ALL POSTS
Debbie Liebling Pushed Out at Universal After Fast Five Opens at $86 Million
Timing is everything. This Monday, Universal’s President of Production, Debbie Liebling, lost her job the day after Universal’s Fast Five had the biggest opening of the year. She was on the job...
Saoirse Ronan Scores Title Role in The Host
This young woman is so hot. She seems to be at the top of the list for the youth set. She can do action — Hanna; she can do drama — Atonement. She can do everything and anything. She just...
Guest Post: Haunted by Future Anxiety by Laurel Haines
About ten years ago I started to feel like maybe the future wouldn’t be so great. Not my personal future, but the future we were creating by destroying the environment and racking up national debt...
Abortion to Take Center Stage in New Indie Film
I just read a story about a new film called Doonby. Never heard of it before this morning until this headline from the Hollywood Reporter came across my computer: Woman at Center of Roe v. Wade Stars...
Lifetime Unveils 2011–2012 Slate of Programs
Lifetime which a couple of years ago had some strong dramas is trying to get back into the business of scripted shows. They network has renewed Army Wives for a sixth season and ordered a Modern Love...
Los Angeles Film Festival 2011 Selections: The Women
The LA Film Festival will run from June 16 to June 26. They received over 5,000 submissions for their competition program. All the films in competition are either world, North American, or US...
Will Kathryn Bigelow Be The First Out of the Gate With a Bin Laden Movie?
I imagine that Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal are pretty psyched today regarding the prospects for their upcoming film which has long been rumored to be about the attempt to capture Bin Laden. In...
Bridesmaids Has Not Even Opened and It’s Already Being Copied
It’s a day of good news/bad news stories. Bridesmaids which doesn’t even open until next week is already being copied. Kirsten Dunst and Lizzy Caplan have signed up to star in Bachelorette which...
The Tony Nominations 2011 — Women Writers Completely Missing
There is some good news and some very bad news in today’s Tony nominations. The good news first. • Two women are nominated for best direction of play: Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherf**ker with the...
Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott Talk Girls With Guns
One of the fun things that is happening in the NY Times is that they have unleashed their film critics to talk casually about films on different topics. It’s so nice to hear opinions from Manohla...
Book Excerpt- The Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson
I have a piece in the upcoming anthology The Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson and the Secrets Behind the Most Compelling Thrillers of Our Time by Dan Burstein, Arne de Keijzer, John-Henri...
Must Watch: Lara Logan on 60 Minutes
I know this is a bit off topic but this is important about how women are treated in this world. Lara Logan went to Egypt to do her job. To broadcast a revolution. She can back a battered and abused...
Sequels and Hollywood — Hardly Any Women Centric Titles
The site Den of Geek put together a list of all the sequels in the works in Hollywood. There are 95 on the list. Many will never happen. Many will. It’s interesting to note that only 6 of the 95...
Women at the Box Office: April 29 — May 1, 2011
Women Centric Currently Playing The ArborPromHannaSoul SurferPoticheMiralSucker Punch Jane Eyre — written by Moira BuffiniRed Riding Hood — directed by Catherine HardwickeI Will...
Women Win Big Prizes at Tribeca Film Festival
Lisa Aschan’s Swedish film She Monkeys (which I missed and desperately want to see) won the best narrative at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. The film was written by Josefine Adolfsson and...
First Poster: Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Glenn Close returns to the big screen in Albert Nobbs. Hope it gets picked up for US distribution. Close is also producing this and is the co-writer. h/t Rope of Silicon
Hollywood Feminist of the Day: Amy Poehler
At a dinner this week celebrating the Time 100 list, Amy Poehler seems to have stole the show by thanking her two nannies by name as important people and influences in her life. She thanked them for...
Guest Post: Getting Prom to the Big Screen by Katie Wech
Like many opportunities in life, it happened so fast I could have easily missed it. I was sitting in an executive’s office at Disney, when suddenly he said, almost in passing, “I’ve been...
New Research: Females Are of Lesser Value Than Males
New research from Stacy Smith and Marc Choueiti of USC’s Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism has tracked women on screen and behind the scenes in the top 100 grossing films...
Christine Vachon on the State of the Cinema
Listen to prolific producer Chistine Vachon talk about the state of the current cinema at this year’s SF International Film Festival. She says the state of current cinema may not be happening in...
Trailer Watch: Another Earth
This is co-written and starring Brit Marling. Opens July 20
Trailer Watch: What’s Your Number?
Do you think this will be the film that makes people believe women can be funny or is it the film that confirms that women can be as stupid as the guys.
The Arbor — Directed by Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard takes the documentary form and stands it on its head with The Arbor a look at playwright Andrea Dunbar and her family. Dunbar grew up a working class kid on an estate in Bradford,...
Tribeca 2011: Mama Africa
I first heard of Miriam Makeba on the awesome Paul Simon album Graceland (still one of the greatest), but I had no idea about her Miriam Makeba, the woman or Miriam Makeba, the activist. The Tribeca...
Tina Fey Goes to Google
If you want to hear her talk about her book and comedy this is a long piece with Eric Schmidt, the (former) CEO of Google. There is some laugh out loud stuff in here. h/t Mashable
Trailer Alert: Bridesmaids (The Dirty Version)
2 more weeks until Bridesmaids. I’m going to see it next week and I am psyched. This has potential cross over for male and female audiences. Here’s what Russ Fischer said on /Film: “This movie...
