Films About Women Opening

Somewhere Slow

“Overt femininity is sometimes just a wall to keep outsiders from peering in,” I wrote in my Los Angeles Times review. “That’s certainly the case for Somewhere Slow’s Anna (Jessalyn Gilsig), who looks like Avon Barbie, sounds like Minnie Mouse and orders a Diet Coke and small fries like a lady — though she makes sure the three cheeseburgers she ordered with them come back up before she’s left the restaurant.” Gilsig, who also produced, is excellent in this touching and funny drama as a woman with nowhere to go and no one to turn to, though her character eventually finds solace in a similarly lost soul. (Inkoo Kang)

California Scheming

Call it beach noir. Gia Mantegna stars as a the kind of budding femme fatale who won’t tolerate the presence of another attractive girl within a mile radius. Taking place among the beach houses of Hollywood’s downwardly mobile, California Scheming taps into particular kind of sunny, sweaty-palmed desperation. In my Los Angeles Times review, I wrote that this thriller “is rescued from its own lumbering self-seriousness by Weber’s sensitive portrayal of teen dynamics, but it’s never as scary or as creepy as it needs to be.” (Inkoo Kang)

Best Night Ever

Bride-to-be Claire, her sister Leslie, fun-loving Zoe, and quirky new friend Janet set off to Las Vegas for a one-night bachelorette party that turns out to be more than they bargained for. A series of unexpected adventures — including getting kicked out of a strip club, being mugged, and getting pummeled by Las Vegas’ reigning gelatin-wrestling champion, Veronica — rip them from the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas strip and places them smack dab in the city’s seedy underbelly. Determined to keep their bachelorette party dreams alive, the girls band together and embark on the wildest night in bachelorette party history. Fueled by sex and booze, this raunchy, riotously hilarious, out-of-control, blow out is, for better or worse, all caught on tape. And is destined to go down as the Best Night Ever. (IMDB)

Films By and About Women Currently Playing

Run and Jump — Written by Ailbhe Keogen and Directed by Steph Green

Gimme Shelter
Gloria
Mercedes Sosa: The Voice of Latin America (doc)
Maidentrip (doc) — Directed by Jillian Schlesinger; Written by Laura Dekker, Penelope Falk, Jillian Schlesinger
In Bloom — Written and Co-Directed by Nana Ekvtimishvili
August: Osage County
The Invisible Woman — Written by Abi Morgan
Saving Mr. Banks — Written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith
Frozen — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Jennifer Lee
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Book Thief
Blue is the Warmest Color
Gravity

Films Directed by Women Opening

Brightest Star — Written and Directed by Maggie Kiley

Fresh out of college, a young man (Chris Lowell) is left devastated when the girl of his dreams dumps him. Refusing to move on, he devises a plan to transform himself into the man she desires. After resigning himself to working for the head of a company in corporate mediocrity (Clark Gregg), he falls for a hipster songstress (Jessica Szohr) who likes him as he is. As his path continues to unfold unexpectedly, the counsel of a kindred spirit astronomer (Allison Janney) helps him understand how to truly carve out a place in the universe. (IMDB)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys (doc) — Directed by Jessica Orek

Films Written by Women Opening

Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage — Co-Written by Evelyn Gabai

When the Sultan’s first born is taken by an evil sorcerer, Sinbad is tasked with traveling to a desert of magic and creatures to save her. (IMDB)

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Devil’s Due — Written by Lindsay Devlin

The Hobbit — The Desolation of Smaug — Co-Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens