Ep 182: Romcoms & feminism, from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to Rye Lane + highlights of Venice 2024

In this episode, Anna Smith welcomes film critic Corrina Antrobus back to Girls On Film to discuss her brand new book, I Love Romcoms and I am a Feminist: A Manifesto in 100 Romcoms. Anna is also joined by film critic Jo-Ann Titmarsh who shares her highlights direct from the Venice International Film Festival.

First up, Corrina begins by discussing two Girls On Film romcom favourites - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and She’s Gotta Have It, which both feature in our pod’s intro jingle. She highlights the romcoms that have often been overlooked in the genre, as well as the underlying feminism of the popular, mainstream romcoms which are often dismissed as anti-feminist. Corrina also notes the importance of diverse representation and some of the challenges of finding examples of trans romances in the romcom genre, but that by pushing for change, she has hope that things will change. **Note that there are mild spoilers for classic romcoms in this segment.**

Next up, Jo-Ann shares the exciting buzz of this year’s Venice International Film Festival and discusses her festival favourites. She notes how this year’s fest consists of all-out glamour and fabulous women rocking the red carpet and discusses her film highlights, including her top performances by women including Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and Angelina Jolie. She notes the films to look out for, and ends by discussing the long-awaited sequel to Beetlejuice.

You can buy Corrina Antrobus’s book I Love Romcoms and I am a Feminist: A Manifesto in 100 Romcoms at most book retailers including Waterstones, Blackwells, WH Smith and Amazon.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Wolfs (Jon Watts) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks) - Rent on Google Play, Apple TV, Prime Video She’s Gotta Have It (Spike Lee) - Netflix Rye Lane (Raine Allen Miller) - DisneyPlus Palm Springs (Max Barbakow) - Prime Video While You Were Sleeping (Jon Turteltaub) - DisneyPlus Pretty Woman (Garry Marshall) - DisneyPlus Magic Mike XXL (Gregory Jacobs) - Prime Video, Apple TV Kissing Jessica Stein (Charles Herman-Wurmfeld) - Rent on YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play But I’m a Cheerleader (Jamie Babbit) - Prime Video Happiest Season (Clea DuVall) - Rent on YouTube, Prime Video A Room Next Door (Pedro Almodovar) - Releases 25 October 2024 Babygirl (Halina Reijn). Releases 10 January 2025 Maria (Pablo Larraín) I’m Still Here (Walter Salles) Familiar Touch (Sarah Friedland) Queer (Luca Guadagnino) The Wire (created by David Simon) - Sky, NowTV The Office (US version developed by Greg Daniels) - Netflix, Sky, NowTV, Prime Video Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu) - DisneyPlus Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Tim Burton) - In cinemas Beetlejuice (Tim Burton) - Netflix, Prime Video Firebrand (Karim Aïnouz) - In cinemas His Three Daughters (Azazel Jacobs) - In cinemas Lee (Ellen Kuras) - In cinemas The Queen of My Dreams (Fawzia Mirza) - Releases 13 September 2024

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Host: Anna Smith Executive Producer: Hedda Lornie Archbold Assistant Producer: Jade Evans Intern: Anna Swartz Audio editor: Elliana Jay Hamer House band: MX Tyrants

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