NOTE: This review of Sofia Coppola’s film The Beguiled is written from the POV of someone coming to the material for the second time. Jan saw the 1971 version starring Clint Eastwood, Elizabeth Hartman & Geraldine Page sometime in the way back when, and she watched this Don Siegel version again this week after last… Continue reading THE BEGUILED (2017): Review by Jan Lisa Huttner
Tag: WomenArts
TOMORROW EVER AFTER (2016): Review by Jan Lisa Huttner
Shaina is a visitor from the future trapped in a hostile world and longing for home. Like ET, she has powers beyond our own, but she still needs ordinary humans to assist her with “activities of daily living.” Filmmaker Ela Thier wrote a screenplay with a perceptive take on our era (which she calls “The Great Despair”), but director… Continue reading TOMORROW EVER AFTER (2016): Review by Jan Lisa Huttner
NAKOM (2016): Review by Jan
Iddrisu Awinzor is happily living his life as a medical student in Kumasi (Ghana) when a call from his sister Damata changes everything. There was a motorcycle accident. Their father is dead. Iddrisu must return to the village immediately. Nakom (co-directed by Kelly Daniela Norris and T.W. Pittman) is an intense, quiet film that contrasts urban life versus… Continue reading NAKOM (2016): Review by Jan
A UNITED KINGDOM (2016): Review by Elyse Thaler
A United Kingdom, directed by Amma Asante (best known for the 2013 film Belle), is based on the true story of the marriage of Seretse Khama from Bechuanaland (now the nation of Botswana) and his English wife Ruth Williams. Their love does not come without a fight as they must both battle against the racism… Continue reading A UNITED KINGDOM (2016): Review by Elyse Thaler
THIS IS EVERYTHING: GIGI GORGEOUS
Renowned documentarian Barbara Kopple teams up with Youtube star Gigi Gorgeous to bring Gigi’s gender transition to the screen. From her Youtube channel’s beginnings in makeup tutorial videos, we follow her through surgery and down runways as she seeks to find, and be, herself. (GPG: 3.5/5) Review by FF2 Contributor Giorgi Plys-Garzotto (with Two Cents… Continue reading THIS IS EVERYTHING: GIGI GORGEOUS
THE RESURRECTION OF GAVIN STONE (2016): Review by Jan
Great performances literally “save” a predicable plot. Once an adorable child star, Gavin has grown into a totally boring boor. After some hard partying, he is sentenced by the court to community service. Kudos to actor Brett Dalton for really making me care about someone who finds himself anew in his old home town. (JLH: 3.5/5)… Continue reading THE RESURRECTION OF GAVIN STONE (2016): Review by Jan
HIDDEN FIGURES
Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore (Ted) Melfi and co-written with Allison Schroeder, recounts the inspiring story of three black women who helped NASA advance in the Space Race. Taraji P. Henson leads the impressive cast as Katherine Goble Johnson, the first female mathematician to assist in America’s first orbit of Earth. A triumphant story is brought… Continue reading HIDDEN FIGURES
FIRST LADY OF THE REVOLUTION
Another wonderful “who knew” documentary. The focus this time is on Henrietta Boggs. Raised to be a decorous Southern Belle, Henrietta’s rebellious energy crashed up against convention. She fled her home in Alabama and went to visit relatives in Costa Rica where she met and eventually married someone even more wealthy and better connected than she was. However, Jose “Don… Continue reading FIRST LADY OF THE REVOLUTION
BADEN BADEN (2016)
Twentysomething at lose ends returns home (in this case the city of Strasbourg on the border between France and Germany) to visit the grandmother who has long been her anchor. Writer/director Rachel Lang succeeds in making Ana totally real and totally loveble. Although the action is jumpy with poor continuity between scenes, the tone of each episode is… Continue reading BADEN BADEN (2016)
CERTAIN WOMEN (2016)
Kelly Reichardt’s new film braids together the lives of three women living in and around a town in central Montana, not exactly the middle of nowhere… but close enough. This time, Reichardt-the-Writer has created a screenplay based on stories by award-winning author Maile Meloy, but Reichardt-the-Director has used many of her usual crew members (notably cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt and… Continue reading CERTAIN WOMEN (2016)
