The MoFo Top 100 Films Directed By Women: The Countdown

Two more from my list. Awakenings was my #16 and Fast Times was my #7.Awakenings is very sentimental, but most of the sentiment is earned. It's meant as a crowd-pleasing entertainment with a bitter pill to swallow in the end, and as that, it succeeds wonderfully. De Niro and Williams are both impressive and there are also dark undercurrents throughout.
Seen 88/88
My List
2. Olympia (41)
3. Olivier, Olivier (76)
4. Wonder Woman (17)
5. The Piano (21)
7. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (14)
8. 13th (51)
9. The Matrix (20)
11. A New Leaf (67)
12. Europa Europa (24)
13. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (38)
16. Awakenings (13)
17. The Heartbreak Kid (45)
19. Sleepless in Seattle (15)
20. Frida (49)
21. Harlan County, USA (71)
22. Bound (90)
24. A League of Their Own (19)
25. Detroit (40)

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I liked Fast Times but didn't vote for it. I've never seen Awakenings.

I haven't seen Fast Times - I should change it
Awakening was good, but I didn't vote for it.

Fast Times was an old high school favorite of mine with it being the tail end of my very high school daze, though I have not seen it for a decade at least. Though I'm sure I'd enjoy seeing Sean Penn as the high-on.
The Awakenings is a great film and highlights Robin Williams' dramatic skills, from what I remember.
Enjoy them both very much though neither made my list.

Watched: 27/86
#1 A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
#2 Titus
#3 The Matrix
#4 Voices
#5 Fingers crossed on making it
#6 Ravenous
#7 If it hasn't it won't, but hey, it is, kind of, a musical, so. . .
#8 Morvern Callar
#9 It might, maybe
#10 The Ascent
#11 Chocolat
#12 Little Women
#13 Orlando
#14 Don't see too many folks voting on this, but still, wonderful film
#15 It won't. Oh well
#16 The Dressmaker
#17 Tank Girl
#18 A League of Their Own
#19 A comedy that might yet pop up. A Dark Horse call, if you will
#20 Don't see it happening
#21 Another wonderful flick that won't make it
#22 The Hitch-hiker
#23 Annnd, that's right, more Penny Marshall love - thank you
#24 Still possible
#25 Hope and a prayer for this one

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I haven't kept up much with new release movies, but I watched Wonder Woman for this countdown. I thought it was one of the better DC movies, but it was still only just okay. (I guess I'm more of a Marvel fan than a DC fan.) I'm not surprised that it made the countdown because it's a more well known movie that was directed by a woman, so it was probably watched by more people, but it's a bit higher on the list than I expected.


Yes, it was Sleepless in Seattle. I love rom-coms, and this is one of my favorites. It was #12 on my list.


I think Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a pretty good teen movie, but it's far from one of my favorites. (Although I like Ray Walston as Mr. Hand.) I watched this movie a lot when I was younger, and I considered it for my list, but as I watched more and more movies for this countdown, it was of the early movies cut from my list.


I watched Awakenings a while back, and I liked it enough to consider it for my list, but it didn't make my final list. I think it might have made my list if I could have found time to rewatch it before submitting my list.

Ah, one more added to my list:

#73 Children of a Lesser God Randa Haines
#72 Clueless Amy Heckerling
#66 Thirteen Catherine Hardwicke
#62 Something's Gotta Give Nancy Meyers
#47 Real Genius Martha Coolidge
#45 The Heartbreak Kid Elaine May
#34 Wayne's World Penelope Spheeris
#22 Monster Patty Jenkins
#21 The Piano Jane Campion
#16 The Babadook Jennifer Kent
#17 Sleepless in Seattle Nora Ephron
#13 Awakenings Penny Marshall

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Gutted good ol Andrea missed out on the top ten. I checked my list and I had this at number 1 and American Honey at 2, but both are interchangeable for me.
To me, she's one of the best directors out there regardless of gender, and I think she's underrated a bit because of her style, which I'll admit is polarising. She's experimental and takes risks (Katie Jarvis and Sasha Lane were literally strangers she scouted in public places) and yet she gets them to convey emotions and moments that thespians would struggle at. Like I said before as well, she manages to capture that significance in the small interactions that no one else matches for me. I'm always excited to see her films as they're always, without fail, original.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Thirteen - Catherine Hardwicke
6. Clueless - Amy Heckerling
7. The Babadook -Jennifer Kent
8. The Invitation - Karyn Kusama
9. A League of Their Own - Penny Marshall
10.
11.
12.
13. Across The Universe - Julie Taymor
14. Boys Don't Cry - Kimberly Peirce
15.
16.
17. Monster - Patty Jenkins
18. Wonder Woman - Patty Jenkins
19. Now & Then - Lesli Linka Glatter
20. You've Got Mail - Nora Ephron
21.
22. Deep Impact - Mimi Leder
23. Wayne's World - Penelope Spheeris
24.
25. Nowhere Boy - Sam Taylor-Johnson


