5 Powerful Movies Every Woman Should Watch

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Movies move us. They empower, makes us think, fuel our conversations and allow us to escape, even if for just a brief while, to a place where everything is possible. I have compiled a list of 5 powerful and emotional movies, you should truly take the time to watch, at least once.

1. Thelma And Louise

What is it about?
Two women break free from a chained, small live by going on a Road trip with unforeseen and dramatic consequences

Why should you watch it?
Because it is one of the best showcases of the deep friendship between two women. And because Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are
amazing in bringing this connection to live.

2. Alien

What is it about?
On their voyage home, the crew of the deepspace tug Nostromo investigate an alien distress signal, inadvertently picking up and bringing aboard an extraterrestrial life form with violent and lethal survival instincts

Why should you watch it?
Because Sigourney Weaver’s powerful performance as Sergeant Ripley showcased the strength of a woman in a physical demanding leading role.

3. Kill Bill vol. I

What is is about?

Four years after taking a bullet in the head at her own wedding, The Bride emerges from a coma and decides it’s time for payback! Having been gunned down by her former boss and his deadly squad of international assassins, it’s a kill-or- be- killed fight.

Why should you watch it?

Because Uma Thurman’s Martial Art skills are amazing

4. Million Dollar Baby

What is it about?
A young female boxer, Maggie (played by Hillary Swank) fights for her dream to make it big in her field, supported by a rough around
the edges trainer, portrait by Clint Eastwood.

Why should you watch it?
Because this story could have been made overly sentimental, and cliche but Clint Eastwood as a director managed to give it real heart, even if it leaves you sobbing at the end.

5. Coco Before Chanel

What is it about?
The portrait of a woman (Coco Chanel)  who fought herself from poverty to become an icon in the fashion industry and beyond.

Why should you watch it?
Because it showcases the rise of a woman who never gave up on her dream, no matter what her circumstances.

A List Of Don’t – Or – It’s A Matter Of Taste (A Daily Prompt Post)

Today we were asked to write about this:

When was the last time a movie, a book, or a television show left you cold despite all your friends (and/or all the critics) raving about it? What was it that made you go against the critical consensus?

I wish, that compiling this list would not have been easy. But it wasn’t. While there are many gems out there, whom also have had their acclaim, either by critiques or fans, some make me wonder: Where you and I watching/reading the same thing?

TV:

Keeping Up With The Kardashians: Seriously, what is up with the hype about this show? I could not stomach more than 10 minutes (and those where torture). Why would I want to watch rich people whom are sort of famous openly air their daily life and problems?

True Blood: I watched one episode. Okay, it was not terrible, but it was not enough to make me come back for a second one. So, no I am not going to grow to like it. Just like I never grew to like Tofu. It is not going to happen.

Movies:

World War Z: Another movie I could not sit through in one setting. I am just glad I did not go to the movies to see it. Netflix, you have saved me again.

Taken: I love action movies. Not this one. And they made a sequel? Taken 2? Just think about it. The chances of someone kidnapping someone in your family or people you know is (thankfully) rare, and you want me to believe, I should come back for another story that involves kidnapping? No thanks.

Books:

50 Shades of Grey: I am not even going to go there. That is just sad. So sad.

Twilight Saga: This series made my resolve to write my own books even stronger. If she can make millions of these books, than there is hope I can make millions of mine. Sparkling vampires, anyone?

What is your list of don’ts?

Here is what other bloggers posted for this prompt:

http://tombalistreri.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/bad-movie/

http://vexingpoint.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/daily-prompt-matters-of-taste/

In this moment..

