Women Who Wow Wednesday – Page 4

Ryan Stone

Posted on July 23, 2014July 20, 2014 by Jack Flacco

I have something to say about a woman who doesn’t break down during the time most trying in her life. To see her at her worst and wonder how she’ll ever survive. To know in all that she’s accountable for, she will try her best—no matter what. It’s one thing when a woman says she can fight, but it’s another seeing it done without her ever having to speak the words.

Women Who Wow Wednesday proudly presents Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), the force behind the movie Gravity.

If you’ve seen the film, then you’ll know what I mean when I say Ryan Stone in Gravity lays it all on the line to become a true hero. How else can I describe her other than someone who relies on her ability to endure in order to stay alive?

Ryan Stone reminds me of Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) from the feature Cast Away. In that film, Chuck crashes on a deserted island with little to live on and a willingness to sacrifice with the aim to live another day. Stranded, he does what he can to make it through storms, rain, famine, and the undisputed wall of challenge.

Much like Chuck, Ryan has her work cut out for her. As the lone survivor to a space catastrophe, she bucks the wave of destruction headed her way to push forward and live. One hit after another her determination gives her the optimism she needs to carry onward without complaining. If one challenge doesn’t spark defeat, another waits in the wings for her to recover just enough to hit her again.

Gravity's Ryan Stone — Gravity’s Ryan Stone

The film is a case study of a woman’s resilience to go beyond herself so as she can attain the highest form of praise available—to live. That fortitude within herself is what makes the movie so jarring. Multiple viewings provide the moviegoer a front seat to Ryan’s point of view as the protagonist with a penchant to last against unsurmountable odds.

The best part about Ryan Stone’s character is that no matter how bad it gets, she manages to pull herself from the devastation and fight back. Her character is such that she doesn’t recognize defeat, even during her lowest point. She doesn’t gripe. She doesn’t complain. She has her moment, but then she works through it to become stronger. That strength makes her a survivor.

This is not a review. This is my homage to a character filled with hope. May that hope inspire those who need it the most.

Have you seen Gravity? What did you think of Ryan Stone?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Jade

Posted on July 16, 2014July 15, 2014 by Jack Flacco

She’s rich, he’s not. They’ve known each other for four years, yet they’ve never met. She wants a party and he’s invited. Her red dress excites him and the way she dances, like something out of her ballet recital, makes him crazy. He’s wanted to kiss her since tenth grade. Women Who Wow Wednesday celebrates Jade Butterfield, the free spirited beauty from the movie Endless Love.

Throughout high school, she lived an invisible life. She didn’t have many friends. Her brother was the only person who cared what happened to her. When David (Alex Pettyfer) comes along, she has all she can do to resist the urge to be with him. How can a girl resist David’s interpretation of love?

They have two weeks together. Summer.

Jade (Gabriella Wilde) doesn’t have to put a mask on with David. She can enjoy shows, theater and dance with him. No one has ever come into her life before to make her feel so free. She’s always had someone control her life, whether it was her father or someone else. Real freedom comes to Jade being in love with David.

The realization sets in of how sheltered Jade was growing up. Her new motto becomes, “Let’s be young and dumb.” She has an awakening that sparks something in her to bring her to life.

Her father, though, believes David is not right for his daughter. He can’t accept the fact that Jade’s in love with him. He will do anything to keep her and David apart, including digging into his past for anything that he can use against his daughter’s boyfriend.

Ultimately, Jade’s father doesn’t believe David’s good enough for his daughter.

From there, things get complicated.

Love is worth fighting for. It is. Jade can’t move on without David, even if she has another guy pining for her affection. No matter what anyone says, she will always be his. No one can control what she feels, how she thinks. No one. How does she feel?

If anything’s certain about Jade, she’s her own person and lives a full life without anyone telling her what to do.

Have you seen the movie Endless Love? What did you like about it?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Veronica Mars

Posted on July 9, 2014June 29, 2014 by Jack Flacco

It starts with a simple request: “I need your help, Veronica.” It then balloons into an investigation of incredible proportions. She’s a girl who picks up her private investigator’s license at eighteen. Don’t let that fool you, though. Her crime solving skills came much earlier when her best friend became a murder victim and she wanted to know who did it. It was her way of coping.

