My favorites would def be Death Proof, and True Grit, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Oh, and Beetlejuice.
True Grit apparently passes the Bechdel on a technicality bcs of the Boarding House lady which seems kinda weird, but for me the richness of Mattie's character outweighs my need for more than one female protagonist, (also given the period setting etc)
and I secretly love the Wynona "Little Women" movie.
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 3 May 2012 17:32 (twelve years ago) link
I secretly love the Wynona "Little Women" movie.
I don't even secretly love this movie, I just love it. I still hate Bhaer though.
― Respectfully, Tyrese Gibson (Nicole), Thursday, 3 May 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link
this isn't factually true, but i felt like penelope spheeris was an underlying presence in the jackass movies.
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 3 May 2012 17:41 (twelve years ago) link
Angela (Rebecca Miller's first film)May
― bit.ly sno cone maker (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 May 2012 17:42 (twelve years ago) link
May! Good one.
add No Such Thing even though part of the Sarah Polley character was a little bit meek and dull, the other part was not.
― former personal denim advisor to the mayor, (La Lechera), Thursday, 3 May 2012 17:48 (twelve years ago) link
some of the other movies listed are objectively awful ("monster"?!)
The way I approached this was to consult my .xls of every movie I've seen since 1992 and jot down all the ones that met the requirements. After doing so, I deleted the ones I disliked or didn't remember enough about to say one way or another. I'm in no position to defend Monster, but I recall not hating it.
― sockless in moccasins (jaymc), Thursday, 3 May 2012 17:52 (twelve years ago) link
rambling rose
― 10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Tom Cruise (contenderizer), Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:12 (twelve years ago) link
outrage & not wanted, both by ida lupino
― moullet, Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:14 (twelve years ago) link
― Respectfully, Tyrese Gibson (Nicole), Thursday, May 3, 2012 12:35 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i love this one too
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:35 (twelve years ago) link
everyone just seemed so perfectly cast
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:37 (twelve years ago) link
no shame in loving that movie -- it's good! Susan Sarandon was the only one who looked too modern (and portended sexless roles).
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:39 (twelve years ago) link
would you guys consider jeff daniels to be the clear protagonist of something wild?
Yes; the most interesting character, not at all. It's like American Graffiti: Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, and Cindy Williams are so much more interesting than almost all the male characters.
― clemenza, Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:45 (twelve years ago) link
Alien's an even worse fit than Aliens - Ripley is just one of the big cast, she doesn't become the most interesting until she's the only one left.
― Andrew Farrell, Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:46 (twelve years ago) link
she is, however, the protagonist when all is said and done. the movie just takes its time making that clear. i'd say it counts.
― 10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Tom Cruise (contenderizer), Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
xspost Alfred, yeah that's true...I'll give her a pass though because even her regular speaking voice is just so perfectly Marmee, at least to me. It's totally how she sounded in my head all those years!
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:48 (twelve years ago) link
times square
― 10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Tom Cruise (contenderizer), Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:50 (twelve years ago) link
dang, a lot of the movies i wanted to mention (foxes, the runaways, switchblade sisters) are already up here
― 10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Tom Cruise (contenderizer), Thursday, 3 May 2012 18:51 (twelve years ago) link
if anything in the alien franchise emphasizes the female POV more than others it's probably alien:resurrection.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 3 May 2012 20:24 (twelve years ago) link
i actually kind of like that movie.
'little women' is rly good -- winona's last good role (and film), probably.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 3 May 2012 20:31 (twelve years ago) link
lol remember when she scored two consecutive Oscar nominations
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 May 2012 20:32 (twelve years ago) link
'little women' is rly good -- winona's last good role (and film), probably.― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, May 3, 2012 3:31 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, May 3, 2012 3:31 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
that reminds me, is winona the protagonist of edward scissorhands? or beetlejuice for that matter?
(i'd humbly suggest that E.S. has dual protagonists, and actually re. beetlejuice i have no idea. is it alec baldwin and geena davis, alec and winona, or just alec?)
good god how crushworthy was winona in those days?
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:04 (twelve years ago) link
i thought she was rather good in black swan, she's still got it in her, just please stop making her play stupid girlfriend roles!
― former personal denim advisor to the mayor, (La Lechera), Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:08 (twelve years ago) link
One of these Halloweens I'm going to get my shit together and do a Lydia/Beetlejuice costume
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:10 (twelve years ago) link
oh man a couple with lydia and beetlejuice costumes would be off the charts. actually winona+dress + johnny depp from edward scissorhands would be nifty too.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:11 (twelve years ago) link
Nah, Edward himself is the protagonist, she's the leading lady.
