Why are we afraid to ask for what we want to see? Why isn't there an entire film company run by women and dedicated to making the kind of films we like to see?

Let's stand up and demand good films that we want to see. Good quality entertainment for women is really important. It makes us feel better. It helps us cope with the difficulties we face every single day. Pride and Prejudice 1995 helped me deal with a mild case of postpartum depression after the birth of my second child. It was really important to me. I am crying as I write this. And yes, a good cry every once in a while is really great. Necessary even.

I am not going to say much more except that we really need to let the makers of film and TV know what we want to see, and that we have the money to pay for it. And for the few wonderful men who read my blog and have exquisite taste in film, join us too! The world will be a better and happier place with more of these films in it.

There, rant over. Now if you would like to hear someone talk who has much more knowledge of the film industry than I do, here is the Youtube video of Lindsay Doran, the Producer of Sense and Sensibility 1995 and someone who has been making films for us for decades, this is a link for her TEDx talk on Saving the World vs Kissing the Girl.

And Happy International Women's Day my friends. Feel free to post your fave "chick flicks" in the comments below and tell us all which films lift your spirits or give you a really great cry when you need it.

Hugs to all!!!!

Here are links to my IMDb lists:

Chick Flicks I can't do without (modern) by the Jane Austen Film Club

Top Period Dramas From The Jane Austen Film Club

Emma Thompson- Actor of the Week

Emma Thompson

Let me just say that I adore Emma Thompson. I will never be able to do justice to her so let me just allow her to do the talking!

''I don't want your readers ever to think they have to have it all. I think that's a revolting concept. It's so false! Sometimes you'll have some things, and sometimes you'll have other things. And you do not need it all at once; it's not good for you."--on juggling motherhood and careers

Sense and Sensibility

Elinor Dashwood: Marianne, please try... I cannot... I cannot do without you. Oh, please, I have tried to bear everything else... I will try... but please, dearest, beloved Marianne, do not leave me alone. 

Love Actually

Karen : Get a grip, people hate sissies. No-one's ever going to shag you if you cry all the time!

"Liam Neeson, quite frankly, is sex on legs. Always has been".

Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter

"I have a nervous breakdown in the film and in one scene I get to stand at the top of the stairs waving an empty sherry bottle which is, of course, a typical scene from my daily life, so isn't much of a stretch." -- on her role in the Harry Potter film.

Nanny McPhee

"I've realized that in all the great stories, even if there's a happily-ever-after ending, there's something sad."

"There is that thing about not working with animals and children - I don't think that's true. Although you should never work with donkeys."

"You can't imagine what satisfaction can be gotten from throwing a pie into someone's face."

An Education

Headmistress: Nobody does anything worth doing without a degree.
Jenny: Nobody does anything worth doing WITH a degree. No woman anyway.
Headmistress: So what I do isn't worth doing? Or what Miss Stubbs does, or Mrs. Wilson, or any of us here? Because none of us would be here without a degree. You do realize that, don't you? And yes, of course studying is hard and boring...
Jenny: Boring!
Headmistress: I'm sorry?
Jenny: Studying is hard and boring. Teaching is hard and boring. So, what you're telling me is to be bored, and then bored, and finally bored again, but this time for the rest of my life? This whole stupid country is bored! There's no life in it, or color, or fun! It's probably just as well the Russians are going to drop a nuclear bomb on us any day now. So my choice is to do something hard and boring, or to marry my... Jew, and go to Paris and Rome and listen to jazz, and read, and eat good food in nice restaurants, and have fun! It's not enough to educate us anymore Ms. Walters. You've got to tell us why you're doing it.

Howard's End

Margaret Schlegel: Unlike the Greek, England has no true mythology. All we have are witches and fairies.

Remains Of The Day

Miss Kenton: What's in that book? Come on, let me see!
Stevens: This is my private time. You're invading it.
Miss Kenton: Oh, is that so?
Stevens: Yes.
Miss Kenton: I'm invading your private time, am I?
Stevens: Yes. 

