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

At the end of each month, Thursday Movie Picks has an all-in-family edition theme, with this week taking a look at father-daughter relationships. Some of my choices this week are/feel kind of 'out there' for the theme, but I chose to focus on the relationship rather than actual father-daughter movies. Here are my choices this week:


Sofia Coppola’s films are known to be stylish, with Somewhere being a testimony to it. It chronicles the life of actor Johnny Marco as he does his responsibilities in his profession, at the same time try to bond with his daughter who stays with him over the summer. Both Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning were great in their roles, 

What I liked about the Die Hard movies is that they put some sense of reality in John McClane’s life through his family. In Live Free or Die Hard, we meet his daughter who he has a really bad relationship with due to him being absent as a father. As movies pointed out, physically intense experiences tend to bring people together, in which the movie culminates with them at least being a little bit closer, even if the relationship is still strained. 

We don’t get to see much of the father-daughter relationship in Stoker, but the parts we do see gives us an understanding on how Richard, India’s father has coped with the possible psychological thinking of his daughter. He tried to channel her energy in other ways that would be beneficial to her growth. Though it doesn’t technically pay off in the end, I think what’s important is the intention behind it.

24 comments:

  1. Your picks were all great! I love Somewhere so much, as well as Chan-wook's Stoker! Live Free or Die Hard was also a good movie for some people, but honestly, I don't really like it. But, nice picks!

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  2. I've only seen the Die Hard film from your picks, it's hardly the best of the series but the makers are at least consistent in bringing in the kids at appropriate ages and the relationship between them is believably tense. Somewhere is one I've always meant to watch but haven't gotten to yet. I've never heard of Stoker, I'll have to look into it.

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    1. The fourth Die Hard wasn't the best (it's still the original for me), but putting some elements that connect to McClane personally was a nice touch.

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  3. Loving the addition of Stoker! You could really sense how much India loved her father, especially in the contest of her actions in the last 10 minutes

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    1. They don't share much scenes together but their relationship was important in the formation of India's personality.

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  4. Interesting picks, I haven't seen Somewhere but my favourite critic, Mark Kermode, absolutely hated it and went on one of his rants. Reviews overall weren't that bad so perhaps he was wrong on the film

    I've seen Die Hard 4, but not for a while, considerably better than the awful fifth film that's for sure.

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    1. The fifth Die Hard was terrible. I think they're still working on a 6th movie, hopefully it won't be so awful.

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  5. Somewhere is a GREAT pick- I can't believe it didn't cross my mind but it makes me so happy to see it here.

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  6. I LOVE that you chose Stoker. Everything you said about it was true. You could tell how close they are. I don't remember much of Live Free or Die Hard, and I wanted to like Somewhere, but couldn't. I did think the relationship between Cleo and her dad was very intriguing though. Elle Fanning was a gem in that.

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    1. Somewhere was a movie that had to grow on me. Besides Lost in Translation, it's the only other movie I appreciate.

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  7. I'm glad to see mentions for Somewhere. It's my least favorite Coppola, and so I often forget how much I like it (least favorite of a filmography I ADORE), so I'm really glad to see it popping up!

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    1. It was one of the first movies I thought of for the theme, the relationship was integral to the development of the film.

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  8. LOVE Stoker. I almost chose it this week. I really need to see Somewhere - it's the only hole in my Sofia Coppola viewing.

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  9. I choose 2 out of your 3, so... Great choices, really!!! ahha. ;)

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  10. I have not seen any of these. Shame on me!

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  11. I still haven't seen Somewhere.

    I contemplated picking Stoker too. The relationship between them is very strong. India's father is her only friend.

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  12. I wasn't wowed by Somewhere but now that I think about it, the father/daughter relationship is quite good.

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  13. Somewhere and Stoker are great choices.

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  14. Nice picks, though I confess I haven't seen these yet. :)

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