Women’s Media Group has launched the new Talk.In website with homepage art by Nicole Hollander (creator of SYLVIA). I’ll let you know as soon as they’ve posted the podcast of their Nov 17th Kick-Off program at THE SPACE in Evanston, IL (starring extraordinary Chgo schvesters Sara Paretsky, Hedy Ratner, & June Sochen). Meanwhile, log on for background info & bookmark the site for schedule updates (including SWAN DAY program planned for March 23rd).
Kudos to my buddy Jamie O’Reilly & the whole Talk.In Team J
31.Dec.08 
Events: Metro Chicago Only, Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day 
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Download Jan’s Chat with Nina Davenport as a pdf.
OPERATION FILMMAKER premieres tonight on PBS!!! Here’s the basic story: An American film crew brings a young Iraqi man named Muthana to their shoot in the Czech Republic. They’re offering him a great “learning opportunity,” but he has no clue what it really means to be “a production assistant.” When the shoot ends, they all leave, & he’s stuck. The War in Iraq has become a quagmire, & his life is at risk if he tries to go home.
Kudos to Nina Davenport for doing her best to “keep faith” with Muthana long after others had abandoned him. Kudos to Nina Davenport for creating an excellent film that asks hard questions. Shame on us if we don’t pay attention!
Visit the PBS website for screening times for their doc series “Independent Lens.” Visit the OPERATION FILMMAKER website for more info. Special thanks to Dalia Hoffman for assistance with prepping this piece for posting.
30.Dec.08 Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day, Jan's Chats Read more Comments (0)
Award-winning documentarian (Nina Davenport) gets stuck in the middle when cultural misunderstandings derail Iraqi student’s internship on an American movie set. Many truths about the war in Iraq are revealed thru this microcosm, but Davenport’s compelling narrative also carries huge moral & epistemological weight well beyond current headlines. Click here for FF2 haiku.
30.Dec.08 Reviews: N-P Read more Comments (2)
Click HERE to download Jan’s FULL Rant as a pdf file.
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As a Jewish Feminist, I am absolutely outraged by this film. Since THPP is a Feminist Blog, let me just direct your attention to this still (above). Here we have “Hanna” (Kate Winslet) & “Michael” (David Kross) in Hanna’s kitchen. Notice how the filmmakers have used perspective to make Michael larger (& therefore more “masculine”) & Hanna smaller (& therefore more “feminine”). They do this all the way thru, especially when Michael & Hanna are naked, having sex, & otherwise intimate. But Michael is supposed to be a FIFTEEN year old boy, & Hanna is supposed to be a THIRTY-SIX year old woman!!! Show me the boy of 15 with Kross’s complexion & physique!!! Once they’ve lured you into the quagmire of this “romance,” it’s no wonder so many of you are acquiescing to all the moral outrages yet to come. Shame on you, Stephen Daldry! Shame on you, Weinstein Company! And shame on all those critics who’ve put THE READER on their “Best of ‘08” movie lists!!!
24.Dec.08 Raving/Ranting about Male Filmmakers, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (2)
Jan Sings Her Annual Oscar Blues!
Reuters just eBlasted an article from the Hollywood Reporter into cyberspace: “Critics weigh in on year’s best films.” Fair enough, but who are these critics? Ken Turan, Peter Rainer, David Ansen, Leonard Maltin, & Bob Strauss. Notice anything? You’ve got it: NO WOMEN NEED APPLY!!! Oh, & need I say it: every critic on this list who picked SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE in the Best Director category picked Danny Boyle, & Danny alone. Sorry Loveleen Tandan: none of Reuters’ critics give a damn about your contributions to SLUMDOG. And so it goes…yet again…
20.Dec.08 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards Read more Comments (0)
Follow the SLUMDOG Brouhaha on Awards Daily. Curious how all the people saying Loveleen does NOT deserve recognition for her contributions to this film are… you guessed it… guys! I doubt it was intentional, but the quote that accompanies this graphic is quite amusing in context. Ladies: It hurts, but the trick is not minding!!! (FYI, this quote is from the opening sequence of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, which just happens to be my all time favorite film!!!) Thanks for picking up on this Sasha!!! Click HERE to read my original SLUMDOG post.
19.Dec.08 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards Read more Comments Off
Click here to download letter to the HFPA.
According to the Internet Movie Database, Danny Boyle is the director of Slumdog Millionaire and Loveleen Tandan is his “co-director,” but this morning the Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated Danny Boyle, and Danny Boyle alone, for a Golden Globe award in the “Best Director” category. Question: If Loveleen Tandan was Danny Boyle’s co-director then, why isn’t she his co-nominee now? I sincerely believe this question deserves an answer, but unless we all ask, we’ll never get one. So please open the pdf at top, print Page One, sign it, & mail it ASAP directly to Chantal Dinnage. If you feel the need to act immediately, then fax it to publicist Michael Russell as well. As my pdf explains, the stakes are high & this really IS something worth fighting for!!!
PS: Click HERE to read my FWA review of Slumdog Millionaire including
Danny Boyle’s own comments about Loveleen Tandan’s contributions.
11.Dec.08 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards Read more Comments Off
Click here to read my FWA review of SLUMDOG as a PDF.
Resting on the shoulders of 9 novices playing 3 characters @ various ages, SLUMDOG uses state-of-the-art tools and techniques from “first world” filmmaking to tell a “third world” story that respects real life in Mumbai while still providing audiences everywhere with a credibly upbeat ending. First truly great film of the new “flat world” — bravo! Click here to read FF2 haiku. Click here to read my full review for the Fund for Women Artists online.
11.Dec.08 Reviews: Q-S Read more Comment (1)
Hey, it’s not all doom & gloom here in Chicago. Today, citizens of Illinois are also celebrating our second annual Jane Addams Day (in recognition of the day Jane Addams became the first American woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize).
For LOTS more about Jane Addams, follow this thread
&/or visit the AAUW-Illinois website!
10.Dec.08 Events: Jane Addams Day Read more Comments Off
Yesterday, NBC announced that David Gregory would replace Tim Russert as the new host of their venerable Sunday AM talk show MEET THE PRESS.
A couple of years ago, while serving as guest host during one of Mr. Russert’s vacations, Mr. Gregory facilitated one of the most infuriating exchanges in recent memory. Reuel Marc Gerecht of the American Enterprise Institute actually said on air: “…women’s social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy…”
And what was Mr. Gregory’s response to this incredibly insensitive comment? Nothing! He let this despicable remark stand without even asking a single follow-up question!
Message to David Gregory: I was NOT “thrilled” & we’ll be watching!!!
08.Dec.08 Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