37 (Kitty Genovese)
Writer/Director Puk Grasten retells the infamous story of Kitty Genovese, the 28-year-old woman stabbed to death as 37 bystanders watched, listened and failed to intervene. Focusing on a handful of fictional characters, Grasten captures the eerie, stomach-churning atmosphere of the Kew Gardens (Queens) apartment complex on March 13, 1964. (BKP: 4/5) Review By Managing Editor… Continue reading 37 (Kitty Genovese)
THE JAZZ LOFT ATWES
Full Title: The Jazz Loft according to W. Eugene Smith It took twelve years of dedication to bring this phenomenal film to fruition, and every moment of the 87 minute runtime is pure perfection. WNYC New York public radio personality Sara Fishko achieves behind-the-camera immortality in her first at bat as a filmmaker (both writer and director).… Continue reading THE JAZZ LOFT ATWES
BRIDGET JONES’S BABY
Bridget Jones’s Baby is pretty much everything you could ever want it to be, and a little bit more. From the fantastic cast and their wonderful performances, to the soundtrack that will bring you back, this film is a must see. It is the perfect film to wrap up the Bridget Jones franchise, with every… Continue reading BRIDGET JONES’S BABY
SUMMERTIME (2015)
Catherine Corsini’s wonderful new film Summertime opens on a farm in rural Limousin (France) in 1971. Soon enough, though, the main character–Delphine–moves to Paris, where she falls in love with Carole (a woman who is older, better educated, and much more sophisticated). Carole is in a long-term heterosexual relationship, but as a committed feminist, she also feels compelled… Continue reading SUMMERTIME (2015)
GHOSTBUSTERS NYC
Ghostbusters 2016 (aka GB16) is manna from heaven in the multiplex dessert. Most women don’t want to live in a world without men, or be “better” than men (whatever that might mean); we just want equality. Equality means telling our stories, making fools of ourselves, and cheering women on when they grab for the brass ring. Equality means more representation… Continue reading GHOSTBUSTERS NYC
THE INNOCENTS
Poland 1945: A French doctor working for the Red Cross is drawn into a crisis at a local convent. Basing her story on the real life of Madeleine Pauliac, filmmaker Anne Fontaine (working with screenwriters Sabrina B. Karine and Alice Vial) has crafted a multi-dimensional masterpiece. (JLH: 5/5) Top Photo: Agata Buzek as “Sister Maria” with Lou… Continue reading THE INNOCENTS
PRINCESS (2014)
Excellent performance by young Israeli actress Shira Haas is undercut by filmmaker’s decision to create a story that is deliberately obfuscating. Adar is an adolescent girl on the edge of maturity who lives in a small apartment with her mother Alma and Alma’s lover Michael. Like most girls her age, Adar is straining for independence, even though she sometimes… Continue reading PRINCESS (2014)
WEINER
Timely documentary about the implosion of Antony Weiner‘s promising political career, first as a Congressman from Brooklyn’s 9th District and then as a candidate for mayor of New York City. After six years as an aide to Chuck Schumer (then serving his own stint representing the 9th), Weiner became a member of the New York City Council… Continue reading WEINER
A MONSTER WITH 1000 HEADS
Writer Laura Santullo has teamed with director Rodrigo Plá to create a superlative adaptation of her novel Un Monstruo de Mil Cabezas. Since it hasn’t been translated into English (yet), I am going to guess that the novel has interior monologues that get into the heads of her characters. Onscreen, however, Santullo and Plá go straight for… Continue reading A MONSTER WITH 1000 HEADS
1920 LONDON
Giddy comedy/horror mash-up from India has all the familiar Bollywood elements–gorgeous people dancing around sumptuous sets–so expect it to be what it is… and enjoy. (JLH: 3.5/5) Review by FF2 Managing Editor Jan Lisa Huttner “Princess Shivangi” (Meera Chopra) arrives at her family home, runs up the stairs, and throws herself into the arms of her… Continue reading 1920 LONDON