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Well, this post could go on for ever, but let me just add that Emma has a few new films coming out. She is Agent O in Men in Black 3, the voice of Queen Elinor in Brave, Lady Eastlake in Effie among others. So...any other fans of ET? Any Emma Thompson films you would like to add?

"I was brought up by very witty people who were dealing with quite difficult things: disease and death... I was brought up by people who tended to giggle at funerals."

Bill Nighy- Actor of the Week

Bill Nighy is now one of the greats of British cinema, having achieved fame late in his career. This high school drop-out tried being a writer first before attending acting school at the urging of an old girlfriend. He eked out an acting career for decades doing some fairly prestigious stage work. And then came Billy Mack...

Bill Nighy as Billy Mack in Love Actually

If you are like me, you got to know Bill as the rather eccentric over the hill rock star Billy Mack in Love Actually.

Billy Mack: When I was young and successful, I was greedy and foolish, and now I'm left with no one. Wrinkled and alone. 

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Billy Mack: Hiya kids. Here is an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don't buy drugs. Become a pop star, and they give you them for free!

Laura Fraser and Bill Nighy in He Knew He Was Right

As the seemingly lecherous Colonel Osborne in He Knew He Was Right, Bill Nighy is spot on, reveling in the attention he receives when perceived as a womanizer. Poor Laura Fraser's character Emily Trevelyan, does not realize that her father's friend is not acting in her best interest.

Bill Nighy in I Capture the Castle

As the father of two girls played by Romola Garai and Rose Byrne in I Capture the Castle, Bill Nighy is a novelist in 1930s England with long term writer's block after a first successful novel.

Cassandra: Father. 'Jacob Wrestling' was a wonderful, groundbreaking book. There was never going to be a sequel overnight!
James Mortmain: Meaning?
Cassandra: Meaning, it will come!
James Mortmain: How old are you?
Cassandra: Seventeen.
James Mortmain: And you still believe in fairy tales.

Bill Nighy and Romola Garai in Glorious 39

In the thriller Glorious 39, again playing the father of Romola Garai's character (typecasting?) Bill Nighy is a member of the House of Commons in 1939, on the cusp of WWII. I haven't yet seen this one but it looks fascinating. Written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, this one also has a fantastic cast including Jenny Agutter, David Tennant, Hugh Bonneville, Julie Christie and Jeremy Northam among others.

Bill Nighy in The Boat That Rocked (Pirate Radio)

The Boat That Rocked (known as Pirate Radio on this side of the pond) is about a bunch of DJs in the 1960s running a pirate radio station off the coast of Britain in order to get around the British censors. Who better to play Quentin, the eccentric head of the floating radio station than Bill Nighy?

Quentin: So... expelled?
'Young' Carl: That's right.
Quentin: What for?
'Young' Carl: I suppose smoking was the clincher.
Quentin: Drugs or cigarettes?
'Young' Carl: Well, both.
Quentin: Well done! Proud of you. So your mum sent you here in the hope that a little bracing sea air would sort you out?
'Young' Carl: Something like that.
Quentin: Spectacular mistake.

I loved this one, directed by Richard Curtis by the way. Emma Thompson makes a great cameo as Young Carl's mother. And Jack Davenport and Kenneth Branaugh are quite memorable as the stiffs at the BBC.

Bill Nighy in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

We finally get to see Bill Nighy as a true nice guy in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Not eccentric, not evil but just a really great guy. How refreshing! As Douglas Ainslie, a retired government worker who has invested his entire next egg in his daughter's dot-com start-up and hence has to live cheaply, he and his wife played by Penelope Wilton move to India. Yes, it's far fetched, but just enjoy the film and don't look too closely for plot holes. It's a wonderful film.

"Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not the end." 

Now I had to leave a lot of Bill's best films out of this list or my post would have been really long! Did I miss one or more of your faves?

Hugh Grant- Actor of the Week

Hugh Grant

In honour of his new animated film The Pirates! Band of Misfits or The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists depending on your side of the pond, my actor of the week is Hugh Grant. I will admit to a bit of a weakness for Hugh's films. If you take a look at his IMDb page, you will see why I had trouble narrowing down my choices for this post. So if I just limit myself to period films first,we have...

