Today’s a twofer! Milla Jovovich and Liv Tyler kind of occupy the same pop culture space in my life, seeing as how I am a product of my teenage years in the 1990s. So, since both have a small, yet significant, contribution to historical films, I figured combining them into one post would make sense!
Milla Jovovich
Chaplin (1992)
I tried really hard to find a photo of her that didn’t look like an underage girl in lingerie, and, well, I failed.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
I was all prepared to hate this film when it came out, but was blown away instead.
The Claim (2000)
Don’t remember this movie, but the costumes look decent.
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal’s Caligula (2005)
Yeah, that’s the title. It all seems very conceptual.
The Three Musketeers (2011)
So much lamé in this movie, I couldn’t deal. Though Milla Jovovich makes a great Milady.
Paradise Hills (2019)
High-concept fantasy-historical film, but already looks like it has better costumes than most straight-up historical offerings these days.
Liv Tyler
That Thing You Do (1996)
Allegedly it’s the early 1960s. Allegedly.
Plunkett & Maclean (1999)
Allegedly the 1700s. Allegedly.
Onegin (1999)
Lovely costumes, tragic love story.
Falling Up (2017)
A short film about Amelia Earhart.
Gunpowder (2017)
We tried watching it, but couldn’t make it through more than one episode. That said, we thought Liv’s costumes were really well done.
Harlots (2018-)
By the looks of her Instagram, Liv seems like she’s having a blast on the show, but it couldn’t hold our attention past the second season.
What’s your favorite historical costume role of either Milla Jovovich or Liv Tyler?
“I tried really hard to find a photo of her that didn’t look like an underage girl in lingerie, and, well, I failed.”
Isn’t that kind of the point? Charlie did love his underage girls.
For Liv, my favourites are LOTR (not Historical, I know) l tying with Harlots and Onegin with Plunkett a very close second. For Mila it’s La Pucelle.
I, too, enjoy Liv in LOTR. She manages to speak some rather godawful lines with conviction, and she looks fab.
Still waiting for an Irene Dunne WCW.
I know it’s more recent than you usually do, but I have to put in a plug for Milla Jovovich in Dazed and Confused.
Can I just wax poetic about Plunkett & Macleane for a second? I love a good historical drama as much as (well, more than) the next person, but every once in a while I also love one that is deliberately not adhering to period correctness. Plunkett & Macleane is stylized in a way that just hits all the right notes for me – I love the costumes, the soundtrack, the set design and the casting (particularly Alan Cumming!).
I will brook no criticism of That Thing You Do!. I just won’t. It’s one of those perfect little movies, encapsulated and impervious. The girls look pert and stylish. The boys are all cute and dapper. Chris Isaak, of all people, looks suave, dashing and swoonworthy. The songs are catchy and bouncy. The story is uplifting. The right boy wins the right girl in the end.