tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post60597984346039544..comments2013-10-28T22:46:53.202+00:00Comments on Strange News From The Plankton: SubmarinePlumbagohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517664753686599228noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post-65202868376803456492011-04-04T13:32:44.832+01:002011-04-04T13:32:44.832+01:00I'd wholeheartedly agree re: Juno; more gems l...I'd wholeheartedly agree re: <i>Juno</i>; more gems like it would be greatly appreciated. Though I wish Michael Cera would do something other than rework his performance from it. His weak-willed slacker act was tolerable in (the woefully underrated) <i>Scott Pilgrim</i>, but getting quite annoying in <i>Paper Heart</i> and <i>Youth in Revolt</i> (though not quite enough to ruin either).<br /><br />As for <i>Dirty Dancing</i>, well, I can't believe that we missed it out either. Though I remain confused about whether I've actually seen the film, or whether I've instead assembled a mental picture of it based on pure prejudice and the various parodies made of it.<br /><br />In passing, while it completely deviates from the formula by the end (well, the middle), <i>Heathers</i> overlaps some of the territory I'm interested in. Finally, <a href="http://strangeplankton.blogspot.com/2010/08/3-films-3-paragraphs.html" rel="nofollow">Sandra Bullock fan that I am</a>, I can't possibly let an opportunity to plug <i>While You Were Sleeping</i> slip passed. It's definitely at the romantic slush end of things, but I'm <i>sure</i> that a case can be made for it. ;-)Plumbagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04517664753686599228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post-8547757025264710302011-04-03T23:26:47.508+01:002011-04-03T23:26:47.508+01:00Oh, I'm not sure your theory was defeated, we ...Oh, I'm not sure your theory was defeated, we just demonstrated how much you have to stretch the definition to make a list. Many of those that I mentioned weren't coming-of-age in that Wonder Years way. They're often resolved by the protagonist either dying or finding a man, rather than maturing into adulthood.<br /><br />The Hollywood subset you're interesting in may not be empty, but a few more films as good as Juno would be appreciated.<br /><br />P.s. How did we forget Dirty Dancing?Deditoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07889512426483414831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post-48161820424537538852011-04-03T22:57:06.027+01:002011-04-03T22:57:06.027+01:00I haven't seen Never Been Kissed, so can't...I haven't seen <i>Never Been Kissed</i>, so can't judge (is it worth adding to our DVD rental list?). <br /><br />Of <i>BJD</i>, I'd argue that though it's partially Austin-like in its themes, I think it encourages the audience to laugh a little too much at its protagonist rather than inhabit their infatuations. <br /><br />Then again, that might just be me. I'm clearly not doing well in projecting myself into the minds and situations of others. :-)Plumbagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04517664753686599228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post-63659848891906823002011-04-03T18:13:08.461+01:002011-04-03T18:13:08.461+01:00Thinking about what films I have inherited and hav...Thinking about what films I have inherited and have in video cabinet, but don't watch largely because I lack a TV to hook the VCR to, I have two more brilliant suggestions:<br /><br />Never Been Kissed<br />Bridget Jones' Diary (which, well, is sort-of Austen modernizied).<br /><br />There are certainly more, but I think you'd like to move on :)Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06841401956111498745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post-45386450106936663432011-04-03T08:35:20.772+01:002011-04-03T08:35:20.772+01:00I don't know what I was thinking. I've se...I don't know what I was thinking. I've seen almost all of the films suggested, but they just didn't occur to me when I was trying, essentially, to think of them. That, I guess, is partly what I thought: not that there weren't such films, nor that I hadn't seen them, but instead that I couldn't remember/recognise them for what they are.<br /><br />Just before I cave in completely, I wasn't really thinking about simply female-led films - there are, of course, plenty of those (and no real shortage of good ones). I was more after the subset of films that include particular elements, since I thought this was empty. Basically (and to distil out all charm, etc.): coming-of-age + romance + largely undeveloped object of affection +/- whimsy. That sort of thing. ;-)<br /><br />Anyway, having narrowed my target range so that my original question doesn't now seem quite so stupid, I will now attempt to analyse your suggestions (excluding the disillusioned wives subset; which has arisen why?) ...