VIKTORIA (2014)
Viktoria is a stunning film from Bulgaria which begins as a political parody and ends as a feminist parable. Kudos to filmmaker Maya Vitkova for her extraordinary vision and execution. (JLH: 5/5) Review by FF2 Managing Editor Jan Lisa Huttner The year is 1979 and “Boryana” (Irmena Chichikova) is deeply unhappy. Her mother “Dima” (Mariana Krumova) is… Continue reading VIKTORIA (2014)
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2
Ditzy, delightful new sequel to Nia Vardalos’ 2002 surprise hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Way back in the day Toula married her non-Greek dream boat Ian… then the years few by. Now their daughter Paris is getting ready to start college, prompting Toula to wonder what to do with the rest of her life. But not to… Continue reading MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2
MY GOLDEN DAYS
Returning home after many years abroad, a French intellectual–now in middle age–finds himself bombarded by memories (with precious few actual face-to-face encounters). Unfortunately, director Arnaud Desplechin’s film (which he co-wrote with screenwriter Julie Peyr) is solipsistic in the extreme, and since “Paul” (Mathieu Amalric) doesn’t really seem to care about anyone but himself, it becomes very hard… Continue reading MY GOLDEN DAYS
OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN
Diane Marshall-Green stars as “Samantha Trassler,” the daughter of a famous artist whose recent death kicks off the plot. After blowing off her respectable friend Josh–who may or may not have been the father’s assistant but definitely aspires to be the daughter’s lover–Sam takes up with a family of street people headed by a patriarchal junkie named P.K.… Continue reading OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN
YOSEMITE
Three kids who share the same 5th grade classroom have portentous coming-of-age adventures vaguely connected to the growing presence of mountain lions on the outskirts of their upscale suburban community. OK, I get it: Boys will be boys… And filmmaker Gabrielle Demeestere–who both wrote and directed a screenplay based on stories by James Franco–doesn’t need permission from… Continue reading YOSEMITE
SISTERS
Sisters is a big, broad, bawdy delight. Screenwriter Paula Pell–a member of the Saturday Night Live team for the past decade and Emmy-nominated with the SNL team for recent anniversary shows–knows her stars perfectly. And director Jason Moore (best known for the first Pitch Perfect film) knows how the keep the whole dizzy, ditzy ensemble… Continue reading SISTERS
Who is Clara Royer?
JAN RANTS: Can anyone tell me who Clara Royer is & why her name might be important this year? Can anyone tell me who Rebecca Lenkiewicz is & why her name might have been important last year? Just a few months back, in February, the Polish film Ida received the Oscar for Best Foreign Language… Continue reading Who is Clara Royer?
THE WINDING STREAM
Full Title = The Winding Stream: The Carters, The Cashes, and The Course of Country Music Exhilarating film about the Carter Family, Country Music stars from the dawn of recorded music right up to today. Filmmaker Beth Harrington has directed The Winding Stream with skill and smarts, and Mike Olson contributes terrific photoanimations to make the pre-Selfie Era come alive… Continue reading THE WINDING STREAM
THE GIRL IN THE BOOK
Intriguing first feature written and directed by filmmaker Marya Cohn puts a new spin on the sexual betrayal of a fourteen year old girl. This victim appears to come from the best of homes, but her abuser can see that she has no one to protect her, so he takes what he wants with no concern for consequences. Cohn–directing… Continue reading THE GIRL IN THE BOOK
CAROL (2015)
Director Todd Haynes and screenwriter Phyllis Nagy have made a new film that is all parts but no whole. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s semi-autobiographical lesbian romance The Price of Salt, Carol has impeccable production values, but perfunctory character development and a predictable plot. And even though the Supreme Court recently affirmed Gay Marriage in the USA, the… Continue reading CAROL (2015)