Girl Week: The Leading Ladies of 2016

For the second year running, king of blogathons Dell at Dell on Movies is dedicating this week to movies with female protagonists. It’s Girl Week! From 21st - 27th November he’s aiming to post every single day, so be sure to bookmark his blog if you aren’t already to check his posts out. Dell has been kind enough to ask us all to contribute to this special week, so I thought I’d put together a list of my favourite leading ladies of movies released this year, so far at least!

It was actually quite shocking looking through my film journal for the year and seeing just how few of those movies have a woman in the leading role. Nonetheless, there are a few, and plenty others I haven’t actually seen yet, so let’s kick this off shall we?

Amy Adams (Nocturnal Animals, Arrival)

I didn’t think I would love an Amy Adams character any more than Mary in The Muppets. That probably sounds sarcastic, but I love that movie so much. So no, I didn’t think she could top that for me, and then November came along and brought not one, but two movies with Amy Adams as the lead, and she plays completely different roles in each. Susan in Nocturnal Animals is cold, and cruel, whereas Louise in Arrival is warm and kind, someone we can look up to. November 2016 shall forever be remembered as Amy Adams month in my eyes.

Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn & Kristen Bell (Bad Moms)

Too many times it’s been said that women can’t be funny. When the trailer for Bad Moms came out though I felt apprehensive. After the deeply disappointing How to be Single, this looked like the typical comedy where the only funny moments are in the trailer. Yet I think Bad Moms surprised a lot of people in the end. It’s funny from start to finish, with several scenes that had me holding my stomach to stop it from aching. Not only does this movie have an all-female leading cast, it has some great supporting actresses too!

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

We can always count on the ever wonderful Meryl Streep to put on a good performance. Whilst Florence Foster Jenkins won’t make my Top 10 Movies of 2016 list, it’s still absolutely worth a watch just to see Meryl Streep do what she does best. It’s guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, and I still can’t comprehend just how difficult it must be to deliberately sing badly when you actually have an amazing amount of talent in that area.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane)

Until this year I’ve only seen Mary Elizabeth Winstead in smaller roles, and it wasn’t until after watching 10 Cloverfield Lane that I recognised her at all. She really holds her own as the leading character in this thriller. After being rescued/kidnapped and locked in a bunker, Mary plays a fighter trying to discover the truth, rather than a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued. It looks like she’s landed a big role in Season 3 of Fargo next year too, so I’m looking forward to that!

Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon & Leslie Jones (Ghostbusters)

Maybe it’s because I’d never seen the original (I have now) but I felt indifferent about the announcement of a remake of Ghostbusters. There was a lot of noise about an all-female cast and a lot of upset hardcore Ghostbusters fans, and then a rush to score the movie as low as possible days before it was even released. I loved it, for the record, and I watched the extended version with my family over the weekend and still loved it. Point proven, women are funny as hell!

Ellen Page & Allison Janney (Tallulah)

Tallulah is a movie that makes me so grateful for this blogging community, because I don’t think I would have even heard of it otherwise. I’d read glowing reviews and sometimes that’s all I need to go out (or stay in actually, this was on Netflix) and watch a movie straight away. Ellen Page might be the lead in this heartbreaking story about motherhood, but her co-star Allison Janney gives a performance just as strong.

So there you have it, my favourite leading ladies of the year so far. I’m sure if I re-visited this list at the end of year I’ll be adding at least Felicity Jones to it! Don’t forget to check out Dell’s blog to see his Girl Week posts.

Review: Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

At this point, I’m pretty sure Meryl Streep could walk on set, say a few lines (whether they’re from an actual script or not), go home and we’d all still be singing her praises. I really like her of course, but I don’t worship her like a lot of movie fans do. Perhaps I just need to see more of her work! My point anyway is that she’s not one of the actresses I would see absolutely anything for. My first impression of the trailer for Florence Foster Jenkins was a cross between a laugh and a sneer, I think.

Florence Foster Jenkins is the story of a wealthy heiress living in New York who dreams of becoming an opera singer and performing in Carnegie Hall. The catch is that she can’t sing to save her life, but her devoted husband (Hugh Grant) can’t bring himself to tell her the truth, and instead hires a singing coach and pianist (Simon Helberg) to not only coach her, but remind her how wonderful she is.

The real stand out part of the movie is the wonderful performances by all 3 leads, Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg. Streep is exactly how you would expect her to be, powerful yet effortless. Her awful singing may be difficult to listen to at times, but I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for someone with amazing singing talent to actually sing badly. I’d experiment to see for myself, but you know, I can’t sing anyway. Hugh Grant is possibly at a higher level than I’ve seen him before, mastering that charm like he always has but with a surprising amount of heart.

However, the show stealer is Helberg. Better known as the awkward and often inappropriate Howard in the Big Bang Theory, this is a completely different role for him, and after watching him, I can’t actually picture anyone else doing that character justice. It’s like that saying ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it’, Helberg shines for his mannerisms more than anything else. His body language and facial expressions bring a lot of the humour this movie has.

