So I watched less films in August than I did in July despite being less busy (I don’t even know), but I did see a lot of films in theaters this month, including finally being able to go to the New Beverly (they did a Lina Wertmüller double feature last week). I also saw four movies this month that I really, really disliked, so it was an interesting month for me. Oh, I also posted the results from my poll about essential films by women. In case you missed it, you can read that post here.  As always, a list of all the films I watched can be found after the cut, as well as my five favorites.

1. Thirteen
2. Jenny’s Wedding
3. Rambling Rose
4. Stories We Tell
5. Wendy and Lucy
6. Alle Anderen (Everyone Else)
7. Return to Me
8. Una noche
9. The Falling
10. Girls Night Out (1988)
11. Morvern Callar
12. Craig’s Wife
13. Christopher Strong
14. Fort Tilden
15. So You’ve Grown Attached
16. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
17. It’s Complicated
18. Sudden Manhattan
19. Bachelorette
20. Six Years
21. Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto (Swept Away… by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August)
22. Film d’amore e d’anarchia, ovvero: stamattina alle 10, in via dei Fiori, nella nota casa di tolleranza… (Love ans Anarchy)
23. Frozen
24. This Is My Life
25. Endless Love (2014)

1880s: 0
1890s: 0
1900s: 0
1910s: 0
1920s: 0
1930s: 2
1940s: 0
1950s: 0
1960s: 0
1970s: 2
1980s: 1
1990s: 3
2000s: 6
2010s: 11

I just love movies about women. I love that this year I’ve been able to see so many different kinds of stories about women. It’s been great.

Wendy and Lucy, 2008 (dir. Kelly Reichardt)

A great look at the bond between people and their pets, as well as what it’s like to truly be poor and why it’s often so hard to rise up economically. Features a devastating performance from Michelle Williams.

Return to Me, 2000 (dir. Bonnie Hunt)

OMG how did I never see this movie when I was a teen?! If I had, I probably would have watched it 100 times by now. The high concept probably turned a lot of people off (Minnie Driver receives the heart of David Duchovny’s wife after she dies in a car accident and then – unbeknownst to them both – the meet and fall in love), but it’s in no way creepy and just a really sweet love story. It reminded me a lot of Moonstruck in its mood and warmth.

Morvern Callar, 2002 (dir. Lynne Ramsay)

One of the greatest anti-heroines I’ve seen in a film that isn’t actually misogynistic. I love Samantha Morton. This movie has a very distinct mood and if you just go with it, you’ll have a blast.

This Is My Life, 1992 (dir. Nora Ephron)

This wasn’t available for the longest time, but luckily you can now rent it on Amazon. This is Nora Ephron’s directorial debut and it’s a great look at the dynamics of a single-parent household, being a single mom, being raised by a single mom, being a teenager, being a sister, being an entertainer, being a mother, being a child, being a woman. It’s just fabulous.

Endless Love, 2014 (dir. Shana Feste)

This was not what I expected at all. I gather from reading about the book/older version that this is very different from both, but having not read or seen the others, I took this film on its own merits. And for me, it was one of the best teenage girl fantasy movies I’ve ever seen. Alex Pettyfer’s character is like the most perfect teen boy to ever not really exist. I like that as more women make films we get these teenage girl wish-fulfillment films. I would have loved this film as a 14-year-old and wanted a boy just like him. As nearly a 30-year-old, I watch a film like this and it reminds me of all the hope I had for teen romance as a kid and almost get to have it a bit through the movie. All I know is I loved every minute of these cornball film.

So that was August. I have big plans for the last few months of the year, so look forward to that! And be sure to participate in the Directed By Women viewing worldwide viewing party, which starts today and goes through the 15th!