Hugh Grant in Sense and Sensibility

Although a little stiff-necked, Hugh Grant is wonderful as Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility. One of his best roles!

Hugh Grant and Tara Fitzgerald in The Englishman who...yada yada yada

In The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain, he plays an English cartographer who has to tell a Welsh village that their mountain is only a hill. I'm going to have to see this one again, as I have been to Wales since I first saw the film (it is breathtaking) and as I recall, the film was pretty darn good.

Hugh Grant as Reginald Cardinal in The Remains of the Day

In The Remains of the Day, he has a small but wonderful part in this riveting film which is now almost 20 years old!

Hugh Grant and Judy Davis in Impromptu

In Impromptu as Chopin and opposite the luminous Judy Davis as George Sand, he is sweet and funny. Not a serious take on Chopin, this one is right up my alley. I love a spot of comedy! Emma Thompson has a riot as the loopy Duchess in this one as well. Love her!

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Ok...now for the non-period films of Hugh Grant's which I absolutely adore. No, they are not high art but they always entertain.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget: Apparently, I used to run round naked in his paddling pool.
Daniel Cleaver: I bet you did, you dirty bitch.

Love Actually

Prime Minister: Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around.

Music and Lyrics

Alex Fletcher: The best time I've had in the last fifteen years was sitting at that piano with you.
Sophie Fisher: That's wonderfully sensitive... especially from a man who wears such tight pants.
Alex Fletcher: It forces all the blood to my heart.

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Fiona: There's a sort of greatness to your lateness.
Charles: Thanks, it's not achieved without real suffering.

About a Boy

Will: I couldn't possibly think of a worse godfather for Imogene. You know me. I'll drop her at her christening. I'll forget her birthdays until her 18th, when I'll take her out and get her drunk and possibly, let's face it, you know, try and shag her. I mean, seriously, it's a very, very bad choice.
Christine: We know, I just thought you had hidden depths.
Will: No. No. You've always had that wrong. I really am this shallow.

Two Weeks Notice

George Wade: I own the hotel, and I live there. My life is very much like Monopoly.

Notting Hill

Keziah: No thanks, I'm a fruitarian.
Max: I didn't realize that.
William: And, ahm: what exactly is a fruitarian?
Keziah: We believe that fruits and vegetables have feeling so we think cooking is cruel. We only eat things that have actually fallen off a tree or bush - that are, in fact, dead already.
William: Right. Right. Interesting stuff. So, these carrots...
Keziah: Have been murdered, yes.
William: Murdered? Poor carrots. How beastly!

Nine Months

Rebecca Taylor: Sam! My water broke!
Samuel Faulkner: Well, we'll get you another one! 

OK, that last one seems very appropriate since Hugh Grant has finally become a father to a little girl Tabitha with Chinese actress Tinglan Hong. Who knew he had hidden depths?

Did I miss any of Hugh Grant's films that you really love? I left out the film Restoration with Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Niell, because I had never heard of it but which looks awesome. Can anyone recommend it?

My fave British (non period) comedies

Four Weddings and a Funeral 1994

Young Bridesmaid: What's bonking?
Scarlett: Well, it's kinda like table tennis, only with slightly smaller balls.

Love Actually 2004

Sam: Let's go get the shit kicked out of us by love.

The Full Monty

Dave: Anti-wrinkle cream there may be, but anti-fat-bastard cream there is not. 

A Fish Called Wanda 1988

Ken: Rev-enge!
Otto: [laughing] It's K-K-K-Ken! C-c-c-coming to k-k-k-kill me! How you gonna c-c-c-catch me, K-K-K-Ken?

Calendar Girls 2003

Chris: Lawrence, we're going to need considerably bigger buns.

Educating Rita 1983

Rita: Christ! My customer! She only come in for a demi-wave, she'll come out looking like a flippin' muppet!

