30 Film Females: Montage!

In true Team Amercia: World Police style, here is a montage version of the previous 30 Film Females summary.

30 Film Females: The Final Countdown

Over two years ago I decided to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Bechdel Test by drawing about women in film.  I recently posted the last doodle and now here’s a final summary of those three decades in chronological order.  I hope you enjoyed them 😉

• All about “Anne Of Green Gables” (1985)
• Does astronaut Tim Peake have “A View To A Kill”? (1985 again)
• Adoring “Aliens” (1986)
• Amazed about “Labyrinth” (1986 again)
• Gushing over “When The Wind Blows” (1986 again)
• Discussing “Dirty Dancing” (1987)
• Mooning over “Mystic Pizza” (1988)
• Sharing “Shirley Valentine” (1989)
• Moping about “Misery” (1990)
• Celebrating “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
• Playing in “A League Of Their Own” (1992)
• Saluting “Sleepless In Seattle” (1993)
• Reminiscing about “The Remains Of The Day” (1993 again)
• Liking “Little Women” (1994)
• The antidote to Austen adaptations: Clueless (1995)
• Thinking about “Fargo” (1996)
• Considering “Contact” (1997)
• Examining “The X-Files – Fight The Future” (1998)
• 10 things I like about “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999)
• Cheering for “Chicken Run” (2000)
• Have you met Miss Jones? Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001)
• In a palaver over “Panic Room” (2002)
• Mesmerised by “Monster” (2003)
• Losing myself in “Lost In Translation” (2003 again)
• Evaluating “Vera Drake” (2004)
• A tribute to “Transamerica” (2005)
• Congratulating “The Queen” (2006)
• Enjoying “Juno” (2007)
• Relishing “The Reader” (2008)
• Viewing “The Young Victoria” (2009)
• Swooning over “Black Swan” (2010)
• We need to talk about “We Need To Talk About Kevin” (2011)
• Saluting “Source Code” (2011 again)
• Have you heard about “The Help”? (2011 again)
• Eyeing up “The Iron Lady” (2011 again)
• Loving “The Skin I Live In” (2011 again)
• Squeeing over “Skyfall” (2012)
• Loopy about “Looper” (2012 again)
• Contemplating “The Cabin In The Woods” (2012 again)
• Savouring “Saving Mr Banks” (2013)
• Thinking about “The Theory Of Everything” (2014)

30 Film Females: Little Women (1994)

One of the great tragedies of non-contemporary North American children’s literature is the [spoiler warning!] death of Beth March in Little Women (along with that of Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables, which has been the subject of a previous blog).  The former has been adapted multiple times, with the big screen debut of a young Clare Danes in the 1994 version plus a spirited period performance by the renowned Generation X-er Winona Ryder as big sister and main protagonist Jo.

After more than two years and around forty blog posts, I’ve finally reached then end of this celebration of 30 Film Females (though am still to post a last summary).  I’ve focused on female characters and the actors playing (or voicing) them and now feel I should redress the balance, as illustrated by the doodle below.  To paraphrase Isaac Newton, acknowledging his debt to other scientists, “if we have made great films, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”.  Here are a few other women filmmakers you might like to explore: directors Kathryn Bigelow and Gurinder Chadha, screenwriters Nora Ephron and Abi Morgan, composers Debbie Wiseman and Rachel Portman, costume designers Jenny Beavan and Sandy Powell.  Feel free to let me know who you’d recommend…

30 Film Females: Clueless (1995)

I graduated from high school twenty-odd years ago – right around the time the film Clueless hit the cinemas – and am thankful I’m not there now.  Though I did make some lifelong friends, including one who later introduced me to my now husband.  Back in the mid-nineties we had grunge, New Labour and Princess Diana papped amidst land mines. The youth of today have to put up with grime, Brexit and selfies of Kim Kardashian’s buttocks.  Anyway, Alicia Silverstone and gal pals have super fun in this endlessly quotable contemporisation of Jane Austen’s Emma, from which I’ve paraphrased the illustrated quote.

30 Film Females: A League Of Their Own (1992)

It’s been great to see so many Team GB women excel at the Rio Olympics.  My three-year old’s favourites so far have been “horse dancing” (dressage) and “jumping” (trampoline).  I’m intrigued to hear that Olympic baseball will be making a comeback at the 2020 games in Tokyo.  One of my memorable movies from early nineties, possibly because I’d been on the school rounders team, is the comedy-drama A League Of Their Own.  An enthusiastic ensemble cast – including Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell – tells the real-life story of the All-American Girls Professional Girls Baseball League that was established during World War Two.  Aside from the obvious comparisons between Madonna and Marilyn Monroe, my pun-inclined brain always flags up the song Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend (actually from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes).

Honourable mentions for 1992: a truly sinister Rebecca De Mornay in The Hand That Rocks The Cradle.  Also, Demi Moore gives good legal defense in A Few Good (Wo)Men.