"My Brilliant Career" Is, Um, Brilliant

I canceled Netflix (brush aside a tear for the 180+ queue I'd amassed--gone in seconds) a month ago in anticipation of the big move, so last week I had to slum it down to the the local Blockbuster to pick out a movie. How old-fashioned of me, no? It turned out to be a good thing though. Gillian Armstrong's My Brilliant Career (1979), based on a novel by Miles Franklin, stars Judy Davis as an ambitious Australian gal with growing pains. Her relatives are exasperated by her hijinx (wink, wink) as is her noble young suitor (Sam Neill), but the girl can't help herself. I won't spoil the fun for you by revealing any more of the plot. However, if you're not enticed enough already, there's an undeniably swoonworthy pillow fight and the film was nominated for a Best-Costume Oscar. --Kim