Click HERE to download my WomenArts review as a pdf file
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Tillie Edelstein was the creator of “Molly Goldberg,” one of the most beloved matriarchs in the history of American popular culture. Reinventing herself as “Gertrude Berg,” Tillie won an Emmy and a Tony, sold a cookbook and an autobiography, and ended her professional life as one of television’s best-paid variety show guests. Award-winning director Aviva Kempner tells all this and more in her new documentary film YOO HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG. Kempner’s description of Berg’s mercurial rise, juxtaposing a wealth of clips with new talking head interviews, is masterful, but the story of Berg’s ascent leaves a lot of unanswered questions, especially about her personal life. Berg’s story has resonant undercurrents, but Kempner completely avoids them. Nevertheless, Kempner succeeds in bringing back a Jewish-American heroine now by and large forgotten. There’s one particular quote from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that proves a point made frequently by Communications Guru Martha Lauzen: “If we change media messages, we change the world!”
Click HERE to read my WomenArts review online.
31.Jul.09 
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Kudos to filmmaker Ibtisam Mara’ana—her wonderful doc (renamed CONTESTANT NO. 2) premieres tonight on the PBS series WIDE ANGLE. Ibtisam’s film was my Top Pick in the “Doc” category in last year’s Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema & I’m delighted to learn it’s now available to all.
Message to Ibtisam: Hooray J
30.Jul.09 zBackfill/Misc Read more Comments (0)
February 22 suddenly seems light years away even tho it’s barely been 6 months. When I wrote my “Declare Victory & Move On” post on Monday AM (the morning after the Oscars), I told myself: “Let’s let the dust settle for a bit before writing a more formal ‘Lessons Learned’ piece.” Then Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to fill Justice Souter’s seat on the Supreme Court, & I said to myself: “Mmmm. Maybe I should wait just a bit longer?” Then on Thursday night, as I watched Monica Crowley subbing for Bill O’Reilly in his “No Spin Zone,” I fell headlong into one of my periodic ‘What’s the use?’ funks.
I can hear it now: some of you are thinking I need to shut up about THE HURT LOCKER because calling attention to it by urging women to go might actually do more harm than good. And you know what: maybe you’re right…
It seems lots & lots of people aren’t swayed by historical analysis, statistics, or anything I might consider “rational.” So maybe I am wrong. Maybe we do live in a “zero sum” world. Maybe the smart thing to do is cling to any & all personal advantage we might have as individuals, & refuse to open our minds to anything that might equalize the playing field.
At one particular ugly point in “my SLUMDOG Brouhaha,” one of my colleagues in the Chicago Film Critics Association told me in so many words that if I kept sending messages on the topic, he would personally impose “a Final Solution.” (Yes, he knows I’m Jewish, & he deliberately used those very words to stun me into silence.) But unlike Sonia Sotomayor (& perhaps Loveleen Tandan too), I never learned how to back down, lay low, etc. I’m at a point in my life now when nothing can control me except my own conscience, so I guess I’ll just “keep on keepin’ on,” in the hopes that some of the things I write will help create positive change somewhere down the line.
For the record, I do NOT believe Kathryn Bigelow should be nominated for an Oscar “because she’s a woman;” I believe she should be nominated for an Oscar because she’s already made several terrific films & THE HURT LOCKER is her best yet.
But I also believe that many other women have made wonderful films in the past & they’ve all been overlooked in years when much weaker films made by male filmmakers have been over-hyped & over-rewarded. So yes, I truly believe that Kathryn Bigelow will have a better chance of being nominated if we keep the pressure up & keep reminding people about current Oscar stats.
So readers, remember these two numbers: Less than 1% of all Best Director nominees in Oscar history have been women (3/406 = .74%), & no woman (ZERO) in history has ever won a Best Director Oscar. What can justify these two facts? Oh yes, I know: Given half a chance, some people will find an excuse for every conceivable injustice, but at a certain point, yes, even this barrier will fall. And then fair-minded people everywhere will wonder why it was ever there in the first place…
25.Jul.09 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards Read more Comments (0)
“And now with her latest project, THE HURT LOCKER, Bigelow has crafted a bona fide art-house hit—and is helping make 2009 one of the strongest year’s ever for female filmmakers… consider this: If any woman earns a Best Director nomination come February, it will be only the fourth time in history.”
OK, so some of you flamed me last winter for have the hubris to suggest that “my SLUMDOG Brouhaha” was related in any way to the fact that Loveleen Tandan was on stage in February when the SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE team collected its Best Picture Oscar. So you’ll probably flame me again for suggesting that there’s any relationship now. Flame away folks, but this is exactly how it works. Regardless of any arguments for or against nominating Loveleen Tandan herself, I am absolutely certain that “my SLUMDOG Brouhaha” helped focus attention on Oscar Stats, & bringing those stats out of the darkness & into the light is bearing fruit now.
