Working Girls (1986)

What we see is a day in the life of a brothel working girl. This is no cartoonish whorehouse with supermodels in garter belts sucking poutily on their fingers while lounging suggestively on chaise lounges in a gaudy parlor. These are real-looking women at the workplace.

Nothing unusual happens today. Someone calls in sick, someone has to pick up an extra shift, someone new starts work, lunch is ordered, jokes are shared, co-workers talk about how much they hate their boss, just a normal day, just a normal job.

Only it's not a normal job. This is such an honest film, it blew me away. Prostitution isn't glamorized, nor is its depiction harsh enough to scare you straight. Good script, well worth seeing.

The drawback? Obvious amateurs in most of the roles. Sometimes the acting is wooden -- but it can be forgiven because everything else is anything but.

B-

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Adam Pontifee comes down from his mountain farm to do his shopping for the next five months — he wants the usual staples: meal, tobacco, wife… He tells the skeptical shopkeeper, "I haven't set my mind to somethin' yet but what I've gotten it…I'm here today to get me a wife!" Well, he finds one and she finds out, too late, that he comes with six brothers.

Really fun, great choreography, and it comes with built-in bathroom breaks (any time the women folk break into song, it gets a tad slow). But, all in all, this one's a winner. Great pick for “Family Film Night.”

B