News
Martha Coolidge Talks Valley Girl and Female Directors
Martha Coolidge will be in NYC this weekend for a Saturday screening of Valley Girl at the opening of the new film center at Lincoln Center. The film is presented by director Kevin Smith who picked...
WIF’s 2011 Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards To Be Awarded June 16
Hotter than hot Melissa McCarthy will host the annual Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards in Los Angeles on June 16. Awardees are: Annette Bening (for excellence in film), Nina Tassler (for...
Hillary Clinton Supports Women’s Sports As the US Women Prepare for the World Cup
Sports are a part of pop culture and this is an exciting year as the US women get ready to head to Germany to try and take back the World Cup trophy. Mind you if they played as bad as they played on...
Angela Bromstad’s Legacy at NBC — Women Writers on Community
Saw this link at Vulture (those guys and gals are really good) via the AV Club and it is such a good quote that it needs to be re-quoted verbatim. This is Dan Harmon, the creator of Community...
The Pornification of Lisbeth Salander
I have officially become angry at the latest poster to appear online for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This one as you can see shows Rooney Mara with her breast exposed. The previous ones had...
Thelma and Louise — 20 Years On
In homage to its 20th anniversary, Shania Twain and Taylor Swift recreated a scene from the film that will open the Country Music Television Awards this evening. As Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon...
Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph and the Homeless Fart
Hysterical interview from the French junket for Bridesmaids. This dude hit the jackpot h/t Movieline
Trailer Watch: Sarah’s Key
Goosebump city. Film opens July 22
Reese Witherspoon to Young Hollywood: Hide Your Sex Tape
Reese Witherspoon was awarded the MTV Generation award last night and the MTV Movie Awards (remember when they were the Video and Music Awards?) and she decided to use her moment to offer some advice...
Cross Post: Copycat Crime: That’s Flattery Not Mockery by Thelma Adams
Maybe someone should tell Jimmy Kimmel that he shouldn’t lead with his cleavage. But, then, a lot of people told Melissa Leo — after the fact — that she shouldn’t pay for her own...
Trailer Watch: Breaking Dawn Part 1
Film Opens November 19
Clicks of the Week
Here are some articles of note that didn’t make it to a blog post or a tweet. In The Director’s Chair: Catherine Hardwicke (NY Post) Exclusive: Maria Bello Talks BEAUTIFUL BOY, NBC’s PRIME...
Interview with Liz Garbus, Director of Bobby Fischer Against the World
Liz Garbus is a prolific documentarian. Her latest film, Bobby Fischer Against the World which premiered at Sundance is a fascinating look at chess champion Bobby Fischer and all his demons, will...
A Eulogy for The Chicago Code
I watched the Chicago Code for Jennifer Beals. I watched it because she played the Chicago police superintendent which made her the highest ranking female on the force. I continued to watch it for...
Mosquita y Mari and My Reincarnation Enter the Kickstarter Hall of Fame
Here’s some good news for women filmmakers. These two films both made their Kickstarter goals and My Reincarnation broke all crowd funding records on the site. Here’s what director Jennifer Fox...
Trailer Watch: The Whistleblower — Directed by Larysa Kondracki
The Whistleblower is a film that hits you right in the gut. It’s based on the true story of a real life whistleblower Kathryn Bolkovac a cop from Nebraska who volunteered to go be a peacekeeper in...
More On The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: Here’s an R Rated International Poster
I do love all the conversations the trailer and posters have generated online. This film will be big. Yes, that is a safety pin and that is her boob. No way we would see an image like that here even...
Take Two: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Trailer
It clearly looks like the version that I posted yesterday was a bootleg and not a strategic marketing drop because the trailer has been pulled from You Tube. (If you didn’t see it yesterday you are...
Remember This Name — Whitney Cummings
So the TV lineups for next season are set and the writers and producers are getting to work trying to make their shows the ones that stick. One of the interesting things to note from the upfronts...
Trailer Watch: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Since this surfaced on the internet this weekend there have been rumors that it is not a bootleg but a deliberate marketing piece from Sony. All I have to say is that the film is called The Girl With...
Thelma and Louise Turns 20
I can’t believe that it is 20 years since Thelma and Louise was released. We still have so much work to do. This is a movie that resonated with people in a profound way, it’s a movie that people...
Trailer Watch: Claire Danes in Homeland
Claire Danes takes the lead in the new spy show from the producers of 24. Will air on Showtime this fall.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Showrunners doc
It seems like we are making some progress on women creating TV shows but from the looks of this trailer, TV is only populated by men. Not a single female showrunner is in the trailer and not a single...
Bridesmaids Box Office Update
The news on The Bridesmaids box office week two is that it only dropped 20%. Think about that. According to box office mojo that 20% decline was less than recent comedies like The 40 Year Old Virgin...
Cannes Winners: The Women
The Cannes Film Festival concluded last evening and Poliss directed by Maiwenn won the jury prize (which is third place.) The film has been picked up Sundance Selects. None of the other films by...
Hollywood Feminist of the Day: Mariska Hargitay
Mariska founded the charity Joyful Heart Foundation which is up for a $500,000 Chase Community Giving Grant. Joyful Heart’s mission is to heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault,...
