ALL POSTS
Sometimes Real Life is Even Better Than The Movie
They couldn’t have scripted it better. It was a storybook weekend for women’s soccer. While most of the US press was focused on Derek Jeter’s 3,000 hit (at least that’s what it looks like...
Producers Corner: Jami Gertz and Stacey Lubliner Talk About A Better Life
Actress Jami Gertz and former agent Stacey Lubliner set up a production company Lime Orchard Productions in order to produce films about the human condition. Their first film out of the gate as...
Guest Post: Raven Symone Plays Georgia…Sticky Issue for Feminists? by Emilie Spiegel
Last week, the Raven Symone series created by chick-lit author Jennifer Weiner, State of Georgia, premiered on ABC Family. Symone plays Georgia, a young woman who’s recently moved to NYC to pursue...
Guest Post: Selena Gomez Takes It To The Next Level By Serena Donadoni
Meeting Selena Gomez, itʼs hard not to notice what she doesnʼt do as much as what she does: she doesnʼt slouch or hesitate answering questions; sheʼs not testy or fatigued on this last stop of a...
LA Film Festival: Somewhere Between — Directed by Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Producer Linda Goldstein Knowlton who produced one of my favorite films ever — Whale Rider — steps behind the camera to direct a film for her daughter Ruby whom she adopted from China....
LA Film Festival: Renee
I watched a fascinating and sad documentary on Renee Richards over the weekend. It is now playing at the LA Film Festival (after it played at Tribeca last month) with another screening this evening...
Films to Watch for This Fall on the Film Fest Circuit: The Women
The intrepid folks at IndieWIRE have put together a wish list for films they want to see this fall on the film fest circuit. Here are the women centric and women directed ones on the list. (all...
The Press for Transformers 3 Starts With Bashing Megan Fox
I’m sorry, but how did Megan Fox’s departure from Transformers 3 become a big press hook for the movie? Is the movie so bad that they need to distract from the actual movie to events that...
Julie Taymor Talks Spiderman at LA Theatre Conference
I’m a bit obsessed about the Julie Taymor/Spiderman situation. Mostly I’m obsessed because of what this will mean for her career, but also what it will mean for other women’s careers. Since her...
Sex Crimes Unit — Directed by Lisa F. Jackson
Monday night, HBO will air a behind the scenes look at the NYC Sex Crimes prosecution unit. These are the lawyers who go to court to fight for the women (yes, it is mostly women) who have been raped...
An Unpublished Laura Ziskin Interview
I have no idea why this interview was not published by The Hollywood Reporter, but it wasn’t. This interview was conducted last September and has some really good points about women and the...
Guest Post: Step One: Finding the Right Producer by Zoje Stage
In 2008, I won a Fellowship in Screenwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts. As I left the party in my strapless black dress and uncomfortable shoes I had one thought: “Please dear gods...
In Memoriam: Laura Ziskin
While most producers names are not known, Laura Ziskin is not one of them. Yesterday, at 61 she lost her battle with breast cancer. She was a woman who came into the business like other women in the...
Interview With Sarah Siegel Magness: Producer of Judy Moody And the Not Bummer Summer
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer opens today. It’s a great hoot for the young — both boys and girls. Producer Sarah Siegel Magness answered some questions about being a producer in...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival: The Women
Here are the women directed films that will be screening at the Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival from June 20–26. Just a note, the opening, closing and centerpiece films are all directed by...
Interview with Natalia Smirnoff — Writer and Director of Puzzle
Puzzle is the story of Maria del Carmen an average 50 year old woman whose role in life is to take care of her husband and two almost sons. When she discovers that she has immense talent for putting...
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...
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...
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...
Cannes Watch: First Reviews of Sleeping Beauty Directed by Julia Leigh
From Sasha Stone on The Wrap: Much has been made of the supposed sexuality to be plumbed in Australian novelist and first-time auteur Julia Leigh’s “Sleeping Beauty.” First, a teaser poster...