As for the rest of the movie...I’m still not convinced. It’s just not the kind of story that normally interests me. The tone shifted about quite harshly in places, so whilst I was laughing at a clever one-liner, something quite moving would happen and I wasn’t really sure how to feel. That’s the only real thing I can fault though, so I’m just not sure why I only liked Florence Foster Jenkins, rather than loved it.

Still, I’m glad I gave it a watch, and I would definitely recommend it to you all. What did you think, if you’ve seen it?

Mini Reviews: Two Night Stand (2014), In My Dreams (2014) & Prime (2005)

When I started these three reviews, I didn’t realise I was going to give them all the same rating, however this has ended up being a post to celebrate the mediocre those middle ground films that aren’t rubbish but aren’t good either.

Having seen Whiplash and the Spectacular Now (and before suffering Fantastic Four) I was a little bit obsessed with Miles Teller so when I clocked Two Night Stand, I had to give it a go.  I wasn’t disappointed, I wasn’t overwhelmed but I wasn’t disappointed so that’s a good thing.  It was pretty unrealistic, but what else can we expect from a romcom (before the amazingness that was Man Up!) so that didn’t bother me.  Not sure how memorable the story was, I remember most of it but the details are already disappearing (although exactly how long it’s been since I actually saw it is questionable).  I wouldn’t say its anything special but it’s the kind of film you can happily watch on a Sunday afternoon curled up on the sofa, so that’ll do for me!

Another weekend, another evening of Netflix surfing.  I was baking a cake (which took 8 hours in total) so I needed something that required no thinking whatsoever.  In your dreams was just that, a light hearted, terribly acted story of a mystical curse on a fountain.  If you throw your coin in you will dream about your true love for 7 days and you can use that to find said person.  Here’s the thing, they threw, they dreamt, they happen to be in the same place at the same time but miss each other, decide to find each other, miss each other again, then meet up at the fountain….thats it!  No twists not turns just bog standard low budget rom com.  It wasn’t terrible, it was far from fantastic but it entertained me while I was baking – I wouldn’t watch it again though.

Another find of Netflix, I like Uma Thurman, I LOVE Meryl Streep and I like that kid from One Tree Hill so this couldn’t all be bad.  It was actually surprisingly entertaining (although I’m pretty sure I realised half way through that I had in fact seen it before!) and interesting as it considers the dynamics of age gaps in relationships, particularly older women with younger men.  Streep throws in some great humour as David's (Bryan Greenberg) controlling Jewish mother, who also happens to be Rafi’s therapist but it just doesn’t quite hit the mark for me.  It’s obviously forgettable as didn’t remember ever seeing it before (although that may be my age!) and it rapidly flipped from light hearted rom com to a story of emotional heartbreak and loss leaving me a little bit perplexed as to whether it was a happy or sad ending.  Not awful but don’t rush out to see it, catch it on a Sunday afternoon with a cuppa tea!

Review: Into the Woods (2014)

I have no idea what to expect when I rocked up at the cinema to see Into the Woods, I knew it was a musical but I didn't know if it was serious like Les Miserables or funny or complete fantasy.  It seems I was surprised on all counts...

Somehow I didn't even realise it was a musical until about a week before it was released in cinemas, and then my other half wouldn't go with me! Boo...

 

Into the Woods is the story of a Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) who are desperate for a child but in order to be able to do that they have to lift a curse put on their house by the wicked witch (Meryl Streep).  They venture into the woods to gather four items that the witch needs to reverse the spell, at the same time Cinderella happens to be in the woods running from her prince, Jack is escaping and giant from the beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood is wandering having lost her Grandmothers house and Rapunzel is banished there by the queen. 

 

This is a great mixture of lots of different fairy tales but it took me at least half an hour to settle into it.  In this first half an hour I was desperately trying to take the film seriously (and losing) and finding it cheesy and awful.  But then, I was about to give up when the Prince brothers (Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen) meet in the woods and break into a rendition of Agony, which was hysterical.  This brought me back, I stopped taking it so seriously and enjoyed it for what it was.  It has it's serious moments, comedy scenes and completely ridiculous sections but I was engrossed.  I couldn't take my eyes off the screen and, considering these are well known fairy tales, I had not idea what was going to happen next.
 

 

The mixture of different fairy tales is what really captured my interest. These are stories we all know, stories we've heard a million times before, but take a bunch of them and put them together, and suddenly they're no longer boring to see brought to life for the hundredth time. Red Riding Hood and the Wolf was a tad creepy, but really, what could they do to tone the theme down without losing the story?

 

I know there have been some mixed reviews about this but I think the benefit for me is that I haven't seen (or heard of) the stage version (which I have been told is better by far).  This meant I went in with no expectation and because of that I was pleasantly surprised.  The music, what can I say about the music, it took a bit to get used but it was totally gripping, I have already downloaded the soundtrack and the original stage version (as there were some songs missing in the movie) and I can't wait to listen to them.

