The radical notion that women like good movies
Written by Amber Leab. Contrary to popular belief, you need not be stoned to enjoy a stoner comedy. You just need to be a dude. Or so I thought, when I came upon Smiley Face, starring Anna Faris as a stoner who happens to be female, starring in a movie that offers mindless entertainment … Continue reading “Ripley’s Pick: ‘Smiley Face’”
div style=”text-align: justify;”>In response to my previous post about pay discrimination in Hollywood, an anonymous commenter pointed out the following: “Although I agree that women should be paid the same in all industries, your breakdown of the top grossing movies fails to recognise that apart from Sex and the City there were major male actors … Continue reading “Are You Ready to Get Ridiculous?”
Forbes recently published a list of Hollywood’s top-earning actresses, for films completed within the previous year. Please note the following: “As is still typical for Hollywood, our actresses earned significantly less than their male counterparts. Harrison Ford was the top-earning actor this year with $65 million, $38 million more than Jolie earned. All told, the … Continue reading “Pay Discrimination in Hollywood, Who Knew?”
According to several entertainment sources, a new comedy called Business Trip has been picked up by Universal Pictures. Written by Stacey Harman, the film focuses on four women who take a business trip together and, instead of getting any real business-oriented work done, shenanigans ensue. Apparently, it’s being produced by the same people involved with … Continue reading “Business Trip Wishes”
Persepolis. (2007) Written and directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. I rented Persepolis before the recent Iranian election, and have been thinking ever since about the film. Persepolis is adapted from the autobiographical graphic novels written by Marjane Satrapi (which I haven’t read), and represents the first graphic-novel-as-film. Other graphic novels have been made … Continue reading “Movie Review: Persepolis”
Despite its abysmal reviews, Transformers: Rise of the Fallen took home the top spot at the box office over the weekend. Here are some highlights from Rotten Tomatoes: “It’s a wad of chaos puked onto the big screen, an arbitrary collection of explosions and machismo posturing.” –David Cornelius, eFilmCritic.com “Will insult your intelligence, hurt your … Continue reading “Misogyny Still Reigns at the Box Office”
Drag Me To Hell. Starring Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, and Adriana Barraza. Written by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi. Directed by Sam Raimi. The honest truth: I loved Drag Me To Hell. Even though I’m not familiar with Sam Raimi’s other cult classic horror films (the Evil Dead saga, … Continue reading “Movie Review: Drag Me To Hell”
Much has already been made about Disney’s new film, which depicts the company’s first black princess. The New York Times recently asked if the film thwarted or perpetuated black stereotypes; MSNBC originally reported in 2007 on the film when its heroine had a different name, occupation, and physical appearance, and when it was called The … Continue reading “Movie Preview: The Princess and the Frog”
Sunshine Cleaning: Ripley’s Pick or Ripley’s Rebuke? This is a film I wanted to love. It’s directed by a woman (Christine Jeffs). It’s written by a woman (Megan Holley). It stars two brilliant actors (Amy Adams and Emily Blunt), not to mention one of my favorite indie-actors, who co-stars (Mary Lynn Rajskub). And for the … Continue reading “Movie Review: Sunshine Cleaning”
Duplicity (2009). Written and directed by Tony Gilroy. Starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Excellent supporting roles by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti. Duplicity has dropped out of the top box-office earners since its March 20th release; though it has earned a total of over $40 million domestically, that’s not enough to cover its budget … Continue reading “Movie Review: Duplicity”
This Saturday night (April 18), HBO premieres its new film version of the classic Grey Gardens. Starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as Big Edie Bouvier Beale and Little Edie, the film recreates scenes from the original documentary as well as providing the backstory of how these women came to find themselves in such a … Continue reading “Preview: Grey Gardens”
April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. An odd coincidence is that Jody Hill’s Observe and Report is currently in theaters, and getting all kinds of attention for a rape scene that’s played as comedy. Worst of all, many out there are defending the movie as an edgy, dark comedy, and arguing that the scene … Continue reading “Observe and Report Roundup”
