(Photo by Marvel Studios / Disney, 20th Century Fox, Miramax, TriStar)
For their bravery, wit, general badassery, and unbroken spirit in the face of enormous challenges (be they gender discrimination or acid-hissing aliens), we pay tribute to 87 Fearless Movie Women Who Inspire Us.
How did we arrive at our top 87? With the help of a fearless panel of women critics made up of some of the best writers in the industry, including a few on the Rotten Tomatoes staff. Starting with a long list of candidates, they whittled down the list to an initial set of 72 amazingly heroic characters and ordered them, crowning the most fearless woman movie hero in the process. Want to know more about the ladies who voted? We included their bios at the end! Then, in addition to their contributions, which make up the bulk of the list, we also added a handful of more recent entries chosen by the RT staff.
The final list (you can watch every movie in a special FandangoNOW collection) gives compelling insight into which heroes have resonated through the years, women whose big-screen impact remains even as the times change. We have the usual suspects along with plenty of surprises (Working Girl, your day has come!), and the only way to discover them all is reading on for the 87 fearless women movie heroes — and groups of heroes — who inspire us!
(Photo by 20th Century Fox Film Corp.)
#1One of the appeals of science-fiction is the luxury to comment on modern issues and social mores, or even eschew them completely. Take a look at the diverse space crews in Star Trek, Sunshine, or Alien, where people are hired based on nothing but competence, and none have proven their competence under extreme pressure as well as Ellen Ripley. She’s tough, pragmatic, and cunning in Alien. Journey with Ripley into Aliens and we get to see her in a new light: mothering and nurturing with hints of deep empathy (Sigourney Weaver was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for this performance), which only makes the Xenomorph-stomping side of her even more badass.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox Film Corp.)
#2And on the other side of the Sigourney spectrum, Weaver here plays Katharine, a particular kind of woman who’s nasty to the competition: other women. The object of her scorn is her secretary, Tess McGill (played by Melanie Griffith), who has her great ideas stolen by Katharine. The plucky Tess in turn pretends to be her boss’s colleague, and proceeds to shake things up in this corporate Cinderella story. Who doesn’t dream of one day suddenly arriving in a higher echelon of society? Of course, it’s what you do once you get there that’s important, and the glowing and tenacious Tess makes the most of it.
(Photo by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Marvel)
#3Hard-drinking, ass-kicking Valkyrie makes no apologies for her choices and draws solid boundaries. Sure, she’s flawed, but that’s what makes her successes so sweet. That she’s played by Tessa Thompson doubles the fun.
(Photo by Marvel/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
#4Letitia Wright proved that a sister doesn’t have to sit in the shadow of her sibling simply because he’s king. Her Shuri has the smarts and the sass to cut her own path, making her technical genius essential not only to the Kingdom of Wakanda, but also the Avengers’ recent efforts to take down the tyrant Thanos.
(Photo by Fox 2000 Pictures)
#5Don’t ask us to choose a favorite among Hidden Figures’ Space Race heroines: Taraji P. Henson as Katherine G. Johnson, Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan, and Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson. The Oscar-nominated drama tells the story of a real-life team of female African-American mathematicians crucial to NASA’s early space program.
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#6As Imperator Furiosa, Charlize Theron blazed a trail for enslaved post-apocalyptic cult wives in skimpy clothing – literally. With an assist from Max (Tom Hardy), soldier Furiosa set the road on fire to rescue her charges from madman Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), leader of the Citadel.
(Photo by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Lucasfilm Ltd)
#7Daisy Ridley gave girls everywhere – and full-grown women, in truth – a fresh new hero to adore when she debuted in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Of humble origins, scrappy Rey overcomes her circumstances living as an orphan in a harsh environment to become an essential component in the Resistance. It helps, of course, that The Force is with her.
(Photo by Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Pictures)
#8Despite her superpowers and privileged background, Gal Gadot as Diana – princess of Themyscira and the Amazons, daughter of Queen Hippolyta and King of the Gods Zeus – retains her humility and a genuine care for humanity. She’s also the most rock solid member of DC’s boys club of Justice League superheroes.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox)
#9Come on…she’s Princess Leia. She leads the Rebel Alliance. She saves the galaxy again and again (with a little help from Luke, and Han, and Chewy). She eventually becomes a revered general, but from the very start – when she first confronts Darth Vader at the beginning of Episode IV – A New Hope – she shows a defiant, fiery nature that never dims. In her defining film role, Carrie Fisher brings impeccable comic timing to this cosmic princess.
(Photo by Roadside Attractions)
#10Before she was Katniss, Jennifer Lawrence was Ree, the role that made her a star and earned her the first of four Oscar nominations. A no-nonsense teenager, Ree dares to brave the dangers lurking within the Ozark Mountains to track down her drug-dealing father and protect her siblings and their home. With each quietly treacherous encounter, she shows depth and instincts beyond her years, and a willingness to fight for what matters.
(Photo by )
#11You can’t have any fear when you’re going up against Hannibal Lecter – or at least you can’t show it. He’ll sniff it out from a mile away. But what’s exciting about Jodie Foster’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the young FBI cadet is the way she works through her fear, harnessing that nervous energy alongside her powerful intellect and dogged determination. Clarice Starling is a hero for every little girl who thought she wasn’t good enough.
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
#12Julia Roberts won a best-actress Oscar for her charismatic portrayal of this larger-than-life, real-life figure. Erin Brockovich is repeatedly underestimated because of the flashy way she dresses and the brash way she carries herself. But as a single mom who becomes an unlikely environmental advocate, she’s a steely fighter. What she lacks in book smarts, she more than makes up for with heart. Steven Soderbergh’s film is an inspiring underdog story.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox)
#13Jane Craig is the toughest, sharpest, most prepared woman in the newsroom at all times, but she isn’t afraid to cry to let it all out when the pressure gets too great. Writer-director James L. Brooks created this feminist heroine, this workplace goddess, but Holly Hunter brilliantly brings her to life. She’s just so vibrant. Even when she’s sitting still (which isn’t often), you can feel her thinking. And while two men compete for her attention, no man could ever define her.
(Photo by MGM Studios)
#14It would be easy to underestimate Marge Gunderson. Sure, she’s in a position of power as the Brainerd, Minnesota, police chief. But with her folksy manner – and the fact that she’s so pregnant, she’s about to burst – she’s not exactly the most intimidating figure. But in the hands of the brilliant Frances McDormand, she’s consistently the smartest and most fearless person in the room, and she remains one of the Coen brothers’ most enduring characters. You betcha.
(Photo by Marvel/Walt Disney Studios)
#15Danai Gurira plays Okoye, the leader of the Dora Milaje who specializes in spear fighting and strategic wig flipping. Of late, Okoye has been seen keeping company with Avengers.
(Photo by Miramax Films)
#16Things Bridget Jones is prone to: accidents, fantasizing about sexy coworkers, worrying about her weight, and running mad into the snow wearing tiger-print underwear. All totally relatable things, so it’s no surprise she’s the highest-ranked romcom heroine on this list. It also doesn’t hurt that, at their best, Bridget’s movies are what romantic comedies aspire to: They’re fun, cute, and just when it feels like everything’s about to fall apart, there’s the exhilarating little twist at the end that leaves watchers feel like they’re floating on air.
(Photo by Paramount Pictures)
#17It’s true that Cher is a little oblivious to the world at large, but she’s just so earnest and she tries so hard. She discovers a passion for doing good after successfully matchmaking a pair of teachers, and after a series of difficult lessons learned, she makes an honest effort to escape her privileged bubble and become a better person. Like we all should.
(Photo by MGM Studios)
#18Thelma and Louise, best friends who stick by each other no matter what. And when their girls’ getaway weekend quickly turns from frivolous to frightening, they find even deeper levels of loyalty to each other. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon have an effortless chemistry with each other, and Ridley Scott’s intimate and thrilling film never judges these women for the decisions they make — or for the lengths to which they’ll go in the name of freedom.
(Photo by Warner Brothers)
#19Enduring racism, misogyny, and emotional, physical, and sexual violence, Celie (Whoopi Goldberg in her film debut) transcends her traumatic life in the rural South, finding friends, strength, and her own voice.
(Photo by Sony Pictures Classics)
#20As a transgender waitress, Marina constantly endures cruelty and confusion from the ignorant people around her. When the one man who loves her for who she truly is dies unexpectedly, she finds herself in the midst of an even more emotional, personal fight. Transgender actress Daniela Vega initially was hired as a consultant on Sebastian Lelio’s film; instead, she became its star, and A Fantastic Woman deservedly won this year’s foreign-language Oscar.
(Photo by TriStar Pictures)
#21Sarah Connor makes many want to be a better mother – or at least get to the gym and work on our triceps. The once-timid waitress crafts herself into a force of nature, a fearsome and visceral manifestation of pure maternal instinct. Played most memorably by Linda Hamilton in the first two Terminator movies, Sarah may seem unhinged, but she’s got laser-like focus when it comes to protecting her son, John, from the many threats coming his way.