If you don’t know Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), then you might enjoy this Women Who Wow Wednesday post, as I, too, have grown fond of this woman of many talents.

Veronica’s private eye bug originated with her father, who was Neptune, California’s sheriff. One day, he goes after the most powerful man in town, and the next day, he loses his job. Not a man for taking a loss, he opens his own P.I. firm called Mars Investigations. It only makes sense that Veronica would work there part time, of course. She naturally has her own caseload to solve and follows her dad in his footsteps.

To understand Veronica is to understand her friends. She loses them all with her father’s sudden unemployment. So much for friends. Her dead friend’s boyfriend, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), however, is especially a cruel soul. Unlike Veronica who searches for her best friend’s killer by investigating leads, Logan’s distrust and rage fuels his need for revenge. Drawn by the common goal of finding a killer, Veronica and Logan become an item. At the same time, those same qualities that draw people together can also tear them apart.

How can someone quantify Veronica’s skillsets? Yes, she’s angry. She’s Vengeful. But there’s more to her than the dark, brooding character some make her out to be. Some folks call her a marshmallow.

Names aside, her strength lies in her ability to see through the confusion. When threatened, she doesn’t stand aside taking it. She dishes it out and ensures no one can make a comeback from her volley. Her idea of a solution is the direct approach. If things get too complicated for her, nothing quite like a right cross to solve a problem.

Her biggest asset is not her skill with a camera. Nor is it having the ability to mimic accents. It’s not even her willingness to dress different, talk different or walk different. Veronica’s biggest asset is the love she has for her dad. In spite of him losing his job, and her friends asking her to choose, without a doubt she chooses her dad. He provides the love and safety she needs to carry forward with her life and not worry what anyone else thinks. He’s her sounding board, always ready to listen, always ready to step in when she’s in over her head. No one else can replace him. He’s her everything.

Veronica Mars may have an attitude, but her will to stand firm in the toughest of situations makes her a true example of what a strong woman is.

Have you seen the Veronica Mars movie? If so, what do you think of it? What do you think of the series?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Jess Bhamra

Posted on July 2, 2014June 29, 2014 by Jack Flacco

When I saw Bend It Like Beckham for the first time ten years ago, I laughed so hard, I never thought I’d recover. Thankfully, I did and now I’m able to tell you about the star character for Women Who Wow Wednesday. Her name is Jesminder “Jess” Kaur Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) and she likes football—soccer here in North America. She likes watching it. Playing it. Breathing it. She’s a regular fan.

One day, Juliette “Jules” Paxton (Keira Knightley) watches her play against the boys and she decides to approach her about an offer that may very well change her life. Jules wants Jess to come along and have a trial with the Hounslow Harriers, an all-girls football team. Jess doesn’t know what to say. She asks Jules if she thinks she’s good enough. Of course Jess is good enough, otherwise Jules wouldn’t have asked her.

There’s one problem. Jess is Indian playing English football. Under normal circumstances, this would be acceptable, but Jess’ parents are very strict about what their daughter can and can’t do with her life. One thing she can’t do is play and horseplay with the boys in the park. This is off limits. They also do not like their daughter to wear shorts, which amounts to revealing too much of herself to the opposite sex. In other words, they do not like her “running around half naked in front of men”. Did I mention her parents are strict? Yeah.

Adding to Jess’ list of “things I hate my parents do to me when I want to do something else,” her mom wants her to learn how to make a full Punjabi dinner—meat and vegetarian. Her parents wouldn’t be able to show their face in the temple otherwise. Did I mention that her parents also forbid her to continue with her football career? They want her to start acting like a real woman, settle down, think about the future and kids, just like her unhappy sister who also follows their traditions in these modern times.

So what does Jess do? She sneaks around, going against her parents’ wishes in order to fulfill her dream of playing in an all-girls football team. Why? Jess feels that if she didn’t try her best with achieving her dream, despite her parents’ wanting her to keep their traditions, then she’d feel like a total failure for the rest of her life with nothing else to live for other than cook, clean, do the dishes, laundry and look after the kids.

