23.06.25 – 29.06.25

I am so pleased to announce that Week 1 of Hayleigh’s Film Club has passed and I’m here to talk about the three films I watched 👏

Sadly, as the title tells you, week one did not go as I had hoped. And honestly, I think it’s Disney’s fault. Tell me why they decided to take off the Broadway Pro-Shot of Newsies so I was forced to watch the 1992 film version instead? I think I have grounds to sue.

Thankfully, having that re-watch mid-week made the average rating 3⭐, because otherwise I would have struggled to be excited for carrying this on.

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Newsies (1992)

A week in the life of the exploited, child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York. When their publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, tries to squeeze a little more profit out of their labours, they organize a strike, only to be confronted with the Pulitzer’s hard-ball tactics.

Letterboxd

I was raised on Disney, and I have never seen this before and I understand why. This feels like a boy version of Annie, but without an interesting plot and compelling villain. I’m not going to lie, the true events don’t seem that compelling either. And after watching this, I think a musical version on the newsboy’s strike actually makes it less interesting.

Jack Kelly (Christian Bale) is a charming miscreant who takes on the challenges of his fellow newsies, which makes him the perfect poster boy for the strikes against the rising prices of papers affecting them all. Mixed with the intellect of David Jacobs (David Moscow) this could have been much more dynamic.

Unfortunately, the plot is slow going and is bogged down by a lot of meandering and pointless inclusions (yes I’m talking about the romance). Bryan Denton (Bill Pullman), the journalist interested in giving the newsies a voice in the publication space they were protesting, was one of my favourite aspects.

The first half was so boring, while the second was fine. In a musical, sometimes the plot can be secondary if the performance is outstanding. And outstanding this was not. Bless little 18yr old Christian Bale, but that boy should not have had a solo. The ensemble was good, but for the most part it was rough. The boys were all so cute (especially the little ones!) and with better choreography this would have been much more fun to watch.

All in all, this was way too long. Crutchy was adorable. Jack and David are in love.

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The Princess Bride (1987)

In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can’t stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.

Letterboxd

I adore The Princess Bride and I always will. There is such a timeless charm to this film that fills me with joy. Have I wished to be a sick grandchild, so that Peter Falk (aka Columbo!) can read this to me? Of course.

To start off, Robin Wright is stunning, and matching her Buttercup with Cary Elwes’ Westley was genius work. Their actual relationship is underdeveloped, but the whimsy and the concept of true love we grow up with in fairy tales easily makes up for it. Also, watching Buttercup side-eye Westley so much through the Bog of Despair was beautiful.

There are so many iconic duos, the best – of course – being Inigo (Mandy Patinkin) and Fezzik (André Roussimoff). Those two were so lovable in every way and they truly make the film so much more fun. I also love Miracle Max (Billy Crystal) and Valerie (Carol Kane). I could watch countless hours of them just arguing. Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) may not be a great guy, but he always came dressed to impress! I love the costumes in this, especially his outfits and Buttercup’s dresses.

The plot is simple, but there are a lot of fun players that make it so much more engaging. It doesn’t have the best sets or design, but that’s part of the charm, as it feels like we’ve fallen into the storybook.

⚔️⚔️⚔️

The French Dispatch (2021)

The staff of an American magazine based in France puts out its last issue, with stories featuring an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

Letterboxd

I need to lower my expectations when going into Wes Anderson films from now on, especially if there is an ‘anthology’ aspect. We open with learning about the newspaper The French Dispatch and the current owner – Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray), before progressing through an issue.

The plot is both cohesive and not, it’s more that the concept of being a journalist and the inclusion of Arthur which links them tangentially together. The story about incarcerated artist – Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio del Toro) – was interesting and had the most emotional connection (which still wasn’t much), but was too long. Jeffrey Wright as Roebuck was one of the most compelling storytellers, but his piece was boring.

Owen Wilson’s portion of him riding his bike through the more destitute areas and communities as reporter Herbsaint Sazerac was so well designed, but ultimately was more about the performance and sets.

I sometimes wonder why Wes Anderson gets such big names to then underuse and waste their talents and yes I’m mostly talking about Saoirse Ronan here. But even Timothée Chalamet, who has a whole section, felt lacking. I also don’t understand why you would hire a man who speaks French, have others speak French around him in the film, and then not have him speak French.

I saw a review that said this was “style over substance” and I completely agree. I understand that there may be a lot of homage to French Cinema and obviously journalism itself that goes over my head, but I was bored.

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Let me know what your thoughts on these films are!

If you’re interested in joining me next week, the films for week 2 are:

For more information on Hayleigh’s Film Club, check out the announcement post ♥

Thank you for reading!

I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