Book Excerpt: Seduced by Twilight by Natalie Wilson
Here is a taste from the Introduction, A Post-Twilight World from Seduced by Twilight I fully expected to hate Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga when I was dragged, kicking and screaming, to read it...
Interview with Paula van der Oest, Director of Black Butterflies (Repost)
Black Butterflies is the tumultuous life story of South African poet Ingrid Jonker who struggled desperately to gain the love of the men in her life. Her father (played by Rutger Hauer) was an...
The Writers of the Summer Movies
Notice anything in common? I found it interesting that two of them were influenced by Star Wars. It would be great to have some films about women that influence the next generation of screenwriters....
Meryl as Margaret Thatcher
Here’s another image from the set of The Iron Lady. Hoping it is ready for this coming Oscar season. Meet Meryl, the queen of the blues as new pictures reveal her latest role as The Iron Lady
Research Alert: Changing the Status Quo — Industry Leaders’ Perceptions of Gender in Family Films
Anyone who has been to a G, PG, or PG-13 (and of course R rated films but they are not included in this study) knows that when they look up on the screen there are many more male characters than...
Tribeca 2011: Turn me on, goddamit — directed by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen
While watching the delightful Norwegian film Turn me on, goddamit I couldn’t help but think back to another recent and unexpected delight — Easy A. Alma (Helen Bergsholm) is a 15-year-old...
Interview with Carice Van Houten, Star of Black Butterflies
I was able to interview Carice in Amsterdam as she prepared to head to the US for the world premiere of Black Butterflies tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival. Just a brief synopsis: (contains...
Cinema Verite directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini Airs Tonight on HBO
Film is about the first reality TV show and stars Diane Lane as Pat Loud. So I guess we can blame the death of civilization on PBS (how ironic) since they were the ones who aired An American Family...
Mel Gibson Speaks Out
Writer Allison Hope Weiner did a sit-down with Mel Gibson that was posted last night on Deadline. It is the first day time that Gibson has spoken out since the tapes of him screaming and threatening...
Nanette Burstein to Direct Nicole Holofcener Script
The news from the Hollywood Reporter is that Nanette Burstein (Going the Distance) will direct Unforgiving World a remake of a French film with a script written by writer/director Nicole Holofcener...
Interview with Paula Van Der Oest, Director of Black Butterflies
Black Butterflies will premiere on April 23rd at the Tribeca Film Festival. Also check out this interview with the film’s star Carice van Houten.
Cannes Directors Fortnight 2011: The Women
Here are the films directed by women from the 2011 Cannes Directors Fortnight. Out of a total of 21 films, seven are directed by women. That’s 33%. Not too shabby. (Descriptions from IndieWIRE) The...
Trailer Watch: The Help
This looks great. Opens on August 12.
Jodie Foster on Why There Are So Few Female Directors
I’ve been a bit hard on Jodie of late for her support of Mel Gibson and for taking a gig with Roman Polanski, but it seems she is taking one for the team when talking about why there are so few...
HBO To Screen Many Docs by Women This Summer
HBO announced their summer documentary lineup and there are many great looking women directed films — two from Liz Garbus — and others including one about Gloria Steinem directed by men....
Interview at the International Women’s Film Festival
Here I am in all my glory
The Jury Awards — International Women’s Film Festival 2011
The International Women’s Film Festival concluded last evening in Dortmund, Germany. Over 8,000 people saw movies, went to concerts, and went to workshops over the last five days. Pretty impressive...
Guest Post: Zeina Durra and Elodie Bouchez The Imperalists Are Still Alive! By Melissa Silvestri
From the opening shot of artist Asya (Elodie Bouchez) naked save for a machine gun and a hijab on her head, one can tell that The Imperialists Are Still Alive!, written and directed by Zeina Durra,...
Maren Kroymann — The German Meryl Streep
I got a bit of an inkling about how popular my fellow jury member Maren Kroymann was here in Germany, when at the opening night party a couple of people circled her, pointed their fingers and stared....
Good News: A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster Might be Heading Back to Criminal Minds
Less than a year after making the bone headed decision to cut A.J. Cook and then Paget Brewster from Criminal Minds it looks like they might be heading back into the BAU. The show did a really good...
Cannes Film Festival Lineup: The Women
I don’t know what Thierry Fremaux was smoking but whatever it was he should pass it around to other film festival programmers, because this year the Cannes Film Festival has four films by women in...
Sally Field to Take on Mary Todd Lincoln in Spielberg Biopic
Looks like Sally Field will have an opportunity for a third Oscar if this movie turns out as good as it sounds. Field takes on the female lead of Mary Todd Lincoln In Steven Spielberg’s biopic of...
Catherine Zeta-Jones Reveals Bi-Polar Disorder
I can’t recall the last time an actor of the stature of Zeta-Jones talked about health issues that didn’t have to do with some kind of addiction or an eating disorder. Yesterday, Zeta-Jones’...
Trailer Watch: Monte Carlo — Co-written by Maria Maggenti
Film Opens July 1
International Women’s Film Festival: Day One
So here I am in lovely Dortmund, Germany at the International Women’s Film Festival. This is how they say it in German: Internationales Frauenfilmfestival. Everyone has been so amazing. I feel like...