(Photo by Miramax Films)
#22The return of blaxploitation queen, Pam Grier! What’s not to love? Especially in Quentin Tarantino’s killer love letter to South Bay Los Angeles. As Jackie Brown, Grier exudes classic cool with a tough exterior.
(Photo by Richard Olley/Columbia Pictures)
#23Jessica Chastain has made a career of playing quick-witted characters with nerves of steel. Nowhere is this truer than in her starring role in Kathryn Bigelow’s thrilling depiction of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Maya is obsessively focused in her pursuit of the al Qaeda leader. She’s a confident woman who has to be extra prepared to survive in a man’s world. But when the mission is over and she finally allows some emotion to shine through, it’s cathartic for us all.
(Photo by Warner Brothers/ Everett Collection)
#24She’s the smartest kid in the class, regardless of the subject. The hardest worker, too. And she’s proud of those qualities, making her an excellent role model for girls out there with an interest in math and science. But Hermione isn’t all about the books. Over the eight Harry Potter films, in Emma Watson’s increasingly confident hands, Hermione reveals her resourcefulness, loyalty, and grace. She’s a great student but an even better friend.
(Photo by Columbia Pictures/ Everett Collection)
#25Howard Hawks’ celebrated screwball comedy benefited from a not-so-small change to the stage play it was based on: In the original The Front Page, Hildy Johnson was a male. But thanks to Rosalind Russell’s lively performance, as well as a few script changes she personally insisted upon, the character blossomed into an early icon of the independent working woman who’s not only just as effective at her job as her male counterparts, but also equally adept with a witty comeback.
(Photo by Walt Disney/ Everett Collection)
#26Elastigirl takes on all the trials of motherhood: She’s got hyper kids, a bored husband, and has to witness certain parts of her body unperkify. Elastigirl also just happens to be a superhero, with the fate of the world resting on her shoulders.
(Photo by Universal/courtesy Everett Collection)
#27Fans of the short-lived but beloved Fox sci-fi series Firefly were already familiar with Gina Torres‘ badassery as Zoe Washburne in Serenity. A veteran of the Unification War and second in command of the ship, Zoe is a strong and loyal ally who rarely pulls punches, whether she’s stating a controversial opinion or engaged in a literal fistfight. With her free spirit and deadly skills, it’s no wonder she became a fan favorite.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection)
#28Dolly Parton is a national treasure, and 9 to 5 allows her to light up the screen with her sparkling, charismatic personality. But while Doralee may seem like a sweet Southern gal, she’s got a stiff backbone and a sharp tongue, and she isn’t afraid to use them when she’s crossed. When she finally stands up to her sexist bully of a boss alongside co-workers Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, it’s nothing short of a revolution – one that remains sadly relevant today.
(Photo by Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)
#29The story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is one that deserves to be told, and it’s Geena Davis‘ Dottie Hinson who grounds this fictional account. She’s a talented local player who becomes the star of the Rockford Peaches, and it’s her quick thinking that brings publicity to the sport. When her decision to play in the World Series leads to a spectacular finish, she also demonstrates a very human vulnerability, making her a strong but relatable heroine.
(Photo by Focus Features/courtesy Everett Collection)
#30Jane Austen’s classic heroine Elizabeth Bennet jumps off the page in the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley, who gives audiences an intelligent, down-to-Earth, sometimes literally dirty, but uncompromisingly steadfast leading lady.
(Photo by Everett Collection)
#31Never underestimate a sorority girl. They are organized and they know how to get what the want. In the case of Elle Woods, she goes after her law school goals with a smile on her face, a spring in her step, and an impeccably coordinated wardrobe. Reese Witherspoon is impossibly adorable in the role, with a potent combination of smarts and heart to shut down the naysayers who are foolish enough to judge her simply by her looks.
(Photo by Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection)
#32Talk brashly and carry a big sword. As Tom Cruise’s character unravels a complex time travel sci-fi story, a constant in his fluctuating world is Rita Vrataski aka the killer Angel of Verdun. But Emily Blunt gives life to Rita beyond burgeoning love interest. She takes the lead and makes the movie just as much her’s.
(Photo by Marvel Studios)
#33When Nick Fury sent that mysterious intergalactic text message right before disappearing into dust at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, eager fans knew what was in store. As played by Brie Larson, Captain Marvel is one of the most powerful superheroes in the MCU — if not THE most powerful — and she’s in such high demand that she spends most of her time battling evil on other planets. She shows up when it counts, though, and she can rock a mowhawk like nobody’s business.
(Photo by Paramount /Courtesy Everett Collection)
#34Though hit hard by tragedy and seemingly insurmountable odds of surviving an alien invasion, mother and daughter duo Evelin and Regan Abbott prove their mettle in A Quiet Place.
(Photo by Paramount Pictures / Courtesy: Everett Collection)
#35Played first in film by the groundbreaking star of the Star Trek TV series, Nichelle Nichols, the role was passed on to Zoe Saldana in the 2009 reboot film. Uhura, the USS Enterprise chief communications officer, was a critical crew member throughout the franchise in both TV and film.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection)
#36Who can stand up to Hugh Jackman’s fierce Wolverine without flinching? His cloned daughter X-23. Dafne Keen imbued the preteen mutant, a.k.a. “Laura,” with a volatile mix of anger, despondency, obstinance, and hope – that we would very much like to see more of.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection)
#37She’s Buffy. She slays vampires while juggling cheerleading and the SATs. But while Kristy Swanson gives the character a satricial bent, it’s the legendary TV adaptation that gives this character a lasting legacy. But the movie ain’t a bad place to start.
(Photo by Sarah Shatz/Netflix)
Author Jenny Han is an expert on crushes, romances and meet-cutes. In addition to other titles in her catalog, her To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before book trilogy is an international best-seller that has inspired three Netflix movies – the last of which, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, was released February 12 on the streaming channel. Peppered with references, both vague and blatant, to its rom-com ancestors, the films follow Lana Condor’s high schooler Lara Jean Covey and her commitment to baked goods, her sisters, and, eventually, her near-perfect boyfriend, Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo).
So it isn’t really a surprise that Han is frequently asked about her favorite romantic comedies.
“I’ve gone back and forth over it, but for me, my favorite that I can turn on and it puts me in a good mood and it’s just comforting is Bridget Jones’s Diary,” Han says of the Renée Zellweger film. “I think it’s a gold standard. And I mean, there’s a reason she (Zellweger) was nominated for an Academy Award for that.”
And, as anyone who has read Han’s books or seen the To All the Boys movies knows, she says she “love(s) love triangles.” Han says that the one in Bridget Jones particularly works because the two potential suitors, Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy and Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver, both “feel like legitimate options, even though Daniel is a cad.”
This isn’t to say that Han has seen every romantic comedy ever. She tried watching Broadcast News on a plane and failed and says that “I don’t think I fully appreciated” Heartburn because she saw it as a kid when a friend’s older sister had rented it. Han remembers that she “drifted away from the television” thinking that the relationship dynamic between Meryl Streep’s Rachel Samstat and Jack Nicholson’s Mark Forman “seems messed up.” (She was not wrong.)
It’s even debatable whether or not those two movies are even romantic comedies – something that also happens a lot to movies about teens.
“For instance, I would say that Breakfast Club gets shelved in romantic comedy,” Han says. However, “I don’t really think it’s that romantic. I think, with a teen love story, oftentimes it’s a lot more about their whole life and family and stuff. And I think, oftentimes, with adult romantic comedies, it’s really more about the romance. And so I think coming-of-age can be shelved also in romantic comedy.”
Read on for a list of some movies (and one TV show!) that are some of Han’s favorite romantic comedies – even if her definition of the term may be up for debate.
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
Chemistry is great. It’s really romantic. I am obviously a Mark Darcy kind of person. I love Mr. Darcy. But I will admit, though, that Bridget and Daniel’s first kiss? It’s better than her first kiss with Mr. Darcy, I think, just for chemistry reasons.
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Tom Hanks is just so, I don’t know. He’s so charming in it. And then she’s [Meg Ryan] at the top of her game, too. And it’s crazy because they’re only, I think, on screen together for three or four minutes. So you’re left wanting more. You’re like, “What next, what next?” when they go down the elevator [at the end of the movie]. But it’s just really smart. I love [director and co-writer] Nora Ephron.
You've Got Mail (1998)
[Nora Ephron] a New York lady, a New York writer, and I appreciate that about her. For You’ve Got Mail, which is another one of my favorite rom-coms, I know that she used to go to Books of Wonder, which is a kid’s bookstore on 18th Street [that serves as the model for The Shop Around The Corner, the store that Meg Ryan’s character, Kathleen Kelly, runs]. She used to go in there quite a bit for, I think, her kid or her nephew or something. And I remember I had gotten a job there when I was right out of college because I wanted to have that Kathleen Kelly/The Shop Around The Corner experience. I think they said Meg had done a shift there once, and so did [co-star] Steve Zahn, just to get the vibe of working in that kind of store.
