Click HERE to download WomenArts review as a pdf file.
In Floria Sigismondi’s new film The Runaways, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart play archetypes: two wide-eyed innocents, fractured halves of one whole, negotiating the drug-fueled, gender-bending, mind-blowing ‘70s.
How much is historically true? Who cares? The Runaways is a feature film, not a documentary, and what moved me most were the performances. That said, writer/director Floria Sigismondi and her team have all worked very hard to capture The Runaways’ actual milieu.
Countless films have depicted the role rock music played in breaking down racial barriers, now Sigismondi has done the same for feminism. And through their brilliant portrayals of Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart will now inspire a whole new generation of girls. Bravo!
Click HERE to read Jan’s WomenArts review online.
Click HERE to read FILMS FOR TWO haiku.
Click HERE for historical background on The Runaways.
22.Mar.10 
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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)
If you find you have mixed feelings about last night’s big barrier buster (a woman won the Best Director Oscar for a film that has almost no women in it, a woman won the Best Director Oscar but didn’t thank any of the women who came before her, whatever) then I beg you to look beyond Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Director win & see the big picture: women empowered by Bigelow’s nomination voted with their hearts, in clear defiance of all the handicappers! Wow!!!
As I predicted, the two most vulnerable categories were Best Adapted Screenplay & Best Original Screenplay. The minute Mark Boal won BOS for THE HURT LOCKER (trouncing Quentin Tarantino), I was on my feet screaming, & when Geoffrey Fletcher won for PRECIOUS (trouncing Jason Reitman), I went into orbit.
The media’s “Battle of the Exes” blather endlessly repeated that Kathryn Bigelow & James Cameron both had 9 noms each, but as I kept telling you, KB had 4 “major noms,” whereas JC mostly had teckie noms. In the end, she left with 6 Oscars (3 majors) & he left with 3 Oscars (all teckie). Furthermore, in every case where they went head-to-head (except for cinematography), she won.
This year had more upsets than any prior year I can remember, & I submit these upsets were all due to the power of female AMPAS voters!!! So here’s a big shout-out to the women voters of AMPAS: You Did It!!!
Friends,THIS is how change happens J
Photo credit: ZumawireWestPhotos/Newscom
08.Mar.10 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards Read more Comments (5)
“…if The Hurt Locker wins, it will be the lowest grossing best picture honoree in decades of Oscar winners. It’s earned just over $12.6 million in a theatrical release that wrapped up late last year. Avatar on the other hand would be the highest grossing best picture winner. It’s made more than $706 million domestically and is still in theaters.” That’s what IndieWIRE editor Eugene Hernandez just posted in his latest Oscar Update.
But honestly, folks, I still don’t understand why… Specifically, once they knew for sure that The Hurt Locker was sweeping almost all of the critics circle awards in December, why did Summit still decide to go thru with a DVD release on January 12? Why didn’t they wait & re-release into theatres right after Oscar nominations were announced on February 2? Very, very strange “marketing strategy”… One might almost wonder if Summit ever really believed in The Hurt Locker or even realized what they had… <insert BIG SIGH here >
01.Mar.10 Rants: Oscars & Other Awards Read more Comments (0)
