The Quick and Dirties: Joel, Dell, and Movies About Women - Girl Week 2016

It's still Day 4 of Girl Week 2016. We're getting close to the end of this little journey, but we're not done, yet. Let's get down to today's business. I couldn't go the whole week without having The Quick and Dirties make an appearance. That's where I write short reviews for a number of movies revolving around some theme or unifying factor. Since it's Girl Week, we're just going to stick with what we've been doing - movies with female leads. As we've done all week, Joel is tag-teaming this thing with me. We've got a lot to cover, so let's get this show on the road.

Janis: Little Girl Blue

(2015)

This documentary tells the story of iconic rocker, and possibly the first female rock star, Janis Joplin. On the surface, her tale is typical. She found she had a knack for singing at a young age, fell in with a band, became a superstar, did lots of drugs, and died at the age of 27. What this doc does is dig a bit deeper and try to get at why these things happened. To that end, we get interviews with the singer's sister, bandmates, lovers, and admirers. Along with diving into her personal life, there is also an exploration of her work, particularly how she continuously developed that powerful voice, even up to her passing. There are also lots of clips from old interviews of Janis, herself. Though it's ultimately sad, it's still a must-see for fans of Joplin, or those who can appreciate music history. - Dell

Sicario

(2015)

Kate Mercer (Emily Blunt) is an FBI Agent who, along with her partner Reggie (Daniel Kaluuya), lead a raid on a potential safe house for a Mexican cartel. Instead of drugs, they discover dozens of dead bodies. Following this, Mercer is asked to join a special task-force intent on bringing down Manuel Diaz, one of the cartel big dogs. She finds herself plopped into the middle of an active war between shady criminals, and just as shady good guys who employ highly questionable methods. Mercer, along with us, trying to figure out who's who and what's what ensues in this action/crime/thriller hybrid. The tension is nearly unbearable and never lets up. The story is confusing, but in the best way possible. The action on display is brutal. It's another win for director Denis Villenueve, who is fast becoming one of my favorites. Blunt is fantastic. Lastly, I know this is girl week, but Josh Brolin is great, and Benicio del Toro steals the show. - Dell

Gloria

(1980)

One time gangster’s moll and all around tough dame Gloria Swenson (Gena Rowlands) lives by herself in a Bronx apartment building and likes it. When her accountant neighbor (Buck Henry) and his family are targeted by the mob for planning to turn state’s evidence he begs Gloria, who does not like kids, to hide his young son Phil. She reluctantly agrees and when the entire family is wiped out it becomes Gloria’s mission to protect the guarded and defensive boy and the incriminating notebooks he’s been left with from the hoodlums out to get him. If that means she has to kill a few guys in the process, so be it. John Cassavetes directed drama filmed on the streets of New York gets a real sense of the grittiness of the city before it was gentrified. While the film is involving it lives and breathes because of the inimitable Rowlands, who was Oscar nominated, she could not possibly be flintier as the title character. Remade, dreadfully, by Sharon Stone in the late 90’s. - Joel

Diary of a Teenage Girl

(2015)

Minnie (Bel Powley) is a fifteen year old aspring cartoonist, living in San Francisco during the mid-1970s. We open the movie with her announcement to her audio diary that she's just had sex for the very first time. As if that weren't hard enough to hear, she also lets us know that it was with her mother's boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsård). The two begin an affair he treats as strictly sexual while she is busy falling in love. She also begins partying, doing drugs, and generally being out of control. Her mother Charlotte (Kristen Wiig) is a hard partyer, herself, and ill-equipped to deal with any of this. As a dad of teenage girls, this is a tough, tough watch, but one that might be necessary. The writing is excellent and the performance by Powley is outstanding. In a very different role than what we're accustomed to seeing her in, Kristen Wiig is equally excellent as the coke-snorting Charlotte. - Dell

The Boss

(2016)

Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy) is a ridiculously rich and famous businesswoman. Her world ends when she is sent to prison for insider trading. When she comes out, with nowhere to go, she shows up at the home of her former assistant Claire (Kristen Bell) who takes pity on her old boss and lets her move in. Shortly, thereafter, Michelle is trying to rebuild her empire with the help of Claire's daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) and the Girl Scout troupe she belongs. Yes, it's McCarthy being loud, rude, and crude. She's also dressed in the most ridiculous turtlenecks I've ever seen in my life. Peter Dinklage is our de facto villain, and tears up the screen, as he usually does. I know, lots of you can't get with McCarthy, at all, but hey, I laughed quite a bit. - Dell

The Major and the Minor

(1942)

Transplanted New Yorker Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers) after a series of awful jobs is fed up with big city life and decides to head back to her rural hometown. Problem is she’s nearly penniless and in an effort to save money passes herself off as a Su-Su Applegate a 12 year old child to get half fare on the train. The conductor is suspicious but can’t be sure until he catches her outside a railroad car sneaking a smoke. Running away from him she dives into a compartment occupied by a naive officer (Ray Milland) with bad vision who takes her at her word and lets her stay in his room until they reach the military academy where he teaches. When it turns out the track ahead is flooded Su-Su is stuck at the all boy school staying with the major’s controlling girlfriend Pamela (Rita Johnson) and her younger sister Lucy (Diana Lynn) who sees through the disguise instantly but goes along because she senses that Susan’s presence will shake things up. Falling for the handsome, if clueless, major and learning that Pamela is planning to block an appointment he wants to keep him close Su-Su goes into action all the while being pursued by all the frisky cadets who average about 13 years old! But there’s rough water ahead! Breezy comedy was the great Billy Wilder’s first directing effort, he also co-wrote the script, and what in lesser hands could have been tasteless and uncouth is a instead a charming, if somewhat incredible, fable. - Joel

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