The Babadook - The one thing I took away from this film, aside from the annoyance of children, was the colour palette of the house reflecting her current state. She is depressed and alone, despite the presence of her child constantly. The house is bleak and blue. The art direction was superb. The film digs towards the maternal fear with pin point precision. Mother - Child horror films are common, their is a bond there that likes to be played with and Kent manages to blend these elements to great effect.

I can somewhat relate to the mother here, feeling drained of life, I can't even begin to imagine going at parenthood alone, that would be more terrifying than any creature from under the bed.


Wonder Woman made my list, it was a nice change of pace for the DC superhero films, a typical fish out of water story elevated with the on screen presence of Gadot and her chemistry with the always reliable Pine. Might have scored higher if it didn't fall into the generic superhero third act, one that specifically plagues DC films. Super jump here, crash there, repeat. Still happy to see a film with a female lead and female director destroy Batman VS Superman, Justice League and Suicide Squad, being one of 3 films to break 400M for DC. The other two belong to some guy named Nolan.

A League of Their Own - Great film with a great performance by Tom Hanks. One my wife enjoys a lot actually.

Wayne's World - Funny SNL skit that manages to transfer the laughs to a feature length movie SNL films tend to crash and burn, but this one has stayed in the minds of people years after the fact. Would love to see Myers stage a comeback, we need more funny Canadians on the screen.

Boys Don't Cry - I have to revisit this, but I remember liking it at the time. Strong performance and a story that matters more now than it did back then.

Monster the film that made people take Theron seriously. No longer the pretty model in films, she brought this monster of a character to life. Gritty film to match the performance.

Fast Times is a film I haven't seen in full. I like Awakenings but felt like Penny Marshall had one too many films on my list.

As mentioned before I didn't qualify The Matrix on my own list. Had it been directed by them today, it would. Just my opinion.


As for films I don't expect to see, it's a shame that #21 most likely won't make it, probably because not many people saw it.

#24 was a stretch and the movie was just light and fun.

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Suspect's Reviews

Did I miss Lady bird showing up?

No...what are YOU talking about?

No, Lady Bird hasn't shown up.

I haven't seen either Fish Tank or Boys Don't Cry (though I remember catching part of the latter on television many years ago, including the ending). Still intend to see both, though.

Anyway, what are people going to pick for the top 10? I will be very surprised if anyone gets the right order.

I predict Lady Bird and Lost in Translation show up

Boys Don't Cry was my easy #1, and should probably be in my top 10 overall. Hilary Swank's performance is maybe the best I've ever seen, male or female. It's one of the most powerful movies I've ever seen, making me feel physically ill every time I watch it. Most importantly, it's the only movie I can think of that makes me want to be a better person.

I had never heard of Fish Tank before this countdown came about, and it also made my list.

1. Boys Don't Cry (#11)
4. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (#14)
5. Mikey and Nicky (#39)
6. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (#59)
7. The Virgin Suicides (#29)
9. Bound (#90)
11. American Honey (#23)
13. Detroit (#40)
14. Nothing Bad Can Happen (#51)
15. Harlan County U.S.A. (#71)
16. The Heartbreak Kid (#45)
17. The Edge of Seventeen (#98)
18. Fish Tank (#12)
21. Sleepless in Seattle (#15)
24. Deep Impact (#87)
25. Private Parts (#96)

Shot in the dark-

10. Zero Dark Thirty
9. American Psycho
8. The Hurt Locker
7. We Need to Talk About Kevin
6. Strange Days
5. Lady Bird
4. Lost in Translation
3. Point Break
2. Big
1. Near Dark

1. Lost in Translation
2. Hurt Locker
3. Point Break
4. Big
5. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Away From Her
7. Near Dark
8. American Psycho
9. Lady Bird
10. We Need To Talk About Kevin

I guessing it will be Bigelow heavy.

Well, the people do love Blue Steel.

I saw Blue Steel at the movies and liked that too.

Fish Tank was on my list.