Let's All Go To The Movies: 7 Female-Leading Flicks You Must See
Kasi Lemmons (left) directs the cast of “Harriet,” a film about the life of Harriet Tubman receving rave reviews and box office receipts.
This pre-holiday and holiday season, women are dominating the big screen and hopefully the box office with fictional and historical characters. They are good, evil, and a little bit of both, and are fighting crime and committing a few. They all exude and assert their power.
At Take The Lead, we decided it was worth suggesting a few of these feature-length efforts that may be worth your time, energy and popcorn to witness. Especially since three of the seven (almost half) have female directors and all have leading ladies.
“This holiday season, women are dominating the big screen. They are good and evil, fighting crime and committing a few. #FemaleCharacters #WomenInFilm #FemaleDirectors”
Read more in Take The Lead on gender inequities in Hollywood
Take The Lead believes everyone has the power to make change, so perhaps we each have the power to make Hollywood reach gender parity in story lines, characters, directors, actors and scripts. So here are a lucky seven female-strong movies to leave the house for, in alphabetical order.
“@Takeleadwomen has recommendations for seven female-strong movies to leave the house for, in alphabetical order. #FemaleStrong #WomenInFilm”
1. “Charlie’s Angels.” I was more than a little trepidatious about the second remake of the revitalized 40-year-old TV show starring three women crime-fighters with fabulous hair who were controlled by a Wizard Of Oz type Charlie through a phone speaker. This update is not only directed by Elizabeth Banks, but she also stars in it, and says it is a working woman’s movie.
“#Charlie’s Angels. This update is not only directed by @ElizabethBanks, but she also stars in it, and says it is a working woman’s movie. #CharliesAngels”
Hollywood Reporter quotes Banks, “I wanted to make a movie that celebrated women at work. When I watched the original show, I thought, 'Those are professional women. That's a job that ladies get to do.' And they looked incredible. I was like, 'Why aren't we all super sexy spies all the time?'" About the movie starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska with Banks playing one of the Bosley characters, “I felt like the DNA of Charlie's Angels is about sisterhood, camaraderie, working together, believing women, supporting women, but also it's super entertaining for everybody," she continued. "I wanted to work on an action movie, and I wanted people to get really excited, and then I also wanted to celebrate ladies teaming up."
2. “Frozen II.” Yes, it’s animated and about two sisters singing in the cold, but this storyline about Elsa and Anna is expected to break some records, especially since Disney moved up the release a week to mid-November. According to CinemaBlend, “There's every indication that Frozen II is going to be a huge movie. The fact that it's the sequel to Disney's biggest animated box office hit should be enough all by itself, but the film's early tracking has indicated the film could set an opening weekend record for Disney animation. That projection is now being seemingly confirmed, as Frozen II has set a ticket pre-sale record for an animated movie. According to Fandango, Frozen II is the fastest selling animated movie in the history of the online ticket seller. The previous leader for day one ticket sales was Toy Story 4, but Frozen II has now surpassed that. The three films that now sit below Frozen II in day one ticket sales (Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2, Finding Dory) went on to gross over $1 billion each at the worldwide box office, and considering that the first Frozen was able to do that without pre-sale records, the sequel is poised to be even bigger.”
““Frozen II.” Yes, it’s animated and about two sisters singing in the cold, but this storyline about Elsa and Anna is expected to break some records. @DisneyFrozen #Frozen2 ”
3. “The Good Liar.” Ok, so we are good with pretty much everything Dame Helen Mirren does and says, especially since at 74, she does a lot to break stereotypes of ageism. The plot is about online dating and deception and she is not what she seems. In an interview about the movie, Mirren also riffed on the stereotypes of appearance and we applaud what she told Entertainment Weekly, “I think it’s terrible, the idea that we all have to look the same way. I find it very depressing, the thought of millions of girls wanting to have exactly the same lips as somebody else. So I think it’s important to promote diversity in looks and shapes and sizes and all the rest of it, and stop excluding people. I think that’s happening, incidentally, and I really applaud it.”
““The Good Liar.” Ok, so we are good with pretty much everything Dame Helen Mirren does and says, especially since at 74, she does a lot to break stereotypes of #ageism. #TheGoodLiar”
4. “Harriet.” While there was controversy that a non-U.S. actress plays the legendary Harriet Tubman, the reviews have been superb of Cynthia Erivo, a Nigerian British national, who embodies the struggles and triumphs of this historic national treasure. Harriet’s history resonates loudly today. According to reports, “Focus's release of Harriet destroyed expectations, delivering a #4 finish to go along with a strong, "A+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.” This is also a big feature directed by a woman, Kasi Lemmons.
