5. 'The Truman Show' (1998)
Well, talking of cultural relevance and comedies, here is 'The Truman Show'. It is Jim Carrey's best role and performance; I'd argue that that is a fact. As someone who plays the only real person in an environment full of actors, he is stupendous, For me, who hates reality TV with a burning passion, this film is an oasis. A cautionary tale, a mirror into our own collective consciousness in a society that cares more about what it can do as opposed to what it should do. What could happen if corporations, if television, really did take over everything and we let it do what it wants. For its time, 'The Truman Show' was just science fiction, but today its satire is more real than ever and it is not hard to see something like this happening in our world. A high concept premise became plausible and scary overtime. That only makes it better the older it gets. It transcends the concept of time, of modernism, and even postmodernism. 'The Truman Show' is an enjoyable, funny, clever, endearing masterpiece. Proof that Hollywood does make smart and worthwhile movies. In a fake setting that looks like it was snatched from a fifties discount bin, the film is only eerier and more meaningful because of it, without being too unsettling and off-putting. And the apron-wearing, smiling, Stepford wife actress does have a job.
So many layers, themes, marvels, and twists and turns, 'The Truman Show' is true sci-fi, political entertainment. No harm or deception done. Because reality - real reality, not what is shown on TV - is always better.
4. 'The Love Witch' (2016)
A feminist witch film that is sensual, sexy, gorgeous, mesmerizing, and as addictive as chocolate. I've talked a bit about this before in my Favourite Fictional Witches list, specifically about the protagonist, the tragic love witch Elaine. 'The Love Witch' pays homage to retro, Technicolor B movies from the sixties-eighties, and is a tribute to female leads who rarely receive the recognition they deserve in those films. The cinematography and overall style are wonderful. It is feminine and sweet, but deadly. A labour of love for writer-director-producer-editor-designer-scorer Anna Biller. A great and effective outlook on and insight into modern gender roles as well, and how harmful they are to society. A damaged woman, a female survivor, is hardly at fault, but sometimes, in an aftermath and follow up to a traumatic event, she is not entirely blameless either, unless she is a victim. A victim of the stifling patriarchy, enabling the power play of abuse and devoid of genuine love and affection.
I can't do it justice. Watch the seductive allure of Wicca and 'The Love Witch' for yourself. You many never be able to stop watching it.
3. 'Matilda' (1996)
Coming up at number three is yet another childhood fave. A film about overcoming abuse and oppression - starring kids, for kids. 'Matilda' by Roald Dahl is my favourite children's book, and the film adaptation by Danny DeVito and starring Mara Wilson at her peak is pure delight from beginning to end. It is charming, humourous, and unafraid to get dark and scary, for indeed the world is a scary, unfair place in a child's eyes. Scenarios reflected through a child's point of view are executed marvelously. Bright spots, and bright, decent adults, do exist, however. I never tire of it. Its fantasy element, where Matilda gains telekinetic powers to help her punish abusive adults, is somewhat downplayed in comparison to its more realistic, human touches and scenes. For a children's film, that is a mark of restraint and cleverness. And budget handling, but whatever.
A beloved classic, and one of the first feminist kids' films I've seen. I'm serious. Women and girl power is everywhere here. Matilda - everything about her - is a genius little icon.
2. 'Hidden Figures' (2016)
It's a movie about the black women who, through mathematics, typing, engineering, and hurdling a whole batch of obstacles, helped launch men into space in America. We have minorities to thank for all sorts of achievements in history. Thank you Fox Pictures for finally bringing this historical lesson (and non-fiction book) to light and life. Black women's voices are being heard, listened to, and put front and center in mainstream films. 'Hidden Figures' is great filmmaking. It is, yes, charming and endearing all the way through its run time. Funny and poignant, you love and care for the three ladies from the start. What determined, assertive, snarky and brilliantly smart people they were, taking no one's racist and sexist shit. There are genuinely good white people, at least, thank goodness, and no white folk get away with bullshit. Even with the white people behind the camera working on it, it represents allyship at its finest, in my opinion. Topnotch casting and performances. Plus, rated PG, children, our next generation, can watch this history lesson and learn something meaningful and useful.
Progressive cinema. A triumph of representation and history in film. Of diversity in film. 'Hidden Figures' is, for lack of a better word, fantastic.
1. 'Lady Bird' (2017)
Now at number one. 'Lady Bird' is an instant favourite film of mine. Universally lauded and raved about, it is a masterful depiction of a teenage girl's coming of age story, so relatable it's scary, and it features one of the most realistic and heartwrenching mother and daughter bonds ever put on screen. The first shot of the film, of the mother and daughter together asleep on a bed, is perfect. Cinema has an unfortunate history of toxic mother-and-daughter relationships, ingrained in internalized misogyny and the patriarchy's rule of women never getting along with one another. But 'Lady Bird', in its feminine wisdom, lets that recurring abuse cycle eat cake. It is the mum-and girl love story that is the heart of the film, as complex, flawed but deeply rooted in love as the unconventional narrative structure is. A sequence of events rather than a plot, 'Lady Bird' (did you know that is another word for ladybug in England?) is as authentic, rustic and true to life as you can get. Where was a story like this when I was growing up? Writer and director Greta Gerwig is an outstanding, personal filmmaker, and Saoirse Ronan as the lead is bloody amazing; her best role in a career made out of mainly playing teenagers. Everybody is terrific in this; I believed in every single one of them.
I've made this list to feature some diverse films by female directors and writers, and a few who are POC or queer or both, to highlight their importance and talent, digging them out of obscurity in the shadow of white male Hollywood. 'Lady Bird' is a beautiful and honest example of passionate female filmmaking. As well as parental love, it is also about female friendships, peer pressure, finding oneself, learning to love yourself and where you come from, appreciating your parents and their bringing you up and into the world, appreciating what you have, and factors of life post-9/11(it is set in 2002). I get teary-eyed everytime I watch it. It could be titled 'Lily Pad' and it would have worked just as well, for a movie about an adolescent girl carving a unique identity for herself, as one of billions in the big wide world. Every one, every life, is unique, in individual, natural ways and paths.
'Lady Bird' is a lovely, beautiful, complicated film, fitting with its growing female binding and bonding themes perfectly. I am in love with it.
That is all. Thank you for reading. Have a positive, fulfilling day.
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