It’s Christmas time again, and I need to come up with presents for my daughters. Littlest R is almost 15, and I thought I’d get her a movie or two.
I’d sure appreciate any suggestions Dopers could come up with. She seems to like two genera: Chick flicks and detective movies. I don’t follow the reviews of chick flicks very closely, so I’m really ignorant there.
Chick flicks she’s seen:
Pretty in Pink (didn’t like)
Sixteen Candles
Princess Diaries 1 and 2
Cinderella Story
I’m with Lucy
Say Anything
I’d prefer something that got reasonably good reviews and stands up to repeated viewing.
Detective movies she likes:
The Thin Man series
Kennel Murder Case (she likes William Powell, so anything that has him or an equivalent would be good–are there any modern equivalents of WP?)
Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone and Brett)
Bulldog Drummond series
I think “Some Kind of Wonderful” would still hold up, even with the 80s feeling. Eric Stoltz gives everything a more mature timeless feeling.
How about “Made in Heaven”? Romantic but a little more quirky and fairytale-ish.
“Ever After” stands up to repeat viewing and is in the revisionist/stronger Cinderella mode of Ella Enchanted.
“My Brilliant Career”–not a chick flick exactly but has a strong female lead
I’m resisting putting in a plug for “Picnic at Hanging Rock”, my favorite movie ever. It is about a girls boarding school, and it includes a mystery, but it may be a little out there. Although I saw it at 13 or 14 and loved it for the atmosphere it created.
That’s a Steve Martin movie which spoofs film noir detetive films. It intercuts scenes of Martin with scenes from old movies, and does a pretty good job of it, so Martin has secens with Boghart, and many others.
It’s pretty funny too.
If she likes those old mysteries she may like The Lady Vanishes. It is an early Hitchcock film and the movie Flight Plan was based upon it.
The kid sister in The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek is one of my favorite teens in movies. Funny, intelligent movies. Also, as a William Powell fan, she should like* My Man Godfrey.*
How bout *Bend It Like Beckham *and Whale Rider? not exactly the same age protagonist, but I would think she would enjoy these movies anyway.
I was going to chime in with “Mean Girls” too. “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen” was also pretty decent. I also want to second “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” - great movie.
How about some good ol’ Hitchcock? “North by Northwest”? Your niece is a bit older than I was when I discovered his films and was instantly enthralled. I too was an avid mystery reader at the time.
She saw “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants”, “Whale Rider”, and “Beckham” in the theater and enjoyed them all. We own “Godfrey”, which she likes, and “Shadow of a Doubt”, which I don’t think she’s seen (Friday night Movie Night fodder!).
“Plaid” and “Morgan’s Creek” sound promising; I’ll have to dig up some reviews!
She likes Hitchcock in general, and she’s seen NbNW (which we own).
We own “NbNW”, “Lifeboat”, “Psycho”, Shadow of a Doubt", “The Lady Vanishes”, “Sabotage”, and “The Thirteen Steps”, all of which she enjoyed (except SoaD, which she hasn’t seen). What other Hitchcocks might she like?
How about some Audrey Hepburn films? Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sabrina, Funny Face, Roman Holiday. Rosalind Russel, His Girl Friday? Katharine Hepburn: Bringing up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, Adam’s Rib? They’re romantic comedies (the Audrey Hepburn ones are probably the closest to chick flicks), but she might be interested anyway.
If she likes Matchstick Men, then I also suggest Catch Me If You Can. Maybe The Talented Mr. Ripley, too. I can’t remember what they’re rated, though. I’d understand if you felt those were too adult for her.
10 Things I Hate About You is a more recent one she might like. When I was her age, I loved the BBC’s version of Pride & Prejudice, and watched Little Women, the one with Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon, a lot. She might like Cold Comfort Farm (the 1995 version), too.
Hey, “Shadow of a Doubt” is one of my favorite Hitchcock movies! Glad other people have been mentioning it…
Rocketeer – I didn’t see “Rear Window” on your list of Hitchcock movies you own. That IS my favorite Hitchcock – the quintessential Hitchcock flick, if you will. A must see.
If she liked “The Thin Man,” why not get her another classic based on a Dashiell Hammett novel, “The Maltese Falcon”?
“Murder on the Orient Express”?
If she likes Sherlock Holmes, she might appreciate Billy Wilder’s “Young Sherlock Holmes.”
And speaking of Wilder…if she’s into old mysteries, she might be primed for some film noir. “Double Indemnity,” “The Big Sleep,” and many others have their mystery elements.
The chick flick/teen stuff I’m less certain of. I did see “Freaky Friday” (the recent Jamie Lee Curtis version) recently, and it was surprisingly really good – she might like that. You had some brat pack movies listed, but missed “The Breakfest Club” – give that one a go.
“Heavenly Creatures” comes to mind – it’s got teenage girls and, well, kind of a mystery. Excellent movie by a pre-LOTR Peter Jackson.
When I was a fifteen-year-old girl, my favorite movie was The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. Possibly I was a little strange, but I thought that was the coolest thing I’d ever seen in my life.
