Betty & Rita's She-Watchables Podcast

You might not automatically think that this month’s movie falls within the She-watchables criteria of “British and International films” but it’s our podcasts, and we play by our rules! The 1995 film Babe, based on the children’s book “The Sheep Pig” was genuinely groundbreaking in terms of its visual effects, and was a worldwide smash. We chose it this month because we felt we (and you) deserved a...

We do like a topical film here at She-watchables HQ (election talk is off the menu as it makes us too mad) so we thought this month we’d allude to the lovely weather we usually have at this time of year! Unfortunately, in doing so we seem to have broken the sun, which is coincidentally is the same situation in which eight astronauts find themselves in Danny Boyle’s 2007 sci-fi Sunshine. Amongst ot...

The more observant amongst you may have noticed that there’s a Glen Powell movie in the cinema at the moment that bears a striking resemblance to a stone cold Ealing classic. We won’t be She-watching How to Make a Killing as it falls outside of our (self-imposed, liable to change at any time on a whim) remit but we have enjoyed revisiting Kind Hearts and Coronets, a film mathematically eight times...

Missing the Winter Olympics? This month we’re getting our fix of snowy shenanigans by She-watching the “true story” of “Eddie the Eagle” directed by Dexter Fletcher and starring Taron Egerton as the eponymous ski jumper. Despite (or perhaps because of) the artistic license taken with the actual truth of Eddie’s story, it’s a fun feelgood film that warms the heart like a turquoise ski suit and a sw...

Director Matthew Vaughan seems to have a thing for movies featuring a nerd who becomes a hero and gets the girl (is there something you need to get out of your system, Matthew?). Before Kick-Ass there was Stardust, the 2007 fantasy movie about a meet-cute between a shop boy and an actual celestial star, With a stellar cast including a stunning Michelle Pfeiffer, a pre-Daredevil Charlie Cox and a c...

This month’s movie is all about the Spice. Sadly, it’s not Denis Villneuve’s wonderful space epic Dune, but the 1997 Spice Girls vehicle Spice World. If you really, really, really want to zig-a-zig-ah, you might enjoy this latest she-watch, as uber-Spice fan Betty attempts to convey the charm of the winner of the 1998 Stinker Movie award for Worst Picture to Spice sceptic Rita. All aboard the Spic...

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 pr...

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 from Brenda Bl...

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 po...

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...

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? Wh...

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 Fe...

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 fi...

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...

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...

With the Bond franchise in flux at the moment it’s the perfect time to remind ourselves of one of 007’s finest recent outings. Casino Royale reintroduced James Bond in an origin story that looks both backwards to the classic movies and forwards to the slightly more enlightened post-Bourne spy universe. Mix yourself a Vesliq (shaken or stirred) and enjoy the debut performance of blond Bond before M...

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,...

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 late...

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'...

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!