Thursday Movie Picks: Mother - Daughter Relationships (Biologically Related)

Every last Thursday of the month, Thursday Movie Picks has a running theme called All in the Family Edition. This week, it's all about mother and daughter relationships. Like last month, I decided to focus on the relationships between the two instead of picking mother-daughter movies. Here are my picks this week: 

I wouldn’t pass up the chance to write about one of my favorite movies from last year! Obvious Child is about a woman who is trying to get her life together, mistakenly labelled as an abortion movie. One of the pressures in Donna’s life to get her act straight is her mother, who is always asking her about the next step she’s going to take. So when Donna is going to get an abortion, the person she was most afraid to talk about her situation with (besides Max) is her mother. So the moment between mother and daughter was a beautiful scene, as it bridges the two of them closer, something that Donna wasn’t certainly expecting.

Whatever happened to Winona Ryder? I haven’t seen much of her filmography but I really enjoyed her performance in Mermaids. It’s a coming of age movie about Charlotte Flax, who lives with her mother and younger sister. Cher was delightful here, and she and Ryder, as well as Christina Ricci had great onscreen maternal bond. This was such a fun movie, a 1990’s favorite of mine.

I guess this is what you can call a twisted relationship, considering how Carrie and her mother are in Brian De Palma’s Carrie. She has been completely sheltered in her life due to her mother’s religious fanaticism and her personal growth has suffered because of it. Both Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie are fantastic in their role, and despite the horrific aspects (not a fan of horror), I really liked the execution of the film. .

31 comments:

  1. Great picks, especially Carrie (actually cheated and went with that last week). Obvious Child was a very solid flick with some really nice performances. Haven't seen Mermaids, yet.

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  2. You have such an interesting blog. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading your posts. All the best for your future blogging journey.

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  3. Carrie! I picked that one, too, Brian de Palma's version, too! Haven't seen Mermaids, but I watched Obvious Child lately. That's an excellent pick, I love that, too!!!

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  4. Obvious Child is the only one I have yet to see.

    Winona Ryder seems to be doing more of the supporting roles now I think.

    Carrie was almost on my list when it was made up of movies filled with toxic mothers.

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    1. I think her last big movie was Black Swan, and she did play a supporting role there. She's talented, I think it was her shoplifting stint that pulled the plug of her career.

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  5. I've heard quite a lot about Obvious Child, particularly in The Guardian which I'm guessing means the film has feminist themes, but I never got round to seeing despite the positive plaudits. I may do so.

    Carrie is a great choice, I can't believe I didn't even think of it! It's perhaps one of most famous ones.

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    1. I think so too, I've also read some who listed Carrie under this category.

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  6. Obvious Child! That an excellent choice. I loved that film. I also picked Carrie, but I've never seen Mermaids. Great picks!

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  7. I never got to see Obvious Child and am still disappointed about it. I will see it eventually. Mermaids has likewise been on my list for quite a while. LOVE Carrie. I almost chose it but figured it would feature quite prominently elsewhere this week.

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  8. I love all these Carrie mentions!

    Mermaids is a great choice here too. I love that movie. Ryder, Cher, Hoskins...they are all so great in it!

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    1. I liked all three of them in this movie, and Christina Ricci as well. She wasn't really doing much, but I like how she added to the dynamic.

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  9. Mermaids, yes! I picked it too. Love it.
    Obvious Child is a cool pick, I watched it not long ago but never would have thought about it for this.

    http://assholeswatchingmovies.com/

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    1. Oddly enough, Obvious Child was the first movie I thought of when writing the post! I thought that their relationship was important because her mother was a driving force when it comes to putting her life together. Also, I think it's because their relationship reflects my current relationship with my mother.

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  10. I haven't seen Obvious Child but the other two are such good examples of the theme. Mermaids is such a perfect vehicle for Cher's quirkiness.

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  11. Mermaids is a great movie and Carrie-that is one nut of a mother

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  12. Nice list this week. I wasn't a fan of Obvious Child when I caught it on TV, haven't seen Mermaids yet but I often wonder what happened to Winona Ryder, her last role I can recall her in was The Dilemma opposite Kevin James, but I didn't think that part fit her very well.. As for Carrie, I love that movie, even for it's twisted storyline. I also chose it for this week's theme.

    Mike's Cinema

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    1. Carrie was a fantastic movie, I didn't bother with the sequels because this one was already perfect.

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  13. Wow! Obvious Child is a great pick. How did I forget about that one? I just saw it not long ago. Also, Mermaids is so great. Good call on that one! I almost went Carrie myself, but it just didn't seem to fit with the others.

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  14. LOVE all the ones mentioned, especially Mermaids! It's so underrated and it's a fantastic movie

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    1. Mermaids was an enjoyable and lovely movie, really liked Winona Ryder in it!

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  15. Nice pick about Mermaids, yeah what happened to Winona Ryder?? I also love her in Little Women, another great film about mother/daughter relationship.

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    1. I haven't watched Little Women yet, but adding it to my watch list!

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  16. Glad someone picked Mermaids

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