Weepies

CONTENT WARNING: There is discussion of sexual assault and violence in this episode.

Who knew Green Card was a weepy? For a teenage Gabrielle Rumble it certainly was, and remained that way well into her twenties. Will it still have the same weepy qualities with 2022 specs on? 

This week we look at the classic Peter Weir comedy, starring a post-partum Andie McDowell and Gerard Depardieu in his first role in an American film, launching him to international stardom. 

Gabrielle Rumble is the Content Director at ABC Canberra, and one of the favourite friends of Kim and Melanie. 

When the orphan Anne Shirley came to Green Gables, a lot of lives were changed and you've never met a character who got into more scrapes and touched more hearts. 

Yet again, we're weeping to a film about two lonely people having an affair. It's the film that Guardian called the Number 1 Romantic Film Of All Time, and has been recommended to us by the brilliant author and screenwriter Rae Earl. 

Brief Encounter is a 1945 British classic, written by Noel Coward, that tells the story of a brief affair between housewife Laura Jessen and Doctor Alec Harvey, who meet at a train station. 

This is an illuminating discussion on Brits and crying, and class. Don't miss this chat, even if you've not seen the movie. You'll want to after listening to this. 

Gosh, but About Time is a complicated Weepy. 

It's meant to be a rom com, but Mel & Kim wish it was just about a father and son who can time travel (which is where the heart and tears of this story come from).

Written and directed by Richard Curtis in 2013, it was mostly critically smashed, but remains in many hearts because of the howling it produces. 

Podcaster and Comedian Dan Ilic has had a life that's been full of adventure - not unlike Forrest Gump, which is why he's chosen the Tom Hanks classic as his weepy. 

The movie is now baked into our culture through quotes and iconic shots - but does it still have the ability to pull at our heartstrings the way it did in the nineties? 

Do you remember the first time you saw Lion? Can you actually even claim to have seen Lion in its entirety because the tears start so early and don't end? 

Lion tells the story of Saroo Brierly, who was adopted into a Tasmanian family after being lost from his mother and siblings in rural India as a child. When he becomes and adult and learns of Google Earth, he looks for his Indian family. Lion tells that story. Starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. 

Our guest this week to take us through this A+ weep festival is author, podcaster and horse enthusiast Zoya Patel. Zoya's part of our pod family, as it would be - she's the host of Margin Notes (which Kim produces) and Book It In (which Mel was the founding EP on) She's got a unique perspective, and says this movie 'really spoke' to her: Zoya grew up in Australia as part of a Fijian-Indian family. 

We're kicking off our new podcast with the Ultimate Weepy - Beaches, starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. 

It's the story of pen pals who become BFFs. 

Where does it make you cry? Why does it make you cry? How does it hold up in 2022? 

We're going to get into the nitty gritty: who was the better friend? Would you ever tell your bestie her lipstick made her look like a corpse? 

Until then: GUESS WHO GOT THE LEAD IN THE FALCON PLAYERS NEW MUSICAL?!