52 Films By Women: April

Rewatches were the staple this month, a couple of which I hadn’t seen in a very long time (but which still hadn’t lost their original charm). Here are the films I watched this month that were either written or directed (or both) by a woman.

FIRST-TIMERS

Miss You Already (Netflix UK), written by Morwenna Banks and directed by Catherine Hardwicke

With a fantastic blend of humour and sadness, Miss You Already is a beautiful and sweet story of friendship, family and coping with illness. Toni Colette and Drew Barrymore are phenomenal, helped along the way with support from Dominic Cooper and Paddy Considine.

See also: Burn Burn Burn premiered at LFF and then got a shockingly limited release in cinemas. Now, though, it’s up at Netflix for all to enjoy. A bittersweet tale of friendship and the pain of following a dead man’s final wish, this superb film is directed by Chanya Button and written by Charlie Covell.

REWATCHES

Dirty Dancing (TV), written by Eleanor Bergstein

There’s dancing. There’s that soundtrack. There’s Patrick Swayze. There’s that finale number and that infamous line of dialogue. Dirty Dancing is still utterly perfect, even after all these years.

See also: Lone Scherfig’s An Education is another great coming-of-age tale, starring Carey Mulligan.

Look Who’s Talking (Netflix UK), written and directed by Amy Heckerling

It’s Bruce Willis adding the voice to a baby. It’s John Travolta being adorable and funny. It’s Amy ‘Clueless’ Heckerling bringing her bucket loads of charm. What more could you want?

See also: The wit and humour of the first two Look Who’s Talking films are also captured in Clueless, Heckerling’s modern take on an Austen classic. Or you could just watch the next Look Who’s Talking film…

Look Who’s Talking Too (Netflix UK), directed and co-written by Amy Heckerling

Even better than the first in the series, this time Bruce Willis is joined by Roseanne as toddler Mikey gets a baby sister. It’s hilarious and great, great fun.

See also: (see above)

Sleepless in Seattle (Netflix UK), directed and co-written by Nora Ephron

One of the best-loved rom-coms ever made, this Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks classic is a heart-breaking and -mending tale of a man dealing with the death of his wife and a woman who feels drawn to him after he goes on a radio show to talk about his grief. It’s adorable, lovely and full of magic and charm.

See also: You’ve Got Mail reunited Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks and Nora Ephron. Nora directs and Nora and Delia Ephron wrote the screenplay.

What films written or directed by women have you been watching this month? Join the discussion and tweet me at @filmvsbook

You can read the previous months here.