Thursday Movie Picks: Female Buddy Films

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This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is something we don't have enough of....female "buddy" movies. I imagine movies like Thelma and Louise and Booksmart will be popular this week so I'm using one recent pick, then going back to my tween years for the others.

1) Tangerine

Sin-Dee drags her best friend all over town trying to find the ex boyfriend who wronged her. This film features two very charismatic leads and was shot entirely on an iphone yet still manages to look good.

2) Sugar & Spice

A group of cheerleaders decide to rob a bank to get money for their friend who has gotten pregnant. This was the "edgy" Bring it On but I remember laughing my ass off at a few of the jokes in theaters when I saw it. 

3) All I Wanna Do

A group of girls going to an elite boarding school decide to sabotage their school's plans to let boys in. As long time Kirsten Dunst stan, of course I watched this one too. It came to mind recently because someone on Twitter was talking about bad TV spots and the trailer for this film is hilariously bad.  

Comments

  1. BirgitAugust 20, 2020 at 7:15 AM

    I have not seen any of these. I think I would skip the one filmed on an iPad. Your last film is one I might see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 20, 2020 at 2:23 PM

      Tangerine is really good! The method of filming isn't as distracting as it sounds.

      Delete
  2. BAugust 20, 2020 at 8:23 AM

    Sugar and Spice sounds really interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. joel65913August 20, 2020 at 10:13 AM

    Darn I'm 0 for 3 this time out. The first one I think I've heard of in passing but the other two are ones I've meant to catch up with and haven't. All I Wanna Do in particular looks like it has a great cast, especially Lynn Redgrave-LOVE her.

    I confess I thought of Thelma & Louise too but figured it would be all over so I reached back to older films since while it was never a theme the dynamic of women friends goes way back.

    Stage Door (1937)-A group of aspiring actresses (including Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Ann Miller and Gail Patrick) all live in a theatrical boarding house off Broadway as they pursue their dreams of success. When rich girl Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn) arrives she at first doesn’t fit in and butts heads strongly with her roommate Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers) but as time passes the women all pull together to support each other through their shared struggles, particularly those of sensitive and troubled Kay (Andrea Leeds who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress).

    How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)-Three models-pragmatic Schatze Page (Lauren Bacall) , ditzy Loco Dempsey (Betty Grable) and extremely myopic Pola Debevoise (Marilyn Monroe)-lease a luxury apartment with a mission in mind. They want to snag millionaire husbands! They scheme, plot and hock the contents of the apartment to achieve their goals all the while dressing fabulously and for the most part being there for each other.

    The Opposite Sex (1956)-Musicalized version of the classic ’39 film The Women looks at a circle of high society women friends (and some fremenies) as one of their number, Kay Hilliard’s (June Allyson) marriage hits the rocks when a gold digging showgirl Crystal Allen (Joan Collins) sets her sights on Kay’s husband Steven (Leslie Nielsen). Main differences from the first, the songs, color and men appear in this version.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 20, 2020 at 2:22 PM

      I' 0/3 for you as well! How To Marry a Millionaire looks like it has a great cast. So does Stage Door. I need to see both of these.

      All I Wanna Do probably doesn't hold up very well, but I liked it when I was young.

      Delete
    2. joel65913August 21, 2020 at 8:03 PM

      Millionaire is a saucy little comedy that at the time was seen as a passing of the baton between Betty Grable who up until then was the queen of the Fox lot for the past dozen years and Marilyn Monroe who with her previous film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes had hit the top after a steady climb.

      Betty, a kind and sweet-natured woman, was aware of the situation and was fine with it (she only made two more films after this) telling an overwhelmed Marilyn when the reporters were clamoring to speak to her "Go get yours honey, I've had mine"

      The movie had been planned as the first film released in Cinemascope (it was held up and The Robe came out first) and as such has a full orchestra performance of "Street Scene" before the movie starts.

      It has zero to do with the film but it is a nice performance nonetheless. But if you aren't aware of it you'll be left wondering "What the hell is this?"

      It's also interesting since all three women have different comedy styles but they mesh well together.

      Stage Door is one of the highlights of Hepburn's early career and came in the middle of her "box office poison" phase. It was a big success giving her a brief respite between less profitable films. She bought out her contact the next year and headed to Broadway to regroup then returned triumphant with The Philadelphia Story in 1940.

      Delete
  4. m.brownAugust 20, 2020 at 2:41 PM

    I've only seen Sugar and Spice, but holy moly I'm in for those other two. Tangerine sounds super cool, but you had me at DUNST. I love her so much and uh...it pretty much all goes back to Bring It On. Yowza...I love that damn movie (which feels awful to say to now).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 21, 2020 at 8:05 AM

      I think it's safe to say that tween/teen me stanned Kirsten Dunst. I watched everything she was in.

      Delete
  5. thevoid99August 20, 2020 at 3:47 PM

    Tangerine is the one film that I want to see as I've heard great things about it. I'm totally with you on your other picks. Sugar and Spice is underrated as I just get a kick out of Melissa George's love for Conan O'Brien.

    ReplyDelete
  6. KatyAugust 22, 2020 at 8:54 PM

    Nice picks! Similar to Drop Dead Gorgeous, I thought I was the only one who saw Sugar & Spice. Makes me want to re-watch it and see if it still holds up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 23, 2020 at 10:50 AM

      I love Drop Dead Gorgeous. I'm curious to see how well Sugar and Spice holds up too.

      Delete
  7. Often Off TopicAugust 24, 2020 at 9:04 AM

    Oh man, I haven't seen any of these let alone match you on them! I so need to get round to watching Tangerine.

    ReplyDelete
  8. WandererAugust 28, 2020 at 12:35 AM

    I've only seen the bottom two, but don't remember them much.

    ReplyDelete

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