Remember, all this is on top of her being the only Indian girl on her team.

If anything’s certain, Jess has a will to overcome. She doesn’t allow the negativity in her life to rule her sanity or her motivation to accomplish her goals.

Jess is a true achiever who is better than “good enough”.

Have you ever heard of the movie Bend It Like Beckham? If you have, what did you like about Jess?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Beca

Posted on June 25, 2014June 19, 2014 by Jack Flacco

Do you know who Mike Tompkins is? I know, strange way to start Women Who Wow Wednesday. He’s the brainchild to the brilliant music videos featuring his mouth. I know, again, strange way to describe what he does. The best description I can come up with is he creates music—vocals and instruments—entirely with his voice and mouth. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s his cover video he produced for Pitch Perfect called Starships by Nicki Minaj. So far, his YouTube channel has had 180,000,000+ views. Yeah, popular guy. Did I mention he’s a fellow Canadian?

The reason I bring him up is his connection with Pitch Perfect, the 2012 musical comedy starring Anna Kendrick in the leading role as Beca, the outcast who’s trying to find her way in college. I won’t spoil the movie—it’s too good to spoil. You’ll just have to see it yourself.

In the film, Beca has a tough time on campus. She doesn’t really fit into any of the student cliques, and the only person who could appreciate her talent happens to ignore her work. But she trudges onward and doesn’t give up on college life. In fact, in an awkward scene reminiscent of Psycho, someone finally recognizes her talent, but she manages to thwart the stalker’s advances. The word stalker is such a harsh word. Let’s replace that with the word admirer.

Pitch Perfect's Beca — Pitch Perfect’s Beca

Not sure what she’s gotten herself into, Beca manages to blend into her surroundings as one of the Barden Bellas, an acapella group specializing in making music with their mouths. She soon befriends the other girls in the group, except the lead, Aubrey (Anna Camp). This is no secret because Beca finds Aubrey doesn’t really get along with everyone in the group anyway. Beca decides to roll with it and works her buns off to make the Bellas a success.

Only, what no one counted on is that the Bellas lack of originality. This, in turn, suppresses Beca’s creativity and makes her regret joining the group. Adding to her misery, she grows quite close to Jesse (Skylar Astin), a lead singer with her competition, *spoiler begin* but then devalues his friendship in a fit of annoyance *spoiler end*.

What drives Beca is her willingness to be different. She observes everyone through the eyes of an outsider and can never really reconcile the fact that others can’t see their inability to break free from their cliques. If Beca had her way, they’d all wear different things. They’d all talk different. And they’d all sing different.

Pitch Perfect is a funny movie and Beca fits perfectly as the black sheep welcoming the audience into her world.

Have you seen Pitch Perfect? What did you think of the movie and of Beca?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Jamie Sullivan

Posted on June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 by Jack Flacco

I don’t talk about God much. If anything, I sometimes hint at what I believe, but I don’t make it a personal mission to preach. I leave that job to the preachers. I’ve had folks, though, who have asked me what I believe, and it’s with some reservations I tell them.

In the movie A Walk to Remember, Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore), however, doesn’t hold back. She loves God, and she’ll take every opportunity to show it. You see, Jamie comes from a strict Baptist background. Her father (Peter Coyote) is the town’s minister and her mother passed away some time ago. She enjoys lending a hand at the orphanage, working with animals, and taking care of her father. No one’s ever asked her out on a date, but she’s quite fine with that. She’s happy living a quiet life away from what the other teens at her school are doing. Her most prized possessions are the sweater she wears every day and her bible.

When Landon Carter (Shane West) walks into Jamie’s life, she doesn’t think anything of it. After all, he’s part of the popular crowd and to other girls, he’s worth falling over to get his attention. If anything, she’s happy to have a new friend, regardless of his troublemaking ways. Jamie considers him an accomplished goal. Her number forty-two on her to-do list—to befriend somebody she doesn’t like.

