Thursday Movie Picks - Star-Crossed Lovers

Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join our growing group by picking three films that fit the week's theme and writing a bit about them.

All February, Thursday Movie Picks is going Valentine's Edition! Who doesn't love a good romance? This week, we are focusing on that old chestnut, the Star-Crossed Lovers. Lovers who cannot be together, whether because of earthly circumstance or fate. Basically, Romeo and Juliet. You'll swoon for these couples together, and then cry your eyes out when you realize there isn't going to be a happy ending to their romance after all. These are some of my favorites.

Titanic (James Cameron, 1997) Say what you like about Cameron's historical epic romance, but this is one of the highest grossing films of all time for a reason: It is not only stunning filmmaking on all levels (okay fine, except for the screenplay), but it never once bores during its over three-hour runtime. The Oscar-winning Best Picture is on everyone's lips again this year as stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are finally nominated for His & Hers Oscars, nearly twenty years after Leo was, rather famously, "snubbed" (I hate that word) for his work in the film. Leo's "overdue" narrative basically begins right here, with his very good work as Jack Dawson, who wins steerage tickets aboard the world's largest ship for its maiden voyage from Great Britain to America. Fortunately/Unfortunately, he saves Winslet's Rose DeWitt Bukater from jumping off the boat, and they fall in love. Ah, but she is in first class and engaged to world-class asshole Billy Zane. And well, you all know history, right? You know the fate of the Titanic, right? Doomed. From the start. But oh what a magnificent movie their story makes. A pop culture event like this doesn't happen all that often, and it's a bit sad how Titanic's reputation has dimmed over the years because of its seismic impact. If you haven't seen it in years, I urge you to do so again. Time hasn't dulled the spectacle one bit.

Shakespeare in Love (John Madden, 1998) Absolutely 100% deserved Best Picture. COME AT ME. The pleasures of Shakespeare in Love may be pure, but they are anything but simple. Tom Stoppard's marvelous screenplay revels in the written word almost as much as Shakespeare's plays do, and the actors make the already beautiful words sound rapturous coming from their lips. The story of Shakespeare overcoming writer's block when he falls in love with Lady Viola de Lesseps, which inspires him to turn his comedy Romeo & Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter into the famous Romeo & Juliet, is thrilling to watch as the lovers write some lines from the play unwittingly, and use others as foreplay. The film is an utter delight from start to finish, and has the added bonus of (pieces of) one of the best stage productions of R&J that I've ever had the pleasure to see. I could watch just this movie on a loop for the rest of time and feel completely satisfied. Even after hundreds of views, I still thrill to every stolen kiss and my eyes still well with tears during the last ten minutes. One of my All-Time Favorites.

All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955) A little bit of a change of pace. Jane Wyman's Carrie is a widow living a lonely life in the suburbs, until she gets a new gardener, Rock Hudson's Ron. Ron lives off the land and worships Thoreau, Carrie lives off her dead husband's money and has friends who drag her out to parties and country clubs. Naturally (since they are both movie stars) they fall in love, against all the odds and societal pressures and THE WORST CHILDREN IN THE HISTORY OF MOVIES. Douglas Sirk is the King of subversive melodramas, and 50s "polite society" really gets it from him in this one. Oh. And there's also this exchange, which is the funniest line ever that was absolutely not meant to be when it was written:

Ron "...he discovered that he had to make his own decisions. That he had to be a man."

Carrie "And you want me to be a man?"

Oh, dear sweet Lord. If only you knew.

Thursday Movie Picks - All in the Family Edition: Mother-Daughter Relationships

Written for the blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. You can play, too: Just pick three films that match the week's theme!

This month's All in the Family Edition of Thursday Movie Picks focuses on that trickiest of familial relationships: Mothers and Daughters. These can be either the most loving or the most toxic relationships in a family. I've chosen to focus this week on the latter type, since they're usually more fun. I've included some spoilers for these films, and on the off-chance you haven't seen them (and really, you should, since these are all GREAT films), I've put them in white text. Just highlight and you'll be able to read.

Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2010) Poor Erica Sayers. She got knocked up while in the corps of one of the most prestigious ballet companies in America, and it ended her career. Thankfully, she had a daughter that she could raise in her image. All she wanted for her daughter, Nina, was for her to grow up into the prima ballerina Erica herself never got the chance to be. But then her daughter went and got herself some psychological problems, and poor Erica had to work even harder to keep her daughter safe. And then, Nina finally gets noticed by the smarmy Artistic Director of the ballet company and gets the lead in Swan Lake, playing both Odile and Odette! Erica is so excited for her daughter, but this honor goes straight to Nina's head - she starts going out late at night, and locking herself in her bedroom, and stealing things from the company's former lead dancer. What happened to Erica's sweet little girl? And then Nina's crazy starts to manifest again, and despite all Erica does to keep her out of the spotlight that is clearly driving her insane, what does her ungrateful little daughter do? She FUCKING STABS HERSELF IN THE STOMACH WITH A PIECE OF BROKEN MIRROR AND DANCES UNTIL SHE FUCKING DIES. Poor Erica.

Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959) Annie Johnson is a sweetheart, beloved by all who come into contact with her. Except, that is, for her daughter Sarah Jane. You see, it is the late 40s and early 50s, and Sarah Jane is light-skinned enough (thanks to her father) that she can pass for white. This is something Annie cannot do and is not interested in doing. But as girls grow up, parents have less and less control over them, and soon enough Sarah Jane has graduated from high school and is working at the local library and dating a nice boy from the church. Or so she told her mother. In reality, she was dating a white boy who beat her when he found out she was black, and working as a performer in a seedy nightclub. When Annie finds out about this job, she rushes off to save her daughter, as any mother would. But the girl won't leave, and the commotion causes her to get fired. So she runs away, breaking her poor mother's heart. And what happens next between them will break your heart, too, unless you're a robot, because the final scenes of this version of Imitation of Life make it the single most effective tear-jerker in Hollywood history.

Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945) Veda Pierce is the biggest little shit of them all. How exactly she got that way is admittedly a bit of a mystery, since her mother is a hard worker who had to scrape and save and work her ass off to get what little she has. But Veda is an aspiring classical musician, and only has eyes for the finer things in life, which her mother who loves her dearly continues to provide - despite it forcing her to live beyond her means. And how does Veda thank her mother for her wonderful life? She puts the moves on her mother's husband (in James M. Cain's novel and Todd Haynes's miniseries with Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood, she has a full-blown affair with him), and after he rebuffs her, she FUCKING SHOOTS HIM. And what does our dear Mildred do? She LIES TO SAVE THE LITTLE SHIT. Or at least, she tries to, but can't quite bring herself to go through with it. Which is fine, because no one should be able to slap Joan Crawford and get away with it.