<br /><br />- <i>Juno</i>; definitely, I can't believe that I so quickly overlooked this one, though it does contain a few extra elements (+ baby)<br />- <i>Amelie</i>; definitely<br />- <i>A Very Long Engagement</i>; a bit, though too much extra plot<br />- <i>Secretary</i>; yes, I can see this, even if it does contain some extra, transgressive elements<br />- <i>The Good Girl</i>; dunno<br />- <i>Me and You and Everyone We Know</i>; most excellent, but too balanced (i.e. not just a female protagonist)<br />- <i>My Blueberry Nights</i>; pass<br />- <i>Summer with Monika</i>; pass, but sounds male-based from title<br />- <i>Betty Blue</i>; no, too depressingly tragic<br />- <i>Somersault</i>; pass<br />- <i>Ae Fond Kiss</i>; great, but too balanced (IIRC)<br />- <i>My Summer of Love</i>; good choice, perhaps a little overloaded with other elements though<br />- <i>Pretty In Pink</i>; how did I forget this?<br />- <i>Bend it Like Beckham</i>; not seen, but I suspected it might fit the bill<br />- anything Jane Austin-shaped; again, how did I not think of this? it's perhaps the archetype of what I was after, good call<br />- <i>Mean Girls</i>; pass<br />- <i>True Grit</i>; more of a gender-flipped boy-becomes-man tale<br />- <i>Snow White</i>; yes, I suppose there's something there, but the cohabitation-with-7-guys bit grates<br />- <i>Carrie</i>; most definitely not what I had in mind, though there is a union of some required plot elements<br /><br />Anyway, consider my hypothesis (that, due to nefarious sexism on the part of Hollywood, a certain subset of films is empty) comprehensively falsified. I now feel like I've sleep-walked through all of your suggestions at the cinema. <br /><br />However, I guess this answers my other point in the affirmative, namely that, coming from a particular gender-perspective, I have difficulty mind-flipping this to see the equivalence between gender-inverted films. Or something.<br /><br />In passing, and to divert attention from my defeat above, I really would recommend <i>Submarine</i> ...Plumbagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04517664753686599228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post-14924947869519086992011-04-02T18:46:48.021+01:002011-04-02T18:46:48.021+01:00L suggests 'Mean Girls', never seen it mys...L suggests 'Mean Girls', never seen it myself. True Grit? Snow White? Carrie? ...APMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post-34568549391583058302011-04-02T17:53:18.653+01:002011-04-02T17:53:18.653+01:00Juno was going to be my suggestion, as well as Pre...Juno was going to be my suggestion, as well as Pretty in Pink. Deditos has that covered, it seems!<br /><br />Secretary is *lovely*!<br /><br />Add to the list pretty much any film based on a Jane Austen or Bronte novel.<br /><br />Pretty in Pink is probably the one I identified the most with growing up. I still want a Duckie rather than a Blaine.<br /><br />For the disillusioned wife genera, I would like to suggest WaitressAnnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06841401956111498745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-944796799720738820.post-65098579785281930002011-04-02T17:31:17.752+01:002011-04-02T17:31:17.752+01:00Ooh, I like a film challenge, but you're right...Ooh, I like a film challenge, but you're right, the female led thing is slim pickings. Stretching the age limit and tone in places I'd suggest,<br /><br />Juno<br />Amelie <br />A Very Long Engagement (in fact, almost any Audrey Tautou film)<br />Secretary<br />The Good Girl<br />Me and You and Everyone We Know<br />My Blueberry Nights<br />Summer with Monika<br />Betty Blue<br />Somersault<br />Ae Fond Kiss<br />My Summer of Love<br />Pretty In Pink<br />Bend it Like Beckham<br /><br />Not that they're all any good.<br /><br />In thinking up that list I realised that (sadly) there are rich female POV seams for disillusioned wives (Sex, Lies and Videotape, Little Children, Belle de Jour, Peggy Sue Got Married, Far From Heaven, The Purple Rose of Cairo,...) and Lolitas (An Education, Lost in Translation, Venus, Stealing Beauty, Ghost<br />World, The Holy Girl,...).Deditoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07889512426483414831noreply@blogger.com