It Happened One Night (1934)
It’s one of the first black-and-white movies I’d ever seen, and I felt like, “Wow, okay. So black-and-white movies aren’t boring.” Because it was so electric, and I love the zingers back and forth and the dialogue.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Philadelphia Story I love. And again, I think, I just like really complicated stories. That one’s like a love square, which is fun.
Amélie (2001)
It’s funny how a lot of films aren’t exactly romantic comedies, but they get shelved there because there’s no other space for them. But I would put Amelie as a favorite romantic movie. I don’t know if it’s a romantic comedy. It has the twisty, fun, game-playing.
Heartbreaker (2010)
[Romain Duris’s Alex Lippi] gets hired to break up [Vanessa Paradis’s Juliette Van Der Becq’s] engagement. It was fun, with these mechanisms and stratagems.
Notting Hill (1999)
I remember watching Notting Hill and being really wowed by it, which actually stands up pretty well. Notting Hill has a pretty big gesture at the end when he [Hugh Grant’s William Thacker] goes to the press conference [for Julia Roberts’ actress, Anna Scott]. But it’s funny because when he goes to make the grand gesture, it’s all hopping in a car, and everyone’s running there, and you got the music, and then he gets there and he gets very small. He’s like, “Oh, excuse me.” He gets small in the acting of it, where it’s not the big, big gesture. It feels like a small moment, but maybe that’s why it feels really real.
Groundhog Day (1993)
I think it is [a romantic comedy]. I mean, it is about him trying to get her to love him every day.
Oftentimes British humor and romance is less sentimental. It’s wry and it’s a little more, I don’t know, self-deprecating and not as prone to the big grand gestures. Maybe a little bit smaller and more real. Fleabag is a perfect example of how I think Brits do [romantic comedy] so well, which is almost toning it down [and] bringing it to this really human level and still making your heart soar.
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(Photo by © Focus Features)
For some, staying home right now can mean curling up with a loved one on the couch for a date-night flick or gathering the whole family together for movie night. For many others, it can mean flying solo – long days and nights of streaming by yourself. We’re here to help with some movie suggestions we think are tailor-made for that latter experience.
Just like going to the movie theater alone can be a singularly joyous “treat yo self” excursion, solo home-viewing can be a great experience too – if you choose the right film. There are movies out there that actually benefit from being watched alone: It might be that they require a level of concentration and focus that distracting friends and loved ones just won’t allow you, or that the maximum scare factor is best felt when you are completely isolated – just like the babysitter being stalked on screen. It might just be that the movie has the kind of awkward/titillating sexy bits that make watching it with a first date – or, let’s say, mom – not exactly ideal. Watch it alone – no judgment, no nervous giggles.
To help those solo-fliers get through the next little while, the RT team pulled together a list of movies perfect for watching alone for all of those reasons – and a bunch that are just guaranteed to put you in an awesome mood the moment they start. Which might be the best reason of all.
What’s your favorite movie to watch by yourself? Let us know in the comments.
Click on each movie’s title to find out more, including where to stream, rent, or buy.
Thumbnail image: Everett Collection, Paramount Pictures, Focus Features
(Photo by ©Universal/courtesy Everett Collection)
The Queen of Soul is gone, but not forgotten. Aretha Franklin leaves behind a tremendous legacy, which stretches beyond her storied albums and live performances to a slew of unforgettable movie soundtrack moments. Franklin’s songs can be heard in so many movies – and always to their benefit. Below are 11 memorable movie scenes that simply wouldn’t be the same without that voice.
The Scene: Bridget gives Daniel exactly what he deserves.
The Song: “Respect”
It’s hard to believe that the hook “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” wasn’t written specifically so that rom-com heroines could deliver a stinger to some bad-boy who’s been playing them, turn around, and have a killer tune to exit on. That’s exactly how the song is used in this scene towards the end of Bridget Jones’ Diary, in which Bridget (Renee Zellweger) finally gives Daniel (Hugh Grant) what’s coming to him. The office workers applaud, and so do we. [Note: The song kicks in right at the end of the clip above – you can see an unauthorized version here.]
The Scene: Barry attempts to sell a number of essential records to a customer.
The Song: “Rock Steady”
Top five most memorable songs in High Fidelity – go. “Rock Steady” isn’t one of them? That makes sense, as it’s heard for just a few moments in the record store as Barry (Jack Black) does his magic, selling albums to an easy mark. What it is, what it is, what it is is just a great old classic tune mixed in ahead of something modern like The Beta Band. But every song choice in the movie is memorable; you really can’t ignore High Fidelity when compiling a list of top 10 songs of anything, really.
The Scene: Forrest and Bubba arrive in Vietnam and meet Lt. Dan.
The Song: “Respect”
Making up for its absence in Platoon – despite being on that film’s soundtrack! – “Respect” could have just been one part of a medley of token Vietnam War movie tunes in Forrest Gump. But it’s used effectively, and pointedly: it’s respect that Lt. Dan expects from his goofy new grunts, and respect that he will receive. [Check out an unauthorized clip of the scene here.]
The Scene: The team dances in celebration following their first “black box” heist.
The Song: “Chain of Fools”
Another dance sequence, and again it’s set to “Chain of Fools” – because the main team of security specialists here is a bunch of fools, you see? Well, David Strathairn’s Whistler and River Phoenix’s Carl sure move like fools as they and Dan Aykroyd’s Mother and Sidney Poitier’s Crease all get their chance to cut a rug with Liz (Mary McDonnell). Also, they’re happy fools at the time, unaware of just how serious the MacGuffin is that’s now in their possession. [You can find an unauthorized clip of the scene here.]
The Scene: Roberta follows Susan into a vintage clothing shop and buys her secondhand jacket left behind.
Song: “Respect”
Any number of golden oldies could have been used in this scene set inside a vintage clothing store. Why go with a track as familiar as Franklin’s “Respect”? Maybe it’s a random selection, or maybe it’s there to deliberately emphasize the vintage, dated atmosphere of the place. Or maybe it represents the respect the characters give each other in the scene. Whatever it was, we can’t get the scene – or the song – out of our heads.
The Scene: Harold’s wife, Sarah, arranges for him to sleep with Meg, in order to impregnate her, while other couples also make love on their last night at the country house. It’s… complicated.
Song: “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”
While most of the tunes on the The Big Chill soundtrack seem like random nostalgia-fueled oldies, Franklin’s soaring coming-alive song is used very literally, and effectively, here: it highlights Meg’s being made to “feel like a natural woman” in finally trying to conceive a baby. It would be a much weirder scene, given the approved adultery involved, were it not for the soul of Franklin’s vocals. (Seriously, watch it on mute.)
The Scene: Henry narrates his relationship with his mistress Janice as she shows her girlfriends around her new apartment and he beats up her boss.
The Song: “Baby, I Love You”
Martin Scorsese is very deliberate with his soundtrack choices, and “Baby, I Love You” is so, so apt for a montage devoted to a part-time lover. Franklin sings desperate lyrics to a potentially temporary or unrequited beau, one that she says she loves without a doubt.
The Scene: The archangel Michael dances around a bar, luring all the women in the place with his cookie scent.
The Song: “Chain of Fools”
Who doesn’t love a John Travolta dance number, just for the heck of it? And this might be his wildest ever, paired beautifully with a song about fools. Of course an archangel would choose a song that basically parodies a gospel tune and is sung by a goddess such as Franklin – he does seem to pray or bow to her at the song’s start – to magically play on the jukebox.
The Scene: Creepy ex-con Max Cady calls up the teenaged Danielle pretending to be her drama teacher.
The Song: “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man”
Trust in Max Cady, because he’s the “do right man.” No, no, no, he’s most certainly the do-wrong man. In Scorsese’s Cape Fear remake, Robert De Niro’s ultimate harasser turns a feminist tune by Franklin, with lyrics about how men need to respect women, into a sleazy tool for the seduction of a little girl. [Check out an unauthorized clip of the scene here.]
The Scene: Grown-up Chiron (a.k.a. “Black”) enters the diner where Kevin works.
The Song: “One Step Ahead”
This tune about the anticipation of potential heartbreak actually plays twice in Barry Jenkins’ Best Picture winner. We first hear “One Step Ahead” when Chiron is younger and enters his home to the heartbreaking realization that his mother is a junkie. When we hear the song again, as the grown Chiron enters a place that might also bring heartbreak, the hues are more hopeful, but the sense of uncertainty remains.
The Scene: The diner-waitress wife of Matt “Guitar” Murphy does not approve of hubs going off with the Blues Brothers.
