SUMMER BOX OFFICE REPORT:
WOMEN RULE THE ART HOUSES
“…One would be hard-pressed to find an example
of such dominance in specialty summers of yore…”
It’s what I keep saying, folks: You DO NOT have to see s&%t just because it’s easy. Find someone you trust (hopefully me), & you’ll soon discover all the wonderful films (like Winter’s Bone) available to you in theatres if you just know where to look!
Shout-Out to Peter Knegt: Thanks, Buddy J
31.Aug.10 
Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists 
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Kudos to activist blogger Melissa Silverstein for her great new logo, playfully simulating movie clapper imagery (”Take One: Action!” ) but also visually communicating the gap between where women are in Hollywood right now (at an angle) versus where we have every right to be (fully equal).
Melissa is now one of Third Wave Feminism’s most prominent cyberspace voices, & her WOMEN & HOLLYWOOD site is a must read for everyone concerned with breaking thru the celluloid ceiling.
Here’s a reposting of my favorite shot of Melissa
(taken by a friend during recent Thanksgiving prep):
I call it: “Melissa stirs things up.”
(Photo Credit: Rachel K. Jones)
15.Aug.10 Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
think alike? This morning I learned for the first time that a Massachussets couple has been running in parallel with us all thru “the 00’s” on a site called Reeling Reviews. I found them because I went on to Rotten Tomatoes in search of commentary on Agora (the new film about Egyptian mathematician Hypatia starring Rachel Weisz). Specifically I was raving mad about Michael Phillips’ 2 Star review in Friday’s Chicago Tribune, which totally missed the point of this beautiful, challenging, heart-felt film.
So, I asked myself, would another female film critic see Agora more like me? And that’s when I found Laura Clifford’s review, which, yes, indeed, gave Agora an A. But Laura’s review was accompanied by a review by someone named “Robin.” Robin gave Agora an A-. I assumed Robin was another woman, but surprise, a little digging quickly revealed that the Cliffords were a married couple much like us. In fact one interviewer wrote, “Even when they give a movie the same grade, it’s almost never for the same reasons.” Says Zell. “They just naturally approach it from different directions.” Wow! Words only recently out of my very own mouth!
Shout out to the Cliffords: Nice to meet you!!! And let me just say this to Laura: Maybe the guys who marry gals like us are the same guys who know how to value a film like Agora??? (And then I’ll let the counterfactual speak for itself…)
Click HERE to read our FF2 haiku for Agora.
Click HERE for review by my grad school buddy Bill.
25.Jul.10 Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
Best book of the year: THE HIDDEN BRAIN by Shankar Vedantam.
Chapter 5 (The Invisible Current: Gender, Privilege & the Hidden Brain) begins with the words: “Lilly Ledbetter’s life followed a clockwork routine…”
It’s just like Kathryn Bigelow told Leslie Stahl on 60 MINUTES one week before becoming the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director: “There’s really no difference between what I do and what a male filmmaker might do… On the other hand, I think the journey for women, no matter what venue it is… it’s a long journey.”
Indeed! And the ending of Vedantam’s chapter had me crying real tears.
Kudos to a guy who really, really gets it!
18.Mar.10 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
So Up in the Air just won another “Best Adapted Screenplay” award (this time from the Writers Guild of America) for condescending use of the sorrows of real people as “topical garnish on a Cary Grant movie” (credit for these well-chosen words go to my fellow Chicagoan Jim Jones).
Me, I’m personally, I’m incensed about the way Jason Reitman betrays his female characters, most especially “Alex” (Vera Farmiga). Just who is this woman supposed to be??? Obviously, finding an actress with a beauteous backside was way more important to Reitman than building a coherent back story for her.
The idea that Alex would tell her children at the very last moment that she isn’t coming home for the weekend (so she can gallivant around Wisconsin) is completely ridiculous (even if we do buy her mid-week road warrior “think of me as you only with a vagina” brio). No, this whole sequence (which is NOT in Kirn’s novel) was created because Reitman’s Ryan needs an urban queen to adorn his arm when he deigns to visit his lowly country bumpkin relations in the “heartland.”
