Citizen Dame

This week, the Dames are talking about love, true love as we discuss the beloved 1987 fairy tale classic, The Princess Bride. William Goldman adapted the script from his own novel. Rob Reiner directs the film which stars Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn and so many more. Be sure to come back next week when we finish out our...

And we're back! This week, we're talking about Maurice (1987), the Merchant-Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster's startlingly progressive story of homosexual love in Edwardian England. The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems. Next week, we'll be discussing The Princess Bride, so Gen-Xers and Millennials should get real excited!

This month we're traveling back to 1987, starting with the Academy Award-winning romance, Moonstruck. Plot: Loretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry. Directed by: Norman Jewison Written by: John Patrick Shanley Starring: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Vincent...

We close out our Women's History Month discussion of Penelope Spheeris with THE movie of the 1990s: Wayne's World, starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey! Hear about the film that introduced a generation to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and maybe sort of formed Lauren's entire psyche. Next week, we'll be chatting about Moonstruck, so defo prep for that! Party on!

We continue our Penelope Spheeris series with her first narrative feature, Suburbia. Plot summary: Suburbia is director Penelope Spheeris's study of the Los Angeles punk rock scene in the early 1980s. Evan and his younger brother leave their broken home in an attempt to escape their alcoholic mother. They find family in a group of punks who live as squatters in an abandoned house by the side of th...

We're celebrating Women's History Month by discussing some of the best films of the severely underrated Penelope Spheeris, whose filmography is quite something. First up: Spheeris's first feature, The Decline of Western Civilization, an intense, enjoyable, wholly strange documentary about the LA hardcore punk scene in 1979/1980. Even if you're not a punk fan, this is a must-see. We'll be on a brie...

We conclude our David Lynch series with his first Academy Award-nominated feature, The Elephant Man. Released in 1980, John Hurt stars as John Merrick, a Victorian era freak show star whose life changes when he meets Dr. Frederick Treves, played by Anthony Hopkins. But of course, with David Lynch telling the story, there is so much more to it than what lies on the surface.

This week we continue our David Lynch series with Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, the prequel film to the remarkable series. Trigger warning for discussion of sexual abuse/incest.

This week, we continue our David Lynch series by exploring the mysteries of Mulholland Drive. Plot summary: After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality. Written and directed by David Lynch Starring: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Patrick Fisch...

We're back and better than ever! After a brief hiatus while Karen was at Sundance, the Dames return to discuss some of the must-sees of the festival, followed by a deep dive into David Lynch's 1986 masterpiece Blue Velvet, starring Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, and Laura Dern.

This week, we're discussing Andy Griffith's first big screen role in A Face in the Crowd, the 1957 film from Elia Kazan. Griffith stars as Lonesome Rhodes, a wandering musician who is discovered in a small county jail and goes on to become an influential television star. It is a fascinating and timely examination of fame, influence, and the cult of personality. Additional Reading: Vulture Article:...

The Dames delve into the darkness and despair with Robert Eggers's Nosferatu, a Dracula adaptation, remake of Murnau's 1922 film, and work of art all its own.

Welcome to 2025! As we gear up for a new year of exciting episodes and so many movies to talk about, we take a little look back at some of the films we have been watching lately, from Lauren's Hitchcock Year to Will & Harper and Wallace & Gromit, this wide-ranging conversation covers a lot of recent and upcoming releases as well as some of our favorite rewatches. End clip: Demi Moore wins...

Happy New Year from Citizen Dame! For our final episode of 2024, we talk about the hilarious and melancholic The Apartment, directed and written by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon as an office worker who lets executives use his apartment for extramarital affairs, and Shirley Maclaine as the elevator girl he develops feelings for (without knowing she's having an affair of her own). Come for the...

This week, we celebrate the season with Todd Haynes' 2015 holiday romance, Carol. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in this adaptation of the 1952 Patricia Highsmith novel.

The Dames do a double-feature this week with The Bishop's Wife and The Preacher's Wife, in which we try to determine whether Cary or Denzel is the hottest angel committed to film. Jury's still out.

The Dames are kicking off a month of holiday movies, beginning with the 1941 French production, L'assassinat du Père Noël/Who Killed Santa Claus? Directed by: Christian-Jaque Written by: Charles Spaak; based on the novel by Pierre Véry Starring: Harry Baur, Renée Faure, Raymond Rouleau, Robert Le Vigan, Jean Brochard Produced by Continental Films

The Dames close out Noirvember in pulpy style with Samuel Fuller's still shocking The Naked Kiss, starring Constance Towers as a prostitute who moves to a small town and upends its social and sexual hierarchy by actually being a kind, ethical person. (TW for discussions of sexual abuse.)

This week, we discuss Orson Welles' noir classic, Touch of Evil. Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh star as a Mexican official and his wife who find themselves embroiled in a drug trafficking scandal that also involves an American detective (Welles) and his questionable methods of bringing people to justice.

We kick off Noirvember 2024 in style with Charles Laughton's exceptional directorial effort: The Night of the Hunter, starring Robert Mitchum as a fire and brimstone "preacher" who preys on widows in Depression-era West Virginia, but meets his match in two small children hiding an expensive secret. The Night of the Hunter was Laughton's only film as a director, in which he employed a blend of sile...

For our 300th episode, we finally discuss Jennifer Kent's brilliant 2014 horror film, The Babadook.

The Dames interrogate one of the more controversial of the great horror films: 1968's Rosemary's Baby, starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, and directed by Roman Polanski. A complicated, multi-faceted film that's not always easy to talk about, both for its content and the feelings surrounding its director, there's no doubt that we have a lot to say about this one...including whether it might,...

This week, we continue Spooky Movie Month with vampires! Specifically, the 1994 Neil Jordan horror adaptation, Interview With a Vampire. We're talking Tom Cruise, Anne Rice, Louis' incessant whining, and the way Kirsten Dunst would be unfairly branded for years to come.

Spooky season is upon us, which means SPOOKY MOVIES! We kick off this season with a legendary giallo: Dario Argento's 1975 film Deep Red, starring David Hemmings and the remarkable Daria Nicolodi. Murder has never been so weird.

This week, the Dames wrap up Fall Festival season with Taika Waititi's Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit. From (Fox) Searchlight, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. With so much humor and heart, we explore the brilliance of this World War II film told through the perspective of a 10-year-old Nazi.