The Song: “Think”
You better think (think!) about what a perfect scene this is. As Mrs. Murphy, Franklin made her movie debut performing her own hit song, which she had co-written with her then real-life husband. A feminist anthem, “Think” is used for a musical number in which a woman tells her man to consider what will happen if he hits the road. “You better think about the consequences of your actions,” she says to her onscreen guitarist hubby, kicking off the iconic diner sequence. Franklin would later return as Mrs. Murphy in the sequel Blues Brothers 2000 to perform “Respect” for a similar number, this time set in a car dealership.
You’ve had your Valentine’s Day dinner, shared some chocolate-dipped delights, and exchanged presents. Now you’re home with your significant other, and you’re looking for something to watch while you cuddle, whisper sweet nothings in each other’s ears, and gradually slip into the mood for more intimate activities (like Scrabble). Look no further, you beautiful, darling lovebirds, for we have compiled a list of 50 Certified Fresh and Fresh movies and TV series perfect for the occasion, whether you’re in need of something silly, steamy, sad, or sweet. See below for some excellent Valentine’s Day choices on Netflix.
(Photo by Sundance Selects)
Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay star in Andrew Haigh’s drama about a married couple dealing with long-simmering tensions on the cusp of their 45th wedding anniversary.
Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn star in John Huston’s classic, Oscar-winning romantic adventure film about a WWI steam ship captain operating in Eas Africa who falls in love with the missionary’s daughter he’s agreed to transport back to civilization.
(Photo by Steve Dietl/IFC Films)
Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck star in this Certified Fresh drama about an imprisoned bank robber and the woman and child he left behind.
(Photo by Focus Features)
James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan star in Joe Wright’s Oscar-winning adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel about a young girl who sabotages the relationship between her older sister and the man she loves.
(Photo by Walt Disney Studios)
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens star in Bill Condon’s live-action Disney adaptation of the studio’s own take on the classic tale of a young woman held captive by an angry beast who was once a prince.
(Photo by Despina Spyrou/Sony Classics)
In the third installment of Richard Linklater’s enduring love story, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) are married and hoping to recapture the spark that first brought them together.
(Photo by Andrew Schwartz/Weinstein Company)
John Carney’s second musical romance stars Keira Knightley as a newly single songwriter who begins an unlikely friendship with the record exec (Mark Ruffalo) who volunteers to help record her album independently.
(Photo by Sundance Selects)
Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos star in this Certified Fresh, Palme d’Or winning coming-of-age drama about a teenager who falls in love with an older art student.
(Photo by The Orchard)
Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson star in this romantic drama about a long-separated couple who reconnect after a chance encounter.
Arguably the most celebrated — surely the most widely recognized — Audrey Hepburn film. We just prefer to pretend all the Mickey Rooney stuff doesn’t exist.
(Photo by Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures)
Renée Zellweger reprises her role as the titular singleton, who must figure out who the father of her child is after a pair of trysts results in a pregnancy.
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant star in this comedy about a brash thirtysomething woman who decides to shape up and meets a couple of eligible bachelors.
(Photo by Apparition)
Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish star in Jane Campion’s biopic focusing on the romance between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne during the last years of Keats’ life.
(Photo by Wilson Webb/Weinstein Company)
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in Todd Haynes’ period drama about an illicit affair between a lonely housewife and a younger woman.
(Photo by Tyler Golden/The CW)
Rachel Bloom stars in this Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning CW musical comedy series about a career woman who leaves her job and Manhattan lifestyle to find love in California. Watch seasons 1 and 2.
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
In this romantic comedy that essentially inspired How I Met Your Mother, Ryan Reynolds stars as a man who recounts his past conquests (played by Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, and Rachel Weisz) to his daughter when his impending divorce makes her insufferably inquisitive.
(Photo by Magnolia Pictures)
Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jason Sudeikis, Jake Johnson, and Ron Livingston star in this comedy about two co-workers at a brewery who share an attraction despite being in relationships with other people.
Gwyneth Paltrow stars in this adaptation of the Jane Austen novel about a well-meaning woman who takes it upon herself to play matchmaker to those in her life, unaware that she has an admirer of her own.
Stream Now | Also on Amazon, FandangoNOW, iTunes
(Photo by Strand Releasing)
Based on Timothy Conigrave’s memoir of the same name, this independent drama from Australia centers on two men whose romance becomes the foundation of their gay rights activist work.
(Photo by Netflix)
Jessica Williams and Chris O’Dowd star in this Netflix original comedy about an aspiring playwright who bonds with a man as they both attempt to deal with painful breakups.
(Photo by )
Twenty-something virgin Jane has her life turned upside-down when she is accidentally inseminated with her boss’s sperm in this Certified Fresh dramedy with telenovela twists and a strong ensemble cast. Seasons 1 to 3 are available.
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan leads a village cricket squad in a match against their ruthless British occupiers in this beloved 2001 Oscar-nominated epic.
(Photo by Strand Releasing)
This drama from Mexico centers on a promiscuous but lonely journalist who engages in a steamy, complicated affair with a sadist.
(Photo by Miramax)
Based on the novel of the same name by Laura Esquival, Alfonso Arau’s magical romantic tale centers on the forbidden love between a man and a young woman who can make others feel what she feels through the food that she cooks.
(Photo by Wolfe Releasing)
Kalki Koechlin stars in this Indian drama about a woman struggling with both cerebral palsy and matters of the heart.
(Photo by Netflix)
In this Certified Fresh Netflix original comedy, Aziz Ansari (who also writes and directs) stars as a 30-year-old actor navigating life and love in New York City.
(Photo by Independent Television Service)
Ravi Patel’s Certified Fresh documentary chronicles his family’s persistent attempts to find him a spouse.
(Photo by AFFRM)
David Oyelowo stars in this drama about a med student whose life is upended when her husband is incarcerated, from Selma director Ava DuVernay.
(Photo by Roger Arpajou/Sony Pictures Classics)
Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and a slew of stars breathe life into Woody Allen’s dreamy romantic comedy about an aspiring novelist who, on a trip to Paris with his fiancée, is transported back to an idealized version of the city in the 1920s.
(Photo by Niko Tavernise/Focus Features)
Wes Anderson’s coming-of-age film stars Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as a couple of pre-teens who fall in love and run away from home together.
(Photo by Magnolia Pictures)
This coming-of-age drama follows a French teenager’s troubled family life and misadventures in the Soviet Union.
(Photo by Bettina Strauss/The CW)
Tori Anderson and Joshua Sasse star in this CW series about a Seattle woman who gets involved with a man who believes the end of the world is near, and decides to join him in completing their bucket lists together.
(Photo by Magnolia Pictures)
Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stellan Skarsgård star in Lars von Trier’s provocative tale of a woman who recounts her violently sexual past to a man nursing her back to health after saving her from a brutal attack in an alley.
(Photo by Adopt Films)
This drama from Palestine follows a baker and moonlighting freedom fighter who’s coerced into informing on a friend when he’s wrongly arrested for the murder of an Israeli soldier.
(Photo by Netflix)
Netflix picked up this Certified Fresh drama from Hungary about two people who discover they share the same dream every night and attempt to recreate the emotions of that dream in reality.
(Photo by Netflix)
Robert Redford and Jane Fonda star in this romantic drama about a widow and a widower living next door to each other who fin a connection as they enter their twilight years.
This Spanish period drama follows a woman who discovers a letter that reveals details about her father’s journey from his island home to Spanish Guinea.
(Photo by Weinstein Company)
Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in Stephen Daldry’s drama about a young man who falls for an older woman who turns out to be a former Nazi prison guard.
Stream Now | Also on Amazon, iTunes
(Photo by Nick Wall/Atlas Distribution)
Sarah Gadon and Emily Watson star in this period dramedy about Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret’s adventures out on the town during V Day festivities in 1945.
Stream Now | Also on Amazon, FandangoNOW, iTunes
(Photo by Sony Pictures Classics)
Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts star in Jacques Audiard’s drama about a single father who falls in love with a whale trainer after she suffers a tragic accident.
(Photo by Netflix)
This Emmy-nominated Netflix original series follows eight strangers from around the world who discover they can psychically travel between each other’s bodies, allowing them to experience each other’s lives. Watch seasons 1 and 2.
(Photo by David Lee/Netflix)
Based on Spike Lee’s acclaimed 1986 debut feature film of the same name (which is also available to stream), this Netflix original series centers on a single woman navigating a trio of tricky romances and attempting to balance it with the rest of her personal and professional life.
(Photo by Weinstein Company)
John Carney’s Golden Globe-nominated Certified Fresh musical drama centers on a Dublin teen in 1985 who starts a band to impress the girl he has a crush on.
(Photo by Roadside Attractions)
Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter star as the young Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson in a romantic drama that follows the couple around Chicago on their first date.
