Aselton picks 5 films about strong women
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The thriller "Black Rock" is about a trio of childhood friends (Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell and director Katie Aselton) who travel to a remote island off the coast of Maine to work through past issues and reconnect. But when it turns out they're not the only ones on the island, they end up having to fight for their lives.
Aselton's film, playing in select cities this weekend and through video on demand nationwide, celebrates the inner strength and resourcefulness women can summon when they're called upon to find it. So it's only fitting that the actress and filmmaker, perhaps best known for her supporting work on the FX comedy series "The League," should choose five favorite movies about strong women who take charge. It's also a pleasure to have her here since her husband, writer-director-actor Mark Duplass, took over the Five Most space last year with a list of great time-travel movies when "Safety Not Guaranteed" debuted.
Here's Aselton, in her own words:
— "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991): You cannot talk female heroines and not acknowledge Sarah Connor, a character faced with not just the challenge of preventing a nuclear war, but protecting her son. The girl is textbook bad-ass. And she has the guns to prove it.
— "Thelma & Louise" (1991): I love everything about this movie, but more than anything, this film illustrates a beautiful, authentic friendship between two women and how deeply fierce a bond like that can run. I love that these two women took the wheel of their lives and take us, as an audience, on an amazing ride.
— "Bull Durham" (1988): Susan Sarandon, again, I know! But the woman epitomizes bad-ass to me perfectly in that she never compromises her sexuality by being strong and smart. The woman makes no apologies in her characters or her performances. As Annie in "Bull Durham," she delivers another one of these amazing performances and cemented her place as "who I want to be when I grow up."
— "The River Wild" (1994): And then there is Meryl Streep. Who is amazing in everything. And while "The River Wild" may not be the highest moment in cinematic history, she plays an amazing mother who finds herself in the extraordinary situation of having to save her husband and son from deranged thieves on the run. Crazy, I know, but it's Meryl, and she does it all on a river raft while navigating rapids in mom jean shorts!
— "Tootsie" (1982): And finally, my favorite kick-ass girl is ... a dude? But Dustin Hoffman's character, Dorothy Michaels, taught us more about being a strong, powerful, compassionate woman in this world than most actual female characters could ever try to do. Dorothy Michaels is certainly a bad-ass role model for us all. And I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes of hers: "Oh, I know what y'all really want is some gross caricature of a woman to prove some idiotic point that power makes a woman masculine, or masculine women are ugly. Well, shame on you for letting a man do that, or any man that does that."
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Think of any others? Share them with AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire through Twitter: http://twitter.com/christylemire
And with Katie Aselton: https://twitter.com/duplaselton
