Thursday Movie Picks: Femme Fatales: Wandering through the Shelves hosts a weekly movie challenge in which you choose 3-5 movies based on that Thursday’s theme and explain why you chose those movies. Today’s theme is Femme Fatales, so here are my choices!
jessica rabbit (who framed roger rabbit)
The first “femme fatale” I can ever remember seeing in a movie – Jessica Rabbit! Roger’s sexy toon wife, Jessica, gets caught up in the murder mystery for which her husband is framed. Katherine Turner’s husky voice was really perfect for the role, and I remember thinking how badass Jessica seemed to be. I was also envious of her cleavage at the time. Not so much anymore because… oh man, the back pain!
amy dunne (gone girl)
After discovering her husband’s infidelity, Amy Dunne concocts a diabolical plan of revenge. Having read the book, it was difficult to imagine anyone really inhabiting the role of Amy, but Rosamund Pike was absolute perfection, and I still think she was robbed of that Oscar. Amy is so cold-blooded, but at the same time… I mean… you can’t help but maybe feel some satisfaction for her success. Her husband Nick is an absolute garbage person, also played to perfection by Ben Affleck. These two really do deserve each other. But yes, Amy Dunne is one of my favorite movie/book characters. I am not sorry!
DOMINIKA EGOROVA (red sparrow)
Red Sparrow is a 2018 spy thriller that flew under the radar. Jennifer Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova, a Russian ballerina whose brutal injury ends her career, leading her to the Sparrows, a group of SVR operatives who seduce their targets with sexpionage. It’s a bit of a mind-bendy thriller where you constantly question who Dominika is and what her end game might be. I’m probably in the minority, but I really enjoyed this one.
Sonia
September 23, 2021How have I managed to remove Jessica Rabbit from my mind? I mean, she is THE femme fatale! And also the first one I saw in a movie.
Sara
September 23, 2021Yes! To me, Jessica is the epitome of femme fatale!
Joel
September 23, 2021I love that you went with Jessica Rabbit!! But she wasn’t bad….just drawn that way! Even for someone who is animation adverse like me Roger Rabbit is a terrifically fun picture. Jessica is an amalgam of so many of the noir goddesses of the 40’s & 50’s but mostly a blend of Veronica Lake and Rita Hayworth. Kathleen Turner’s vocal work is so perfect at capturing the feeling to add that extra snap to the role.
I wasn’t as enraptured of Gone Girl as I’d hoped to be. Rosamond Pike was terrific as always but it didn’t work for me overall. I doubt I’ll ever watch it again.
I never bothered with Red Sparrow since several people who I spoke to said it was disappointing flat but if I ever run across it for free when it’s about to start I’ll probably give it a look.
I took the deep dive into that land of classic noir that Rita and Veronica inhabited since I’m an enormous fan of the genre. I could have come up with dozens of titles, and did in my preliminary list!, but I’d used many of them before. Eventually I was able to get down to these four great ones.
Murder, My Sweet (1944)-Private dick Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) is hired by lumbering Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) fresh from the slammer to track down his former girlfriend Velma. Simultaneously he’s commissioned to accompany flashy playboy Lindsay Marriott (Douglas Walton) to buy back a stolen necklace. When the exchange goes wrong and the playboy is murdered Marlowe can’t leave the case alone, and soon discovers it’s related to Malloy’s. As he pursues answers he is drawn deeper into a complex web of intrigue by the sweet Ann Grayle (Anne Shirley in her final film) and her detested stepmother, the mysterious and potentially lethal Helen (Claire Trevor). Suddenly the detective finds his own life in increasing jeopardy. A seminal film in the noir canon which turned the already famous Claire Trevor into the acknowledged Queen of Noir.
Hangover Square (1945)-In Victorian London composer George Bone (Laird Cregar) is struggling to complete his concerto, the stress of which is causing periods of blackouts where he fears he is committing unspeakable acts. Instructed by his doctor (George Sanders) to relax Bone begins to frequent a dance hall and becomes obsessed with the beautiful but duplicitous saloon singer Netta (Linda Darnell). Netta leeches onto the hapless musician manipulating him with false promises to extract songs to further her career. When George realizes he’s being played for a fool destruction is eminent for all. This was famed villain Cregar’s shot at leading man stardom which he desperately craved. A big man who tipped the scale at over 300 lbs. he went on a crash diet to lose 100 of those before production began leading to a heart attack and his death at 29 shortly after the film’s completion.
Too Late for Tears (1949)-With the cops in hot pursuit fleeing robber Danny Fuller (Dan Duryea) frantically tosses a valise full of cash from his car with it fortuitously landing in the passing car of Jane and Alan Palmer (Lizabeth Scott & Arthur Kennedy). The Palmers at first plan to return the money but then Jane realizes she can escape her humdrum life and transforms into a rapacious and ruthless schemer who will do whatever is necessary to keep the loot no matter the cost or who will have to pay.
Human Desire (1954)-After instigating a fight brutish Carl Buckley (Broderick Crawford) is canned from his railroad job. Bitter and frenzied he coerces his young wife Vicki (Gloria Grahame) to use her wiles on her former paramour Mr. Owens (Grandon Rhodes) now Carl’s boss to try to gain his job back. It works, but Carl in a jealous rage convinces himself that Vicki and Owens are involved romantically and murders the man, forcing Vicki to become his accomplice. Sick of her husband’s violent ways, Vicki seduces Jeff (Glenn Ford), one of Carl’s coworkers, and ensnares him in a plot to murder her husband but that path may lead to doom for them all.
Ronyell (a.k.a Rabbitearsblog)
September 23, 2021Oh man! How did I miss Jessica Rabbit? I used to watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit all the time when I was little! Anyway, awesome list!
Brittani
September 24, 2021Jessica Rabbit is the first one I thought of! lol. I never did see Red Sparrow. I was tempted to go with Amy but I always pick Gone Girl for something.
ThePunkTheory
September 26, 2021Red Sparrow sounds really interesting! I need to check that one out at some point 🙂
birgit
September 30, 2021I love that you picked Roger Rabbit. She would have major back pain but as she said, she was just drawn that way. Gone Girl is great and I remember Rosamund Pike’s performance as brilliant;t Nd that one scene…shocking. Affleck’s character is an idiot but more likeable than his nutjob wife. I have not seen the last one but others have chosen this one too.
Wandering through the Shelves
September 30, 2021Jessica Rabbit – yes the back pain…it’s the kinda thing that just doesn’t get mentioned. Makes you wonder how someone like Dolly Parton copes.
I like Red Sparrow. I would also recommend Anna (2019) if you like Red Sparrow.