(Photo by Bruno Calvo/Weinstein Company)
Michelle Williams and Matthias Schoenaerts star in this period romance about a French woman who falls in love with a German soldier when his regiment takes over her town during WWII.
(Photo by Philippe Bosse/Netflix)
Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan star in this unique drama about a couple living in the icy wilderness of Canada who embark on a perilous journey south when a stalker threatens their lives.
(Photo by Strand Releasing)
This Brazilian coming-of-age drama revolves around a blind teenager struggling for independence who slowly falls in love with a new classmate.
(Photo by New Line Cinema)
Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn star in this romantic comedy about a pair of cynical divorce attorneys who spend their time crashing weddings until they both meet their match in two very different women.
Sandra Bullock stars in this romantic comedy about a lonely tollbooth operator who falls in love with one of her customers and is mistaken for his fiancée when she intervenes in a tragic accident that leaves him comatose.
Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, and Maribel Verdu star in this coming-of-age road trip drama about a pair of friends who take off on an adventure with a cousin’s estranged wife after their girlfriends leave town.
(Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Memento was a mindbending mystery flick that rested almost entirely on Guy Pearce‘s electrifying breakout performance in the lead role. Consider his work in other films like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, L.A., Confidential, The King’s Speech, The Time Machine, ABC’s When We Rise, and soon, Alien: Covenant, and it’s easy to see why his remarkable versatility has become a hot commodity.
This week, Pearce stars in Brimstone as an intimidating reverend out for revenge, and we were almost a’scared to ask the guy anything, but we were pleased to find that he loves movies just as much as the rest of us. Ever charming and earnest, he gave us his list of Five Favorite Films, which you can read below.
It came out in 1980 and I have a sister with an intellectual disability. I think in 1980 — when I was 12 and I saw The Elephant Man for the first time — the film just struck a chord in me that nothing ever had before, and it does to this day when I watch it. Obviously the performances by Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt and John Gielgud, etc. are just so sensitive and touching that it’s heartbreaking for me. It really touches me in a way that I think has — not to suggest that my sister has the same condition that Joseph Merrick had — but the way in which that character feels ostracized and the way in which people are judgmental of him are all things that really hit home for me as a young boy trying to protect my sister out there in the world. Very much connected to my upbringing, but obviously quite a different story.
But I just think Anthony Hopkins in that film, the way that David Lynch captured him, and obviously the way he performed that role of Freddy Treves just… There’s nothing better. Anthony Hopkins is someone who I think does sensitivity on screen better than anybody anyway, so his heartbreak and his compassion for that character was just unforgettable really.
Something actually I watched recently — my girlfriend hadn’t seen it yet — A Streetcar Named Desire. I’m a huge Marlon Brando fan, as a lot of actors are. I know it’s a cliché, but obviously there are many performances of Brando’s that are just exquisite, but there’s something about that performance as Stanley in Streetcar that I think is just so raw and electric, as everybody says. I’m not saying anything that anybody hasn’t said before, so excuse my banter, but you just cannot take your eyes off him. I think as a young male actor at the time, when I first started seeing that film, you just wanted to deliver everything that he could deliver, and of course, none of us can. I certainly can’t, but the envy that I would feel for him, as well as the thrill of watching what he could do, was so mixed up in my head and my body that I just go back to that film every couple of years and watch it again.
Obviously, Tennessee Williams is such a wonderful writer, and we all understand, I think, those powerful emotions that exist within families, and those things that seem very subtle at one point that can then be the breakdown of a family. I just think the combination of his writing and Brando’s performance is just exquisite. It’s really exquisite.
Okay. I do come back to The Godfather, and to be honest, if I had more time to think about it, I would probably leave The Godfather out only because I know that it’s a film that is often touted. But primarily, I think it’s about Pacino for me.
I think all of the things that make The Godfather what people call the perfect film, where you’re taken into a world where, for most us, is really just — we’re never going to go there ourselves, into the world of the mafia and organized crime, but to see how it’s connected to family and how that is the basis of this story being the bond within a family, is so foreign to, I think, most of us. Foreign as far as where killing is part of family life. It’s just so unusual, but at the same time, it’s done in such a way that they make it feel perfectly normal.
Of course, again, there’s Brando, there’s Pacino, and then in the second one we see De Niro.
I think I’m often drawn to films primarily because of the performances, and speaking of performances, I would then probably move to Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino for very different reasons. We see Pacino in Godfather in an extremely restrained performance. And then, of course, in Dog Day Afternoon, we see just this loose mess of a human being spilling out out all over the place, and he’s just absolutely electric and just as compelling and just as unpredictable as the character Michael Corleone in Godfather, but completely at opposite ends of the spectrum.
I just think Pacino is someone for me who, like Brando, I just find him completely watchable and can’t get enough of him. Anything he does, really, I would find compelling. Although there have been performances lately that haven’t been as interesting as the earlier stuff.
[Godfather and Dog Day Afternoon] are so different. They’re really, really different. I think Godfather is a better film, but I think Dog Day — that performance — John Cazale‘s performance in Dog Day, as well — and as you know, I have really eclectic taste anyway in the kinds of things that I like, and the kinds of jobs that I choose, too. I get just as much out of both of those films. The potential energy that exists in Godfather versus Dog Day is that they’re just extreme, explosive kind of sweaty performances of Pacino [and they are] are two completely different things, but they both affect me a great deal.
I’m also a big fan of comedy as well, so even things to this day like Bridget Jones’s Diary, there was just something about Bridget Jones that I thought … And I guess it’s [Renée Zellweger‘s] performance. I remember there was a lot of talk about the fact that they cast an American in that role, but I think she captured the sensibility of a repressed English girl who was desperate to fall in love so beautifully And as an actor myself, often you caught slack if you’re playing a gay person and you’re not really gay, or you’re playing an American and you’re not really American, or you’re playing whatever it happens to be. I just think if you can find the essence in a character and pull it off, then it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your nationality is, etc. There’s something to me about that film that’s like the perfect romantic comedy. I just think it’s a bit hard to put my finger on what it is, to be honest. It’s just beautifully executed. Everything’s so well balanced. Often whenever I read a romantic comedy now, I’m comparing it to Bridget Jones and if it’s planned well.
One of my favorite directors is Peter Weir, and a film that I watched recently of his is Gallipoli — Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, as well as a bunch of other great Australian actors. I think that film for me is this incredible combination of the brutality of war and yet the sensitivity of the human spirit, and I think Mel Gibson is absolutely electric and fantastic in that film, but I think Mark Lee is utterly heartbreaking. His almost non-sexual personality and spirit is so engaging and sensitive that the film, and the combination with his performance, the energy of the film, and then the music in that film really — I think music is a really important aspect in film, and, as you know, you can play Yakety Sax over a scene, or you can play something from Morricone over a scene, and the scene will then have a completely different meaning and feel. That’s an extreme example, but if music is done well in a movie, it can turn anything, even a three dimensional performance — it can make it turn more three dimensional because it enhances what is meant to be there. I think that the music used in Gallipoli is just utterly heartbreaking. Really, really heartbreaking and beautiful.
Brimstone opens on Friday, Mar. 10, 2017 in limited release.
It’s the very first streaming column of 2017, which means it’s also the first streaming column of the month, which means the subscription services are releasing a ton of new titles, and we’re culling them down to the very best. Read on for all the Certified Fresh choices available on Netflix and Amazon Prime this week.
Steven Spielberg’s family classic — the tale of a young boy named Elliott who discovers an orphaned alien in his backyard — boasts one of the most beloved movie characters in history.
Available now on: Netflix
Robert Wise’s Certified Fresh sci-fi classic tells the story of an alien being who arrives on Earth with a warning for mankind: make peace or face annihilation.
Available now on: Netflix
Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of the Brian Selznick novel stars Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz in the story of a young boy who befriends a reclusive toymaker in order to unlock the secret behind an automaton left to him by his late father.
Available now on: Netflix
All four of the classic Superman films starring Christopher Reeve — and Bryan Singer’s 2006 update — are available on Netflix this week.
Available now on Netflix: Superman, Superman II, Superman III, Superman IV, Superman Returns
Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble opus about life in the porn industry made a movie star out of Mark Wahlberg and benefited immeasurably from great performances by Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, Heather Graham, Luis Guzman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and William H. Macy.
Available now on: Netflix
This independent drama follows a pair of graffiti artists over two days as they attempt to raise funds for a bold act of tagging.
Available now on: Netflix
This documentary catches up with several men exonerated by DNA evidence and freed from prison as they attempt to reintegrate into society.
Available now on: Netflix
This dark comedy centers on two friends and a wealthy married couple who meet at a bar and engage in a series of progressively more twisted dares.
Available now on: Netflix
Stanley Kubrick’s iconic adaptation of the Stephen King novel stars a creepy Jack Nicholson as a struggling writer who relocates his family to an empty hotel during a harsh winter season and slowly goes mad.