So women, I’m literally begging you: PLEASE see THE HURT LOCKER as soon as it opens in a theatre near you. Build box office revenue, build buzz, and get ready to applaud when Kathryn Bigelow is nominated for a Best Director Oscar in January.
WE can do this; Yes WE Can!!!
24.Jul.09 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (3)
Based on mid-year stats, SUNSHINE CLEANING (directed by Christine Jeffs & based on an original screenplay by Megan Holley) is already one of ’09 big Indie winners: Hooray! Hooray! Open IndieWIRE article & read to the bottom, & you will see that THE HURT LOCKER is following a similar distribution path.
So do your part & go to see THE HURT LOCKER as soon as it opens in a theatre near you! And if you haven’t seen SUNSHINE CLEANING yet, then you should definitely watch it soon on DVD.
Click HERE to read my FWA review of SUNSHINE CLEANING.
And click HERE to read my FWA review of THE HURT LOCKER.
24.Jul.09 zBackfill/Misc Read more Comments (0)
IndieWire has joined in beating the Oscars drums for THE HURT LOCKER J
As article states, THE HURT LOCKER is expanding & can now be seen on over 200 screens nationwide! Click HERE to read my review, then get yourself to a theatre ASAP!
21.Jul.09 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
Wise Women Unite! What Sotomayor Should Have Said
By C. Nicole Mason - WeNews correspondent
I suppose it’s a good thing Judge Sonya Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings have been a little boring and uneventful…. In answering concerns over her “troubling” wise Latina remark, I wish she had stood tall and defended her comments… Here’s the alternative script still running in my head:
“I believe I am wise and like Justice O’Connor I am aware of how my experiences not only as a woman, but a Latina have not only made it more difficult for me to pursue and reach my goals in this country, but have shaped my worldview and perspective. I am standing here before you today as a Supreme Court justice nominee because it took wisdom from a very young age to navigate a system that was not designed for my success. In these rapidly changing times, it will take wisdom, prudence and a brilliant command of the law to help decide many of the important cases that will come before me as Justice. And I am prepared.”
“I am standing here before you today as a Supreme Court justice nominee because it took wisdom from a very young age to navigate a system that was not designed for my success.”
Wow! Speaking truth to power!! You Go, Girl!!!
16.Jul.09 Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
Kudos to NPR Arts Reporter Neda Ulaby (now DC-based but once a local fixture at both The Windy City Times and The Chicago Review) for her excellent ATC report on women directors yesterday:
“Major Hollywood studios cannot exactly bask in their legacies of female empowerment: Historically, female directors tend to work outside the traditional studio system.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106402458
It’s just what I’ve been telling you all for years: there are plenty of women-directed movies out there, now we must still make it our job to support them. So get yourselves to THE HURT LOCKER as soon as possible. Generate revenue, build buzz, and do YOUR part to help Kathryn Bigelow become the first woman in history to win a Best Director Oscar. If women don’t go, it won’t happen, but if we do go, well, did you really believe a year ago that you would see pix of two African-American girls in Ghana with their father the POTUS?!?
United we stand; divide we fall. Yes, We Can!!!
14.Jul.09 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards, Raving/Ranting about Critics/Journalists Read more Comments (0)
I will conduct an audience Q&A session after the 7:25 PM screening of THE HURT LOCKER at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema in Lincoln Park on Weds 7/15. Regular ticket prices apply. You can purchase tix at the door or click here to purchase tix in advance.
From my FWA review:
“I sincerely believe that only one thing stands between Kathryn Bigelow and a Best Director nomination: box office. Critical buzz is already very strong, so if THE HURT LOCKER generates respectable box office returns, then Kathryn Bigelow will receive an Oscar nomination. So, women: we hold this in our hands. If we turn out for THE HURT LOCKER, (if we use our “power of the purse”), we can help Kathryn Bigelow become the 4th woman in history nominated for a Best Director Oscar. And if this happens, if Kathryn Bigelow receives a nomination, I also believe there’s a good chance she will then become the first woman in history to actually receive a Best Director Oscar…Kathryn Bigelow has put THE HURT LOCKER out there for all to see, and I urge each and every one of YOU to see it in a movie theatre as soon as you can. She has done her job, now we must do ours!”
For more information about THE HURT LOCKER,
read my full FWA review &/or visit the official website.
NOTE: If you can’t attend on 7/15, then please go on your own. Metro Chgo locations are:
-
AMC
River East
- Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema
- CineArts in
Evanston
11.Jul.09 Events: Metro Chicago Only, Events: WITASWAN & SWAN Day Read more Comments (0)
Click here to download my FWA review as a pdf file.
THE HURT LOCKER opened last night in Chgo & my review is now live on WomenArts, including a special message to women: three reasons why YOU should see this film ASAP in a theatre.
Pen’s Points: cccc½½
Believe me, ladies, this is important.
Director Kathryn Bigelow has done her job,
now WE must do ours!
Click here to read my FWA review online.
Click HERE for our Films For Two Haiku.
11.Jul.09 Reviews: H-J Read more Comments (0)