Swimming Upstream

“Artifact” – My Obsession With A Significant Documentary (A Review)

Title: Artifact

Genre: Documentary

Rating: 5/5 Stars

I was introduced to Jared Leto via my daughters love for his band “30 Seconds To Mars”, and was hooked, even more so when I saw him in “Dallas Buyers Club” as the beautiful, transgender Rayon, marvelously brought to live by Jared. If you have not seen “Dallas Buyers Club”, you have missed out. But I regress. What I really wanted to write about today is the documentary “Artifact”

Essentially, this movie is about the band, their struggle to get a fair contract with their recording studio and them being sued for 30 Million Dollars as a result. On a deeper level, this docu shines a light on the world of greed, the status of the music industry and how we as consumers of the music should be aware that our habits of wanting the product as fast and as cheap as possible, make it harder and harder for an artist or a band to make a living making music. It is a wake up call to anyone who wants to be a musician, to become proactive before making any decisions of signing on with labels, and to have a clear understanding of what they are getting into.

 

The movie is also a statement of perseverance and continuing drive to create songs despite the circumstances. I consider this movie essential to be viewed by anyone who wants to work within the music industry, may it be on the artist side, or on the producing side.

The movie is available on iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. Downloaded, talk about it, play it, but pay for it. Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

 

The Wil Wheaton Project – A SyFy Channel Original

Do you remember Wil Wheaton? The young nerdy, and way too smart kid from Star Trek: Next Generation?

Of course, you might remember him from Stand By Me, or more recently “The Big Bang Series”. SyFy has given Wil a new platform, “The Wil Wheaton Project”, a thirty minute show that highlights the current genre entertainment, in a comedic style.

I was happy to hear about this adventure, until I watched the first episode (which is currently available on the channel’s website as well as Hulu), and was incredibly disappointed. Lame jokes, bad laugh tracks, games that are supposed to be funny, but are really not, litter the show, and make it more of a waste of time, then honoring the genre that I love. The quality is that off a purely produced YouTube channel, and I must say, I have seen a lot better on YouTube.

Maybe the second episode will learn from the mistake of the first, but I will not stick around watching it, as the first experience was already too disappointing.

 

Grudge Match – A Film Review

In those rare occasions that both my husband and I have a Saturday afternoon off, we tend to watch a movie together, that we have not had a chance to see at the theater. This week we finally managed to see “Grudge Match”, a film starring Sylvester Stallone (Razor) and Robert De Niro (The Kid) , as two older gentlemen, former talented boxers, who never got the chance to fight that re-match, De Niro’s character was always hoping for.

Here is the trailer:

We truly enjoyed this movie, not because it was really clever, or had many plot twist, but because it was funny, and took a serious stab at the main actors, who seemed to enjoy making fun of their past roles, while still embodying these characters with graze and depth.

Training Scene:

With the addition of Kim Basinger in the mix, as well as Jon Bernthal as Robert’s characters son, and a few scenes with L.L. Cool J. and you have an entertaining mix, that is worth a watch.

Alexander (The Movie) – A Review

 

Movie: Alexander

Release Year: 2004

Director: Oliver Stone

Rating: 5/5 Stars

I have always been fascinated by Ancient History. It was my favorite subject in school, and is my favorite subject to teach. Out of this reason, and many others, I decided to watch Alexander, directed by Oliver Stone, in its extended cut version, today.

While of course this is a movie rather then a documentary, produced by an epic, and larger then life director, it is essentially the story of a great man. There are sure ways the execution of it could have been done better – rather then switching back and forth within the time line, it could have been done linear, but the care it showed for each individual character was superb. As a fan of Jared Leto, I was drawn to his performance, which was as I expected exceptional, as the best friend, and essentially true love of Alexander. Colin Farrell gave an charismatic, emotional and convincing performance, even if it was considered controversial, and I have a feeling not well received because of that. Glad, that I had only heard of a hint of the controversy about the movie and its main characters relationship with two males, to whom he was closer then any woman, I saw only the depth of their relationship, rather then the dissatisfaction that others have expressed about the film, because of it.
The fight scenes where epic and grant, nothing less is to be expected by an Oliver Stone project. Sometimes the gore was much, but war is not pretty, and should not be described as such, and back then it was even more personal and therefore more explicit. Maybe it also hinted on stereotypes when it expanded to include the people of Asia, but it is after all a movie from the view of a limited worldview, of the times of the beginning of exploration, rather then after it.

