ALL POSTS
Two Women Directed Films Get Deals
Magnolia PIctures has picked up the documentary Queen of Versailles by Lauren Greenfield. Here’s the description: the film “tells the story of David and Jackie Siegel, a couple who began...
A Good Roundtable and a Bad Roundtable
You can’t tell me that Stephen Daldry is going to get an Oscar nomination for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. He’s great and I love The Hours, but please, why is he in this roundtable...
Pariah Scores Both NAACP Image Awards and GLAAD Media Awards Noms
It’s awards time and the NAACP and GLAAD are getting into the mix with the release of the nominees for their annual awards. Pariah, directed by Dee Rees is nominated by both organizations. GLAAD...
Final Hunger Games Poster
I love this poster because it says this is a film about a young woman who is active and in charge. Great image. And yes, the world will be watching. Cannot. Wait.
Great Interview With Glenn Close
A really great homage to her whole career on the eve of the Oscar nominations. She willed Albert Nobbs into existence. She is the star, the producer, the co-writer and she also write the lyrics to...
Interview with Dori Berinstein — Director of Carol Channing: Larger Than Life
Women and Hollywood: You’ve been a producer of Broadway shows for a number of years. How did you segue into becoming a documentary filmmaker? Dori Berinstein: I’ve actually been in the film...
Octavia Spencer Rocks Her Golden Globe Press Conference
Every time she opens her mouth I get more and more impressed with her. Favorite comment that she is happy living in her own skin and people should be proud of who you are. I love how she took off...
Sundance Trailer Watch: Finding North Directed By Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush
My first cry of the day. This film looks heartbreaking. Synopsis: 49 million people in the U.S. — one in four children — don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our...
Cross-Post: Women Kicking It on Kickstarter!
Kickstarter, called “the people’s NEA” by The New York Times, recently sent out their 2011 round-up of success stories on their crowdsourced fundraising site, with women filmmakers taking...
Is Haywire a Game Changer?
I know I am dating myself when I can say that I knew nothing about MMA — mixed martial arts — before I saw the film Haywire. I’m not the kind of person who tunes in to see women beat...
A View from the Trenches: Is Estrogen My Last Hurdle to Success?
I blame my Midwestern roots for my optimistic views and somewhat naivé outlook on my career in Hollywood. Hard work reaps rewards so any hurdle I saw was positive because it made me a better...
Agnieszka Holland is the Only Remaining Female Director with a Shot at the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar
We all know that only one woman — Kathryn Bigelow (and it has been a long time since we uttered her name) — has won the best director honors. But there have been other women acknowledged...
Strong Box Office for Kevin and The Iron Lady
We Need to Talk About Kevin directed by Lynne Ramsay reopened (after an Oscar quallifying run in December) in the US to strong numbers last weekend. The film scored the highest per screen gross of...
Lynne Ramsay Scores BAFTA Directing Nomination
In a year when we will probably not see a female director nominated for any major awards here in the US, the Brits have been smart enough to recognize the Lynne Ramsay did do one of the best...
Sundance Trailer Watch: West of Memphis — Directed by Amy Berg
I have now become obsessed with this case. I watched the HBO film this weekend and am going to catch up on the older HBO docs shortly. This is the Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh produced film. This...
Octavia Spencer’s Golden Globe Speech
I was co-hosting (they did all the work) a Golden Globe watching party last night with the National Domestic Worker’s Alliance and when Octavia won the place went nuts. And then when she mentioned...
Meryl Streep’s Golden Globe Winning Speech
Meryl Streep won best actress in a drama for The Iron Lady. In her speech she acknowledged all her fellow nominees and the other terrific female performances from this year. And how about her shout...
Hollywood Feminist of the Day: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Maggie Gyllenhaal has penned a piece in Glamour in strong support of Planned Parenthood. Go Maggie! Here’s some of what she has to say: My mother was very politically active and taught both my...
Trailer Watch: Friends With Kids Written and Directed by Jennifer Westfeldt
Yahoo! Video Player Film Opens March 9.
Where are the Women?
It has not been a good couple of months for women on shortlists here in the UK. Back in December the nation presided over the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist: 10 men and 0 women....
The Invisible War: New Poster
Haunting- Film Premieres at Sundance. Here’s the trailer. I love the tag line. The battle ground is your barracks. These are women dedicating themselves to serving the US and they are being raped...
Women and Hollywood Joins the National Domestic Workers Alliance #BeTheHelp Campaign
I have always believed that culture can help make change. I believe that you can use film and TV to move people about issues — if you do it right. The smart folks with the National Domestic...
Participate in Live Q and A with Angelina Jolie Tonight at 8pm EST
After visiting the President last night to talk about “preventing mass atrocities and combating sexual violence against women” Angelina Jolie is doing a live q and a to talk about In the Land of...
Trivializing Rape is Not OK
Here we go again. Another Hollywood star — or in this case former star, 78-year-old Kim Novak took out a full page ad in Variety equating the use of the score for Vertigo in The Artist...
How Will the New Documentary Rules Affect Women Filmmakers?
When I read the NY Times story earlier this week about the proposed changes for films to qualify for a documentary Academy Award nomination, I wondered how these new rules would affect films by and...
Hollywood is So Racist That Even George Lucas Can’t Get a Movie Made
George Lucas is rolling out his new film Red Tails about the Tuskegee Airmen and he went on The Daily Show to talk about how hard it was to get the film made. He didn’t mince words when talking...
