New ‘Ghostbusters’ puts us in mood for more chick flicks
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!
The new Ghostbusters movie opens Friday, pitting Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon against paranormal pests in New York City.
When the first trailer for the film went viral this year, trolls came out of their caves and slimed it. Many said they would never go see the movie, calling the idea of a remake/reboot inherently unfunny and sacrilegious — a degradation of the 1984 classic.
More egregious naysayers went into full misogyny mode, criticizing the film for daring to feature females in the lead roles.
The trolls can stuff it.
We like the concept of women working together to ward off a common threat, sharing some laughs and misadventures along the way. If nothing else, the movie is a refreshing change of pace from such properties as Orange Is the New Black, where the women rebuke and revile each other — both emotionally and physically — and The Real Housewives of Dallas, in which five women verbally clawed each others’ eyes out all spring.
If Ghostbusters, a lighthearted comedy with some fun scares, puts you in the mood for more movies that shine a light on female friendships, here are 10 more to rent, stream or blow the dust off of in your DVD cabinet.
Stage Door (1937, NR)
Stage Door is the most obscure film on this list, but it does star a bevy of Hollywood legends, including Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden and Ann Miller. The story revolves around aspiring Broadway actresses who live in the Footlights Club, a theatrical boardinghouse in New York.
The women bicker, and there are jealousies at play (so to speak), but they ultimately support and lift up one another in their quest to make it big in show business.
For something of similar tone and vintage, watch The Women (1939), which stars famous females such as Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell, with nary a male in sight.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953, NR)
A “slick, colorful bauble of entertainment” (or so says Leonard Maltin), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was directed by the great and versatile Howard Hawks, who helmed such disparate pictures as Scarface (1932) and Rio Bravo (1959).
The dazzling film, which is set aboard a trans-Atlantic cruise, stars diamond-obsessed Marilyn Monroe and man-crazy Jane Russell, who sing that they are “just two little girls from Little Rock.” In reality, the women are smart, capable and sexy — more than equals to anyone they meet on the ship.
Further, they are deeply devoted friends, looking out for one another at every turn.
9 to 5 (1980, PG)
Longtime favorite 9 to 5 is the ultimate revenge fantasy for anyone who has ever punched a clock and wanted to punch their boss. It’s a terrific female buddy movie as well, with a trio of agitated office workers (played by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, who sang the memorable theme song) teaming up against their sexist employer, the despicable Franklin M. Hart Jr. (played with sleazy relish by Dabney Coleman).
No. 74 on AFI’s list of 100 Funniest American Movies, 9 to 5 is a classic, spawning a television series and a Broadway musical. The film, echoing the feminist movement of the previous decade, has a social conscious as well, addressing such issues as equal pay and merit promotion.
Steel Magnolias (1989, PG)
Men definitely take a back seat in Steel Magnolias, in which six Southern belles, played by Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts, gossip, laugh, cry, get their hair done and exchange a steady stream of witticisms, such as, “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize,” and, “Sammy’s so confused he don’t know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt.”
The women span a wide range of ages. They also fight, make up and face a tragedy together, cementing their friendships and making this one of the better, more substantive movies of its type.
A League of Their Own (1992, PG)
“Are you crying? Are you crying? There’s no crying! There’s no crying in baseball!”
Even if you’ve never seen A League of Their Own, you’ve probably heard that quote. What you may not know is that the film is a fictional account of a team from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was formed in 1943 at the height of World War II, when many of the country’s male major-leaguers were fighting overseas.
The movie, which has Tom Hanks coaching such unlikely sluggers as Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell, is played for laughs, but there’s no doubting that the women play as a team.
Waiting to Exhale (1995, R)
Based on Terry McMillan’s 1992 novel, which explored what women want in a romantic relationship, Waiting to Exhale is a true rarity, focusing on four upper-class African-Americans (played by Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon) who stick together through thick and thin as they deal with the unfaithful (and otherwise flawed) men in their lives.
Forest Whitaker’s directorial debut brought in more than $81 million at the box office, and it only cost $16 million to make, so there’s no excuse as to why there aren’t more films like this chronicling the lives of strong, pretty, enviable, well-to-do black women.
Beauty Shop (2005, PG-13)
Before you write off Beauty Shop as nothing more than a female version of Barbershop with Queen Latifah in the Ice Cube role, give it a chance, as it does contain charms and chuckles of its own. Latifah, as a hairdresser named Gina, opens her own shop and sticks it to her snooty, self-centered boss Jorge, played to the hilt by a long-haired Kevin Bacon.
The plot is nothing new, but the attractive and likeable cast includes Alicia Silverstone, Alfre Woodard, Andie MacDowell and Mena Suvari, who make the film infectious and fun. Be prepared to laugh at bawdy booty jokes, ridiculous race relations and gabby gal pals.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005, PG)
One summer, four teenage besties go their separate ways.
Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) stays home, Bridget (Blake Lively) goes to soccer camp in Mexico, Lena (Alexis Bledel) visits her grandparents in Greece, and Carmen (America Ferrera) spends time with her father in South Carolina. They stay connected via a pair of pre-owned jeans (which magically fit each of them, despite their differing physiques) that they each agree to wear for a week and then FedEx to the next girl.
Sisterhood’s odd story conceit, which comes from Ann Brashares’ 2001 novel of the same name, provides a solid framework for the characters’ bonding and passing milestones on their way to womanhood.
Baby Mama (2008, PG-13)
Seven years before they teamed up for Sisters, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler starred in Baby Mama. Fey plays Kate Holbrook, a successful, type-A career woman in her late 30s who decides she wants to be a mother. She discovers she can’t have children, so she hires a surrogate, Angie Ostrowski, played by Poehler. Slovenly, dumb and immature, Ostrowski is Holbrook’s polar opposite (so to speak), providing plenty of comical clashes.
As the story progresses, there are complications (who is actually the mother?), but the women become friends and are better people for knowing one another.
Bridesmaids (2011, R)
A film that proves female comedians can be just as funny and just as raunchy as their male counterparts, Bridesmaids is a side-splitter from beginning to end, from the famous food-poisoning fiasco to the awkwardly rhythmic sex scene between Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm, to the airborne antics of Wigg. The movie is a star vehicle for the Saturday Night Live alumnus, who co-wrote the screenplay and stars as a trouble-plagued maid of honor for her best friend, played by Maya Rudolph.
Rounding out the cast are such funny females as Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs) and Melissa McCarthy, the last of whom channels her inner (and outer) John Belushi and Chris Farley.
This story was originally published July 12, 2016 at 2:22 PM.