We learn in “the big reveal” that this is a woman with secrets to protect, but how does Ryan even know where she lives? If Reitman were honest, he’d have to show Ryan going thru her wallet or something equally distasteful, but that would spoil the light, breezy “fun,” wouldn’t it?
And, oh yes: how does Alex pull not one but two sexy black dresses from her rollway when she didn’t even know about potential weekend activities when she packed??? Movie magic?!? Puh-leez!!! Am I the only person who noticed this? And yes, I’m sure because I watched the Wisconsin scenes again so I could be sure.And of course Wisconsin comes way after Ryan’s insufferable “how to pack” lecture when he dumps half of the contents of Natalie’s suitcase into a garbage bin while she just stands there with a gaping mouth. And what happens to that big, newish & relatively expensive suitcase anyway? Natalie just let him toss it?!?
I could say more about “Natalie” (not in the novel at all) as well as Ryan’s sisters (again Reitman totally distorted Kirn’s characters), but Alex is the character who really makes my blood boil.
Golden Globe Award? WGA Award? SIX Oscar nominations??? For shame!!!
Me, I nominated Up in the Air for Hall of Shame Awards posted by both the Women Film Critics Circle & the Progressive Film Critics Circle!
21.Feb.10 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
“’I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was not acceptable,’ said [Tiger] Woods, looking composed and speaking in a steady voice.” Now if only certain extremely well-known male movie critics would say the same about “Connor” in FISH TANK & “David” in AN EDUCATION, then I just might die & go to heaven J
Meanwhile, welcome these two new candidates for Jan’s “Hall of Shame”:
David Denby
Michael Phillips
19.Feb.10 Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
“Ridiculously Overdue!” That’s what James Cameron said to Charlie Rose last night. The subject, of course, was the fact that no woman has ever received a Best Director Oscar. “My fantasy outcome,” Cameron said, “would be for Avatar to win Best Picture and Kathryn [Bigelow] to win Best Director.” Good ole Charlie made his best attempt to look skeptical. “I want my team honored for their accomplishments,” Cameron assured him with great sincerity, “but I don’t need another Oscar.” Oy! Has it really come to this?
Me, I’m consoled by the wise words of the Rolling Stones: “You can’t always get what you want…But if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need.” Indeed!
Right now what we need is a woman who can kick a huge crack in the celluloid ceiling. Kathryn Bigelow is the fourth woman in Oscar history to be nominated for Best Director, but more than that, she’s the first woman to actually be a real contender. And just like Hillary Clinton, the first woman ever to be a real contender for President of the United States, Bigelow carries some spousal baggage.
Of course the media has glommed on to this factoid, magnifying it until it’s almost impossible to see anything else. They’re so determined to handicap a gossip-filled two horse race that they keep endlessly telling us that the two films in contention, Cameron’s Avatar and Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, each received nine nominations. Meanwhile, the news they’re burying is that Avatar’s nominations are primarily technical, whereas Locker’s nominations include four of the heaviest hitters: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.
Good ole Charlie buried this news too. And like the seasoned pro he is, Charlie waited until the last five minutes of his Cameron segment before even mentioning Bigelow’s name. First he dutifully confronted Cameron for 28 minutes with negative quotes from various reviews (Avatar’s screenplay is derivative, Avatar’s politics are suspect, Avatar is just a big sound & light show, etc, etc.), giving Cameron plenty of opportunities to laugh. Why should James Cameron care about critics? Avatar is the highest grossing film in history!
And so the segment ended with Cameron lavishing praise on his “gorgeous” ex-wife (actually one of several gorgeous ex-wives), thereby publically positioning himself as a mensch. “Of course she would reject the fact that being a woman has anything to do with it,” said Charlie. “That’s what’s cool about it,” Cameron concluded… with a really big smile.
Welcome to OscarBowl 2010!!!
2/23/10 UPDATE: A very classy reply from a very classy lady.