New Interesting Poster for The Iron Lady
I like this one.
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award Winners
EDA ANNUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS Best Film: The Artist Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius — The Artist Best Screenplay, Original: Midnight in Paris — Woody Allen Best Screenplay, Adapted:...
Sundance Trailer Watch: Middle of Nowhere — Written and Directed by Ava Duvernay
I am so impressed by this woman and how she is making movies about African American women on her terms. I really liked her first film, I Will Follow. We will try and cover this at Sundance, but here...
The Athena Film Festival Awardees and Lineup
Most of you dear loyal readers and friends know that I am the artistic director of the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College. It is something very near and dear to my heart and keeps me quite busy...
Melissa McCarthy News
A couple of things to talk about on the Melissa McCarthy front. First- She ain’t doing a Bridesmaids sequel without Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. Ms. McCarthy was clearly pissed when word...
The DGA Nominees — Need I Say More?
Directors Guild Feature Film Nominees Include Michel Hazanavicius for ‘The Artist’ (Hollywood Reporter)
Trailer Watch: Girl in Progress Directed by Patricia Riggen
I really liked Ms. Riggen’s previous film, La Misma Luna. This could be a big breakthrough role for Eva Mendes taking her to a new place. Yahoo! Video Player Will open April 27.
Hollywood Feminist of the Day: George Clooney
…It was my first time to create a character from beginning to end. I’ve always just shown up and, whatever my lines are, I just do it, like almost robotic in a way. But this is the first time I...
Is Dawn Hudson in Trouble at the Academy?
It seems that today is the day about stories about women executives under fire. Late Friday afternoon a news alert rolled out from the LA Times with a story about some troubles with Dawn Hudson who...
The Failed Experiment — The Departure of Disney Marketing Chief MT Carney
Disney tried to shake up it’s marketing a year and a half ago when they brought in NY marketer MT (Marie Therese) Carney, a woman with absolutely no experience marketing films. They wanted to...
Guest Post: Critics Are from Mars, Actresses from Venus
Critics! Can’t live with them, can act without them. Why won’t critics accept raw emotion that’s honestly and accurately depicted? Why do they applaud nudity and fake sexual intercourse, but...
Sexist Advertisement of the Day: Dr. Pepper 10
Seriously- this is one of the most sexist ads I have seen. It’s not new but I just got wind of it. I will never buy Dr. Pepper again. h/t Rebecca Feferman
Diablo Cody, Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig Get Nominated for WGA Awards
It seems that women’s orginal work is being recognized this year by the WGA with two out of the five slots for original screenplay taken by women. Diablo Cody was nominated for Young Adult and...
Behind the Scenes: Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher Arrives at 10 Downing Street
It’s kind of cool to hear about the creation of this scene. As Meryl Streep says: “ Margaret Thatcher really did break ground because she showed a woman could be a leader.” The film opens in...
Lame Idea of the Day — Making a Bridesmaids Sequel Without the Lead Bridesmaid
The Hollywood Reporter released a story yesterday saying that Universal was planning on moving ahead with a Bridemaids sequel but that star/co-writer Kristen Wiig as well as co-writer Annie Mumolo...
Swedish Director Lisa Aschan Returns $730,000 Grant
When is the last time you heard of a filmmaker giving money back? Well it has happened. Swedish director Lisa Aschan has turned down a $730,000 grant she was awarded based on the success of her...
Trailer Watch: New Trailer for Haywire
It’s been a while since I saw this and I forgot how much I like it. Film opens January 20.
Four Women Producers Included in List for PGA’s Top Honor — Kathleen Kennedy Nominated for Two Awards
The Producer’s Guild of America announced their nominees for top awards yesterday and four women are included on the list for the top honor which is the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer Of The Year Award...
2012 Berlinale Rolls Out the Panorama Section With Five Films Directed by Women
The program for the 2012 Berlinale is rolling out. 20 international films have been announced for inclusion in the Panorama section. Five are directed by women. Keeping count that is just 20%. They...
Maiwenn Included on Best Director List for France’s Lumiere Awards
When I was in Paris in October you could not escape the posters for Maiwenn’s Polisse which premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. The film was made for about $7 million and it has already...
Trailer Watch: The Return Directed by Liza Johnson
I’ve been wating for this one since it premiered at the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. It will open in limited release on Feb 10 and on VOD Feb. 28. Linda Cardellini plays a soldier returning...
Meryl Streep to be Feted at Berlin Film Festival
Some good news for Meryl Streep and The Iron Lady. First, the box office for the film which opened December 30 was terrific. It grossed $280,409 in four theatres (in NY and LA) for an amazing total...
Cross-Post: 20 Years of Black Lesbian Cinema Before Pariah
Dee Rees’ debut film, Pariah, has rightfully been celebrated for its tender coming-out and coming-of-age story of a shy yet sexually curious 17-year-old African-American girl, Alike (Adepero...
The Year That Was
Happy new year everyone. Thanks so much for the great support over the last year. As we start the new year, I thought it would be interesting to look at the narratives that dominated the...
The Iron Lady
As a person who cares about women’s leadership, The Iron Lady should be a no-brainer. A film with an AMAZING tour-de-force performance by Meryl Streep playing a woman who was the longest serving...