Available now on: Netflix
Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant star in this comedy about a brash thirtysomething London woman who decides to shape up and meets a couple of eligible bachelors.
Available now on: Netflix
Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, a young Natalie Portman, and a bunch of other noted indie thespians star in this mid-1990s comedy about a high school reunion in snowy New England.
Available now on: Netflix
Mel Gibson directs and stars in this multiple Oscar-winner as William Wallace, a Scottish folk hero from the 13th century who led his people against the English in the First War of Scottish Independence.
Available now on: Netflix
Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, and Bill Murray star in Harold Ramis’s directorial debut, a beloved comedy about the unruly, unusual new members of an exclusive country club.
Available now on: Netflix
Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving star in this dystopian thriller about a lone freedom fighter plotting a series of revolutionary bombings against a tyrannical government who recruits a young woman to join his cause.
Available now on: Netflix
Harrison Ford stars as the iconic archaeologist/adventurer whose thrilling exploits take him all over the globe. Amazon Prime subscribers will be able to stream all of the Indiana Jones movies this week.
Available now on Amazon Prime: Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
This action blockbuster, which kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in spectacular style, stars Robert Downey Jr. in a role he was born to play: an arrogant billionaire supergenius who creates a weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
This Certified Fresh documentary tells the chilling tale of a Long Island child killer that many assumed was an urban legend.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd star in John Landis’s classic comedy about a well-to-do businessman and a common street hustler whose lives become intertwined when the businessman’s bosses concoct an elaborate bet involving them.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Edwards Norton and Furlong star in this drama about an ex-white supremacist who returns from prison a changed man and attempts to prevent his younger brother from following the same path.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Tim Burton’s offbeat comedy stars Michael Keaton as the titular ghoul, a chaotic wildcard whose services are called upon by a newly deceased couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) to help rid their home of its new occupants.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton star in this drama about an aimless junkie who meets an interesting collection of characters as he attempts to straighten out his life.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro star in Brian DePalma’s dramatization of the Prohibition Era war between Al Capone and lawman Eliot Ness.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Based upon Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel and featuring an all-star cast, this fantasy follows a young man who embarks on a journey through a forbidden kingdom to prove his love to the girl of his dreams by presenting her with a fallen star.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis headline an all-star cast in Martin Scorsese’s stylized portrayal of the rise of criminal power in New York’s Five Points neighborhood during the mid-1800s.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Elijah Wood and Robin Williams lend their voices to this animated feature about an emperor penguin who overcomes his inability to sing by becoming a fantastic dancer instead.
Available now on: Amazon Prime
Issa Rae stars in this HBO comedy series, partly based on her web series Awkward Black Girl, that centers on two black women learning to navigate their personal and professional lives in Los Angeles.
Available now on: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes
Disney’s classic take on the story of a wooden boy who wishes to become human is being made available to stream this week.
Available now on: Amazon, FandangoNOW, iTunes
Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo star in Mira Nair’s inspirational tale based on a true story about a chess prodigy who is discovered in a Ugandan slum and nurtured to become a champion.
Available now on: Amazon, FandangoNOW, iTunes
This week at the movies, we have a pair of very belated, very different sequels (Bridget Jones’s Baby, starring Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth; and Blair Witch, starring James Allen McCune and Callie Hernandez), a ripped-from-the-headlines Oliver Stone drama (Snowden, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley), and a concert movie (Hillsong – Let Hope Rise). What are the critics saying? Let’s take a look.
Bridget Jones’s Diary made rom-com magic out of Helen Fielding‘s bestselling novel in 2001, but the sequel, 2004’s Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, failed to produce similar results. It might have seemed safe to assume we’d seen the last of Ms. Jones on the big screen, but lo and behold, all these years later, she’s back with Bridget Jones’s Baby. Reviews describe a third installment that delivers pretty much what fans would expect; although Hugh Grant has departed the cast, Renee Zellweger remains as charming as ever as Bridget, and Colin Firth is back for another appearance as her longtime squeeze (and potential baby daddy) Mark Darcy. Critics say this is the rare threequel that, while somewhat safe and fairly predictable, remains a surprising return to form over its predecessor — and may even be the best Bridget of the bunch.
Speaking of sequels to long-ago movies, here’s Blair Witch, a follow-up to the 1999 found-footage horror hit that eschews the side road taken by 2000’s ill-received Book of Shadows in favor of taking audiences back where they started. Which, in a nutshell, is the problem: Instead of taking the Blair Witch mythology in any substantially new or extra-terrifying directions, director Adam Wingard (working from a script by his frequent collaborator Simon Barrett) seems mostly content to settle for a loose rehash of the original story. Although the end results are still good for some jolts, and Blair Witch does manage to add a few wrinkles to the familiar narrative, critics say you can safely wait to watch this one in the dark from the comfort of your own home.
Oliver Stone is certainly no stranger to political filmmaking; in fact, his filmography contains some of Hollywood’s more provocative — and widely acclaimed — cinematic statements on American history and current events. But looking to the headlines isn’t always enough to guarantee an Oscar contender from Stone; in recent years, fact-based efforts such as World Trade Center and W. have fallen short of the lofty standard set by achievements like Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July. Unfortunately, critics say this weekend’s Snowden follows that downward slope, giving the fascinating story of the titular whistleblower (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a curiously muted dramatization that critics say is well-acted and topical, but occasionally too slackly paced. If it’s a great Snowden film you’re in the mood for, try checking out the Citizenfour documentary this weekend — but if you’re holding out for the next great Oliver Stone production, you might be a little disappointed.
They may not be household names yet, but the members of Australian contemporary worship band Hillsong UNITED have cracked the Billboard Top 10 with each of their last two albums — and now they’re getting their documentary due with Hillsong — Let Hope Rise, which purports to capture their “on-stage energy and off-stage hearts” while bringing new meaning to the phrase “theatrical worship experience.” Unfortunately, we can’t really speak to their success in that mission, because critics don’t seem to be rushing out to see it. As of this writing, Let Hope Rise has a pair of reviews, and they’re evenly split. Go on and Guess the Tomatometer!
Dreamlike, poignant, and often funny, High Maintenance successfully transitions from the web to the small screen thanks to sharp writing and an excellent cast.
Season six of American Horror Story takes a surprising turn away from prior AHS formats, revisiting the deliberate pace of earlier seasons on a spookier, smaller scale, even if the true-crime format feels overdone.
Also Opening This Week In Limited Release
Christmas is just around the corner and you know what that means: holiday mirth, exchanging gifts, eating foods you wouldn’t touch at any other time in the year, and, yes, ugly sweaters! The holiday tradition inspires this week’s 24 Frames gallery, which looks at some of the most compelling knitted monstrosities from film and TV history.
The biggest titles new to streaming services this week include the final chapter in Peter Jackson’s journey through Middle-earth, an Oscar-nominated thriller, and a little-seen but highly acclaimed comedy starring Chris Rock. After that, we’ve got some excellent choices on Netflix, including the latest season of its original drama House of Cards and old favorites like Donnie Brasco and Ground hog Day. Read on for the full list:
After going up against the fire-breathing dragon Smaug, Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), and makeshift battalions of men, elves, and dwarfs must join forces to fight off an onslaught of orcs and restore order to Middle-earth.
Available now on: Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play
Channing Tatum, Steve Carell, and Mark Ruffalo star in this Certified Fresh drama about an Olympic wrestling hopeful who falls under the influence of a questionable patron.
Available now on: Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play
Chris Rock (who also directed) plays Andre Allen, a popular comic actor who’s about to be married to a famous reality TV star. He agrees to be profiled by a New York Times reporter (Rosario Dawson), and as they stroll about the city, Allen begins to question the decisions he’s made in his life and career.
Available now on: Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play
In the third season of Netflix’s acclaimed political drama, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and his wife Claire (Robin Wright) attempt to maintain the powerful positions to which they’ve risen, even in the face of troubling global events and adversaries much closer to home.
Available now on: Netflix
Eric Rohmer’s naturalistic, low-key dramedy follows the lives and loves of young people over the course of a summer.
Available now on: Netflix
Bill Murray stars in Harold Ramis’s classic comedy about a jaded reporter whose bitter outlook on life changes when he’s caught in a time loop that forces him to relive the same day over and over again.
Available now on: Netflix
Johnny Depp goes undercover to bring down mob boss Al Pacino — and finds himself taking something of a shine to the old man — in this Certified Fresh gangster drama.
Available now on: Netflix
Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, and Dustin Hoffman star in Marc Forster’s warm, heartfelt biopic of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie.
Available now on: Netflix
Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant star in this comedy about a brash thirtysomething woman who decides to shape up and meets a couple of eligible bachelors.
Available now on: Netflix
The fourth season of CBS’s cop show reboot starring Alex O’Laughlin and Scott Caan focuses on McGarrett and Co. facing new adversaries and playing both sides of the law.
