Weekly Update for August 9: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING

The Kitchen – Written and Directed by Andrea Berloff

“The Kitchen” stars Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “Bridesmaids”), Tiffany Haddish (“Girls Trip”), and Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) as three 1978 Hell’s Kitchen housewives whose mobster husbands are sent to prison by the FBI. Left with little but a sharp ax to grind, the ladies take the Irish mafia’s matters into their own hands — proving unexpectedly adept at everything from running the rackets to taking out the competition, literally.

Find screening info here.

One Child Nation (Documentary) – Directed by Nanfu Wang and Zhang Lynn

“One Child Nation”

I didn’t really know what to expect from “One Child Nation,” but whatever it was that I did expect, the documentary itself exceeded it by miles. The film delves into the one child policy in China, which for me was always this amorphous rule that I didn’t really have any context to relate to. What Nanfu Wang — who directed with Zhang Lynn — does is talk to the people who were forced to adhere to the policy and explores how it affected their lives. A population control measure, it prohibited Chinese families from having more than one child. The policy affected the women and their families and also affected the men and women who had to carry it out. It was cruel on so many levels, and the remnants of that cruelty has haunted people for their entire lives. The second part of the “One Child Nation” deals with the policy’s aftermath and the children it victimized. Some were abandoned. Some were taken away. Many were trafficked out of orphanages. The film focuses on the adoption industry and what happens when there are no records. Many of these children will never have any way to find their families in China. It’s heartbreaking. (Melissa Silverstein)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Nanfu Wang.

Find screening info here.

After the Wedding (Opens in NY and LA)

“After the Wedding”

I don’t think it’s a hard sell to say that Michelle Williams is one of the most talented actresses of her generation, if not the most talented. Watching her in “After the Wedding” just confirmed my deep respect for her. While the drama is a remake of Susanne Bier’s 2006 film of the same name, its tone and substance is very different from the Danish original. Williams plays Isabel, a woman who has made her life working at an orphanage in India, one that is in need of services and improvements. She is summoned to New York to meet a potential donor for some much-needed funds. The donor is a wealthy media mogul named Theresa (Julianne Moore) and she requests that Isabel attend her daughter’s wedding before a final decision is made. As you can surmise from the title, everything happens after the wedding. All the performances are wonderful, especially Abby Quinn’s turn as the young bride. But Williams is the standout because she is somehow able to show such deep emotion on her face with such little movement. It is a true gift. (MS)

Find screening info here.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold”

Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, nothing could prepare Dora (Isabela Moner) for her most dangerous adventure ever: high school. Always the explorer, Dora quickly finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), Diego (Jeff Wahlberg), a mysterious jungle inhabitant (Eugenio Derbez), and a rag tag group of teens on a live-action adventure to save her parents (Eva Longoria, Michael Peña) and solve the impossible mystery behind a lost city of gold.

Find screening info here.

This Changes Everything (Documentary) (Opens in NY and LA)

Told first-hand by some of Hollywood’s leading voices behind and in front of the camera, “This Changes Everything” is a feature-length documentary that uncovers what is beneath one of the most confounding dilemmas in the entertainment industry: the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women. It takes an incisive look at the history, empirical evidence, and systemic forces that foster gender discrimination and thus reinforce disparity in our culture. Most importantly, the film seeks pathways and solutions from within and outside the industry, and around the world.

Find screening info here.

FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING

“Blinded by the Light”

Blinded by the Light – Directed by Gurinder Chadha; Written by Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Sarfraz Manzoor (Opens in the UK; Opens in the U.S. August 14)

Javed (Viveik Kalra) is a British teen of Pakistani descent growing up in 1987 England. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father. But when a classmate introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in the powerful lyrics. As Javed discovers an outlet for his own pent-up dreams, he also begins to express himself in his own voice.Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Gurinder Chadha.

Find screening info here.

Los Reyes (Documentary) – Directed by Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff (Opens in NY August 14)

“Los Reyes”

Los Reyes (“The Kings”) is the oldest skatepark in the Chilean capital of Santiago. This story is about the real kings here: Football and Chola, two stray dogs that have made their home in this open space full of hurtling skateboards and rowdy teenagers. The energetic Chola loves to play with the balls she finds lying around. The older dog, Football, looks on impatiently and barks at Chola until she finally drops them. The teenagers around them come from very different, sometimes troubled backgrounds. They each have their own story, which they recount to us in voiceover. In this almost fairy-tale-like film, the phenomenal, dreamlike camerawork centers almost entirely on the subtle interaction between the two dogs, as they play with a ball, a stick, a stone, and each other.