Beetlejuice is an ensemble piece, mostly led by Winona and Michael Keaton, surely?
xposts
― emil.y, Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:12 (twelve years ago) link
― former personal denim advisor to the mayor, (La Lechera), Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:08 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yeah her role in that vince vaughan/king of queens comedy was likewise a kind of harsh meta-assessment of winona's waning fortunes.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:12 (twelve years ago) link
really? doesn't she probably has as much screen time??
It's not about screen-time, though - the mother (forgotten her name) has as much screen-time, too. It's about how the story is presented, who the story belongs to, how the characterisation works...
― emil.y, Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:14 (twelve years ago) link
(what the cinema ticket in your hand reads)
― Andrew Farrell, Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:44 (twelve years ago) link
― emil.y, Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:14 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
right, i know. in my memory winona's goals are of equal importance, but i haven't seen it in years, so you're probably right.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 3 May 2012 21:45 (twelve years ago) link
The Virgin Suicides? Lux is basically the protagonist, but it's also all five sisters as remembered by the teenage boys who worshipped them. So I'm not sure if it counts.
― clemenza, Thursday, 3 May 2012 23:07 (twelve years ago) link
There were a couple I dithered on because of uncertainty about how "American" they were. E.g., A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries or Maria Full of Grace.
― sockless in moccasins (jaymc), Thursday, 3 May 2012 23:20 (twelve years ago) link
or emma, i guess.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 4 May 2012 00:04 (twelve years ago) link
i think monster is pretty good
― these pretzels are makeing me horney (Hungry4Ass), Friday, 4 May 2012 00:07 (twelve years ago) link
― sockless in moccasins (jaymc), Thursday, May 3, 2012 7:20 PM (47 minutes ago) Bookmark
someone mentioned eXistenZ, which i think of as totally canadian
― these pretzels are makeing me horney (Hungry4Ass), Friday, 4 May 2012 00:08 (twelve years ago) link
― clemenza, Thursday, May 3, 2012 6:07 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i'm not sure the virgin suicides is even really "about" the sisters at all, which i guess is kind of the point
― 1staethyr, Friday, 4 May 2012 01:29 (twelve years ago) link
well, it's about perceiving them, but also about their sense of existing in the perception of others, so
― 10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Tom Cruise (contenderizer), Friday, 4 May 2012 01:49 (twelve years ago) link
it's about them as objects and not characters. they may be at the center of the story but that center is a void. idk
― 1staethyr, Friday, 4 May 2012 01:52 (twelve years ago) link
may be overstating things tho, it's been a long time since i've seen it
I think you're both right...which is why I wasn't sure if it belonged or not.
― clemenza, Friday, 4 May 2012 03:15 (twelve years ago) link
Ones I liked (to varying degrees) that haven't been mentioned...
Young AdultCitizen RuthHaywireStrangers With CandyWaitressand, um, Dreamgirls?
― Vini Reilly Invasion (Elvis Telecom), Friday, 4 May 2012 03:31 (twelve years ago) link
Has anyone said Juno yet? Or Whip It?
― Leslie Mann: Boner Machine (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 4 May 2012 03:53 (twelve years ago) link
Getting laid and abandoned by Josh Hartnett on the 50-yd line? Doesn't that disqualify Virgin Suicides by these Bechdel Criteria I seem to have missed?
(I assume it's the graphic novelist Bechdel, whose big book I actually read)
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Friday, 4 May 2012 04:04 (twelve years ago) link
Sofia Coppola's protagonist women are interesting and perhaps debatable cases, true, but i would still call them protagonists in Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette. and i really like those films.
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 May 2012 04:21 (twelve years ago) link
actually, now that i really think about it, not debatable, def protagonist
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 May 2012 04:22 (twelve years ago) link
Hanna also rad
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 May 2012 04:23 (twelve years ago) link
and btw Ginger Snaps is Canadian! ^ patriotic duty done for the day
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Friday, 4 May 2012 04:24 (twelve years ago) link
Morbius: the Bechdel Test
― emil.y, Friday, 4 May 2012 04:25 (twelve years ago) link
oops, i want to expand the criteria to include canada then, cuz ginger snaps is great
― 10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Tom Cruise (contenderizer), Friday, 4 May 2012 04:28 (twelve years ago) link