50 Female-Directed Movies You Should Watch, Part 5: Reader Recommendations
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu.
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, dir. Beeban Kidron
“I watched this film while I was living in the US. It was quite an experience for me,” writes Dark Yagami Fan of To Wong Foo. “I kept forgetting those were male actors in these roles. It was the first time I had seen anything like it that did not make fun of drag queens in a mean spirited way. Maybe there are better films on the subject matter, but this one was touching to me.”
Is it on Netflix Instant? No.
Paris Is Burning, dir. Jennie Livingston
AlwaysBeenTim recommends Jennie Livingston’s Paris Is Burning, “one of the best documentaries of the past 30 years. It takes a look at the black Drag Ball culture of late ’80s New York, but it’s about so much more. People imagine drag as people trying to make themselves ridiculous and ‘out there,’ but this documentary shows how it served as a way for people who had been discarded by society to both try to connect to the world and celebrate their individuality. If nothing else, it is amazing to watch a New York before it was gentrified and to watch black gays in New York when it was still alright to hate them. This movie takes place right before everything was going to change, and it is devastating. Plus, it’s on Netflix Instant. Watch it now! NOW! Please! I’ll give you a dollar!”
Is it on Netflix Instant? Yes. Tim, I will hold you to that dollar promise on behalf of your fellow readers.
K-20: The Legend of the Black Mask, dir. Shimako Satô
Akirakan is our local advocate for this 1940s-set Japanese film, alternatively subtitled The Fiend with Twenty Faces. It involves a case of mistaken identity, a steampunk aesthetic, a supervillain who can change his face, and an unassuming hero who just wants to put all this craziness behind him and go back to the circus, for Chrissakes. It looks like a romp, and that’s enough to put it on my to-watch list. See for yourself:
Is it on Netflix Instant? No.
English Vinglish, dir. Gauri Shinde
Commenter Laetitia Soler touts this movie’s “incredible acting performance from its star Sridevi,” who plays a “housewife who constantly gets mocked by her family for her bad English and secretly decides to take up an English class during a stay in New York… Plus the movie beautifully captures the diversity of New York’s population.”
Is it on Netflix Instant? No.
Real Genius, dir. Martha Coolidge
Impecunious Joe is “agog this initial mainstream Hollywood set doesn’t include Martha Coolidge’s Real Genius. Ok, I know it would mean dropping one of the others, but still – I mean, it’s Real Genius!” We understand, Joe. We’ve been known to have a Val Kilmer situation around the office.
Is it on Netflix Instant? No.
And because I couldn’t narrow it down quite enough, BONUS #51 is Rachel Talalay’s Tank Girl, whom EvilMonkeyPope explains “wins at anthrpomorphic kangaroos & Cole Porter,” and what more do you need, really?
Thanks for sticking with me, readers! And thanks to everyone who recommended something. If you need more things on your Netflix queue (and don’t we all?) I suggest going through the comments on the previous posts and looking at all the rec’d movies—there’s a lot of good stuff there, way more than I could fit in this one post.
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