Available now on: Netflix
Richard Curtis has a plan. “What I’ve decided is to choose recent films,” he explains to RT. “I do think that often people get stuck in always picking the five greatest films of all time, films they saw between the ages of 17 and 22, because that’s when you’re forming your opinions. I think I’ll talk about modern films, which aren’t necessarily the greatest films ever made, but are five great films.”
Modern films are certainly Curtis’ bread-and-butter. Best known for defining a genre with Four Weddings and a Funeral, the writer of Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary turned to feature directing in 2003 with Love, Actually — an entire career on the big-screen set in the here and now. The Boat that Rocked, out on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK this week and soon to hit US cinemas retitled Pirate Radio, is his first ‘period’ film and he doesn’t go much further back in time than the swinging 60s.
On the small-screen, he’s Britain’s ruling king of comedy, giving us the ultimate history lesson through the various series of Blackadder, and defining comedy for the 80s and 90s through BBC favourites Mr. Bean, The Vicar of Dibley and Spitting Image. In 1985 he founded Comic Relief, which has raised £80m for good causes this year alone.
Read on to learn about the five films he can’t do without.
“That will be the only horror movie on any list of mine. The first time I saw The Exorcist, I had to sleep with the lights on for about four years, so horror is not for me.”
There are so many other funny things — when Kristen Wiig is rude to Katherine Heigl when she gets her job, and she’s going on about how lucky she is to get the job, it’s completely hilarious. Both Seth Rogen and Katherine are so charming and funny, and it’s so modern, on the edge and hard; a real romantic film. I think that if romantic comedies are meant to be romantic and funny, then that’s a perfect example. It’s very relaxed and at ease with itself, and doesn’t try too hard, or doesn’t seem to be trying very hard, and I think that’s very much to do with how Judd makes his movies. I’m sure he knows exactly what he wants, but it does have a slightly improvisational edge to it, because he does work with people that he knows very well, so there’s a naturalness to it, and I think it’s a great modern film. I haven’t seen Funny People yet, but I have very high hopes for it, I’m looking forward to it a great deal. “
“It seems to me like a really great, classic, funny character movie hiding in wolves clothing, pretending to be a big stupid old generic college movie, but it actually invented the genre, and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a funnier version of those movies. Certainly when I was doing The Boat That Rocked, it was M*A*S*H on the one hand – very casual, conversational, just guys doing a weird job – and Animal House on the other – with big characterisations and set-pieces.. So we’ve got four moderns and one slightly older. Can I have one more? Am I allowed? Just for sorrow?”
I think we can let you have another film.
Richard Curtis: OK – The Son’s Room by Nanni Moretti. He was this kind of comedian when younger, and was always called Italy’s Woody Allen, and in a way he’s fulfilled that promise, because Woody Allen also made some very profound films. The Son’s Room is an amazingly gentle, completely sorrowful movie, which I don’t even know whether or not to recommend. It’s full of sadness but everyone who is thinking of having a family should see the film so that they know the risk, and everyone who has got a family should see the film so that they understand how in the middle of the most normal conversational world, sorrow can hit you. But it’s got the best music of any film I’ve seen and it’s got this Brian Eno track at the end. The movie can’t be resolved because it’s about grief that never ends, but somehow the music acts as some way back to normality. So I think The Son’s Room is the film I’ve been most struck by in a way, over the last ten years, the most truthful film I’ve seen.
Music in a film is obviously very important to you…
RC: Yeah, I don’t know. Strangely I watched The Godfather the other day, and the Godfather Soundtrack is extraordinary, it never stops. It’s either jazz music or orchestral music or exciting music, he never lets it go, and that’s the way he keeps the pace up. So I always wanted The Boat That Rocked to be an ecstatic movie. I remember at the end of Bridget Jones, the second one, where we were trying to choose which of the three songs to put at the end where she’s running after Colin Firth – in the end I just said, “Put them all in. Put all three. Let’s have Beyonce, let’s have The Shirelles, and let’s have Barry White.” So I like the idea of going for it, wall-to-wall. And in a way I’ve always thought of my films as being like a Madness album or like an ABBA album, full of delightful little scenarios and very high spirited bursts of things.
But as a writer, just as sort of autobiographically, I listen to music all the time while I’m writing. It always cheers me up and always lifts my spirits, and it always has. On The Boat That Rocked I just wanted to make a film about that feeling of what it’s like to be exhilirated day and night by pop music.
Does the music that you’re listening to end up in the movie when you’re writing?
RC: Yes, but the weird thing is when the music doesn’t. I wrote the whole of Love, Actually listening to one song, which is The Loving by XTC, which is a huge orchestral song about everyone in the world being full of love, but I didn’t put it in the film. Notting Hill was based around two songs, one of which was Wasting Time by Ron Sexsmith, and the other – very oddly I used to listen to it all the time because it exactly represented the pitch of the emotion I wanted in the film – was a version of Downtown Train by Everything But the Girl. That was what I wanted the film to feel like. I used that as the pattern and then threw it away, because there wasn’t actually a place for it in the film. But I often get the mood of what I’m writing from pop music.
Did you have any problems with rights for any of the songs you wanted to use in The Boat That Rocked?
RC: No. With The Boat That Rocked, we had a bit more money, so we got most of what we wanted. Some songs you just couldn’t get because they wanted something like a million pounds – those were the acts who just didn’t want their songs in movies. When Hugh Grant dances in Love, Actually, we wanted a Michael Jackson song we couldn’t get, because it was about a million pounds to use.
But on the whole, these days, I get what I want. My bad memories of The Tall Guy, the very first film I made, are thankfully in the past. It was meant to be structured around three songs by Madness. It was meant to start with Yesterday’s Men, go to The Sun and the Rain, then end with It Must Be Love, and that was the shape of the movie. But they could only afford one song, so we only had It Must Be Love, which was a great disappointment.
There’s a very funny bit in that movie where Jeff Goldblum sits down and listens to a radio and he’s heartbroken. He switches it and on comes a really sad song like Let the Heartaches Begin, so he switches it again and on comes another one called So Sad or Cry in the Rain or something, but if you listen carefully, they’re all sung by my friend Philip, because we couldn’t afford any of the songs. We had to spend an hour in a studio to do one impression of Long John Baldry and one of the Everly Brothers. So in the old days we couldn’t get what we wanted, but now it’s easier.
The Boat that Rocked might be the first film I’ve seen with a double-CD soundtrack.
RC: And I don’t think that’s all of them either – we’ve had to leave out one or two songs from the middle of the movie that haven’t made it onto the soundtrack. But yeah, it was very passionate. What you realise when you’re making a film like that is that people do love their pop music, and as people are finding out now at festivals, living with pop is a great way of leading your life. When we made the movie, everyday when we went out on the boat, all 140 of us, and they blared pop music for an hour. The moment it was lunch we would put it on over the huge speakers, and on the way home we put in on the speakers, and it was an idyllic life.
And you were working with Bill Nighy, who we know is a huge music fan – that would have been fun…
RC: Yeah, Bill loves his pop music. He’s obsessed, at the moment, with a guy called Maxwell, who he says is a great genius, and has just had a huge hit in America. What was nice was that there was one or two songs that I picked that nobody had heard of, like Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells and All Over the World by Francoise Hardy. Everybody had one or two things they were absolutely delighted to meet in the film. And that was my aim, to have a mixture of very high-profile songs and songs that people didn’t know as well.
What’s next for you as a director?
RC: I’m doing a huge range of things, but I think my next movie is probably going to be a film about time travel, but it’ll be quite complicated so it’ll take a while to work out.
Lots of paradoxes to figure out?
RC: I’m not going to worry about things like that, but there are always going to be issues!
This Week’s Ketchup includes the requisite toy movie, but thankfully there are no remakes (although there is one movie based on an old TV show and two different movies based on young adult book series). Included in the original concepts are two comedies about today’s economic hard times, a biopic about a classic children’s book author, a historical epic about King Henry V and a time travel sci-fi action movie called Arena.
With Paramount just a couple of weeks away from releasing G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the studio has found another action figure franchise in the form of Mattel’s Max Steel. Max Steel started as an action figure in 1999 and starred in an animated TV series from 2000-2002. It’s apparently proven to be much more successful in Latin America, where Max Steel is the #1 action figure property. For those not familiar with the character, Max Steel is a 19-year-old extreme sports enthusiast who is injured in an accident that infects his body with nanobots that make him superhuman. This leads to him being recruited by a secret agency, where he is of course teamed up with lots of other action figure-friendly characters. Mattel hopes that a major motion picture will help relaunch the toy line in the United States and other regions outside of Latin America. There is currently no writer or director attached to Max Steel, or word on when Paramount plans on releasing this latest toy property, which now joins the toy-to-movie ranks at Paramount, alongside Hasbro’s Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises.
