She-watchables Episode 45: Flash Gordon

It’s Betty’s big(ish) birthday this month so she gets to choose the film…what better than one of the better instalments in a thoroughly British franchise? The third Harry Potter film, Prisoner of Azkaban is the point at which spells get real and soup gets hungry. Let’s sit back and enjoy this concise, 142 minute movie before HBO turns it into an 8-episode epic 🪄

This year’s Christmas film has a charmingly home made feel about it, as does our podcast, especially this month’s episode which seems to have been recorded in a cave, by two ill people who have already said all this stuff once but their recording device failed. Anyhoo, Danny Boyle’s 2004 family film Millions is probably one of his least-seen but deserves a wider audience. It’s Christmas-adjacent, featuring as it does a Nativity, St Nicholas, lots of spending and a burglary. It also raises ethical questions such as, Can you really steal something that is about to be destroyed? and Will there be a smoking area in Heaven? Apologies for the sound quality, “normal” service will be resumed in the New Year 🎄😃

This month’s film might look like some Hollywood “content” but it’s actually half Irish (our podcast, our rules!). Steven Soderberg’s 2011 B-movie Haywire has an international cast including the very scary Gina Carano and Michael Fassbender doing his very best Bond audition. There’s no good food but plenty of running, fighting and double-crossing so be warned, podcast contains spoilers!

It’s spooky season again and we’re She-watching one of the all-time classics to celebrate our 50th podcast! An American Werewolf in London needs no introduction (although Alex Cox did a good job back in 1990) but it was new to Betty…tune in to find out what she thinks of this 43 year old iconic horror-comedy. Beware the moon! 🐺 e4380c745926240b682e1d70591a84c354452f72

Our second Taika Waititi film to date, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the funny and heartwarming tale of an odd couple stuck in the New Zealand bush together for complicated reasons…think Thelma and Louise meets Leave No Trace. We invite you to join us as we ramble about arguably (I use the term advisedly 😄) Waititi’s best film to date, but I must advise you that this podcast may contain POETRY.

Proof that a “grown up” film doesn’t have to feature bad language, violence or scenes of a French nature, the 1954 classic An Inspector Calls has adult themes in spades without ever causing offence. Alistair Sim plays the titular “Inspector” who holds a mirror up to the Birling family, and indeed to contemporary society. Are we all in it together? Or is it a dog-eat-dog world? Find out in our latest podcast, and hear our wild 1950s film crossover theory…

We're bang up to date with a modern classic, Takashi Yamazaki's "monster" hit from 2023, Godzilla Minus One. It has everything you want from a monster movie - a flawed but idealistic protagonist, a massive, city-destroying radioactive lizard and a ridiculously improbable plan for disposing of said lizard. And radishes! Check it out on Netflix if you haven't seen it as we'll be spoilering it on this month's podcast (which features our very own gigantic chaos monster in the form of Watson T Cat Esq).

Do you like robots? Do you like cabbages? Then you'll love this month's film, the heart (and spleen) warming Brian and Charles. Jim Archer's 2022 debut feature and quirkfest tells the gentle tale of a lonely inventor in a remote Welsh village who takes "making a new friend" to an altogether more literal level. Next stop Honolooploop!

AH-AH! No, we've not been watching Alan Partridge, but Mike Hodges' masterclass in campery Flash Gordon! The 1980 film and its epic Queen soundtrack are firm favourites of ours and we explain why we love it so much in this month's podcast. And if you think the film's a bit far-fetched, just look at the weather we've been having...

The protagonists in this month’s She-watchable film spend lots of time eating and running, so they’re our kind of people! The 2016 Japanese body swap/time travel animation has been on our hit list for a while, and we’ve managed to get around to it before the Hollywood remake inevitably spoils it for everyone. What would you get up to if you woke up as someone else tomorrow? (Keep it clean please 😄)