In all I really enjoyed the movie, I enjoyed the care of portrayal of each characters, the emotion, the visual execution, and its depth. Having one of my favorite actors, and musicians in its cast (Jared Leto), was the icing on the cake.

“Jennifer” – A Surreal, But Interesting Short Film

If you are not familiar with the online television creator “Wigs”, then you have been missing out. Not only does the site produce great series, it also contains a variety of documentaries and short films, one of which I want to share with you today.

“Jennifer” is a surreal, but funny, dark but comedic short film, in which special attention is given to felons, whom have all one thing in common: they have committed violent crimes.

See for yourself:

I urge you to take a look at the other, originally done, and unique content that Wigs provides!

Enjoy!

G.I.Joe – Retaliation (Review)

First thought of the movie, and the most prevailing one throughout it for me:

Why in the hell did they kill off Channing Tatum within the first 10 minutes of the film? Now that was one big disappointment, considering that another character (Flint) would not have been missed at all, while Channing’s character Duke was likable, played well and funny – not to mention he is nice to look at. Well I do watch action movies for a few reasons, deeply developed dialogue about important and thought provoking subjects is not one of them. I want to see mind-blowing action, brought by strong men and women who look good delivering the many high powered scenes, and the few lines that move the story along. Channing added provided just that – for the few minutes he was on screen.

The main segment of the movie, was spent going after the person reasonable for Duke’s death, and the real reason someone wanted ALL G.I.Joe’s eliminated. Fast paced, the story moves along rather quickly, many explosions and fighting scenes included, the most memorable one being a chasing/fighting scene on the side of a mountain range, reminiscent of Chinese  action movies.

Overall the film delivered what it promised, a action packed entertaining ride.

Highlights: Bruce Willis’ characters home filled with a well hidden  arsenal (look what I found behind the soup, it’s a machine gun!), and the short but sweet cameo of James Carville, playing himself.

Down-side: Bruce Willis performance which was flat, and his attempt at proving tension between him and the female member of the team was annoying at best.

G.I.Joe is available on iTunes, via Amazon and currently to stream on Netflix.

 

Serena – A Short Film (Review)

I love artfully done short films, may they be a documentary, a extended music video turned into a short film, or a story. Wigs has brought forth a few short films on their channel (available to stream on their channel as well as their YouTube Channel). “Serena” is one of these creations, masterfully done, staring Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyers Club) and Alfred Molina (Not Without My Daughter).

Centering around a very confined space – the confessional of a Catholic Church, both manage to capture the essence and power of a tender story, a woman falling for the “wrong” man, the man on the other side of the confessional, turning the setting almost romantic. This short film, and the expressive performances, are a real gem.  Watch it for yourself:

I truly think that the casting for this project was precise, and could not have been better, with Alfred Molina using his close-ups to portray an deeply convincing Priest.

I invite you to explore more of the short stories and documentaries, as well as ground-breaking series that Wigs has to offer.

X Is For X-Men: Days of Future Past – News

The release of X-Men: Days of Future Past is drawing closer (May, 23rd 2014), but not while already drawing some unwilling attention, not because of bad reviews, but because  of Director Bryan Singer’s announcement, that he will not be attending any of the premier festivities due to the abuse allegations against him. While I will not comment here on the case, I do consider this a fair and wise move, as it will take away the attention from him, and refocuses it on the film.

One of the pictures from the movie does bring us some mystery – Quicksilver is holding a young girl on his lap, and even though Brian Singer has denounced the possibilities of Quicksilver’s sister Scarlet Witch making an appearance, it does make us fans wonder, who then this little princess is, if not her.

See for yourself:

 

I for my part will look forward to this installation of one of my favorite Marvel characters, with the high hopes to be just as entertained as I was with the previous creations of this franchise.

Are you looking forward to this installation of the X-Men? Which of the Marvel franchises is your favorite?

On a side note: Bryan Singer also credited as the producer of a very interesting drama, I just recently wrote about, and which premiered last week: The Black Box