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Bettina Perut.

Find screening info here.

Adam – Written by Ariel Schrag (Opens August 14)

Awkward, self-conscious Adam Freeman (Nicholas Alexander) has just finished his junior year of high school in 2006. When his cool older sister Casey (Margaret Qualley) suggests he visit her in New York for the summer, Adam has visions of meeting a girl and finally gaining some actual life experience. The fantasy doesn’t materialize exactly as expected. Casey has enthusiastically embraced life amidst Brooklyn’s young LGBTQ community and invites Adam to tag along with her to queer bars, marriage equality rallies, and other happenings. When Adam falls at first sight for Gillian (Bobbi Salvör Menuez), a smart, beautiful young woman in this new crowd, she mistakenly assumes he is trans. Flummoxed and enamored, he haplessly goes along with her assumption, resulting in an increasingly complex comedy — and tragedy — of errors he’s ill-equipped to navigate.

South Central Love – Written and Directed by Christina Cooper (Opens in LA)

In the unforgiving streets of Los Angeles, we meet a couple who comes from two different worlds. But through their trials and tribulations, they realize their broken families assist in bringing them closer together. Throughout the movie, characters learn to trust their intuition in their own love and life story. This film was created to encourage love within our city streets and to put an end to gang and gun violence. This is not your regular love story. South Central Love. The type of love money can’t buy.

Find screening info here.

The Circus: Down the Road (Documentary) – Directed by Barbara Camillo and Seth Camillo (Opens in LA)

“The Circus: Down the Road” is the exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary about the world’s largest circus. For the first and only time, viewers will look under the canvas and peer into the secretive culture under the big top. Danger is everywhere and beauty is ever present in a society that has gone virtually unchanged for hundreds of years.

Find screening info here.

TV PREMIERES

“GLOW”

GLOW – Created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch (Season 3 Premieres August 9 on Netflix)

The “GLOW” gang make their mark on the Vegas strip in Season 3 of the ‘80s-set Netflix comedy. The ragtag group of wrestlers are headliners at the Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino, and business is good — so good that shows are selling out weeks in advance, and they’re being invited to extend their contract through the end of the year. The prospect of staying in Sin City is especially complicated for Debbie (Betty Gilpin). As the star and a producer of the wrestling show, she wants it to succeed — but she’s missing her son in LA and feeling overwhelmed with guilt about her absence. Ruth (Alison Brie) has problems of her own. “I have a job, I have a boyfriend, and somehow I still feel lost,” she tells Debbie. Despite her long-distance relationship, she can’t seem to stay away from Sam (Marc Maron), who has made his feelings for her clear. What’s less clear is exactly how she feels about him. (Laura Berger)Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready (Stand-Up Series) – Created by Tiffany Haddish (Premieres August 13 on Netflix)

Six comics. Zero BS. These uproarious entertainers are putting you all up in their funny business. And they’re just getting started.

Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America (Documentary) – Directed by Perri Peltz and Matthew O’Neill (Premieres August 14 on HBO)

“Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America” offers a fascinating look at the varied ways Americans are choosing to both find meaning and celebrate life as it comes to an end. With attitudes about death and end-of-life choices rapidly changing, 2018 was the first time more Americans chose cremation over more expensive, traditional burials, disrupting the $16 billion-a-year funeral industry. As the baby boomer generation approaches death, more and more people are rethinking the ways end of life is recognized and are deciding to take control of what will happen when they die.

Happy Jail (Docuseries) – Directed by Michele Josue (Premieres August 14 on Netflix)

This five-part docuseries goes inside the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a unique Philippine jail where dancing is part of the inmates’ exercise and rehabilitation. CPDRC shot to worldwide fame when its 2007 performance of “Thriller” went viral, but 10 years later it faces intense scrutiny when an ex-convict is hired to run it.

Why Women Kill (Premieres August 15 on CBS All Access)

“Why Women Kill”

Beth Ann (Ginnifer Goodwin), a 1960s housewife, Simone (Lucy Liu), a socialite in the ’80s, and modern-day lawyer Taylor (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) discover they each have been cheated on by their respective partners in this dark comedy-drama.