Films About Women Opening
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (doc) — Directed by Chiemi Karasawa
Elaine Stritch is one of the most entertaining women in show business, both on stage and off. Chiemi Karasawa’s highly watchable and down-right fabulous documentary takes us behind the scenes as Stritch prepares for a series of concerts. But in some ways ,the concerts are an afterthought to the real story — the story of a woman who, at 87, is trying to figure out how to play out her last act. It’s a story of aging and how to deal with health issues. In one moment you feel deeply for her as she copes with her diabetes (I personally had an experience with Ms. Stritch and had to give her an insulin shot while driving from Cambridge to Williamstown on a trip I will never forget); the next moment the perfectionist performer comes roaring out as she preps to sing Sondheim songs at the Carlyle hotel. Sondheim’s lyrics are hard to remember at any age, and it’s tough for Stritch, but she manages to make even her performance faults endearing. The woman is a “broad” in the best sense of the word, and she is a legend. This is a great legacy for a great woman who has left us theater lovers with some of the most memorable performances of all time. (Melissa Silverstein)
Holy Ghost People
Guilt and sisterly longing drives city girl Charlotte to search for her drug-addict sister in a remote Applachian region where the tight-knit residents maintain social cohesion by shunning outsiders and submitting to public whippings for adulterous thoughts. In my Los Angeles Times review, I wrote, “Holy Ghost People takes its name from a 1967 documentary by Peter Adair that captures the soul of a politically progressive West Virginia congregation that handles snakes and speaks in tongues. Director Mitchell Altieri’s disappointing feature makes nasty beasts of the very people Adair strived to humanize, portraying them as violent, intolerant hicks straight out of central casting.” (Inkoo Kang)
In Secret
Set in the lower echelons of 1860s Paris, Therese Raquin, a sexually repressed, beautiful young woman, is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille, by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. Therese spends her days confined behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominoes with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences. (IMDB)
Films By and About Women Currently Playing
Adult World
Child’s Pose
Vampire Academy
Gimme Shelter
Gloria
Maidentrip (doc) — Directed by Jillian Schlesinger; Written by Laura Dekker, Penelope Falk, Jillian Schlesinger
August: Osage County
The Invisible Woman — Written by Abi Morgan
Saving Mr. Banks — Written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith
Frozen — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Jennifer Lee
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Book Thief
Blue is the Warmest Color
Gravity
Blue Jasmine
Films Directed by Women Currently Playing
Endless Love — Co-Written and Directed by Shana Feste
Films Written by Women Opening
Pompeii — Co-Written by Janet Scott Batchler
A slave-turned-gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him. (IMDB)
Films Written by Women Currently Playing
About Last Night — Co-Written by Leslye Headland
Easy Money: Hard to Kill — Written by Maria Karlsson
Jimmy P. — Co-Written by Julie Peyr
A Field in England — Written by Amy Jump
Devil’s Due — Written by Lindsay Devlin
The Hobbit — The Desolation of Smaug — Co-Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Films By and About Women on DVD or On Demand
Cold Comes The Night
Gravity