““Harriet.” Harriet’s history resonates loudly today. This is also a big feature directed by a woman, Kasi Lemmons. #HarrietMovie”
Reacting to the movie, a female doctor friend tells Angela Dorn in Forbes, “Immediately after seeing Harriet, I sat down to write about my experience. Even though I already had a cursory knowledge about Harriet Tubman, I was still drawn into the story. I loved learning about the story of an enslaved woman who could no longer stand to have her freedom withheld. She not only made a great escape to the North, but she returned countless times to bring hundreds of other slaves to freedom. I don’t think anyone else did that in U.S. history!”
Dorn says her friend who is a financial executive writes, “Harriet also stands as an exemplar of courage — that trait common to many heroes and heroines - not being free of fears, but of taking daring, often dangerous, actions in spite of them. She confronted her fears through action. Many Black and brown folks operating in the modern world have also left home to create a personal and professional life for themselves. We may have experienced slights and subtle (or not-so-subtle) racism. We have also felt the distance between ourselves, family and/or close friends created by our different experiences. It was not absence of fear that allowed us to move forward but the knowledge that we could maintain our connection while adding another way of traveling in the world. Having both would not weaken us. We can recognize the fire in the eye of a sister in spirit.”
5. “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” Never mind Angelina Jolie’s sharp cheekbones, what could possibly go wrong with a story line around two strong queens, as the other one is Michelle Pfeiffer. I guess this is also a movie tempting the metaphor of what it means to be a working mother and also to have power—or not. The Connector reports, “As the movie progresses, the audience can see many of Maleficent’s outbursts of power and a new society with others like Maleficent. Overall, the movie had important lessons such as not letting love take away the love they have for their family. Another being that sometimes one has to learn to allow a person to grow up (more in terms of a family perspective). On the positive end, the costume design and animations were spot on. Angelina Jolie’s whole character design is what makes her a very luminous and intriguing character that draws an audience into wanting to see the movie. The inclusion of strong female lead characters also gave it a boost in terms of showing that women can rule without a man.” Amen.
““Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” Never mind Angelina Jolie’s sharp cheekbones, what could possibly go wrong with a story line around two strong #queens, and the other one is Michelle Pfeiffer.”
Read more in Take The Lead on women filmmakers
6. “Queen & Slim.” Another reason to celebrate this movie coming out Thanksgiving weekend is that it is directed by Melina Matsoukas, her first feature film, and written by Lena Waithe. According to the New York Times, this is “the story of two strangers whose first date is dramatically extended when a clash with a police officer sends them on the run.” According to Forbes, “The picture stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith as a couple on an awkward first date who end up on the run together after a fatal police altercation, and Universal has also been screening this one early and often prior to its AFI debut next week. The pre-release projections are arguing for an over/under $12 million debut over the Wed-Sun frame, but that could go up after the first wave of reviews roll in.”
““Queen & Slim.” Another reason to celebrate this movie coming out Thanksgiving weekend is that it is directed by @melinamatsoukas, her first feature film, and written by @LenaWaithe. ”
Read more in Take The Lead on female Hollywood remakes
7. “Terminator: Dark Fate.” This is all about Sarah Connor and Linda Hamilton’s arms, not so much about Arnold. This is a story starring women as heroes, women as villains, women as victims and all women as badasses. According to USA Today, “Sarah unfortunately finds out that the robopocclypse is awfully hard to avoid, earning a fleeting victory only to be followed by a profound personal loss. Another A.I. called Legion rises up with a mechanized army to wipe out civilization, a revolutionary Rev-9 Terminator (Gabriel Luna) is sent back in time to kill a young Mexican woman, Dani (Natalia Reyes), the enhanced super-soldier Grace (Mackenzie Davis) arrives from the year 2042 to protect her, and the cavalry comes in the form of Sarah wielding a bazooka. It’s different pieces playing the same game of chess – our heroes save us from mechanical overlords, someone will be back, rinse, repeat.” And this sequel to the 30-year old franchise starring lots of buff women is making big bucks. Box Office Mojo reports, “With $29 million, Terminator: Dark Fate topped the weekend box office, but the performance is well behind Mojo's $38 million forecast not to mention pre-weekend industry expectations that had the film opening with $40+ million. Internationally, the film brought in nearly $73 million from 48 markets, including a $28 million opening in China. Overall the film's international cume now stands at $94.6 million for a $123.6 million worldwide.”
““Terminator: Dark Fate.” This is a story starring woman as hero, women as villain and woman as victim and all women as badasses. #FemaleCharacters ”
What’s the lesson here?
The role of leading ladies is changing to be more inclusive of race and age, as is the incidence of female directors and writers of big, splashy movies, even if some of them feature really evil women. Because at Take The Lead, with the mission to reach gender parity across all sectors by 2025, any advances made for women to reach parity in leadership are all good.
“The role of leading ladies is changing to be more #inclusive. At @takeleadwomen, with the mission to reach #GenderParity across all sectors by 2025, any advances for women to #parity are good. ”