To Kathryn Bigelow: You Go, Girl 
18.Feb.10 Raving/Ranting about Male Filmmakers, Rants: Oscars & Other Awards, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
Yesterday, I hosted a “Meet & Greet” event for my neighbor & good friend Bonnie Carol McGrath (who is running for Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County). We went to see THE LOVELY BONES at our beautiful new Icon Showplace Theatre on Delano Place (just off Roosevelt Road & Clark Street), & afterwards we ate gourmet pizzas in the upstairs lounge. We even had a celebrity guest: Democratic State Representative Ken Dunkin (a great friend of the Illinois film community).
Now here’s the thing: Despite the dismal reviews from our two most prominent local critics (Roger Ebert & Michael Phillips), we all loved THE LOVELY BONES. Me, I was seeing it for the fourth time, & able to attend to all the subtle nuances & the delicate construction, I loved it all more! If I ruled the world, THE LOVELY BONES would be my top contender for “Best Adapted Screenplay” this year, above even AN EDUCATION, BRIGHT STAR, & JULIE & JULIA (every one of which is way better than UP IN THE AIR which I nominated for this year’s Women Film Critics Circle “Hall of Shame” award).
So what gives??? I’m reminded of THE CIDER HOUSE RULES brouhaha, & the many critics (all male) who claimed that they couldn’t figure out what it was about. Funny how I have yet to meet a woman who had any doubts!
19.Jan.10 Events: Metro Chicago Only, Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day, Rants: Oscars & Other Awards, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
In May ’03, when I first started my career as a professional film critic, I coined the term “Play-Doh Part.” What is a Play-Doh Part? A Play-Doh Part is a woman’s role with only 2 functions: she’s in the film so the male lead can tell his sad story to someone sympathetic, & she’s there so the male lead can relieve his sexual tension. Otherwise, you know almost nothing about her. She has absolutely no back story, & she has no future of her own beyond whatever role she might play in the hero’s future. Over the years, I’ve pointed out numerous examples, but few are as egregious as the role of “Alex” in the new film UP IN THE AIR. “Just think of me as yourself, only with a vagina.” Oh, puh-leez! Now I really have heard it all!
Who is this woman supposed to be?!? She’s just a gorgeous, available babe with the magical ability to pull not one but two sexy black dresses from her rollaway with no prior notice! Oh, puh-leez! “We never discover what Alex does…” says Anthony Lane in his 12/7/09 NEW YORKER review, but he’s too busy fawning over her to care. And this is the film that now tops the National Board of Review’s Best of 09 list… Grrrrr!!!
05.Dec.09 Raving/Ranting about Male Filmmakers, Rants: Oscars & Other Awards, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (2)
I’ve been watching Michael Phillips & Tony Scott enumerate “the best of the decade” every week on AT THE MOVIES, patiently waiting (OK, not so patiently waiting) to see if either of them would include a woman filmmaker on his list. Yesterday I got at least half the answer: no chance Tony Scott will find any women worthy enough for his list. Worse than that, in yesterday’s New York Times Sunday Magazine piece he not only had no space to discuss any women directors (barely deigning to include Claire Denis in a longer list of “outside Hollywood” guys of interest), he actually ended his 2K+ piece as follows: “Movies seem to be, increasingly, for and about men and (mostly male) kids, with adult women in the marginal roles of wives and mothers, there to be avenged, resented or run to when things get too scary.” Well, how to begin a reply??? For now, let’s just say that although we see many of the same films (something I know for a fact because I know what he’s reviewed since arriving at the NYT ~ 10 years ago), we clearly value them differently. If I ruled the world, here are some of the films I would consider among the best of the decade to date: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, BROTHERS, THE COMPANY, FRIDA, FROZEN RIVER, THE HURT LOCKER, LOOK BOTH WAYS, THE NAMESAKE, THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE OHIO, SHUT UP & SING, TALK TO ME, and TROUBLE THE WATER, You can find out more about these films (& many, many more wonderful films by women filmmakers) in the TWOZIES section of my website (where hubby Rich & I post our annual Ten Best lists). For more thoughts on Scott’s list, see the always astute Melissa Silverstein. Meanwhile, I need some recovery time to gather my thoughts because reading Scott’s article again just refried my brain L
16.Nov.09 Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
