Whip It
Many know of Drew Barrymore as being one of today’s most celebrated actresses, producer and now director, who started her career as one of Hollywood’s most recognised child actors.
But some may not know that she is also a part of a family who are a legendary acting dynasty that have been in the film industry since Hollywood began. Her great grandfather John Barrymore and Great Uncle Lionel Barrymore, were two of Hollywood’s leading men and heartthrobs in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s.
Filmclub’s Season of the Week has selected ten of the best Barrymore films for younger viewers, including the silent and spooky thriller Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920) starring John Barrymore as the title character whose experiments on himself create a monster, the near-perfect crime drama Key Largo (1948) set in a Florida hotel as a hurricane is closing in, starring Lionel Barrymore alongside legendary actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and the Oscar-winning You Can’t Take It With You, a comedy exploring the fireworks that occur when two mismatched families are thrown together, also starring Lionel Barrymore.
Proving her status as one of the acting dynasty’s most popular and accomplished members, Drew has featured in over 40 films, seven of which appear in Filmclub’s Season of the Week, including Drew’s first stand out role in the enduring classic sci-fi story ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982), about an alien, which befriends an family in small-town American, when she was only seven.
Romantic comedies The Wedding Singer, Ever After - A Cinderella Story (1998), 50 First Dates (2004) Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You (1996), the originally sinister mind-bending cult film Donnie Darko (2001) and her directorial debut Whip It (2009) are also featured in the season.
Filmclub Season of the Week: Meet the Barrymores;
Donnie Darko (15)
onnie Darko is a misfit - a troubled 15 year old whose life takes a strange turn when he receives a visit from a giant talking rabbit warning him of the end of the world.
But from there, unlikely as it might sound, things only get weirder - not least when the engine from a plane falls from the sky onto Donnie's house one night, his life saved by what seems a miracle.
Are these two events linked? And just who is the sinister rabbit-man who now keeps re-appearing to tell Donnie to carry out acts of vandalism? The answers lie in this original and mind-bending movie that attracted a major cult following straight after its release in 2002.
50 First Dates (12)
Lucy has a problem - or it might just be a blessing. She wakes up every day with no memory of the day before. That makes things awkward for her would-be boyfriend, Henry, who has to start from scratch each day in his attempts to convince her that he cares for her - trying to avoid getting bored or frustrated himself in the process.
The result is an entertaining reinvention of the romantic comedy, with a pair of likeable performances from well-matched stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
Doctor Jekyll And Mr Hyde (1920 silent) (PG)
Spooky, early silent version of the classic story by Robert Louis Stevenson about a doctor (Jekyll) whose experiments on himself create a monster (Hyde).
ekyll is a good man whose fears that he has a dark side lead him to create a potion to separate the two parts of his character. Silent black and white movies are perfect for this kind of weird story that relies on creepy atmosphere as much as anything else.
ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (PG)
It's not easy being an alien stranded all alone on Earth. ET - the small, strange, ugly but somehow loveable hero of this heart-warming audience favourite - finds a way of getting on with the human children who are initially confused and scared by his presence in their lives.
Full of some of the most magical scenes in movie history, ET: The Extra-Terrestrial has had children and grown-ups laughing and shedding a quiet tear for almost a quarter of a century.
Ever After - A Cinderella Story (PG)
Draped in the lavish scenery of 17th century France, Drew Barrymore stars in this innovative re-telling of a much-loved fairytale. Keen to focus on a Cinderella with a post-feminist twist, director Andy Tennant dispenses with the familiar supernatural exploits here - that means no fairy godmother - and instead empowers our heroine with forthright independence and noble ambition.
With a prince bowled over by her charitable charm, the village looks set to receive a loving royal couple and a grand library to boot. A pair of meddling step-sisters ensure a climatic tussle to sabotage a particularly sentimental happy ever after
Everyone Says I Love You (12)
Woody Allen is best known for New York-set comedies like Annie Hall and Manhattan Murder Mystery - but here the writer/director takes his usual subject matter and filters it through the style of an old Hollywood musical.
A wealthy extended family of New Yorkers, each with their own problems and love interests, burst into song when the mood takes them. With its use of old songs to illustrate modern situations, and a cast who sing with passion (if not always great skill!), this is a warm and joyful mix of comedy, romance and music.
Key Largo (PG)
Sometimes all you need to generate nerve-shredding tension is a group of people in a small space. Until right before it ends, that's exactly how Key Largo works - and the result is a near-perfect crime drama. We're in a remote Florida hotel, a hurricane is closing in, and a big-time gangster has the people who run the place trapped. Will a tough but disillusioned former soldier work up the guts to take on the bad guys - and will it do anyone any good if he does?