Variety is reporting that it is “rumored” that Working Title is developing a third movie in the Bridget Jones series. This would follow the two movies based upon books by Helen Fielding, despite there not being a third novel to adapt for a third movie. Instead, it is expected that this third movie will be based upon columns that Fielding wrote in 2005 for the British newspaper The Independent, in which Bridget, now in her 40s, attempts to have a baby before it’s too late. Renee Zellweger did just turn 40 this past April, so the timing is quite on the mark. Another bit of news for Working Title this week is that the British production company has hired Cate Blanchett to star in Indian Summer, a drama set in 1947 in the final days of British rule of India. That film has been written by William Nicholson (Shadowlands, First Knight) and will be directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, The Soloist).
In quite unexpected news, the 1965-1969 ABC family western TV series The Big Valley is being developed as a movie scheduled to start filming in April, 2010 in Michigan and New Mexico. The Big Valley was the story of a widowed matriarch (Barbara Stanwyck) of the prosperous Barkley ranch in central California, and her three sons (including an illegitimate half-brother played by Lee Majors) and a daughter (Linda Evans). The show was very similar to the long-running Bonanza, if you switch Lorne Greene out for Barbara Stanwyck, and use a less dusty setting. The concept for this Big Valley movie was developed by the show’s creators, and is being produced by Kate Edelman Johnson, the daughter of original show runner Louis F. Edelman. The Big Valley was written and will be written by Daniel Adams, who also directed this year’s independent drama The Golden Boys, starring David Carradine, Bruce Dern and Rip Torn. There’s no word yet about who will be cast in the movie’s five major roles.
Rather than take up four slots on the list that could go to new projects, this entry will cover this week’s major bits of casting news. First up is the announcement that Willem Dafoe has joined the cast of John Carter of Mars as Tars Tarkas, the four-armed giant green warrior that befriends Carter when he arrives on Mars. It’s not known how exactly Dafoe will portray Tarkas, but my best guess would be some sort of motion capture CGI animation. Then there is is the confirmation that Natalie Portman will be costarring in Thor as Jane Foster, but this news actually first appeared online a few months ago. What’s new is that the movie’s version of Jane Foster will not be a nurse (as portrayed in the comics), but rather a sort of doctor/scientist. This change is most likely due to Thor’s Dr. Donald Blake alter ego from the early comics not being an element in the movie adaptation. Next up is British comedian Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) who will be starring in I Hop, one of the competing Easter-themed movies that is being raced through development. I Hop is the story of a slacker who runs over the real Easter Bunny, breaking his leg so that he can’t hop, and so the guy has to take on the Bunny’s duties. Finally, Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgard (HBO’s True Blood) will costar with James Marsden in the remake of Straw Dogs, which moves the story of rape and revenge from England to Mississippi. Bosworth is playing Marsden’s wife, and Skarsgard is playing her high school boyfriend, a former football hero. The changes to the story’s setting and some character elements make this Straw Dogs a hard project to predict, but like most remakes, the real question is… why bother remaking a movie that was already great?
Walt Disney Pictures has acquired Aprilynne Pike’s bestselling young adult novel Wings as a starring vehicle for their Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus. The first installment of a planned four book series, Wings is the story of a 15 year old girl who discovers that she is actually a faerie. Sent to live among humans as a guardian of the gateway to the magical land of Avalon, she learns about her heritage when a bump on her back blossoms into a giant flower and eventually becomes wings. The faerie falls in love with another faerie as she learns that she is destined to be caught between a war between faeries and trolls over control of the gateway to Avalon. Published in May, Wings has been a success but has also garnered expected comparisons to the popular Twilight franchise, and it just so happens that the producers of Wings also coproduced the first Twilight movie. So, are you looking forward to seeing Miley Cyrus running around with giant flower-like wings bouncing around her shoulders?
While two of the leads in this summer’s surprise comedy hit The Hangover, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis, have been lining up their next movies over the last few weeks, that left Ed Helms, who played the dentist, with a big question mark as to how he would follow up such a major success. Helms, who was a longtime correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and is now on NBC’s The Office has chosen to go the indie comedy route, rather than sign on for another big studio movie just yet. In Cedar Rapids, Helms will play “a sad-sack insurance agent who goes to an industry convention to try to save the jobs of his colleagues.” Cedar Rapids was developed by Helms, written by newcomer writer Phil Johnston, will be directed Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl, Chuck & Buck) and is being produced by director Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways). Filming of Cedar Rapids will start in October, 2009 while Ed Helms is on hiatus from The Office. Several distributors are currently looking at Cedar Rapids, with Fox Searchlight considered to be the frontrunner after having handled many of Payne’s movies. Ed Helms is also writing, and will costar in, an untitled Civil War time travel comedy for Warner Bros, the studio behind The Hangover.
London’s Independent Film Company has hired writer and producer Michael Hurst, creator of Showtime’s The Tudors and writer of 1998’s Elizabeth, to adapt the 2008 bestselling novel, Agincourt (also known as Azincourt), by Bernard Cornwell. Agincourt, as you might guess from the title, tells the story of the landmark Battle of Agincourt, which was also the central battle of William Shakespeare’s Henry V. In Cornwell’s novel, the central character is an archer named Nicholas Hook, who earns recognition from King Henry V of England and fights alongside him against the French army in a 1415 battle that proved the superiority of the English longbowmen, in what is considered one of the bloodiest battles in European history. Agincourt will be a $35 million production, with filming expected to start in the spring of 2011.
Ioan Gruffudd, who is best known for playing Reed Richards in the two Fantastic Four movies has signed on to star in the British biopic Banking on Mr. Toad, with Samantha Morton (Minority Report, In America) in talks to play his character’s wife, Elspeth. In Banking on Mr. Toad, Gruffudd will play 19th century author Kenneth Grahame, who made the transition from a career as a secretary for the Bank of England to the author of The Wind in the Willows, the classic children’s book about anthromorphic animals, including Mr. Toad, Mr. Badger, Ratty and Mole. Banking on Mr. Toad will be helmed by acclaimed director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies, Breaker Morant) from a script by producer Timothy Haas and Wendy Oberman, both of whom are first-time screenwriters. Production is scheduled to start in Ireland later this year.
As filming continues on the two Deathly Hallows movies to wrap up the Harry Potter movie franchise, Warner Bros is apparently looking at how they can continue on in the lucrative boy wizard business. David Frankel (Marley & Me, The Devil Wears Prada) has been hired to direct Septimus Heap: Magyk, an animated adaptation of the first book of a seven part series by Angie Sage, with newcomer Rob Lieber working on the script. Magyk was the first book in the series, published in 2005, and it was followed by Flyte, Physik, and Queste. The fifth book, Syren, comes out this September, with two more books to follow. Septimus Heap is a young wizard who was the seventh son of a seventh son and who must spend seven years studying magic under a powerful wizard before he can eventually take her place. Specifically, Magyk is the book in which 10 year olds Septimus and his adopted sister discover their destinies, which include his sister eventually becoming a princess. Septimus Heap: Magyk is described as an “animated fantasy project,” but it’s currently unknown what company will be handling the animation.
Summit Entertainment is looking to stay in business with Jeff Wadlow, the director of 2008’s Never Back Down (and also 2005’s Cry_Wolf). Wadlow had been attached to direct a prison escape movie called The Tomb, but when that project stalled, the fledgling studio (Twlight, Knowing, Push) has instead switched Wadlow over to a sci-fi action movie called Arena. First time writers Toby Wagstaff and Darren Howell wrote Arena, which is about a group of modern soldiers who find themselves transported to a strange shifting landscape where they are pitted into gladiator-style combat with warriors from throughout history. Although Summit’s output so far hasn’t been spectacular, it’s nice to at least see that this new studio is mostly focusing on original concepts, rather than all of the remakes and other tired concepts that the major studios are currently obsessed with. Arena might turn out to be awful, but the concept is at least sort of awesome.
Economic hardship is so funny, right up there with Nazis (Life is Beautiful, The Producers) and race relations (Soul Man, White Chicks). And so, there are a lot of movies in the works about people down on their luck (including #6’s Cedar Rapids), and following the intense action of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hugh Jackman has lined one up as well. In the comedy Avon Man, Jackman will play a recently laid off car salesman who takes a job as an Avon cosmetics salesperson, which is “initially emasculating”, until the story eventually takes on a “Full Monty vibe when the car salesman sets out to save his financially strapped family and town by conscripting his buddies into the makeup business to win a regional contest.” 20th Century Fox acquired the Avon Man pitch in a high six figure deal from Hitch writer Kevin Bisch. Here’s guessing that the Avon Man trailer will feature a scene where Jackman’s girlfriend/wife walks in on him fully made up in the sort of dated makeup women haven’t worn since Maude was a hit.
For more Weekly Ketchup columns by Greg Dean Schmitz, check out the WK archive, and you can contact GDS through his MySpace page or via a RT forum message.
