Many dreadful filmshave managed to wind up in the public domain over the course of the past centurybut few have managed to penetrate the public psyche in quite the same way as Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 disasterpiece The Room.Once proclaimed ‘the Citizen Kane of bad movies’ the longevity of the film is by virtue of it having joined that league of greats to be proclaimed ‘sobad, it’s good’. Now, James Franco directs, writes and stars in The Disaster Artist, an ode to awfulness and tribute to misguided dreams.
A grim resolve opens Dee Rees’ Mudbound. Gloomy skies pry above and a grave is dug below. ‘We’re not going to make it’ says a man to his brother, ‘We will. We have to’ comes the reply. By the time the pair discover a long-buried slave’s skeleton, a tone has been set and a direction established. What follows is something of a spiritual sequel to Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, bolstered by terrific performance and a solemn morale which hits hard.
Billie Jean King’s tennis match against Bobby Riggs in 1973 proved to be a more important and significant moment in the history of gender equality than anyone could have possibly predicted.
In celebration of the release of Battle of the Sexes, we’ve picked out five great films about the ongoing, and far from over, battle for women’s rights.
The Film Blog 