The radical notion that women like good movies
After hearing repeatedly that Fantastic Mr. Foxis Wes Anderson’s best film, I gave it a try. I’m not the biggest Anderson fan—I generally find his aesthetic too precious, his characters over-privileged bores, and his daddy issues repetitive and tiresome—but it seemed to me that stop-motion animation might be the ideal medium to capture his intentions. … Continue reading “The Flick Off: Fantastic Mr. Fox”
This guest post first appeared on the blog I Will Not Diet. For years, we have lived in a society that requires the majority of its female actors to have ridiculously impeccable bodies if they want to get work while their male counterparts are allowed to age normally, adding a few pounds to their waistline … Continue reading “Guest Post: Holy Hypocrisy: Couples Retreat”
Perhaps it was the unending coverage of Eliot Spitzer’s hooker shenanigans two years ago that reminded me of Lizzie Borden’s 1986 film Working Girls. I must have seen this for the first time in the late 1980s, when I was working in a video store and could rent any title for free. I avoided this … Continue reading “Guest Post: The Connection Between Sex and Money: Lizzie Borden’s WORKING GIRLS”
American Violet is a small victory of a movie. American Violet tells the true story of an African American mother of four girls arrested and falsely accused of selling crack cocaine. Set in a fictional Texas town with the 2000 presidential election as a fitting backdrop of confusion and corruption, we see Dee Roberts fight–with … Continue reading “Movie Review: American Violet”
We don’t usually talk about music videos here at Bitch Flicks, but for Lady Gaga we’ll make an exception. With the release of her nearly 10-minute long music video, the blogosphere lit up. Here’s a sampling of what we found regarding Gaga & Beyoncé, feminism, trans-phobia, exploitation, ironic product placement, female empowerment, the prison of … Continue reading “The Roundup: Lady Gaga’s "Telephone" featuring Beyoncé”
During our Oscar round-up, Jesseca Cornelson reviewed An Education. Women & Hollywood also reviewed the film. Guest reviewer Rachel Feldman wrote: As a feminist mom, my big ax to grind in popular culture is vulgarism. I don’t want my son to grow up one more immature, boob-obsessed male with little understanding or appreciation of a female’s … Continue reading “Releasing on DVD: Tuesday, March 30”
Welcome to our second installment of the Review in Conversation: Sex and the City: The Movie. Our first RiC discussed the film Black Snake Moan.I had liked the early seasons of Sex and the City when it was on HBO, and while acknowledging its problems–unawareness of class most troubling, though in the late 90s perhaps … Continue reading “Review in Conversation: ‘Sex and the City: The Movie’”
In the entire film, one woman appears–and she’s a wife and mother. She doesn’t have any conversations with other women about things other than men. The film is a Bechdel fail. Bombs explode. Men work together. They play together. They bond. Action! Explosions! Male soldiers! Men! Triumph! Failure! What seems, on the surface, a movie … Continue reading “Movie Review: The Hurt Locker”
*This is a guest post from the author of The Undomestic Goddess. I saw Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds when it first came out and then again recently in the sweep of the Oscar season. I remember upon first viewing being surprised that, unlike all the posters and marketing would have you believe, Brad Pitt is … Continue reading “Movie Review: Inglorious Basterds”
*This guest post also appears on Gender Across Borders. Last week, I saw the much-anticipated film Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire. And I haven’t stopped thinking about it all week. Not because I’m in shock, though the film does depict a number of truly horrific and violent situations. And not because I’m … Continue reading “Movie Review: Precious, Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Without any question, Buffy revolutionized the role of women on television, more even than Mary Tyler Moore or Cagney and Lacey or Murphy Brown or Ally McBeal. If you look at female heroes (as opposed to hapless heroines–I have always thought that the definition of heroine should be “endangered female in need of rescue by … Continue reading “What We Owe to Buffy”
As I took a closer look at the list of nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards, I couldn’t believe, once again, how many of the films are male-driven. While this list certainly involves many more female-driven films than is usually the case with Oscar nominees or even Golden Globe nominees, I still can’t help feeling … Continue reading “Independent Spirit Award Nominations: A Closer Look”
