Pen’s Points: cccc
Click here to download my FWA review as a pdf.
Éliane Weiss (Emmanuelle Devos) is just the kind of person you’d expect to see window shopping on a fashionable street in Paris. She’s a stylish woman in her early ‘40s, certainly attractive if not quite “a beauty.” Although devoted to her family, Éliane is a warm and affectionate elementary school teacher by day, and she also enjoys nights out with her gal pals. This is the woman she shows to the public; this is the Éliane everyone has known for years…
Click here to continue reading my FWA review online.
27.Aug.08 
Events: Metro Chicago Only, Events: Khaverot v' Khaverim, Reviews: T 
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Pen’s Points: cccc½
Click here to download my FWA review as a pdf.
Something wonderful has happened to Philip Roth’s career in the past decade, and I don’t just mean the fact that he’s continuing to publish novels that are both critically acclaimed and financially successful well into his senior years. As a film critic (a film critic born and raised in the Weequahic section of Newark, NJ!), I’m delighted to report that he’s finally found filmmakers looking for the humanity in his work and not just the misogyny…
Click here to continue reading my FWA review online.
22.Aug.08 Reviews: E-G Read more Comments (0)
Click here to download my JUF News review as a pdf.
FF2 Haiku: “Tru-ish” story of director Weiland’s Bar Mitzvah, ironically scheduled on the same day that Britain became “World Cup” soccer champs in 1966. Jan loved the “Velt mit Veltelekh” (”World within Worlds”) peek into Jewish London circa mid-60s, but Rich thought it dragged a bit in the middle.
See feedback from 8/19/08 ”word of mouth” screening @ Chicago’s Pipers Alley theatre posted in comments section below.
14.Aug.08 Reviews: Q-S Read more Comments (7)
Eddie Huttner would have been 86 today. Planet Earth lost him in 1991, but he’s still here with me in spirit every single day. One day in the late 80s, we were walking around Chicago during one of his periodic visits, & my father said to me: “Jan, I’ve made a lot of money in my life and I’ve spent a lot of money in my life, but the money I’m most proud of is the money that sent you to college.” Of course, when he said “a lot of money,” he said that from the perspective of a man who had once been a labor union organizer!
My Dad worked as a paperhanger alongside his brother Leon & his brother-in-law Benny (much like the family in AVALON), & then he became a wallcovering subcontractor. He worked very hard, so we were always comfortable but never flush. When my Dad sent me to St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD (”the Great Books school“), he really did pay every dime of my tuition with satisfaction & pride. So as you read this blog, please remember my Dad: a hard-working Jewish guy who really, really believed that “great books make great teachers,” & education is mankind’s best hope.
11.Aug.08 zBackfill/Misc Read more Comments (2)
It’s one of my family’s favorite jokes: the great feminist went to graduate school & found… a husband! But truly, the day I met Richard was one of the best days of my life, altho it was years before I realized just how lucky we were to have had an actual “meet cute” — at the University of Chicago no less… exactly where Harry first met Sally 
RB’s birthday was August 5th, but we celebrated on Sunday with all the friends who congregated at the Edwardo’s Pizza palace on Dearborn (home of famous Chicago deep dish). The topper was a fabulous cake from Whole Foods sent by Richard’s sister Kathryn & her husband Gary. (Alas, they were actually at home – in Phoenix – but we assume their astral bodies were on hand to sniff the buttercream!)
NOTE: The message on the bag says “In Case of Regret.” Inside was a staple remover from our very funny friend Elisa. This is a reference to the fact that RB had bariatric surgery (”stomach stapling”) a few years ago, as did I. So if you’ve ever wondered about why some of the old photos on our website look so, ahem, “dated,” this is part of the answer.
11.Aug.08 zBackfill/Misc Read more Comments (2)
Facebook Specs
Join the WITASWAN Cause on Facebook today & help make WITASWAN
a truly international movement for positive change all around the world!
Remember, in the words of Martha Lauzen:
“If we change media messages, we change the world.”
10.Aug.08 Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day Read more Comments (0)
USA TODAY took aim at the myth of the niche today, publishing stats that prove women do indeed have “the power of the purse” whenever we show we are willing to use it! Their cover story “Girls just wanna make movies — and here’s how they’re doing it,” has three segments: Hollywood power women shed light on summer movies; These ladies got the moves; & Fashioning a future for women.
Niche? Niche?!? Women hold up half the sky!!!
10.Aug.08 Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day Read more Comments (0)
Jan’s Letter: Written vs Published
Here’s the link to Dana Kennedy’s article “An Impatient Sisterhood,” published in the New York Times on Sunday, June 2, 2002. Some people spend a good portion of their lives writing letters to the NYT, & sometimes people write innumerable letters that never get published, but I had NEVER written a letter to the editors of the New York Times before… So the fact that the NYT actually published my first (& only) letter to them continues to amaze me.
In retrospect, I realize now that the editors of the NYT gave me courage when they published my letter; they helped me believe in myself & my voice. I knew I had something important to say, & they made it easier for me to keep saying it (& saying it) to all who would listen.
10.Aug.08 Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day Read more Comments (0)
Download Huttner’s TRACTIOn Article
Have YOU ever wondered how WITASWAN began? As my message spreads, more & more people are asking me how this all began, so here’s my answer. Those of you who’ve heard me speak know that my memory of this day (Sunday June 2, 2002) is extremely detailed & specific. My life changed that day: like the Disney cartoons where the light suddenly goes on or the apple bounces down on Newton’s head & goes “plunk,” I read Dana Kennedy’s article, I fixated on the quotes from Martha Lauzen, & lifetime of feminist activism began to coalesce into a single point of focus.
Luckily for me, I had a dynamite group of women who responded with dedication & enthusiam. The members of AAUW-Illinois created an incubator for WITASWAN, & the infant they nurtured is fast becoming a cause heard ’round the world!
10.Aug.08 Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day Read more Comments (0)
This year, the ”International Summer Screenings” series cosponsored by Cinema/Chicago & the Chicago Cultural Center included FRAULEIN directed by Andrea Staka, & they did me the great honor of asking me to moderate the post-screening Q&A session. Sincere thanks to the Swiss Consulate (who hosted this program), & warm greetings to the SRO audience in attendance that night.
Here’s a copy of my hand-out with more info about FRAULEIN as well as more WITASWAN-recommended films on the subject of home vs diaspora:
JLH Hand-Out for FRAULEIN Screening
06.Aug.08 Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day Read more Comments (0)