The World’s Most Powerful Celebrity is Lady Gaga
Forbes has put out another one of its list, this year’s most powerful celebrity list. This list is not just about money. Here’s the methodology: The Celebrity 100, which includes film and...
Poster Watch: Sarah’s Key starring Kristen Scott Thomas
I loved this book and I cannot wait for the film. It opens here on July 22.
Bridesmaids Box Office Stays Strong
Just a little bit of news on the box office for Bridesmaids. Variety has reported that it beat Thor at the box office on Monday and Tuesday. As of yesterday, the gross was over $32 million which...
Get Ready for the Women’s World Cup
ESPN will debut a documentary series on June 25 to coincide with the beginning of the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament in Germany. Here’s the description: The short films will offer in-depth...
Season Preview: ABC’s Lineup
Scandal — written by Shonda Rhimes (midseason) https://medium.com/media/4d27489cc07caf17804240a953eb5868/href Suburgatory — written by...
Season Preview: NBC’s Lineup
Smash — written by Theresa Rebeck (midseason) Are You There Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea — written by Julie Larson and Dottie...
Roseanne Pulls Back the Wizard’s Curtain on Network TV and it Ain’t Pretty
I have always loved Roseanne. I love her because she makes people uncomfortable (even me at times.) I love that she says what she believes, damn the consequences. Now, she can say whatever she wants...
Eve Ensler to Make Directing Debut With The Other Side Starring Jane Fonda
Vagina Monologue writer and V-Day activist Eve Ensler will be making her directorial debut on The Other Side a film that will also focus on the epidemic of rape in the Congo. In the...
Private Practice Takes on Abortion Again
This past week, Private Practice created by Shonda Rhimes stood up again for a woman’s right to choose. This episode was written by Jennifer Cecil and Barbie Kligman. Here’s what happened. A...
More Pilot Pickups Created by Women
NBCUntitled Parham/St. Clair — Jessica St. Clair and Lennon ParhamAre You There Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea — Dottie Zicklin and Julie Larson ABCApartment 23 — (formerly titled...
Bridesmaids is a Big Fat Hit!
Women took up the mantle and went to see the film. The gross was about $24.5 (UPDATE — $26.2) million about $10 million more than predicted. I don’t know who does the predicting on these...
Tickets Available to LA Screening of No Woman, No Cry
More Magazine has made available several tickets to a special screening of Christy Turlington Burns’ documentary No Woman, No Cry. The screening will be held on Monday, May 23rd at 4:30pm at LA...
Cannes Watch: Reviews of Polisse directed by Maiwenn
From Jordan Minzer in the Hollywood Reporter: A powerhouse of emotional jolts, free-wheeling comedy and socially-minded storytelling, Poliss (Polisse) reps an admirable step up for...
Human Rights Watch Film Festival: The Women
Women directors are dominant in the upcoming Human Rights Watch Film Festival in NYC from June 16–30. The themes of the Festival this year are: Truth, Justice and Accountability; Times of Conflict...
Save the Future for Women in Comedy — See Bridesmaids
How did we get to a place in 2011 where the female Hollywood comedian is on the endangered species list? My god we have three female Supreme Court justices, we’ve had three female secretaries of...
Guest Post: The First Grader by Ann Peacock
We LOVE it, but there’s no money for movies about Africa. This refrain was repeated over and over again as I trundled around town pitching the story to anyone who would stand still long enough to...
Weinstein Co. Picks Up Meryl Streep Film The Iron Lady
Looks like we will have a Meryl Streep film in Oscar contention this year. At Cannes, the Weinstein Co. has secured the US rights for the film. Film is written by Abi Morgan and directed by...
Pilot Pickups: Fox and NBC
Here are the women created and written shows that got pick ups in the last two days. Note that all four of the shows picked up by NBC are written by women and all will star women. NBCUp All...
Women Can Create Shows — The 2011–2012 Pilot Season
As pilot season winds down and the shows get series pickups in the next couple of weeks, Neely Swanson took a look at the female writers creating pilots this year for Deadline and found that there...
ITVS Launches Women and Girls Lead
ITVS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has launched a three project to air 50 documentary films — some new and some archival — that highlight women and girls leadership. The...
In Praise of Melissa McCarthy
I finally saw Bridesmaids last night. LOVED IT. Will have a longer piece later this week, but I wanted to single out Melissa McCarthy for a gush of love immediately. She almost stole the movie from...
Box Office Roundup — Weekend of May 6, 2011
I thought we should take a look at some numbers from this past weekend since we haven’t done that for a while. First — looks like Mel Gibson has not been forgiven. The Beaver grossed only...
Attenberg to be Greek Entry for Academy Awards
Attenberg, written and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari has been making its way around the world winning many awards including best actress at the Venice Film Festival and the top award at the...
Why Bridesmaids Matters
This feels like another cultural watershed moment for women on screen. A big studio comedy that is about women. We all know the difficulties women in comedy have faced. Gone are the days of Goldie...
Trailer Watch: Columbiana
In this film Zoe Saldana kicks some serious ass. At least its not only the teens who are playing the action stars. The film opens in September