Jamie’s to-do list also contains some other notable goals such as spend a year in the Peace Corps, make a medical discovery, be in two places at once and get a tattoo. Her number one goal is marry in the church where her mother grew up and her parents were married.

Aside from Jamie’s lofty ambitions, she’s also not shy with speaking her mind. Thinking Jamie to be a pushover, one of Landon’s friends stands on the receiving end of her quick wit:

Another aspect of Jamie’s character is having the wisdom to see where things are going with her friendship with Landon. She asks him to promise he won’t fall in love with her. A silly request, but she asks it anyway given her circumstances.

The funny thing is how can Landon help not falling in love with Jamie? The truth is more powerful than fiction as is Jamie’s friendship with Landon. They can’t run from feeling what they feel for each other, but more importantly, Jamie sees Landon’s love by everything he does for her. His actions speak more than words.

And this is where I have to stop. I can’t continue without revealing spoilers. Suffice it to say, Jamie is selfless in every way a person can be selfless. She loves Landon more than words can express. And she is more of a woman than anyone could ever imagine hadn’t it been for Landon walking into her life.

I’m proud to feature Jamie Sullivan for this week’s Women Who Wow Wednesday post because she represents freedom—freedom from the typical Hollywood love story, and freedom from the heroine stereotype often posed in stories like this.

What do you think of A Walk to Remember? What do you think of Jamie Sullivan?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Evelyn

Posted on June 11, 2014June 2, 2014 by Jack Flacco

The Mummy is one of my all-time favorite movies. From the opening scene where the camera pans a sunset-filled Egyptian landscape to the daunting live action sequences dominated by thrilling stunts and unbelievable special effects, the film was a massive box office success in its day. To add to the praise, it has aged well over time, too.

The Mummy centers on the Egyptian high priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) who rises from the dead in search of body parts in order to fulfill his desire of reuniting with Anck-Su-Namun (Patricia Velasquez), Pharaoh’s mistress, who took her life after soldiers had discovered of her dalliance with the high priest. Cursed forever, Imhotep was to remain undead in his sarcophagus. When he escaped, he became a walking disease among humans, a flesh-eater with unbound strength and power over the sands all the while possessing invincibility.

In the meantime, wisecracking adventurer, Richard O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) has his hands full. Not only does he have to contend with Imhotep’s uncanny ability to destroy everything in his path, but he also has to deal with a nasty desert environment, supposed friends ready to betray him, and weird bugs that could eat him whole. And right at the top of the list is Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz), the comely brunette who has a knack with getting in trouble.

Born in London, England, at a young age, Evelyn gained a deep appreciation of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Her father grew in fame as an explorer and married an Egyptian woman who became Evelyn’s mother. Evelyn loved books and because of that love, she applied to Bembridge scholars in England. However, they denied her application citing her lack of experience in spite of her expertise in Egyptology. She soon went to work for the Cairo Museum of Antiquities as a librarian, but this, too, became a disaster when she accidentally destroyed shelving meant to house rare and valuable books.

When Evelyn meets Richard for the first time, she has all she could do to remain calm from his foul mouth. After another insult from him, she stands her ground saying, in no uncertain terms, “I beg your pardon.” She will not take invectives from a barbaric prisoner of war ready for the gallows. Yet, she lets the personal affronts pass and keeps a distance from him, asking him about Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead where Imhotep had taken Anck-Su-Namun’s body the first time he attempted to raise her from the dead.

After several episodes where they experience a brush with death, Evelyn and Richard becomes a winsome pair on a journey to discover the secret to the mummy’s tomb. What Richard lacks, Evelyn compensates. As opposed to going into a fight with guns blazing, Evelyn prefers using craftiness to get to the core of a situation. That craftiness though, works as a double-edge sword getting Evelyn, more times than not, into added trouble.

Regardless of Evelyn’s penchant for stirring a hornet’s nest, she truly belongs in the Women Who Wow Wednesday series for her sheer tenacity and downright nerves. No mummy ought to be messing with this lady.

What do you remember of the movie The Mummy? Have you ever been able to relate to Evelyn Carnahan?

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