Films About Women Opening This Week
Sisters — Written by Paula Pell
We can’t ever get enough of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, so we’re excited that the sweet and salty “Sisters” is a vehicle worthy of their talents and friendship. We’ve all seen versions of this movie before, about the rebellious kids who throw a party, find love amidst all the drunks and weirdos, then regret it when their house ends up a booze-soaked wreck. The novel and surprisingly touching detail that makes the sharp and raunchy “Sisters” different is that those “kids” are fortysomething (horny as hell) women, and writer Paula Pell treats Fey’s unreliable mom and Poehler’s oppressive goody-two-shoes like the middle-aged screw-ups that they are. Funny and moving and kind-hearted, “Sisters” features some of the best on-screen spark we’ve seen all year. (Inkoo Kang)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
We at Women and Hollywood have often (justifiably) ragged on the Star Wars galaxy for having only three female speaking characters in the original trilogy — just one for each movie. Since acquiring George Lucas’ franchise, Disney is course-correcting that egregious gender imbalance with “The Force Awakens,” which centers on Rey (played by cheer-worthy newcomer Daisy Ridley), a mechanical genius who’s more afraid of not doing the right thing than anything that might come her way. For many, “The Force Awakens” will be the “Star Wars” movie they’ve long been waiting for. We’re just glad that Disney is doing much better by its female fans — and that the Empire finally has room enough for two badass women. (Inkoo Kang)
Anguish (Also available on VOD)
Sixteen-year-old Tess (Ryan Simpkins) may be young in age, but she’s already had several lifetimes’ worth of psychological distress, beginning randomly when she was found banging her head into a wall at the age of five. Through the years, her mother (Annika Marks) has tried everything, every specialist, every alternative treatment, to bring her into balance. The closest thing to a proper diagnosis that doctors have been able to assign to her mental condition is an identity disorder, and in a sense, that’s not incorrect. Tess’s identity is horrifically disordered — because it’s being encroached upon by spirits of the dead. (Fantasia International Film Festival)
The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (Also available on VOD)
A secretary (Freya Mavor) steals her boss’s car (Benjamin Biolay) to go joyriding. She visits a seaside town she swears she’s never been to, but everyone knows her name. And when a body turns up in the trunk of the car, she is the lead suspect in a murder she knows nothing about. Is she going crazy? (IMDb)
Films About Women Currently Playing
Bleeding Heart — Written and Directed by Diane Bell
The Girl in the Book — Written and Directed by Marya Cohn
Chi-Raq
The Letters
My Friend Victoria
A Royal Night Out
Janis: Little Girl Blue (Documentary) — Directed by Amy Berg
The Danish Girl — Written by Lucinda Coxon
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2
Carol — Written by Phyllis Nagy
Mustang — Directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven; Written by Deniz Gamze Ergüven and Alice Winocour
Ingrid Bergman — In Her Own Words (Documentary) — Co-Written by Dominika Daubenbüchel
Brooklyn
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (Documentary) — Directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland; Co-Written by Lisa Immordino Vreeland and Bernadine Colish
Our Brand is Crisis
The Wonders/Le Meraviglie — Written and Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
Flowers/Loreak
Suffragette — Directed by Sarah Gavron; Written by Abi Morgan
Truth
Big Stone Gap — Written and Directed by Adriana Trigiani
He Named Me Malala (Documentary)
Sicario
Breathe — Written and Directed by Mélanie Laurent
The Second Mother — Written and Directed by Anna Muylaert
Grandma
Inside Out
Films Directed by Women Opening This Week
None
Films Directed by Women Currently Playing
Dreams Rewired (Documentary) — Co-Directed and Co-Written by Manu Luksch
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Jeanie Finlay
Rock in the Red Zone (Documentary) — Directed by Laura Bialis
Censored Voices (Documentary) — Directed by Mor Loushy
The 33 — Directed by Patricia Riggen
By the Sea — Written and Directed by Angelina Jolie
Love the Coopers — Directed by Jessie Nelson
Heart of a Dog (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Laurie Anderson
The Intern — Written and Directed by Nancy Meyers
Meet the Patels (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Geeta Patel
Films Written by Women Opening This Week
None
Films Written by Women Currently Playing
Don Verdean — Co-Written by Jerusha Hess
The Good Dinosaur — Written by Meg LeFauve
Room — Written by Emma Donoghue
Labyrinth of Lies/Im Labyrinth des Schweigens — Co-Written by Elisabeth Bartel
VOD/DVD Releasing This Week
He Named Me Malala (Documentary)
