She-watchables Episode 64: Vengeance Most Fowl

We break tradition this December by She-watching a film which isn’t actually a Christmas film but is Christmas-adjacent, having been watched by millions of people on TV around this time last year. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl was the latest labour of love from Aardman Animations, reuniting scatty inventor Wallace and adorable Gromit with their sworn enemy Feathers McGraw. Having only previously watched it through a carb, sugar and Baileys induced haze last December 25th, we go back and reassess it in the cold light of day and guess what? It’s still 82 minutes of absolute joy. And you can rewatch it yourself in Christmas Day this year, because goodness knows there’s nothing else on 😂

Sometimes, you avoid watching a film, or the work of a particular director, for a long time, making assumptions that you won’t like it. Then you take the plunge and watch one of their top-rated films, fall in love and go back and devour their entire back catalogue.Secrets and Lies is not that film.Mike Leigh’s award winning drama does have a lot to offer with a stellar performance fromBrenda Blethyn as a mother reunited with the daughter she gave up for adoption, but I’m sure everyone on set had a better time making it than we had watching it 😄Apologies to any Mike Leigh fans out there, maybe you could tell us what we’re missing?

It’s spooky season again so we’re putting our big girl pants on and watching another zombie film…however Shinichiro Ueda’s One Cut of the Dead is not just another zombie film! It’s a zombie film squared, more ramshackle than Romero and guaranteed to put you off drinking bottled water for life. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out on Shudder (free trial is available!) BEFORE listening to the podcast and commit to watching past the first 37 minutes whatever happens…🧟‍♂️

We’re celebrating 5 years of She-watchables with a special episode inspired by Snips Video’s “5 Films” feature. We’ve picked 5 films that have a special place in our hearts, and attempted to explain why you should love them too!

Us Northern lasses are venturing into the East End of London for this month’s podcast, but there’s not a jellied eel in sight! Rye Lane is a modern urban meet-cute between Dom and Yas (or Yas and Dom ☺️) who have both become recently single and spend a day together discussing music, ambition, art and burritos. Think Before Sunrise but with more rum and jerk chicken. We hope it will be exactly your…ting!

Betty and Rita have a confession to make…prior to our preparations for July’s podcast (yes, amazingly, we do prepare!) neither of us had seen the 80s classic Gregory’s Girl. We’ve put that right this month as we wanted to celebrate women’s football along with the Lionesses!To hear what we thought of the film you’ll have to tune in to the podcast - will we be over the moon, or sick as a parrot? Whatever the result, I think football will be the winner at the end of the day/film 🦁 🦁 🦁

Better (a month) late than never, we’re celebrating the competition that made superstars of Cliff Richard, ABBA and, erm, Daz Sampson. Both the Eurovision Song Contest itself, and those month’s film ESC: The Story of Fire Saga will probably baffle our US listener but it’s a must-see for any fans of the contest.Filmed in Iceland and the UK, it’s definitely within our remit despite starring Will Ferrell as the international cast balance him out and the European Broadcasting Union itself has blurry borders, incorporating Russia and Australia along with the more traditional European countries. Settle down for a large helping of (Swiss?) cheese and join us as we award Douze points to Fire Saga!

This month we’re showcasing a British film that’s about as well-known as our podcast! Skeletons is a wonderful low-budget gem of magic realism about a company that clears metaphorical skeletons from actual closets which may or may not have inspired “Inception”(please don’t sue).Grab yourself a massive plate of carbs and join us as we say “hello to Jason Isaacs” and try to bring this underrated film to the masses (or at least both of our listeners 😄)

This month we are putting our big girl pants on and She-watching fantasy/horror classic Pan’s Labyrinth about a young girl escaping into her fairy tales from the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. Not for the faint hearted, although disarmingly the horrors come in the shape of real-world fascist Captain Vidal, and not from the creatures in Ofelia’s fantasy world.We establish that it IS rewatchable, despite being gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking. Are there any films you consider to be a masterpiece, yet struggle to rewatch?

What to say about the film Nicolas Cage described as “incredible” and about which Pedro Pascal said “it made me want to be a better man”?*Paddington 2 is that rare beast, no, not just a housetrained brown bear with a penchant for sugary orange butties, but a sequel that’s arguably better than the original movie. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll boo Hugh (Grant) in the first in his recent run of bad guy roles. Like a big bear hug in cinematic form 🐻 🧡*Well, sort of, in a script, in a movie 😄