Guest Post: Hooray For The Movie Bridesmaids by Cory Kahaney
Here we go again…my phone is ringing because some funny laaaady is getting lots of attention. In this case it’s ladies, and the movie is Bridesmaids. Someone is doing a piece on why this all...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
Guest Post: An Evening with Tina Fey — Queen Bossypants By Ashley Van Buren
Tina Fey was (quite literally) infectious last Friday night while signing copies of her book, Bossypants. Despite feeling under-the-weather, Fey signed books for the 1,100 people (including 30...
Kristen Schaal Gives Women the Republic of Vagistan
Kristen Schaal continues to rock it as the Daily Show chief women’s correspondent. Highlight — “women would never walk in the desert for 40 years. One of us would have the good sense to ask...
Tina Fey is Knocked Up
Last month Tina Fey weighed in the The New Yorker with an excerpt from her recently released semi-memoir Bossypants that she was struggling to decide whether or not to have a second child. I’m sure...
Hanna
Saoirse Ronan has built herself quite a diverse career and she’s still a couple of years shy of 20. She’s done comedy with Michelle Pfeiffer in Amy Heckerling’s never released in the theatres...
Interview With Susanne Bier — Oscar Winning Director of In a Better World
WAH: Congratulations on the Oscar. What did it feel like? That moment? SB: You know one of those few moments in one’s life when everything comes to a standstill? This was a moment like that. And I...
Real World and Film World Collide
Today is the release of the DVD of Made in Dagenham. Why people didn’t go to see this film when it was released last fall I will never understand. It was good, fun and about something...
Guest Post: A Chat With Rebecca Zlotowski, director of Belle Epine by Kylie Boltin
Belle Epine is a strikingly intimate portrait of a seventeen year-old girl, Prudence (played by Léa Seydoux) that captures her transition from cocooned youth towards a premature adulthood following...
What the Hell is Abbie Cornish Doing in Sucker Punch?
I must say that I found the film Sucker Punch to be very confusing. I had no idea what it was about except that it was clear that young women were in peril, stuck in a mental institution or brothel....
Elizabeth Taylor — A True Hollywood Legend
In the world of icons in Hollywood Elizabeth Taylor stands on her own. It seems that everything that endures in Hollywood she did first. She got treated for alcoholism and drug addiction and spoke...
Jodie Foster and The Beaver
Last week Jodie Foster flew into Austin, Texas from Paris set of Gods of Carnage directed by Roman Polanski (don’t get me started) to attend the premiere of The Beaver, her latest directing...
Interview With Daphne Pinkerson, Director, Triangle: Remembering The Fire
Tonight, at 9pm EST, HBO will premiere a new doc Triangle: Remembering the Fire in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire which killed 146 people mostly all young immigrant women...
Interview with Sherry Hormann, Director of Desert Flower
Desert Flower opens this Friday in NY and LA. It stars Liya Kebede as Waris Dirie, a woman who escaped from Somalia and became a top fashion model and UN spokeswoman against female genital...
The Culture Wars Are Back: Mike Huckabee Slams Natalie Portman For Being Single and Pregnant
The steam is coming out of my ears. It’s like deja vu. Twenty years ago we had Dan Quayle going after Candice Bergen on Murphy Brown and now we have Mike Huckabee going after...
Julie Taymor Talks About The Struggle With Spiderman
Julie Taymor has been in NY working non-stop on trying to get the Spiderman Musical to a place where it can finally open. The knives have been out for some time for many reasons. One, this is the...
Three Vie for Next Female Franchise
Variety reported yesterday that three Oscar nominated young actresses Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Jennifer Lawrence are all in the race to play the lead in The Hunger Games based on the...
More Good News on Bridesmaids
This film is shaping up to be the one of the movies I am most looking forward to seeing this year. Now I know that it is a movie about a wedding, and I have said that I would be perfectly fine with...