Notting Hill 1999

Keziah: No thanks, I'm a fruitarian.
Max: I didn't realize that.
William: And, ahm: what exactly is a fruitarian?
Keziah: We believe that fruits and vegetables have feeling so we think cooking is cruel. We only eat things that have actually fallen off a tree or bush - that are, in fact, dead already.
William: Right. Right. Interesting stuff. So, these carrots...
Keziah: Have been murdered, yes.
William: Murdered? Poor carrots. How beastly!

Bridget Jones's Diary 2001

Mr. Darcy: I like a woman with an arse you can park a bike in and balance a pint of beer on.

Death at a Funeral 2007 (not 2010!)

Jane: Would you like a cup of tea, Sandra?
Sandra: Tea can do many things, Jane, but it can't bring back the dead.

Kinky Boots 2005

Lauren: Lola, you're gonna have to excuse Charlie. We don't have many transvestites in Northampton.
Lola: I'm not merely a transvestite, sweetheart. I'm also a drag queen. It's a simple equation. A drag queen puts on a frock, looks like Kylie. A transvestite puts on a frock, looks like... Boris Yeltsin in lipstick. There, I said it.

About a Boy 2002

Marcus: Suddenly I realized - two people isn't enough. You need backup. If you're only two people, and someone drops off the edge, then you're on your own. Two isn't a large enough number. You need three at least.

Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked) 2009

Dave: So tell us Mark, now at the very end - what was your secret? How did you get all them girls?
Mark: Simple. Don't say anything at all.
'Young' Carl: Nothing?
Mark: Nothing. Then, when the tension becomes too much to bear, you finally, finally, you just say: "How about it, then?"

Bend It Like Beckham 2002

Wedding Guest: Lesbian? Her birthday's in March. I thought she was a Pisces.

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So, there you have a list of some of my favourite British Comedy Films (not period pieces). I have obviously left a few off of my list which should be there so please help me out and leave a comment with your faves, whether they are on my list or not!

Cheers!

Love Actually...Not Period Drama but I love it...

It is that time of year, when about a month before Christmas, I want to pop in my Love Actually DVD.  This has as many great British actors as you can cram into one film, and there was so much great stuff, that the extras contain almost another entire film (and some of the best bits).

For those of us who adore Period Drama, some of our favorite actors are at their best here...


Emma Thompson, as a housewife who thinks her marriage and family life is stable until she finds that necklace (I always yell at the screen when Alan Rickman's character cheats).

No Emma, don't open the present....

Boo, hiss.....(throw shoe)

Then we have Colin Firth as a stuttering sweetie, who is dumped by his girlfriend for his goofy brother (what was she thinking!).  He goes to France, only to fall for his Portuguese cleaning lady (hot, sexy, cleaning lady).

Swoon...

And we have Hugh Grant as the unlikely new Prime Minister (and Emma Thompson's brother) who falls for his slightly foul mouthed assistant.  Hugh's dance routine to the song "Jump" is hilarious and worth watching just for that!

Swivel those hips Hugh!

Take a bow...

The one part which is now a bit hard to watch is Liam Neeson as a widower, struggling with adapting to single fatherhood.  As he is now a widower with two young boys, after his wife Natasha Richardson died after a ski accident, this cuts a bit close to the bone, but as it was always the most poignant part of the film, it will only be more so now.  The extras do however have a really funny bit with Liam and online porn sites, which will have you rolling on the floor.

The total agony of being in love?

A rather unusual part of this film, deals with the love between two adult males, in a platonic way (I believe), with Bill Nighy as an aging rock star and Gregor Fisher as his "chubby employee" ("Ten minutes with Elton John and you're as gay as a maypole!").  Bill Nighy is a legend in British comedy.

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes....Christmas is all around us...

Kiera Knightley in the unrequited love sequence is absolutely radiant, and made me Google "banoffee pie" to find out what the heck that is (aparently it is banana and toffee...hmmmmm).  Andrew Lincoln as her admirer and best friend of her new husband is both adorable and heart breaking.

Banoffee Pie...a bit suspect?

Awwwwww.....

I could go on, but instead, I think I'll just go and pop this DVD in to get me pumped for the holidays.  Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!  I have a craving for a banana split now...