15 Favourite Redheads From the Movies...

Brave came out this week, and I have to say, Princess Merida's curly red hair was definitely the best thing I've seen in a long time. As most of you know, I'm a huge fan of red hair - in fact I once tried to dye my own hair red but then I realised that it was only ever meant to be boring brown. So why don't we celebrate the coolest red heads in cinema, whether they be actors/actresses or characters. And no, there'll be no Weasley family. They're awesome, but I feel like they're exempt because everyone knows how awesome they are anyway...

15. Victoria 'Vicky' Page from The Red Shoes.

The Red Shoes is based around some, well, shoes that are red. I guess it helps that the main character Vicky, played by Moira Shearer in her debut performance, has hair that practically matches the shoes that end up destroying her life. It also helps that this 1948 classic has one of the best uses of colour that I've ever seen. And no, I don't think that just because of Moira's beautifully fiery hair...or do I?

14. The natural, but part-time ginger McSexyPants - Michael Fassbender and Tom Hiddleston.

These guys were born and bred guys with hair that's red (ha, I should so be a rapper), but you wouldn't exactly think "oh, they're red heads!" That's because their red doesn't go as far as Merida's, yet if you look hard enough, it is there. Even though I hate Hiddles for his perfection and Fassy for his sharky smile, they had to sneak in a mention. Because they're both great advocates for ginger pride.

13. Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic.

From what I hear, Leo-Mania wasn't the only thing that came out of James Cameron's mega-squillions hit Titanic. Kate Winslet, sporting the most luxurious bright red curly hair (in fact, she is pretty much a real life Merida), one over the hearts of many, and sparked a bit of a trend. I mean sure, there was a love affair between the poor Jack and the rich Rose which was doomed thanks to that ship not being 'unsinkable', but I was having a love affair with Rose's hair. Any time Kate wants to go back to red, I'll be happy.

A Conversation with I Don't Know How She Does It

Most of you probably haven't seen Sarah Jessica Parker's latest War Horse I Don't Know How She Does It, but that doesn't matter. Our 'interviewer' Christopher (named after the ginger cat I never got for my birthday) is going to interview it since it is the perfect film to interview (you'll see why). Basically, if you're new to all of this: I rebooted this series about a couple of weeks ago - missing those weeks because of the Oscars and a school trip - where my fake interviewer Christopher 'chats' to a specific movie. You can find past entries here. Let's get into it, shall we?

CHRISTOPHER: Hi there. I think the obvious question to start with is why the hell do you have such a stupid title?
I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT: Because, silly, who does know how she does it?

C: What, how does Sarah Jessica Parker still keep getting work?
IDKHSDI: No. What I intend for the audience to see is the ins and outs of being a mother. And everyone has to look up at our heroine, Kate Reddy and say "I don't know how she does it!" every five minutes. It is all about girl power, girlfriend.

C: Well in that case, I'm glad that I'm fake so I don't have to have children and have a wife running around like her.
IDKHSDI: I'm obviously not for males. I'm for mothers to put their hands up to and worship, since I am obviously the bible for the working mother.

C: With Sarah Jessica Parker playing your heroine?
IDKHSDI: ...yes. You saw Sex and the City. That was the bible for the fashionable woman! This is like, the sequel.

C: The sequel where Carrie Bradshaw catches lice?
IDKHSDI: Yes.

C: And doesn't bake anything for the bake sale so she just buys a pie from the shop?
IDKHSDI: ...yes.

C: And just about has an affair with Pierce Brosnan?
IDKHSDI: ...yes...

C: Wow, I really don't know how she does it.
IDKHSDI: Exactly. She has to deal with all of those problems.

C: Okay, so you are a girl power movie being the bible for the working mother. But why are you made in such a strange way?
IDKHSDI: I am made in a documentary style so it all feels more real. So everyone can somewhat relate to it. And how else could we get across the point that Kate Reddy is so amazing? We had to tell the audience all the time just to remind them. Just in case the title wasn't enough of a clue.

C: Have you ever heard of something called subtlety? It is in right now.
IDKHSDI: Considering one of the highest grossing movies of the year was Transformers: Dark of the Moon - which was not very subtle - I was going with the crowd. I was just expanding that idea.

C: But why did you have to have so many annoying characters explaining a character just as annoying?
IDKHSDI: Have you not read the chick flick handbook? It says that behind every lead female character, you need the trusty best friend who feels the need to crack dirty jokes all the time (Christina Hendricks), the sassy guy friend (Seth Meyers), the nemesis who may look like the perfect mother but actually isn't and has anger issues (Busy Philipps), the younger girl who idolises the heroine but can't get her life straight (Jessica Szohr) and the uptight career obsessed woman who won't let anything get in her way, including emotions (Olivia Munn). And then there's the people who don't have to explain them: the men. The doting husband who is so sensitive of course we have to feel sorry for him (Greg Kinnear), the over-powering 'I wish I was more family-oriented' workaholic (Pierce Brosnan) and the mean 'I don't give a shit' boss (Kelsey Grammer). All of these people are supposed to generate support and emotion towards Kate Reddy, obviously.

C: And is breaking the fourth wall another technique to get us to care about Kate Reddy?
IDKHSDI: Of course we need to know what she's thinking all of the time. And if SJP's husband can do it in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, then she can too.

C: Ah, but you see, that was actually a good movie.
IDKHSDI: And I'm not?

C: Unless you count having every cliché in the book. Mind you, I now know why you have that stupid title. If any woman makes it through this movie, then she I don't know how she does it.
IDKHSDI: See? My title is great after all.

What I got:

Some Heroes Are Real.

Film: Drive
Year: 2011
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Written by: Hossein Amini
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Kaden Leos, Russ Tamblyn.
Running time: 100 min.


With a title like Drive, you'd instantly expect it to be filled with car chases which coincidentally have guns involved and then the cars explode and this is what we call entertainment. Some lady thought that and went as far as to sue the makers because it wasn't like Fast & Furious. She is silly. Drive is the kind of movie that happens slowly, yet realistically. You don't expect one person to possibly go through lots of car chases and explosions just because they're mildly talented at driving a car, right? No. Drive follows the unnamed Driver (Ryan Gosling), who is a Hollywood stunt driver by day, and moonlighting as a getaway driver for robberies by night. He falls for his neighbour, Irene (Carey Mulligan), who has a son and a husband in jail. Her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) gets out of jail, and it turns out that trouble has followed him so he asks the Driver to help him out with a routine robbery. As it goes wrong, the Driver discovers that there's a bag of money at stake and there are some gangsters after Irene and her son, who the Driver is keen to protect.