 

 

I didn't even know it was based on a stage show until now, oops! It makes perfect sense now. The music got me instantly and I found myself humming 'Into the Woods' all evening, much to the annoyance of my fiance. Could anyone else listen to Chris Pine singing for hours on end? Is it too late to cast him for Pitch Perfect 2?

 

After all that though, there was one clear cut highlight of the whole film.  That was Meryl Streep.  She stole every scene she was in with complete ease and her singing voice is unreal (apparently she sang everything live even though she has pre-recorded the songs).  Last Midnight was amazing, so much so that it gave me goosebumps.  Is it just me or (once she was made young again) did Streep look as good in this as she did in Death Becomes Her way back in 1992, she has got some good ol' genes!

 

The film is pretty much in two halves, and the first half was amazing, the second dragged a little and there was a huge break between songs which wasn't great, but the twists in the story made it worthwhile I think.

 

I know many won't agree with me but I really loved this, I can't wait to learn all the songs and then (attempt) to sing along. 

Apologies to Jenna's neighbours, because I'll be blasting this soundtrack in the car on my way to her house next time I see her!

Review: Kramer vs Kramer (1979)

I have heard a lot about this film over the years, but as with other older films, I didn't like the look of it. However, a benefit of being stuck in a hotel room with only German channels and only a few films downloaded on your iPad means that you watch whatever is available and inevitably find a film you like that you never would have expected to enjoy.  This is what happened with Kramer vs Kramer, as it had won 5 Oscars it has been on my radar for a long time and I finally watched it.

This is the story of Joanna and Ted Kramer and their son Billy.  Joanna decides to leave workaholic Ted, leaving him to struggle to look after their son Billy and manage his highly stressful role as an Advertising Executive.  He manages to organise their lives and get them into a steady routine until 2 years later Joanna returns to their lives and a bitter custody battle ensues.

I really enjoyed this film, it was heartbreaking in so many ways and scarily true to so many homes in this day and age.  The acting is fantastic but i personally would have liked to see more of Meryl Streep, as she is one of my favourites.  Justin Henry is fantastic as Billy, the heartbreak that he portrays when his father tells him he will have to live with his Mother is amazing, especially for someone so young.  This film showcases 3 incredible performances, which is obviously rare judging from it's astonishing success at the 1980 Academy Awards.

I get the feeling when this film came out that is was much more shocking to have a Father single parent, as I would guess (I'm not old enough to have been around, but) many single parents at this time would have been Mothers.  This would have been quite a shock on the world I assume, maybe this is why it had such an impact at the awards.

This is one of those films for me personally, that doesn't have much happen but you are entertained throughout, more recent films that I have found that are similar are Little Miss Sunshine and The Way Way Back, both films that I loved but not a massive amount happened in the film.  Basically, the story speaks for itself, no over dramatics, story padding or special effects required.

Definitely worth watching, even if you don't think it's for you give it a try.

Review: August: Osage County (2013)

Darn my local cinemas. When August: Osage County came out, I was in full swing of my Benedict Cumberbatch obsession. My closest cinema wasn't even showing it, but another near me was. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince my other half to see it with me, and when I finally egged Jenna on to see it with me "Thursday" she said, "I'm free on Thursday!", I found out that it stopped showing after Tuesday. Now, I've finally seen it!

I don't think I've ever seen such a star studded cast before; so many faces that I love are in this film. Meryl Streep plays Violet Weston, the mother of this huge, but troubled family. A crisis brings her sister and three daughters, along with their partners and children, together to comfort each other. However, when you bring any family together under strained circumstances, supressed issues are brought to light, and arguments ensue.

Despite the fact that not an awful lot actually happens in this film (the biggest part is spent sat at a dinner table), it was amazing how gripped I felt to August: Osage County. No character was left out and I really felt a connection to them all.

It has to be said that even though Meryl Streep was brilliant, Julia Roberts absolutely stole the show. As someone who has never been that bothered by her, she just won my heart, then broke it, and won it all over again. Her ability to portray love but so much anger at the same time was just incredible to watch. It's no wonder that she was nominated for an Oscar for this role, and I'm gutted that she didn't win it.

With such a huge cast, I would talk for hours about each individual character, but I must give an honourable mention now to my two favourite characters, Ivy and Little Charles, played by Julianne Nicholson and Benedict Cumberbatch. Both pretty much forgotten about by the rest of the family, Ivy is the sister who never found love, and Little Charles is the son who constantly disappointed his mother. They were the two characters that I rooted for throughout the whole film. Plus, who can't fall in love with Benedict's little song?



It was a breath of fresh air also to see Benedict Cumberbatch play a character who wasn't super smart and full of himself.

Without spoiling it for anyone, the ending absolutely broke my heart. I just sort of sat still for a few minutes after the credits ended just trying to take everything in. I'm kind of glad I didn't see this at the cinema now or the staff would have had to scoop me out of my seat and carry me out!

I would recommend this film to anyone, even if you aren't a huge fan of dramas. I think anyone could relate to at least one of the characters in this film.