Right, and the bar for qualifying is set low on purpose. All a movie needs to pass is one conversation between two women that’s not about a man. “Where’d I put my coffee cup.” “It’s by the toaster.” is all you need and it makes it that much more striking when a movie like Crazy Stupid Love or The Muppets can’t dredge up even that.
Heathers
Clueless
Serenity
*Jurassic Park *- Ellie Sattler talks to Lex (but not that much)
*Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory *- Violet tells Veruca to “Can it, you twit!” 
*Rose Red *(Stephen King miniseries) - Lots of female/female conversations
*Sherlock Holmes *1 and 2 - no
*Raiders of the Lost Ark *- no
*Dogma *- I think Bethany talks to God (as played by Alanis Morissette) a couple of times, but I’m not sure that counts
*Galaxy Quest *- don’t think so
She has a conversation with a female coworker in the break room of the abortion clinic where she works.
Yep - it seems like a few people are seeing it as a challenge to think of films that pass, which is not really the point. I must admit my mind kept coming up with films that do pass and I had to remind myself of my genuine favourites.
The main reason a lot of films don’t pass - or barely pass - is that so many films have mostly male characters or a man is the centre of the movie and most conversations involve him. Even a lot of romcoms fail because, while they might have a lot of female characters, the subject matter dictates the conversations.
TV is way better at this and not just because of the number of episodes compared to the broadcast time of a movie; I’d say most individual TV episodes, at least from the 90s onwards, would pass.
By the way, Mildred Pierce (which passes the test with flying colors) was released the day I was born.
Thanks everybody for coming up with a bunch of movies that I’ve seen and didn’t think of. Like Aliens, Studio Ghibli movies (which often have a main character who is female), All About Eve, Girl Interrupted, Little Women, etc.
As many other people have said, the point of this “test” is not that movies that fail the test are necessarily bad movies. The point (to me) is to show how many movies fail that test, vs. how many movies would fail the “Reverse Bechdel” test (i.e. to pass the reverse test, you have to have two men, named characters, talking to each other about something that’s not a woman.) The imbalance is immediately visible.
As to what can conclude from that, I won’t venture to say, this isn’t Great Debates. 
P.S. I see several examples of conversations between female characters where, as far as I can tell, one of the female characters is an unnamed bit player in the movie, so it would still fail the “enhanced” test with the commonly added rule that the two female characters must be named in the movie.
Really? I didn’t know you were so precocious! 
Also, Ellis Dee mentioned earlier that manly themes are more suited to big-screen productions. I don’t know that I agree with that. e.g. war movies often include issues facing civilians. Those civilians are more likely to be women. For science fiction movies, it would be just as likely for the characters to be women as men, even if it’s a war or action adventure science fiction movie. Animated features the same. e.g. Kung Fu Panda - you could switch the gender of all the main characters, making most of them females, and the story would not have suffered. And so on.
That’s what I thought. It’s very effective for what it sets out to do.
I agree on sci fi and cartoons. I was more talking about action movies with lots of stuntmen, big explosions, car chases, etc… These things lend themselves quite well to the big screen, and aren’t particularly women-friendly except for deliberate gender role subversion. (eg: Salt.)
To my viewpoint, television is the analog for the intimate interpersonal relationships of women, while movies are the analog for the more superficial (but not less important) relationships of men. (Superficial relationships are the bedrock of modern society.)
There’s been some buzz about the fact that Pixar’s upcoming The Brave will be their first movie with a female main character. This despite the fact that many of their movies are primarily about non-human characters (toys, animals, cars, etc.) and that many could just as easily be depicted as female rather than male.
As for the question in the OP, I decided to just look at my collection of DVDs and see which ones passed the test rather than try to pick my favorite films of all-time. Some of the following are far from being my favorite, but I own them anyway. In alphabetical order:
Bend It Like Beckham – numerous conversations about football, families, clothes, cooking, etc., between the two female leads or one of the leads and her mother or sister.
The Hunger – several conversations about music, aging, and vampirism between the two female leads
Moulin Rouge! – this one may just barely qualify, I’d have to check the specific scene I’m thinking of to be sure. The Nicole Kidman character briefly talks to another woman about her desire to become a legitimate actress, but this is wrapped up with her plan to seduce the Duke.
Singles – I don’t think there are many qualifying conversations, but a female character argues with her roommate about loading the dishwasher and also talks to another woman about getting a video dating profile made.
Disney’s Sleeping Beauty – there are several all-female scenes involving the princess, the fairy godmothers, and/or the wicked fairy where they discuss domestic matters, the use of magic, and the spinning wheel curse.
Thelma and Louise – the majority of the dialogue is between the two female leads, and while a good bit of it is about men there’s also a lot about what they plan to do next and how they’re going to evade the law.
Has no one mentioned Network yet? All-time great movie and Faye Dunaway has convos with men and women both about all sorts of things.
Does Eowyn talk to any women in LOTR? Cause the only other women I can remember are Arwen and Galadriel.
And Lobelia, who’s only heard from off-screen, and Rosie, who I don’t think has any lines at all in the theatrical release.
Oh, and Shelob, too, I suppose.
Let’s go on a crosscultural movie trip
Spice World
Josie and the Pussycats
Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys
Madea’s Big Happy Family
For Colored Girls
Precious
That Thing You Do!
Showgirls
Gypsy
The Help
Oops…I failed the OP…none of those films is my favorite…
Right. I find it kind of interesting (and telling) just how many people are missing the point (are they all men?).
I just love the argument that men’s stories are inherently more dramatic (and therefore make better movies) than women’s stories. And it was serious. Pretty sad when that’s the conclusion you draw from this exercise.
Sleepless in Seattle.
Pretty sad when you misunderstand so thoroughly. More cinematic, not dramatic. Big difference.
Although it was a convenient object lesson in exactly the sort of culturally embedded assumptions this test was invented to highlight.