There’s nothing quite like film therapy to help us laugh, relax, and feel like, maybe it’s not just us, and whether you need a little lift or just need a fun feminine movie night, here are seven films to keep you inspired from women on madcap adventures, in screwball, sometime screw-up comedies, but, none-the-less prevailing, despite the odds.
1. The Major and the Minor
This black and white charmer from 1942, Billy Wilder's first directing effort, will steal your heart AND make you chuckle. Highly recommended that you watch with a big bowl of truffle oil popcorn, and maybe a throwback snack from way back when. Laffy Taffy, anyone?
When Susan (Ginger Rogers), is fed up with New York City and ready to head home to Iowa, she finds out her carefully saved-up train fare home isn't going to cut it. With this last indignity, she decides to masquerade as a 12 year old to get a cheaper ticket.
Only she wasn’t counting on the very handsome, Major Kirby (Ray Milland), insisting that the runaway be accompanied home by an adult, for her own protection. Now, Susan has to figure out how to shake her knight in shining army before he figures it out, and she loses her ticket home.
2. Under the Tuscan Sun
I’s time to revisit the joys, the sorrows and the laughs of starting a new life in a foreign land. Grab a beautiful plate of Italian pasta and maybe a sliver of tiramisu to fully enjoy this beautiful & funny 2003 film. Italian hunk, not included.
Recently dumped San Francisco writer Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) impulsively buys an aging, but very charming, villa in Tuscany while on vacation. What could possibly go wrong starting a new life, in a land where she knows no one and doesn’t speak the language? Only everything!
3. Sabrina
Take your pick from two fabulous films, the 1954 original, starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, or the 1995 remake, starring Julia Ormond and Harrison ford. Both are lovely. You’ll need a spritz of your best French perfume, a jauntily tied scarf, and a great shade of lipstick to watch this flick.
What happens when ugly duckling, Sabrina, the Chauffeur’s daughter returns from Paris all grown up, after a lifetime of being ignored by the ultra suave and rich Larabee brothers? Will Sabrina finally be able to attract the notice of her childhood crush, playboy, David Larabee, or will she fall for the “all-work-and-no-play” older brother, Linus?
4. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
This 2003 blockbuster had everyone talking at the time, and it’s worth a revisit. While Mamma Mia has stolen some of it’s original glory, this is the Greek themed movie that started it all. Well worth a re-watch. Toss a big Greek Salad and keep your Windex handy, for any accidents that may happen from falling off your chair with laughter. Enjoy!
When Toula decides she wants something more than just to be a waitress and a wallflower in her family’s Greek restaurant, everyone’s lives get shaken up, but mostly for the better. Watch her missteps in romance, and madcap family adventures all along the way.
5. My Fair Lady
The ultimate glow up, and musical extravaganza, this 1964 film won 8 academy awards including best picture. Put the kettle on, pour some tea, and come with your best posture & diction.
Eliza Dolittle, a working class street hawker in London, becomes the center of a wager between two bored, and well-to-do chaps. When her whole world changes as the curmudgeonly but comely Professor Higgins tries to get her to pass in polite society, she has to figure the rules as she goes, to hilarious results.
6. Wildcats
This 1986 film is an underrated gem, starring Goldie Hawn, as a high school varsity football coach, who has to prove her mettle to the chauvinist men in the game as she takes on the only team that will have her as a coach, the very worst team in the league.
Watch with some good old tailgate fare, think wings and nachos. And maybe your best eighties hair. ;)
7. Bringing up Baby
The classic screwball comedy from 1938 with the iconic Katherine Hepburn as a madcap heiress who sets her cap for a handsome but uptight Zoologist Cary Grant, only to find hi jinks ensue.
If you want to see an expert “beginner,” who knows how to improvise and play, Katherine’s your gal in this fun and flirty film. Wear your best leopard print anything, or a frothy dressing gown for this one.
And now you know what I know, that doing something new, and in public, doesn't always look pretty, but it can be pretty funny and sometimes even charming. So get to watching & have some fun!
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