Girl Week: Underseen Films of the Decade

-

 

Remember 50 years ago when I was putting together underseen movies of the past decade and had to break it into several parts because I had too many? Well, that's still a work in progress but Dell's Girl Week has given me the motivation to keep on going. Here are a few of my favorite films from the past decade where it centers around a female character


Afternoon Delight - Kathryn Hahn plays a woman who heads to a strip club to spice up her marriage and ends up bringing home Mckenna (Juno Temple) to help nanny for her children after befriending her. Hahn and Temple are great and I thought it tackled that sexual slump that people can sometimes go through really honestly. 

Breathe (Respire) - Mélanie Laurent may be famous for what she does in front of the camera, but here she steps behind the camera and tells a story about two Parisian teenagers who become friends, then something more. It may not be the most original story but I thought it was a great film.


Columbus - Casey (Haley Lu Richardson) is more of a co-lead in this movie. While John Cho's story is what drives the film, it's Casey who changes everything. She plays an all too familiar young woman stuck in her home town and wanting something more. I really felt like I could relate with Casey and overall this is such a beautiful little film.


Christine - This may not be underrated on Twitter, or in the blogosphere where we talk about Rebecca Hall being robbed of that Oscar nomination for this BUT if you haven't you should really see Christine. Based on a true story this is a very important film about mental health and how one woman unfortunately lost her battle with it. It's expertly acted and never feels exploitative of its real life subject.


We Are What We Are - This follows two sisters who live out in the middle of nowhere with their father and younger brother. From the start, we know something is off. Are they super religious? What's their deal? This film reminds me a bit of Audition in execution. A very slow burn that eventually builds into something crazy.


White Bird in a Blizzard - Shailene Woodley was that IT girl for a while, and this is one of my favorite performances of hers. She plays a girl whose life changes after her mother disappears. She didn't feel comfortable in her own home prior to this event, but afterwards she's forced to really take a good look at how she feels, and I felt this was a great way to showcase that inner turmoil and how traumatic events can cause you to reflect on everything that happened prior.

Comments

  1. joel65913November 28, 2020 at 8:18 AM

    I've only seen one of these-White Bird in a Blizzard-which sorry to say I absolutely hated. A lot of that is because of Woodley, my least favorite actress (that's a generous distinction for the contortions she makes in front of the lens!) of current actresses. I'm delighted her vogue seems to have passed.

    I've considered at times watching Christine but I can vividly remember when Christine Chubbuck committed suicide on air, fortunately I didn't see it but the story was so horrible it made an impact on me even though I was very young, and I just can't bring myself to look at something that I know is going to be so despairing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 28, 2020 at 9:22 AM

      I can see that, I wasn't aware of what happened to Christine Chubbuck until this movie, and the other one they made about her came out. Even though I knew that was coming, it was still worth it to watch Rebecca Hall be so damn good.

      Delete
  2. SJHoneywellNovember 28, 2020 at 8:51 AM

    Of these, I've seen only We Are What We Are, which I found interesting and disturbing. I think it goes off the rails at the end, but I still found it worth seeing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 28, 2020 at 9:21 AM

      Oh yes it does, that's probably what elevates it so much for me.

      Delete
  3. GetterNovember 28, 2020 at 9:08 AM

    What a surprise, I have not seen any of these but at least I have heard of two!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. KatyNovember 28, 2020 at 9:52 AM

    I love Christine and White Bird in a Blizzard. I know Shailene takes on smaller projects now, but I feel like she isn't in enough. She's one of my faves. Ashamed to say I haven't heard of the other movies and want to check them out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 28, 2020 at 8:33 PM

      I hope you check out Afternoon Delight. I'm hoping that Hahn is a riot in WandaVision so people will go on watching sprees of her old films.

      Delete
    2. KatyDecember 1, 2020 at 9:19 AM

      Hahn has been one of my favorites for years. It was nice to see her get close to award show season a few years ago with Private Life. I'll try to check out Afternoon Delight.

      Delete
    3. Brittani BurnhamDecember 2, 2020 at 10:43 AM

      I still need to watch Private Life!

      Delete
  5. DellNovember 28, 2020 at 2:06 PM

    I'm pretty much in the same boat as Joel. I've only seen White Bird in Blizzard and didn't care much for it. I do agree that Woodley is great, though. She almost always is. I really need to see Christine.

    Thanks for another entry. You're the best!

    ReplyDelete
  6. thevoid99November 28, 2020 at 8:46 PM

    Respire is a film I have seen. I know I saw it a few years ago for my Cannes marathon (not sure if it will happen this year with the way things are going). I really liked it as I have another film by Melanie Laurent on my DVR hard drive. If only I could find the time to watch it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 29, 2020 at 11:34 AM

      I think she did a great job with Respire. I'd like to see more films directed by her.

      Delete
  7. keith71_98November 29, 2020 at 9:36 AM

    I love it ANYTIME Columbus is mentioned. Is there a more underseen gem than it? I keep hoping and waiting for a Criterion Collection edition.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Often Off TopicDecember 1, 2020 at 5:16 AM

    You are amazing at highlighting all these lesser known movies that I've never even heard of! They all sound good but I really like the sound of Afternoon Delight <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 1, 2020 at 6:20 AM

      Thank you! I hope youg et to check out Afternoon Delight.

      Delete
  9. Sonia CercaDecember 1, 2020 at 10:47 AM

    I feel so bad because the only I've seen is Christine. I really liked it though and I thought Hall was terrific in it. I will definitely check out the others.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more