The Wedding Singer (12)
How bad was fashion in the 1980s? Actually, no worse than in any other decade since formal dress codes started to crumble in the late 1950s, but for the sake of this sweet, 80s-set romantic comedy, terrible perms and coloured leather jackets are everywhere.
The wedding singer is Robbie, who eventually works out that he is in love with waitress Julia, but then has to find a way of gently letting her known that her fiancé Glenn is a creep. Good jokes, great songs, terrible fashion.
Whip It! (12)
17-year-old Bliss finds life boring and oppressive - like a lot of people, she feels like she doesn’t really fit in where she is from. What she’s certain of is that she hates the beauty pageants her mother forces her to compete in.
Then she stumbles across roller derbies, and despite the fact she can’t really skate and she’s pretty small, Bliss suddenly feels like everything makes a lot more sense. Whip It is a hugely enjoyable comedy that shows girls can enjoy playing tough, bruising sports every bit as much as boys do.
You Can't Take It With You (U)
Based on a hit stage play, this Oscar-winning comedy classic explores the fireworks that occur when two mismatched families are thrown together. On the one side are good-natured eccentrics the Sycamores - on the other, the stuffy, self-important Kirbys.
The two clans meet for dinner when humble secretary Alice Sycamore insists her wealthy fiancé Tony's folks get to know her own relatives. Personalities, culture and class collide - but what Kirby Snr doesn't realise is that Alice's grandfather is the person standing in the way of his latest business project....
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Many know of Drew Barrymore as being one of today’s most celebrated actresses, producer and now director, who started her career as one of Hollywood’s most recognised child actors.
But some may not know that she is also a part of a family who are a legendary acting dynasty that have been in the film industry since Hollywood began. Her great grandfather John Barrymore and Great Uncle Lionel Barrymore, were two of Hollywood’s leading men and heartthrobs in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s.
Filmclub’s Season of the Week has selected ten of the best Barrymore films for younger viewers, including the silent and spooky thriller Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920) starring John Barrymore as the title character whose experiments on himself create a monster, the near-perfect crime drama Key Largo (1948) set in a Florida hotel as a hurricane is closing in, starring Lionel Barrymore alongside legendary actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and the Oscar-winning You Can’t Take It With You, a comedy exploring the fireworks that occur when two mismatched families are thrown together, also starring Lionel Barrymore.
Proving her status as one of the acting dynasty’s most popular and accomplished members, Drew has featured in over 40 films, seven of which appear in Filmclub’s Season of the Week, including Drew’s first stand out role in the enduring classic sci-fi story ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982), about an alien, which befriends an family in small-town American, when she was only seven.
Romantic comedies The Wedding Singer, Ever After - A Cinderella Story (1998), 50 First Dates (2004) Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You (1996), the originally sinister mind-bending cult film Donnie Darko (2001) and her directorial debut Whip It (2009) are also featured in the season.
Filmclub Season of the Week: Meet the Barrymores;
Donnie Darko (15)
onnie Darko is a misfit - a troubled 15 year old whose life takes a strange turn when he receives a visit from a giant talking rabbit warning him of the end of the world.
But from there, unlikely as it might sound, things only get weirder - not least when the engine from a plane falls from the sky onto Donnie's house one night, his life saved by what seems a miracle.
Are these two events linked? And just who is the sinister rabbit-man who now keeps re-appearing to tell Donnie to carry out acts of vandalism? The answers lie in this original and mind-bending movie that attracted a major cult following straight after its release in 2002.
50 First Dates (12)
Lucy has a problem - or it might just be a blessing. She wakes up every day with no memory of the day before. That makes things awkward for her would-be boyfriend, Henry, who has to start from scratch each day in his attempts to convince her that he cares for her - trying to avoid getting bored or frustrated himself in the process.
The result is an entertaining reinvention of the romantic comedy, with a pair of likeable performances from well-matched stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
Doctor Jekyll And Mr Hyde (1920 silent) (PG)
Spooky, early silent version of the classic story by Robert Louis Stevenson about a doctor (Jekyll) whose experiments on himself create a monster (Hyde).
ekyll is a good man whose fears that he has a dark side lead him to create a potion to separate the two parts of his character. Silent black and white movies are perfect for this kind of weird story that relies on creepy atmosphere as much as anything else.
ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (PG)
It's not easy being an alien stranded all alone on Earth. ET - the small, strange, ugly but somehow loveable hero of this heart-warming audience favourite - finds a way of getting on with the human children who are initially confused and scared by his presence in their lives.
Full of some of the most magical scenes in movie history, ET: The Extra-Terrestrial has had children and grown-ups laughing and shedding a quiet tear for almost a quarter of a century.
Tagged in Drew Barrymore